Search Results for: blog 10 quick and fun summer ideas

5 Quick Activities for Self Care

Many parents are looking forward to the start of a new school year. Keep in mind that back-to-school comes with hectic mornings, help with homework, and the enforcement of a bedtime routine (that may have lapsed over the summer). It is important for parents to take a little time for self care while the kids are at school. Here are a few simple ideas to start with. The Living Self-Care website says that moms and dads that take care of themselves first will have more to offer to their children (and to the rest of the world). Self-care doesn’t have … Continue reading →

Frugal Tips for Summer Activities

Posted on by

Summer vacation is a great time for families to go out and do things together. Visiting amusement parks, dining out, and staying in hotels can end up costing a lot of money. Travel expenses can quickly add up, too. Here are some frugal tips that will help your family enjoy summer vacation without having to go into a lot of debt. Pack some snacks. Make use of your child’s lunchbox this summer. It is the perfect container for easy to eat snacks that your family can bring along on car trips. Instead of stopping the car at the nearest fast … Continue reading →

How to Live on One Income

Is your goal to live on one income so you or your spouse can be a stay-at-home parent, pursue schooling, keep house, or another establish another endeavor? Take the following steps to make sure that you are well prepared for your lifestyle change. Get a New Attitude If you are currently living on two incomes, you may need to make some changes, both drastic and non-drastic in order to make the one income work for your family. Embrace money-saving ideas, such as shopping at yard sales or thrift stores, cooking at home, and bargain hunting. Look at these practices as … Continue reading →

Beach Fun on a Budget

April is almost over.  Time is marching on.  Soon, your spring flowers will be a distant memory as the dog days of summer hit and all you care about is watering yourself rather than your blossoms. Summer fun means picnics, barbeques and visits to the beach, but those good times can add up quickly if you aren’t careful.  To avoid busting your budget on trips featuring the sun, sand and surf, consider these money-saving ideas: DIY Beach Towel Large decorative beach towels don’t come cheap.  If you have a large family, buying a new towel for each member can put … Continue reading →

Back-to-School Breakfast Ideas

Now that the new school year is underway, my days as a short order cook are over… at least when it comes to breakfast. This summer, I could have easily earned employee of the month honors as a flapjack flipper at IHOP, but instead chose to use my pancake-making skills to keep my 7-year-old happy and full. Kids need a healthy breakfast in order for their bodies and brains to function properly. However, during the school year, this important morning meal often gets skipped in the interest of saving time or scoring a few more minutes of sleep. Ironically, eating … Continue reading →

Nutritious Summer Foods For Toddlers

Parents of toddlers often have a dilemma on their hands at meal time and snack time. There’s a hungry little person who needs something to eat. That hungry little person may regularly change what he or she will and won’t eat. Also, as the person responsible for the health of that hungry little person you have your own ideas and plans for what kinds of things you will serve. Feeding your toddler right can be a challenge. Fortunately, summer time is here and there are quite a few nutritious foods available that most toddlers love to sink their teeth into. … Continue reading →

Prepare Your Calendar for Summer Vacation

If you have kids then you know that it is never too early to prepare for summer vacation. Your home life will change as the evenings grow longer and the children are home from school. Here are some ways that you can plan out those days and get your self prepared. The transition will be easier and less stressful that way. Make Note of Important Dates Do you know when the last day of school actually is? Are there half days coming up before then? Will there be parties, dances, fairs, last ditch school fundraisers going on. Make note and … Continue reading →

Fun Birthday Scrapbook Layouts

This year my daughter celebrated her birthday with 26 of her closest friends. It’s a shindig I won’t soon forget, and believe me; it won’t be duplicated for at least another 10 years. In addition, to opening 26 different birthday presents, my little girl tore open nearly three-dozen birthday cards, many of which were handmade by her young friends. Given that I don’t plan to host a bash for those many kids anytime soon, I kept each and every one of the birthday cards. I wasn’t sure what I was planning to do with them, but after seeing a scrapbook … Continue reading →

Healthy Dose of Watermelon

My family loves watermelon. Every year we buy a ton of them and quickly eat all of it. My two year old is especially fond of them. She can make a dinner out of just watermelon if I’d let her. Most kids are the same way and devour this beautiful fruit. I never gave the unassuming watermelon too much thought as a health food. I assumed it was a nice way to hydrate as it consists mostly of water as the name suggests. However, this lovely pink fruit has more to it than simple water. Watermelon contains is hydrating. Watermelon … Continue reading →

Creating Creative Writing Prompts

My kids always enjoyed creative writing when we were home schooling. They come by it naturally since I’ve loved writing ever since I could hold a crayon (though I quickly learned that walls weren’t to be used as giant pieces of paper). Thankfully, my kids never had the urge to scribble on our bare white walls. Even when they were very young, all I had to do is hand them a tablet and a pack of crayons, then offer them a creative writing prompt and they were content for hourse. Back then they could only draw stick figures and gibberish, … Continue reading →