Easy Breakfast To Go: Yogurt Parfaits

These are easily one of my favorite breakfasts. The combinations are endless and they can be made in a variety of containers to fit your needs. They are perfect in a coffee cup with a lid to go with my husband or in a sweet, pretty cup to savor myself after dropping the kids off at school. I can send them with the kids to school if they are craving a home breakfast but just didn't get ready in time. My oldest will take them on the bus. You can even prep them for a yummy summer or after school snack.

Simply layer your ingredients one at a time until you get to the top and enjoy!

Things we like to add to our yogurt and granola:

Blueberries
Blackberries
Shredded Coconut
Chocolate Chips
Bananas
Peanut Butter Chips
Almonds
Walnuts
Strawberries
Kiwi
Peaches
Dried cranberries
Raisins
Chopped dried apricot

Why Playing in the Rain is Good for Your Child

We are getting some much needed summer rain and today I let the kids play in it. That is the nice thing about summer rain, its usually pretty warm outside also. I remember as a child my mother letting me play in the rain and I adored it. There is something about rain that I have always enjoyed and my kids do too.

Why is rain play good for your child? Here is a list of reasons why I let my kids play in the rain.

1. It encourages a different kind of interaction with nature. Watching water run down leaves, create little streams and collect as drops on the plants puts things into a different perspective. We also like to watch the robin that lives at our house and the other birds dig for worms after a good rain.

2. They aren't going to get sick. That's just an old wives tale. The truth is, being indoors more when weather is bad and the close contact with others is what causes people to catch colds. Your immune system isn't weakened by simply getting wet in a warm summer rain, or we wouldn't be able to take showers. After being stuck indoors, the fresh air and running around is good for them.

3. It teaches them to be adventurous. So many times we are trying to stay out of the rain or worried about getting caught in it. Playing in it teaches them spontaneity and adventure. Go ahead and get out there too.

4. It's really fun. It really is fun and they always tell me I'm the best mom ever. If they have been inside all day it is a great release. Jumping in puddles, opening their mouth wide to catch rain drops and finding worms are all great examples of rain joy. Then we have early baths, towel snuggle hugs and sometimes even popcorn, hot chocolate and a movie.

5. It's an opportunity to learn about weather safety. This is especially helpful in tornado alley. We learn about what to do if there is thunder, lightning or high winds and what type of rain is okay to play in. I have also taught them about creek flooding and why we don't play at the creek when it rains. Science guys, it makes me happy.

Do you let your kids play in the rain? What is your favorite thing to let them play with in the rain?

First Day of Summer

Rain, rain and more rain. For the first few days of summer vacation it just rained. So we did what any fun family would do and played in the rain, hung out in pajamas, watched movies (Harry Potter marathon), played video games and built forts. It was awesome. I am so grateful that I get to be home with them this summer. I think they really needed their mom back.

Jack is super serious about pillow forts between the couch and ottoman. 

Last Day of School Fun

I'm not sure who was more excited for school to be over this year, the kids or me. I think maybe me this year. You see, we didn't get into the Pre-K next to our elementary for Jack. We had to drive about 8 miles round trip twice a day. I know, its not much, but we live within walking distance to the elementary. Just a pain. So next year the youngest will all be at one school!! I am so excited for next year.

We celebrated by going out for donuts at a local doughnut place. I love their donuts. We ran into Ellie's teacher which I think kind of made Ellie's morning. She adored her teacher this year. I did too. The doughnut shop has a neat chalk board corner inside and the kids usually get in some coloring time.

I am ready for summertime and they are too. We tried to get a group pic, but gave up in favor of eating the doughnuts. Good choice.

Top 18 Travel Tips for Driving with Kids

I recently had a friend post on Facebook looking for advice on driving across country with their three kids when they move later this year. I think I could have written a book! Two years ago we traveled from OK to OR and back again in 10 days and the kids were 10,7,4 and 3. Oh my word, it was fun and we survived! So I compiled a list just for you with my travel tips. They don't involve wrapping up small gifts for each hour you are in the car (this mama doesn't have time for that, but I am totally impressed if you do) and I don't bribe for good behavior, you should be good because it's the right thing to do. Kids today are lucky they have all these fun devices to play on!

