Toys In The Dryer--Minnesota Mom and Parenting Blog

Personalized Disney Water Bottles

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsi B) — Fri, 03 May 2013 10:00:00 +0000

Welcome to our week of Disney! We will have five fantastic Disney inspired posts for you this week and a few giveaways! Make sure you come back each day and enter!

Last week at Target, in the dollar section, I found these awesome water bottles. They are red with black tops- PERFECT for what I had in mind! (Honestly, I was just about to purchase some custom water bottles on Etsy for $9.99 each!). I spent $3 on each bottle, and purchased five (I have four kids and my neighbor is coming with us to Walt Disney World so I made one for her as well.) I just happen to have a Cricut Die Cutting machine and knew exactly what I was going to do. I grabbed my Mickey Mouse cartridge and began cutting out the kids names in Disney font. For those who do not have the ability to do this you have a couple of options: you can purchase vinyl letters in Disney font on Etsy for a fairly cheap price, you can cut them out on your own using sharp scissors and some sticky vinyl, or you can make a stencil out of Disney font and paint them on with a permanent paint pen.

Wash and dry your water bottles very well, this helps the vinyl to stick properly.

Print off your names on sticky vinyl.

Carefully remove the back side of the vinyl and place it on your water bottles.

Firmly press every part of the letters to ensure they are stuck really well.

Peel off the top layer of your sticker and smile because you've just created an adorable thing!

Disney Shoes and Hair Bow

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsi B) — Thu, 02 May 2013 10:00:00 +0000

Welcome to our week of Disney! We will have five fantastic Disney inspired posts for you this week and a few giveaways! Make sure you come back each day and enter!

Wanna know how to turn simple flip flops into adorable unique shoes for Disney and for the Disney fan? It is really easy. First, I found these adorable Mickey Mouse flip flops at Target for 7.99 but, any pair will do even the cheapies from the dollar store can be made cute!

You will need to cut six pieces of ribbon 4 inches long, and then cut a triangle out of each end of the pieces.

Arrange the pieces of ribbon in the order you want them to appear in your decoration.

Pinch the pieces of ribbon in half like this.

Insert a needle with thread into the center of the ribbon and attach the remainder as well.

Wrap the thread around the center of the ribbon stack several times, very tightly, then knot it and snip the end.

Wrap a small piece of ribbon around the center to cover your string and glue it to a pony tail holder OR your shoes! Adorable!!! Want a Mickey Mouse pony tail holder like the one above? Enter our giveaway!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Cinderella Nails

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsi B) — Wed, 01 May 2013 10:00:00 +0000

Welcome to our week of Disney! We will have five fantastic Disney inspired posts for you this week and a few giveaways! Make sure you come back each day and enter!

Here's an easy way to turn your princess into a REAL princess. Cinderella nails! I saw this done on adult nails and I knew I could pull this off on my daughter...and she was very pleased to let me try!

Start with a pale blue nail polish. This may take 2-3 coats, since it is so pale.

Next cut out Cinderella's face from a sheet of temporary tattoos. Make sure it is small enough to fit on the finger of your princess.

Then add a bit of silver glitter nail polish.

Last cover each nail with a top coat to keep the art in place for days to come.

Disney bags for our trip

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsi B) — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 10:00:00 +0000

Welcome to our week of Disney! We will have five fantastic Disney inspired posts for you this week and a few giveaways! Make sure you come back each day and enter!

Measure and Cut the following in fabric:
2 pieces of fabric 14" by 30" (outer and inner bag)
1 piece 3 1/2" by 26" (casing)
1 piece of 1/2" ribbon measuring 2 yards

Fold your two long piece of fabric in half (right side to right side), sew each down the sides and finish the edges with a zigzag stitch.

Turn one of the pieces right side out. Place the lining inside outer fabric with wrong sides together, matching side seams.

Pin them together, starting at the seams and zigzag stitch together close to edge. Set aside.

Take your casing piece of fabric and press each short end down 3/8" and stitch to closed.

Fold casing in half, lengthwise, and zigzag edges together leaving ends open. Match casing on outer fabric of bag with the ends meeting in the middle of the bag and straight stitch to bag.

Press the casing around the the bag upwards and stitch a 1/4" straight stitch to keep the casing upright.

Thread your ribbon through the casing and pull throught so that both ends are even in length. Pin the right end to the left corner of the bag and the left end to the right corner of the bag.

Stitch the ribbon in place and snip off excess. Turn bag inside out and fold bottom corners so the seam of the bag falls on the center bottom of the bag.

