Parenting

$100 Walmart Gift Card or $50 Kandoo Prize Pack #KandooKids Giveaway

August 29, 2014 by Jenni 715 Comments

It’s potty training season and we’re excited to share this FUN Kandoo contest with you!! One lucky person is going to win either a $100 Walmart gift card AND a Kandoo jersey or 1 of (4) Kandoo gift baskets worth $50 in products!! Entering the contest is easy!! Just use the Rafflecopter form below!

Ohhh, and if you’re interested…you can snag this FREE Kandoo potty training toolkit!
It’s an awesome little toolkit too! It includes a potty training guide with a fun story where kids can learn how Didit becomes a Potty Hero. There is also a bathroom time chart, door hanger and certificate. It’s full of great tips and information for parents too!

Share this Giveaway with friends and family! It’s EASY!

Just use the little buttons at the top or bottom of this post to share on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and more!

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Back to School Tips from Rockstar Moms! #MomsCheckIn

August 15, 2014 by Jenni 1,657 Comments

Back to school time is here. Everywhere you turn it seems to be binders, pencils and backpacks. We want to know, what is your best tip for an organized school year. Do you have a super way to make those crazy mornings go off without a hitch? Or maybe you’ve mastered the art of sifting through and organizing all of those papers that come home. Whatever your expertise – we want to know!

Here are some of our top back to school tips from the
Moms in our #MomsCheckIn panel!

Since Sam is just going into kindergarten, I’m a novice at this back-to-school regimen so all I can tell you is what I’ve thought about. In the last couple of weeks we’ve been inching toward what his new schedule will be. That means Sam’s getting to bed a little earlier so he’s ready to get up earlier, too. The other thing I plan to do is make sure lunch is packed and clothes are chosen at the end of each day instead of having to hustle in the mornings.

– Stephanie

Stephanie is the mom to Sam and the author of Spaceships and Laser Beams. If you ever need party ideas her site is the place to visit! Specializing in all things boy, it’s full of inspiration! Follow her on Facebook here!

Gosh is it time to go back to school already? Can’t we just start summer over? We are not morning people. Ok, I am not a morning person. On the weekends, I make extra breakfast and we freeze the leftovers. Pancakes are perfect for popping into the toaster! After our Saturday grocery trip we separate the snacks into individual serving size baggies. We also make a LOT of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to put in the freezer. Come on Monday when we need to make Josh’s lunch we just have to grab a sandwich from the freezer and a few prepped snacks and we are good to go! It only takes about 30 seconds and we are off!

– Amanda

Amanda is the mom to Joshua and owns It’s a Fabulous Life. If you are looking for a one stop place for all things mom, It’s a Fabulous Life is it! Full of recipes, fashion, DIY projects, recipes and parenting articles it’s the place for all of Mom’s favorites to come together! Follow her on Facebook here!

“My top tip is to get done what you can the night before to prepare for the next day. The morning rush is no fun when you’re trying to hustle kids out the door. So we’ll lay out clothes, make sure backpacks are packed, and decide what we’re packing for lunch before we go to bed. My other big tip? Get labels with your kids’ names on everything. Losing a lunch bag or backpack can be a painful (and expensive) loss. I speak from experience!”

– Lindsay

Lindsay is the mom of 2 and author of See Mom Click. She shares great deals, Disney happenings and recipes. You can follow her on Facebook here!

The first thing to get us back into the swing of things is to get back in our routine of going to bed early. Just so I’m not running ragged in the mornings, I always lay his clothes out and make sure his backpack is ready to go too. Bath-time the night before also, that always saves a ton of time!

– Jenni

Jenni is the mom of one and the author of Sweet Pennies From Heaven. A hearth and home website, Sweet Pennies From Heaven focuses on recipes, crafts and creating a comfortable home. Follow her on Facebook here!

So now it’s your turn! Tell us! What is your best tip for an organized school year?

Make sure to follow all of the moms on social media and Moms Check In on Twitter! We will be tweeting your responses all week!

What is Your Mom Confession? We’re Blabbing Ours! #MomsCheckIn

August 8, 2014 by Jenni 279 Comments

Hey momma bears!! Hope you’ve had a fantastic week. Can you believe it’s finally FRIDAY!!! Shewww!! Bring on the weekend! We started back to school on Monday so this week has been a hectic one. We’re ready to chillax ALL weekend long. This week’s Moms Check In post is shhhhhhhh……….mom confessions! HA! Funnn!!