• DVD's. Okay this one is a no brainer right? If you don't have one, ask your friends or family if they have one you could borrow, barter or rent. Did you know that you don't have to pack any of your own DVD's? We used Redbox the whole time! You can download their mobile app and plan your gas/food/breaks for places that have them. Wal-Mart's usually do and while I am not a Wal-Mart shopper on the norm, it will suffice when we are traveling!
• A sturdy kid potty. The kind that you use to potty train with. This one is similar to the one I have, but they don't make mine anymore (what? why???). The point is for it to be small and compact without a back, so you can put it in a re-usable shopping bag with wipes, toilet paper, clorox wipes and extra plastic shopping bags. If it doesn't have a back then you can use it too. Middle of nowhere, you better believe I used it! Some of the best stops were in the middle of nowhere doing business in the woods. 
• Extra clothes in zip lock bags for when there is an accident. If its pee or vomit, you don't want that leaking out of a bag you tie up. 
• A positive attitude and a sense of adventure. If you are nervous, they will see right through you. 
• Snacks that your kids normally eat. Some people say to bring lots of candy or treats. The last thing I want in the car is my kid on a sugar high who then gets a tummy ache. No thanks!
• Markers if its summer time. Crayons if its winter. 
• I let them pick new coloring/activities themselves. Sometimes when I pick something for them they aren't as into it as I thought they would be. 
• Are we there yet? Give them the schedule. Very important for my oldest to know where we are going and when we would get there. You can even download a map app for them to look at or print off your own "map" coloring pages.
• Plan rest stops for parks if the weather is nice or Chick-Fil-A for an inside day. A lot of times its more about moving around then it is about eating for the kids. We stopped once outside of Colorado and the sky was so big and blue and beautiful I could have stayed right there forever. Those are the times when memories are made. 
• Wear comfortable clothes (ones that would be okay to sleep in) and shoes that are easy to get on and off. Regan was a big fan of wearing her pajamas all day. Worked for me. She was happy and it really felt like a vacation I think for her. 
• Don't try to fit too many miles into one day. I know that I could travel with just me and the hubs and crank out a ton of miles and be fine...the kids just get cranky, which is no fun for anyone.
• Try and book hotels with pools. Again, this is just so they have a place to move around. It's often hard to sleep after you've been in the car all day. This really wears them out so they (and you) can get some solid sleep. 
• Eat dinner in your hotel if you are just beat and not up for social graces. We found a local pizza shop in a small town in Idaho and had a party in our room one late night. It was great pizza, we didn't care if they ate in bed and everyone was happy. 
• Instead of buying more stuff for them to do in the car you can let them purchase a new game. movie or app for their tablet. They only get paid apps when they get a gift card or something in our house. Let them know ahead of time what their app purchase amount limit is. 
• Bring an inflatable air mattress for the hotel if you have a bunch of kids. I don't think we have ever checked in as 2 adults and 4 kids. Mainly because they will tell us that we need two rooms. I don't think so! Especially when we are just passing through. A couple of good quality air mattresses that fill up on their own (you just plug them in) really serve us well. The kids already have extra blankets and pillows so we just bring a couple up with us. It also helps that the kids can have their own space. Sometimes you don't get good sleep when you share.
• If they have a breakfast buffet in the morning and its been a late night, usually the hubs and our oldest child, will go down and load up as much as they can, bring it up and then go back and do it again. That way we don't miss breakfast because we are still getting kids (or myself) ready and you can have breakfast in bed! Pack up and eat at the same time. No rushing and no forgetting stuff. 
• Keep electronics in one spot and have a reusable checklist for each stop. You could even have an electronics bag that houses all electronics upon pack up. We totally left a tablet at a non-Disney hotel in Anaheim and of course cleaning never found it. At the point we realized it was left, we wouldn't have made it home on time if we had doubled back. 
• A small container for the laundromat with essentials. Use an empty drink mix container to put dryer sheets, detergent pods and quarters in. If you need to use the laundry at the hotel or because someone barfed all over their car seat cover you will be totally prepared to stop, strip and wash. You can also pack lighter and/or arrive home with clean clothes by doing laundry as you go! We stayed in a hotel off of Hwy 1 and grabbed a six pack from a convenience store and hit the laundry mat. Best beers and we were good to go with clean clothes for the rest of the trip.

