kiddos favorite apps

I have a tablet for work purposes that the kiddos can use occasionally, I don't think we will ever buy them their own tablet just for playing games, that's just not how we do. I have taught them that playing games on my work tablet is a privilege, it is not something that they get to do whenever they feel like it, and that this tablet is to be treated properly, they need to be calm, patient, and respectful with others peoples things. That's how it should be, don't ya think??

Time on the tablet is a once in awhile thing, just like having a chocolate chip cookie once in awhile is fine. Would you eat a chocolate chip cookie everyday and expect to be healthy? No! So take that same way of thinking and apply it to tablet time. It's really that simple.

Over the years we have found some fun apps, some not so great apps, and others that were a one time to check it out and it ended up being a dud. They are now 6 and 4 and I think we have a pretty great selection of fun AND educational apps for them to play on. I stress educational because I want them to learn to use technology as one of the educational tools in their belt. I believe that technology is good and can be a great learning tool but it needs to be incorporated with other learning tools, it is not the end all be all of our lives! It is not the only thing that you should concern yourself with and it makes me sick when I hear our older nephews only talk about video games!! I don't care if it's a computer game, XBox, or Nintendo Switch, if that is the only thing a kid talks about, there is something wrong and I think a major break from technology is needed!! No more, "well they are teenagers" or "that's what kids are into these days". I call bullshit!

My first and foremost favorite app we found for the kiddos is the PBS Parents Play app, it has games with letters, numbers, shapes, problem solving in a variety of ways ... it is all around fantastic! To piggy back on that the Cookie Monster Alphabet Kitchen if great too! They also like a character that is near and dear to my heart, and the artwork is spot on, The Very Hungry Caterpillar app by Story Toys is cute and the kids get to help the caterpillar along his adventure. I mention the app creator because there are a few different ones with that character.

There are a couple racing games that S likes, but he is really into Hot Wheels Race Off and he cars in the game are the ones that are sold in stores, so we have a few of the cars! He gets so excited when a car that he has pops up in the game, which is great because he then goes and gets that car and starts building tracks to race in the playroom! Sometimes its disappointing when he doesn't have the same moving parts or explosions like the game does {LOL!} but whatcha gonna do about that ... a teaching moment about real life versus pretend like movies, tv shows, and games I guess! Another one that he wants to play all the time is Lep's World, a knock off of Super Mario Bros with a leprechaun. It's so funny how much like Mario this one is, same imagery, same concept of things to maneuver through, same fun feeling when you accomplish a level! 

Both of my kids like the building games that I found, one is Thomas the Train. Even though we never watched the show, the idea of building your own little town with tracks and passages is great! A few tasks and challenges are thrown in to unlock different things and they really enjoy it. Another favorite along that line is Love Balls, a game designed to bring two spheres together by drawing lines in which they can roll down toward each other and each level is more difficult. There are a handful of games along this line, but the rolling balls are my kiddos favorite!

Tetris, Block! Hexa, and Flow are all shape fitting and sorting games that are a bit more difficult but fun none the less! The spacial thinking really gets them involved and I can see the wheels turning in their little heads trying to find the solution!

One of Z's favorite is Bubble Witch, where the different colored ball form together and she has to aim and shoot to pop the same color in time so they don't reach the bottom. She also likes Robots by iAbu22, it's one we stumbled upon somehow and its pretty cute! She gets to create her own robot and it flies thru a maze to find it's friend and she catches stars in the process!

A few calming, just let the mind wander apps we like are Glow Draw, Magic Fluids, and Particle Flow. I found these on Andriod after my sister showed me iZen. They are all just cool colors flowing on the screen and you can swipe in any direction to move the mass, just a vegging-out kinda thing!

Last but not least is one we all like to play and it really does do your brain some good, Luminosity. It's designed by scientists and designers, which features games to improve your memory, cognitive abilities, and problem-solving skills, through a daily mental training program. The kiddos love it, I love it, it trips us up and keeps us sharp! It's really fun and I highly recommend it!

I DON'T GET OLDER, I LEVEL UP

xo

party on!

We have birthdays in two seasons of the year, my birthday and my son's is in the summer and my husband's and my daughter's is in the winter. I'm holding true to "winter" because in St. Louis, March is still a ridiculousness of cold-just at freezing-temps a fair amount of the month! So I have two drastic styles of party planning when it comes to the kiddos and with them still little, it's pretty easy going.

