Must-Have Annual Memberships for Kansas City Families!

June 22, 2015 - Mama 4 Comments

This winter, I had what many of my friends referred to as my “grinch year.” I was up to my eyeballs in too many toys, and I put a ban on the entire family– NO. TOYS. PERIOD. I was not going to let another toy come into my house when we were overloaded even after getting rid of a bunch. Instead, I encouraged my family to consider ideas that might be more long-lasting and educational, but still fun (like subscription boxes or annual memberships). I also put my money where my mouth was and got my son an annual pass to SeaLife Aquarium, the Legoland Discovery Center, and to Union Station, 3 places we visited last fall and loved.

And this summer? I’m so thankful for my grinch year, because the memberships we have now are perfect for our summer fun, and we’ve been getting tons of use out of each. So, now that my son and I are well-versed in what memberships are worth it in the KC area (and which you might want to skip).

An Open Letter to the Dads of my Son’s Baseball Team

June 17, 2015June 24, 2015 - Mama Leave a comment

When you live in a community, it's great when one family or person looks out for others that live in community with them. Taking others under your wing is a great way to foster community-- read this mom's open letter to the dads who took her son under their wing during baseball.

To the dads of the kids on my son’s baseball team:

As the season winds down to a close, I realize there are some important things I didn’t know how to say to you in person. I just want to take a few minutes to say thank you.

5 Ways to Show Love to Your Kids (Without Just Saying “I Love You”)

June 5, 2015June 8, 2015 - Mama Leave a comment

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As parents, most of us tell our kids “I love you” on a pretty regular basis. At night, Zach and I have an “I love you” “I love you more” “I love you most” back and forth before he falls asleep. It’s just part of life that many of us are great at telling our kids we love them. But are we showing them that we love them? Based on the principles of Gary Chapman’s 5 Love Languages, I’ve come up with a list of ways that you can show your child love. You won’t want to miss these!

Writing Letters to Your Children, Part Two: How to Organize Them

April 15, 2015April 12, 2015 - Mama Leave a comment

Writing letters to your children can be a great gift to them when they're older-- at graduation, or on their wedding day. But what do you do once you've written the letters? How do you get started and how do you store them? Here are some ideas.

Last week on the blog, I shared my heart in terms of why it’s important to write letters to your children for them to read when they get older. Writing letters helps you leave a lasting legacy to your children and tell them stories that you want to preserve– don’t wait until it’s too late to share these stories. This week, I want to give you some ideas of how to prepare your letters for your children.

50 Ways to Bond with your Child (Without Leaving the House)

March 18, 2015March 22, 2015 - Mama 2 Comments

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #FrozenCustardTime #CollectiveBias

It’s so important to spend time with your children. Kids are at this vital part of their life where they need to be shown love, time, patience, and how to interact together during family time. That’s why you can’t put a high enough value on time spent together. But truthfully? Time together doesn’t have to require any extensive planning at all– with a few things you probably already have around the house, you can take time to unplug and enjoy bonding time together. Here are some of my favorite ideas for spending time with your children (without leaving the house!)

The Perks of Being a Stay At Home Mom

March 16, 2015March 16, 2015 - Mama Leave a comment

Disclaimer: this post isn’t meant to bash anyone, or say that being a stay at home mom is more important than being a mom who works outside the home– not in the slightest. But lately, I’ve heard a lot of questions raised about the value of stay at home moms and whether they’re really as significant as moms who work outside of the home, and I wanted to share my perspective of why working from home has changed my life so significantly. Again– not trying to bash, just trying to share my side of the story!

I’ve had a lot of people ask me “Yeah, but do you feel unfulfilled working from home instead of having like… a job?” “Don’t you just need a break from your kid sometimes?” “Ugh, I could NEVER work from home… my kids drive me crazy!” But after working from home, I realized there are a lot of perks of being a stay at home mom or work at home mom. I have a lot of opportunities that other moms don’t have, and for that, I feel really lucky.

DIY Color Bubbles

March 9, 2015March 9, 2015 - Mama 9 Comments

I’m sure by now you’ve seen the colorful bubbles in store sold by some big-name brands. But did you know it’s easy to DIY color bubbles yourself? It only takes a few ingredients– things you already likely have around your house– and a few minutes to make the BEST color bubbles on the planet!

Create a Family Time Capsule: The Perfect New Years’ Tradition

December 31, 2014December 30, 2014 - Mama 1 Comment

I am all about tradition during the holidays. Our annual trip for Thanksgiving, Christmas advent calendars, gingerbread houses… but then I realized my family has zero traditions for New Years’ Eve. Our idea of an NYE party? Flipping channels and drinking some sparkling grape juice at midnight… IF we make it to midnight. But that has to change– I can’t have a holiday without a tradition! So we’ve decided to build a family time capsule that we can open together. When I sat down to think about what would go in this family time capsule, I had a few ideas…

15 Things to do if You’re Skipping Black Friday

November 27, 2014November 25, 2014 - Mama Leave a comment

It’s here… it’s unavoidable, it seems. Commercials, advertisements, it’s Black Friday madness. And as Black Friday starts earlier and earlier each year…. if you cannot stand to go out in the crowds to shop, you can….

Life Lessons I’ve Learned from Parenting a 3 Year Old

July 16, 2014September 13, 2014 - Mama 2 Comments

My sweet son turned 3 on Saturday. It’s been one heck of a ride, this past 3 years. A lot has changed, he’s grown, he’s developed such a silly personality, but a lot has stayed the same.

In the era of the Pinterest Supermoms, where every small celebration from a first tooth being lost to the first flush on the big boy potty becomes a celebration worthy of a giant theme party complete with theme food and drinks and decorations and more, I knew that his third birthday would be a big deal. I even tentatively put a post on my long-term blog idea list to tell you all about the thrilling birthday and exactly how to copy it, complete with drool-worthy photos you’d be anxious to share on Pinterest.

And then my 3 year old hit me with a doozy.

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