Halloween Safety Tips

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Happy Monday everyone! I thought my first official article back should focus on our kids. Halloween is slowly creeping up on us and I thought I’d go over a few tips to stay safe this Halloween. Sometimes a few helpful reminders never hurt right?



- Be sure your kids know how to properly cross a street. All kids should know how to use a cross walk if there is one in your neighborhood and they should definitely know when it is safe to cross. I know in my neighborhood there aren’t any cross walks and I can’t even begin to count how many times driving home on Halloween all the kids just darting out into the street to get to the next house. Very scary!

- Teach your kids about “Stranger Danger”. Try to simply explain to them that some adults are bad and want to hurt children and that they should never go into a house that they don't know, get into a car, or go anywhere with a stranger. I always tell my son if a stranger approaches him and tries to get him to go in his car or house to scream as loud as he can to try to attract attention from someone around him and run to a place that is safe. Unfortunately, you never know these days.

- Eat dinner before going out to Trick or Treat. Filling those little bellies before going out to trick or treat will stop the temptation of the kids eating the candy before you get home to check it.

- Make sure your child is carrying some kind flashlight, reflective tape, or glow stick when walking around. With all the dark colored costumes out there, it’s always safe to carry a flashlight or anything that glows so people can see the little ones while driving.

- Plan a safe route. If your child goes out trick or treating with their friends, it’s best to make sure you sit down with your child and plan a safe route so you’ll know where your child is at all times. It’s also a good idea to set a time when they should be home. If they are going out alone, have them carry a cell phone for emergencies.

- Check your child’s candy before eating! Checking what comes home with your child is a great habit to get into for a number of reasons. First, I’m sure you’ve heard all the sick scary stories of what some disturbed people do to the candy on Halloween. Second, if you’re child has an allergy (peanuts, chocolate, etc.) you’ll want to be sure that you get rid of anything that could pose a problem.


So that’s it! Hopefully these little reminders will make your Halloween planning a little easier! For more great tips and helpful advice make sure you follow me on Facebook! I hope everyone has a great time on Wednesday!

Talk to you all soon!

Nikki

Simple and Easy Ways to Spend More Quality Time with your Children

I haven’t always been a stay at home Mom.  In fact, since my son has been born, I have spent countless evenings, weekends, and holidays working.  At one point, I left my job to go work for a family member who promised more time with my kids.  That turned into more hours than the job I left.  I have many many regrets about the first few years of my son’s life.  I know I can’t go back, but I’m making the best of the time I have now staying home with my kids. 

My son and I sat down and brainstormed together what we like to do.  Here, we’ll list our top 5 favorite week night fun. 

1.      Themed Dinner Night - We love this.  Our favorite theme is taco night.  This opens a few doors.  First, it gets your kids in the kitchen with you.  Ethan loves to help set up all the taco fixings on the table.  Second, it’s fun.  I know for Ethan the more fun it is; the more likely he’ll eat.  Third, it’s a good excuse to have a family dinner together.  With many parents working later and later hours now or kids having after school or evening activities, it’s getting harder for families to sit down together during the week.  If this is the only time you can get the family together, do it! 

2.       Engage the kids in household tasks. – If my husband has something that needs fixing, he will get Ethan to assist him.  My husband will teach him about what tools he’ll be using, he’ll have him pass him the tools, and even will have Ethan help bang a nail or two.  (With supervision)  Ethan loves this and this is a way to spend some time with him while getting something done on my always long “honey-do” list!

3.       Go for a walk or play outside.  I try my hardest to do this every day.  It gives me a few minutes to get some fresh air and spend some time talking to the kids where there aren’t any distractions.  It’s very easy after dinner is over to take a quick 20 minute walk around the block or play outside.  Plus a little exercise never hurt anyone right?

4.      Have a family game night.  This is something we try to fit into our Friday nights.  Whether it is a board game or a video game, we take an hour and have a little healthy competition.  If it’s during the week, play a quick game of go fish.   

5.      Have a movie night.  We love to turn off all the lights, pop some popcorn, and curl up in the blankets watching movies.  If it’s a week night, we’ll keep it to a 30 minute cartoon.  It’s a nice way to wind down after the day is done and gives the kids a little quiet time before bed.

Don’t forget to join my Facebook community!

~Nikki

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Homemade Baby Food Series: The Essentials and a Green Bean Puree Recipe!