Measure 1/2" from the corner along the stitching line, and draw a 1" line at a right angle to stitching line and stitch across. Repeat on other corner.

Turn the bag right side out and enjoy!

Make your own Disney character autograph book

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsi B) — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 10:00:00 +0000

Welcome to our week of Disney! We will have five fantastic Disney inspired posts for you this week and a few giveaways! Make sure you come back each day and enter!

We're planning a surprise trip to Walt Disney World for the spring of 2014. I am over the moon excited! I'm looking forward to seeing their faces and enjoying this special place with them. We want to be able to reserve our money for doing the special things there that you can't do anywhere else therefore, I am planning on making a bunch of things at home before our trip. First up? Autograph books! At Disney they range from $15-$49 and I have four kids...so that's a boat load of money! I spent quite a bit of time finding the correct fonts for each character so I hope you like it!

I personalized the covers for each child (Cate is just a fake name I made so you could see what it looked like). The next page is in Disney's famous font "Autographs." Each character has a blank page above it for a photo of your child and that character!

Merida from Brave was the hardest font to find but I finally did it! YAY! I grabbed some free, copyright free photos of each character so that the kids who can't read knew who they were looking for.

Each page has a character or two and their photo. I love how they turned out!

The last page has a well wish to see you next time. I took them to my local copy center and had them put together with a coil binding. It's perfect for sneaking a pen in there for those autographs! Now the challenge for me is to keep these secret until March of 2014! AHHH
If you've kept reading then you're in luck! I'm giving away a book to one of our lucky readers! Enter below for your chance to win! Also, if you want to make your own I am attaching the files! Click on the words below to download.

Disney Autograph Book

a Rafflecopter giveaway

We're Moving!

noreply@blogger.com (Jamie H) — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 10:00:00 +0000

We interrupt our normal Pinned it, Did it! to bring you an exciting announcement!

Yes, you read that right,

ToysInTheDryer.com is moving from Blogger to Wordpress!

We could not be happier! Thanks to the Ultimate Blog Party at 5 Minutes for Mom we won a Blogger to Wordpress transfer from Blogelina!

So far, Blogelina has been nothing but helpful so we're not anticipating any major transition problems, but pardon our dust as we make the move in the next week or two...

Good-Bye ol' Pal

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsi B) — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 21:25:00 +0000

To our readers:
Today Jamie and her family lost a beloved family member. Their Boxer T.J. His life was tragically cut short and her family is very sad. I just wanted to share the photo of TJ because his face will make you smile and because Jamie could use the support!
Lindsi

Chicken Enchiladas

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsi B) — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 10:00:00 +0000

Homemade chicken enchiladas comin' at ya! We love Mexican inspired food in our home and we hope you do too cause today you're getting a fantastic recipe to make your own chicken enchiladas.

Here's what you need:
cubed chicken (I cheat and buy Oscar Mayer oven roasted chicken, it comes cubed and cooked)
1 can of Rotel
1/2 cup sour cream
8 ounces of pepper jack cheese, shredded
1/2 packet of taco seasoning
tortillas

Mix your ingredients up really well and scoop enough to fill the tortilla shells. Roll them up and place them in a deep dish pan. I spray a little vegetable oil on the top to keep them from drying out. I bake them at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes and then scarf!!!

Crayola's Big Colorful Birthday Adventure

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsi B) — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 10:00:00 +0000

To celebrate their 110th birthday, the 8 original crayons are throwing a birthday bash at the new fun-omenal Crayola Experience, the world's only interactive Crayola family attraction. Right now, they're out on a colorful adventure to spread the news, and you're invited to join the fun!

How can you join in on the fun? You can FOLLOW the crayons on their adventure, LEARN more about each color and enter to WIN a trip for 4 to celebrate their birthday and the Grand Opening of the all new Crayola Experience this coming May, 2013! Visit the Crayola Facebook page and click "enter now" for your chance to be first in line when the Crayola Experience reopens.

The new Crayola Experience features four floors of new interactive exhibits and one-of-a-kind attractions that will bring the magic of color and your child's creativity to life! The winner will be among the first to experience the fun, along with a three- night, all-expenses paid stay. It's an experience your kids will never forget - and neither will you!

In the past we have done a ton of fun crafts and activities using Crayola, be sure to check them out!

Chalk Drawings- Coloring inside the cracks

Making your own crayon shapes- Melting crayons

Melted Crayon Formations- melting crayons at its best

Scratch Drawing- layering colors on top of each other

Encourage special time- coloring with your kids

Making Valentines- Using crayons to make Valentines

Leaf Drawings- using things in nature with crayons

This is a sponsored post written by us on behalf of Crayola. The information above was provided to us by Crayola and we are passing it on to you. All thoughts and opinions are 100% our own.