Who are our awesome moms?!

Amanda is the mom of one boy and owns It’s a Fabulous Life, which is a one stop place for all things ‘Mom’. You can find recipes, DIY projects, frugal living, parenting and more. (Follow her on Facebook here!)

Jenni is the mom of one boy and writes at Sweet Pennies From Haven. Sweet Pennies From Heaven is a hearth and home website that focuses on recipes, crafts and creating a comfortable home. (Follow her on Facebook here!)

Lindsay is the mom of two great kids and owner of See Mom Click. She shares great deals, Disney happenings and recipes. (Follow her on Facebook here!)

Stephanie is the mom of one son and owns Spaceships and Laser Beams. Spaceships and Laser Beams is a great site full of party ideas, crafts and more all with boys in mind! (Follow her on Facebook here!)

This week our guest host is Mary from Mission: To Save. Mary has 3 kiddos and her blog, Mission: To Save is full of coupons, deals and freebies! Not to mention fun DIY projects and recipes! (Follow her on Facebook here!)

You will want to make sure to check out all of our moms on Facebook!

And don’t forget to follow along with Moms Check In on Twitter! We will be tweeting your responses all week!

Amanda –

Alright. Let’s confess. This is a no judgement zone right? My child is SO picky. We are talking the only fruit he will eat is a banana and he has MAYBE tried 3 or 4 veggies in his life. He will eat ‘leaves’ (salad) with a gallon of Ranch on them, but that’s it. He’s never even had corn or potatoes! So my confession is…I let my child eat PB&J. For breakfast. Lunch. And dinner. Obviously not every night, but there have for sure been a few times where he eats it for multiple meals in a day. I swear, we go through more peanut butter in a week at our house than most people go through in a year.

And before you send me angry emails, I do make him take vitamins and drink shakes to get some vitamins and minerals that he is otherwise lacking… 🙂 Tips for picky eaters? Bring them on!!

Jenni –

Oh geez. Secret is out I guess. Bedtime is my weakness. We stay up late sometimes and so we let my son stay up too. It’s been worse over the summer, but now that school is getting back in session I need to work on getting back on a schedule. It also doesn’t help that it doesn’t get dark until a little after 9:00 PM!

Lindsay –

Why are you making me confess this? I sometimes hide my favorite food from the kids. I love having a little treat after they go to bed and know that if they see my goodies (like a jar of Cookie Butter – I have issues with it) then they’ll help themselves. I can’t have that. So I hide it! Now never tell my kids or I’ll be forced to find new hiding spots.

Stephanie –

I’m more of a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants person. I like being spontaneous. I think some of my creativity bubbles up out of that part of my personality. However, as a mom I recognize that kids need to have at least some structure and order. Sometimes I think I need to get more organized so things move along smoothly…but I’m also pretty laid back in temperament so the entire life organization thing eludes me. And I mostly don’t care!

Mary –

I must confess…My house is usually a mess. Sure I can make it look good for company or when we are leaving for vacation (because who wants to come home to laundry and a dirty floor), but on any given day- my house looks very “lived in”. I tend to be a bit of a pack-rat (NOT a hoarder!) so I often have piles of things here and there. I like to call it organized chaos. Sure I would “like” to be more organized (that’s why I have a whole Pinterest Board devoted to it) but right now, it’s not the priority. For now, hanging with my fam, creating good food to sit down together to eat and building my business/blog mean more to me than the dust on that shelf.

What about you? What is your Mom confession? Let us know and be entered to win an Amazon gift card!

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Moms! What is Your Favorite Summer Memory? #MomsCheckIn

August 1, 2014 by Jenni 839 Comments

Hey-hey-hey moms!!! Have you all had an awesome summer?! I can’t believe, we start back to school on Monday! Ack! So. I hope you’ve been following along with our new weekly Moms Check In panel. Each week we discuss a new topic – mom related. Last week, we asked the question, “What’s one thing you do for yourself each week?“. We got a lot of great responses via Twitter!

Ohh, oh ohh!!! I almost forgot!! Make sure to check out our Facebook pages (linked below)!! We’re giving away $20 in a FLASH Cash giveaway today! Make sure to head over and enter!

So who are our Moms?

Lindsay (@SeeMomClick) is the mom of two great kids and owner of See Mom Click. She shares great deals, Disney happenings and recipes. (Follow her on Facebook here!)

