The summer vacation – three words that evoke in parents a heady mix of fear, confusion and (occasionally) contentedness. Sure, in theory, two and half months enjoying some relaxed quality time with your beloved kids sounds awesome. But the reality sees a lot of parents pulling their hair out about how to keep the kids from climbing the walls… while counting the minutes until school’s in again. We’ve got a few choice ways to stimulate the kids and enrich your downtime… without losing your sanity. Create a family tree- Kids love hearing stories about family history, from when they were [...] Read more »

My ongoing obsession with subscription boxes in general and complete craft kits that come in a box in particular have led to me a fantastic discovery when I was given a chance to try out  a Wummelbox for review. What’s a Wummelbox? It’s pure crafting fun, that’s what it is! Each month (for as long as you choose to receive it), you receive a box filled with crafts revolving around a particular theme. For this review, we received the Time Travel Wummelbox. Ooh, time travel! Jacob and I were interested already! we couldn’t wait to unwrap those bright orange tissue [...] Read more »

Many factors are weighed when parents choose names for their babies – the way it rolls off the tongue, the meaning behind the moniker, the personal significance it carries for the mother and father and how it may be one day perceived by peers. While each parent has a different thought-process, a common question that arises is “how do I make my child stand out without making him/her stand out too much?” While we shutter at some of the crazy names we run across in the tabloids, we also don’t want our kids to share the same name as half [...] Read more »

This post brought to you by SocialMoms and Silk. All opinions are my own. Is your child a morning person? Does he jump out of bed the moment you wake up yelling “Hooray! Morning! I can’t wait to go to school! I love getting up before the sun!”? Yes? Oh. Um, well, that’s nice for you! If, however, your child is like mine and groans something about five more minutes before finally dragging himself out of bed, read on for some great tips to shake up your child’s wake up routine. See, Jacob takes after me. We are not morning [...] Read more »

  School is almost out, the weather is warming up and it’s time to start planning the family summer activities! But what if you are on a budget and your funds are limited? How do you plan on giving you and your kids an entertaining summer vacation? You don’t have to spend a whole lot of money to have a great time. In my opinion, the best way to show your kids you love them is by devoting your time to them, not spending money on them. Cook a creative meal together. One activity I really enjoy doing is cooking [...] Read more »

Spring is a unique time of year.  With the first hint of warm weather, everyone’s schedules change.  Kids spend extra hours playing with friends.  Parents are left cheering from the sidelines of various sporting endeavors.  BBQs and picnics with friends replace family dinners.  And extra time spent outdoors, enjoying the sunshine, becomes more important than reading bedtime stories.  It is entirely possible that everyone will get wrapped up in their own activities and completely forget about family bonding. It is time to put a stop to the independent life syndrome and regroup as a family!  Check out these family-friendly activities [...] Read more »

Just about every little boy (and some big ones too!) loves playing with cars. I think it must be something ingrained deep in the Y chromosome. I remember getting Jacob his very first car toy when he was still practically an infant! It was a clunky light plastic on that was safe for his age, don’t worry. Since that day, he’s amassed quite the collection. While I am completely dumbfounded at the difference between one car and another, apparently they all have their unique traits and abilities. Some are fast, some can jump higher, some have brute force, and some [...] Read more »

I think I get just as excited about cool craft kits as Jacob does these days, mostly because if they’re designed for kids, then they’re designed for me too! I love trying to make stuff. The keyword there is “trying,” by the way. I particularly like kits that come with everything you need, because we’re not exactly a crafty household so we usually don’t have random crazy stuff like, oh, glue and paper on hand! Manhattan Toy’s awesome series “Imagine I Can” is a huge line of awesome crafty kits that are easy enough for crafting-challenged mommies and their kids, [...] Read more »