Welcome to the second post of our homemade baby food series where I’ll be sharing my ups and downs of making homemade organic baby food for my daughter.  If you missed the first post, you can catch it HERE.  Today, we’ll be discussing the essential tools that you will need to prepare your baby food at home plus a recipe for green bean puree.  I started my daughter on green beans first.  This isn’t necessary; it’s just what we decided to do. 

So, to start the baby food process there are a few key items you will need to get started. 

First, you’ll need a blender or food processor.  A basic blender or even a handheld blender should work just fine.  However, if you intend on making most or all of your baby food this way, it might be wise to invest into a better food processor. 

You’ll need a colander or strainer.  This is essential for draining and holding veggies and fruits after they have been cooked or even for cleaning the food before preparation. 

Another thing you’ll need is ice cube trays or some type of containers to store your baby food.  I decided to go with these.  If you do go the ice cube tray route, you’ll also need some freezer bags and permanent markers to label everything after it is frozen. 

After you’ve gathered all of your key items it is time to get started!

As I was saying, we decided to start with green beans.  I like to start my children on the veggies first and then start them on fruits.  I want my children to get used to the veggies before they get to the sweet goodness! 

Here is the recipe I used for the green beans.  I’m using the book called 201 Organic Baby Purees.  I absolutely love it! 

Green Bean Puree

4 Servings

1 cup fresh or frozen green beans, trimmed and cut

1 cup water. 

1.      Put beans into a steamer basket, or place in a saucepan covered by an inch of water.  Cover. 

2.      Heat to a boil; then turn down the heat slightly.  Steam until tender, about 5-7 minutes.

3.      Place the beans into a blender.  Puree to a smooth consistency by gradually adding the leftover water from steaming.

That’s it!  It’s seriously that easy!  I doubled the recipe because I threw some in the freezer as well. 

Madison struggled with it but we will keep trying!  She's already not a fan of her green veggies!

Have a great day everyone!  Don’t forget to join my Facebook community for lots of other great healthy family discussions!

~Nikki

Homemade Organic Baby Food Series: The Benefits

Welcome to a first of a massive series of my trials and tribulations of tackling making homemade baby food for my daughter Madison.  To give you all a little background, this is my first time trying this out.  When I had my first child, I worked 40+ hours per week and I had absolutely no time to make my own baby food (or so I thought!).  I spent hundreds of dollars purchasing baby food and really had quite a limited selection!  After a TON of research, I have found that not only is making homemade baby food not time consuming at all, it’s easy on the wallet, I’ll know how the food is made, where it’s coming from, and best of all, I’ll have the control of what I’m putting into my daughter’s mouth. 

So, I know what you may be thinking.  I don’t have time for that!  It must be really time consuming to make baby food from scratch.  I’m here to tell you it’s not!  It really is as simple as making some veggies, throwing it in a food processor, and zapping it a few times to puree it.  You can make a week’s worth of baby food in 30 minutes or less. 

I personally have chosen to feed my daughter organic foods.  By all means, this is not necessary; this is just a personal choice for me.  I have decided to go organic for a variety of reasons.  The biggest reason I have gone down this path is because of the health benefits.  Feeding your baby an organic diet packed with naturally grown, whole foods is greater in terms of quality, taste, and nutrition than a conventional diet made up of processed foods that could possibly include additives, dyes, artificial ingredients, chemicals, or pesticides.  According to the EPA, young children are at a larger risk of pesticide exposure because their internal organs are still immature or underdeveloped.  Starting off with the good quality stuff will guarantee less worry for you and a clean bill of health for your little one. 

Another reason I have decided to do this is because it is so cost effective!  Get this….Where I live a jar of organic peas would be on average about $0.85 which equates to about $0.34 per ounce.  To make homemade organic peas, $0.04 per ounce!  For me, it was a no-brainer!

So these are just some of the benefits and why’s of how I have come to my decision.  Stay tuned for lots of tips, tricks, successes (and failures), and recipes!  Also, please join my Facebook community for lots of other support and discussions on everything fun and healthy! 

Have a great Monday everyone!

~Nikki

photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/semerssuaq/4635251084/">domitilla ferrari</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photo pin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/">cc</a>

Summertime Fun for the Kiddos!