TempleTouch™ Thermometer Review and Giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (Jamie H) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 10:00:00 +0000

When Lindsi and I were contacted by Medisim to review their TempleTouch™ thermometer we jumped all over the chance. After all, we've had our share of sick kids during this never ending winter.

Lindsi's review of the Premium Temple and Underarm Thermometer:

It was perfect timing to receive these TempleTouch™ Thermometers when we did. I unfortunately became ill (with pneumonia of all things). I will be honest and say that I was leery of the accuracy of the TempleTouch™ at first because, being a nurse, I knew all too well the inaccuracy of thermometers that weren't under the tongue. I was running a low grade fever throughout my recovery. I used my trusted under the tongue thermometer as well as the TempleTouch™ Thermometer to compare the accuracy of them. My under the tongue thermometer read 100.4 at one point and the TempleTouch™ read 100.1. I'd say that was pretty close to the same.

When I tested it under my arm my thermometer read 99.5 and the TempleTouch™ (when changed to the under arm setting) read 97.9. That's pretty far off if you ask me. I continued to use the TempleTouch™ along with my home thermometer and each time I used it with the temple setting it was incredibly accurate. Overall I was impressed with this thermometer and will continue to use it in our home, especially when my kids are ill and sleeping. I LOVE the fact that I can get a trusted reading without having to wake them! That is a HUGE positive! Will I use it to check temperatures under the arm? No...and in all honesty I rarely check that way anyway so it wasn't a big deal to me.

Jamie's review of the Temple Touch Mini:

I, fortunately, did not get to test my thermometer as well as Lindsi did. Thank goodness no one in my family has been sick enough to take temps lately. I basically just went around taking everyone in my family's temps randomly through the day with both my TempleTouch™ thermometer and my oral thermometer. They were within .5 degrees of each other so I'd say it was pretty accurate.

While the TempleTouch thermometers are super easy to use, there are some key points to keep in mind when using "heat flow" (as they call it) thermometers:

You need to wait at least 2 minutes between readings for the thermometer to adjust to room temperature again or you will not get an accurate second reading
You need to wait a few minutes to use the thermometer if your temple has been exposed to any heat or cold such as direct sunlight, or hot/cold compresses
It is best to place the thermometer on the temporal artery (just slightly above the eye line by your hair line)

If you keep these three things in mind, your TempleTouch™ thermometer should be as accurate, and much easier to use, than your oral thermometer!

TWO of our lucky readers will win a TempleTouch™ thermometer of their own!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

We received TempleTouch™ thermometers for our review and to keep. We were not compensated in any other way. All opinions are 100% our own.

Blast from the past- teach them OLD card games

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsi B) — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 10:00:00 +0000

For Easter this year my mom scored on some AWESOME card games for my kids at the dollar store! I was looking through them and it got me to thinking about all the fun, and easy, card games I used to play when I was a kid.

Go Fish-

Go Fish is best for 2-5 players. A regular deck of card may be used, or you can purchase fun kid-friendly cards as well.. The dealer deals 5 cards to each player All of the remaining cards are placed face down to create a pond (or stock).
The player to dealer's left starts. The first player may start by asking for a specific persons cards, for example- "Johnnie, may I please have your 5's?" The player who asks must already hold at least one card of the requested. If the player who was asked has cards of the named (5's in this case), he must give all her cards of this rank to the player who asked for them. That player then gets another turn and may again ask any player for any rank already held by the asker.

If the person asked does not have any cards of the named rank, they say 'Go fish!'. The asker must then draw the top card of the un-dealt stock. If the drawn card is the rank asked for, the asker shows it and gets another turn. If the drawn card is not the rank asked for, the asker keeps it, but the turn now passes to the player who said 'Go fish!'.

As soon as a player collects a book of 4 cards of the same rank, this must be shown and discarded face down. The game continues until either someone has no cards left in their hand or the stock runs out. The winner is the player who then has the most books.

Rummy-

Rummy is best for 2-4 players. The dealer shuffles the cards and deals 6 cards to each player. If there are only two players, each player is dealt 7 cards. Place the remaining cards between the 2 players, face down on the table. Turn only the top card over and place it next to the deck face up. This is the discard stack.

