Little Miss Type A

Spy Party Planning

2015-10-17T23:53:00.003-04:00

My younger son decided he wanted a spy themed party to ring in his 6th birthday. I always love his clever ideas! I searched Pinterest for some ideas and here's the invite I just created.

I made the text of the invite with all the details on my Silhouette Cameo and printed them. Then I used this Martha Stewart link to print the Red Squiggle Design Template as the overlay to make it a "secret message". I printed over top of the already printed pages and then turned the pages and printed once more to add more squiggles. I thought simple manila envelopes with a "Top Secret" stamp added an extra element of spy theme and were easy to find on Amazon.

I created a "secret decoder" using a magnifying glass design on my Silhouette and cut on black cardstock. I found red cellphone sheets on Amazon here and cut circles also using my Silhouette...man, I love that machine! I then just glued the circles on the back of each magnifying glass using a thin glue gun. Now each child (and parent) can decode the secret party invitation message using their secret decoder!

Super simple and turned out oh so cute!

Wipeout Party

2015-07-20T18:43:00.001-04:00

We hosted a Wipeout themed birthday party for my son's 8th birthday and it was a huge hit! All 26 party guests had SUCH a great time slipping, sliding, and wiping out!

The Course

We had a total of 10 obstacles. Each guest completed the whole course a number of times and then went on to spend time on some of their favorite obstacles. This helped to keep everyone entertained for well over 2 hours.

Our obstacles were:

Foam Dive:

Slippery Slope:

Zig Zag:

Zip Line:

Big Red Balls:

Wrecking Ball:

Sucker Punch:

Sweeper Arm:

Face It:

Drop Zone:

More Party Stuff

Cake:

Party Favors:

Gumball filled treat bags to resemble the Big Red Balls obstacle

"Medals" for finishing the course

Neon wayfarer sunglasses, personalized for each guest

Obstacle Signs:

Laminated signs for each obstacle along the course

***Link to printable coming soon***

Snacks:

Individual popcorn bags

Snowcones with flavors for kids to choose from

Party Prep

Foam Dive - We happen to have a Little Tykes inflatable bounce house already, so I definitely wanted to put it to use. We filled the bounce house with about 7 cans of unscented shaving cream that I purchased from Dollar Tree. We chose to start the course off with this as the kids would climb in the back of the bounce house and go down the slide in order to give them a start down the "Slippery Slope" slip & slide.

Slippery Slope - I created this fun slip & slide using 50 ft of plastic sheeting from Lowe's, foam pool noodles, 2 inflatable rafts from 5 Below, and lots of tear free baby shampoo.

I used the foam pool noodles on the sides of the sheeting to both keep the kids from sliding off the plastic as well as keep the water on. I found instructions for how to easily make a pocket running along the sides on this site. He uses Velcro pieces to attach the sheeting which I did at first too, but I then decided to make things easier and just use duct tape and it worked just as well. So if you want to save a couple bucks, skip buying the Velcro and just follow his instructions using duct tape instead.

I thought it would be best to have a soft landing pad for the kids to end on vs just sliding onto the grass. I immediately thought a water blob would be perfect. As I've done before, I tried to make one, this time using an ironing method to seal the seams vs the usual duct tape. Instead of the seams leaking this time though, they just bust open in spots and my frustration level grew with each hole. The next day I was shopping at 5 Below and had one of those brilliant "Aha!" moments. I purchased 2 inflatable pool rafts and filled them with water using the nozzle hose attachment that I use to fill water balloons. It worked like a charm! These new water blobs are SO much easier, leak free, and WAY more portable than the water blobs you see on Pinterest.

As you can see from the picture, the rafts have partition seams running down them. When I noticed the first section getting too full of water, I just applied pressure with my hand at the bottom to help the water spread into the next section. Be sure to do that periodically to avoid over filling and bursting the seams.

This slip & slide was a HUGE hit among the kids and may have also been enjoyed by my sister-in-law the night before during set up as well.

Zig Zag - I used about 20 or so pool noodles for this and it turned out super fun! They're $1 each pretty much everywhere except for Michaels, where they cost $1.99 for some reason, but watch for them to go on sale and then use a coupon. I ended up paying only about )".60 each for them that way.

The kids loved running through it and getting whacked by all the noodles. The set up is super easy and quick using thin stakes of some sort. I happen to have an abundance of bamboo in my backyard so I decided to use it to my advantage. I just cut the stalks for stakes that were about 8" each. I hammered them into the ground halfway using a rubber mallet with each stake being about 6"- 8" apart. Then I just slid the pool noodles right onto the stakes. It was as simple as that! Super fun obstacle and looked pretty cool too!

Zip Line - I installed our zip line a few summers ago and it's always so exciting for everyone, so I definitely wanted to incorporate it into our Wipeout course. To switch things up a bit, I just added a bucket of water next to it with some foam water sprayers so that the kids could spray the person zipping down. Extra giggles!

