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Tag: Kids

  • Hello Kitty Birthday Party

    Hello Kitty Birthday Party

    *I received party supplies from Birthday in a Box for my honest review. All thoughts and photos are my own*
    I am still having a hard time believing Princess C is 6 years old!  When I started thinking about throwing her a party, I immediate thought of Hello Kitty. We had found a Hello Kitty backpack at a yard sale last fall and she just had to have it. Grandma has sent us numerous Hello Kitty items from Japan as well, so it’s a well known character in our home. 
    I was thrilled to see that Birthday in a Box carried Hello Kitty’s sweet, little kitten line of products.That made my planning so much easier!  Especially since I was throwing a Jungle Book party the day before her party, I really needed it to be easy to put together. 

    I got the tablecloth from Hobby Lobby and then scattered the table decorations around, leaving room for the awesome cake! Mark’s cousin’s wife made this beautiful creation for us, and we couldn’t have been more pleased. It was a sponge type cake with strawberry filling that was divine and a delicious frosting.

    Once I had all the decorations up I quickly put together the treat bags for her friends. I found these cute takeout boxes from Walmart. Hello Kitty seems to be very popular in some Asian countries so these just reminded me of that. While at Walmart I also saw the cookie cutter for the cookies, the glasses and the rings. It just came together nicely. 
    FYI, have you ever noticed just how much Hello Kitty products are in Walmart? There seemed to be something branded with the cute kitten in just about every aisle. 
    Birthday in a Box also has some fun treat bags that I’m sure your guests would love!
    Hanging the Birthday Banner was a bit difficult by myself because it is HUGE, but it really made a great background for the party. I loved that we got to customize it with the right number for her birthday, and we can change it up if we ever decide to do Hello Kitty again. 
    I don’t like to plan too many specific activities for the kids, I think they usually have more fun when they can just use their imagination. I did however grab a large coloring book and pulled the pictures out to hang on the wall. The kids loved being able to sit by the wall and color different Hello Kitty pictures. 
    Later I took Princess C out for a little photo shoot. Something I like to do for each of the kids on their birthday. This one just kills me. She’s such a fun loving girl!
  • Foodie Friday Featuring Jodie Fitz

    Foodie Friday Featuring Jodie Fitz

    Welcome back to another Foodie Friday
    Happy Valentines Day!
    I would love it if you took a moment to visit my co-host Diane at Simple Living and Eating. 
    If you’re new to Foodie Friday, here’s the run down
    1. Link up your recipe or any food related post below
    2. Browse the linky, visit some new blogs, and share if you feel so inclined. 
    3. Please only link up 3 posts. This lets us visit as many of you as possible.
    4. By linking up you give me permission to feature your photos on Home Maid Simple (always linking back to you of course!)
    This weeks feature is

    Jodie Fitz is a wife and mother of 3. I absolutely love how she describes herself  “5% Martha Stewart, 20% Erma Bombeck and 75% Lucille Ball; but at the end of the day I am 100% ME!”  You can read more on why she chose those 3 over on her blog. 

    Last week Jodie shared some really fun and easy recipes with us.  My chocolate milk usually consists of milk and nestle chocolate syrup. Jodie’s chocolate and strawberry milks take a tad bit more time (but really hardly any at all), and sound just so much better!  

    If you are still planning a Valentines party for this weekend, or need a quick card to send with your kids to school like RIGHT NOW! check out her Chocolate Mustache and free printable card. The card can easily be sent without the chocolate mustache for you late minute planners. 

    Chocolate and Strawberry Milk

    Seriously, no syrups involved here!!

    Chocolate Mustache and Free Printable

    I hope you are all having a fabulous day of love. Love for your spouse, love for your kids, and a little love for yourself as well. 

  • Secrests Revealed: Modest Dresses for Little Girls

    Secrests Revealed: Modest Dresses for Little Girls

    I’m often asked where we buy modest dresses for our girls. With so many short short clothes, and dresses that are more like a shirt, it can be hard! We have a little secret, though, and I’m going to share it with you!
     

    I’ve mentioned before how hard it is to find decent, modest, age appropriate clothing for little girls.  So many trends tend to be making everything as short as possible and showing as much skin as possible.  Although I don’t care for that trend on anyone, I especially have issues with it for small children.

