Miami on Ice

Recently, we did something we had never done: we went ice-skating!! I know that's hard to believe but remember we are from South Florida, we don't ice-skate, at least not outside. We do have 3 indoor ice-skating rinks but I really don't know anyone who actually goes to those. This year, at the Intercontinental Hotel in Downtown, they set up Miami on Ice, a semi-outdoor ice-skating rink and I knew it was time for my crazy kids to try it out.

We went with our pal Mia who is a great ice-skater. We started off with the stabilizers. Those only lasted a few minutes for some of the kids. Gian kept on it almost the whole time. Amberly let it go once she got her balance and Adrian used one, on and off. 

He was a lot braver ice-skating than he has ever been while trying to skate at the roller skating rink. 

Gian was the one that surprised me. He is usually fearless but didn't take to ice-skating very much.

There was alot of this for poor Adrian. After a while, his clothes was soaked from falling so much. I am super proud of him for getting right back up and trying again, totally unlike him.

Ivanna helped him out as much as she could. Actually, they all helped each other. It was so sweet to watch them interact with each other.

Once they gained a little confidence, it was time for a conga line (we are from Miami after all!!)

The skating rink is small and they have one hour sessions. The kids had a wonderful time and Adrian is already asking when we are going to go again. Little does he know, it will be sooner than later since we will be up in Gatlinburg, TN where he will be ice-skating at Ober!!

Teaching Children To Give Back This Holiday Season

Disclosure: This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc., and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #GiveHappiness #CollectiveBias

The holidays are here which means our busy season has started. Between school, work, extra-curriculars, performances, gatherings and holiday parties, we are busy, busy, busy. One thing we are never too busy for is charity. The holidays are the best time of year for giving back to our communities. I take every opportunity to teach my children how to give back. The holiday season is not about how much you receive, it's about how much you give back to others! I started teaching my children how to give back since they were toddlers and now giving back to our community has become holiday tradition!

1. Participate in donation drives. Donation drives have popped up all over. Whether its food cans for our local food banks or toys for children, make sure you donate. I take my kids to the store to purchase canned items and toys. They pick everything out and then take them to school where there are collection bins. 

2. Donate used toys and clothing. Every year, twice a year actually, we go through all our toys and clothes and donate things we have outgrown. I know many families already do this and honestly, it's the easiest way to help. Kids outgrow toys and clothes all year long. We just gather it into boxes and donate to local churches. 

3. Volunteer to pack meals. My family and I wake up early on Thanksgiving morning and help pack meals for the homeless. This is an activity that will not cost you a penny, just a couple hours of your time. The whole family can help too. 

4. Eat Dinner! This weekend I found a new way to help, just by eating dinner. I found out that for every prepared meal and Coca-Cola beverage purchased from the Walmart deli in November and December, meals will be provided to families in need through the Salvation Army. We headed out to Walmart and purchased a rotisserie chicken, potato salad, coleslaw, a five cheese pizza and a 2-liter Coca-Cola. 

Everything was already prepared, all I had to do was bake the pizza which took about 15 minutes. Dinner in 15 minutes? Sounds AMAZING to this busy mamma!

Want to go a step further to help families in need? Use the hashtag #GiveHappiness to share a picture of your own family enjoying Coca-Cola and a prepared meal from Walmart Deli and you will be spreading awareness about the program and inspiring others in need! 

Make sure to check out all the yummy food available at your local Walmart deli. In a rush for dinner? Pick up a prepared meal and a Coca-Cola and you are set!!

How do you teach your children to give back during the holiday season? We also participate in fun runs and shoebox packing. The kids really enjoy it all!

Pumpkin Painting

On Sunday, Adrian, Ivanna and I hung out with friends. We went to a pumpkin patch and then to one of our friend's houses to paint our pumpkins. It was a wonderful way to spend a Sunday!!

Pumpkin patch fun!