Big Red Balls - For this part of the course, I used a large rectangular inflatable pool, 3 red ball hoppers from 5 Below, and 3 old tires. I've seen the other pins on Pinterest where people have this set up just on the ground, but that seemed extraordinarily dangerous to me as the kids are meant to slip and fall off the balls. So in order to protect them a little more (and homeowner's policy), I set this up in a pool of water where the kids would then have a cushioned fall.

The old tires are good for sitting the hopper balls in (handle side down) to keep them from moving all around. The ideal size tires would be motorcycle tires, but I was unable to locate any, so I just used 3 tires I had from a previous Army party.

Once I added the water to the pool, I found that the tires sunk as expected, however the balls began to float all around since they weren't a perfect fit in the tires. To combat this, I folded a piece of duct tape in half width wise (so that it stuck together) and extended it across the length of the bottom of the tire. I then used a staple gun to staple the one end of the duct tape onto the bottom of the tire. Next I arranged the hopper ball in the tore, again with the handle side at the bottom, and slid the duct tape through the handle. Then I just staple gunned the other end of the tape to the other side of the tire.

Although rudimentary, this crazy solution worked perfectly to keep the balls in place and not floating around the pool. Please make sure all staples are VERY securely in the tire so they don't slip out and cut a child's foot!

After filling our pool with water, I happen to come across a large stockpile of Squishy Baff in our linen closet that I hoarded when I found it at the Dollar Tree one day.

If you don't know what this stuff is, check it out! It's ridiculously gross and creepy, but SO much fun at the same time. Another Aha! moment! What if, instead of water, we filled the pool with Squishy Baff?!?! Unfortunately, this stuff needs warm water to activate and the Big Red Ball pool was all the way in the back of my backyard. But, I had already proposed the idea to my son, so there was no turning back. This meant filling lots and lots of 10 gallon tubs with warm water in my kitchen sink and then hauling them down to the pool. At least I got my workout!

All was worth it though for this AWESOME gooey pit though!! Most of the party guests had never seen the stuff before, so they were completely enamored and were more than happy to fall of the balls into this fun goop!

Ring-A-Ding - Another super easy set up! Just fill a large rectangular inflatable pool with water and use 3 inflatable inner tubes (I also purchased from Five Below). Have the kids try to slide through all 3 and out to the other side of the pool. Surprisingly to me, this proved to be more challenging than I expected for most kids, but they all enjoyed getting "stuck" inside!

Sucker Punch - This was a course favorite for sure! I wracked my brain as to how I could create sucker punch obstacle without building a giant wall until I finally came up with a ridiculously easy set up. I used a big plain white poster sheet, a poster marker, scissors, some string, a 2 x 4 piece of wood, a couple bricks, and (my favorite part) Socker Boppers.

To make the "wall" (the banner), I first inflated a Socker Bopper to be able to cut the correct size holes. I laid the banner on the floor and traces around the Socker Bopper where I wanted my howls to go. I then cut the holes out and then wrote on it with my banner marker. I strung the banner tought between 2 trees, flush with the ground. In front of it is where I set up the 2 x 4 piece of wood. I used the bricks to slightly elevate it in order to create more of a balance beam.

The kids laughed hysterically as they hid behind the sign, trying to punch their friends off of the wood with the Socker Boppers. To my surprise, no side shenanigans broke out with the Socker Boppers...I secretly patted myself on the back for creating an environment so fun that 8 year old boys didn't even feel the urge to punch one another when given the opportunity. Haha!

Face It - I also saw this obstacle on other Pinterest pins and adores it, but the set ups were so elaborate. As always, I wanted an easier way! I looked around my yard to see what I already had available to me that would allow me to suspend water filled balloons from. Duh! The deck!

I filled regular balloons with water about 1/3 of the way full...these got HEAVY! I measures the length from the floorboards of the deck to where I wanted the balloons to hang and then doubled that length for each piece of string. Folded in half, I threaded each end of the string down the sides of one plank so that it looked like this from on top of the deck:

Underneath the deck, I pulled each end down and tied the balloon onto the two ends together to the approximate height in which it would smack the kids in the head. Don't worry, despite the weight of the balloons, I personally tested smacking myself in the head and face (which was a treat) and it did not hurt at all. I strung the balloons in rows about 12" apart, leaving 1 deck plank between each balloon. I only ended up hanging about 7 balloons because, at this point of the party prep, it was about 5am and my body was getting exhausted. I'd recommend more of possible, but if you're exhausted at this point, 7 balloons was still a good amount for the kids to love getting bopped with over and over.

Drop Zone - If it's in the budget, an inflatable water slide rental is absolutely guaranteed to entertain all of your party guests for hours upon hours. Obviously prices will vary, but I rented ours for $300 for a guaranteed 4 hour time window just to give you an idea of cost. The company actually arrived 3 hours earlier than I reserved for and my 2 boys played on it the ENTIRE time leading up to the party and the ENTIRE time after the party until they literally drug it away from under their feet. I believe my younger son was still actually on it when they began dragging it away, lol! THAT'S how much fun it is!

