13 Fun Festive DIY Kids Valentine's

Ah it is that time of the year again when mothers everywhere begin the mad hunt for the best valentine's for their cuties to take to school. Yup Valentine's Day is just around the corner and if you are like me then you are not ready at all. No worries, I have you covered! I found 13 of the cutest {and easiest} valentine's for you and your kids to put together for their parties at school. Plus most of these valentine's are non candy valentine's so that is just an added bonus. Who wants all the sugar anyway?

Crayon Valentine Hearts

Butterfly Valentine's

Friendship Bracelet Valentines

Friend, You Make Me Laffy

VALENTINE PAPER FORTUNE COOKIES

You Are A Gem Valentine's

Kool Aid Valentine's

You Rock

PLAY-DOH VALENTINE

Got my EYES on you Valentines

Super Hero Valentine's

Watercolor Valentine

YOU BLOW ME AWAY VALENTINE

15 Creative & Fun Lunch Ideas to Pack in your Kids School Lunchbox!

I don't know about you, but when those busy school mornings begin I have so much to do to get all my kids out the door and to the bus on time. Usually the last thing on my mind is making and packing school lunches. I found the funnest, and lets be honest super easy to pack, clean and store, lunch boxes and I can't wait to get my kids lunches ready this year! I think that this will make the"chore" of getting lunch ready for everyone so much easier.

Have you heard of Easy Lunchboxes? I just stumbled across them while I was online and I feel like I just found the holy grail of lunchboxes! 

When you purchase these amazing lunchboxes you get them in a set of four and they come in many different color combinations. The best thing about these lunch boxes in that they are dishwasher safe! Woot Woot! That makes it so much easier to clean up afterwards. My kids can even do it. Oh and they are a great price, you get four for only $13.95. You can't beat that price. 

If you like the Easy Lunchbox and you would like to try them out for yourself then you can find them here. 

OK now here is the fun part. Packing these fun lunchboxes. If your kids are like mine then they hate having sandwiches everyday. Lets face it, I would also. So I searched the internet and found lots of fun ideas of yummy food to send to school with my kids. Here are a few:

Take to School Taco Bar

Blooming Bento Box

Meat, Cheese, & Veggie Wraps

April Showers Lunch

Peter Cottontail Lunch

Don't these all look so yummy. I know that coming up with ideas for your lunchboxes can be hard so I found some for you! 

I hope that all of these lunch ideas help you out with your school day adventures and if you haven't tried the Easy Lunchbox yet you should give it a try. They are amazing!

If you liked this post you should check out this post:

7 Loving Lunchbox Notes to Make Lunch Time Fun!

7 Loving Lunchbox Notes to Make Lunch Time Fun!

 I can't believe that summer break is almost over! With everything that I have to do to get ready for school to start in a few short weeks I feel like I am running out of time to get everything done. We are de-junking to prepare to be less cluttered when school starts, and going through what clothes can be donated to the thrift store. Then there is coming up with the new school schedule for the kids and new chore charts. Don't even get me started on school shopping.

One of the things that I almost always never have time to do after school starts is make cute lunchbox notes that can go in my kids lunch when they go to school. It is something that I have every good intention of doing before school starts and then I end up getting to busy and forget. By the time I remember I have become so busy that I usually never get it done. 

This year I decided that I would get them done way before school starts, that way I won't feel so bad when I can't add that something special to my kids lunch to let them know how much I love and miss them why they are at school. So.....

These are just a couple of the cute lunchbox notes that I came up with. If you want to get all of the click here and you can get them all for free!

Happy school days! I would love to see what ideas that you have for school lunches, and I would love to hear back from you as well.

How to respond when your child is disrespectful

The playdate is over. It is time to head home. You gave a 5 minute warning. You expect everything to go well.

Suddenly, it happens. Your child responds disrespectfully.

"No! I don't want to go! You never let me do anything fun!"

You feel the anger rising inside you. You yell back, "How dare you talk to me like that!"

He continues, "You didn't even send me a treat in my lunch today! You are the meanest mom ever!!!"

Now, you're furious. "That's it! No TV for a week!"

This back and forth continues. You drag him to the car, kicking and screaming. Vowing never to let him have a playdate ever again.

Read full article here.

Oh The Places You'll Go... An amazing tribute to your child's education!

"I graduated High School this week. When my dad said he had a present for me I thought I was getting some cheesy graduation card. But what I received was something truly priceless. Following the ceremony he handed me a bag with a copy of "Oh The Places You'll Go" by Doctor Seuss inside. At first I just smiled and said that it meant a lot and that I loved that book. But then he told me, 'No, open it up.'

On the first page I see a short paragraph written by none other than my kindergarten teacher. I start tearing up but I'm still confused. He tells me, 'Every year, for the past 13 years, since the day you started kindergarten I've gotten every teacher, coach and principal to write a little something about you inside this book.'

"My early teachers mention my "pigtails and giggles" while my high school teachers mention my "wit and sharp thinking." But they all mention my humor and love for life. It is astounding to receive something this moving, touching nostalgic and thoughtful."

I found this post on Facebook and I have to say that this is such a great idea! Half of my kids are already in school, but I am going to start it right now for all of them. There are so many teachers and leaders in life that can make a huge difference in a child's life and to have something like this to look back on would be a great treasure!

Facebook post found here... Love What Matters

31 Hauntingly Cute Costumes for your Kids!

It is that time of the year again to start thinking about what your little ghouls and ghosts will dress up as for Halloween. I love to have plenty of time to get the perfect costumes for my kids.

St Patrick Activities For Kids

I think that it should be St Patrick's Day everyday! I mean, who wouldn't like to see all of the bright rainbows and happy colors? Well now you can see all of those things when you help your kids create some of these cute crafts that are just for kids! I am not going to lie though, I think that the play dough and the telescope caught my eye. I guess that I am still a kid at heart. :) 

St Patty's Day Kid Friendly Treats!

