I love My Kids Blog

How to Make your child’s room POP, by putting wooden letters in picture frames. Baby Name Wall Art

05/17/2013 by Mackenzie Leave a Comment

A week or so ago I posted a picture of my daughter’s name that is hanging in her room. Due to popular demand of the picture I have decided to post a little tutorial on how I did it. Feel free to pin!

How to Make your own-LARGE-sized Family Scrabble Board

05/16/2013 by Mackenzie Leave a Comment

I came across this sweet idea to make a homemade scrabble board. Once I saw I instantly knew I HAD to make it. But…I had to figure out how to make it on a budget. And guess what? I did! I knew the perfect spot to put it as well, I was just overall giddy about this project!

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Filed Under: DIY Projects with kids, How To, Teaching Tagged With: board game, chevron, DIY, fun, scrabble, spelling

Top 20 Refreshing Iced Coffee Recipes

05/16/2013 by Irina 1 Comment

If you have been reading my posts lately you may have caught on that I’m a big coffee fan. I’m one of those people that needs to have their coffee in the morning otherwise you don’t want to get in my way. Just recently I hosted a Dunkin Donuts coffee party that was nice. During the party we were talking about iced coffee. We spoke about how hot coffee is great during the winter months but when it comes to the summer there is nothing like an iced coffee to start of your day. It’s also great for a midday break or when you are hitting the beach or just lounging outside reading a magazine. Now when I was growing up iced coffee was pretty simple. You brewed some coffee let it cool a bit then poured into a thermos or some other container. You added some ice, cream, and sugar and you were good to go. Nowadays there are so many wonderful flavors of iced coffee out there who knows what to pick. Here are some great recipes that I would like to share with all of my readers. Be sure to tell me what you think and feel free to share your own concoctions.

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Filed Under: How To, recipes Tagged With: Ice Coffee, ice coffee recipes

How to make a Unique Cherish for a lifetime Mommy & Me gift using Salt Dough and your child’s hand print

05/13/2013 by Mackenzie 5 Comments

Mother’s Day is coming up, and I have the perfect gift that can be from your little ones to you. How many of you have kids who don’t know it’s Mother’s Day because they are too little to realize it? With my help of this wonderful tutorial I will show you how to make the PERFECT Mother’s Day gift.

5 Natural Ways to keep mosquitoes out of your yard

05/22/2013 by Irina Leave a Comment

With the summer approaching however slowly this year I find myself doing allot more outside work. Preparing the gardens, raking leaves, sweeping, pulling weeds, cleaning windows and more. Most people I know welcome summer with open arms especially after just going through a long cold winter. It is great to see the trees and flowers blooming, hear the birds singing and feel the warmth of the sun on my skin. With all the good things that summer brings I’m also reminding of some of the bad things that come as well. To me its not so much the heat of the humidity that will be coming it is the bugs that will be coming out. The spiders, ants, wasps, hornets, roaches, and worse of all the mosquitoes.

Those pesky little bugs that can be pretty aggressive are a big nuisance. They make going outside in the evening hours unbearable at times. If you want to do anything in the evening you have to spray yourself with chemicals, light candles, and turns on a bug light. You can also spray your yard with chemicals but who knows what kind of damage that can do to the environment let alone your family. With this in mind I have been doing some research regarding more eco-friendly ways to repel mosquitoes and other pesky outdoor creatures. [Read more...]

Filed Under: GARDENING & LANDSCAPING, How To Tagged With: mosquitoes

Back Support for Chair or Auto Seat Cushion Review, LumBuddy

05/22/2013 by Irina Leave a Comment

Anyone that spends hours at a time seated during the day knows something about back pain. Whether you are in front of a computer at work, driving in your car/truck, answering phones, or any other job that requires you to be seated you will agree that the back takes the brunt of the punishment. For me I occasionally suffer from lower back pain and stiffness as well as neck and shoulder pain. I spend anywhere from 5-7 hours per day in seated in front of the computer. Of course these are not consecutive hours but they do take their toll on my body.

To help me deal with the negative effects on my body I have tried a variety of different things. For example I have tried a using different types of chairs even going as far as using one of those large exercise balls to sit on. It wasn’t that bad but it got kind of annoying after while since every couple of days I would have to add air to the ball. I have also tried several different lumbar support pads some with heat and massage, others with gel and/or memory foam padding. Most of them are pretty good and did offer some relief and support. One complaint I had about all of them was the lack of air circulation they provided. During the summer my back would get hot and sweaty.

Recently I had an opportunity to review a new lumbar support product on the market called LumBuddy from Contourliving.com.

