Bed Sheet to Beach Blanket

We had an incredibly fun vacation in Newport Beach this year. Seriously, could that place be any more dreamy? While we were setting up our towels and whatnot on the beach I looked over to see my sister Mari laying out one of the hotel sheets for her family to hang out on. What!? How I envied their little cotton island. I was sure to copy her and take a bed linen from then on. It was especially great for my little baby who needed more room than a towel offered.

The Spritz

There we were, in the middle of Amish country, walking in hot and humid weather. Out of nowhere Linda whips out a blue spray bottle and starts asking the whining, overheated and tired children if they want a spray. Sullen faces came to life and hunched over shoulders perked up as they each took turns getting sprayed with this glorious water.

Linda says she always carries one with her when they go on little trips or outings in the summer. I say, bring on the spritz!

Baby Pool Beachside

My family vacations in Newport Beach and my mom brought along a plastic baby pool one year for the toddlers to splash and play in. Ingenious. The kids who are more timid with the ocean can have just as much fun playing in the water with this, and the adults can keep a better eye on them! The other day a friend of mine mentioned that this could also be set up along side a regular pool for little ones. Smart idea.

Guest Post: Kid's Kitchen Drawer

In order to simplify my life and give my kids some independence I moved my kids dishes to a drawer they could reach. My kids can get in the drawer whenever they need a drink of water, a plate for a snack, or help me set the table. Also one of the jobs they have is to help me unload my dishwasher--having the drawer reachable allows them to put all the 'kid dishes' away for me.

Amanda, Arkansas

Guest Post: Let The Show Begin!

My girls love to dress up and perform. Instead of spending a lot of money and making a big tadoo stage, my husband made a cheap removable set of curtains. I can put them up when the girls have a show and take them down when they are done. I LOVE to put things away!

Materials:
2 old sheets, thin blankets, or shower curtains
2 eye hooks
shower hooks
sting
2 carabiners

Screw the eye hooks into the walls (These are permanent, but we just painted over them so they weren't very noticeable.) Sew button holes into the tops of the sheets. Loop shower hooks through holes and slip onto sting. Tie end of string to the carabiners. Turn off your cell phones and enjoy the show!

Amanda, Arkansas

Guest Post: Baby Powder Sand Remedy

This summer when at the lake or the beach, when you are done playing in the sand, use baby powder to clean the sand off of your kids.

Dry off as much as possible to use less baby powder. Use on arms, legs, toes, hair, wherever there is sand. The baby powder absorbs the moisture to let the sand fall off your body. Use a little on your towel and shake sand off or some in your beach shoes.

Works like a charm and saves your car and house from the sand. It's great!

Rachelle, Arkansas

Taming Your Digital Photo Albums

I called my sister-in-law Linda in a panic yesterday needing some digital photo advice. I have a 6 year-old, a 4 year-old, a two-year old, and a newborn about to appear. Sadly, the only photo album I've created is my 6 year-old's 1 year album and I've felt compelled to get caught up and create a little keepsake for each child when the new baby arrives.

Once I saw the cost of printing over 500 pictures for just one of my children, I panicked and knew I needed help paring it down. Linda gave some stellar advice to pick no more than 7 photos per kid, per month of their life. I LOVED this advice and it really helped me to go back through and focus on the most important pics. She also suggested picking just one or two pictures to represent their birthdays and vacations and other special holidays. Mind you, these photo albums are being created for the kids to keep, different from a family album where you would display a few more holiday pics and whatnot.

It seems that in this digital photo age we can really find ourselves overwhelmed and overdoing it when it comes to family photo albums. Thought maybe this advice could help others who are trying to create photo keepsakes for their families. Happy editing!

Guest Post: Sleep In Solution

Saturday and Sunday mornings my husband and I always wanted to sleep in but I didn't trust my young kiddos to get their own breakfast. If they could have their cereal and Dora, then we could get another 1/2 hour of sleep.

I didn't worry about the plastic dishes or the cereal they could get from the pantry--it was the gallon of milk I didn't want to see all over my kitchen floor. I realized my kids could pour the milk if it wasn't so heavy and found this easy solution at the store, a small pouring container. I never fill it up all the way-usually about 3/4 full so all my kids can have some. Also place it on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. Enjoy the extra 1/2 hour of sleep!

Amanda, Arkansas

Outgrown Dress Reconsidered

For those of you with little ladies running around, I want to let you in on a recent discovery of mine. When your little one outgrows a dress, you can just throw some leggings under it and use it as a top! Dresses can last you up to one more year this way depending on the style and cut. Above is my 23 month old sporting her 12 month old dress as a long top. I think it's pretty dang cute.