Honestly, painting is one of the best activity you can do with kids. You never get too old to paint. I took a container full of paint, brushes, googly eyes, ribbon, washi tape and aprons. We set it all out on a table and they just painted and painted. 

I loved this. I loved the time away from electronics, talking with friends and just being creative!

After the kids were done, they jumped in the pool (this is Florida!) and then my friend Alina and I painted our pumpkins. These are all the finished pumpkins (kids and adults).

Check out my Jack!!

Alina painted a frosted doughnut with sprinkles. How cute is this pumpkin?

One of Alina's daughters is a super talented artist. Here's her take on Starry Night! I could never make something this amazing!!

Pumpkin painting is fun for all and so much easier than carving. Besides, if we would have carved these pumpkins, they would be gross already. Humidity and heat are not a pumpkin's friend!!

Easy Ways To Recycle and Re-Use at Home (FREE Printable)

Disclosure: This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc., and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #BringingInnovation #CollectiveBias

Do you recycle? Do you have recycling bins in your home? We used to have our own county issued recycling bins in our last home but when we moved to our apartment, we found community recycling bins in the back of the complex. They are not as convenient as the ones in our previous home, but that hasn't stopped us from recycling everyday. We already have a chore chart up in our house for regular chores so I decided to create a Recycling Assignment chart to handle all the recycling that piles up in our kitchen!

See these 4 kids? I try my best to teach them to take care of their planet and even though I am showing you complete goofballs in this picture, they take their recycling seriously!

Right-click below to download our Recycling Assignment Chart for your home! This printable also has notes about what is recyclable so your kids learn as they go!

Our recycling assignment chart is up on our fridge where we can all see it everyday. We are each assigned a day and have been pretty good at keeping up. We also re-used a box we already had as our in-house recycling bin. Nothing fancy but it's on less box hanging out in a landfill.

Re-using something or giving it a "second chance" is important in our home. We try to buy recycled products as much as possible and we give our business to companies who have also taken on this initiative. Energizer® is one of these companies. Energizer has released new EcoAdvanced™ batteries. These are the world's first AA battery made with 4% recycled batteries and is Energizer's longest lasting battery! TRY IT! Power your most critical devices AND have less impact on the planet!

Energizer® EcoAdvanced™ AA and AAA batteries are available at your local Target in the batteries section. Pick some up today and update your home with guilt-free energy!

Kid Friendly Lunch: BBQ Turkey and Spinach Wrap

Disclosure: This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc., and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #PureLifeRippleEffect #CollectiveBias

Kid lunches. You either love them or loathe them. Why? Well because after all the effort we put into making them, most kids don't eat them. With three kids, I know how maddening packing a nutritious lunch can be so I came up with a solution that has worked: I ask my kids "What would you like to eat?" Who would've thought that would work? What did I learn? I learned that they didn't want a regular sandwich, they wanted a fancier lunch. They wanted something different every day and they wanted wraps. My kids love wraps and honestly, I have way more fun making them than a regular sandwich. Their favorite wrap, which I have perfected to their liking, is a BBQ Turkey and Spinach wrap!!

BBQ Turkey & Spinach Wrap

{makes 1}

Ingredients:

3 slices of deli turkey (I use a honey maple turkey)

1/2 tbsp mayonnaise

1 flour tortilla

8-10 spinach leaves

1 tbsp BBQ sauce (any kind your kid likes)

1/4 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend

Directions:

Lay out tortilla and spread the mayonnaise on it.

Add turkey slices, top with spinach leaves and then barbeque sauce.

Top with shredded cheese.

To roll the wrap: Fold in the sides about 1 inch in and then roll from one end to the other, just like a burrito.

Cut in half or in rolls (however your child likes it) and then add to the lunchbox, along with a banana and a water bottle. Doesn't get any more nutritious than that!!

If you are asking why water and not juice, well then you should know my kids aren't big juice drinkers. Every week when I go grocery shopping, I pick up a 28 pack of Nestlé® Pure Life® 16.9oz bottles and a pack of Nestlé® Pure Life® Juniors 8oz bottles.

