Mack is an enigma to me. He is a newly 3 rambunctious and energetic boy, and he functions at top speed ALL THE TIME.  At his age, I was happy to spend every afternoon playing My Little Ponies with my three sisters, so having a young fella of my own is still new to me.  As such, I am always looking for activities that will keep him engaged and excited.

Let me qualify that statement: I am always looking for activities that don’t involve destroying the house or tormenting his sisters with his kung fu moves or constant game of tag.

If it’s a nice day, we go outside and he runs and jumps and climbs and he’s so endearingly happy.  But, yesterday was a rainy day, so while Evie was at school and Vivian took a nap Mack and I had some time together indoors.  Rather than let the iPad entertain him all afternoon, we worked on a quiet age-appropriate activity.  It was a super simple project, but I thought I’d share it here in case other Homemade Mothers out there are looking for ideas to educate and entertain their wily 3 year old boys.

We went through a cooking magazine together and cut out images of yummy-looking food.  Once we had a nice pile, I asked Mack to sort the foods into healthy/not healthy groups.  He really did enjoy the task!  And, it occupied his busy body for a solid 30 minutes!

This activity could easily morph into other topics: Yummy/Yucky. Fun/Not Fun.  Quiet/Loud.  Just depends on whatever images we can find in old magazines.  Anything to keep my little guy busy!

I recently outlined some of my tips for traveling with little ones.  One of my favorite products for eating well on the road are the Happy Tot Greek Yogurt Smoothie pouches.  They are a neat and easy way to include fruits, veggies and healthy dairy in our travels.

Happy Family Brands asked me to host a *GIVEAWAY* for a CASE of Happy Tot Greek Yogurt Smoothies AND a stack of freebie coupons.  Yippee!  Even if you don’t have young kids, these pouches are a nice treat.

To enter, leave a comment below letting me know your favorite road-trippin’ snack.

Contest ends Tuesday, May 28 at 11:59 PM CST.

Now that summer is presumably here to stay, Chris has been mixing up summery cocktails. While I am partial to his excellent mojitos, he really enjoys a homemade margarita.  Freshly squeezed limes paired with Mexican tequila remind so many people of warm breezes and carefree afternoons.

Unfortunately, I most definitely cannot drink margaritas.  Thanks to one awful night freshman year of college, tequila and I are no longer on speaking terms.  Even the smell of it makes me nauseous. Yack!

So, even though I’ve never had so much as a sip of Chris’ margarita, I am sharing it here because he promises me it is extra delicious.

Margarita de Chris

2 shots tequila

1 shot triple sec (our favorite brand of orange liqueur is Controy from Mexico, but it is very hard to find in the US – sniff, sniff)

2 shots freshly squeezed lime juice

Combine all ingredients with lots of ice in a cocktail shaker.  Shake very, very well.

Add ice to a tall glass and pour in the margarita. Enjoy!

I don’t want to jinx it, but it seems like summer has (finally) settled upon our fair city. Sun shining, farmers’ markets open, sidewalk seating at every cafe. If only it was like this year ’round…!

Even though we live in a big city, I still want my kids to feel a strong connection to nature. I feel so much gratitude for our beautiful world, and I hope my little family appreciates just how hard Mother Nature works to make our planet such a special place.

We recently spent an afternoon planting rows of flowers by our front door.  I let each kid pick a flower, and it was no surprise when Evie chose pink and Mack selected blue.  I actually think the two colors look nice together!

On the balcony off the kitchen, we planted flowers, herbs and a few tomato plants. The morning ritual of watering the plants has quickly become fun for the whole family.

Despite my best efforts, a pang of guilt occasionally strikes: By choosing to live in the city, am I depriving my kids of nature??  To calm my conscience and give the kids something to do, I set out a big bowl of dirt on our balcony.  Just good clean dirt and let them have at it.  Sure enough, its been the hit of the season!

Like bumble bees to flowers, their chubby little kid hands are drawn to the dirt.

They fill cups with it.  They put their feet in it. They make little dirt piles. They transfer the dirt from one end of the balcony to the other. Hours of fun!

Of course they are filthy after a session with the dirt bowl, but isn’t that the whole point?!

I recently read about a study that found nearly half of all moms suffer from Pinterest stress. Apparently, 42 percent of mothers worry that they are not crafty or creative enough for their growing families.  They worry about keeping up with what others are doing, and the self-induced pressure for perfection keeps many moms up at night. What a bummer.

Personally, I mostly enjoy Pinterest for the endless supply of new recipes.  But, I also don’t take it too seriously. I know that behind every Pin-worthy photo lies a frazzled mom who wants to make fun memories for her family (while possibly making others wonder just how she does it all).

I recently saw a pin demonstrating a simple art project that promised to educate and entertain.  A cherubic two year old sat obediently with a little paint brush in her little hand.  She ever-so-carefully traced over letters with paint.  I thought it could be the perfect activity to while away an hour on a chilly Friday.

Well, sort of.

To no surprise at all, Evie was thrilled with this project.  She carefully traced numbers with a q-tip dipped in paint.  She loved it.

On the other hand, Mack’s participation wasn’t quite Pin-worthy.  He just couldn’t get with the program.

He smeared paint on Evie’s paper, infuriating her and igniting her angry response.  His paint also ended up in between several window blinds, all over the table and on the wall, which he reminded me was “no big deal because its just an accident, Mom.”

It was a mess.  But, in the end, WHO CARES?!  Both kids loved painting.  Both kids were busy.  The paint was easily washable.  I strive to feel secure in my choices and my family; life’s too short to worry about what other people are doing!