Quick note for prepping for a slide rental: Be sure to ask for the exact inflated dimensions when you reserve so that you can plan out a spot in your yard where it will fit prior to setting up the other obstacles.

Cake - This was honestly the easiest and quickest cake I've ever decorated. For convenience I pre-ordered a cake a my local grocery store. I asked for it to be plain white, with no decorations or borders, and smooth edges. I picked it up the morning of the party and it was absolutely perfect...plain and simple as can be!

The night before the party, I made some red and blue fondant with this super easy candy melt recipe It literally took me less than 15 minutes to make and roll it out! I then just cut out the letters and made a freestyle water splash with a butter knife. I stored all these pieces in a cool, dry cubbard until the morning.

After I picked up the cake the morning of the party, I just transferred all the pre-cut fondant pieces onto the plain cake, using a tiny bit of water on the back of each to make them stick. For the big red balls, I just added some of my extra gumballs from the favor treat bags to the tops of golf tees, attaching each with a glue dot, and inserted them right into the cake. (Note: I would typically recommend using icing as a glue, but I figured the glue dot would hold better and the golf tees aren't edible, so it was fine.)

Voila! A beautiful cake that took minutes to decorate and looks like you had it custom made for you!

Signs - Totally unnecessary but certainly added to the visual element of the party! I created these on my computer and then laminated them as I knew they'd be getting wet. I affixed then to stakes using a staple gun and then just hammered them into the ground at each obstacle.

Printable versions of the signs will be made available soon! I'll link that when available.

Popcorn - Another hit among the kids and a little different than the usual bowl of chips. I purchased some big bags of pre-made popcorn at the grocery store just to give myself one less thing to do. I filled each of these individual popcorn bags, folded closed, and stapled shut. Easy as can be!

Snow cones - These were such a refreshing treat for the kids on a hot summer day! They were super simple to make ahead of time too!

I used my Ninja blender to make "snow" the day before the party. I then filled each paper cone with the snow, using my hand to mold the rounded top. They do harden after they've been re-frozen, so expect more of a hard, ice cream truck snow cone come party time vs the shaved ice snow version you first stuck in the freezer. I also found awesome recipes on Pinterest for making snow cone flavors using jello! So much cheaper than purchasing bottled flavor! I made 4 flavors ahead of time, let them cool, poured them in my squirt bottles and refrigerated. Come party time, everything was ready to go to surprise all the guests! They all loved being able to choose their own flavors and mix them all up!

More Pics From The Party:

...and my favorite picture of all, a very happy birthday boy!

Happy party planning and wishing you all an absolutely wonderful and memorable event!

Make an Easier and Stronger Water Blob!

2015-07-17T12:55:00.001-04:00

If you've seen the posts all over Pinterest for how to make a water blob, perhaps you've had the (mis)fortune of trying to make one yourself. They always seem to leak somewhere or pop, and then there's the issue of being so incredibly heavy that they're practically unable to be moved.

I needed to make a landing spot for a long water slide I made for my son's party using plastic sheeting (now that's genius!) and after many failed attempts, I became incredibly frustrated. While perusing at 5 Below, I came across a cheap inflatable plastic raft and had an "Aha! moment"!

I brought my 2 new inflatable rafts home and immediately tested them out. Absolutely genius! It worked like a charm!

Simply screw on a water balloon attachment to your hose to fit into the inflation valve and start filling up! The rafts I purchased had partition seams down the raft. When I noticed the first partition getting too full, I just applied some pressure with my hand to the bottom where the water could then spread easily into the next partition. Be sure to do that periodically to avoid over-inflating the seams. Within a few minutes you'll have your new stronger, easier to move water blob!

Wipeout Party Favors with FREE Printable Treat Bag Topper

2015-07-16T00:24:00.003-04:00

I asked my son, Connor, what kind of party he'd like for his big 8th birthday. After taking some time to think about it, he finally made a decision and excitedly told me he wanted a Wipeout party. What a great idea! I l absolutely love the unique ideas he comes up with each year!

Connor and I have now been eagerly party planning for about 3 weeks now and we're down to the week of his party...crunch time! After a long day of Wipeout Zone obstacle building, I've resided to my computer to begin creating some signs as well as a treat bag topper for the goody bags.

He and I decided the goody bags will each consist of a mini water squirter, personalized neon sunglasses, and these little bags of cherry flavored gumballs, reminiscent of the Big Red Balls obstacle.

I figured I'd take a few extra minutes while I had them to upload these printable bag toppers and share. I have left a blank space for you to add in your own personalized text through Word or whatever editing program you'd like. I found the lowest price for these 1" gumballs here. It estimates approximately 55 gumballs per pound, if that helps you calculate how many pounds you'll need to order.

Please note: These printables are designed to fit these small treat bags, measuring 3"W x 4"H.

Free printables can be found here:

PDF Version and Silhouette User Version

I hope these help with your planning and wishing you a most memorable party!