These water bottles fly in my house. I pack a Juniors size in their lunchboxes every day and they carry the bigger size bottle in their backpacks. They are constantly drinking water! It's easy to prep ahead with a week's worth of bottled water for lunches and on-the-go events at one time. Store in the freezer and remove when needed to stock lunches, backpacks or gym bags. The water will be ready to drink when your child is ready!

We all drink lots of water throughout the day, especially with it being so hot outside. When you have a child athlete, you need to make sure they drink lots of water.

I carry water bottles with me to all his sports practices and games. He needs to stay hydrated! Here is a great tip from Robin Plotkin: using age-appropriate concepts, talk to your kids about the importance of hydration. For young children, explain that it helps them stay cool when they are hot; for older, school-aged children, remind them that even mild to moderate dehydration can negatively impact mood, energy, concentration and short term memory-which are all important when studying, taking exams or playing sports!

Packing a nutritious lunch is easy and it's a great habit to start kids on young.  In a survey recently conducted by Nestlé® Pure Life®  a majority of kids say they prefer a homemade lunch (57%) over a school bought lunch. This preference for packed lunches offers a key hydration opportunity for moms. Pack one of the juniors bottles is a great idea since 84% of moms say bottled water is a convenient way to ensure their child is drinking water.*

THE RIPPLE EFFECT

As a proud supporter of the Partnership for a Healthier America’'s Drink Up Initiative, Nestlé® Pure Life®  is committed to helping families make healthier choices, starting with hydration. Nestlé® Pure Life®  knows that establishing healthy habits in early childhood has lifelong benefits. Nestlé® Pure Life® calls this the Ripple Effect and we're encouraging moms and their kids to reach for water first! To ignite The Ripple Effect movement and encourage kids to get the water they need throughout their day, Nestlé® Pure Life® has committed to provide nearly one million 8 ounce servings of water to kids this school year at over 20 participating schools in select markets across the country through After-School All-Stars, an organization that strives to keep children safe and healthy.

To help your family Drink Up and be part of the Ripple Effect, visit pureliferippleeffect.com and share your tips for healthy hydration using #pureliferippleeffect.  © 2015 Nestlé®  Waters North America Inc.

Be sure to check out Nestlé® Pure Life® on social media on Facebook!

Tell me: What's your kids favorite lunch? Do you pack them a water bottle so they stay hydrated through the day?

*“We conducted our online survey in June 2015 of 1,077 moms of kids ages 6-12 overall, including 254 Hispanic moms of kids ages 6-12. 1,077 kids ages 6-12 from the same household were also surveyed, including 254 Hispanic kids ages 6-12.”

So Much Fun and So Much Laundry

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by OxiClean™ through their partnership with POPSUGAR Select. While I was compensated to write a post about OxiClean™ Laundry, all opinions are my own

Yay for summer!!! My kids have been having a great time at day camp but I really wanted to spend some extra time with them so I took a week off of work to be with them. Of course, the last thing we did was stay home and relax. We were busy, busy, busy! We had friends over, went bowling, went to the movies and even took a trip to Disney World! Now while this all sounds super fun, I only had one problem with it all, by Sunday night, there was so much laundry to do! Some of the clothes weren’t too bad, but some of them had major stains. Why? Well I have very active, messy, creative kids who decided to do new things during my vacation like buy hair chalk and have colored hair:

Yes the hair color was fun but 3 days worth of chalk-stained clothes were not! Or how about soccer games in the summer? Not only was it super hot, it would rain and then there were mud and grass stains everywhere!

Let's not forget vacation clothing. EVERYTHING gets dirty and sweaty on vacation. We came back with lots of fun memories and two laundry bags packed to the top with dirty clothes!

