I absolutely LOVE Free stuff to do in the summer!! It just makes me feel so wise to not spend money yet making sure my children are having the time of their lives!!! Read the rest of this entry
Jul11
Summer Reading
Tag Archives: kids
Jul7
Summer Plan 101
There’s something interesting about what happens to a parent in SUMMER. A mix of relief and anxiety. Read the rest of this entry
May26
When Disney gets you!
Disney seems to really understand me….
I believe there’s a kid in everyone and sometime in our life we seem to loose that inner child.
I really wish that my girls always keep the kid in them as I believe in everything magical and I still find the wonder in all things Disney.
My father’s (May he rest in Peace) favorite ride at Disneyland was It’s a Small World. I still tear up every time I hear that song.
Even though we still haven’t done the Disney family trip yet I do believe that every Disney movie reminds me of my inner child.
Now with that said I feel like there’s so much more to every song from every Disney movie I’ve watched.
I have emotionally gotten attached to singing “Let it go” from the movie Frozen for every situation in life that was out of my hands and can’t change. I’m sure every one can relate to that on many levels.
Well I’ve evolved from having “Let it go” as my soundtrack to “You’re Welcome” from the movie Moana!
Disney can always find a song from Disney that truly makes me feel better or express my emotion. It’s a fact Disney gets me!!
Making Life Memorable with every Disney Soundtrack!
Apr21
Snow to Sun
Weather in every Country is super unique and it creates a new appreciation to nature. I’ve never lived anywhere that snowed….let alone continuously cold for long periods of time. I’m now living in Canada that is teaching a new appreciation to both Snow and Sun.
It almost sounds unreal when I say I came from +50 C to -40 C…. hard to really wrap your head around it. As one of my friends said (and I repeat continuously) “There’s no such thing as bad weather just bad clothing”. I find now with a good coat and boots I can last about 5 minutes outdoors….LOL!!! I actually made myself laugh as I wrote that……
Again its what you make out of it…. snow angels snow men and all
And then when it all melts you have a gorgeous clear sky…..
Your kids get super excited and run up a brown hill that will soon be green…..
………and scream AAAAAALLLL the way down.
It’s all about taking those lemons life gave you and making Lemonade… So Making Life Memorable is in the palm of your hands!!
Apr18
Lunchbox and Schedules
I always like to make sure that my kids eat healthy and have a variety of foods so to avoid getting bored of the same packed lunches. When you have a busy schedule like our households planning comes a long way.
The first thing is to figure out a system and lists is the way to go!!! Yest at times life kinda gets in the way and your find yourself limited because you haven’t had time to go to the grocery store. That’s when you may resort to making unhealthy choices because lets face it “It’s Easy!” To avoid that I kinda have some sort of “Go To” choice that may not be completely healthy but its not junky.
My “Go To”, now remember 2 kids mean 2 different taste buds, so my quick fix that i make sure I never run out of in the house is…….. Turkey sandwich (bread for J and lettuce wrap for Zee) pickles on the side, no one likes a soggy sandwich! Cheese cubes, cucumber and apple slices. What’s your “Go To”?? Share in the comment section!
Maybe one day I’ll be fancy enough to make one of those fast videos of me prepping a lunch box after all its also pushing my boundaries and Making Life Memorable along the way!!
Aug29
Back to School Photo Shoot
The hardest thing about the first day of school is trying to get back into the routine of waking up early, making sure everyone is also up on time, dressed, groomed, have breakfast and make a mad dash to the door in a reasonable amount of time without going insane in order to take those perfect outdoor “Back to School” pictures that you oh so want to turn out perfect….or hey wait a minute don’t tell me its just me….is it??
Well in my world everyone does it. Some take the random picture and some have a whole scene set. Well I believe I’m somewhere in between ” I’m just doing it because I saw my neighbor take a picture” and that other neighbor that has the perfect chalk looking back drop with apples and crayons cutouts *sigh*.
I tend to make sure that every year I have some sort of sign that my kids hold up as I take the picture. Information may vary from year to year but the important ones are always there.
They are:
- The school Year
- The grade
- What they want to be when they grow up
There are years when I added their favorite food or color and 1 year I put their age. But the three above basics are what really matter in the long run.
I must say I do love pinterest because it gives me so many ideas and may be overwhelming at times….yes I do have over 7K pins but who’s counting!??!? It’s amazing for research because chances are what you’re looking for someone else has done too!!
Well luckily I found the perfect printables (FREE because that’s the way I roll) at Barn owl primitives.
The best thing was that there were choices of either PINK or AQUA. You don’t even have to download, you can just go ahead and print the page/grade you want. So easy…I love easy and no fuss.
Now as much as I loved them and had to use them my issue was they weren’t personalized.
GOD forbid should I do something that’s not child specific!!!
So I took those printables a step further…. I found the perfect frames that the girls could hold as I take the picture from IKEA. ( confession, I had those frames already I just never got around to putting the girls’ certificates in them)
Back to jazzing it up I did a simple PowerPoint bordered text box with what the girls wanted to be when they grew up….did a vertical rainbow text with their name….cut those out….stuck it next to the pintable and VIOLA!!! Easy peasy lemon squeezy as Zee woud say!!