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Filed Under: Healthy Living, Reviews Tagged With: Back support, Car Seat Cushions, Chair Cushion, Lumbar Back Support

Little Cosmetics Pretend “Fake” Makeup that look realistic (Review)

05/20/2013 by Irina 2 Comments

Not too long ago I did a review of a makeup for young girls. It was basically a kid friendly makeup kit aimed at the pre-teen market. My daughter loved it my husband and I were not really big fans. We are of the opinion that make up should not be worn by young girls even if it is only for play. I mean as a girl I recall trying on my Mom’s lipstick and eye shadow as a young girl and her not being too happy. She would always say, “You don’t need to make yourself look older, trust me.” Of course as a young girl my friends and I would always want to look older and more mature. I guess at the time we didn’t realize it could attract the wrong type of attention. Maybe that’s why Mom’s do really know best.

So not being a big fan of kid make-up I was happy to get the opportunity to review a pretend play makeup kit. The kit I’m referring too came from a company called Little Cosmetics.

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Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: Make-up

What are the Healthy Pasta Alternatives?

05/16/2013 by Irina Leave a Comment

Healthy Habits: How-Tos

Healthy Pasta Alternatives

Give into your carb cravings with these healthy whole-grain choices

Americans eat nearly 20 pounds of pasta a year most of which is the white, refined kind. Unlike whole grains, refined ones are stripped of fiber, vitamins, and nutrients. They trigger blood sugar spikes and crashes, which can lead to overeating and weight gain, says Anne Mauney, MPH, RD. While all carbs cause mouth bacteria to produce cavity-causing acid, refined carbs speed up the process. Switching out regular pasta for these options can save your waistline and teeth.

Veggie Alternatives

Strands of roasted spaghetti squash or julienned zucchini noodles are perfect pasta alternatives. These veggie noodles are similar in texture to spaghetti, but are much lower in carbohydrates and calories and higher in some vitamins, says Mauney, who offers nutritional counseling at AnneTheRD.com. Whereas a cup of spaghetti contains 220 calories, a cup of spaghetti squash has just 42. At that rate, you could have two cups and still be saving calories.

Barley

Barley is a versatile grain with a hearty, nutty flavor. Sub out white rice or pasta in soups for this delicious whole grain, which is packed with nutrients like selenium, tryptophan and copper. Barley’s fiber boosts intestinal health, may lower cholesterol and can prevent blood sugar spikes. What’s more, it may also reduce the risk of heart disease.

Quinoa

Quinoa, which is technically a seed, is higher in protein than pasta or other grains, and includes notable amounts of iron and fiber,notes Mauney. Similar in size and texture to couscous, quinoa is complete protein containing all nine essential amino acids. It also has twice as much fiber as most other grains. With a relatively short cooking time, quinoa makes a fast and tasty side dish or stir-fry base.

Oodles of Noodles

If you’re craving pasta and quinoa won’t do, try soba noodles. Made from buckwheat, soba noodles contain all eight essential amino acids. Look for 100 percent buckwheat soba noodles, as many brands are made with a combination of refined wheat. Many grocery stores also carry whole wheat pasta. Look on ingredient labels for 100% whole wheat or 100% whole grain,says Mauney. “Anything that’s noted as “enriched” or doesn’t say 100% whole has been refined.

Filed Under: Food, How To Tagged With: Pasta

Is Palmolive Soft Touch Dish-washing liquid really soft on your hands?

05/16/2013 by Irina Leave a Comment

Are you wondering what’s new in the world of dishwashing liquid? Well if you are I would like to share some new products with you that have are being introduced by Palmolive. Most of you have used or at least heard of Palmolive dishwashing liquid. Myself I remember seeing their commercials on TV growing up and always wondering what dishpan hands were. Now that I’m older and have washed my share of pots and pans and dishes I can surely tell you what dishpan hands are. To me dishpan hands are when your hands get all dry, red, and chafed as a result of washing too many dishes. The phrase dishpan hands is even in the dictionary.

Now the two new products from Palmolive that I want to introduce are supposed to be much gentler on your skin. The first product is Palmolive Ultra Soft Touch with Vitamin E. I have been trying it out for several days now and it appears to be smoother and silkier when compared to Original Palmolive. It also seemed to be gentler on my hands. I will have to see how it holds up over the long-term but for now the results look promising. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Living Tagged With: dishwashing, Palmolive

3 Baby Birds just born in my yard

05/15/2013 by Irina Leave a Comment

The whole month of April I watched the mama bird building the nest. She even started in late March. Finally the nest was built on our big Christmas Tree outside my house in my front yard. Although we noticed that she built the nest very low from the ground.