Getting stains out of clothes isn't easy and honestly, I do not have time to hand wash clothes so I'm glad I found OxiClean™ Laundry detergent. Yes, you read that correctly, OxiClean™ now has a laundry detergent (I may or may not have jumped for joy when I found out!)  This detergent is powered by OxiClean™ stain-fighters.  This formula penetrates fabrics deep within to remove tough stains. I just threw all my clothes in the machine, add OxiClean™ Laundry detergent and walked away! My clothes came out clean, bright and with a yummy fresh scent! Food stains and dingy clothes are a thing of the past for our family!

Please follow manufacturer directions for your garments. For best results, pretreat stains with laundry detergent, wait 5-10 minutes and then wash.

I wish I could have taken two weeks off of work, maybe next summer!! Tell me, what fun stuff have you done this summer?

DIY MARVEL Avengers Birthday Pinata (Under $5)

Disclosure: This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc., and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #BDayOnBudget #CollectiveBias

I love celebrating my children's birthdays. With three kids and a niece, I've DIY'd my life out when it comes to birthday parties. I let my children pick the theme they want and I go from there. I like to DIY a lot of items for my children's parties for two reasons, one to save money (I'm always on a budget!) and two, I like having unique items. I love the challenge that comes form making each party different than the last. One thing I definitely make them are pinatas. A pinata is the number one requested item every year so I have learned to make my own and for cheap. I'm talking under $5 cheap! Adrian's party theme this year is MARVEL Avengers Assemble (again!) and here's the pinata I whipped up in under one hour!

Here's a tip for themed party planning from a seasoned expert (me!): purchase a couple themed items like tablecloths, cake plates, cups, loot bags and a fun item like masks. The rest can be solid colors that match the theme. I learned this early on and have saved hundreds on parties! 

To make a MARVEL Avengers pinata, or any themed pinata, you need a few supplies.

-themed plastic tablecloth

-an empty box (you choose the size depending on the amount of children attending the party)

-paper streamer (in colors that match your theme)

-scissors

-glue

Step 1: Lay out the tablecloth and pick the scene you want on your pinata. For my Avengers pinata, I made sure I used a scene where all four characters appear. I cut two of these (one for the front, one for the back of the pinata)

Step 2: Glue or tape the tablecloth scene to the box. It doesn't matter if the tablecloth doesn't cover all the way, you will cover it later!

Step 3: Take one roll of streamer and measure to the side of your box. Then cut more streamer that same size to cover the box by overlapping. For example, I cut 12 strips the same size to cover one side of the box.

Step 4: Stack your cut streamer and cut into the stack (as pictured below). Do not cut all the way to the top, leave about 1/2 an inch solid on top.

Step 5: Glue your streamer to the box one strip at a time. Make sure the strips overlap each other.

Step 6: Continue glueing your strips until the whole side of the box is covered. Then repeat on the other side and bottom. If there is excess streamer hanging off the side of the box, just trim it with a scissor.

NOTE: You need to make a flap on the top of the box to insert candy or toys into your pinata. I take my scissors and just cut a square about 2 x 2 inches.

Once you have covered all the sides with streamer, your pinata should look like this!

Step 7: Grab your streamer and cut about 1 inch strips. Cut a lot.

Step 8: Crumble the streamer pieces.

Step 9: Now you are gong to glue the crumbled streamer to the cardboard that is still showing on the front and back of your pinata. Just dab glue on the cardboard and press a crumbled paper piece on top.

Step 9: Continue all the way around covering all the cardboard and the edges of the tablecloth. Repeat on the back.

TA-DA!! You made a pinata. I told you it was easy! All you do now is fill it with candy and hang it from a tree for the kids to whack at it!

I purchased all my pinata-making and birthday party supplies at Walmart in the American Greetings party section. They have so many fun themes available so you are sure to find your child's favorite!!

Birthday parties are so fun. I really hope my kids don't outgrow themed parties any time soon! What kind of things do you DIY for parties? Have you ever made a pinata?