 Celebrating holiday's with kids is fun especially when you get to get creative in the kitchen. Plus what kid doesn't love when their food looks like something else? My kids favorite is when I turn the pancake batter a different color. They love taking turns choosing which color they will be. We tend to have more pink and purple then any other color.

Easy Home Remedies For Dealing With Croup

* I AM NOT A PROFESSIONAL OR A DOCTOR. IF YOU ARE UNSURE ABOUT YOUR CHILD'S HEALTH CALL YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER*

That being said I am a mother of five kids one of which has had croup more times than I can even count or remember. He isn't the first of my kids to ever get croup, he is however my child that gets it all of the time. He has even been hospitalized because of it. So I would say that I know a lot about croup and how to treat and deal with it.

30 days of Thankfulness in November - Day 15

Day 15 - Today I am so thankful for this sweet little girl, my squishy! After we had our fourth child and it was a girl we were happy and thought that we were done having kids. For a while I was just fine and happy. My family was complete. However when Kaylee was about six months old I started to feel like there was someone missing. And here she is. Kierstin is the caboose for our family and we just wouldn't have been truly complete without her. She is my chunky little monkey and such a happy little girl.

I am so grateful to have this little girl in my life. She has brought so much joy and happiness during hard times. I love this little girl!

30 days of Thankfulness in November - Day 14

Day 14 - I am so thankful for this sweet girl! All I ever wanted was a daughter. I wanted to experience having a little girl and then growing up with her and shopping for prom and wedding dresses. Don't get me wrong, I love my boys more than anything, but there is something special about having a daughter. I remember the day that we found out that we were having a girl. I cried all day long.

She has been such a blessing in my life and I am so grateful that she is my daughter and I get to be her mom.

30 Days of Thankfulness in November - Day 12

Day 12 - Today I am thankful for this little man! Where to begin with this one..... He is my middle child. Nuf said. Ashton is a ball of energy and a softy, however he doesn't like people to know that. He is the child that if someone starts crying or gets hurt you automatically think he had something to do with it. He is one tuff cookie. Ashton is also my sick child. He has Reactive Airway and gets Croup all of the time. I hate it, it is not fun watching your child suffer and have a hard time breathing.

I am so grateful that Ashton is mine. He might be ruff around the edges, but he is all boy and he has the best personality! I love this kid with all my heart! He will always be my baby boy!

30 Days of Thankfulness in November - Day 10

Day 10 - Today I am thankful for this kiddo. Braden is my second oldest. He has such a kind heart and he loves to play with others. He is a lover of all creatures. This kid loves animals and critters, he would take in every stray cat that came along if I let him. He also got my creative gene! You can always find him making something out of paper. You name it and he has probably made it!

I am so grateful that I get to be his mom.

30 Days of Thankfulness in November - Day 9

Day 9 - Today I am grateful for my son that made me a momma for the first time! My oldest Trevin. I might be somewhat biased, but isn't he handsome?

This teenager is such a loving, hard working, caring person. He always wants to help out and make sure that I get the help that I need with the chores. He loves to cook and help with his little sisters. I couldn't have asked for a better oldest child. He has been a trooper being the "test" child because I had no idea how to be a mom. I guess that I did something right because he sure has turned out good!

30 Days of Thankfulness in November - Day 3

Day 3 - Yes you counted that right. I have five kids and today I am so thankful for each and everyone of them! I am so grateful that I get to wake up everyday and be the mother to these five beauties. I couldn't think of anything else that I would rather be doing then to be their mother. Being a mom has brought so much joy and happiness to my life and that is all because of these five smiling faces.

It is amazing how different each of them are, yet how they are all the same. They can brighten the sad days and put a smile on my face. I love all of their innocence and most of all watching them explore this world and learn new things.

I am so grateful to have each and everyone of them in my life and I am so thankful that they are mine!

Super Cute Christmas Gift: DIY Baby Doll Diapers!

I saw this idea on Pinterest a couple of years ago and I thought that it was so cute! I was pregnant with my first daughter at the time and I knew that this was something that I wanted to keep for future reference. 

Little did I know that these little cloth baby doll diapers would be a huge hit and to top it off they were super fast and easy to make.

I am going to give you the lay down on how easy it was to make these!

What you will need:

- Pick out some cute pattern fabric. I chose flannel, 1/4 yard made four diapers.

- 1/4 yard of fabric for the inside of the diaper. I went with a white terry cloth.

- Velcro

- Thread

Next you need to cut out a pattern for your diapers. The best way to do this is to find the baby doll that you are going to be making the diapers for and measure and guess. Lay the doll down on a piece of paper and get an idea of how big you need the pattern. Then eyeball it and draw something similar to this:

Cut your piece out and then grab your doll and wrap it around the doll to make sure that it will be the right size. You can make the straps on the top longer if you want, but not to much.

Once you have your pattern just right the next thing that you want to do is lay out your fabric and start cutting. I did this part two at a time. so fold your fabric in half and cut out two pieces on each types of fabric (your flannel and terry cloth).

Then layer one flannel piece and one terry cloth piece right sides together and sew together leaving enough room at one end to turn inside out. Don't forget to back stitch when you start and finish this step. This will make it easier to turn inside out.

Next turn the diaper inside out and fold in your unfinished end and pin it closed.

Finally you are ready to sew the Velcro onto the diaper. Cut out your pieces of Velcro and sew them to the diaper like shown.

Make sure that you sew them on good, because if your daughter and her friends are anything like mine then these will be used a lot and with a lot of tough love!

I hope that you enjoyed this little tutorial and I hope that they turned out as cute as mine!