Random Thoughts of a SUPERMOM!

Roadtrip Ready: Keep Them Busy Baskets

noreply@blogger.com (Kelli @ RTSM) — Wed, 30 May 2012 11:00:00 +0000

Hey guys! I'm Staci from lizard & ladybug. I am loving the Roadtrip Ready series that Kelli is having!! I'm thrilled she's having me today! I don't know about you but having 2 little ones (4 and 6) in the car for more than a Target run can be stressful. In the event we have to take a long trip, I've put together some baskets for each of them full of goodies to keep them quiet busy :)

I ran to Dollar Tree to pick up a few essentials. Baskets, lined paper, magnetic letters, flash cards and pizza pans. The pizza pans are magnetic and make the perfect 'board' to use the letters.

I also added some crayons and a crayon box.

I found these cool 'window' markers (anyone try them?) I thought the kids would get a kick out of writing on their windows.

The kids can draw, play with the letters, practice their math (lizard) and letters (ladybug) And if all else fails, I have candy :)

There you have it. My "Keep Them Busy Baskets".

Thanks for letting me visit & I hope you'll stop by my blog and say Hi!

Roadtrip Ready: Travel Bingo

noreply@blogger.com (Kelli @ RTSM) — Tue, 29 May 2012 21:59:00 +0000

Hello, everyone! My name is Amy, and my blogging home is Positively Splendid. It is my goal for my blog to be a haven of DIY and crafting inspiration where creative minds of all skill levels can come and feel right at home. I would love for you to stop in for a visit!I am thrilled to be a part of Kelli's Roadtrip Ready series! With summer upon and and roadtrips right around the corner, I have gotten so many fabulous ideas throughout the last few weeks for making all of those hours in the car a little more bearable. Today I am going to share a game I am planning to play with my kiddos during a roadtrip we have planned in a couple of weeks: Travel Bingo!

This bingo game is played exactly as you would traditional bingo. I recommend printing off a copy of each of the game boards below, and then having them laminated to make them sturdy.

To play, as you travel to your destination, kids keep an eye out for all of the items on their respective card that they see along the way: trucks, trains, cows, horses and many more. When an item on a card is spotted, have dry erase crayons or makers on hand so they can mark off the spaces as they go. The first one to get a Bingo can be awarded a special treat. Or, to make the game last even longer, play a game of Black-Out where the winner must mark off every square on their board in order to win!

To download the Travel Bingo printables, simply click on the arrow with the line below it at the bottom right-hand side of the boxes below.

Card #1

Card #2

Card #3

Card #4

Thanks so much to Kelli for having me over today! Y'all are welcome at Positively Splendid any time.

Happy travels, everyone!

Roadtrip Ready: Altoids Souvenir Tin

noreply@blogger.com (Kelli @ RTSM) — Fri, 25 May 2012 11:30:00 +0000

Souvenirs are a big part of any trip...but they can get expensive. That is especially true if you are on a roadtrip with stops at a lot of different places. Plus if you anything like me, your vehicle {and/or camper} is probably already packed pretty tight, so there isn't a lot of space for a bunch of big souvenirs. I saw this idea for Mint Tins Collection {the blog post has quite a few ideas for using Altoids tins, but this was by far by favorite} a few months ago, and I decided it would be the perfect way for my boys to take a little bit of each place home with us...without breaking the bank or overloading the car:)

I started with a couple empty Altoids tins, some white cardstock, and a variety of letter stickers.

Simple turn your tin upside down on a piece of cardstock and trace around the lid. Cut it out and hot glue it onto the lid of your tin.

Then use your stickers to decorate the lid. I chose to just use letters and spell out the places we are visiting on our trip, but any fun stickers would work. Maps, brochures, and postcards would also be great to use for covering the lid of your Altoids tin.

When you are on your roadtrip, simple collect small things that fit into your tin and will remind you of your trip. You can also add a piece of paper with the date of you visit along with any other information you may want to remember. Pictures from each of your stops would also be a really fun addition {I'm thinking some great Instagram shots would be perfect in these}! There are a million and one ways that you can personalize these for your vacation, the main idea here is to take a small memento from each place without spend a ton of money or taking up value leg room in the car:)

Does your family collect anything special when you are on a roadtrip?

Roadtrip Ready: Car Activity Bag

noreply@blogger.com (Kelli @ RTSM) — Thu, 24 May 2012 11:30:00 +0000

Hello, "SUPERMOM" readers! My name is Amanda, and I blog at Serenity Now. Having just finished a long road trip, I feel prepared to show you guys our Car Activity Bag and a couple of other ideas to keep your car stocked with for those long hours of travel.

I actually keep this in the Swagger Wagon all the time. It's a Thirty One Bag with our last name stitched on one side...makes it easier to keep track of!

My girls each take ballet lessons once a week, so one sister is inevitably stuck waiting in the minivan with me while the other sister takes over the dance floor in the studio. Between dance lessons, waiting for kindergarten pick-up, and other occasional days we might have some time to kill, this bag gets a good work-out.

What's inside?

-Coloring Books

-Crayons

-Books

-Electronic Learning Games

-"Dry Erase" Pads It sits right in between the rear seats, so it's accessible to all the kids:

These are awesome for around-town stops, but for genuine road trips, we add some extras to our car!

We stock a stretchy canvas bag with Barbies, books, and a travel case that holds some DVDs. We save our DVD player for any trips that last longer than an hour. That way, the movies are more of a treat; and there's no screaming when we drive 5 miles from our house to Target and they're not finished watching Barbie: A Fashion Fairy Tale.