An Elf on the Shelf Proposal

2014-12-07T22:03:00.001-05:00

What a momentous night for our little elves, lol!!

An Army Themed Birthday!

2014-09-29T13:58:00.000-04:00

Here's a little recap of my son's Army themes 7th birthday party we held at our house. It was an absolute blast for all of the guests and most certainly for the birthday boy!

Each guest became a new recruit as they arrived at the party. They were issued dog tags, a helmet, had their face painted camouflage, and were ordered to complete the obstacle course. The obstacle course was a complete hit and filled the bulk of the time of the party as the kids all wanted to do many of the challenges multiple times.

Pics from the obstacle course:

All of the kids LOVED the cardboard camouflaged tank we made. They all enjoyed going inside it and especially shooting various things through the turret!

Face Painting:

Lunch was served in true Army fashion: MRE's!

Instead of the usual cake/cupcakes, we decided to stick fully to the Army theme for the cake. Each guest received a "cake in a can" cake ration in their MRE. These were an absolute hit with the kids!

The party favors each child received upon visiting the "Out Processing" table before leaving the party. Each child received a "Basic Training" certificate of completion and were promoted to the rank of Private First Class:

A very happy mother and son celebrating his special day:

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Party

2014-05-17T23:01:00.001-04:00

I thought I'd take a minute to finally post a few pictures from my son's TMNT party that we had WAY back in October (yes, that's how sporadically I blog). I thought I could give some of you planners out there a few ideas for your upcoming party. Enjoy!

A few of the decorations:

Some of the games and activities:

(Knock out Shredder)

(Dig for prizes)

(Pizza frisbee toss)

(Make your own nunchucks)

Cupcakes:

Water:

Goody Bags:

Washing Easter Eggs

2014-04-22T12:15:00.001-04:00

I don't know about your Easter eggs, but after being hidden outside and then manhandled by my kid's candy-laden hands, our plastic Easter eggs get NASTY! I save the eggs year after year and some get filled with jokes, some get filled with money, but some get filled with candy...and I don't want that unwrapped candy touching those nasty eggs, especially perhaps the ones that have perhaps been filled with the world's filthiest item...MONEY!

Having the work smarter not harder philosophy, I figured out the easiest way to wash our Easter eggs...in the washing machine! My sister asked me why not the dishwasher, but I figured the washing mashine would be best for two reasons. One, I thought the eggs might fall through the racks and melt on the washer coils. Two, if you put them in a mesh bag to prevent this, they nest together. The spinning of a washing machine will be sure to slosh them around and ensure all the eggs get washed.

I purchased a mesh laundry bag at the dollar store (my favorite place on earth), put all of the opened eggs inside, and knotted the end so it wouldn't come open. I set the water on warm (I figured hot might ruin some of the paint on the eggs) and set it on the gentle cycle).

All the eggs came out perfectly clean with all the candy goo and dirt washed off!

I then laid out a large towel and spread out the eggs so they could dry....you want to make sure you don't store anything even the slightest bit wet at all! It will destroy everything in your storage bin with mildew! I've learned that the hard way unfortunately!

Voilà! Perfectly clean eggs that are all set for filling next year...the EASY way!

Math game - Decomposing Numbers

2014-02-26T11:32:00.001-05:00

Here's a game I've created that you can easily make at home with just index cards and 2 dice. My son and I play all the time and he LOVES it, but what he doesn't realize is that it's also a game that is great for practicing number decomposition.

Set out cards labeled 1-9. Roll 2 dice. Add the numbers of the dice together. Whatever the total of the die are, you must flip over cards in the same total in whatever variation works. For example, in this picture, I rolled 12 so I flipped over the 8 and 4. The goal of the game is to flip over as many cards as possible. Your turn ends when you roll a total in which you can not flip over any combination of cards that will amount to your rolled total. The numbers on your cards are then added up as points and then the next player begins their turn. The player with the least number of points wins.

My son and I will honestly play this over and over and play "winner of 5 rounds" or "first to 100 loses". It's a fantastic way to reinforce both addition as well as number decomposition in a fun and positive atmosphere.

Give it a try and let me know how it goes!

I'm A Plumber Too!

2014-01-18T22:23:00.001-05:00

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm all about efficiency. I absolutely LIVE by the motto "work smarter not harder". In doing so, I've created numerous ways to easily problem solve. One of my most favorite solutions I've come up with over the years is how to easily unclog a slow or clogged bathtub drain. My bathtub drain ALWAYS gets completely clogged due to having long, thin hair. I absolutely REFUSE to a) call a plumber or b) use Liquid Plumber (or any other variation of such). It barely works, but more importantly, it is 100% lethal if swallowed. Having 2 little ones in the house, I'm completely unwilling to take that risk. So, in my many attempts to unclog drains, I've figured out that a simple hemostat will completely unclog a drain that is filled with hair. If you don't know what a hemostat is, it's a metal pair of scissor looking things that are used by medical professionals to put in sutures. They have dull ends (unlike scissors) that have ridges for gripping and also have a locking handle so they don't open up and can maintain their grip while pulling. So, if you or someone you know works in a medical office, make sure to snag yourself a pair. Otherwise, you can purchase them on Amazon for a few dollars.