The player to the dealer's left goes 1st. He draws a card from the stack and discards one from his hand. During a turn, if a player has 3 of a kind (same picture, same number) then he may lay them out on the table in from of them face up as a set. They may also lay down a card to add to a set that has already been played by themselves or another player.

1 card must be placed on the discard stack at the end of each turn. If there are no cards left to play from the stack, shuffle the discard pile and place it face down. If the game is played twice thru the deck with no winner, each player adds up their cards left in their hands, the player with the lowest value wins.

War-

Start by dealing out the deck one card at a time, face-down, so that each player gets 26 cards. Keep your cards in a pile and don’t look at them. Each player turns over one card simultaneously; whoever turns over the highest card picks up the two cards and puts them face-down at the bottom of his pile.

The cards have the normal rank from highest to lowest: ace, king, queen, jack, and then 10 through 2.

The game continues in this manner until both players turn over a card of the same rank, at which point you enter a war. A war can progress in one of three ways.

Each player puts a card face-down on top of the tied card and then one face-up. Whoever has the higher face-up card takes all six cards.
Each player puts three face-down cards on the table and one face-up card, so the competition is for ten cards. This option speeds up the game, which often drags a little — especially for children!
Each player puts down cards depending on the rank of the tied cards. If the equal cards are 7s, you each count off seven face-down cards before turning a card over. If the equal cards are kings, queens, or jacks, you turn down 10 cards before flipping one up and squaring off. For an ace, count out 11 face-down cards.

Crazy 8s-

One player, chosen as the dealer, deals out five cards (seven cards if only two are playing) to each player. The rest of the cards get placed face down as the stock pile. The top card on that pile is turned over face up beside the pile to start the discard pile. The game goes clockwise from the dealer, and the first player must play a card on the discard pile or take one from the stock pile. The game keeps going until someone gets rid of all of his or her cards.

To be able to play a card on the discard pile, the card must match either the number or the suit of the card on top of the discard pile. For example, if the queen of diamonds is on top, the card to be played must be either any queen or any diamond. All eights are "crazy," meaning you can play them anytime. However, you must say which suit will be played next when you play the eight card. Be the first player to get rid of all of your cards to be the winner.

Memory-

Memory is a card game designed for two people, although single player modes are available. Cards are laid out in a grid face down, and players take turns flipping pairs of cards over. On each turn, the playerwill first turn one card over, then a second. If the two cards match, theplayer scores one point, the two cards are removed from the game, and the player gets another turn. If they do not match, the cards are turned back over.

The object is to match more pairs of cards than the opposing player.(One point is scored for each matched pair, and the player with the highest score after all cards have been matched wins.) When cards are turned over, it is important to remember where they are for when the matching card is turned up later in the game.

In this online version of memory, there are twelve unique pairs of cards, making 24 cards total.

What was your favorite card game you played when you were younger?

Caught You Being Good FREE Printable--Pinned it, Did it!

noreply@blogger.com (Jamie H) — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 10:00:00 +0000

I'm sure you've seen a bunch of those "Caught Ya Being Good" ideas all over Pinterest. If you haven't, here and here are a few of them. I LOVE the idea of "Caught Ya Being Good", and while I thought the jars were cute, I wanted make my own version of it.

My variation is more like "Wanted For Good Behavior" and has a kinda western theme. Yes, I know I have girls but I just couldn't resist a wanted poster so I had to tie in the rest.

The principle is still the same--reward my girls for good behavior. I'm just so sick of yelling at them all the time that I thought I should start acknowledging when they are good. Now when I catch them being good (without me asking) they get a sheriff's certificate. After they've gotten 10 certificates, they get a reward of their choosing whether it be $5.00 for their piggy bank, a date with mom or dad, or an extra treat before bed.

These certificates, however, are not easy to earn. The girls only get them when they are CAUGHT being good, not when they are good after they have been asked to be. They get them when they are nice to each other without being told to be, they get them when they play nicely by themselves, they get them for eating dinner without being hounded to eat (yes, it is a battle every night to get them to eat!), and they get them for doing chores above and beyond their normal ones. These certificates are as much fun to give as they are to receive!

You can make a Caught You Being Good/Wanted For Good Behavior with these FREE PRINTABLES!!

Click on each of the three parts to download them.
Hints for making your poster:

You can use photo editing software to replace the words "place your child's photo here" with your child's photo before printing, or you can simply print out the poster as is and glue your child's photo to it.
Cut out the pocket (second photo) and fold the flaps to make a pocket for your child to store their sheriff's certificates until they get enough for an award.
I laminated all of my parts to make them last longer. You can do the same or just have them as paper.
Print your poster on off-white or yellowish paper to make it look more authentic (I wish I would have done that!)

