Family — Page 11

Celebrating Life’s Wild Moments!

Glad Black Bag wants to help moms celebrate life’s “Wild Moments” – Because, when you have a life with kids in it, you know that good times can often end up with BIG messes too. Have you ever beaten yourself up over a broken glass or a spill on your dining room chair? Life is full of those oops moments – which is why Glad Black Bag has teamed up with the Picker Sisters – best friends and interior designers Tracy Hutson and Tanya McQueen – to celebrate and cleanup those wild moments, and then find ways to reuse discarded items.

“Don’t blow it – good planets are hard to find.” – Quoted, Time

I can’t believe that I hadn’t heard of this show before! The only time that I watch watch TV usually is when I join the Mister for one of his shows. Some of my favorites that he watches are shows like Storage Wars or American Pickers, so when I heard about this, I went right out and ordered Picker Sisters: Season 1 – I’ve always been such a big lover of the “trash to treasure” idea. I love “junk-crafting” – finding ways to reuse things and make them cool again. {Get inspired by some of my favorite clever ideas on my Junk Crafts board on Pinterest!} Read what the sisters say about it –

“We live by the saying, ‘one person’s trash is another’s treasure.’ In fact, on our television show, we travel across the country to find reclaimed trash to turn it into treasure for our store,” said Picker Sister, Tracy Hutson. “However, you don’t have to travel far beyond your home to find items worth transforming into beautiful pieces.”

I’ll be sharing a post tomorrow filled with a bunch of their best tips, to help you take your own trash and junk pieces and turn them into treasures! I’ll share some of my favorite ideas and tricks too. {If you have any cool ideas to share – leave me some comments here, and maybe I’ll feature YOUR great ideas tomorrow too!}

“We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.” – Native American Proverb

Glad Black Bag is partnering with Keep America Beautiful’s Great American Cleanups across the country – they’ll be collecting trash items, and providing them as materials to mosaic artist Jason Mecier, who will combine them with trash collected from celebrities like Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network), Raphael Sbarge (Once Upon A Time) and Nathan Kress (iCarly) – and then turning them into one-of-a-kind treasures! Four pieces of art will be auctioned off during the Glad Black Bag art auction on eBay – {you can bid on them here from April 16-26th, 2012!!} – with proceeds benefiting Keep America Beautiful’s Great America Cleanup events. How cool is that??

“The activist is not the man who says the river is dirty. The activist is the man who cleans up the river.” – Ross Perot

No matter what WILD moments life throws your way – you’ll be prepared for any messy clean-ups when you stock up on Glad Black Bags. They’re the bags with that cool diamond print texture – you know, that stretch with your trash, to prevent rips or tears, and keep that trash that you CAN’T turn into treasures secured safely for disposal. Because there’s nothing worse than cleaning up a mess TWICE! {Seriously, the Glad Black Bags are my very fave around this house.}

Connect with the Picker Sisters, Tanya and Tracy on Lifetime.com.
For additional information on GLAD Trash, visit, www.glad.com.
See the other amazing trash to treasure collections on Ebay.com.

{Disclaimer: I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Glad Black Bag and received a Glad Black Bag product and a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate. I was also asked to “pin” one (1) Glad Black Bag Art Auction photo on Pinterest.}

Posted by Meagan Paullin on April 20, 2012 Filed Under: Green Living, Giving Back | No Comments

How to dress up a basic tee this summer!

Old Navy BEST-TEES by megsp22 featuring t bar sandals

Old Navy BEST-TEES are summer essentials!!

I love light-weight summer tees. But, for me, they can be hard to find, because I’m really picky about my tees. Here are the must-haves for me:

Really light and breathable.
LONG. I’m long waisted, and need a tee that is long enough to be comfy and NOT pull up to show my tummy.
Great colors. When I find a top that I love, I want to buy it in every color, so I love a big selection.
Easy to care for. I hate shirts that don’t wash up well, that shrink or fade or lose their shape.