While DVDs are great and guarantee you some quiet time, you certainly don't want to end the trip with a pair of glossy-eyed zombies in your backseat. I borrow books on tape from the library, and it "forces" them to sit and use their imaginations for awhile. Even my four year old will sit quietly, listening to the story and laughing at the silly parts. You'd be surprised at what they can comprehend!

Some of our favorites have been Beverly Cleary's Henry Huggins, the American Girl Felicity stories, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and Mr. Popper's Penguins. The classic books are great for teaching your kids about how people lived in a different time.

In our minivan, each child starts the trip with a snack container filled with goldfish, pretzels, or something along those lines. They have water bottles that we refill when we stop for lunch or gas. I also have a secret emergency cracker stash and a few lollipops for those times when you're stuck in traffic and the kids are screaming and you feel like you might lose it. (What? Is that just me?)

For mom?

I like to have a few magazines, a book, and my smart phone on hand in the front seat. I like to say that I use the navigation on the iPhone, but really I just like to look at Pinterest and/or listen to my playlist while T drives. I don't pack anything of interest for him, because his main concern is really how many hours it will take to get us there, and will we throw his time off with numerous bathroom stops?

If you're traveling with a dog, I recommend getting a doggie water bottle from a local petshop. I picked up this one from PetsMart years ago, and I love the compact size. I fill it with ice and water before we leave the house, and our Emma doesn't get thirsty at pit stops.

For younger kids, getting a small bucket or plastic bin with small, inexpensive toys and books that they've never seen before is usually enough to occupy them. And don't feel guilty for letting little guys watch some extra movies...sometimes that's the only way to keep them from screaming for hours on end (don't ask me how I know).

So...that's the way this family does road trips. Our 13 hour drive down to Orlando went smoothly with some planning and preparation. I hope yours is just as smooth!

Please stop by and visit me at Serenity Now. I blog about home decor on a dime, crafts, recipes, and home life. I also host a Weekend Bloggy Reading link party that opens each Friday morning. It's a spot for bloggers to share their best post of the week. You can connect with me on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest...I would love to meet you!

Here's to a Happy Summer! Thanks for sharing your blog with me today, Kelli.

Roadtrip Ready: Make a Padded Camera Bag

noreply@blogger.com (Kelli @ RTSM) — Wed, 23 May 2012 13:06:00 +0000

I have wanted {and needed} a nice bag for my DSLR camera since the first day I bought it. I got the plain black camera bag at the store when I first bought my camera...and it worked fine when I only had one lens. But when you start adding lenses and accessories, those standard black bags just won't cut it. I have drooled over some fancy leather camera bags online, but I just can't make myself spend $100 or more on a bag {and yes most of my purses cost less than $30 and are from Target or Kohl's}. So a few weeks ago when I saw this AMAZING tutorial from Make it and Love it I knew that instead of continuing to drool over camera bags, that I would just make my own.

I started out with a bag from Target that cost $15. The thing that I liked about this bag is that it has the longer strap, so you can wear it across you chest...that way you can do a million other things and not worry about dropping your camera bag. And even though I love the leather bags that I've seen online, this fabric one was way cheaper and I can just toss it in the wash if it gets dirty!

I {kinda/sort of/halfway} followed the tutorial from Make it and Love it and created this cute little padded insert that slips right into my bag. All you need it a little bit of foam and some pretty fabric. I'll let you click over to the tutorial for the details because although my bag is functional for me, I didn't include a lot of the extra things {like Velcro to hold the divider in place} that the original tutorial did.

After I made the padded insert, I just slipped it down into my bag and added in my camera. Now my camera has a pretty and safe place to stay while we are roadtripping across the West this summer:)

How do you keep your camera safe when you are on the road?

Roadtrip Ready: Elastic Bookmarks

noreply@blogger.com (Kelli @ RTSM) — Tue, 22 May 2012 11:30:00 +0000

Hi Friends...I'm (the other) Kelli and I am honored to be over at THE Kelli's spot today.

I blog over at Outside My Kitchen Window where I randomly talk about my life...my walk with Christ, my hubby and two kids, crafting, and my attempt at organizing my life :)

Today I'm sharing something neat that I discovered a few years ago...simple elastic bookmarks.

On road trips I read a lot in the car and so does my oldest child. Since we have enough stuff to keep track of on a road trip it is nice to have something that we don't have to worry about losing. These bookmarks stay in place all of the time...so Jamison and I don't have to worry about losing our place in our book if we happen to fall asleep while reading. This also eliminates having to search the already-crowded car for a bookmark.

Here's what you'll need:

Charms, rings & elastic string. All of these things you can find in either Michaels or Hobby Lobby in the jewelry making section. I found all of this at Hobby Lobby (one of my favorite places).

There are usually a wide variety of charms to choose from...I'm using this one for Jamison's teacher. The one I made for Jamison has a cupcake charm :)

Here's another charm and that thought was really cute.

Once you have all of your materials you will measure your string...you need 15 inches.

Depending on which charm you have will depend on whether or not you will need the ring. This apple charm already has an extra ring so you can just slide the string directly through the ring of the charm.

This charm has a smaller ring and does not have an extra ring so you will need to take one of your rings and attach it to the charm...like you would attach a key ring.

Now you are able to string your charm.

See...

*Please excuse the blurry picture* You will make a knot to secure the charm.

Then make a knot at the top.

Finished product!

You will then simply loop the bookmark around the book to hold your spot. You can leave the bookmark in the book while you're reading too because it doesn't get in the way. This way you never have to take it out of the book...you just move it to the next place that you stop.

See...doesn't fall out!

So there you have it...a simple bookmark...leaving you with one less thing to worry about and allowing for more joy on the road.

