Great Ways to Celebrate the Last Day of School

We are on countdown in our house -- only 9 more school days left for us! Yep, only 9 days, 4 finals, 3 school activities and 1 graduation event -- then we can enjoy sleeping in, long days without schedules, fun day trips and some relaxing ...

5 Ways to Unplug & Connect over a Family Dinner

If you ever come to my house for dinner (and please know you're always invited -- I make a killer lasagna!), I have a few rules that everyone has to follow -- no phone, texts or tv during the meal. One bite of the lasagna and you really won...

Marvelous Books for Mother's Day

Today we're celebrating all things Mom.  Mother's Day is a time when kids express how much they appreciate all the things Moms do for them all year round.  Homemade cards for Mom, hand-picked flowers and maybe even breakfast in b...

13 Classic Books for Kids: Spring Stories

Enjoy story time this season with these classic books for kids with Spring stories!What do you remember about the spring days of your childhood? I have vivid memories of waking up to the sounds of birds and the smell of lilacs in our b...

10 Books that Keep Kids Active

  I know what you're thinking -- reading is a stationary activity.  Fortunately, that's not always the case.  There are a number of terrific kids books that encourage the reader to get up and move with the story!  Thes...

Explore Nature in Spring- Outdoor Activities for Kids

I know the rest of the world thinks that Spring begins on March 20th with the Spring Equinox but for us, Spring activities begin the day we turn back the clocks and gain that extra hour of daylight. Ahh… dinner during daylight hours Hea...

Fun Ways to Celebrate with Kids Books

  There will be a lot of reading going on this week - Read Across America (Dr. Suess's birthday) is March 2nd and celebrated in school throughout the week World Read Aloud Day is March 5th World Book Day is March 6th All great op...

New Kids Movies in Theaters for 2014

  Does your family enjoy going to the movies? We are big fans especially of family movies that we can all see together.  So we always like to look ahead and see what new movies are coming soon - you know, check out the trailers,...

It’s not about Creating Perfect, It’s about Creating Memories

  I learned a long time ago that the memories our kids have of the holidays are not those picture perfect ideals that you see in magazines and movies.  In fact, some of their fondest memories of Christmases past are ones...

25 Ways to Simplify Christmas & Enjoy the Holidays

Enjoy time with family this year with these simple activities that make Christmas memorable! I'm sure that right now, you're in the midst of holiday craziness -- is your mind going a mile a minute?  When do I need to mail the gifts?&nb...

9 Fun Ideas for Cooking with Kids

There are so many benefits to getting kids more involved in the kitchen -- kids are more likely to try new foods, more likely to eat a wider variety of foods and less likely to complain about what's being made for dinner :) But what to...

Family Volunteer Ideas for the Holidays

  Today we are sharing about Life Skills for Kids on the Discover & Explore linky.  Kids need to learn so many different things that will help them to grow up and become self-sufficient.  There’s some of the biggies –...

7 Activities that Teach Gratitude

  We've been discussing the idea of gratitude this month -- what we are thankful for and how we can show appreciation for our blessings. As I was reading through the activities shared this week on the Discover & Explore linky, ...

Cooking with Kids - Sharing Family Recipes

  We have a running conversation in our house about why the kids will come back to visit us once they're grown -- they tell me it's for my lasagna and pizzelle cookies ;) In fact, the whole family was all smiles this week when I told...

New Christmas Books that Will Inspire Kids this Holiday

I love reading new books, especially new Christmas books that I can share with the kids!Now don't get me wrong, we certainly have our favorites at this time of the year -- you can see many of them on the 30 Books about Your Favorite Christm...