Now that I have taken on the role of being a Stay at Home Mom, I have been compiling a list of things I’d like to do this summer with my kids.  I have never had the experience being home with them in the summertime other than a week of vacation that I would take at work.  I’m so excited to finally be able to have some fun in the sun!  I thank God everyday that I have been given this opportunity to be with them.  I thought it would be fun to share my list so far and see if you my readers have anything that you’d like to add.  It’s a long summer, so the more the merrier!  J

·        Have an indoor picnic (perfect for a rainy or really hot day)

·        Play in the sprinkler

·        Start a garden (flowers and veggies)

·        Go bird watching

·        Take a trip to the local park

·        Go visit a children’s museum

·        Go berry picking at the orchard

·        Set up a lemonade stand

·        Go fly kites

·        Build a fort out of pillows and blankets

·        Have a water balloon fight

·        Go bowling

·        Spend a day volunteering our time for a local charity

·        Go to the beach

·        Make some homemade bubbles and wands

·        Start a fire and make smores!

·        Take a trip to the amusement park

·        Camp out in the backyard (my husband will be doing this….I choose to stay inside where it’s bug free!)

·        Go to the petting zoo

·        Make homemade popsicles

Please add any more you can think of in the comments section below.  I’d love to hear your ideas!  J

Have a great day!

~Nikki

Super Easy, Kid Friendly, English Muffin Pizzas

Ok, so this isn’t the most gourmet recipe in the world but its fun, kid friendly, and really easy!  My husband works well over 2 hours away from work so most nights it’s just me and the kids for dinner.  With my hands so full, I usually turn to things that take me 30 minutes or less.  These pizzas are so versatile.  I’m sure most of you have already made these before and know that there are so many variations to the recipe.  I like to stay on the more healthy side so I don’t use pepperoni, bacon, or any of the really greasy stuff.  In this particular recipe I used Italian chicken sausage.  It’s awesome!  Any way you make these, I’m sure they’ll be delicious! 

Ingredients:

• 2 packages of English muffins
• Olive oil         
• 1 jar pizza sauce
• ½ tsp of garlic powder
• ½ tsp of Italian seasoning
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• Whatever toppings you like on pizza (In this recipe I used Italian Chicken Sausage)     

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 450.

Split the English muffins and brush the outside with olive oil, place the cut side up on a baking sheet. 

Sprinkle the muffins with the garlic powder

Toast in the oven until slightly brown. 

Remove from the oven and top with pizza sauce, toppings, the mozzarella cheese and a sprinkle of Italian seasoning. 

Even Ethan likes to help!

Bake for about 10 minutes until the cheese is melted and slightly brown. 

Here is Ethan's plate….I always like to have some sort of veggie with every meal!

Enjoy!

~Nikki

Our Top Ten Favorite Educational Apps for Kids

If there is one thing you’ll begin to know about me is that I like things that are fun, easy, educational, and cheap!  Not necessarily in that order, but you get the drift. 

With all of the technology and apps out there for kids I don’t feel as though I need to pay $3.99+ for a children’s app particularly when there are tons and tons of free or close to free apps out there. 

Now, my son Ethan, and I’ll go ahead and assume most kids, love to play Angry Birds (Just admit it!), but Ethan is also really attracted to a number of fun learning educational apps as well. 

Here, we list our favorites!

1)     Stack the Countries – Ethan uses this app in school.  If the children are behaving they are rewarded with a few minutes playing the I Pad.  Kids learn capitals of different countries, landmarks, and geography. 

2)     ABC Pocket Phonics – Very simple app.  Teaches children letter sounds and writing.  One of my favorites!

3)     Math Bingo – The object of this game is to correctly answer math problems bingo style!  You can choose from Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, and Division. 

4)     K-3 Sight Words – Flashcard style sight words ranging from Pre-K through Third grade.  Ethan got a ton of practice using this app.  I noticed an increase in his knowledge of his sight words with just a few tries.  A+ in my book. 

5)     Coloring – This fun app has a ton of pictures that you can color and the best part is they can be saved for sharing or wallpaper. 

6)     Stack the States – This is another game that Ethan uses in school.  This one happens to be Ethan’s favorite.  Same concept as Stack the Countries, except the kids learn about state capitals, shapes, and geography in the U.S. 

7)     Rocket Math – A total winner in my eyes!  Kids go on space missions while solving math problems.  I’ve even been caught a time or two playing this one!

8)     I Like Books – This app has 37 different pictures books that are great for children just learning how to read.  The app can read to you and highlight the individual words while reading so that kids can follow along!

9)     Sky View – This app uses your phone’s camera.  Point it towards the sky and the app highlights different stars and planets.  It reminds me of a virtual telescope!

10) I Write Words – Your children will learn handwriting while playing a fun number game.  This kept Ethan occupied for quite a while.

All of these games were free or no more than $1.99.  I like to use them as rewards when Ethan is behaving or when we are out and about and I need to keep Ethan occupied.  Have fun!