Thanks for having me Kelli :)

Roadtrip Ready: Make Roadtrip T-shirts

noreply@blogger.com (Kelli @ RTSM) — Mon, 21 May 2012 14:02:00 +0000

Today's Roadtrip idea is one that is SUPER fun and really easy to personalized for your trip: Roadtrip T-shirts! I've made vacation shirts for my boys before, and we always get so many complements on their shirts. Plus having a cute personalized shirt for the trip makes it that much more fun for the kiddos, and saves you a little money because you won't have to buy those expensive and not very cute touristy t-shirts!

You can really make almost anything into a cute shirt for almost any kind of roadtrip:

Mickey {here's my version} or Minnie {here's Amanda's cute version} for a trip to Disney

a silhouette of the Statue of Liberty for a visit to New York City

a surfboard with waves for a trip to the beach

your kid's favorite animal for a trip to the zoo

******

I decided to make camper {aka Airstream} shirts for my boys since that is going to be our mode of transportation for this roadtrip, and I think they turned out SUPER cute. I especially love the silhouette of the Airstream on the tie dye shirts...kind of has a hippie feel:) You can also make a girly version of this shirt, but since I don't have any girls to make shirts for you'll have to check out my friend Liz's cute camper shirt.

I didn't do a step by step for this shirt {mostly because I have a million things on my to do list and I didn't have time to stop and take pictures at every step} so you can check out my other crafty T-SHIRT tutorials to get more detail on how to make cute Roadtrip T-shirts for your next trip!

Roadtrip Ready: 10 Tips to Survive Disney with Small Kids

noreply@blogger.com (Kelli @ RTSM) — Fri, 18 May 2012 11:30:00 +0000

Hi! I'm Jill, the Mom from over at the Barnes Yard and I am so excited to be here today at RTSM!

My friend, Kelli, is going to have so much fun road trippin' with her family this summer! I'm totally in love with her Airstream!

So the Barnes Yard doesn't do road trips.  I know!  We are super wimps!  I've got two kids that get barf-a-rama the minute we leave our town! 

Last month we went to Disneyland via plane. 

I do have some great tips for staying (somewhat) sane while doing Disney with small children!

1.  Make lists  

Making lists is actually one of my favorite pastimes...Anyway, each day before we headed to the park, I made a list of things I would like to accomplish, i.e. picture of kids with Mickey ears on, ride on It's a Small World, meet Rapunzel, etc. That way I could stay focused whilst being pulled in a million directions by over-excited children.

2.  Bring Grandparents

Honestly, there is no way we could have pulled off this trip without the Grandparents in tow.  They were there to push strollers, wait with the "too shorts" while the bigger kids went on rides, and take anyone in the middle of a meltdown back to the hotel for a nap.  We LOVE them! 

3.  $$ saving tip: Buy your Mouse gear before you get to the park.

I knew I wanted to dress my kids Disney every day so I stocked up months before our trip at Target, Old Navy, WalMart, and disneystore.com

 I also swiped Kelli's idea of making our own autograph books!

4.  Wear bright colors

This is what my daughter was wearing the day we lost her.  Yep, we totally lost her for about ten minutes.  Luckily my eagle eyes spotted her bright skirt from a mile away!

5.  Bring your own stroller and rent one

We brought our own strollers for the babies but, let me tell you, it was nice to have something to push around all of our drinks, snacks, cameras, purses, and purchases in, plus have a place for the big kids to sit when they got really whiny.  

6.  Don't eat too many Oreos the first night.

My  husband made fun of me for leaving a note, but seriously, I would have  felt really bad if the maid had put her hand in that black mess. 

7.  If they love Princesses, give them Princesses!

You better believe that I rode on that Ariel ride 50 times too! 

8.  Eat at IHOP

Kids eat free with purchase of adult meal.  We had 6 adults and 6 kids so this totally worked in our favor.

9.  Get a special souvenir  

The days were long and super exhausting (we estimated that we walked 10-12 miles each day), but every time I look at this I will remember how magical it was for my kiddos (well, at least the two older ones)!

10. Act like a kid and HAVE FUN!

Roadtrip Ready: Roadtrip Countdown

noreply@blogger.com (Kelli @ RTSM) — Thu, 17 May 2012 14:20:00 +0000

A few weeks ago, I started looking for some fun roadtrip games to play with the boys while we are driving. I stumbled upon this really amazing post by The Dating Divas that is full of great roadtrip ideas and even includes a ton of free printables. My favorite idea from that post is their Roadtrip Countdown...as soon as I saw the idea I knew I had to make one for our trip this summer. The Dating Divas have a really cute roadtrip countdown printable that you can write in your different stops on, but I wanted to make something a little different. So with the help of these cute state printables from The Vintage Lemon, I made my own Roadtrip Countdown!

This was honestly the easiest project, and it is one that I know my boys are going to be SUPER excited about! I started out by printing out all of the states that we are going to visit on our roadtrip. You could easily customize yours by making it with different cities you are driving through, different attractions you are visiting, or even include pictures of family members you may be visiting on the way. I decided to do the states because we are working on visiting all 50 states while the boys are still little:) I also printed out some Airstream clip art to help track our progress on the countdown.

I punched two holes in the top of each of my states and then strung them onto some curling ribbon in the order that we are going to be visiting them.

Then I simple tied the two ends of the ribbon on opposite sides of the car in the backseat. {Make sure that it doesn't hang down too low and block the drivers view...that could be dangerous!} I spaced out the states so they reached evenly across the car and then I used a small clothespin to attach the Airstream clip art to the states. As we move from state to state the boys can simply move the Airstream to the state we are in...from Mississippi all the way to California!

Fun and easy...plus the boys will be getting a pretty great geography lesson too!

Linking up here..

