Free Toy Egg Carton

Moms of littles, I have a tip for you!

Save your egg cartons for some free entertainment.

Let me explain.

My 4 year old loves playing with egg cartons.  We have found so many fun uses for them.

1. Smash in the egg cartons

2. Fill each egg slot with a tiny toy (cars here)

3. Go outside and pick a clover flower or dandelion for each spot.

4. Collect ladybugs for each spot.

5. Pick a clover for each spot or a cherry tomato for each spot.

6. Fill an empty egg carton with a bite size lunch for your toddler.

7. Put paint in each spot and let your toddler paint.

8. Put a little snack in each spot for a fun snack tray.

Leo plays with them all the time and loves filling each spot.

Let me know if your toddler has fun with an egg carton!

Polka Dots Play Cafe

We have the cutest new toddler play place in our area called Polka Dots Play Cafe in Haubstadt, IN.  It's a tiny town with the cutest attraction.  We've gone several times with friends and Leo loves it.  I'd say it's best for kids ages 5 and under, but they have a cute cafe where you could work or big kids could read while their little siblings play.  They serve fun drinks and have snacks for purchase.  There are tables to read or work at while the kids play.

It's $10 a kid to play for the whole day and you must have on socks to play.  You don't have to pay for adults.  If you come without socks (me!), you can buy grippy socks for the kids for $3/pair.  There is a baby area and tons of play room for the toddlers.  If you go early it isn't very crowded.

Look how fun this place is for toddlers!  Tons of climbing and tons of imaginative play options.  We can't wait to go back again soon.

If you find yourself in Southern Indiana, you've got to check this place out!  It's so cute and so clean.

Heading Back to School

I know a ton of kids that are getting ready to head back to school this week.  The summer really seemed to fly by for us so it's crazy we're already talking about Fall and school.  Olive's school doesn't start back for a few more weeks.  I'm thankful to have the extra time with her and we are really building up this whole back to school business since it's our first time.

She'll tell you she has butterflies in her belly about school or that she's feeling nervous.  We are reading a lot of books about school, talking about school, have visited school and play school to help her know what to expect at school.  I think she'll do great once she gets past all the NEW.

Here are a few things that we've done or are on our radar for Back to School this year:


NEW CLOTHES:
We picked up a few new dresses and some new shoes for Olive for school.  I'm obsessed with her new dress from the Back to School line of Eleanor Rose.  Isn't it darling!?!?  It'll be perfect for school picture day and I was thrilled to find a dress WITH POCKETS since they're her favorite.

FAMILY THEME:
Our family theme for the school year is LOVE TO LEARN.  We're all working on learning new things.  It was fun to decorate our mantel with some cute school things.  The banner and sign are from Target right now.  I added an apple and Olive asked about it.  I told her that people give their teachers apples and she laughed.  She said, "Teachers would really like to be given CUPCAKES not apples!"  I like the way she thinks!

MATCHING BRACELETS:
We went on a fun outing to pick out beads for some matching bracelets.  Hobby Lobby was having a big sale.  Olive picked out her favorite beads and we got busy making matching bracelets and necklaces.  The idea is that we'll both wear them or put them on our backpacks/key chains.  When we're missing each other during the school day we can look at our bracelets and feel loved.

Olive has been having a bit of separation anxiety and so I think this project was so good for her.  She totally understood it and loved making them.

INVOLVE THE KIDS:
Olive picked out her new lunch box, backpack and Yumbox.  She had complete say and it was fun to see her get excited to buy school supplies.  She's been playing pretend school with all of them.  I know without a doubt that she was more excited to get to pick out these items than if I'd just bought it all for her.  I loved seeing her make decisions, shop for the perfect item and be so proud of her school gear.

I love seeing what Momfessionals does with her kids to celebrate going back to school.  She's a middle school teacher so it's fun to see her teacher mom spin on things.  I like the idea of having a back to school meal with your family.  I'm still thinking about how I'd like to do this for my family.

Beat the Back to School Jitters was a fun read

Stephanie Nielson always does amazing things for her family to kick off the school year.  Here is her Back to School Feast 2016.  She's a pro at making memories with her children.



What are YOU doing to get your kids EXCITED to go back to school??

And how are YOU feeling about sending your kids to school??


I'm feeling a little anxious about Olive starting school.

I'm 100% confident in the school we've chosen and the learning experience for her.  However, she's been my sidekick learning at home with me for 4 years.  It'll be new territory for both of us.  I have loved being in charge of our schedule and our days and part of me is sad to enter in the world of school calendars.  Thankfully. it's just a few days a week and we still have days where we can pick what we want to do.  This part time preK routine will be the perfect way to introduce us to the world of school.