Stephanie (@spaceshipsLB) is the mom of one son and owns Spaceships and Laser Beams. Spaceships and Laser Beams is a great site full of party ideas, crafts and more all with boys in mind! (Follow her on Facebook here!)

This week our guest co-host is Erin from A Bird and a Bean. Erin is a mom of 2 and on her blog she shares some amazing DIY projects with some yummy recipes and lots of amazing things for the kiddos! (Follow her on Facebook here!)

You will want to make sure to check out all of our moms on Facebook! This week you can join in our Moms Check In conversation for a chance to win some cash! 🙂

And don’t forget to follow along with Moms Check In on Twitter! We will be tweeting your responses all week!

I can’t believe that summer is about over. Kids around here have been back to school starting as early as last week! Yikes! So this week’s topic is your favorite summer memory!

My favorite memory this summer was for the 4th of July. Josh and I went downtown Indianapolis for the day and rode paddle boats on the canal, hung out at the memorials and at the museums. Later that night there was a big festival with bands and lots of pizza. We ended up winning VIP tickets so we got to watch the fireworks from the top of the monument which was the most amazing view. Plus, free unlimited pizza. Josh was a happy kid! The fireworks were awesome and we had so much fun!

My favorite summer memory this year was probably the 4th of July. My little man loves fireworks and we had such a fun time. Spent the entire day swimming, then had a cookout with some family and their kiddos before the show! Other than that, we spend a lot of time in the pool and that’s Eli’s favorite place to be. No vacations this year…boo!! Hoping to get away somewhere this year still though. Maybe something awesome in the fall.

Family vacations are always the highlight of my summer. We’ve gotten to the beach a couple of times and have one more long weekend planned before school starts. Unplugging, building castles with the kids, eating at our favorite beach spots…Ah, that’s the stuff a relaxing summer is made of. I always think a change of scenery does everyone good and family time exploring a new place away from home creates the best memories!

I don’t really have just one favorite memory this summer. Everything has melded into one satisfying season! Since Sam is in school now, this is the first summer he hasn’t been in daycare. We’ve spent a lot of time together and it has been AMAZING! This is also the first time in four years that I’ve taken a (kind of) vacation (the blog never sleeps you know!). I have been intentionally trying to relax and recharge so I’ve been able to enjoy lots of little things with him. Mike, Sam and I have gone on bike rides, mini hikes, and picnics as well as worked on a few fun projects. We’re also spending more time with family this summer. It feels good… and I’m more in love with my guys than ever!

Our summer has been jam packed this year. We’ve had so much fun and embraced every single minute of our time together these last few months. We made an all inclusive bucket list at the beginning and I think we’ve completed almost everything, from catching fireflies and night swimming to horseback riding and river rafting. But if I had to narrow it down to my MOST favorite summer memory so far (because it’s not over yet, baby!) it would for sure be our annual family vacation to Lake Michigan. The whole family goes and stays in one big house, my parents and sibling and cousins. It is chaotic and relaxing and crazy and wonderful. We go to the beach everyday and take little day trips here and there. This year my favorite day trip was visiting Sleeping Bear Dunes. It is absolutely spectacular. If you haven’t gone, you need to put it on your bucket list.

What about you?
What was your favorite part of the summer?

Make sure to let us know on one of our Facebook pages for a chance to win some cash! 🙂 Good luck!

Have a question you want us to answer? Bloggers, do you want to co-host a week of Moms Check In? Fill out the quick form here and let us know!

MOMS! What Do You Do for Yourself Each Week? #MomsCheckIn

July 25, 2014 by Jenni 513 Comments

Hey fellow moms! The last 2 weeks we talked about the kiddos over here on our Moms Check In panel and today, we’re talking about US! Sometimes we just have to take a little time for us, huh?! If you’d like to go back and see what we were talking about the last 2 weeks though, you’re more than welcome – the conversations are still going. Hop right in!

Last week, we talked about what we’d wished we’d started earlier with our kids. The week before we talked about kids and chores.

So who are our Moms?

Amanda (@its_a_fab_life) is the mom of one boy and owns It’s a Fabulous Life, which is a one stop place for all things ‘Mom’. You can find recipes, DIY projects, frugal living, parenting and more.

Jenni (@sweetpennies) is the mom of one boy and writes at Sweet Pennies From Haven. Sweet Pennies From Heaven is a hearth and home website that focuses on recipes, crafts and creating a comfortable home.

