One of the best things about summer is spending a warm evening on the back deck, with cheeseburgers and hot dogs cooking on the grill, friends gathered around the big table on our deck, enjoying a summer cocktail or a tall glass of lemonade while all of the kids play baseball and soccer in the backyard. Sounds perfect doesn’t it? (So then why the heck do people schedule soccer tournaments on holiday weekends?)  So aside from the husband and older child spending part of the weekend out of town….. here are 5 ways to make the most of your Memorial Day Weekend Backyard BBQ!

#1: Mix Up A Signature Cocktail

My favorite summer beverage is a freshly made margarita served on the rocks with salt. It is tangy, it is cooling, and it is just SO good. Take the time to make your own sweet and sour mix….. you’ll thank me later.

#2: Add a Little “Zip” to Your Burgers

Here’s a trick that my mom taught me many years ago…. add a little bit of dry onion soup mix to your raw hamburger before forming it into patties. It adds so much flavor! And be sure to serve your burger on a deliciously soft bun- my absolute favorite is Kings Hawaiian hamburger buns!

#3 Mix Up Some Homemade Bubbles!

Last week I featured this recipe for homemade bubbles over at Org Junkie. It contains just three simple ingredients and makes the best bubbles your kids have ever played with!

#4 Make the Deck Festive

Add a bright tablecloth or plastic table roll, a few candles, and make sure you have some sort of shade!

#5 Play Some Summer Music

At my house there’s nothing like Jimmy Buffett on the back desk to announce the official start of the summer season!

I hope you and your family have a fabulous Memorial Day weekend full of relaxation, good food, and of course remembering those who gave so much so that we have the freedom to enjoy all of this.

King’s Hawaiian® wants to know how you bring people together.  Reply below for a chance to win a $200 gift card!  Sweepstakes Rules.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Kings Hawaiian. The opinions and text are all mine.

The post Bringing People Together for Backyard BBQs! appeared first on MomOf6.

Sorry for the shy-sounding title…. but if I call this post “How to Talk to Your Kids About S*x” then the Viagra spammers will have a field day attacking this post…..

So- how DO you talk to your kids about where babies come from, explain why boys’ private parts are different from girls’, and everything else that goes along with the “birds and bees” discussion? Even if you take the “you can always ask me anything” route as a parent, call body parts by their correct names since toddlerhood, and regularly talk about private parts and keeping them private…. the day is going to come along when either your kids ask for more details…. or….

You get the note home from school telling you that the middle school health teachers will be visiting the 5th grade classrooms this week to have “The Talk”. (Not that anyone that I know would ever wait that long to make sure their kids had a handle on the whole reproduction and puberty thing…… just sayin’).

But sometimes getting the conversation started can be tricky. And then remembering everything that you need to cover can be even trickier. Because you’re old now and forgot half of what they told you way back in health class all those years ago. And for goodness sakes- you’re a Mom- what do you know about penises and stuff like that? I mean first-hand knowledge of penises….. (what? Oh never mind!)

Anyway- sometimes it helps to have a manual. A guidebook of sorts of what you need to cover, what all the right terms are, not to mention pictures and stuff that are age-appropriate (DON’T Google “vagina” with your kids in the room…..  just don’t!) Which is why I am telling you about this book series called “It’s Not the Stork”!

There are three different books that aim to deliver age-appropriate information on the birds and the bees to kids. In a way that they can understand, and that parents can guide them through. The first book is listed as appropriate for ages 4 and up, the second book is for ages 7 and up, and the third book is geared towards ages 10 and up. But I have to say….. those guidelines (in my opinion) were made by some some uber-liberal nudist living in some free-range community somewhere…. because I have to say that I don’t agree with those recommendations. I guess it’s just the small-town Midwestern girl in me…. but I think the 4 year old book is better for 8-9 year olds and the 7 year old book is perfect for say- a 5th grader who is just now learning about reproduction. And the 10 year old book is just perfect for handing to your kid  before he/she heads off to college (just kidding…. kind of).