We are still throwing family only parties for them, and this is just direct family, not all my husband's aunts and uncles and each of their groups of kids and grand kids, the house would burst at the seams if we did that! And it's great because all the cousins get along and fit in the playroom and there is just enough snacks and cake that we don't spend another high dollar grocery run on it. I'm offered a pot luck style gathering every time and that just doesn't work for me because then the kitchen is full of people and extra pots and the majority of the time when a pot luck is held at another family gathering, there is always one person who needs the oven or stove to cook their item instead of just bringing it already prepared! UGH! The only food requirements are gluten-free {which is easier than people think} and making sure nobody dips a chip and contaminates it for her, but usually she brings a few things for herself and I get her a pint of coconut milk or avocado based ice cream, which both are really tasty so don't knock it til you try it!

Summer parties are so much easier to host and I'm glad to have everyone over! Make outside a lovely shaded oasis, get the sprinklers and bubbles out, BBQ some meats, everyone stays outside for awhile and it works out great! We decorate the patio with lights to indicate that is where the party is, roll out the ice chest with drinks and the kids all run around until gift opening and they go home ... fantastic! Both parties, I have managed over the years, to find universal decorations and paper goods, Joe makes a great cake and we decorate that with homemade banners and other cuteness. So here are my tips and tricks for a great kids birthday party!

Keep it Simple! So simple, by starting with the character or theme the kid likes

and get basic colors of that character. Sonic the Hedgehog -- blue and red balloons, maybe go to Party City for a mylar balloon. Super Hero Girls -- purple, red, pink, yellow cake decoration cutouts that sat POW, ZAP, BOOM taped on toothpicks and stick in cake with her super hero dolls surrounding the cake. Very Hungry Caterpillar -- green and red plates and cups that I picked up at Dollar Tree or 5 Below.

Basic Kid Food! Pizza, hot dogs, and burgers are the best. You can find a lot of varieties of take and bake or just order from the place up the street. Burgers can be made ahead of time, buns are pretty inexpensive and so are condiments. Sandwhich fixings are a no brainer, place everything out, DIY so everyone gets what they like, it all tastes great and the kids will eat dinner among the chaos!

Veggie Trays are the Best! I always have a couple dips and a couple veggies cut up with a bag or two of chips and it always goes over well with guest. The kids eat it too! At times I've made a fruit platter but that usually goes into the freezer for smoothies after the party since nobody likes the texture of soggy fruit bowl for breakfast. 

Crockpot! We have done spinach dip in the crockpot a few times for our winter birthday parties and it is a hit! Anything you can toss in a crockpot and leave it to the side while the rest of the party gets fixed up is the best!  If you have someone with a bulk grocer card like Costco or Sam's Club, ask if you can go with them on the next trip to pick up any large bags of ingredients needed, it will really help you in the long run. Also, in the summer the crockpot doesn't give off heat like firing up the oven does!

Invites! I've made some pretty neat invitations on Publisher, already on my computer, with clipart or personal photos in the past, some have been an actual cut down to size card and others have been a flyer style, but I have to say the easiest and cheapest (FREE!) have been using Punchbowl. You can pay for upgraded invites, but I always find great free ones, and you can customize a bit with comments, potluck list, rsvp list, and reminders!

Don't Go Overboard! All the matching streamers, balloons, plates, invitations, labels for water bottles ... what!?! Why would I waste my time on labeling bottles that will be tossed in the recycling bin?! It's so much work! Yeah it have an impact on the whole "look" of the party maybe, but is there a magazine coming to photo this party for the cover or the feature article?? No! So don't bother with it. The amount of fun, the gifts, and the cool cake are the top three memory makers for any little kid, you know it is.

I always ask the kiddos what they want to do for their parties months ahead of time so if they change their mind (which has happened recently!) I'm not scrambling at the last minute! They kiddos always have ideas that I figured would manifest into a party for them, but it's recipes and other party foods that I want to take a peek at, see what is something different I can do this time. So then I head on over to my trusty idea board on PINTEREST to look up a few ideas, especially for cake decorating. Some are so elaborate ans crazy, I wish we could pull it off but there is usually a lower level back up to the professionals! I tell ya, we don't make super-delicious-its-so-fantastic cakes, but Joe really knows how to decorate a birthday cake, he's amazing at it!
In the end, it doesn't cost us as much as our wedding reception, and everyone has a great time, and that's what matters most! As they get older, I'm sure things will change, and venues will be needed, or they will develop expensive tastes, but I hope their memories of their younger birthday parties will stick with them forever!

TODAY I EAT CAKE

xo

my favorite apps

I have a lot of apps on my phone. Most I use, some are useless but were recommended, and others I'm hoping to get to someday soon! I have them organized by how often I use them and in each category they fall into like for the kiddos school, the teacher is on Remind which is great for last minute notices, and I also have the school district app which has proven to be useless for anything I need to know, not even the event calendar is correct or has proper description of what a event is! I have a new one for my son's baseball team Team Snap, which is working out great, and of course, I have my local weather and Pollen allergy alert nicely organized as well as my reporting app and Maps for my job as a merchandiser, it all works well and I have what I need at my fingertips.

