Tutorial: How to Make Sidewalk Chalk Paint

Here are some simple instructions for how to make sidewalk chalk paint at home with ingredients you already have! 

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If you're looking for fun things to do with your kids this summer, sidewalk chalk paint is extremely easy to make by yourself! It doesn't require any strange ingredients and it's simple for kids to help with. It can also create hours of creative, outdoor fun for you and your kids! Ready for a quick and simple tutorial that shows you how to make your own sidewalk chalk? Keep reading!

How to Make Sidewalk Chalk Paint

You're only going to need 3 ingredients and you probably already have them at home:

How to Have a Great Staycation

Shortly after we moved to Utah, I was on FOX 13’s lifestyle T.V. show, The PLACE, discussing tips for how to have a great Staycation!

As we're down to about a month of summer, I thought I'd share those tips here again, along with a few links to resources on the blog that will give you some more specific or detailed ideas and inspiration for planning your own Staycation!

Happy Staycation planning!

Here's the video first, and then I'll outline all of my tips (not all of them were in the video)

How to Have a Great Staycation

Meaningful Mothering - Making Moments Matter

Some of the best memories of my family while I was growing up are of times when we were having fun together. 

I have distinct memories of doing unusual fun things with my parents like going to a fair where my dad walked through a fun house, pausing every time he came to a window to make crazy faces at us (we were watching from outside). Once when my dad was out of town for the night, my mom moved all of the furniture out of the kitchen and got the skipping ropes so she & I and my sisters could play Double Dutch! That night we also made cookie dough and ate it before cooking it. I won't forget that day!

Those kinds of special memories are a big part of strengthening our relationships with our children.

I taught a workshop with two other women at a Women's conference on Meaningful Mothering (in 2013) and shared some of my notes and thoughts from it here:

8 Ideas for Summer Fun At Home With Kids

It's summer, school's out and suddenly all of your kids are home way more than usual and you find yourself looking for ways to keep them happy without setting them in front of a screen!

Today I'm sharing 8 fun activities you can do with your kids. Some of these are my own, and some are links that have been shared in my link party that I would love to try with my kids! I hope they give you some inspiration or items to add to your family's summer activity bucket list!

Flybar Scooter Giveaway!

Shortly after we settled into our new home in Utah, we got a special package on our doorstep from a company called Flybar. When I heard about this company, I got excited because they make so many fun outdoor toys that really take me back to my childhood! They make pogos, skateboards and scooters of all types, as well as safety gear and some really awesome creative products- you'll have to check out their website to see them all! We were excited to take their new Aero Scooter for a "test scoot"!

In this post I'll share some information about the scooter & what we thought of it- stick around to the end for a great giveaway!

Summer Sports Essentials

This post is sponsored by Bayer. To make sure these products are right for you, always read and follow the label.

Summer is a great time to join a sports league (for adults or for kids) but it's something I haven't done in years! We do get out for the occasional family game though, and we have a family reunion coming up this summer, so who knows what kind of activities we might find ourselves participating in!

Sports are a great way to have fun and escape the stress of everyday life. Whether you went ahead and signed yourself or your kids up for a team or you're just participating in the occasional sporting endeavor, there are a few essential items you’ll want to bring along. Check out this handy list for tips on packing for a day on the field:

Disney's Hollywood Studios - Our Top 10

If you haven't been to Disney World you might not realize that it's actually made up of 4 different parks! We went to Disney World for the first time in 2016 and were invited to the 2018 Disney Social Media Moms Celebration which we attended in February. Now that we've been to Disney World twice, I'm sharing our top 10 things to do at each of Disney's parks, starting with Hollywood Studios! Hollywood Studios is all about the worlds of movies, television, music, and theater.

Here are our family's top 10 things to do in Disney's Hollywood Studios!

Be Summer Smart!

This post is sponsored by Bayer. To make sure these products are right for you, always read and follow the label.

Here in Utah, the weather is already so beautiful! For the first little while, I was surprised every time I went outside and it wasn't cold. Now that we've gotten the most urgent moving tasks done, we're excited to get outside this summer and explore our new home! With all of the fun and excitement around the corner with summer though, come sunburns, bugs, and allergies. With summer vacation around the corner I thought I'd share some tips for taking precautions to make the most of these sunny days. Let's free ourselves from that desire to just hibernate inside, away from the sun and the pollen!