Here- I’ll give you a peek into each book and you can decide for yourself….

It’s Not the Stork! (for ages 4 and up) provides a great understanding of boys vs girls body parts- both internal and external- explaining proper names for everything and the basics of how everything works. It describes baby making as a “special kind of loving where the man and woman get so close to each other than the man’s penis goes inside the woman’s vagina”. It covers the meeting of the sperm and the egg, and the growing baby inside of the womb. It covers childbirth explaining how the muscles of the uterus push the baby out of the mommy’s vagina. And it ends by talking about “okay touches and not okay touches”. Overall this is a great book that explains all of the basics.

It’s So Amazing! (for ages 7 and up) takes all of this information a step further by providing more details on how everything works. When it comes to the section on intercourse it uses the same description as in the first book- but also explains that “grownups also make love when they are not planning to make a baby because it can feel so good to be so close to each other.” And it reminds readers that raising a baby takes a lot of time and work, which is why it makes good sense for people to wait to have a baby until they have had time to grow up first.

This book also spends time explaining love- love among family members and friends, love between grown ups, and even homosexual love. When the book covers pregnancy, it also explains what miscarriage and abortion are. It covers genes and chromosomes and it also does a good job of explaining how families are formed through adoption as well- which is important to me. The end of the book also talks about HIV and AIDS. All in all a very thorough and extremely informative book for kids who are learning about reproduction and puberty.

It’s Perfectly Normal (for ages 10 and up) covers everything in “It’s So Amazing” as well as goes into depth on the topics of sexual desire, puberty, changing bodies and changing feelings, and masturbation. It covers decisions such as abstinence, birth control, and abortion. It talks about sexual abuse, STDs, and staying safe from predators online. In short- it covers everything!

I have found these three books to be very helpful for me to explain the birds and the bees to my kids- and I hope that they can help you too! (Please note that the links to the books above are all Amazon affiliate links). But you have to buy the ones(s) the agree with what you want to share with your kids and that fit into your own personal belief structure.

Do you have any suggestions on talking with your kid about sex? Leave a comment and share!

The post How To Talk to Your Kids About “The Birds and The Bees” appeared first on MomOf6.

As I might have mentioned here once or twice (okay… a dozen times) before, I have been following Dr Ian Smith’s “Shred” diet since returning home from a very decadent spring break week with my family in Florida. Some weeks I have been more dedicated to following the details of the diet and exercise plan than others…. but one of the things that I have learned from this process is that I really need to re-think the way that I “snack”…. both in terms of how often to eat as well as what constitutes a good snack that will both satisfy my need to eat as well as hold me over until the next meal/snack time comes along!

Key to Success: 4 Small Meals and 3 Snacks a Day!

I know that I have heard this recommendation before, but this is the first time that I ever actually tried it. My meal/snack schedule looks like this:

8:30am- Breakfast (and this is my most substantial meal of the day)

10:00am- Snack 1

11:30am- Lunch

1:00pm- Snack 2

3:00pm- Mid-Day Meal

6:00pm- Dinner

8:00pm- Snack 3

Of course the best part is that it does feel as if you are either eating or approaching a time to eat all day long. The tough part is that each individual meal or snack is meant to be small- so you are never filling your tummy- it’s more like you are eating just to keep hunger at bay. And for me, that’s a whole new way of eating.

Snacks Should be 100-150 calories in Size!

