Parenting Archives - Page 20 of 22

Gearing up for a safe and fun summer with SafeSplash Swim School

I’m sure you’ve seen all the articles circulating about drowning, and how it doesn’t look like what you think it does. I saw an article about the dangers of drowning a few years ago and promptly purchased some life jackets for all the kiddos because there is no way I can keep them out of the water when we spend our summers at lakes, rivers, pools, and beaches.

So, for the past few years they have been safe, yes, but unfortunately they haven’t gained any actual swimming skills. I knew I needed to get them out of their jackets and was thrilled when I heard about SafeSplash, a company that believes swimming is a life skill. I love this concept and I couldn’t agree more about the importance of learning swim skills.

Oatmeal banana bread with oatmeal cereal recipe

This is a sponsored recipe post for The Women Bloggers, LLC which is led by the Kendal King Group and #SoapboxInfluence to share the goodness of Nestle Gerber® Cereal. All opinions are 100% my own. #CookingwithGerberEvery parent wants to serve the most nutritious foods possible to their families, but if you’re like me and have a picky eater, you know this can be a huge struggle. I have dreams of my healthy recipes being gobbled up, but more often than not, they just don’t get eaten. That just means I have to get sneaky and hide the good stuff in what might otherwise be considered snack foods.

This quick and easy oatmeal banana bread recipe with a super-secret ingredient is my new favorite quick-grab breakfast for our busy mornings. We rarely have time for a sit-down meal in the mornings, but I hate the idea of them grabbing junk and starting their day off on the wrong foot. This nutritious banana bread is perfect because you can easily grab a slice or a muffin on your way out of the house or you can pair it with fruit and yogurt for a balanced breakfast.

Celebrating Grandma Johnson: Things I learned from my grandma

This has been an extraordinarily hard week. For the country, for Orlando, and also for our entire family. This week we said goodbye to the matriarch of my husband’s family, Grandma Johnson. She has been someone I looked up to for almost 20 years, and I am so happy I was lucky enough to get to call her grandma. My older two have long adored their great-grandma, but my heart especially aches for my little one, Grandma Johnson’s mother’s namesake, who was only just beginning to get to know her. Though I can never replace the joy of having her in our lives, I will try my hardest to preserve her memory and carry on her legacy. I have so many things she taught me that I want to be able to share with my kids, so it seemed fitting to pay tribute by sharing the bits of wisdom she has imparted upon me in the two decades I had with her. With that, I give you my list of things I learned from Grandma Johnson:

10+ reasons why you should own ZOOTOPIA on DVD and Blu-ray

It’s the day we've been waiting for! ZOOTOPIA is now out on DVD and Blu-ray!

As soon as I saw Disney's ZOOTOPIA movie, I was smitten. In so many ways, ZOOTOPIA was just as good, and in many ways better, than I had hoped. It had action, it had adventure, it had heart, and it had a really wonderful message.

Even months later, we’re all still talking about takeaways from the movie and parts that we really enjoyed as a family. The conversations are only getting better as we process the movie and discuss it further. Clearly this was a movie we needed to own.

Why should you own ZOOTOPIA? I'm so glad you asked. Here are just some of many reasons:

Make your Oribel PortaPlay even more amazing with two awesome new accessories

I’ve said before how much I love our PortaPlay Convertible Activity Center from Oribel. We’ve had it for a year now and it’s still one of my favorite items we got for our little one. This is because the PortaPlay bouncer/activity table isn’t just for babies. The PortaPlay converts as baby’s needs change, so what started out as a bouncer/exersaucer for baby becomes a toy-covered or flat-topped activity table that can be used for years. After almost a year of use as a bouncer, we recently converted the PortaPlay to an activity table and my new little walker was super excited to walk around the table and play with the toys from a new angle. And then when the newest Oribel accessories arrived and we converted the PortaPlay to a flat-top art table, she was super excited to use the PortaPlay with her favorite dolls and toys.

CYBEX Gold Line: designed to adapt with your little one

This post was sponsored by CYBEX as part of a Blog Blast Activation for Influence Central.

Even before I was pregnant for the first time, I knew how important choosing the right stroller and car seat were going to be for our on-the-go lifestyle. I began to watch other parents maneuver strollers around town and while traveling and I watched them conquer subways, cobblestones, and shopping malls. Seeing strollers in so many different types of situations gave me strong ideas about what my future babies were going to be riding in. And, even though my opinions on nearly every aspect of parenting has evolved as I became a mom, and then as a mom of two, and now as a mom of three, my opinions on strollers and car seats has changed very little.

Taking a baby or toddler to Disney World? You are definitely going to want to read this first! Our ultimate guide to Disney World with baby and toddler includes 100+ tips to make the most of your Disney World trip with young kids.

Spring clean and organize your digital life with MiMedia

I know this isn’t a popular sentiment, but I actually really love spring cleaning. Call me crazy, but I love cleaning up and clearing things out until everything is neat and organized just the way I like it. During my spring cleaning sessions, just about nothing is safe and I recycle, donate, and gift with abandon. It’s a beautiful thing.

But, until now there is one area of disorganization that was too scary for me to even begin to delve into: my digital life. We’re talking decades of pictures, music files, scans, videos, and documents that have been over-categorized and misplaced until it’s impossible to find anything or enjoy it properly.

Like this gem. Hidden away in a file called "10-26-2015-BHJLHK". Because OF COURSE I would look there first when searching for an adorable picture of the kiddos with me during our trip to Georgia. If that doesn't scream "open me for adorable pictures" I don't know what does. That’s where MiMedia comes in. MiMedia is the personal cloud you’ve been waiting for that gives you an easy-to-access, safe and secure digital home for all of your precious memories. Imagine knowing that all your files you care most about are safe in one spot where you can keep them organized and accessible on all of your devices. With MiMedia, they can be.

Skagit Valley Tulip Festival with Washington Shoe Company {coupon codes included}

Every year we celebrate the arrival of spring with two big events: the purchase of new rain boots and then a visit to the tulip fields. This year was extra exciting for me because it was my turn for new boots. I was realizing that it had been nearly 7 years since my last new rain boots, so it seemed like kismet when I got an email from one of my very favorite boot brands, Washington Shoe Company {known to consumers as Western Chief and Chooka Boots} offered to send me a pair specifically for visiting the tulips this spring.They sent me these little cuties, which I have found are not only awesome for tulip visits, but also are great for gardening, pressure washing, and even backyard spring parties. I love that they are the perfect height for wearing in mud and water, but more shoe-like so I could potentially wear them all day long. Oh, and did I mention how comfortable they are?

Find your keys, purse or phone with a Tile tracker from AT&T

Sometimes, things just happen for a reason. Earlier this month, when AT&T offered to send me a new Tile, I thought, “That’d probably be nice to have just in case”. I had no idea just how nice it would be to have.

I was literally waiting on shipment of the Tile when I truly lost my car keys for the first time in my adult life. It took over a half hour of all of us running around the house looking before I realized where they were – they were locked INSIDE my trunk sitting atop the stroller console where I had left them after shopping the previous day.

Thankfully, I have a husband who drives for work and he was able to swing by and unlock my trunk for me, because I would have had some super sad spring breakers missing a day at the Children’s Museum as a result of my forgetfulness. As it was, we had already wasted much of our day looking for keys and then waiting to be rescued.

But, what if we could have located the keys in an instant and immediately called my husband to help us out? That’s where the Tile Bluetooth Tracker comes in. The tiny Tile is the size of keychain, but it can do so much more. How much more, you ask?