Brownie Mix

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsi B) — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 10:00:00 +0000

If you are like me, and you should be cause I'm cool, you are kind of bothered by all the "odd" ingredients in mixes you find today. I searched high and low and couldn't find a brownie mix that contained ingredients that I could pronounce, let alone knew what they all were. So I created my own! And lucky you, I am sharing it with you today! I have a large family (there are six of us) so I make it in bulk and store it in a canister. You can divide the recipe up evenly and it will turn out the same for you. Best part, you can pronounce EVERY ingredient in it!

Lindsi's Fabulous Brownie Mix

2 T salt
3 T baking powder
4 Cups cocoa powder (like Hershey's)
12 Cups of unbleached flour (you can use bleached if you want but IMO-yuck)
16 C sugar

Mix well and store in a covered jar or tub

To make a batch of brownies you need
2 1/4 Cups of your brownie mix
2 eggs
1/3 Cup vegetable oil
2 T water
2 tsp vanilla

Bake at 350 degrees for 28-30 minutes in a small square pan....yum!

Creating a special reading place- on a budget

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsi B) — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 10:00:00 +0000

With four kids I don't have a lot of extra cash floating around (who does these days?). My daughter asked me to create a Book Nook for her. I have to admit, I giggled, because I thought "um, you're 5 what do you know about a Book Nook?" While on bed rest from my surgery (coming soon in another post) I got to work and did some pinning on Pinterest. Apparently Book Nooks are where it's at these days! I was able to create a special place for my princess with less than $50. Sweet!!!!!! We had several extra crib mattresses laying around (which may not sound normal to you but at one point we had three cribs in use at our house). I knew I could make a custom cover for the mattress and add some special flare to it as well.

I found these stick on letters at Target in the clearance section for only $3.46. I thought they were perfect for the wall. They didn't have enough "R's" so I had to get creative and make an extra "r" out of a "p" (can you tell which "R" is made by me?)

I Google searched the measurements of a crib sheet (because I couldn't remember what it was) and quickly sewed up a sheet for the crib mattress. I LOVE the colors my daughter and I picked out! I think they POP! The pillows were easy too! I sewed up some covers for some pillows we had laying in our basement and added some ribbon to a couple of them for added fun. (I will admit the largest one- with the piping) is my favorite, ahhh, OK, I take that back, I love the elephant one...no wait...ahh, shoot they're all cute!)

I had extra fabric left over I made her a completely reversible and lined library bag from a pattern I found online too. You can go HERE to find it. See the pink pocket on top of the shelf with the tissue sticking out of it? It's a cute tissue holder! (She loves that!) You can go HERE to find out how to make one of these. I made an extra one for my purse.

I had the white shelves sitting in my basement from college...so they were "free" for my project. The only thing I ended up purchasing was the fabric, the wall decals and the hot pink garbage can.

Would you like to win your own cutesy facial tissue holder? Enter below! We're giving away FOUR to our US readers.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Things for the kids to do when mom or dad are sick

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsi B) — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 10:00:00 +0000

Mom is sick....uh oh....here are 15 things for the kids to do when mommy or daddy are sick

1.Have a Dance Party- turn up the radio and let them boogie on down

2. Educational games on your smart phone-this keeps my boys entertained for hours, or until the battery dies
3. Indoor bowling- yup, you read that right!

4. Create some crazy shapes out of exploding soap

5. Dot to Dot, brain quiz or workbooks- I have a stash of these just for the days when I am under the weather, they love them!

6. Make rainbows and prisms on the wall

7. Popsicle Stick puzzles out of old photographs of your kids

8. Scratch pads. Seriously these things are genius! Let us show you how to make them.

9. Have your kids run an obstacle course while you rest

10. Paint with marbles- it's easy and so much fun

11. Stickers- let's be real all kids love stickers!

12. Play with shaving cream- I know it sounds messy but it will clean your table and it smells SO good!

13.Make a paper chain

14. Teach them a new card game

15. When all else fails...see my kids in the first photo? Watch a movie!

Mexican Stuffed Shells--Pinned it, Did it!

noreply@blogger.com (Jamie H) — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 10:00:00 +0000

I often pin recipes on my personal Pinterest account but never actually make them. Pinned it, Did it! is the perfect excuse to start trying some of those recipes I've pinned.

Mexican Stuffed Shells was one that I had all the ingredients for on hand except for the shells. I made a trip to the store for the pasta then got to work...