The boys at the potty break spot.

Can you survive? You betcha. And if all those don't work, take turns driving and sitting in the passenger seat with headphones in. And remember that its not just about the destination, but the journey as well.

On her way to the potty break spot in her pajamas and shoes. It was a breathtaking potty break!

5 Ways to Make Your Morning Routine Less Stressful {with kids}

I have been getting kids up and out the door for what seems like forever. It is sometimes the most excruciating thing I have to do all day. On some days I would rather walk across a room covered in Lego pieces. That bad! So lets make it a bit easier. I can't calm all of the "but I don't wannas" and the "she looked at me" drama but I can help you to get it go a bit more smoothly.

1- Pick out their clothes the night before. Have your kids help you pick out their clothes either for the week on Sunday night, or every night before you go to bed, with the shoes they want to wear, because shoes like to mysteriously walk away when you are trying to find them at the last minute in the morning.

2- Make lunches ahead of time. If you make their lunch, do it the night before. I have been known to procrastinate this. It never works in my favor to do it in the morning. It also helps to have an extra lunch box and drink container for the one that forgot theirs at school.

3- Load and Go Area. Have a dedicated place for backpacks and coats. Have them look at the weather and put anything they will need next to their backpack. This is a really great time to sign folders and read all of those science project is due tomorrow notes.

4- Me Time. Wake up 20 minutes earlier than you normally do. Okay, I am the worst at actually getting up earlier than I'm supposed to. Hell, I struggle with getting out of bed at any appointed time. I am a self proclaimed night owl living in an early birds house. I hate it, but when I give myself that extra 20 minutes things really seem to go much more smoothly and I am more calm. Or maybe it's because I've had my coffee earlier.

5- No TV. Leave the TV off. That is unless they are all done and waiting. The kids know that I am more than willing to let them watch TV if they have eaten their breakfast, got dressed and brushed their hair and teeth. Only then. TV's have some insane, mind controlling laser that makes it to where they can't do anything without their eyes glued to the screen like little zombies. I consider it more of an incentive than a bribe. It's understood that it will happen if they do what they are supposed to but I don't ever use it to get them to move their keister.

Do you have anything that works really well for you?

Here they are on a successful morning where they did exactly what they were supposed to do!!

My Kind of Co-Sleeping

As my kids get older we seem to spend more Saturday nights in front of the fire discovering movies together. We have the fireplace going, stockings hung, cozy lights and my loves all snuggled in around each other. Falling asleep on the couch is my kind of co-sleeping. Saturday nights with these guys is my favorite. 

Lego Advent Calendar {and the life lesson it brings}

As a child I celebrated Advent every year with my mother. She had a sweet little set from Unity that we would listen to (on a cassette tape!) and we would light the candles on our wreath. The memory is a dear one and I wanted to recreate that feeling of closeness, reverence and gentility that my mother had with me. I had really considered doing a cute little one that I had to fill myself (ha maybe next year) but when we visited the Lego Store last month in OKC with Girl Scouts I found two Advent Calendars there and opted for easy and fun. Something I knew that would entice them into this celebration. You could make a cute one and fill it with Lego's though and that would be pretty awesome too!

So far, it's love at first open! They had two options in store and I picked both so that the boys and girls can take turns opening one each day. As they opened their first one (littles got to go first) the excitement was palpable. It was then that I realized the main lesson it was teaching them, patience. Patience, something we are not born with but must learn and practice.

It also teaches so many other things. In our case, there was graciousness of the older kids, allowing to let the younger ones go first. It teaches them that they do not always have instant gratification and that its okay when you don't! They will also have to share the sets once they are complete, which isn't anything new when it comes to Lego's, but a good lesson to reinforce nonetheless. I also love that it fosters the anticipation of something and then having to be patient in order to get it. The lessons all tie together and are interwoven. They may not realize what the tradition is teaching them right away, but what they learn from it will spill through in their daily life for the rest of their lives.