Well – I have found my perfect summer solution – Old Navy BEST-TEES!! Ohmyheck ladies, these are the best tee I’ve found in a few years. I was super excited when Mom Central sent me one to test drive – since it was from Old Navy, which is one of my fave stores for summer stock-up shopping, I had high hopes. And when it arrived, I was NOT disappointed – it totally hit every point that I need in a summer basic. So what did I do? I ran out and bought 7 more colors :)

These tees might be basic, but they’re NOT boring!!

Above, I used one of my fave colors in the new Old Navy tees to make two totally different outfits using some super fun Old Navy spring fashion pieces. On the left is a great casual outfit, with a fun striped hoodie and flip flops, and on the right is an idea of how you can dress up a basic tee a little too, for a fun afternoon out with the girls. These BEST-TEES have a really nice finish to them, making them totally versatile and easy to mix and match with tons of pieces.

Who’s the best tee of all time…

Mr. T is an awesome T, but I have to say that I think these new BEST-TEES are even better, lol. They come in crew or v-neck, in sizes from XS to 4X for women, 3X for men, in petite or tall, with kids sizes too! You can even find this same cut and fabric in tanks, racerbacks and layering pieces. LOVE this!!

Get your own – Visit Old Navy today to stock up on this awesome spring into summer {and into fall, and into winter…} essential today!

{Disclaimer: I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Old Navy and received a product sample to facilitate my review, and a promotional item to thank me for participating.}

Posted by Meagan Paullin on April 11, 2012 Filed Under: Busy Mom Solution | 5 Comments

Crest & Oral-B Brighten Smiles with a Trip to London 2012 Olympic Games!

Keeping my families smiles bright!

I’m working on a new challenge with my family – Because you know I LOVE taking on new challenges! It’s called the Crest and Oral-B Pro-Health Clinical Plaque Control Test Drive Program – and the goal is to develop new healthy habits, and keep those awesome smiles on my families faces shining and bright.

Why this is important to me

We don’t have any health insurance right now – which of course, means no dental insurance either. That makes our brushing routines even more important, since we don’t have a dentist to go to for check-ups. I know that there are thousands of other moms out there reading this, who are trying to get by without dental insurance too – so I hope that the tips and tools in this system can help you too!

Yucky plaque – don’t come back!

For this challenge, we’re using the new Crest Pro-Health Clinical Line from Crest & Oral-B. Their site states that, “When used together, these products not only significantly reduce plaque, they’re also clinically proven to help keep plaque from coming back.” Since plaque is a big player in causing tooth decay and gum disease, this is super important! The products form a full system – toothpaste and brushes, floss and rinse – so it’s easy to know exactly what to buy, and you can rest easy knowing you’re doing the best you can to keep your family’s smiles healthy.

Getting started with the Challenge

We’re test driving all of these great products right now – and I’ll update you soon with more info on what we all thought of them. If you want to try them too, get some great money-saving coupons from Crest to help you stock up these awesome products, or check out Coupons.com for the latest toothpaste coupons too. A few tips to maximize the results you’ll see with this system:

Make sure to brush at least twice a day, for 3 minutes at a time. To help the kids brush long enough without you nagging, check out a really fun solution that works awesome in my house – the Twooth Timer.
Get the kids used to flossing early on – and make it a daily habit. This is one of the biggest areas that people neglect, and is a common hiding spot of cavities and decay.
Use a great rinse. Not only does it lead to healthier teeth and gums, but if you use one like the Crest Pro-Health Clinical Rinse, you can kill 99% of germs which leads to ridiculously fresh breath.

So – check out the great products in the Crest Pro-Health Line, make sure to grab some of the great coupons available, and…. Get ready for a chance to take those great new brushing habits on the road, if your family are the lucky winners of the Pro-Health Clinical Olympic Games Sweepstakes!!

Win a Trip to London!!

Crest and Oral-B invite you to enter the Pro-Health Clinical Olympic Games Sweepstakes for the chance to win a trip to the London 2012 Olympic Games for your family, and also enter into a weekly drawing to receive the full product line. The sweepstakes begins on March 15th and will run through May 31st. {Feelin’ lucky? Make sure to enter to win all of the other awesome prizes that I’m giving away here this month, all listed in the sidebar.} Good luck!