I quickly discovered that these tasty shells are super easy to make and one that the girls could easily help with if you let the meat mixture cool a bit. (Tottie wanted to help me stuff the shells with the meat but I didn't have time to wait for it to cool.)
I WILL be making this recipe again! They were so good and my whole family loved them. They aren't exactly quick to make, but they are easy, which makes up for the time it takes to stuff all the shells.
Don't they look good to you?

Raspberry Cheesecake Popsicles

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsi B) — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 15:00:00 +0000

Here are the ingredients:

12 oz frozen (or fresh) raspberries
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons water

1 pkg cream cheese (8oz), softened
1/3 cup milk
2/3 cups confectioners sugar (aka powdered sugar)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Pour your raspberries, sugar and water into a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Let the mixture gently boil for around 8-10 minutes. Once the time has elapsed you will pour your raspberry mixture into a blender or food processor and blend until it is a smooth puree. Set the raspberry puree aside in a small plastic bowl and let cool in the fridge (around 2 hours).

In a small bowl combine the cream cheese, milk, confectioners sugar and vanilla and blend well until nice and smooth.

You can either use a popsicle maker like I have or you can purchase popsicle molds at your local store. Insert the sticks and layer your raspberry puree and cheese cake batter in the mold. Let freeze until solid and enjoy!!!

Fuel for Active Kids -- #QuakerEpicAdventures

noreply@blogger.com (Jamie H) — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 10:00:00 +0000

March was a crazy month for our family. Nutty started gymnastics on Mondays on top of swimming on Tuesdays and church on Wednesdays. Hubby and I shoot in a pool league on Thursdays. Uff-da (as we say in Minnesota)! I'm making some changes for this month!

Unfortunately, there was a period of two weeks where gymnastics and swimming both fell on Monday evening (until I could reschedule swimming to Tuesdays). Nutty would get home from school at 4:15, change clothes, grab a quick snack, and head to swimming at 5:00, immediately after swimming and a shower, we'd head to gymnastics at 6:00. We didn't eat dinner till around 7:30pm!

So what did I give Nutty for a snack to keep her fueled for swimming and gymnastics? Granola bars of course! Quaker® Big Chewy Granola Bars to be exact. They're bigger than most granola bars and with 14g of whole grains they gave her the fuel she needed to make it through till dinner.

Unfortunately, the box we received to try for this post did not last long in my house as the whole family eats Quaker® Chewy Granola Bars like they are going out of style. Fortunately, the new bigger Big Chewy Granola Bars were more filling so I (I mean Hubby, no really, I mean the girls) only needed to eat one at a time. At Nutty's request, I quickly bought another box and reserved it for her after school snack. (Then I bought more boxes for me, Hubby, and Tottie to snack on through the day)

I never know what my days will have in store for me and my family, so keeping Quaker® Big Chewy Granola Bars on hand help make sure we have the fuel necessary to get the day. Now the Quaker® Big Chewy Granola Bars have chocolate drizzled on top and are 60% bigger – perfect for my hungry family!

Share what activities you need fuel for everyday and see other stories on Everyday Health.

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

Insects Made From Cereal

noreply@blogger.com (Jamie H) — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 10:00:00 +0000

So as I am scheduling our posts for this week I realize that ALL of them are tasty treat related but we're still sticking to our regular schedule. Today's post is both a craft and a tasty treat. We're making insects from cereal. Ok, sounds gross, I know, but they're actually super cute!

I told you they were cute. To make them (and then eat them) with your kids, you'll need:

Froot Loops, Fruity Cheerios, or the generic of either
Pipe cleaners
Large gum drops
Candy sprinkles (optional)
Frosting (optional)
Scissors
Toothpicks

1) The inch worm is super easy and is good for younger kids. Just curl a pipe cleaner slightly on one end and start stringing the cereal.

2) Press a gum drop drop at the other end of the stringed pipe cleaner. We found it easier to poke a hole in the gum drop with a tooth pick before trying to press it onto the pipe cleaner.

3) Use a small amount of frosting and candy sprinkles to make a face on the gum drop.

4) Use another pipe cleaner to make antennas.

For the butterfly, you'll need 4 pipe cleaners.

1) Curl the end of one pipe cleaner and string the cereal.

2) String two more pipe cleaners then attach those about 2/3 of the way up the first pipe cleaner.

3) Cut two small pieces off of the 4th pipe cleaner and save for the antennas then cut in half.

4) Add to the body under the wings.

5) Repeat steps 2-4 above for the head.

Admire your work then eat it!!
Do you think your kids would eat cereal insects?

