My kids love to paint (ages 9 and 5). If it does not move, they will try to paint it… so far that good news for our new puppy!
My husband recently installed new doors for the kids bedroom closets,
the new doors pull open to allow the kids to see their whole closet, they love it! Everyone was happy…or so we thought.

The kids came into our bedroom early one morning last week, very excited.
They said in unison that they wanted to paint the doors.
I thought that was cute idea…why not empower them to have a hand in how their rooms look. So I thought I will give them some off white glossy paint and they can have at it. That, of course, was not their idea at all.
THEY were proposing that they paint mini multi-colored murals on the doors.
The kids even drew up plans for their visions on paper and presented us with them…6:30 am in the morning no less…My husband groaned and went back to sleep, I of course got up and started the process.

My peace sign loving daughter wanted to “splatter” different colors of paint all over her doors and then have a big black peace sign in the middle.
My son wanted a multi colored door with a big, ugly green snake slithering up it. So much for the off white paint.

We went to our local home improvement store and happily discovered sample jars of paint. We bought a bunch of different colors in 7 oz sizes for only a couple of dollars each (who knew?) and came home to prep the doors.

Excitement in the air and plans at the ready…we began.
It took hours but they were both thrilled with the results.
They were so proud. Each room looks great, and in the end, the cost was less than $8 per door!

Here is a tip! While at Home Depot I came across an area that the sthey had considered “mistakes.” Maybe a customer requested the wrong color and had to reorder their paint, maybe they miss-measured a window and it had to be reordered? There are major bargains to be had buying these mistakes. We found a $5 gallon of paint that will look perfect in the kids’ bathroom. Again, who knew?

Take a Saturday morning and wander the aisles of your local home improvement store- who knows what fun, inexpensive projects will come your way? Also ask them about their free kid workshops (usually held on Saturday mornings, we have participated in a number at Home Depot) where the kids (with a little help) can make birdhouses, little wagons and other projects. Tons of fun, they learn how to use a hammer and it’s free!!

Posted September 19th, 2010 by Maureen in Maureen, Parent's Corner | 1 Comment »

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It’s that time of year again…Back to School!
For many, we get back into the same routine as the last school year.
For some it is a time of firsts, little ones going to off kindergarten or first grade. Tweens and teens headed off to the middle or high school…man, the years sure do fly by!
It’s a time of getting the kids to bed on time, get them up on time, homework, activities, play dates with new friends and more.

One area that always seems to be a challenge is the Lunch Box!
We are packing the all important lunch…We want our children to eat it, we want it to be somewhat healthy, we want it to be fun and we want it to carry our love with them to school.
Plus we want our children to enjoy their lunch, not be bored by it…right!

Raise you hand if you have searched lunch box ideas lately…

Yes, its time. Whether you are happy or sad to put the kids on the bus you need to think about what to put in those lunch boxes.

Have you tried:

Make your own pizza: a little container of tomato sauce, some shredded cheese, cut up veggies and a tortilla – you can even cut the tortilla into “pizza triangles” and they can make a slice at a time.

Hummus spread on crackers: have your kids help make their favorite type of hummus the night before. Not only will they enjoy it but they can tell their friends they made it!

Pasta salad or a chef salad with chicken or tuna or whatever was leftover from dinner- you know the deal! Dressing in a small container on the side.

Seashell Sandwiches from our cookbook for kids Picture Me Cooking: This one always gets the kids chattering at the lunch table… large pasta shells (cooked and cooled) stuffed with anything your kids may like: tuna salad, egg salad, chicken salad, chopped salad, etc. They get to eat the bowl!

Couscous Salad: Make boxed couscous according to package directions (Near East Brand is awesome and literally takes 5 minutes to make) cool, then add in veggies to your kids like and or some chopped chicken.

Bruschetta: Pack up some chopped tomatoes or fresh salsa in a small container and some toasted French bread slices in a baggie. Pack a spoon for spreading.

Quesadillas: Place cheese, shredded chicken, lettuce, a little salsa on a tortilla, top it with another tortilla, warm in over until all melted and then cut into triangles.

Food on a stick: Fun up your child’s lunch by sending in some cute plastic toothpicks or mini two pronged forks to spear chunks of cut of fruits like watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew, strawberries, blueberries and more.
Foe a main dish, cut up chunks of a mozzarella stick and thread onto toothpicks, alternating with grape tomato halves…a mini caprese salad on a stick!

Kids love dip…so slice up some veggies and put them in a baggie alongside a small container of veggie or ranch dip. Slice up some apples tossed in a bit of lemon juice or strawberries and pack up some of our fruit dip.

Breakfast for Lunch: Pack slices of French toast and a small container of syrup or powdered sugar…that is a surprise!

We can have so much fun coming up with ideas….plan it out and get your kids involved too. Bet they would enjoy prepping and or planning their weeks worth of lunches! When all else fails…once or twice a month give them the $3.50 and let them choose what to have from the cafeteria – bet in the end they enjoy what comes from home instead!

What are your tips and trick to make your kids lunch a success?

Posted August 30th, 2010 by Maureen in Colleen, Lunch Box, Maureen | No Comments »

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In my “spare time” when I am not working part time in a financial planner’s office, running various PTO committees, managing my house and family or spending time on events with the book/website, I am a Girl Scout troop leader.

I know many of you are involved in scouts too.

This coming year will be my fifth year as a troop leader and I still feel like a newbie.

Our troop started as Daisies in kindergarten, flew through Brownies and are now moving up to Juniors. There are sixteen girls in my troop and each have very different personalities. Planning the meetings seems to always stress me a bit.
I wish there was a way of sharing the different ideas that we all have for meetings. Maybe we could save each other those 4 hour cram sessions on a Sunday night?
What have you done in the past that worked well, what was a complete flop, what brought out the best in the girls, empowered them and maybe even gave them an ah-ha moment?

My favorite meetings have always included special guests.
I found it’s better to bring in people and build on the basic “Try It Badges” than to just go through the steps of the book.
I remember the time when a Dad came in to talk about exercising (for the Brownie Try It Badge “My Body”) and joined us in a game of balloon volleyball. All the girls thought it was so cool that the 6 foot tall Dad was jumping right in the game like he was a little 7 year old girl!

We had a local store owner (and troop Dad) show us how to make (and then rip apart and eat…yum) one of those fruit bouquets, a chemistry teacher (and co-author of Picture Me Cooking) climb up on top of a table and show the kids that science can be fun, and once I learned one of my girl’s babysitter taught at a school for hearing impaired we learned the “Promise” in sign language!

Our unit has monthly leader meetings.
If I had one tip for new leaders it would be to find a buddy leader.
I always try to walk out with another leader who has girls my age.
I find this time to be the most important part of the meeting.
It was on one of those walks that I was gifted with a wonderful play (one of the troop’s favorite meetings). On another I found out about a local store offering free bread making classes.

What works for you? What tips or ideas do you have to share?
As a new Junior Troop Leader…I can use all the help I can get!

Posted July 18th, 2010 by Maureen in Maureen, Parent's Corner | No Comments »

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