Lindsay (@SeeMomClick) is the mom of two great kids and owner of See Mom Click. She shares great deals, Disney happenings and recipes.

Stephanie (@spaceshipsLB) is the mom of one son and owns Spaceships and Laser Beams. Spaceships and Laser Beams is a great site full of party ideas, crafts and more all with boys in mind!

This week our guest co-host is Niki from 365 Days of Crafts! 365 Days of Crafts is full of DIY inspiration for yourself and your home!

You will want to make sure to check out all of our moms and follow along with Moms Check In on Twitter! We will be tweeting your responses all week!

This week we want to know, what do you for yourself each week?

Here’s what our moms had to say………

– Amanda

I think that taking time out for yourself is so important! It helps you to relax and be refreshed! And we all know that we are better wives, friends, and mothers when we are refreshed! 🙂 For me, I love to get out with my friends. I belong to an awesome church and we have lots of incredible small groups. Each week I meet up with two of my groups – one is a Bible study and the other is a group called Girls Night Out. We just get together and talk and hang out. A girl needs her friends! I also love to read. Running and exercise aren’t really my thing, although I’ve been trying really hard to make them more of my thing! Maybe one day, right?

– Jenni

Okay, so I’m a big TV person. I stock up on DVR’d shows through the week and spend a part of each and every weekend just binge watching TV. Big Brother is in FULL swing now and I am addicted to Big Brother After Dark too. Then there’s Food Network, The Walking Dead (October can’t get here fast enough), Downton Abbey and so many other great shows! Nothing better than to pile up on the couch on a Saturday with a blanket, my remote and some not so healthy snacks!

– Lindsay

I read! I have been known to forego a good night’s sleep in exchange for just one…more…chapter. But it’s my treat at the end of the day to crawl in bed with my Kindle and enjoy a good book. I have always loved to read and my hobby sort of fell by the wayside off and on after having kids. But lately I’ve made it a priority and really enjoy those few minutes before I doze off of solitude. Just me and my latest novel. Bliss!

– Stephanie

Although Mike and I do the laundry, dishes, organizing and daily pick-up chores, we hired a cleaning service shortly after we were married. They come once a week to dust everything, do the floors and deep-clean the bathrooms and kitchen. It’s wonderful! There are only so many things I can do in a week — and Mike works crazy hours as well because of his shift work. At first we felt a little guilty about the decision but quickly came to realize how much it added to our overall quality of life. The hours we would have spent doing those chores on a Saturday, we spend together doing something we love.

And just for me, once a month I indulge in a facial. There are very few things I do that are only for me. When I am getting a facial, for one hour, I get to relax with no one asking anything of me. The fact that it’s really been helping my sensitive skin is a bonus.

– Niki

As a mother of two (4 & 11) and a work-at-home mom finding alone time can be difficult. To guarantee my down time, we make weekly trips to the library. After the trip we go home and each member of the family has a half an hour of alone time. The 4 year old understands that even though she cannot read a book, she can look at the pictures and play make believe.

What about you? What do you do for yourself each week? Let us know here or on Twitter! Make sure to include #MomsCheckIn with your answer! We will be tweeting your answers all week!

Have a question you want us to answer? Bloggers, do you want to co-host a week of Moms Check In? Fill out the quick form here and let us know!

Do Your Kids Do Chores? See What Our Moms Say! #MomsCheckIn

July 11, 2014 by Jenni 255 Comments

Moms need to stick together, right?! I decided to join some fantastic bloggers in a #MomsCheckIn group where each week we’ll be discussing different topics. We invite YOU to join in the discussion!! We’ll be talking about all things mom related — from dirty diapers to date night! Learn more about our new moms panel below and what we’re discussing this week!

So who are our Moms?

Lindsay (@SeeMomClick) is the mom of two great kids and owner of See Mom Click. She shares great deals, Disney happenings and recipes.

Stephanie (@spaceshipsLB) is the mom of one son and owns Spaceships and Laser Beams. Spaceships and Laser Beams is a great site full of party ideas, crafts and more all with boys in mind!

And this week out guest panelist is Katelyn (@whatsupfagans) from What’s Up Fagans? Katelyn is a young mom of three young kids – twin four year old girls and a one year old boy! She’s busy maintaining the mayhem, cleaning the house, blogging, reading books, couponing, and finding a balance to it all. She writes about simple ways you can live better, especially as a wife, mother, homemaker, and Christian.

You will want to make sure to check out all of our moms and follow along with Moms Check In on Twitter!