The Ultimate Blog Party 2013--#UBP13

noreply@blogger.com (Jamie H) — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 10:00:00 +0000

We interrupt our regular Pinned it, Did it! to bring you our second annual Ultimate Blog Party post. What is The Ultimate Blog Party? Click on the badge below for details and to join in!

Our first Ultimate Blog Party happened when we were only 7 months old which means now we are about 1 year and 7 months old. Wow, we've come a long way in our first year and a half!

Who are we? We are Jamie and Lindsi. Wanna know more about us? Click on our names. You can also check out what our blog is about and our FAQs.

Sad that as we write this we realize that the last photo we took together was last year (about this time) at our Plates In The Dryer event. Yes, not only do we write blog posts, we also host real live events (in the Twin Cities, Minnesota area) for our readers and fellow bloggers! Our most recent one was this past December, our Macy's Holiday Makeover Event in which our readers got away from their kids for an evening of pampering!

Ok, you really came hear because you want to know about our blog itself. After all, most of you visiting don't live close enough to meet us in real life (though we wish you did!). The best place we can direct you to find out about the type of content we write about is our Top 12 Posts of 2012. These posts got the most page views of all the posts we wrote in 2012. However, the Ivory Soap Explosion remains our all-time top post. Alright, we think we've left you with enough links and you have more partying to do. If you think you like us, check out how to follow and find us with the links in the upper right corner.
In the mean time, please leave us a quick comment letting us know you were here. We'll visit back! P.S. We've got an unrelated $25 Ruum Kidswear Gift Card giveaway going on right now if you want to check it out and enter.

Banana Cookies

noreply@blogger.com (Jamie H) — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 10:00:00 +0000

Do you frequently buy bananas only to have them go bad before you eat them all? Are you sick of making banana bread all the time? How about making your family banana cookies!

My mom made banana cookies all the time for my family growing up. I don't know if it was just or fun or if it was because we frequently had over-ripe bananas. Either way, they are yummy, easy to make, and I now make them for my family.

You'll need:

2 1/4 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
2/3 cup margarine
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 ripe, mashed bananas

Mix everything together,
drop by large spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet,
and bake at 400° F for 8-10 minutes.

Check often while baking because some ovens are different and you don't want to over cook these. The recipe makes about 2 dozen cookies.

Yep, it's that easy! What do you make with over-ripe bananas besides cookies and banana bread?

Ruum American Kid's Wear Giveaway!

noreply@blogger.com (Jamie H) — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 10:00:00 +0000

HAVE YOU HEARD THE RUUMOR?

There’s a new kid’s fashion brand on the block—

RUUM American Kid’s Wear!

From the founders of The Children’s Place comes Ruum (pronounced “room”), a store that offers head-to-toe kid’s outfitting with great quality and value. The American Eagle brand of children’s clothing, 77Kids, was bought by the former chairman and CEO of The Children’s Place thus changing the name to Ruum. Though Ruum plans to keep some of the same manufacturers as 77Kids, they are reinventing themselves as a new, unique clothing line with the same quality at lower prices.
I had the chance to visit the new Ruum store at the Mall of America last week during their grand re-opening celebration. I was impressed! The clothes, shoes, and accessories were super cute (some I wish they made in my size) and the prices weren’t bad. The store itself was a ton of fun too. They have interactive spots where you can stop and snap a photo of yourself and the check out area is set up like an ice cream shoppe with all kinds of fun treats.
The clothes Ruum carries are based on American classics such as cardigans, plaid cargo shorts, oxford and polo shirts, lace embellished dresses, vibrant sundresses, sweaters, accessories, canvas shoes, and denim jackets. Graphic tees, distressed jeans, and leggings keep the styles trendy. Dress your kids up, or dress them casual, Rumm has all you need! With sizes ranging from 0-14 you won’t have to shop at more than one store for your different sized children.
Ruum celebrated the grand re-opening of their 21 stores around the US last week but if you don’t live near one, don’t worry, you can still check them out and order online at Ruum.com!

Enter their Grand Ruum Event Sweepsakes for a chance to win a $2000 Rumm shopping spree or one of their daily $100 gift card giveaways. Get coupons every time you enter too!

One of our lucky readers will win a $25 Ruum Giftcard! Just enter below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

11 Last Minute April Fools Activities For Kids

noreply@blogger.com (Jamie H) — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 10:00:00 +0000

Today is April 1st which means it's April Fools Day. I really wanted to play some kind of trick on you guys, our readers, by announcing we were quitting this blog, or by putting up a 404 NOT FOUND page in it's place for the day. Lindsi convinced me it probably wasn't a good idea as people might take it seriously if they weren't paying attention. So, instead of a joke on you, I'm letting you in on a few awesome, last minute tricks you can play on your family...