And let me tell you…. that’s not a lot of calories to work with if you like donuts, cupcakes, and cookies! So I made it my mission to “stretch” those calories- and get the most taste, and most tummy-filling quantity for the lowest number of calories. The Shred book is packed with lots of ideas for 100- calorie and 150-calorie snacks, and I’ve rounded up a dozen of my favorite low calorie snacks here for you:

Starting from the top left and working around clockwise:

#1: 15 Kashi Wheat Thin crackers and a wedge of Laughing Cow cheese (approx. 150 calories)

#2: 3/4 cup of sliced strawberries and 2 Tablespoons fat-free Cool Whip (approx. 150 calories)

#3: 5 Turkey rollups and 2 teaspoons honey-mustard sauce (approx. 100 calories)

#4: 2 Graham crackers squares with a thin smear of peanut butter topped with a generous sprinkle of cinnamon (approx. 100 calories)

#5: 35 Whole Wheat Cheddar Goldfish crackers (approx. 100 calories)

#6: 1 cup of Cheerios (approx., 150 calories)

#7: 4 Nabisco Ginger Snap cookies (approx. 150 calories)

#8: 30 thin pretzel sticks and 2 teaspoons of fat-free cream cheese (approx. 100 calories)

#9: 2 tablespoons dry roasted peanuts mixed with 1 Tablespoon dried cranberries (approx. 100 calories)

#10: 1 small apple and 1 fat free string cheese stick (approx. 100 calories)

#11: Whole Wheat English Muffin Pizza- made with 1 tablespoon of sauce and 2 teaspoons of shredded mozzarella (approx 150 calories)

#12: 1 cup raspberries and 2 teaspoons fat-free yogurt (approx. 100 calories)

I asked Momof6 Facebook fans to share some of their favorite low-calories snacks today, and received these ideas:

Now it’s your turn! What’s your favorite low-calorie snack? Please leave a comment below!

The post 12 Awesome Low Calorie Snacks! appeared first on MomOf6.

Salads are a regular part of our menu plan, but when the weather warms up salads really take center stage at our dinner table! And this summer salad is made with fresh greens (you can use romaine, spinach, fancy leafy greens or any combination of the above!), a sprinkling of dried cherries, and a few slices of goat cheese is a family favorite. My kids love the tangy raspberry vinaigrette that take just a few minutes to whip up in the blender!

Tangy Raspberry Vinaigrette

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 cup raspberry vinegar (I used a raspberry white balsamic vinegar)

1/4 cup white sugar

2 teaspoons of dijon mustard

1/4 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper

pinch of oregano

Add all of this to your blender and blend for 30 seconds. (And I just had to show you this pic of my blender….. it used to be my grandparents! It’s has a very heavy base and a glass bowl and still works beautifully! My husband likes to say, “They just don’t make them like they used to!”)

*This post is linked up at OrgJunkie, Skip To My Lou, Today’s Creative Blog, Balancing Beauty & Bedlam, Not Just a Housewife, Family Home & Life

To stay up to date on the latest tips and ideas, please consider signing up to have Momof6 delivered daily to your email inbox!

The post Great Summer Salad with Tangy Raspberry Vinaigrette, Dried Cherries, & Goat Cheese! appeared first on MomOf6.

The weather is getting warmer, the pollen counts should be dropping soon, and I’ve installed our hummingbird feeders. Which means summer is just around the corner! And it all officially kicks off next weekend! So with that in mind, here are some ideas from around the web that are helping me get ready for summer!

Great Things to Eat:

I love raspberries. I love cheesecake. There is no doubt that I will love these raspberry swirl cheesecake bars from Bake at 350!

My family adores churros- but I am not a fan of serving anything fried up in a big batch of oil! So I am definitely going to try this recipe for baked churros from Heather’s French Press!

Great Ideas to Create:

I love this idea for making salt dough starfish and coral featured on Dollar Store Mom! I’ve got to find some time to make these!

And I want to put them with these DIY Sea Glass Vases created by Sand & Sisal. I adore sea glass- and these just embody that vibe!

This idea for a salt art jar from Dollar Store Mom would be so much fun to make with the kids!

I Am So Inspired!

Have you heard about Jen from Tatertots and Jello’s 1905 cottage project? You have to read this post about a blogger who fell in love with an old cottage near her home, saved up the money to buy it and is turning it into an incredible home makeover project / blog office! I am amazed!