This week’s topic is all about chores. Do your children do chores?

I believe in chores! I really do! I honestly struggle with consistently doing chores, but we try. Josh is 11 and he makes his bed, keeps his room picked up, helps feed the pets, and to clean out his fish tank. I’m really lucky in that if I need him to do something and help me he will no questions asked. I need to be better about making it more consistent and expected.
-Amanda (@its_a_fab_life)

My little guy doesn’t have lots of chores at this point but he does have the responsibility of picking up his bedroom and the toys through the rest of the house. Each night we spend about 5 to 10 minutes picking up before bedtime. The older he gets, for SURE – the more chores he’ll have!
-Jenni (@sweetpennies)

We really don’t have a formal chore list for the kids. There are certain expectations we have of them just because they’re part of the family. So every day they’ll make their beds, clean up their rooms, and pick up their toys when they’re done playing. Then we do other things as needed, like bring their dirty laundry to the laundry room and empty their hampers into the basket to be washed. One thing I’ve done over the summer to keep us productive is to tackle a project a day. So far we’ve done things like clean out their desks, reorganize the coat closet, clean out and organize the pantry, and sort through their DVDs to see which ones we want to yard sale. They actually love it and ask me every day what our project will be! (And little by little I’m organizing the house with their help. Win!)
– Lindsay (@SeeMomClick)

My son, Sam, is just turning five. I’ve seen lists of chores for kids according to their ages; I could just say I’m not into child labor…but the truth is I think that is something I should pay a lot more attention to…soon. Sam does help pick up his toys at the end of the day and he puts his dirty clothes in the laundry. Since he’s my only, my mindset has pretty much been “I’m taking care of my baby” and it hasn’t seemed like a big deal to me just to buzz through and take care of things. But I do think it’s important for kids to learn responsibility and to be good stewards. I also think there is a lot of other learning going on in early childhood and so I haven’t been worried that he is lax in working around the house just yet!
-Stephanie (@SpaceshipsLB)

Yes and no. I fully expect my four-year olds to help with household duties and to clean up any messes they make themselves, and think they are more than capable to do regular age-appropriate chores both assisted and unassisted, but I don’t have any sort of “chore chart” for them. I don’t have a chore chart because I don’t want to have make up some sort of reward system for completed daily or weekly chores. I am trying to stay away from too much “reward” and “punishment” parenting tactics, because I don’t really want to make chores, a chore. Ideally, my children should want to clean and do chores because they understand it’s part of keeping a clean home and part of what it means to be in a family. In fact I actually prefer to clean my house while my kids are still awake and around, even if that seems counter-intuitive, because I want them to see me completing chores so they can see what goes on in maintaining a home and offer their help (which they often do). I don’t want them to be or feel entitled. So, yes, my children help me around the house daily, but no, I don’t hold them accountable to a set chore chart.
-Katelyn (@whatsupfagans)

What about your house? Do your children do chores?

Do your kids do chores? See what our moms are saying and give us your answer! #MomsCheckIn http://t.co/rdDwb0x7Kp pic.twitter.com/Nl6WoVt923

— Jenni (@sweetpennies) July 11, 2014

We would LOVE to hear what you have to say! Just make sure to use #MomsCheckIn with your answer! We will be featuring your answers all week on Twitter!

Next week’s topic: What is one thing you would have started sooner with your child? (Tough one!!)

Big thanks to Katelyn for joining us this week!
Want to co-host a week of Moms Check In with us? Fill out the form here!

Share this Giveaway with friends and family! It’s EASY! Just use the little buttons at the top or bottom of this post to share on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and more!

Here are some of our top back to school tips from the Moms in our #MomsCheckIn panel!

So now it’s your turn! Tell us! What is your best tip for an organized school year?

Who are our awesome moms?!

What about you? What is your Mom confession? Let us know and be entered to win an Amazon gift card!

So who are our Moms?

What about you? What was your favorite part of the summer?

So who are our Moms?

This week we want to know, what do you for yourself each week?

Here’s what our moms had to say………

So who are our Moms?

This week’s topic is all about chores. Do your children do chores?

What about your house? Do your children do chores?

Quick Links

Share this Giveaway with friends and family! It’s EASY!

Just use the little buttons at the top or bottom of this post to share on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and more!

Here are some of our top back to school tips from the
Moms in our #MomsCheckIn panel!

What about you?
What was your favorite part of the summer?