    Last spring Mark took Princess R out for a little special time. They came home excited to show me the new dress they bought her. I pulled it out of the bag and fell in love with the design pattern. Where did you find this gem, I wanted to know!

    Then the confession.

    It was actually a shirt. Size 6 to be precise. From the young girls section. Princess R at the time was only 2 years old. Now I really was impressed. I would never have thought to purchase a shirt many sizes too large, and use it as a dress. She’s almost 4 (now almost 6!) and it still fits beautifully! 

    The fit was perfect. It has never looked like a shirt when she wears it. I could hand it to the older girls and see what it looks like as a shirt, but I would rather continue seeing it as a dress. I guess when she gets older it will eventually become a shirt, but for now, it’s the cutest dress she owns.

    Out of all our girls dresses, this one gets by far the most compliments and questions on where we found it.

    So….Now You Know!

    Where do you find modest dresses for little girls?

  • Encourage Kids to try new Foods and Giveaway

    Encourage Kids to try new Foods and Giveaway

    *I received free product to facilitate this review. All thoughts are 100% my own*

    Are you all sick of reading advice to get your kids to eat veggies? Tired of the over achieving parents who make amazing lunch creations that their kids love and eat up?

    Honestly I’m not tired of them. I need the advice until I hit on something that will actually jive with my kids. So far we’ve had some small successes here and there, but being consistent about it is so difficult sometimes. You have to keep veggies cut up and in a bowl they can get to, and/or spend time getting real creative with each and every lunch/dinner.

    My kids will eat just about any fruit since most have little prep and they can just grab and eat – apples, bananas, berries – but when we bring out the veggies I get weird looks, and lots and lots of whining.  There was once a time I had a bowl of chopped up broccoli in the fridge that got taste tested periodically because it was easy to grab. As a result some of my kids will now eat broccoli and ask for more.

    I heard about this new DVD Copy-Kids that seemed a little too simple to actually work, but decided we might as well give it a try. I love that it’s separated into chapters so you can pick the fruit or veggie you want your kids to eat, and just play that section of the video. My kids absolutely loved seeing what ages each of the kids in the video were, and comparing them to their own age.

    Check out their sizzle reel for an idea of how this works. 

    What I thought was too simple to work, turned out to be a fun show my kids enjoy, and inspiring to them to give new foods a try.  I took some pictures of my kids to give you an idea of how it worked for us.

    I decided we’d start with 1 fruit and 1 vegetable. My hope was that by having something they liked and something they didn’t really care for, we would find a good balance of trying something new. 

    At 7 years old Princess V is past the recommended age for Copy-Kids, but as you can see she still enjoys watching what her sisters do first. 

    Prince L didn’t quite get the idea to watch the show while eating, his only thought was “Mom just put those yummy red things on a plate in the living room…I’m going in!”

     As you can see, our aftermath isn’t what I was hoping for, but if you look closely to the right side of the cucumbers you will notice 2 have been tasted. That is pretty good for my kids! No begging from me to get them to try it, just watching other kids like them eat and enjoy. 

    We’ll for sure be watching it a couple more times with bell peppers and tomatoes – Mine and Mark’s personal favorites.

    I have to admit, I realized that one thing I did wrong when they were younger was not give them as many choices. I stuck to what I thought they would like, and when coming across things like peppers I would *hang my head* say something like “Oo, I don’t know if you’ll like that. But give it a try”. Yep, I should have taken off that preface and just let them try things. Lesson learned.

    Connect with Copy-Kids
    Enter to win a Copy-Kids DVD
    Open to US residents 18+

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  • Rethinking Bath Time

    Rethinking Bath Time

    *I received free product to review. All thoughts are 100% my own.*

    We are all making new years resolutions. We want to lose weight. Eat more healthy. Organize our home. Be more kind. Be a better Parent.

    The last one, be a better parent, is always on my new years resolution it seems. I always want and need to be better with my kids. During the year I tend to lose sight of what’s really important. Oh I have my core parenting values and ideas, but sometimes it’s the simplest of things that get lost in the hustle and bustle.