1) Upside down/backwards house

While your kids are at school today, turn everything that you can (photos, knick-knacks, whatever you can) upside down and/or backwards. When your kids ask what happened, act like you have no clue that things are different. If your kids are on spring break and are home today, slowly change things when they aren't in the room.

2) Blue toothbrush

Put a small drop of blue food coloring in the middle of your child's toothbrush sometime today. When they go to brush their teeth tonight, their mouth will turn blue! (Note this only works if your child's toothbrush has blue bristles or indicator bristles but you could do it to your significant other if your child's tooth brush has normal bristles!)

3) Short sheet the bed

An old prank from college that you can now play on your kids! Forgot how to do it? Find the instructions on WikiHow.

4) Trip a circuit

Trip the circuit in a room or two in your house so that the lights don't turn on. Tell your kids the power went out but only in that room. The electric company is working on it.

5) Stuck coin

This one isn't for your kids, it's one that they can play on others. If you have a busy sidewalk or walking path by your house, use super glue to glue a quarter to the ground. Sit back and watch how many people try to pick it up.

6) Chewy cheese sandwich

Make your child a sandwich with cheese but don't take the wrapper off of the cheese. They'll bite into a surprise!

7) Small shoes

Stuff toilet paper into the toes of your child's shoes so that they are suddenly too small.

8) Slippery seat

This one is for your older kids who are good at using the potty. Put a thin layer of Vaseline on the toilet seat so that it is slippery when they sit on it.

9) Broken straw

Give your child a drink with a straw in it. First, however, use a pin to poke small holes in it so that when they suck they'll get air and not their drink!

10) Brown-Es

Cut a bunch of letter Es out of brown paper and put them in a container. Tell your kids you made them brownies and give them the container full of brown Es.

11) April Fool's Ice

Last but not least, this is a must see!! This awesome fake ice looks real to me and would make a great prank. It does, however, require a little time and prep so you might have to put it on your list for next year.

Make your own laundry soap- Pinned it, Did it

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsi B) — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 10:00:00 +0000

I will admit I have always been skeptical of homemade laundry detergent. In fact, I often secretly laughed at those who made their own because I thought "there is no way it cleans as well as brand name, doesn't smell as good, doesn't whiten and brighten and could never wash way cleanly." Wrong! I found this pin on Pinterest and thought alright, I will give it a shot and see what I REALLY think.

LOVE it!!!! I love it so much that I thought I'd share it with you. For a grand total of $38.78 I made enough laundry detergent to last my home of six people a year! I used the majority of her recipe but tweaked one little thing. The first thing you need to do is shred your bar soap (everyone complains about this part but I just popped it into my food processor and I was done in a matter of a minute). Once you have the soap shredded add it to a large bucket with all of the other ingredients and mix really well.

Here's what you will need:
1-2 (55 oz) Bottle of Purex Crystals Fabric Softener- Found in the detergent aisle (completely optional and up to you, it's not 100% natural however it smells yummy))
1 (4 lb 12 oz) Box of Borax- Found in the detergent aisle
1 (4 lb) Box of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda- Found in the cooking aisle
1 (3 lb) Container of OxyClean- Found in the detergent aisle. (Helps get the stains out)
1 (3 lb 7 oz) Box of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda- Found in the detergent aisle (totally natural)
2 (14.1 oz) Mrs. Meyer's Bar Soap (scent of your choice)

All you need is 1-2 tablespoons of detergent per load. Wash, rinse, dry as usual. It smells fantastic and works even better!

Weeknight Quick Meal-mini dogs

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsi B) — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 10:00:00 +0000

Are you looking for a REALLY easy and REALLY quick dinner on a week night? Look no further! A fan favorite in our house is mini hot dogs! It's a take on something that I had a lot as kid myself. All you need are two things and a few minutes!

Here's what you need:
one package of mini hotdogs
1 tube of crescent rolls

Cut the crescent roll triangles into three triangles. Each tube comes with 12 large triangles, so when you are done cutting them you will end up with a total of 36.

Roll up a mini hot dog into each of the triangles (my kids love to help with this part!). Then place in the oven at 375F for about 8-10 minutes. You can also add other ingredients into the hot dog roll ups. Some people put a little piece of cheese in them and I have even heard of people putting a little bit of salsa too.