{Disclaimer: I wrote this review while participating in a test drive campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Crest and Oral-B and received product samples to facilitate my candid review. Mom Central Consulting sent me a promotional gift to thank me for taking the time to participate.}

Posted by Meagan Paullin on April 11, 2012 Filed Under: Contests | No Comments

Child Hunger Ends Here: Join Me in Giving Back

The New Face of Child Hunger in America

You’ve heard the stories – People who used to make regular donations to their local food banks are now lining up to receive donations. Middle class families who were able to just get by are now are being squeezed by a parent’s job loss, and finding themselves unable to stay above water. It’s called food insecurity, and it means not being sure where your next meal will come from. It can be really surprising to realize that child hunger is not just something that affects the very poor – it’s reaching out into middle class communities, and hitting families who have never faced this problem before, and are unsure of how to get help.

More than 1 in 5 kids in America do not know where their next meal is coming from

Does that statistic shock you? More than 1 in 5… Think of how many children go to school with your own kids – and how many of them might be dealing with this in their own homes? Hunger exists in every community and every county, all across the country. In a nation where people throw away tons of food every day, children with hungry tummies just seems inexcusable. But there are many things that YOU can do, right now and today, to help.

Child Hunger Ends Here

ConAgra Foods, the maker family favorites like Chef Boyardee products, Marie Callender’s meals, Snack Packs, Healthy Choice, and more – is on a mission to End Child Hunger – and you can help!

Child Hunger Ends Here is ConAgra Food’s community built to raise awareness and fight child hunger in America. For every code that is entered on behalf of CHEH, ConAgra Foods donates 1 meal to Feeding America. Users will be able to enter their code directly into widget in exchange for a free download of the “Here’s Hope” song – sung by Jewel, Jay Sean & Owl City. Once the song download is complete, users can share (via Tweet or Facebook) the content with their friends.

Join Me in Helping to End Child Hunger Today!

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this – Have you ever had to deal with child hunger in your own life? When I was a little girl, we went through a really rough few years when my dad lost his job, my mother was raising 4 children under age 6, and we had very little income. We made it through due to a combination of my parent’s hard work and determination – and some amazing help from people in our community. I plan to enter all of my codes in support of CHEH – And I really hope that you’ll join me and do so too! If you enter your codes, leave me a comment with how many you added – so I can see how many meals we’re able to donate by working together!!

{Disclosure: Disclosure: Compensation was provided by ConAgra Foods via Glam Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of ConAgra Foods.}

Posted by Meagan Paullin on April 9, 2012 Filed Under: Giving Back | No Comments

Family Movie Night Ideas – Feed Your Zoo! #iLovemyK9

Family Movie Night Idea – “We Bought a Zoo”

We love family nights – every Friday night we have a movie or game night. We usually rent something from Redbox, but this week we were excited to buy a new movie – the kids love, love, LOVE animals, so after we watched the trailer for the new release We Bought a Zoo, I knew that it would be perfect for us. I headed out to Walmart to see if I could find it, and grab fun snack stuff too – we always do themed foods and treats to go along with our movies or games. Makes things a little more fun – and it leads to some pretty silly family nights, like our recent Super Mario Bros Wii party night! Good times.

Family Movie Night – Feeding MY Zoo!

I sure feel like I have a zoo around here – my goodness! I’ve got two incredibly wild little nephews, 5 & 8. I have a super spunky little toddler – she turns 2 this summer. Then my Mister, my younger brother, and grandma all live here too – Plus the 5 dogs! Whew. That’s a lot of super hungry tummies to keep full! To feed the kiddo’s, I bought fun animal-themed snacks – Goldfish Chocolate Crackers, Teddy Grahams, and frosted Animal Cookies. We mixed ’em up in a big bowl, and let every scoop a few handfuls of zoo animals into their own little bowls. I also made some super fun dipped peeps, little bunnies, to keep with the animal theme. {You can see our full Walmart Shopping Trip in my Google+ album, for more ideas and info.}

Family Movie Night – Dogs are invited too!