    For a long time now I’ve viewed bath time for the kids as a chore. It’s something that has to be done, but can take a lot of time out from anything else I need or just plain want to do.  I started scheduling baths out like a chore – everyone bathes on Saturday to be clean for church on Sunday, then we’ll switch out days during the week, but if someone is especially dirty it will be their night to bathe, and we’ll reschedule the week.

    The problem with that scheduling and thinking, was it never worked like I wanted. I still didn’t look forward to getting the kids bathed.  It really hit me when Tickle Toes sent me a soft hooded bath towel to review and sounded so pumped in their emails – I was thinking about bath time all wrong. When did I forget that this was time to reconnect with my kids each day? The dirty kitchen could wait, but my kids were growing every day. At the end of this year I will have an 8 year old – I can’t hardly believe she’s even 7 right now. It’s true what they say – you blink and suddenly your kids are all grown.

    I have spent the last month rethinking our bath time routine. How could I use this time to relax and just spend some time with my kids, as kids?  
     I was hoping I’d have this awesome list of ideas for you to retake bath time, but I don’t. It’s as simple as 
    • Putting down the phone or book
    • Ignoring the clock
    • Grabbing a toy
    • and making believe. 
    Instead of rushing through soap, shampoo, rinse, get out. I let them enjoy having fun in the water again. Instead of sitting idly by, lost on my phone in facebook and begging them not to splash water, I grabbed some toys myself. 
    When you spend time interacting with kids on their level, following their lead – you may just find your inner child again. 

    After bath time is fun too, especially with the Tickle Toes hooded towel. It is a nice soft towel, with bright colors, and a plush hood. After having so much fun together in the tub, she loved getting wrapped up in her new towel and refused to get dressed. Instead of becoming impatient, I let her still be a kid, and just relax in the comfort of a warm soft towel.

    Princess R loves it so much, she has started wearing it all the time including wrapping up in it in her bed for a little extra warmth every night.

    Discount for Home Maid Simple readers
    Tickle Toes is offering my readers 10% off their order through the end of January.
    use code SIMPLE at  checkout

  • Dance the week away

    Dance the week away

    Shortly after we moved back to Utah County (or as I call it, back to society), one of my old high school friends hosted an ice cream social. It was exciting to get together with these friends I hardly ever see anymore, and meet their spouses and kids.
    While at the ice cream social, a Wii was pulled out, and the game Just Dance was turned on. My kids love to dance. Most nights they perform little dance shows for us, and get all dressed up. They will spend their weekends “practicing” for the dance shows to show “our audience”.

    I’m sure you see where this is going right? So Just Dance is put into the Wii. I’ve heard of it, but never actually seen it, or played it. I found it to be a lot of fun, and of course my kids too. I think Princess V and Princess C took over 2 of the wii-motes for the rest of the night.

    As soon as we got home, I started looking into Just Dance. We’ve really been getting into the Wii lately, and playing family games, but I wanted something a little more active for them, that didn’t take a lot of strategy.

    Initial Concerns:

    Music? With Mark holding a BA in Music Education we are pretty picky about they genres of music we let the kids listen to. That’s not to say we don’t let them enjoy kid music, but we want it to be quality.
    Lyrics? Lyrics were a big concern. I want them clean, and I want them about something good.
    Dance Moves? Especially with how often I see videos of little girls dancing suggestively, this was important to me. My little girls do not need to know how to shimmy, and shake their booty.

    With these concerns in mind, we decided to hold off on getting Just Dance for the kids. But then I heard about Just Dance Kids 2014 coming out, and I knew we should at least check it out. If it didn’t meet our standards in music, lyrics and dancing, we could just pass it on.

    I am really happy to tell you all, that as a picky parent, I approve of Just Dance Kids 2014, and so do my kids.