You can check out all of the Advent items The Lego Store has to offer here. I could spend all day looking at Lego's, shhhhhh don't tell the kids though!

Easy Homemade Cranberry Sauce {Make Tonight in less than 20 minutes!}

I love homemade cranberry sauce. Every year I ponder why I don't make more of it all year long. It's just that good. You can make your own in less than 20 minutes with only 4 ingredients, 5 if you count the water. Yep, that's right. So lets do this!

What you need:

1 bag of cranberries
1 cup of sugar
1 orange
1/2 tsp of Pumpkin Pie spice
1 cup of water

Grater or zester
Stove pot to cook with
Spoon
Strainer
Bowl for underneath strainer
Canning jars or container for storage


What you do:

First you need to zest your entire orange, you should yield about 1 tablespoon of zest. I use a Progressive Grater Pod, I love that thing, took me about a minute to zest the whole orange! But you could use a grater if that's what you got! Once you have your zest, squeeze out the juice from your orange, which should yield about half a cup. If you have a juicer, use it (thanks mom!). Combine all ingredients over a medium high heat for about 10 minutes or until your berries are tender and have burst open. Now is the time to do a taste test. If you want it sweeter, now is the time to add more sugar. I personally like it to have a little tart kick so this is perfect for me. Once the taste is just right, take off of the heat and spoon about 1/3 of the cranberries into the strainer over the bowl. Press down and get all of the juice out. Pour the juice you strained out into the bowl back into the pot, mix and store. This makes enough to fill 3 jelly jars!

Tips, tricks and substitutes:

Roll your orange to release the oil and juices. You will get a lot more by spending 20 seconds rolling your orange between your hand and the counter.

Don't have an orange? Use half a cup of orange juice, or even a spoon of orange juice concentrate!

If you are new to canning, make sure you heat your canning jars under warm/hot water before adding the hot cranberry sauce. Leave about 1/2 inch between the top of the jar and the cranberry sauce. My cans always seal themselves by putting the lid on right away, after cleaning around the top of the jar first.

Straining is optional! If you like a thicker jelly you don't need to strain. Also, if you don't like pieces of cranberry you can strain the whole thing, but that might take 30 minutes instead of 20!

This is a great thing to make with the kids too. They love to watch those berries burst and I've made homemade cranberry sauce lovers out of all of them.


There you have it! Easy, fast and better than the can!

Coloring Turkeys with Oil Pastels

Ellie's favorite art supply is oil pastels. They happen to be the perfect medium for creating her disguised turkey this year. This year she had to disguise her turkey as a famous Oklahoman. Being a little gymnast she chose Shannon Miller.

This year she had to write and essay in addition to simply coloring her turkey. She learned a lot about Shannon and I encourage you to check out her website. I especially loved that Ellie got to learn about life after gymnastics and to see a courageous woman who won the battle against cancer.

Oil pastels are a great tool for blending colors. When she brought it in to show us we were amazed at how she so many times, teaches herself by doing. My children never cease to amaze me in how they learn. Each are unique in what they are gifted at. It's really a beautiful thing to watch.

This years Thanksgiving Turkey disguised as Shannon Miller at the 1992 Olympics!

Hunger Games Party

Holy fire cake Katniss! The older they get the harder it is to theme them out, but I keep giving it a try. For Ethan's 11th birthday, we celebrated with Hunger Games. We have both read all of the books and had a really fun time discussing them and excitedly waiting for the movies to come out and going to see the movies together. Since it was going to be a co-ed party I came up with some "cool to 5th grade" Hunger Games. Really they had a blast. I am a pretty cool mom when it comes to parties.

Here is what we played:

Hungry Egg Run: Where you have to balance an egg on a spoon and run through an obstacle course.

Marshmallow Knock Down: Kind of like dodge ball but with marshmallows. Divide the kids equally and have one kid on each side balance a cup on their head (which is pretty funny in and of itself). The objective is to knock the cup off of their head using the marshmallow. You could also line cups up and have the kids try to knock the cups over and have prizes underneath (like candy, because they still are cool enough for that).