Wordless Wednesday: Eli's Camping Trip

noreply@blogger.com (Kelli @ RTSM) — Wed, 16 May 2012 11:30:00 +0000

**didn't end quite the way he was hoping:)**

Roadtrip Ready: Kid Sized Travel Neck Pillow

noreply@blogger.com (Kelli @ RTSM) — Mon, 14 May 2012 13:51:00 +0000

One thing that is great about kids and roadtrips is that for the most part kids can sleep anywhere! Seriously, I wish I was like that sometimes...it would make a long boring drive go by much faster. Even though my kiddos can sleep in almost any position possible when we are in the car, they never look very comfortable. They are always slumped over or their neck is bent so much it looks like it might break in half. So I decided that before we head out for our big trip, that all three of my boys {and I may get one too} needed travel neck pillows. But if you've ever shopped for one of those pillows, you know that they are usually pretty plain and kind of expensive. So I decided to try my hand at making some...and they ended up being really easy and really cheap!

I started by drawing out a pattern on a piece of paper. I searched online for a printable pattern, but I couldn't find one that I like...so I kind of just winged it.

{That ended up being a little bit of a problem because my first attempt was a major fail! But then I tweaked my pattern a little and the second one came out perfectly!}

Once you have your pattern, lay it on your material at the fold. This will ensure that both sides of the pillow are symmetrical. You can pin and cut like a normal pattern, but I was being lazy and just used a piece of chalk to trace the outline of my pattern.

Cut out two pieces {both on the fold} and then lay them on top of each other right sides together.

Sew around the edges of the pillow with a straight stitch.

Leave a hole in the pillow on one side. You will use this hole to turn and stuff the pillow.

Turn the pillow right side out and then add in a much stuffing as you would like. I filled mine pretty tight so it would be extra supportive for my boys' big noggins:) Then sew up the hole to finish the pillow.

Now when Eli decides to take a nap in the car he will be much more comfortable...and maybe he will sleep longer too!

Do your kids sleep in the car when you are on a roadtrip?

Linking up here..

Roadtrip Ready: I Spy Book

noreply@blogger.com (Kelli @ RTSM) — Fri, 11 May 2012 11:30:00 +0000

Hey y'all! My name is Kate and I am so excited to be sharing with you all today here at Random Thoughts of a Supermom!

When you get a minute be sure to check out my blog; Embracing Life's Journey. I blog about life after the loss of a child - our 14 month old son Charlie, life with our new son Cannon, DIY crafts, recipes and so much more!

Today I am going to share with you all an amazingly easy project that I first learned about in my moms club in Florida. These are some of the most creative and awesome ladies ever, and I am so excited to share this I Spy Book with you.

Okay, so here we go...

There are 6 very simple steps to the process and depending on how old your kiddo is you can get pretty creative and complex.

Step 1: Gather and lay out on a poster board random toys.

Step 2: Snap a picture of them and don't worry about zooming in perfectly.

Step 3: Remove most of the items leaving only a few for the key side of the page.

Now upload the pictures into your photo editing software. If you don't have one do not fret, there are plenty of free editing websites that do not require registration, like picmonkey.

Step 4: Edit the photos. All I did to mine was use auto adjust and crop since I wasn't trying to accomplish anything fancy. I also just shot them on auto but with no flash...I really don't like flash.

Step 5: Either print out the photos or upload them to a site to have them printed. I did mine through Walgreen's and they were ready in 1 hour. Be careful to remove the auto adjust option otherwise they might cut off your items and change the exposure.

You will repeat these steps for as many pages as you would like to do.

Step 6: Assemble your book.

Of course I had to do a University of Michigan one...

That's it, easy huh? I think some nature ones would be pretty fun too! And if your kids are a little older they can even help you pick out what to use.

I hope you enjoyed my tutorial and thank you so much to Kelli for having me as a guest blogger today!

embracinglifesjourney.com

Linking up here..

Roadtrip Ready: Roadtrip Behavior Clips

noreply@blogger.com (Kelli @ RTSM) — Wed, 09 May 2012 12:23:00 +0000

When we first started planning our big roadtrip, I immediately got on Pinterest to look for ideas. One of the first things I came across was this great idea from Less Than Perfect Life of Bliss for what she called Kid Clips. I knew this was something I had to make for my boys. Being in a car for 10 straight hours is going to require some kind of reward for good behavior, and this was just right for a roadtrip. The concept behind these clips is that you put them up at the beginning of your trip. If one of the kiddos misbehaves, whines, fights, or makes a bad choice then their clip comes down. At every stop on your trip, whichever kids still have their Roadtrip Behavior Clip up gets a treat. Genius idea right?!?

I started with a couple of sheets of cardstock and scrapbook paper and a clothespin for each kid. As you can tell I kept with my color coding system: blue for Henry, green for Grant, and orange for Eli.

I used my Silhouette and a circle punch to cut out a few different sized circles. My biggest circle is 3 inches in diameter and it was the perfect size to cover the entire clothespin. I layered two papers to add a little interest and attached them to each other with a glue dot roller.

Then I added each of the boys' initial to their clip.

I added a coat of Mod Podge to make them a little more sturdy and to protect the paper.

The last you do is add a little bit of hot glue to one side of your clothespin....

...and then stick your paper circle on.

After the hot glue cools, you are ready to hang them on your sun visors and hit the road!

I can't wait to use these Roadtrip Behavior Clips in a few weeks! I have a feeling the boys may test the system a little bit to begin with, but after they see someone else get a treat at a stop I have a feeling they will take it more seriously:)

How do you get your kids to behave on a long roadtrip?

Linking up here..