    Watch this video of the kids jamming out to some of our favorite songs on the play list to get a good feel for the different types of songs, and dance moves you can expect from Just Dance Kids 2014
    How did Just Dance Kids 2014 do?
    Music: I was sold when I found the opening and closing theme to Fraggle Rock on the play list. A little disappointed when I found out Magic Carpet Ride is not from Aladdin, but still good music. 
    Lyrics: Completely clean. The songs are all uplifting, or just plain fun, with selections like “I Like to Move It” and “Walking On Sunshine”, I am pleased. 
    Dance Moves: A few of the songs in the “All Ages” play list contained moves just a little out of my comfort zone, but nothing suggestive or aggressive. 
    Keep up with all the latest happenings for Just Dance on the Ubisoft Blog
    Or purchase a copy of Just Dance Kids 2014
    for your own system (Wii, XBox 360, and Wii-U) on Amazon.

    I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

  • Super Boy teams up with Purex Fels-Naptha

    Super Boy teams up with Purex Fels-Naptha

    *This is a sponsored post. I received product to review. All opinions are 100% mine*

    Super Boy has taken up residence in our home this week. With hugs for his family, and blankets for the cold, Super Boy loves taking care of his family.  But every super hero has his weakness.

    While Super Boy is great at cheering the sad, and cleaning up toys, some monsters are beyond his realm.  Purex Fels-Naptha came to Super Boy’s rescue when he was attacked by the evil juice monster.

    While Super Boy has been fighting crime since 2012, Purex Laundry Bar and Stain Remover has been fighting stains since 1894.  That’s over 100 years of expertise!

    We were pretty impressed with this stain treatment. We tried it first on some old stains with not much of a difference.  However, when we tried it on a fresh stain, even one as tough as juice, the result was amazing. All you have to do is rub the wet stain with some Purex Fels-Naptha laundry bar, and an almost immediate dulling occurred. After running it through the wash, there was no sign of our evil stain left.

    Are you ready to fight stains?
    3 readers will WIN a Free Purex Fels-Naptha product coupon
    Open to US residents 18+ only. Enter on the Rafflecopter below. 

    a Rafflecopter giveaway

  • Kids Academy: Educational Apps for Kids

    Kids Academy: Educational Apps for Kids

    *This is a sponsored post on behalf of Kids Academy and Sverve*

    I was doing some relaxing the other day, when I came across the Iphone App 123 Tracing  from Kids Academy. Since I’ve been working on numbers with Princess R at home, I decided to give the free download a try.

    App Developers Continue to Help Teach Children Important Skills
    Kid’s Academy, one of the most successful developers of apps for kids has released what might be their biggest app yet. 123 Tracing is an excellent educational app designed for younger students. This cute game helps kids trace numbers and get in the habit of writing and forming these letters that they will use the rest of their lives.
    The free version of the 123 Tracing app is live and available to download via iTunes, Google Play and Amazon.
    Kid’s Academy is all about helping children learn verbal, writing and math skills in an easy and fun manner. Apps such as 123 Tracing and Bingo ABC have been top-50 educational apps in the App Store, and Kid’s Academy has also brought the well-known stories and nursery rhymes The Three Little Pigs and Five Little Monkeys to life with interactive apps. The simple interfaces of the apps allow children to take the reins and play on their own, but the sing-a-longs and other activities are perfect for parent or teacher engagement, as well. Research has shown that singing along with nursery rhymes has cognitive and physical benefits for children. Not only are children learning new words and the context in which to use them, but strengthening tongue and mouth muscles at an early age will help with pronunciation skills.
    About the Kid’s Academy Company
    Kids Academy is an early childhood education start-up specialized in development apps for major mobile markets: App Store, Google Play and Amazon. The rapidly growing company is bringing value through education for children aged 2 to 6 teaching kids numbers, upper- and lower- case letters, word-letter associations, phonics, and spelling, and brings them endless fun and excitement through play activities.  Founded in the end of 2011 with the first application released in July 2012, Kids Academy has six nice apps and recently reached 2 million downloads. The apps developed by Kids Academy received dozens of positive reviews and were top rated by Children’s Technology and Parent Reviews. Interactive ABC by Kids Academy was featured by The Guardian in mobile tech review.
    For more information visit
    Website    Facebook    Twitter 

    As you can tell, Princess R is pretty enthralled with this one, and I may have lost access to my phone for a bit today while she traced her numbers. 