*Please note that all photos featured here are the sole property of the blogger whose link is provided above, and are meant to show you how cool these ideas are!

And to stay up to date on the latest tips and ideas from Momof6, please Like the Momof6 Facebook page!

The post Great Ideas to Get Ready For Summer {Links to Love!} appeared first on MomOf6.

The iVoices share some of their stories of where they found ideas for unique baby names…. and I share where my son Spencer got his middle name… Clark!

Also- please come check out my post today over at OrgJunkie on how to create summer fun stations! I even include a great way to mix up homemade bubbles in a cool kid-spill-proof container!

The post How Did You Come Up With Your Baby’s Name? appeared first on MomOf6.

If you’re someone like me who likes to follow a lot of blogs, it can be a more than a little time-consuming and unwieldy to keep up what all of your favorite bloggers are up to! Subscribing to each one by e-mail and reading them each individually isn’t very efficient- not to mention it can absolutely bury your inbox! So in the past I’ve used Google Reader as a way to follow more than 150 bloggers that fall into many different categories- food blogs, craft blogs, travel blogs, organizing blogs, news blogs, political blogs, and so forth.

But in case you haven’t heard….Google Reader is on its way out the door now, with Google announcing that as of July 1 Google Reader will be no more.

So it was time to find a new way to keep up with all of the blogs that I love, and while doing a bit of research I learned about Feedly.com. And I can tell you that after only using it for about a week now- I love Feedly more than I ever loved Google Reader!

Feedly offers you several options to quickly scan your unread posts, but my favorite has to be this awesome “magazine format” that allows you to see visually the blog articles that you have yet to read. You can see all of your unread posts for all blogs that you follow, or you can select unread posts for a specific category of blogs (such as food blogs) or you can select one particular blog and just review the posts that you haven’t read yet from that blogger.

Let’s say that you’re intrigued by one of the posts- you can click on it to select it which will open another window that shows you the post’s feed. (Note: some bloggers only show partial posts in their feeds, while others- like me-  include the entire post). From here if you want to share the post by tweeting it, giving it a Google +1, or sharing it on your personal facebook page, you can do all of that right from within this window.

But let’s say that you want to pin the post to Pinterest or even leave a comment on the post…. simply select “preview” in the upper right hand corner, and it will open up the preview window where you can see the whole post as it appears on the blog, and you can enter your comment. And Feedly is really awesome because every single image in the preview window has a little “P” on it so you can pin any image right from this preview window. When you are done simply click close on the preview window and click the “X” on the feed window- and you’ll be back to your magazine style format.

How I Use Feedly

Generally I like to review my favorite blogs by category, so if I want to take a quick look at all of the recipes that my favorite cooking bloggers have published this week, I can do that easily in the magazine format. And once I scroll all the way through all of the articles that have been published recently and gone to the bottom of the list I can click the checkbox to show “mark as read”, and they will no longer appear in my feedly window.

I also like using the save feature on the bottom of each post when I am viewing it with the magazine format. I can scan a list of posts, click save on the ones I want to read in detail, and when I have time I can select “saved for later” and see just all of the posts that I saved. This is awesome for me to use when saving things that I want to share with Momof6 readers later- in my weekly “Links to Love” round up.

You can check out more tips on how to use Feedly here from their own blog. So if you like to read lots of blogs feedly might be a perfect solution for you…. check it out!

The post Do You Follow A Lot of Blogs? Then Check Out Feedly! {How to BE Organized!} appeared first on MomOf6.

I was selected for this opportunity and compensated by Kellogg’s Frosted Mini Wheats. The content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

When you have kids, some days are just bigger than others.

Like the day your youngest daughter decides that she’s brave enough to dive (not just jump!) off the high board at the her diving lesson.

Like the day that your older daughter’s horseback riding teacher tells her that it’s time to switch from riding a pony to riding on a big horse.

Like the day when your oldest son’s soccer team plays in the championship game for the state cup finals! Those are all some pretty big days!