No, this is not a zebra dog. This is my little four-legged baby – his name is Deuce, and he’s a Shih-Tzu, not a swiffer mop. It’s easy to confuse the two, lol. He loves cuddling up on his pillow to watch movies with us – which is why I made sure to pick up some great snacks for him to share with grandma’s dogs. We got a couple of boxes of Milk Bones, since those are his favorite, and a couple packages of Milo’s Kitchen snacks too. It was an awesome time to purchase them – right now at Walmart, selected packs have a coupon on them – If you buy 2 participating Del Monte pet products {which includes Meow Mix, Kibbles ‘n Bits, Milo’s Kitchen, Milk Bone, and PupPeroni} – you’ll save $4 bucks when you purchase We Bought a Zoo on DVD. Awesome, right? You can also find some cool features on Del Monte Pet Products in Women’s World magazine and Parade magazine this month.

Family Movie Night – Healthy Treats!

One of our favorite treats are these little Del Monte mandarin orange cups, partially frozen, with a little dab of whip cream on top. The kids LOVE it, and it’s so much healthier than ice cream. If you’re a big fan too, check out the new First for Women magazine to find a .50 cents off coupon. {And, some of my spring gardening tips will be featured in an article there soon – watch for that too!}

I hope you enjoy these tips & ideas – and have a great family movie night of your own!!

Remember – Watch for the great Del Monte coupons to see some sweet savings on snacks for everyone in the family, even the furry ones – plus use them to save $4 bucks off of We Bought a Zoo for your own family movie night. And – let me tell you – this movie is a must-see. It was so sweet, but without being sappy. Even my Mister enjoyed it fully, which means it’s super good, lol. The kids loved all of the fun scenes with the wild animals – and Abby played scared where the lion came on, and hid under the blankets. I loved the emotions in it, and am now totally excited to read the book, too. I don’t want to give too much away – so make sure to buy this one yourself, to see how great it is!

{Disclaimer: This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. #CBias. All opinions, ideas, and photos are my own.}

Posted by Meagan Paullin on April 8, 2012 Filed Under: Fun Stuff | No Comments

Easter Fun: Dipped Baby Chick Cookies

Easter Fun – Treat Recipe

Ok – We didn’t make these ones. This is a fun photo from the Free-n-Fun Easter ideas section on Oriental Trading Company. Super cute, right? They looked like they’d be pretty simple – and since I have pretty wild helpers in the kitchen, {my nephews are 8 and 5, and Abby is 20 months. The combination leads to a lot of kitchen craziness!} – I need things that are simple. And, they mostly were, but ours weren’t quite as successful as these ones. But that’s the usual result around here – I’m much more enthusiastic in the kitchen than I am skilled, lol.

Making Easter Baby Chick Cookies

While our version isn’t quite as adorable as the original, they were still a ton of fun – and came out pretty cute. The kids LOVED them!! We did this as a trial run, and will be making more for our big Easter Egg Hunt party on Saturday. For the body of the chick, you can use any type of sandwich cookie – But since the kids at my house LOVE the Newman-O’s, we used those.

The Newman-O’s are a way healthier version of the traditional sandwich cookie, which is great for me – I’m on the Nutrisystem diet, but am going to splurge on a couple of Easter treats this weekend. {I’m so super-duper busy, hopefully I’ll burn off the extra calories quick, lol} – They even have a Wheat-Free, Dairy-Free cookie, for kiddo’s with food allergies. That’s a huge bonus when we’re having a ton of kids over!

Dipped Chick Cookie Recipe

The ingredients are simple, and you can make easy substitutions if needed. The process is pretty easy too – and they’re still pretty fun even when they don’t come out perfect! {Hint: Get some great spring candy and baking coupons right now, printable from Coupons.com – they have a lot of great ones through the weekend!}

Easter Fun: Dipped Chick Cookies

Ingredients

Cream-Filled Sandwich Cookies
Pretzel Sticks, broken in half
Mini Chocolate Chips
Orange Conversation Heart Candies - or icing
White Chocolate Candy Melts or Almond Bark
Yellow Gel Food Coloring