  • The 6 B’s Lesson 5: Be Clean #FamilyHomeEvening

    The 6 B’s Lesson 5: Be Clean #FamilyHomeEvening

    We’re back and so close to finishing up this series!  If you missed the first 4 lessons you can find them at the following links

    Be Grateful  –  Be True  –  Be Smart  –  Be Humble
    Opening Song: When I am Baptized children’s hymnbook pg 103
    Prayer
    Scripture: “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
    If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are” (1 Cor. 3:16–17).
    Thought: “We live in a world that is filled with filth and sleaze, a world that reeks of evil. It is all around us. It is on the television screen. It is at the movies. It is in the popular literature. It is on the Internet. You can’t afford to watch it, my dear friends. You cannot afford to let that filthy poison touch you. Stay away from it. Avoid it.” President Gordon B. Hinckley 2001
    Lesson: For this lesson, you can either print off, or show on your computer the following pictures, or find your own similar photos.
    Begin by asking your children what they see in each photo. What message is it telling them?
    A lot of piercings ans tattoo's
    Now let the discussions flow.  Here are a few questions I asked my kids to help get them thinking, but use what works best for your family
    • Why should we clean our homes?  Is it important?
    • What are these kids doing? Does it look fun? Do you think they need to get a bath after? What if they stay covered in mud?
    • Should we write on our bodies? Why? At this point it would be great to reiterate the scripture above – our bodies are a temple. 
    Closing song:  Fun to Do Children’s Hymnbook pg 253
    Prayer

    Refreshments: Popcorn or Fresh Fruit and Veggies. A reminder to put Clean things into our bodies as well. 

    Stay tuned this month for the Lesson 6: Be Prayerful
  • Guess whose Birthday it is…

    Guess whose Birthday it is…

    That’s right, it’s the Energizer Bunny’s 25th Birthday, and he’s celebrating at Walmart with Energizer Max batteries.  The best part – Bunny wants to give you a present!
    The sad realization is that I’m older than this bunny that just keeps going. 
    I was pretty stoked to realize that after buying 2 packs of Energizer Max batteries, I could redeem codes online for a $10 gift card back to Walmart. That almost covers the whole cost of the batteries!  
    2 battery packs = 1 $10 gift card!
    Don’t try and use the code here, I’ve already claimed it, and they can only be used once. 
    Claiming your gift card is really so simple. I’m terrible at keeping receipts, and then I get annoyed that I have to pay postage to send proof I bought a product for the company to send me the promotional item. Energizer has taken it to the next level by doing it all digitally. You just take your 2 codes and enter them online, fill out your mailing info, and click…
    Now what am I going to buy with that gift card?  Very possibly more batteries!  Though I did see a nice set of sheets in the clearance aisle while we were browsing the shelves at Walmart.  We have been going through batteries crazy fast around here. As the older Princesses have taken to playing the Wii, and the younger Prince and Princess have taken over old Birthday toys – I often forget to make sure everything has been turned off when they’re done playing. Whoops!  
    Really we only have 3 toys that I seem to constantly need batteries for (minus the Wii-motes), and it’s because over the years they have continued to bring joy to the kids, and I don’t find their sounds annoying. I seem to be replacing batteries almost weekly though – that’s just too much. 
    I kid you not, my brother and his wife are the BEST gift shoppers ever. All three of these were either Birthday or Christmas presents from them to my kids. 
    • The Learning Dog is our oldest and most loved battery operated toy, at 6 years old. He’s been through all 4 kids, and currently Prince L is attached. Just watch my Instagram Video of them. 
    • The Pirate Ship was a joint present to Princess V and C one Christmas about 5 years ago, and surprisingly has not fallen apart yet. It is the MAIN attraction to every kid that walks in this house.
    • Finally little glow bug, at only 2 years old, she is the cause of much screaming and yelling between Prince L and Princess R. With her calming glowing face, I may just need to invest in a second one this Christmas. She was a gift to Princess R after Prince L was born. 

    I remember as a kid watching commercials with the Energizer Bunny, and he just kept going and going and going. Did anyone else ever want to test out the batteries in their own little Energizer Bunny and see just how long they would go?  Energizer Max batteries will hold power for up to 10 years (or so they say). I think I’ve found my test subject. Learning Dog will be sporting his new power for many years to come.
    Don’t forget the batteries this Christmas!