No Hands Cookie Eating Contest: Balance the cookie on your forehead. The first one who gets in in their mouth (no hands) wins.

Hide and Seek {Flash Light Version}- This is the really fun one. Give all of the kids a flashlight, or as we found out, they can use their cell phones. Divide into teams, boys vs girls (works well if its co-ed, so there are no boys and girls hiding together, lol, which didn't happen but just in case). Set boundaries (no go rooms or places). Turn off all of the lights. One team waits outside and while the other team hides. They have 5 minutes to find them and they can only use their flashlights. Super fun. We played dozens of rounds of this.

Hunger Games Banner on Etsy {Instant Download}

Oh Girls. It has begun!

Join me later this week for a tutorial on how to make a Hunger Games Fire Cake!

The Calm Before the Storm

September is such a great time of year. The weather begins to change and we start to settle into our routine. It is the calm before the storm. I adore our activities but sometimes I just don't know how I do it all. I am not perfect but I try and I think that in this situation that's what counts. I think that one of the hardest things we do as parents is devote so much time to our children without knowing what things will have the greatest effect on them. What memories will be most dear to them? What will they take away from the experiences we have? I wonder if I'm doing the right things and making the best decisions. The impact from those decisions is decades away. What a tough job!

So many times people say "I don't know how you do it." Well honestly, I don't either! I have so many thoughts of doubt that could consume me if I let them. Did I make the right choice by going back to work? Do I give them each enough time? Are we reading enough to the little ones? If I let all of these doubts play on my mind I would never get anything done. I have been working on not doubting myself and the choices I have made to better my family.

Here's what I have done that I am so very proud of:

I read to Ethan and Ellie ALL the time. Now I have them read to Regan and Jack. They even do the voices just like I do.

I taught each child to do chores. Even Jack (who is four) can put things away and swiffer for me. I do not want to send them out into the world thinking that their mommy is going to do those things for them. Or worse that their wife will!

I taught my children how to wash themselves, brush their teeth and hair and get dressed by themselves. I know that some of you might think, duh! But I can tell you that I have witnessed a ridiculous amount of children that cannot accomplish these tasks for themselves. It is rather heartbreaking to see a child that is 6 or 7 and can't (or won't) get dressed by themselves because their parent just didn't want to give up that control or didn't give their child that capability.

I lift them up and tell them they can be anything that they want to be. I also tell them that they should expect greatness from themselves because that's what they are capable of.

I have taught them compassion and empathy. I am most proud of those moments when they have shown their outstanding capability to love one another.


I challenge myself to stop relishing in the what if's and be content with here and now and to forgive myself when I do something wrong.

A Year in the Making

Ethan excitedly asked me last night if I knew what tomorrow was. I think I disappointed him when I referenced the tragedy of our nation and not his own personal struggle. September 11, 2013 was the day he had surgery to break his legs and correct his in-toeing. A huge, monumental day for him. He has come so far. Six weeks in a wheel chair and then a few months of walking with a walker and taking it easy. He has metal rods and screws in his femurs for the rest of his life. With all of the struggle that we had in those first few days and weeks I am so glad we decided to fix his legs. He came out of it stronger than he went in. Physically, mentally and emotionally it helped him to grow. His surgery was a bilateral femoral derotational osteotomy, just in case you were curious. I am glad that this day is a personal victory for him, Especially when it is such a sorrowful day for so many.

The week before you can see his in-toeing. His was pretty severe.

He slept quite a bit in the hospital. 

This was his first outing about a week later.

He got to play a lot of video games and had lots of down time.

His toes are even pointed out a bit here. 

Best Buddy

Jack is perhaps my best buddy. None of the other kids really like to snuggle the way he does and we do a lot of snuggling. We talk a lot about the most random and awesome things, like jumping into a pool of marshmallows. Even the other kids agree that he tells the best stories and we all enjoy hearing his made up "adventures". He really does bring such joy to our family!! He can't wait to play football, loves everything super hero and loves loves loves frogs. He is our official frog catcher. I can't imagine life without Jack.

Back to School and a nice raise.