Take your hemostat, stick it down the drain, close it, and then pull up. You will be ASTONISHED at how much hair you pull up. Set the clump of nasty hair to the side and repeat the process until you can feel all the hair is gone. Use a paper towel to clean up all the hair that you pulled out and throw it away. Simple as that! Try not to get too depressed at how much hair you have lost in the shower, LOL! Anytime I see that my drain is draining water slowly, usually ever couple of months or so, I do this and it completely works like new again.

Try it out and leave a comment if it fixed your problematic drain! Good luck!

Elf on the Shelf Mischief

2013-12-05T12:06:00.001-05:00

We all love our elf on the shelf and there's nothing more fun and rewarding for our late night's of elf mischief than the smile and excitement on the faces of our children in the morning.

I'll be posting some of our silly elf shenanigans periodically to perhaps give you some new ideas.

The Adventures of Bailey and Chippie!

Our scout elves are back for the season!
They arrived through this little fairy door this year with
welcome note in hand!

The elves wrapped everything in the bathroom (mirror, toilet, soap, etc.) and were

caught with the scissors and ribbon in their hands.

Breakfast with their favorite scout elf!
I looked for a cute cereal box with a face on it, cut it out, and had the
elf popping through. They loved it!

Kids always love a scavenger hunt too! Create clues for them to search for throughout the house with the final clue leading to a small gift from your elf!

This next use may be my favorite in my 3 years of elfing...I found an elf hat, vest, and boots at Target in their $3 bins and it just came right to me. Sneak your elf costume into your room and quickly don your new apparel just before your kids wake up. Pretend to be sleeping when they come in to discover your new elf attire. When they "wake" you, you'll be completely mystified as to how you got such a silly costume on! I added a note to our elf's hand saying she had played a joke on Mommy just to add to the fun. My boys were in disbelief and could not stop laughing hysterically! What a great start to a morning!

Good morning! Wait, what happened?!?!

Elf Training

One tried to sneak into a present but fell in! The other just giggled :)

Rocketing away back to the North Pole!
I found these free printable rocket ship templates on this site.

They wanted to add their heights to our growth chart!

If Chippi has an aviator jacket & goggles, he certainly has to take Bailey on
a plane ride!

Shooting mini Nerf guns at their target

Playing Elf Twister
Free Mini Printable boards on this site.

Absolutely perfect for the evening of December 20th!

Credit to my friend, Kendall, for this one! Fore more days!

Minecraft elves with blocks and farm animals
(I think that's what happens in Minecraft, I never pay attention, lol!)
Free Printable elf block heads found here!

Camping and reading mini Spooky Elf Stories around a campfire

Stuck in a Slinky hanging from the ceiling fan

They have their eyes everywhere to watch for good behavior!

This one was super fun and, once again, my boys were left totally stunned! I set up a little mini elf "photo booth" and placed the kids' iPad next to it. When they awoke and looked on their iPad, it seems those silly elves had been taking selfies!

Elf Selfies!
For the life of me, I can't find where I found these
adorable photo booth props, my apologies! It was somewhere on Pinterest!

This set-up was found the morning we were flying out for a trip. The kids got very excited with the hint that the elves may be traveling with us!

Packing their suitcase...Bailey's simply won't close! Too many skirts! Chippie to the rescue!

With a little secret smuggling, they did make it to our hotel! Imagine that!
All cozied up for the night in the hand towels and washcloths for pillows.

And in case you've noticed our beautiful Bailey wearing an engagement ring in some of the pictures, this is how that began...

Chippie pops the question to Bailey!
She's been seen wearing her ring each night since the engagement,
so she must have said "Yes!"

They kids ALWAYS love it when the elves toilet paper the Christmas tree!

***As always, keep checking back for more fun ideas and happy elfing!***

Containing those stuffed monsters!

2013-11-13T14:51:00.001-05:00

Stuffed animals taking over your house? Here's a simple (and inexpensive) solution...purchase a bean bag chair cover (cover only). They sell them all sorts of places, I think I've seen them at WalMart for $10. I got our dragon at Ikea for $10. Then, instead of using the bean bag chair insert, fill with your child's stuffed animals! It contains them into one place AND doubles as a comfy place for them to sit in their bedroom! Voila! Problem solved!

I stuffed 27 stuffed animals in this dragon as it's only about half the size of a standard bean bag chair.

Helping a 6 Year Old's Self Esteem

2013-08-09T03:34:00.001-04:00

I was tucking my beautiful 6 year old into bed tonight and he said something that caught me off guard. He had just gotten a hair cut and he told me he liked his hair cut, but he didn't like his face. This devastated me. Every single day, I make it a point to tell him how handsome he is, how well mannered he is, how intelligent he is, how kind he is, how generous he is, how loving he is, how kind he is, and how he is just a perfect person both inside and out. Somehow though, something seeped through his young, impressionable mind and impacted his self esteem. It made him doubt everything I have ever taught him to believe about himself. I am so troubled by this. How could this low self esteem start so young when he comes from such a loving family?