Preparing for Your Child’s Big Day!

As a parent it’s really fun to get to support your children’s big days. You want to help them maintain their excitement level without allowing them to become overly nervous or anxious about what’s ahead. So allow your child to take the lead and decide how much they want to talk about their big day ahead.

Of course one of the best ways to start off any big day is with a healthy breakfast! A balanced meal is going to help your child feel full and have the energy they need to be successful on their big day. (And one bowl of Kellogg’s Frosted Mini Wheats cereal is packed with vitamins and nearly a day’s worth of whole grain to keep your kids full and focused for the big day ahead!)

As a parent it’s also hugely important that you’re right there on the “sidelines” cheering on your child for their big day. Have the camera batteries charged, and make sure that you’ve mastered that special technique of holding the video camera with one hand and the still camera with the other hand! Ideally while simultaneously e-mailing grandma a photo from your phone! You get the idea…. commemorate the moment!

Celebrating Your Child’s Big Day!

Another great way to celebrate a child’s big day is by sharing their story at the dinner table. At our house we have a nightly tradition at dinner that we call,  ”High, Low Hope” where each person around the table talks about the high part of their day, the low part of their day, and what they hope will happen the next day. The cool thing about this is that it allows the child that happened to have the “big day” a chance to tell his or her story, and it also allows everyone else at the table to celebrate whatever day they had as well. It helps to keep it in perspective we’re still one big family.

If you want to prepare your child’s big day, please check out Scholastic.com/PCBigDay!

The post The Joy of a Child’s Big Day! appeared first on MomOf6.

For the last several weeks I have been featuring this series here on Momof6 on how to create free digital scrapbooks using PicMonkey- my absolute favorite photo editing tool! So far we have covered:

• Why PicMonkey is a Great (and Free!) Solution and why I prefer it vs. creating a digital scrapbook at a photo printing website (such as Shutterfly).
• How to Use PicMonkey to Improve (Edit) Your Images
• Where to Find Great Free Digital Scrapbook Papers for Your PicMonkey Pages
• How to Assemble Your Digital Scrapbook Pages
• Adding Text to Your Digital Scrapbook Pages

and today we will cover Printing and Enjoying Your Digital Scrapbook!

Printing Your Digital Scrapbook Pages

There is nothing like handing someone a beautifully-bound hard cover scrapbook and watching them immerse themselves in enjoying the pictures, reading all of the details, and just basking in the glow of great family memories. So I will always, always order a hard-copy version of every digital scrapbook that I create. I keep them all on shelves in my office, arranged separately for each child, so they can easily go to their self that holds their treasured memories and enjoying looking at their books. So here are the steps that I take to print a hard copy version of my digital scrapbook from my favorite photo printing website: Shutterfly.

I typically will order a scrapbook only once per year, and a scrapbook covers an entire year’s worth of events for each child. But most importantly- Shutterfly has sales on their photo books all of the time- so never buy one at regular price! Wit until they are 40-50% off! To create your album, upload each digital scrapbook page to Shutterfly, just as you would pictures, and add them to a new album. Then head into the Shutterfly store, and go into the section where you can order an album. Select a “Custom Path” album, then select a Hard Cover album in the 12 x12 size. Next, select “Everyday” as the album type and then select the “Simply White album”. This will allow you to basically start with blank white pages for your album.

The next step will be to bring into the album all of the scrapbook pages you created (which you can easily do by selecting the album you uploaded them to, and then Select All). You’ll need to select an image for your album cover (I suggest a single image, not a scrapbook page) and then create a title for your book. You can then add each scrapbook page you created to a page of the album.

You can adjust how the scrapbook page looks in your album by the type of layout in-the left-hand column. Select this one to create a white border on each page.

Or select this layout to create border-less pages. (My personal preference!) Review your album carefully and then order your copy!