I got a raise last week! The day we never thought would come did and all the kiddos are in school. I didn't cry and neither did they. Although I must admit that there is a part of me that wishes I was a stay at home mom and I had 5 hours to myself! This year is so monumental with the start of middle school. I know it is going to fly by and before I know it my sweet little Jack will be starting middle school and Ethan will be in college. The years seem to be moving faster and I'm trying hard to live in the moment and be present and grateful for each stage. What a fabulous family I've got!!

The good pic.

Dad being silly!

Me, excited about my raise :).

Last year!!

Mickey Cupcakes and Smash Cake

My bestie's baby just turned 3 and to celebrate she had a Mickey Mouse party. She asked me to make his cupcakes and a smash cake. I spent a lot of time on Pinterest and ended up mixing all of the ideas into what worked for me. You can find my board here. I am not a fondant expert yet so I chose to go with what I know, butter cream. I love a good vanilla butter cream with a little cream cheese kick, whipped and whipped so that it is fluffy and silky smooth. My chocolate cupcake recipe is the bomb, super moist and just enough chocolate that you feel like you are indulging but it isn't over kill. Seriously they are so good! I found out the hard way that melting chocolate does not work with food coloring. My husband and kids kept sneaking those little discs...so I think we will be able to use up that giant bag I purchased! Lesson learned. So I made up some sugar cookie icing and double dipped my Oreos to make these. Super easy, super fun and they looked really cute. I will say though, with cookies (especially with Oreos) they need to be the last thing you put on if you want them to stay crunchy. If you put them on a cake or cupcake the night before they will be soft, still really yummy, but soft and not crunchy. It really only took me about 10 minutes to assemble 3 dozen after they had been double dipped, so it's economical from a time stand point to add them right before your guests come. For the smash cake I found a super cute Mickey sticker set at Hobby Lobby and I just stuck it to a red and white striped straw. I made a washi tape banner using two more straws and some twine. Easy peasy!! I mimicked Disney's lettering for his name, which to me made all the difference! Super fun smash cake!

If you are in the Tulsa area, you can order your own Mickey Mouse cupcakes from my store, Three Magee Cupcakes. I deliver!

Ellie's Brave Party

It's February and Ellie's birthday party was a few months ago.  I have found that October through March is some sort of time warp and everything seems to be moving so fast that I have a hard time keeping up with whats going on and an even harder time documenting it.  I think that I enjoy planning her parties the most...so far.  We usually have the same vision of where we want it to go.  We both knew that we wanted it to be simple and fun and most importantly special.  So here is her party in pictures...enjoy!

Bear claw cupcakes: chocolate frosting and almond slivers

Wisps: blue cellophane, balloons and a lightstick.  I had them through out the neighborhood leading people to our house!

Chocolate cake with almonds on the outside.  Green coconut grass. Marshmallow fondant stones.

I used an oval wood cutting base and got lucky that the number 8 was blue or wisp colored.

Bear paw cupcakes and a picture of the birthday girl with Merida from Disneyland!

Such a silly gal!

The girls wore their favorite dress up clothes- Ellie was Merida of course!

Back to School

I love summer.  Back to school means more traffic and a stricter schedule.  It also means activities.  This year with 3 in school I'm feeling a bit nervous.  Not for them but for me.  Can I get their folders signed every night and all that other stuff?  I got their cubby space at home all ready for them.  Now I just have to remind them to leave their backpacks there and not drag them all over the house.  Ellie was up and ready by 5:30am...I believe she was excited for her first day of second grade!!  She helped me pack lunches and we curled her hair.  This all of course woke everyone else up so we got out the door for pictures pretty early. Happy Back to School!

Look how big my babies are!

He will probably be taller than me in the next year or two.  Too bad for him I'll always be tougher :)

Girls! Girls! Girls!

Finally getting back into the swing of blogging again.  I can't wait to show you all pics from our vacation.  We had so much fun and I learned a lot about traveling in a car with 4 kids.  I've also been super conscious about taking pictures with my kids and making it a priority.  They don't care what I look like because to them I just look like their Mom and they love me (for now, haha, there aren't any teenagers yet).