From Linda's Lips: Toaster French Toast

One of my kids' favorite breakfasts is French Toast. Unfortunately I don't have the time to make it every time they want it. I had a stroke of genius a while back that is a time saver on school mornings. When I make French Toast on the weekends I make a lot. Like two loaves worth. I try to use whole wheat bread to make it more healthy, but sometimes I cave and make it white. The kids can enjoy all they want for breakfast and then I freeze the rest in storage freezer bags and pop them right into the freezer.The toast hardly sticks together, so pulling it out another day is no problem. On a school morning when I get a request for a hot breakfast instead of cereal, I pull out a couple of pieces of the french toast and pop them in the toaster. The house fills with the yummy cinnamon smell and the toast comes out even better than when they ate it fresh. Nice and crispy on the outside and soft in the center. Sometimes we sprinkle on the powdered sugar and syrup, and other times they just eat it in hand. Here's to breakfast!

Guest Post: Children's Scrapbook Totes

I love to scrapbook and with 3 other little ladies in the home, they want to be scrapbooking too. I treasure my "stuff" and had been looking for a good way for the kids to be involved without having to check with me every second on what they could and couldn't use. Anyway, I came across these "totes" at Michaels on sale for $5 each and so bought them each their own. I put their names on it and then filled them each with supplies I thought they could use. Their very own tape, stickers, paper, ribbon, brads, a photo album book, etc.

It has worked wonders. Now when one of them wants to scrapbook, they can pull their own tote out and go at it. They don't need to constantly be asking me for supplies. Everything they need is right in their tote. I even print out a bunch of their very own pictures for them to use in their albums. That way, everything is in one place. My oldest daughter even brought her tote to her friend's house the other day and they each worked on their own stuff. It has been so handy and wonderful and makes us all happy.

Marianne, Utah

Slice of Oprah: "I Am Special"

Oprah has had a couple of recent episodes on the new documentary Waiting for Superman. It was created in the hopes that we as communities will demand, support, and help create better schools. Very eye opening to me. One of the teachers in the documentary was being interviewed on Oprah and he talked about how he has his kids look at each other and say "I am special" so that they begin to really believe it and therefore believe they can achieve anything.

My daughter, Kaela, asked me the other day in the car if I liked how I looked when I was a kid. It took me off guard and in talking to her I discovered that she is already starting to become self-conscious of the way she looks. She thinks everyone else at school has such beautifully shaped faces and that hers is just, as she said, "round and boring". What!? Does this already happen at age 6? Crazy. So, when the teacher on Oprah said he makes his kids say they're special, I knew this was something that would bless my little Kaela.

Now as I'm doing her hair before school, I have her say "I am special" to herself in the mirror. Her face immediately brightens and she can't help but smile a little each time she says it. I'm hoping that the more she says it to herself, the sooner she will truly believe it.

From Linda's Lips: Give your kids control

Many families with children have their own way of assigning jobs/rewards. Here is something we have come up with over time that is working wonders in our home. I am sure it may change over time as all family plans have to be flexible, but for now we are thrilled with the results! Perhaps it's something you can pull from for your own family.

I was really tired of setting timers for computer time or TV/video game time and nagging my children to turn them off. In fact, I was tired of them asking for it all so often. I really wanted them to be more responsible with their use of time. We decided on some rules and presented them to the kids. They were sooooo excited!

1. Everyone has jobs they are personally responsible for: making their bed, brushing their teeth, keeping their room clean, taking dirty dishes to the sink, putting their clothes in the hamper, practicing piano, etc...
2. We also have jobs that help the family. Each person has 2 "stick jobs" everyday. The kids pull two sticks from a bag and they are responsible for those 2 jobs that day. These include: setting the table, unloading the dishwasher, vacuuming, clearing and wiping the table, wiping the cupboard fronts, wiping the kitchen table and clearing food/condiments, etc...
3. On Saturdays, we work as a family, getting bathrooms cleaned, dusting, etc...
4. When the kids do these jobs without being asked (this takes time...be patient!) they will earn a dollar. The dollars have a fun name in our house that go with our last name. For example, if your last name was Bird, they could be Bird Bucks, or Dempsy Dollars. Catchy and fun for the kids. 
5. At the end of our day when we come together as a family we go through each job and pass out our dollars. Each child has an envelope holding their money. For our money we altered an image we found online, but I'm sure you can find play money at the dollar store.
6. Now for the fun part that puts them in control! Each dollar has a value. One dollar is worth 10 minutes of t.v. or computer or video game time OR the dollar is worth 50 cents. The kids get to decide. One rule is that they can only spend 6 dollars a day on electronics. 