I reached out to my family and friends on Facebook for some self esteem boosting and they came out in droves. I posted a picture of him and comment after comment was made about what a handsome young man he has become...even a few remarks of a resemblance to Justin Bieber (he'll LOVE those!). This outpouring of support to help my little boy stand a little taller filled my heart with joy that just can't be put into words. I cannot wait for him to wake up in the morning and see all of the wonderful comments. This is what we need all the time, not just when called upon. We need this encouragement and love from the world to be shown upon all of our children every single day to ensure they are walking with their heads held high. There's just no excuse for a child to be feeling any other way.

This was a huge wake up call to me this evening. I thought I was doing enough. I'm not though. I need to be doing more. I need to be doing whatever it takes to ensure my baby feels good about himself and can walk confidently through his school hallway when he faces others who may not be the kindest to him. He needs to KNOW he is an absolutely beautiful person on the inside AND outside and it does not matter what anyone else says, he is a courageous, intelligent, talented, strong little boy who had faced challenges in his life that no little boy should ever have to face and he has persevered and done so with humility and dignity and for that he is truly remarkable. I love him more than anything on the planet and my mission has always been to make sure he knows that. My new mission will be to make sure he loves himself as well.

Packing For the Beach

2013-08-08T22:17:00.001-04:00

Another beach trip is upon us and it's our 5th trip to be same location and I must say, I have now become somewhat of a pro at packing exactly what we need to ensure an amazing beach experience. Our first couple of trips didn't go quite as well and many trips to the local Target were made buying the things I either forgot or never would have imagined I would have needed. So, I've decided to compile a list of often overlooked items that you may find useful while packing for your upcoming trip. This list is intended to be used in conjunction with your typical list of beach items (towels, sunblock, sand toys, etc.).

Beach stuff:

-long handled fishing nets (trust me, your children will use these for HOURS trying to catch fish)

-pop up sun shelter tent

-rafts/inflatables

-electric inflator/deflator

-small beach cooler

-small freezer packs

-reusable water bottles

Stuff to do other than the beach:

-water squirters

-party tub (seriously, easiest fun ever...just fill the tub with water and give your kids the squirters. They'll keep refilling them in the tub and have a blast!)

-sparklers

-water balloons

-cards/games (great for when the kids new a little down time or if it's rainy out)

-s'mores stuff

-s'mores skewers (I found these awesome telescoping ones at the dollar bin at Target and I love them!)

First aid:

-waterproof bandages

-medicine (Tylenol/Motrin)

-thermometer

-tweezers (these come in handy for so many things, but if nothing else, just plucking the occasional stray eyebrow that's bound to pop up on vaca)

Other house stuff:

-liquid hand soap

-toilet paper (we always seem to run out of the rolls the house stocks for us)

-trash bags (again, we always run out of the provided ones)

-paper towels

-dishwasher detergent

-ziplock bags/Tupperware

-pop up hamper (this has revolutionized vacations for me! No more "living out of a suitcase" feel!)

-extension cord (because there's NEVER an outlet close enough to the bed to charge my phone at night)

-batteries

-scissors (sounds stupid but I've always needed them for one thing or another)

-barbecue lighter

-pen & paper

-plastic plates/cups/utensils (I try not to use these the entire week, but maybe one or two days...I am on vacation after all!)

-iHome/iDock

...and if you want to be super over-zealous, or have insomnia (or just want to procrastinate packing like I typically do), you can always plan to have a Minute to Win It night with your family. It is SO much fun!! The whole family will be cracking up, guaranteed! I have a whole Pinterest board you can check for great ideas here: http://pinterest.com/npbunting/minute-to-win-it/

I hope some of the things on here are helpful to you or perhaps jog your memory to pack something else. Most importantly though, I hope your family has an absolutely wonderful beach vacation filled with lots of love and laughter and memories made.

Surprising the Boys with a Disney Cruise!

2013-08-06T02:23:00.001-04:00

I never blog anymore, I just don't have time, or I forget, or I'm too lazy, or whatever the reason, but I wanted to about this. I recently booked a Disney Cruise for the boys and I wanted to think of a way to surprise them with it...surprise them big! So after some brainstorming, I hatched up a plan.

We often go geocaching in the local areas around us. For those of you who don't know what geocaching is, it's like a big treasure hunt game where you use your GPS to find "caches" that people have hidden in various places. It's so much fun! You have to try it if you haven't already! So, I decided to put together a box of Disney cruise "clues" and hide it in the woods while the boys were away. When they came home, I suggested that we go geocaching and they were all for it. I pulled out my phone and pretended to pull up the app that we use to navigate our way to local caches hidden. I got totally into it. "It says it's hidden near the river bank, under a tree, just beside a large rock." They were so excited.

My older son spotted it first and went running to it, where he then saw that our name was on it. He obviously knew something was up and quickly opened it.