** Stay tuned tomorrow for my family’s guacamole recipe in celebration of Cinco de Mayo!

 ~Nikki

May 100 Book Reading Challenge

I don’t know about you, but one of my favorite times of the day is cuddling up with my five-year old son and reading a good book!  With the amount of attention I spend with my newborn daughter lately, it’s a great time for my son and I to just spend time together. 

We’ve decided to put a fun spin on our reading this month.  We are planning on reading 100 books!  We are hoping to find some new books we haven’t read so please join my Facebook community and tell us what you like to read with your kids!  Lots and lots of suggestions are welcome!

Our favorite book so far has been We All Went on Safari– A Counting Journey through Tanzania by Laurie Krebs and Julia Cairns.  This book teaches kids to count in Swahili while discovering African animals on a safari though the grasslands of Tanzania.  Facts about Tanzania, Swahili counting, and a map are included at the end of the book.  The neat thing about this book was that a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the book went to the African Wildlife Foundation, to aid in their wildlife conservation and community building efforts in Tanzania.   

Stay tuned for our progress to 100 books and our favorites as we go!

~Nikki

My Top Five Favorite Shaklee Products

In celebration of the extension of our free membership deal, I thought it would be helpful to highlight my top 5 favorite Shaklee products.  My family and I use these products on a daily basis and we have all seen our health improve!  Of course, there are so many other products that we offer and if you would like to take a peek and place an order you can shop right here!  Remember, the free membership entitles you to 15% off your order, a 100% money back guarantee, and exclusive access to our private Facebook community where we share great tips for getting healthy!

Get Clean Kit

The GetClean Kit was what got me initially hooked on Shaklee.  I have completely replaced all of my household cleaners with products in the Get Clean line.  The Basic H alone replaces your all-purpose cleaner, your window cleaner, and your degreasers.  It is super concentrated and lasts forever!  Best of all, it’s non-toxic and safe for your children and the planet!

Vitalizer

Vitalizer is the most advanced multi-nutrient supplement pack on the market today and it features a patent-pending delivery system designed to enhance absorption of key nutrients. Vitalizer is more than just a single multivitamin—it has 80 bio-optimized nutrients clinically proven to create a foundation for a longer, healthier life, and it's the only comprehensive multi-nutrient supplement pack you need. With the multiple varieties of Vitalizer, you are sure to find one to meet your needs. 

Cinch (Shakes & Energy Tea)

Cinch Shake Mix provides a yummy and complete breakfast or lunch.  All you need to do is add two scoops or 1 packet to 1 cup of nonfat milk, light soy milk, or almond milk and you're ready to go!  It's powered by leucine to help preserve muscle while you lose weight. With 24 grams of protein per serving, it controls hunger and helps you feel satisfied. The Cinch Shake mixes are available in café latte, strawberry, vanilla and chocolate.  My favorite is the café latte.  I like to add a little French vanilla coffee creamer to it.  Yum!

Also....

Enjoy the Cinch Energy Tea and benefit from an uplifting boost. As if the exotic white, red and Matcha green teas aren't extraordinary enough, we added the juicy flavor of pomegranate. Don't be surprised to find yourself with the natural energy to squeeze more out of every day.

Enfuselle Nutrition Therapy Kit

The Nutrition Therapy Skin Care System is a great system, for both women and men. The system is formulated with Shaklee’s exclusive Vital Repair + to block all those skin-damaging free radical reactions and encourages you to have healthy cells so you see smooth, luminous skin.  Clinical studies have confirmed a remarkable 665% increase in skin firmness in just a short 28 days!  You'll also see your skin age 10+ years in reverse - guaranteed.

Shaklee kids products

Shaklee Kids Incredivites is the first children's chewable multivitamin in the U.S. with lactoferrin, which helps kids' immune systems stay supercharged. Packed with 23 essential nutrients, it's the world's best kids' supplement-with 600 IU of vitamin D to support strong bones and teeth, and 100% of the Daily Value of all eight B vitamins and vitamin C. Just two a day and off they play. Now that's incredible!

Also….

Supertasty and supersafe, Shaklee Kids Mighty Smart is scientifically formulated with a power-packed blast of 100% natural, ultra-pure DHA. DHA is the most abundant omega 3 fatty acid in the brain and eyes and each great-tasting chew provides 100 mg. 

***Don’t forget!  Sign up for the Mommy & the Monsters free newsletter by May 15th and you’ll be entered to win one of 3 samples of Shaklee’s Basic H!  Also, join my Facebook community for even more tips and fun news! ***

~Nikki