Enjoying Your Digital Scrapbooks on Your Devices

When I first started scrapbooking 12 years ago, I did everything on paper, as did most scrapbookers at the time. But then I also scanned in each scrapbook page so that I would have a “saved copy” on a disc, in case (God forbid) the house ever burned down and I lost all of my books. Later on, after my family started to own iPhones and iPads and iMac devices, I took out all of those saved images from those discs and imported them into iPhoto so that I can look at my scrapbooks on my devices anytime I want. And now we download each individual child’s scrapbooks to their i-Device and I have to tell you… my kids now look at their scrapbooks all of the time!

The process is really pretty simple. Import your scrapbook pages as images into iPhoto (File, Import to Library). Select the Event and create an Album for each scrapbook. You can then sync that album to your other devices! And enjoy viewing your digital scrapbooks anytime!

We Really Covered A Lot in These Last Few Weeks!

So to make it simple for you to create free digital scrapbook pages, I created a one-page “quick-tips” sheet that shows all of the steps involved in creating digital scrapbook pages. Simple click on the image below to print out the sheet, and you are ready to get scrappin’!

 I sincerely hope that you enjoyed this “Momof6 How-To” series- and that I’ve inspired you to try some digital scrapbooking!

The post Free Digital Scrapbooking Using PicMonkey {Part 6: Printing and Enjoying Your Book, and a Free Quick-Tips Printable!} appeared first on MomOf6.

When you have six kids and they participate in so many different after school activities, you spend a good deal of your time just playing “Mom–Chauffeur”. Now when the kids are younger- there’s really no dilemma at all. No matter which kid has soccer practice, swimming lessons. speech therapy, or a dentist appointment- all of the kids hop into the car too- holding clipboards that contain homework assignments, a book to read, or maybe even a Nintendo DS- and everyone’s going along for the ride.

But once your older kids hit middle-school-age, is it okay to leave them home alone and even put them in charge of “babysitting” the younger ones while you shuttle kids back and forth to activities?

I know way back in the “olden days”, I was already babysitting my neighbors 4 kids when I was just 12 years old! There were even twin babies involved so I think perhaps I was even called upon to change diapers. However, my mom was always home, just a mere three doors down from the house where I was babysitting, so if I were to run into any sort of problem- I had “backup” just moments away.

But somehow today it feels to me as if things are different, and I wrestle with this choice all of the time. It seems okay to leave kids at home if I’m just running to drop a child off at soccer practice at the local park which is less than 3 miles away, but is it still okay if I’m going to drive 20 miles away to a swimming lesson and stay there for 90 minutes? Okay for a 15-minute stop at the grocery store but not okay for an errand that might take an hour?

My dilemma is that there are really two schools of thought going on here.

The first one is that a little “free-range parenting” is a good thing. Allowing the kids to stay home alone and babysit their younger siblings teaches them responsibility, right? The kids feel grown up, and trusted, and learn that they can handle things on their own for a bit of time. My kids generally act pretty mature, follow our house rules, and have shown me that they can be trusted- so they have proven that they have earned this rite-of-passage, haven’t they?

On the other hand…

The natural-born-mom-worrier in me thinks of all of the things that could go wrong when they are home without adult supervision. What if someone decides to make microwave popcorn and puts it on for 30 minutes instead of 3 and catches the kitchen on fire? What if they lock themselves out of the house and can’t remember where I’ve hidden the spare key? What if some menacing stranger decides to pull into my driveway, break the door down and kidnap my children? See what an overly imaginative mind can do to a Mom’s good sense?

What do you think?

So those of you with kids that span both elementary and middle school ages, what do you think? I would love to hear your thoughts on this parenting dilemma -when is it okay to leave the kids home alone? How old do the older ones have to be to babysit the younger ones? And for how long can they be alone? And how far away do you venture when they have no adult supervision?  Please leave a comment and share your opinion!

The post Parenting Dilemma: Do You Drag Your Kids Along With You or Do You Leave Them Home Alone? appeared first on MomOf6.