Check out the final product……
Now the trick is don’t put the glass back on the frame because trying to take a picture without a glass glare is really frustrating! Relieve yourself in advance and just “un-glass” your frame
After you make that mad dash out of your door and before you get into the car be sure to take a few snaps of your kids…..yeah that was the point and not a secret desire to make signs!
Now we did more than just one….the one with each child alone, the one together and a few just because without the signs. But I’ll spare you from going through a gallery of pictures (you can do it on my instagram account samoorstuff later)
We were lucky enough to actually have some time when we got to school and snap a few pics with the girls’ teachers for the year.
If you notice Mr. Palingo is holding our Teacher’s survival kit that we’ve created for him…. check out how to make one on last year’s post “Teacher’s Survival Kit”
Remember make it your own….. because it’s all about Making Life Memorable.
Aug28
Back to School Fun
I have many joys of being a mom but one I particularly enjoy is having an occasion to become crafty. Back to school is one of the many excuses that I use to go all out with my crafting senses. From school pictures, personalized labels, teacher survival kits, classroom favors and even gifts for those that aren’t always recognized like the librarian, music teacher and principle.
This week as my girls start their first week back into the school routine with the privilege of the whole week being FREE DRESS I’ll be sharing some of the things that we’ve done and hope you’ll find it inspiring to create your own…..
Here’s to Making Life Memorable one school year at a time!!
HAPPY 2016-2017 SCHOOL YEAR!!
Jun16
It’s official They Have a YouTube Channel
In this day and age it’s so hard to keep up with our kids. Even though it seems things are so much more convenient and accessible there isn’t enough time. Even though I have extremely strict rules about electronics (and I’ve been successful so far!) Kids are just built differently these day and we as parents have to adjust and know when to give and come to a mutual agreement about it all….
The girls have been wanting to have their own YouTube channel for some time and I’ve prolonged it as much as I can. Until one day Jennah came up to me with her notepad and we finally set some YouTube rules.
So this summer we will keep everyone entertained with what my girls think is the theme…. Stay tuned and as they always say “Please Subscribe!”
I’ll leave you with their Intro….
Well as it turns out my kids even go by my motto without me intentially teaching it….all about Making Life Memorable
Feb24
Reading is fun
I think it’s so important to make reading a part of your child’s daily routine. We have all sorts of rituals in our house from reading corner, reading minutes and car reading but the most exciting thing is the reading challenges that the girls’ elementary school come up with. Gotta Love A.S.K.
This season our amazing librarian sends this………..
Needless to say Jennah and Zeenah are more motivated than ever.
This year I’ve made it a point to make weekly visits to the library with Zeenah to choose books with her. Now that she can read more on her own I’ve made a rule that she has to choose books that she can at least read 3-4 words in sentence. I found it helps strengthen what she already knows and ease her into newer vocabulary without getting frustrated.
One of my most recent favorite books that we checked out was “Good Night iPad” it’s a modern day twist on the old classic “Good Night Moon” (still a favorite of mine!)
I highly recommend ordering it from Amazon, you’ll probably enjoy it a little more than your kids.
Off course you can always alternate reading time with Good night Moon if you have a love for the classic as I do.
On the other hand I have my more independent reader Jennah. I don’t need to accompany her to the library anymore and she has made good choices of books. Some that she is totally engrossed in from the first page and others that she seems to force herself to finish because she doesn’t want to miss out if the book gets better halfway through.
Her ultimate favorite series these days is The land of stories by Chris Colfer. I must say she’s continuously talking about it to everyone she meets and urges them to read. July 2016 can’t come any sooner for her to get her hands on book 5!
I think every once in a while i’d probably post what my kids are reading because I never know who might benefit in getting ideas.
After all it’s also Making Life Memorable for everyone!
Oct13
October Fun Part II: Halloween Inspiration
Halloween has to be one of the most creative holidays ever!! There’s so much one can do yet I find myself struggling to find the time.
I love being creative and will use every excuse possible to do something useful. Holidays like Halloween and Christmas give me that fulfillment, if life just didn’t get in the way I would do so much more!
Off course costumes are just the tip of the iceberg. Oh and let’s not forget my obsession with pinterest that has a gazillion inspiration boards.
Do you plan anything special for Halloween??
Well I would like to share a few of my favorite pictures and links for all those “Halloween” and “DIY” enthusiasts.
do you have your COSTUMES picked out yet?? Check out Simply Kierste for some costume inspiration.
What about a special homemade TREAT like Popcorn Balls?? This is a recipe that I’ve been wanting to try for the longest time.
One of the many traditions we have at our house is the carving of the pumpkin. Off course Zeenah looooooves getting her hands dirty taking all the seeds and gutting the Pumpkin.
We tend to do traditional Jack-O-Lantern because it’s just that much easier with 2 kids but I always wanted to venture out and trying something new.
I would love to be able to paint a set of pumpkins or doing glitter designs.
Unfortunately with the lack of Pumpkin Patches in Kuwait and the obscene prices of a traditional pumpkin I’ve resorted to just admiring all the designs online.
Of course I could always venture out into making Paper Mache pumpkins and then doing whatever design but I’m almost afraid to get something like that started and end up with too many pumpkins and no place to store them!
I hope that these few ideas and links helps you get inspired and assists in Making Life Memorable for you and your kids.