Instructions

Melt your candy melts or almond bark according to the package directions. {Add a bit of Crisco, if you have some, to make the dipping easier!} Stir in a couple drops of the yellow food coloring, until it's the color you want it.
Dip each cookie into the melted chocolate, then place them on a big piece of wax paper.
Add the mini chocolate chip eyes, and the pretzel legs. Also add the candy hearts if you have them - if not, wait until they cool and add frosting instead, like we did.
Display, enjoy, then eat!

https://sunshineandsippycups.com/2012/04/easter-fun-dipped-baby-chick-cookies/

For More Fun Easter Ideas

Check out more Easter Fun Ideas and Inspiration on my Pinterest board – and if you’ve got a favorite Easter craft, recipe, or activity post to share – drop by and post it up on my Facebook wall, so everyone can check it out too! Have a cool idea to share but it’s not in a post? No worries – Post a pic on my wall too! I love seeing your fun creations – Happy Easter!

Posted by Meagan Paullin on April 4, 2012 Filed Under: Holidays | 3 Comments

New Campaign Supports Busy Moms & Healthy Families

Source: aubutfamily.com via Sunshine and on Pinterest

So true, right?

If you’ve read this site for very long, you know a few things about me – That since the day I found out that I was pregnant with Abby, I started on a journey to making my life cleaner & greener. That no matter how hard I tried, I was not able to lose the baby weight {or do I call it toddler weight now?} on my own – until I found the Nutrisystem plan. That a healthy lifestyle has become so much more important to me now that I’m the role model for another little person, who for whatever crazy reason, thinks that I’m the person to look up to. So, while I am FAR from perfect, I am proud of the fact that I am consistently making small changes that move me towards a better life. Like this quote says – No matter how slow I go, I’m doing better than all of those people who don’t even start. And to me, that’s what’s important – the journey!

“Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live.” – Jim Rohn

If you’re like me, and doing your best to move towards a better, healthier, more exuberant way of living – You will probably be as excited as I am to hear about a really cool new campaign to help motivate families towards healthier lifestyles called Together Counts. I’ll let them tell you a little more about themselves –

“Together Counts is a nationwide program inspiring active and healthy living. The principle behind our program is Energy Balance, which means balancing the calories we consume with the calories we burn – {which is the smartest way you can live!} – It’s a first-of-its kind coalition that brings together more than 195 retailers, food and beverage manufacturers, restaurants, sporting goods and insurance companies, trade associations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and professional sports organizations.”

What I really love about this campaign is the focus on moderation. We all know that our lifestyles have room for improvement. {Ok, so there’s probably a 1% of you out there drinking a celery smoothie while doing Yoga with your toddler and not relating. But this is for the rest of you, lol} We are also all super busy Super Moms who are doing out best to juggle those crazy demands of life/kids/spouse/work/home – and that causes us to sometimes feed out kids chicken nuggets or mac and cheese from a box. That doesn’t make us bad moms, and advice that causes us to feel that way usually just gets ignored – for good reason. But no, this campaign is all about finding realistic ways to make positive changes to balance your family’s life. You will LOVE the tips, ideas, and resources you’ll find!

If you’re ready to get your family movin’ together, and eatin’ healthy more often, then join the party online!

There are tons of super fun ways that you can get involved in this great campaign, and they can provide you with loads of resources, tips, support – and even fun prizes! – to help you and your family get on a path to better living!

Together Counts is holding a fun sweepstakes on their Facebook page to celebrate their first anniversary. Prizes include gift cards, George Foreman Grills and a membership to Anytime Fitness. Super cool stuff for summertime!
You can also follow Together Counts on Twitter for fun daily updates and tips, and find some AWESOME ideas on their Pinterest boards, like this super simple fruit palm tree that totally encourages kids in a fun way to try new foods!
Join Together Counts as they celebrate Child Nutrition Month at a Twitter party on 4/3 from 8-9 PM EST. Prizes include $50 same-as-cash gift cards. For more information and to RSVP, visit ResourcefulMommy.com.

Now that you have some awesome tools to help you, you’re ready to make this summer a season of fun, fitness, and fantastic fresh foods. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this too – What are the biggest obstacles to your family in being healthy? What are your biggest successes? Do you have tips to share? I love hearing from you guys!