Roadtrip Trial Run

noreply@blogger.com (Kelli @ RTSM) — Tue, 08 May 2012 14:27:00 +0000

This past weekend we loaded up the Airstream and took her on a trial run. Basically we wanted to make sure we could make it down the road without any of our millions of redos and changes messing up. We also needed to see how camping was going to work, and make sure we had thought of everything before we head out across the country in a few weeks!

Our inaugural trip went pretty smoothly. We made it to our destination {and over a huge bridge that I shared a picture of on Instagram} without any trouble. Brakes, lights, hitch...everything worked just like it was supposed to!

We arrived at the campsite and Jason got busy unhooking and setting up everything...and the boys got busy exploring:)

We stayed close to the campground the first night because it was kind of late by the time everything was set up and ready to go. But the next morning we headed out to explore the island. We checked out the public beach area and the pier.

And we rode our bikes all over the island. I think we must have ridden at least 15 miles over the weekend..and I was so proud of Eli for keeping up with us the whole time! We did have to slow down for him a few times, but for the most part he stayed right with us pedaling his little legs as fast as they would go!

We took in a little history lesson at Fort Gaines. I obviously didn't pay very close attention because I can't remember exactly what war this fort was built for...I'm assuming the Civil War though:)

Then we let the boys play at the beach for a while.

After all our exploring, we were ready for a snack! We found a little place that had yummy {but SUPER expensive} snow cones:)

The next day, we got up early and did a little bird watching...well at least as much bird watching as three loud boys can do. Basically we just walked through the bird sanctuary and read a couple of signs. Grant did find a couple of birds though:)

We ended our camping trip with a quick lunch at the picnic table. Then it was time to start packing up to head home.

And obviously our weekend trip wore the boys out because all three of them passed out about halfway home! I think that means our trial run was a success!

Roadtrip Ready: Let the Kids Research

noreply@blogger.com (Kelli @ RTSM) — Mon, 07 May 2012 13:52:00 +0000

Planning is half the fun of a vacation...at least it is for me anyway! But planning a roadtrip can be SUPER stressful! There are a lot of things to consider: what route to take, where to stay, where to eat, what attractions to visit, what to pack, and a million more decisions that have to be made before you leave and during your roadtrip. So why not let the kids help out with some of the research and planning. They will learn a little about your destination, and they may even stumble upon something really cool that you had passed over!

I picked up all three of these books at my boys' school book fair this year. They are full of information from the names of all the state capitals to crazy facts like it's illegal to steal an alligator in Louisiana:) These books also have information on lots of fun and interesting places that my boys have asked to visit on our roadtrip. They are helping the boys get a better grasp on US geography and understanding where we live in relation to where we are going this summer. One of the best things about these books is that after the kiddos research and help plan, they can bring the books along in the car and play the games and work the puzzles! I'm sure you could find these books {or similar ones} at a book store or even at Target.

Another great {and inexpensive} book to pick up is an atlas. The kids will love following along on the roadtrip and you could even get them to "help out" by telling you which city is next on your route or which road is your next turn. For younger kids you can start out with your route marked on the map for them, and for older kids you can give them a marker and let them mark the route as you travel. I'm sure your kids' future geography teachers will appreciate the fact that your kids will know how to read a map:)

Another great way to let your kiddos do a little roadtrip research is to pick up some books at the library. Since we are going to be camping, I found a couple of camp themed books along with a few family vacation books too. You can let the kids read the books before your trip to get a feel for how family vacations/roadtrips work, or you can save them for the car during the trip {as long as you won't be gone longer than the loan period for your library!}.

The best thing about letting the kids help with the planning and research is that they will be even more excited about your trip when you finally head out!

Linking up here..

Roadtrip Ready: Two Cookie Recipes

noreply@blogger.com (Kelli @ RTSM) — Fri, 04 May 2012 11:30:00 +0000

Hello Random Thoughts of a Supermom readers! I'm Paula, from Sweet Pea, and I'm happy to guest post for Kelli while she's getting ready for a road trip with her family in her super-cool airstream. I'm looking forward to hearing all about Kelli's trip once she returns home.

When my husband and I take a road trip, it's usually to the beach. If it's to the beach, I'm sure to make a batch or two of cookies to enjoy both on the road and while we are relaxing in our cottage.

My husband is a real-life cookie monster and chocolate chip cookies ranks as his number one favorite. I know there are thousands of versions of chocolate chip cookie recipes to be found and I’ve tried quite a few of them. The version that I’m sharing today is my favorite and it’s so easy to make. My favorite thing about this recipe is that it calls for melted butter, so there’s no waiting around to make cookies until the butter softens.

Wouldn’t you like to share some of these with your family tonight? This cookie is quick and easy to make and is oh-so-good!

Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 cups plus 2 T unsifted all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled until warmed
1 cup brown sugar (light or dark)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups chocolate chips

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix flour, salt, and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside.
3. Mix butter and sugars until blended. Mix in egg, yolk, and vanilla. Add dry ingredients; mix until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips.
4. Scoop dough onto parchment or Silpat lined baking sheets. Bake 7 minutes or until just brown. Let cool for a few minutes on baking sheets and then transfer to wire racks to completely cool.

I usually make a batch of these prior to our beach trip and freeze them until the day we leave. They thaw in the car are neither their taste nor their texture is compromised by being frozen.

These cookies are always a hit!

A second recipe that frequently travels with us to the beach is my hands-down, all time favorite peanut butter cookie. The ratio of brown sugar to white sugar in this recipe results in a flat, chewy cookie. This recipe is from a cookbook called From Granny's Apron Pocket.

Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies

5 1/2 oz (2/3 cup) butter
6 1/2 oz (3/4 cup) peanut butter
3 cups brown sugar
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
2/3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

Cream butter, peanut butter, and sugars. Add eggs and continue to beat. Sift together flour, soda, baking powder, and salt and add to creamed mixture. Mix well. Drop on cookie sheet and flatten with fork. Bake at 350 degrees, six - eight minutes. Do not over bake.