Here are some of the things we plan to do, to stay summer smart:

End of Summer & PhD Party!

To celebrate Ken's successful PhD defense, my fabulous sister-in-law and mother-in-law put together an "End of Summer/PhD Party" and got a bunch of our friends and family together to play games, enjoy food, and celebrate!

My sister-in-law was in charge of the games and she came up with some really fun ideas! With the help of my brother-in-law who brought this awesome rope, she planned for a game of tug-of-war.

She also created this giant Twister game with spray paint! We used an app to "spin" and then had fun watching everyone get twisted up!

Staying Safe in the Sun with Cabana Life Swimwear

This is the story of how Cabana Life Swimwear gave me the freedom to be in the sun more!

There have been summers when I have avoided the heat. I have stayed inside, out of the sun probably too much. This summer was not like that. As I look back on our summer vacation from school, I feel that we made the most of the beautiful weather. We went to the beach several times, swam in pools, threw water balloons, jumped in bounce houses and puddles and danced in the rain.

Most of this happened outside, in full sun. We are a fair skinned family and burn easily so sun protection is important to us! We have had some ups and downs this summer thanks to the sun and today I'm going to share some photos and little stories with you about it all.

How to Manage Summer Break Screen Time

I've been hanging out on Instagram a lot this summer and I mentioned something in a post over there about how we've been managing screen time this summer. I've had several requests to share this in more detail, so here you are!

I was inspired by an idea that someone shared on facebook where they created a list of things that their kids needed to accomplish before they would be allowed to watch any T.V. or movies or play on a computer/tablet/phone... any "screen time".

I made our own list, similar to the one that was shared (I wish I knew who to credit for the original idea). I changed a few things, and added some things and here's what our list looked like in the end:

Camping in Comfort at Niagara Falls KOA

Ken & I have been camping once as a couple, and we went once as a family.  It was a lot of fun to be outside and to "get away", but we were exhausted after one night because we slept so poorly!  Last summer, we opted to have a backyard camp-out (and we came inside to sleep in the end!).  So, while our kids love it, Ken and I have realized that we're not big fans of camping... at least not in the traditional way.  

We do love to get away and enjoy nature however, which is why we were excited to spend a few days at the Niagara Falls KOA (Kampgrounds of America) in Ontario.  It didn't take long on their website before I discovered that they not only offer cabins to camp in, but they also have "deluxe cabins".. and our preferred style of camping was discovered! :)

The girls had been talking about this little trip for weeks, so when we were ready for our road trip, they were very excited!

I took lots of photos of our time at the KOA because there is just so much to see and do! I'll walk you through our experience with lots of visuals!  Here are the girls in front of our cabin.  We were happy to have a fire pit and a BBQ to cook over as well as a table with 6 chairs outside, and a table with 4 chairs inside.  I loved the swing on our little front lawn!

Inside our cabin, we were very happy to have a bathroom (not pictured) with a full tub and shower (with good water pressure), regular toilet, and small vanity with sink and mirror.  They provide hair/body soap in the bathroom. Because the females in our family have a lot of hair, it's hard to do without conditioner (I know.. we think we're glamping here ;), so Ken drove to the grocery store to grab some. This "Kampground" is very conveniently located near lots of stores, so he didn't have to go far!

25+ Snacks & Treats for Summer Break

Here's a great collection of fun snacks & treats that you can make with or for your kids while they're home for summer break!  Many of these are features from the Sharing Time Link Party- thanks so much to everyone who links up!

Healthy Summer Snack Ideas (& a Giveaway!)

Now that Winter has come to a close and warmer weather is becoming more common, it's time to start enjoying the outdoors more! When we spend more time outside, our snacking habits tend to change too. While I have nothing against freezies and cookies, I do think it's important to be aware of the ratio of healthy snacks to treats that have little nutritional value.

One thing that I like to try with my kids is to be prepared with a snack right when they get home from school (they always want a "home snack" as soon as they've put away their school things). So today I wanted to share a few healthy snack ideas that your kids aren't too likely to complain about. :)

How To Make the Best of Your Family Beach Trip!