Inside they found Mickey Mouse, an airplane, a cruise ship, an island, and a pirate telescope. They didn't quite understand. So I suggested that perhaps these were clues trying to tell them something. They still couldn't figure it out at first.

Then my older son got it...sort of. Lol! I FINALLY got to tell them the secret that I'd been keeping for what felt like forever! We were going to be taking a Disney cruise to the Bahamas!!! To be honest, their reaction was...anti-climactic. They were more concerned with peeing in the woods than with this ridiculously exciting news that I just shared with them, but they have become more and more excited with time and can't wait to go now. They're really looking forward to the pirate night on board the ship and Castaway Cay, Disney's private island.

All in all, this was a really fun way to surprise the kids with the trip and I'm so glad I did it! So, if you're looking for a creative way to surprise your kids, I definitely recommend geocaching!

Leprechaun Mischief

2012-03-17T01:41:00.001-04:00

My kids love more than anything waking up on St. Patrick's Day morning and seeing what kind of mischief the leprechauns have been up to. This year, they were up to their tricks again!

Theys stepped it up with the toilet shennanigans this year though...they left footprints on the toilet seat (washable paint) and will magically turn the water in the bowl green when flushed (I put food coloring in the tank).

They also pulled some clothes out of the boys' dressers and left leprechaun kisses on their cheeks (washable marker). Their most favorite part of St. Patrick's Day morning this year however, may be the trail of gold coins that leads them down to their surprise of Aunt Chele!

How To Make Jello Shots

2012-03-16T23:48:00.000-04:00

This post may seem to go against the grain a little as it doesn't fit into the mommy category that most of my other posts do, but if you know me at all, you'll know that I'm 1) a mom, 2) a party planner extraordinaire...in that order. I certainly didn't lose my ability to have fun when I became a mom, it's just a little more themed now! So, in preparation for my annual St. Patrick's Day party, I'm making some themed jello shots. For those of you who haven't made them since college, here's the recipe:

1) To make the shots a little firmer and easier to get out of the cup, I add 1 packet of unflavored Knox gelatin to the jello powder.

2) Add boiling water to the powder and stir for 2 minutes until completely dissolved. (Follow instructions on the box as to how much water)

3) Stir in cold vodka in place of the cold water (use the same amount). Note: I don't recommend using Belvedere, it's just unfortunately the only I happened to have on hand. Just use the cheap stuff.

4) Pour into individual cups and refridgerate for at least 4 hours. Helpful hint: Put your cups onto a cookie sheet to make it easier to transport them to and from the fridge.

Enjoy! Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Best Non-Stick Baking Spray...Hands Down!

2012-03-16T14:53:00.003-04:00

This is by far the best non-stick spray for use when baking. Wilton Bake Easy! Sold at Michaels. Works perfectly and doesn't leave a coating on your pans. Just thought I'd share in case you haven't already discovered it.

Magical Golden Stones and Rainbow Fruit Platter

2012-03-15T20:42:00.003-04:00

A friend and I are hosting the St. Patrick's Day party at my son's preschool tomorrow and I'm so ridiculously excited. I love, love, love doing the school parties. What could be better than holiday themed crafts???

I made these "Magical Golen Stones" for all the kids' goodie bags. They were super easy to make...Just took some river rocks that I had at home and spray painted them with metallic gold spray paint. Sprayed one side, let it dry, then sprayed the other side. Once dried, I used a paint pen to draw on them. I would have liked to have sprayed them again with a clear coat to better seal the clover and writing on them, but I totally ran out of time. They turned out great though!

For the snack, I made this rainbow fruit platter with little pots of gold on the bottom. I gt the pots at Michaels and filled them with Rolos for the gold. For the fruit, in case you can't see it, I used strawberries, clementines, pineapples, kiwis, blueberries, and grapes. All have a good shelf life so you can easily make this the night before and not have to worry about anything browning overnight.

Apps That Pay You!

2012-03-13T22:36:00.000-04:00

My iPhone has become my completely indispensible little sidekick. It does just about everything and I love it. Did you know though, that you can now use it to make money and get free stuff? It's true! Now, it's not going to make you a millionaire or anything, but you can earn money just by going to your regular stores or doing small tasks. Here's a list of a few I've found:

Field Agent
With this app, you get paid to complete small tasks. It uses your location to find jobs near you. A typical job would be to go into a specific store, find a certain product, and take a picture of it. Most jobs pay about $6. When you complete the job you get paid. You can cash out at any time and get the money sent to you PayPal account.

CheckPoints
This app provides a list of stores close to your location and has you check-in to the store and scan specific products. There's a couple of other ways you can earn points too. Points add up and can be redeemed for gift cards or other products. Use the bonus code "npbunting" when registering for extra points.

WeReward (requires iOS 4.3 on the iPhone)
This app pays you to check-in to locations and take a picture or perform task. You can turn your points into cash on PayPal. (I don't know all too much about this particular app because I haven't updated my phone to iOS 4.3 yet).

shopkick
Earn kickbucks by turning on the app and walking into a store on their list. Most automatically check you in that easily! Kickbucks can be turned into gift certificates.