This peanut butter cookie is sweet, chewy, and I'll bet you won't stop be able to stop with just one. This has been a favorite cookie recipe at my house for many years.

Thanks to Kelli for inviting me to guest post today. I love making new blogging friends and invite you to visit my blog, Sweet Pea, where I blog about crafting, decorating, gardening, cooking, and my travels.

Linking up here..

Roadtrip Ready: Map Covered Cookie Tube

noreply@blogger.com (Kelli @ RTSM) — Thu, 03 May 2012 14:13:00 +0000

On Tuesday, I share a fun roadtrip snack idea for your kiddos...but us parents need some good roadtrip snacks too! My favorite snack to have on a roadtrip is homemade cookies. The only problem with homemade cookies is that sometimes they are kind of delicate and sticking them in a ziploc bag for a long roadtrip pretty much guarantees that you will end up with crumbly, broken cookies before you get to your final destination. But there is a simple and really cheap solution: a cookie tube!

Start out with a Pringles tube {or three depending on how many cookies you plan on making}. My boys were SUPER excited to see these in the grocery bags, because Pringles are a treat they don't get often...only when I need the tube for a craft project:) After all the chips are gone, clean out the tube with a wet napkin, and get ready to decorate.

I decided to use a couple of old maps to go along with our roadtrip theme. You can use any kind of paper you would like...cute scrapbook paper, wrapping paper, or even the funnies would be cute. I had an old atlas that had seen better days that I pulled a few pages from, but those state maps that you get at the welcome centers would be perfect for this too.

Trim your map to the same height and circumference at your Pringles tube, then apply a good coat of spray adhesive to the back side. Stick the paper to the tube making sure to get out any air bubbles or wrinkles.

To seal the paper {and protect it from dirty cookie fingers}, coat it well with a layer of Mod Podge.

After the Mod Podge dries, load your tube up with homemade cookies and snap on the lid. Your yummy homemade cookies will stay in one piece for your whole trip inside this cute cookie tube...as long as you don't eat them all first:)

Come back tomorrow for two great homemade cookie recipes that would be perfect for any roadtrip... especially if they are inside on of these cute Map Covered Cookie Tubes!

Linking up here..

Wordless Wednesday: This Time Last Year

noreply@blogger.com (Kelli @ RTSM) — Wed, 02 May 2012 13:32:00 +0000

We made Sidewalk Chalk Paint!

Roadtrip Ready: Travel Snack Boxes

noreply@blogger.com (Kelli @ RTSM) — Tue, 01 May 2012 12:22:00 +0000

Welcome to day one of my new series Roadtrip Ready! I am so excited to share all of my fun roadtrip ideas, and few of my friends' great ideas as well. Today I am sharing a fun idea inspired by a project I saw on Pinterest. The idea behind these travel snack boxes is that each kid gets a box full of snacks at the beginning of the your trip. They get to eat the snacks any way they want...all at once or spread out through the day...but when it's gone, it's gone! It's a great idea, but I took it one step further by adding a fun chalkboard to the top. Now it's entertainment and snack in one!

I started with these divided boxes that I picked up at Ikea for about $4 each. You can find similar boxes at the hardware store or the craft store.

I added a piece of chalkboard vinyl to the top of the boxes. I was careful not to cover up the places on top where the boxes stack on top of each other...that way they are easier to store when not in use.

Then I cut the boys' names out with my Silhouette and added the names to the top of the boxes.

Henry got blue, Grant got green, but Eli ended up with yellow because I didn't have any orange vinyl.

The great thing about these boxes is that you can fill them up with anything you want. That means they can be way more healthy {and a lot cheaper} than all those gas station snacks! I added a bottle of water and a yogurt in the large compartment. To keep things cool longer, you can freeze both of these. Then I filled up the boys' boxes with a variety of snacks: blueberries, carrots, almonds, Oreos, animal crackers, and pretzels. The possibilities are endless!

And when the kiddos start chanting "I'm bored" all you have to do is hand them a piece of chalk! That should keep them busy for ~~about ten minutes~~ a while:)

What kind of snacks do you like to take on roadtrips?

Linking up here..

April Recap Via Instagram

noreply@blogger.com (Kelli @ RTSM) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 14:50:00 +0000

Road trip to Atlanta

Yummy food at the Varsity

Homemade marshmallows for Easter

Assembling Ikea furniture for the Airstream

Map covered table in progress

BBQ at the Shed!

Listening to the Easter Story at the egg hunt

Easter eggs

Ice cream for Henry's 8th birthday

Eating grilled corn in the back yard

Homemade Mint Cookies and Cream ice cream

Fabric covered roller shades in the boys' room in the Airstream

Eli covered in dirt from playing outside

Bowling ball cupcakes for Henry's party

Silly boys on the way to the bowling alley

STRIKE!

Birthday cake

I started reading the Hunger Games....so good!

My new bike

Eli and his pillow fort

Early morning P90X workout

A tractor plowing a field near our house

Going for a bike ride

A week full of field trips

Phoebe recovering from surgery

Book #2

Field trip to the movies

Eli's first dentist visit

Henry putting together one of his birthday presents

More fabric covered roller shades in the Airstream

Phoebe getting a little fresh air

Back to the walking track to get in {better} shape before our trip!