I'm also excited to spend some one on one time with Fletcher.  It will be fun to give him my undivided attention for a while.  I'm thrilled for all of the new experiences Olive is going to have with teachers, school, learning and making friends.  I know that school will be great even if it's a bit of an adjustment for us all.

Flip Your Lid

Your kids/students/nieces or nephews will have the best time with LIDS!!

I've been collecting lids for several months and we had a great time learning with them last week.  We have saved lids from peanut butter jars, squeeze pouches, milk, hair spray, formula and anything else we could think of.  It's been easy and FREE to collect them.

COLOR SORT
I provided the bowls and asked my 4 year old to sort them.  We sorted by color and size.  It was fun to hear her decide which bowl the lids should go in.  She almost always picked out the categories and happily repeated this game over and over again.

Finished sort.

DIY RAINBOW:
She asked to make a rainbow so we did.  Fletcher woke up from his nap and was fascinated with all the lids.  They're a little small for him to play with independently so we made sure to supervise his play time.  He looked at the rainbow and then destroyed it.  Typical one year old.

COUNTING LIDS:
We practiced counting with all of the lids.  Then we stacked them on her head to see how high we could go.  It was hilarious.  We took turns.

TOWERS:
Did you know that these puree pouch lids stack really nicely??  They're perfect for counting, stacking and building.  We had a great time making patterns, counting and seeing how high we could stack them.

I'd like to have her make letter outlines with the lids this week and to practice spelling her name.  I think she'd have fun working on her letters in a brand new way.

Can you think of any other fun games we could play with these lids??


One more thing since I'm talking about kids today...

I just finished reading When Parenting Isn't Perfect by Jim Daly and it was so good!

I don't read a ton of parenting books, but this one caught my eye.  My husband and I are both first borns and have perfectionist tendencies.  It's a struggle for both of us to go with the flow and not focus on everything being perfect.  Daly's words really spoke to my heart.  He reminds us that perfection is the enemy of parenting and laughing, talking and connecting with your kids is so important.  Parenting is messy and that's okay.  Embrace it.  He tells parents that kids just want us to be present and not perfect.  I loved how the book was sectioned off and appreciated the wisdom he shared about building relationships with your kids.  I appreciated his Biblical ties into his parenting theories.  He reminds us that we are God's children and we should take notes on how to treat our own children.  His focus on boundaries, showing grace to those you love and being there to support your kids no matter what really stood out to me.  Daly's kids are older than my young kids so it was great to hear him share wisdom he's learned through years of parenting.  I loved his real life stories to help drive home his points.  He addresses relevant parenting topics for kids of all ages and gives you lots to think about.  All parents should read this book!
*I was gifted this book in exchange for an honest review of it.


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An InLinkz Link-up

Summer Faves - Pencils & Popsicles

We have been really enjoying summer - the food, the grilling, the time with friends, the relaxed schedule and projects around the house.

I ran in Target the other day and the Dollar Spot was STOCKED for back to school.  There were so many good things for cheap!  I'm excited to show you what I found.

ABC letter cards and matching poster - I loved that it had the capital and lower case letters along with some darling illustrations. I'm excited to hang these in our playroom and do them with Olive.

Pencil garland & Love to Learn sign - They'd be adorable hanging in a classroom or hanging in your house for back to school decor.  I'm going to put them on my mantel, but would definitely be doing a Love to Learn pencil theme in my classroom if I was teaching this year.

2 dry erase boards - perfect for practicing letters and writing words

Finger crayons - perfect for kids to color with

Backpack charm - Olive was really excited to find this unicorn for her backpack

Card games - so many fun matching, search and find options for $1

Workbooks - tons of cute letter, math, phonics, writing, etc. workbooks to do at home or for tutoring for just one dollar.  I'm excited to do these at home with Olive.



Have you found anything great in the Target Dollar Spot lately???



I'm guest blogging over at Keri Lynn Snyder today!!!

Head over to check out all my recipes for DIY Popsicles.  They're the easiest recipes to do with your kids in the kitchen.  They're also delicious.

Linking up with Becky for Target Haul

Hope your week is off to a great start!!

Daniel Tiger is an Excellent Teacher

My daughter has LOVED Daniel Tiger since she was a baby.  She adores his show, his songs and his lessons.  I have never felt bad for letting her watch his shows.  She has watched him almost every day since she was little.  I know some people are anti TV or really strict with their TV watching.  I feel like there is a time and place for PBS, cartoons or TV for kids.  I grew up watching and loving Mr. Roger's Neighborhood so it's fun to see that show get a revamp to be Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood.