The kids love having the control and they are soooo stingy about spending their money! My oldest (nine years) is saving up for the Lego Harry Potter game, so he never spends more than 2 dollars a day on electronics. My twin 5 year olds and my 3 year old are also very into this. The 3 year old doesn't quite grasp it all, but she loves earning her dollars! When the timer beeps now, they know if they don't turn off the screen, it means I get another dollar from them. I've never seen kids walk away from a TV so fast, or practice the piano, or clean up without being asked. They are developing great habits! I love that they have control and they are learning how to save in the process. As for me, my nagging moments have decreased by leaps and bounds!

Snack Time Fishing

I had the privilege of watching this cute little guy named Max last week. When it was time for a snack he asked if I happened to have pretzel sticks, peanut butter, and fishies. He went on to explain that he wanted to go fishing with the pretzel sticks! We were both pretty bummed that I didn't have the proper tools, but I thought this was the cutest idea and knew it would become an instant favorite for my kids. It's no wonder something so fun came from his mouth, his mother is a creative genius when it comes to entertaining little ones.

As you see in the picture above, you dab a glob of peanut butter onto a plate, scatter some fishies around, and give the kids pretzel sticks. It's then up to them to dip their pretzel stick into the peanut butter, pick up a fish with its gooey goodness, and pop the fun into their mouth.

Who knew snacking could be so exciting!

"Plastic Spoon Puppets...Hours of Role Playing Fun!" -CE Alvarez

This is a cheap and easy craft that you can do again & again and can lead to hours of role playing fun!

What You Need: Plastic Spoons, Felt, Permanent Markers, Scissor, Glue, Pipe Cleaners

WhatTo Do: Draw faces on to the back side of the spoons with permanent markers. Carefully cut clothing, hair, hats, etc from felt. (Note: Fold clothing in half and use scissor to make a slit to slide spoon handle in) Glue hair on spoon. Wrap a pipe cleaner around the handle to make arms.

CLICK HERE to see more fun craft ideas at CE's blog, "The Mommy Mayhem Survival Guide"

Guest Post: Shoe Horn Wonderment

Problem

You are scrambling to get the kids ready for school or church and they just don't want to put their shoes on.

Solution

Shoe horn. No, it is not an instrument. It is a little tool your dad probably used every day of his adult life. It is quite easy to use, the kids get a big kick out of it and they'll actually want to put their shoes on!! Simply wedge the shoe horn between your kid's heel and the back of the shoe, tell your kid to push and voila - smiles and looks of wonderment!

Don, Texas

Healthy Sleep Schedule

There is one book that I go back to time and time again to help me normalize my kid's sleep schedule. Is it just me, or does everyone forget what to do with each new baby? It comes from the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth. Especially in their first couple years of life...I tend to forget how many naps they should be taking and when. After 3 months of age I find this schedule to be right on. It goes like this:

Start the day: 7am
1st Nap: 9am (disappears between ages 1-2)
2nd Nap: 1pm (disappears between ages 2-4
3rd Nap: between 3-5pm (disappears around 9 months of age)
Bedtime: 6-8pm
1st awakening
2nd awakening

We live by the 6-8pm bedtime for our kids and it is wonderful for both them and us.

LOVE THIS SCHEDULE!

Scissor Happy

Say "see ya" to your knife when it comes to feeding babies and toddlers. I have found kitchen shears to be SO valuable in the kitchen since having kids. I guess you could call me scissor happy. I use them to cut up anything and everything from macaroni to hot sandwiches to fruit. The options are endless and it saves a lot of time and hassle.

The Beauty of Tape

"Don't you guys know the beauty of tape!?", were the words thrown at us while we were unsuccessfully trying to chat with friends over a really loud toy. This tip has seriously changed our lives.

You just place tape over the little holes that allow the sound out. Masking tape works if the kids can't see it, and I've found clear packing tape to do the trick in more visible spots. The more tape applied, the softer the sound.

The Loudest Chomp

Getting my kids to willingly eat their veges is a real hit or miss around these parts. Usually a miss. The other night we had eaten I think it was cheese pizza for dinner, so I got out some carrots and snap peas to save their little systems from oil overdrive. Instant refusal. Then, my husband Joey grabbed a carrot and said all animated, "Let's see who can make the loudest chomp!" The kids eyes lit up and their little hands reached into those baggies so fast and my mouth hit the floor. They wanted to play it again and again, and they were eating their veges with smiles on their faces. Brilliant.

Do you have any secrets to get your kids to eat their veges?
CLICK HERE to submit a post to The Lemon Tree Project.