Strawberry Tallcake

noreply@blogger.com (Kelli @ RTSM) — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Jason's birthday was last week. We really don't make a big deal about our birthdays anymore. It seems like once you have kids, their birthdays are fun and your birthdays just mean you are getting older:) Even though we don't do much, I do always make some kind of special cake for my hubby. I've made some fun cakes for my hubby over the years, like a Krispy Kreme donut cake and an Oreo cake {which I apparently didn't blog about}. But this year he wanted something different...something from our past that we both loved: Strawberry Tallcake! Do any of you remember this SUPER delicious treat that they had on the menu at Ruby Tuesdays a few years ago. It must have been really popular when Jason and I were dating and in college, because I remember a ton of times that we went and order just a Strawberry Tallcake with two spoons as a special treat.

The recipe to make this Strawberry Tallcake is a little complicated. It was kind of a lot of work, but it was so worth it! Basically it's sponge cake layered with a strawberry mouse then topped with strawberry syrup, ice cream, and whipped cream. Getting to the assembling and layering part takes quite a few steps....BUT this cake seriously tasted just like the Strawberry Tallcakes that Ruby Tuesday used to bring to our table in a huge glass goblet.

I found the recipe HERE.

Sponge cake:
5 eggs, separated
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup cold water
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups AP flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cream of tartar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Beat the egg yolks until they are creamy and lighter yellow. Add in the sugar and blend well. Add water and vanilla mix until combined.
3. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt and add it to the yolk mixture. Mix well until the batter is smooth. In a separate bowl, beat the egg white until smooth, then add the cream of tartar. Continue beating until the egg whites are stiff and form peaks. Fold the egg whites into the batter and mix slowly until well combined.
4. Pour the batter into an ungreased 17X11 cookie sheet and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the top of the cake is a light brown color.

Strawberry Mousse and Syrup:
10 oz package of frozen strawberries in syrup
1 3/4 cups of water
3 oz. package of strawberry Jell-O
1 cup of heavy cream

Defrost the frozen strawberries and pour the entire package, including syrup, into a blender and puree for 10 to 15 seconds until smooth. Combine puree with 1 1/2 cups of the water in a small saucepan over medium heat. When the strawberry mixture comes to a boil, add the entire package of Jell-O, stir to dissolve, and remove the pan from the heat to cool. When the strawberry mixture has cooled to room temperature, divide it in half into two medium bowls.
Beat the whipping cream until it is thick and forms peaks. Fold the cream into one of the bowls of the strawberry mixture until well combined. This is your strawberry mousse. Cover and chill. To the other bowl, add the remaining 1/4 cup of water. This is the strawberry syrup. Cover and chill this mixture as well.

After the cake has cooled and the mousse and syrup have been chilled, you are ready to started assembling your Strawberry Tallcake. Divide the cake into three even pieces. Put down the first cake section, cover it with half of the mousse mixture. Add another cake section and cover it with the rest of the mousse mixture. Top the whole thing off with the last section of cake. {You could also make these individual sized by cutting small circles of cake and layering them with the mousse.} The layered cake can be refrigerated for a few days until you are ready to serve the cake. To serve, cut a piece of cake and place it in a bowl or large goblet. Top it with a couple of scoops of vanilla ice cream, a drizzle of the strawberry syrup, and a good squirt of whipped cream.
{Recipe adapted from recipecircus.com}

Roadtrip Ready Blog Series

noreply@blogger.com (Kelli @ RTSM) — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 13:00:00 +0000

As most of you know, we are heading out on a big roadtrip in a few weeks. I have a ton of projects {besides the Airstream} that I am working on in preparation for our trip. So I decided it might be fun to put all of my ideas {and a few guests posts too} into a blog series. I'm calling this fun new series "Roadtrip Ready" and for the whole month of May I will be posting great tips, crafts, and recipes that will help you get ready for a roadtrip.

I'm still looking for a few more guest posts, so if you have any blog posts {new or old} that you think would be a great addition to the series, send me an email and we can work something out!

Check back next Tuesday {May 1st} to see the first post in the series! It is going to be a fun one!
CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL THE POSTS IN THE SERIES!

Doggy Drama

noreply@blogger.com (Kelli @ RTSM) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 12:17:00 +0000

Back in January I introduced you to our new puppy Phoebe.

I also admitted that I'm really not a dog person, but I wanted the boys to have a pet so we brought home a cute little puppy for them. Since then Phoebe has been a great pup for the boys. Other than chewing up a few things here and there and barking at the wind at 10 o'clock at night, she really has been the perfect little puppy.
But since yesterday, Phoebe the puppy has been stressing me out! Something happened to her Sunday afternoon. We still aren't quite sure what. Possibly she got hit by a car, or maybe she got kicked by our neighbors' horse, or maybe a bigger dog attacked her. We're not sure how, but Phoebe got hurt and not just a little hurt apparently.
Jason took her to the vet in our little community first thing Monday morning. They did an exam and an x-ray of her back legs, which seemed to be the major problem. They didn't find anything serious and said that maybe she has sprained something. They let Jason bring her home with instructions to keep her in the house and confined for about two weeks to give her sprain a chance to heal. So after paying $300 in fees, he brought her home, gave her some food and water, and put her in her little doggy cage.
When I got home from school with the boys, I noticed that she seemed worse than she had that morning. I think Jason thought she was just tried or hurting, but I knew something wasn't right. She ate a little bit, went out to do her business, and then laid down. I brought her back in so I didn't have to worry about her running around and hurting herself more, but after a while I noticed she wasn't breathing right. We let her out thinking maybe some of the medicines had given her an upset stomach. She walked around for a while, and looked like maybe she was trying to vomit. Then she laid down in the edge of the flower bed and didn't really move...she was just really laboring to breath.
So at 7:45 last night Jason took her over to an emergency clinic about 20 minutes away. They examined her ans said she was obviously in pain and that she was really dehydrated. They ended up putting in an iv and then keeping her to run a bunch of tests. Jason was told they would call back within the hour with the results and let us know what they found.
We stayed up for a while waiting on a call back, and when we hadn't heard anything around 10:00 we called over to check on her. The doctor called us back about 30 minutes later and said that from the x-ray they did it looked like she had probably been hit by a car. Her diaphragm had a tear in it and it looked like she was bleeding internally. The tear and the bleeding was making it hard for her to breath which is why she was in so much pain. The doctor said they really needed to go ahead and do surgery to repair the tear right then, because she was just getting worse and worse.
Without know just how much doggy surgery was going to cost, we told her to go ahead with it. As much as I'm not a dog person, I really couldn't bare the thought of her hurting like that, and I knew the boys would be so heartbroken if she didn't come home. They did the surgery, and called about a little while later to say that things had gone pretty well. We went to bed last night hoping and praying that she would be fine through the night.
We are up and going this morning. The boys have asked where Phoebe is and all I've told them is that she is at the doctor still. I don't want to tell them about all the details until we get an update on her. I'm hoping that we get a call with an update soon this morning. I've never been through this kind of thing with a dog, and I'm really not sure what to expect over the next few weeks. How does a dog recover from surgery? Especially an outside dog that is used to running around wild!
Anyway, for now I am stressed and we are waiting.
Hopefully, we'll have good new soon. In the meantime, I'm wondering just how much emergency surgery on a dog costs!