We are SO excited about the warmer weather we've been having! It has us thinking about the summer and looking forward to warm weather activities- like trips to the beach! Getting to the beach with all the right things can be a big task, so today I wanted to share some suggestions on what to bring with you to the beach and some fun things to do once you're there!

Giant Bubbles!

One of our favourite activities of the summer was to make Giant Bubbles!

Sidewalk Paint & Freezie Stands

It all started when we made sidewalk paint. The girls were having a great time playing with it and the next thing I knew they were painting rocks with plans to sell them! Katrina did some special drawings and they put signs up about painted rocks and drawings for sale. They actually had a couple of customers!

The next day they set up a juice & cookie stand and had some more customers. After that it was a jumbo freezie stand, and then the weather got cooler and the entrepreneur life died down ;) It was fun to watch them and help them with these little endeavours. I don't think they'll ever forget them!

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A Trip to the Zoo

One day Katrina asked me if bears were just "details" (I wrote about it here). Turns out she thought details were things that were made-up. :)

So, I thought we better try to get to a zoo and see a real bear! I was excited when I found a Groupon for a zoo and went ahead and got some tickets for my parents, too. We all headed out one day and had a grand time :)

The girls LOVED the petting zoo.  That $1 for animal food was well worth it!  We saw some pretty cool animals and even a real bear! :)

I snapped this lovely shot of Katrina looking at the deer and thought I had a nice angle and a really cute shot... until I got home and looked a little closer!  Can you see what I so masterfully caught in my shot?  Ahem... you couldn't have caught that action shot better if you tried!  Awkward..

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Our Canada Day 2014

Going back to the beginning of the summer... July 1st was Canada Day and we spent it at a Pioneer Village that had free admission for the day. We met some cousins and friends there and had fun trying out some games and activities and learning about how pioneers lived.

For dinner we headed to Gummy & Poppy's house (Ken's parents). They live on a court that has several neighbourhood traditions and for Canada day they all meet in the middle of the circle and have a picnic dinner with a bonfire, sparklers, and fireworks. The girls' grandma has a face painting hobby (which you may have seen in some of our birthday party posts here, here, and here.)  So they did a little festive body painting for each other while it was still light out :)

The girls had a lot of fun with the sparklers and then we all sat down for some fire crackers.  Katrina's face is in response to a "stink bomb" fire cracker!  Talia was loving tending to the fire (while I struggled to find a balance between "helicopter mom" and responsibly-cautious-mom as I watched her)!

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Summer Fun with Grandma & Grandpa

I am feeling a LOT better today than I have been since Thursday. It's nice to know that I'm going to start feeling like a normal human again soon. So, I decided I want to blog a bit more about some of our Summer adventures.

I've already blogged about our family trip to Palmyra and our visit to the Circus, my nephew's fun backyard birthday party, the backyard campout-turned-sleepover ;) and a visit to a farm with some awesome horse-related experiences involved.

Near the end of the summer, there was one thing left on our bucket list and my parents met us at a lake to make it happen- a beach day!  We made Katrina into a mermaid in the sand (and soon found ourselves helping to turn other kids into mermaids too!)

I didn't get any photos of Talia that weren't from far away because she spent a lot of her time making friends and playing out in the water.  Katrina preferred to create in the sand and had help from Grandma, Grandpa and Mommy (and sometimes Talia, but not while I had my camera on me!).

Because Ken is working hard to finish writing his thesis, we (the girls and I) took off to sleep over at my parents' house a couple of times in order to give Ken a quiet house to work in for some extended time.  Here is some of the fun we had while we were over there:

Sometimes my sister Amber visits with her daughter Tori and the girls get to help "mother' her- they LOVE it!  (and so do I ;)  In the top left photo (above), my mom is changing Tori's diaper with two little helpers to keep Tori happy.  One time we found my sister's old "Mall Madness" game.  THAT was a lot of fun for all of us- I think I had as much fun as the girls did!  And in the morning Talia got to help make the eggs and was amazed when we got a "double-yolker"!

I'll share a few more things from our summer in the next week.

What were some of the most memorable things you did this summer?  

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