Daniel Tiger teaches such great lessons with catchy songs to go along with them.  The cartoon is not annoying, the characters are relateable and I'll be sad when the day comes that Olive outgrows Daniel.  We rounded up her favorite Daniel toys above and most are from Target.  They've all been really well loved.

She imitates Daniel Tiger, sings his songs and has now begun to apply his songs to her real life situations.  That transfer of learning is amazing!  She takes to heart the lessons that she sees on TV and is better off for them.  I loved the article that I read recently about the kids who watch Daniel Tiger learn a variety of social skills that are great for a developing child.  Fascinating read promoting Daniel Tiger.

Here are the catchy tunes I've caught Olive singing when Daniel Tiger is no where to be seen:

1. You've got to try new things 'cause they might taste good.
This one comes up at meal time

2. Try try try try it again
She uses this one a lot when she's trying to build or making things.

3. Grown ups come back
We talk about this one when she's getting dropped off somewhere.

4. Thank you for everything you do
She sings things as her thank you regularly.

5. It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood.
As we're walking through our neighborhood she'll sing thing.

6. Close your eyes and think of something happy.
She says things when she's scared and the other day she told me she thinks of me when she closes her eyes because I'm her something happy :)  Made my day!

7. Stop and listen to stay safe
We were waiting for our walk signal when we were downtown one day and she sings me this tune.

8. If you have to go potty stop and go right away
She still sings this regularly when she has to go to the bathroom.

9. When you're sick rest is best
Anytime someone is sick

10. Take care of you makes me happy, too
Anytime she's helping take care of me or her little brother

11. When you get hurt find a grown up to help you feel better
She sings things anytime she gets hurt

12. There are so many feelings for you to feel.
This comes up anytime big feelings come up.

(And she sings all of these tunes in the right situations!!)

It really is amazing how many things she's learned from Daniel Tiger's show.  The lessons Daniel and friends teach really stick with the kids.  We have lots of conversations after the shows processing the information together.  I really love their episodes on adding a new baby to the family, sharing, potty training, getting sick, school, taking turns, making friends, etc.  The episodes are super relatable for preschoolers and they are packed with good information.  We've been watching the school episodes and talking about going to school in the Fall.

Do your kids watch Daniel Tiger?

Olive's current favorite shows:
Daniel Tiger
Paw Patrol
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
Little Einsteins

What do your kids love to watch??

It's time to link up with my favorite Tuesday Talk ladies.
Be sure to join us with your best post of the week.

An InLinkz Link-up

Adventures in Strawberry Picking

We started the week by crossing something fun off of our summer bucket list.

We went STRAWBERRY PICKING!!

It was our first time and I can safely say that the girls loved it.  We headed about 25 minutes north of our city to a cute little farm town with friends.  We happened to pick the hottest day of the week, but the skies and views were gorgeous.  These strawberries were definitely the favorite part of our week.

We sunscreened ourselves before we left home which worked out great.  We didn't have to apply it in the hot sun or wait for it to soak in.  Then we picked up our baskets and waited for the tractor to pick us up.  I didn't realize we'd get to go on a tractor ride so Olive was thrilled.  The tractor was too loud for Fletcher's liking so this picture perfectly captures our feelings about it - girls loved it and Fletcher wished it was quieter.  Lucky for him it was a quick ride.

We got dropped off with our friends and got busy picking.  Olive did a pretty great job picking the deep red berries, leaving the mushy ones behind and not eating too many.  She ended up with a strawberry mustache and it was so fun to see her learning the best way to pick berries.

Poor guy was mad about his shoes, mad about walking on the hay and all of his usual favorites were not making him happy.  I even brought our little stroller to keep him in the shade.  I guess I could have tried to wear him, but it was super hot so I doubt that would have been much better.  You win some, you lose some, I guess.  Olive and I picked fast and headed back to the car.  Fast forward a few days and three new teeth popped through his gums.  Guess it's hard to enjoy strawberry picking when your mouth is really hurting.

These two are best buds and they kept stopping to compare their baskets and snack.  It was so sweet :)

Waiting for our tractor ride back to the car.  Olive was so proud of her berry haul.

We scoped out the cherries, blueberries and the apples for Fall.  Can't wait to come back to pick some more produce!!

We got almost a whole basket full of berries and polished them off in no time.  They were so good and so fun to pick.  I think we'll definitely make this a yearly tradition.

Fletcher was back to smiling post nap, in the air conditioning stuffing his face full of strawberries.  His hair is looking extra strawberry blonde here.

We enjoyed strawberry salads, pound cake and strawberry snacks all week long!!

Have you been strawberry picking before??

Isn't it a yummy experiences :)

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!!

Linking up with

 ThoughtsforThursday,

HighFiveforFriday, FiveonFriday, and Momfessionals