Project Airstream Update: A Video

noreply@blogger.com (Kelli @ RTSM) — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 11:53:00 +0000

We have been working hard on Project Airstream....and it's been a while since I've shared about our progress. So this time instead of just posting a couple of not so great picture {It is really hard to take good shots in such a small space!}, I thought I would share a little video tour. I have to tell you that I went WAY out of my comfort zone to film and share this video. I hate the way my voice sounds on recordings...and I almost thought about doing a silent video tour. But I decided you really needed a little narration to know what you were looking at, and then I just couldn't stop talking! This video is a little longer than I was planning...apparently I got more comfortable talking and filming as time went by. And hopefully my shaky filming doesn't make you too queasy! Enjoy the video:)
Here's a few quick pictures just in case you don't have time to watch the video right now:

We've come a long way from the 1977 {retro & not in a good way} Airstream that we brought home last June {click HERE to see pictures of what we started with}, but we still have a lot to do to get ready for our big trip at the end of May! I would love to know what you think about our progress so far!Linking up here..

Tatertots and Jello

Serenity Now

Someday Crafts

Skip to my Lou
Remodelaholic

Earth Day Waffles

noreply@blogger.com (Kelli @ RTSM) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 14:17:00 +0000

Earth Day is this Sunday, and I thought it would be fun to whip up some waffles to celebrate. I have to admit though that other than the fact that these waffles look {a little bit} like the earth, there isn't anything really "earthy" about them. As I was mixing in the food coloring to make the blue and green batter, I realized that it would have been much more "earthy" for me to use fruits and veggies to dye the batter. So if you really want to celebrate Earth Day the right way with these waffles break out the blueberries and spinach...or you can be like me and just add in a little dye and enjoy the pretty colors:)

I started by mixing up some store bought waffle mix according to the package directions. Again if you want to be extra "earthy" make your own homemade waffle mix...and I guess you could even grind your own flour too if you REALLY want to be "earthy"!

Divide the batter into two bowls pretty evenly...even though there is way more water than land on our planet it is a lot easier just to put equal amounts of both colors onto the waffle iron:) Then add a little bit of green {either food coloring or pureed spinach} to one bowl and a little bit of blue {either food coloring or pureed blueberries} to the other bowl. Let your little assistant give each bowl a good stir with a whisk until you get the color that you want.

Spray your preheated waffle iron with non-stick spray and add the batter onto the waffle iron. You can just pour it on and spread it around or you can really try to make it look like a view of the Earth. I tried to make mine look like the Earth...can you see North & South American on the left, a little bit of Europe on the top right, and Australia on the bottom right?!? After you've added your batter cook your waffles on a pretty low setting to prevent it from browning too much.

Our waffles ended up getting a little more brown than I wanted, but I just called it dirt and took a few pictures to share with you:) They tasted the same even if we had to pretend that the brown parts were dirt!

I think these is going to be my boys' after school snack today and then maybe we will work on a recycling project to really get us in the Earth Day mood!

Do you do anything to celebrate Earth Day?

Linking up here..

*Random Thoughts of a SUPERMOM!*

Roadtrip Ready: Keep Them Busy Baskets

Roadtrip Ready: Travel Bingo

Roadtrip Ready: Altoids Souvenir Tin

Roadtrip Ready: Car Activity Bag

Roadtrip Ready: Make a Padded Camera Bag

Roadtrip Ready: Elastic Bookmarks

Roadtrip Ready: Make Roadtrip T-shirts

Roadtrip Ready: 10 Tips to Survive Disney with Small Kids

Roadtrip Ready: Roadtrip Countdown

Wordless Wednesday: Eli's Camping Trip

Roadtrip Ready: Kid Sized Travel Neck Pillow

Roadtrip Ready: I Spy Book

Roadtrip Ready: Roadtrip Behavior Clips

Roadtrip Trial Run

Roadtrip Ready: Let the Kids Research

Roadtrip Ready: Two Cookie Recipes

Roadtrip Ready: Map Covered Cookie Tube

Wordless Wednesday: This Time Last Year

Roadtrip Ready: Travel Snack Boxes

April Recap Via Instagram

Strawberry Tallcake

Roadtrip Ready Blog Series

Doggy Drama

Project Airstream Update: A Video

Earth Day Waffles

Random Thoughts of a SUPERMOM!