But some favorites are the most time sucking ... Pinterest, Mercari, Poshmark, Instagram, Facebook, Play Music! Guilty! But I make money with the two selling apps, and I use Play music instead of the car radio most the time, so they redeem themselves in that aspect, right?!

We don't have such a busy schedule that I need multiple calendars for, but I'm making life easy with Your Closet and Task. Both are lists and calendars that I use for daily reminders to keep me on track! One is a photo closet that you catalog all your clothes into {which only took me an afternoon to do} and then you create outfits and place them on the calendar. I found this one last year and have been using it ever since! I wanted to see what I was using in my closet so I could sell off some things (thank you Mercari and Poshmark for some bonus cash every month!) and in doing that I was able to get it together every morning and not waste time figuring out what to wear. I'm not lookin' to be the best dressed at school drop off, but I would like to utilize my closet and look decent in the morning! The other is a checklist that I have for everyday to remind myself what projects need to be looked at, for example, writing this blog once a week, or posting new items for my Etsy Shop every week, It's also great to stop and remember did I take medication, workout my neck traction, take time to read instead of getting sucked into Facebook {don't judge, we've all been there!}, and doesn't clog up our regular calendar that has the important communal stuff on it.































Essential Oils and More, is where I get my quick info for essential oils both at home use and to post diffuser combos and product information to my essential oils site. Sometimes when my days are tough due to a kiddo being sick or just woke up on the wrong side of the bed, we take time to Stop Breathe Think, a meditation app that has instructed meditation for whatever you are feeling! You add how physically and mentally you are doing that day by adding emotions and the app comes up with a handful  of recommended exercises or you can opt for a specif timed exercise. It's great and helps out a lot!  Another essential is our banking app, its so easy! Capital One is great and we really like the set up and how it works for us, I would recommend it as a banking institution for anyone!  

I've touched on all my fitness apps in a post awhile back but I've found a few new ones that are great at keeping track and getting in a really great workout! No workout is complete with out a podcast and music list, but I'll save those for another post, right now I want to talk about BodBot which gives me my personalized workout for the day with consideration to how I feel that day and my stats I put in when setting up the app. I can also update weight and activity level which then updates the exercises that it generates for me! Pilates is another step by step routine that I like, I can do some or all of the exercises as a beginner, best, and max level. This app coupled with Swrokit Stretching I really get a great Pilates workout or a really nice stretch session! I recently found a Tabata and Full Body Barre app that I've been meaning to toss into the routine, I can't wait to start those two different workouts, I hear great things about each! 
A friend of mine was nice enough to give me her FitBit One and I really love it! I'm not into the latest gadget and I'm not a big fan of the watches so this little divide is perfect and has just what I need ... step counter, activity reminder, water intake counter, and weight graph. I love seeing my progress over the last couple months and the app is so straight forward! Along with Charity Miles, I can see what I've done and how I can do more over the week to increase give back to the organization of my choosing! Last but not least, I've said it once and I'll say it again, Diet Bet is an app everyone should have! Get paid to loose weight, yes please! The app keeps you on track when you are part of a challenge and the community with each challenge you sign up for is pretty great!I've been able to win each one I enter, not mass amounts of money, but enough for a nice date night with Joe, and that is good enough for me!

Now, let's talk about shopping! These apps will help you save money and earn real savings for your next shopping trip! Ibotta lets you shop all kinds of stores and send off your receipt for certain brands or items they have up for cash back, once you hit $20 you get actual cash deposited to your bank account! It's awesome and if you shop at any store or online, you should have this app! I have the Joann Fabric app because when I do have time to be crafty, I'm going to use a coupon, for sure! Target Cartwheel because, let's be honest, you are a fool if you don't have it! We have T-Mobile for our phones and they have a few deals every Tuesday, like free Redbox rentals, I said FREE people, get yourself the app if you phones are through T-Mobile! Not only that, Redbox app has been hitting me up with rent one get one coupons, now we can get ourselves a movie whenever we rent one for the kids! If you are in the St. Louis area a must is the Quik Trip and Schnucks app, both have specials, points to rack up and redeem, and daily deals! I also use Think Dirty when shopping, in an effort to be more green and natural, I want to see what products follow guideline when it comes to parapheen free or animal cruelty practices, and Think Dirty helps with their ratings system. One last one that I have been meaning to use and really hope its as great as they say, is Instacart. You pick your store, add to your cart and send off your order to someone who is in the area to shop for you! This would help if I'm in a pinch and can't be in two places at once! They even have Costco on the list of stores! I'd like to do price checking to see what the up charge is, if any, but the convenience of having someone run a quick errand to the grocery store is probably worth it!

LIFE HACKS FOR EVERYONE!

xo