Pepsi Loot
Use this app to check-in to places that sell Pepsi products (restaurants) and get codes to download free music.

OpenTable
With this app, you can make free restaurant reservations and earn Dining Rewards Points redeemable for Dining Chequest good at any OpenTable restaurant.

Gigwalk
You use your camera with this app to verify things and perform Gigs. Pays pretty decent, like $4 per Gig, but most are in major cities (Washington, DC not being one of them).

AppRewards
This one is really time consuming, but it's easy. Basically you use this app to try out and review other iPhone apps. Most apps are only worth 10 points and you need 3,500 for a $10 PayPal credit, but again, it's easy.

Viggle
You earn gift cards with this app by watching TV on your phone. You can also earn points by watching commercials, playing trivia games, training tutorials, and referrals.

Surveys On The Go
Just what it sounds like, you complete surveys to earn money.

The Dreaded Safeway Just Got A Little Better

2012-03-13T10:30:00.000-04:00

If you follow me on facebook or twitter (@npbunting), or if you just have ever been to my local store, you know just how much I despise going to Safeway. Sorry to call you out again, Safeway, but I've called your customer service number before and made my complaint and things just don't get better. Despite the ridiculous lines and cashiers that insist on talking so long that time just crawls, I continue to shop there because the prices are just better. Somewhere in his conversation with me this morning, however, the cashier managed to make Safeway just a little bit better...Apparently you can log on to safeway.com and register coupons on your club card! More coupons for me?! Excellent!

1) Go to http://www.safeway.com/
2) Click on the "Just for U" button on the top left
3) Register for a new account and add your club card number
4) Go through the online coupons and add the ones you want!

I'm so excited about this!

Going Organic: What's Necessary, What Can Save You Money

2012-03-12T10:04:00.001-04:00

As parents, we all want what's best for our children. I'm sure in a perfect world, we all would feed our children organic everything, they'd all eat their 5 fruits and vegetables a day, they'd have the perfect playdates, and they'd mind their manners perfectly. In reality though, there's a multitude of reasons why we can't control everything, so we learn to pick our battles. One of the ongoing Mommy battles is the decision whether or not to go organic. The pressure from other parents is ridiculous. I will forever be trying to understand why, as parents, we can't all just support one another and realize that we're doing the best we can for our family given our specific circumstances. Regardless, one way in which I've managed to balance the desire to feed my children healthily vs. what's best for our budget, is by following the "Dirty Dozen/Clean 15" lists. I actually printed out the lists on a small piece of paper and keep it in my wallet for when I'm grocery shopping. Here it is for you:

Not on the list, but often discussed, is bananas. I've heard that the skin is too thick for pesticides to get into, but that's just been word of mouth. A quick google search (my best friend), told me that chemicals used are able to leach into the soil and therefore even after peeling the banana, small amounts of the chemicals may be ingested. However, bananas are on the list that have the lowest pesticide residue. Here's a article that helped: http://www.fitsugar.com/Bananas-Organic-vs-Conventional-1568020

Hope that list helps you and your pocketbook out, and be confident in yourself that you are making the best decisions for your family that you can based on your unique dynamic.

Create faux crown moulding or enhance your existant moulding!

2012-03-10T11:25:00.003-05:00

When I moved into my house, I thought my downstairs had the most beautiful crown moulding. I was here at least 6 months before someone pointed out to me that it was faux. Am I really that non-observant? Upon closer look, I realized that my friend was correct. Here's what it looks like.

How to do it yourself:

Hang a piece of traditional 3 1/2" crown moulding flush with the ceiling. Approximately 2"-2 1/2" below, hang a piece of 1" moulding. Then paint both pieces of moulding, along with the space in between, the same color. This gives the illusion of beautiful, high-end crown moulding!

Here's a site that gives you great step-by-step instructions and tools you'll need:

http://www.hgtv.com/home-improvement/how-to-create-faux-crown-molding/index.html

Lazy way to iron a hem, cuff, collar, or pillowcase!

2012-03-08T21:43:00.000-05:00

If you're anything like me, you dread pulling out the iron and ironing board, finding a place close enough to the outlet to set it up, making sure no kid pulls on the cord, ironing, making sure it's turned off, waiting for it to cool down, then struggling with that little lever thing to shut the darn thing up. I live by the phrase "Work smarter, not harder" so I've come up with another solution to quick little ironing jobs like the hem of your pants, cuffs, collars, or the folds in the pillowcase hem (how do those even get there in the first place?). A straightening iron! Heats up quickly and works perfectly!

Magic diaper cream

2012-03-07T23:25:00.001-05:00

Tackling a major diaper rash right now so I thought I'd post it. This is the best diaper cream recipe out there.

1 part Desitin original (purple tube)
1 part corn starch
1 part Maalox (or milk of magnesium)

Mix together and apply.