This is what we have hanging in our entry way and we get so many compliments when we have guests over. Here’s how you can make this super simple wall art!

For my boys’ silhouette pictures, I took a profile picture of them and then uploaded it onto my computer. Using Picasa, I converted the picture to a pencil sketch and printed it out. I then taped the print out to a piece of black cardstock and cut out the boy’s heads. I then taped the black silhouette onto a piece of white cardstock and framed the final product. So easy to do!

For our family tree, I purchased a large canvas from Michael’s Arts and Crafts store. Be sure to check their weekly flyer for a coupon before making the trip! With a pencil, I drew an image of a tree onto the canvas. Once I had my sketch, I painted it in with black acrylic paint. I then painted the following phrase: Where life begins… And love never ends. Family. Choose a phrase that is meaningful to you. Once you have your phrase down, it’s time for the fun part – The hand prints! Using acrylic paint, paint the hands of everyone in your family their favorite colors and strategically place them onto the tree. Be sure to keep a package of baby wipes close by so you can wash the hands of your little ones immediately after making their print.

Craft Smart Acrylic paint is the paint that I always work with. They have an amazing variety of colors to choose from and they are very reasonably priced.

Please share your masterpieces with me once you’ve created them! This is a really fun project to do with your family! If you like this project make sure to check out this fun fathers day craft project or how to make a delicious shark sandwich.

Last weekend, my husband and I took our boys to Edaville Railroad, located in Carver, Massachusetts. We had never been before but judging from their website, we knew our boys would love it. From trains to dinosaurs, Edaville Railroad has it all!

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It’s that time of year again. The weather is warm, the kids are out of school, and you just planned your two-week vacation with the family. Maybe it’s up to Maine, maybe it’s down to Florida, but you’re on vacation and that’s all that matters. Traveling with children also means there’s going to be times when the menu doesn’t satisfy their wants. So what do you do? We developed a list of tricks for your next trip in order to travel with a picky eater successfully: Read More

This Summer, my family visited The Dinosaur Place for the very first time. The Dinosaur Place is located in Montville, CT, just minutes from Mystic Aquarium. Now, we’ve been to Mystic Aquarium numerous time, but I had never heard of The Dinosaur Place until last year. If you haven’t been yet, I highly recommend it! What an amazing day trip that’s fun for the whole family!  Read More

Pick Your Own fruit and veggies is something my family really enjoys doing together, and years ago we discovered the perfect place to pick our blueberries. Macombers Blueberry Farm is a beautiful 2 acre farm located in Coventry, RI. It is definitely a bit of a drive for us but it’s so worth it, and has become an annual tradition we all look forward to. Read More

As a family who loves spending time outdoors, we’re always looking for new places to bring our boys. Over the weekend, we discovered an amazing park in Attleboro, Mass – WW1 Park and Zoo. Read More

Last year, my family and I discovered the Biomes Marine Biology Center. Since then, we have been back more times than I can count. What an amazing place for both children and adults.

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As much as I love Easter, I really dislike all the random trinkets and obscene amount of candy that most Easter baskets contain. Instead, I choose to fill my boys’ Easter baskets with some really cool things that I know they will enjoy for more than a day. Read on for 10 Non-Candy Easter Basket Ideas that the Easter Bunny will be delivering this year! Read More

What could possibly grind your gears more than chaperoning picky eaters while running errands on a tight schedule?

If you’re a busy parent, a babysitter, or a family member that periodically chips in when called upon, then you’ve experienced this recipe for disaster firsthand.

That’s why we’re here to make a stand against the tyranny of the on-the-go picky eater by providing you with a pantry’s worth of edible ammunition.

Here are 8 snack-strategies that will prove irresistible even to the most particular of palates.

Bon Appetite! Read More

If you have little ones, then you’re well aware of the fact that the big movie these days is the new Disney movie, Zootopia. Both of my boys have been obsessed with it since we saw it in the movie theater! The Easter bunny even brought baskets filled with all of the Zootopia “guys”, which was very fitting seeings how the main character is a bunny – Judy Hopps. Last weekend we celebrated my sweet baby boy’s 6th birthday and of course, he requested a Zootopia Birthday Party. If you follow my blog, you know I’m a huge party planner. Well, unfortunately, since this is such a new movie, there weren’t very many Zootopia Birthday Party ideas online. This just meant that I had to get creative. Read on to see how I pulled together the perfect Zootopia Birthday Party! Read More

No matter what stage of motherhood she is in, the mom you’re buying for could always use some appreciation. When we condense much of this acknowledgement into just one day, the dreaded question arises…what in the world do I get her?

While she usually won’t complain with a spa day or a gift card to Macy’s or T.J.Maxx, why not go for something she doesn’t expect? Here are 14 gift ideas to make sure Mother’s Day 2016 is a little extra special. Read More

Let’s face it – it’s getting more and more difficult to be a “healthy parent” these days, and things get even worse when kids are picky eaters. It has caused parents everywhere to become frustrated beyond words three times a day (plus snack time, of course).

On top of this, we all know how hard it is to implement the “I am the parent and you are the child” mentality. Parenthood has evolved into a world of give-and-take, and especially in the world of food, “because I told you so” just doesn’t seem to cut it anymore.

So what can you do about your picky eater? Here are 10 tips that could work in expanding your child’s flavor tolerance.

• Let them have a choice: Pick what you’re making for a meal – maybe it’s pasta, a sandwich, or salad. Stick to that, and make sure your kids know you are sticking to that, but from there you can give them a choice so they’ll be more inclined to eat. If you with pasta, ask them if they want sauce or no sauce. Going with a sandwich? Do they want turkey or ham? If you let them customize, they’ll take more ownership of their meal because they had a say in what they eat – even though you still get a chance to introduce something new and avoid a picky diet.

• Give your child a reward: Even as adults we like to treat ourselves to our favorite foods. Don’t restrict your child just because they have a strong preference. Give your child a new healthy food you want them to try, and tell them they can have some of their favorite after they have a substantial amount of the new food. If they like it, use it to prove your point. This works best when your kid lives off snacks and easily-prepared food, as you can give them a small amount after a bigger serving of whatever you’re trying to introduce to them.

• Make new foods a challenge: Kids gravitate to what to what they know and love, but they also love adventure. Tell them you’re going to play a game for the week: you want them to try as many new foods as possible. Make it fun and exciting!

• Have them help out: This will work best for kids that are old enough to trust in the kitchen by your side. Giving your kids simple tasks in the cooking process gets them involved in making the meal. Cracking eggs, mixing in a bowl, or putting ingredients together are all simple tasks for them. They will love it! By the time the new food is prepared, they’ll be ready to give it a try because they had a role in it. Give them something to tell their preschool teacher about the next day.

• “Don’t you want to eat what we’re eating?” With everyone at the table having the same dish, the dinner process for youngsters becomes a way to emulate the grown-ups. Show them you enjoy your salad, grilled chicken, and mashed potatoes. Remember, your kids look up to you – give them a positive role model at the dinner table!

• Start early: The later you try to introduce your child to a new or healthy food, the more reluctant or set in their ways they will be. Don’t delay, start instilling these habits earlier in a child’s life so they can be open to trying new foods.

• Cold turkey is not the way to go. A kid’s favorite food is their favorite food for a reason. Cutting them off completely from that typically doesn’t go over well. Depending on the food, bringing it in a few times a week isn’t the worst thing, especially if you follow that give-and-take strategy.

• Make a meal chart: This works best for kids old enough to read, but if you have the time (and willpower to stick to one), make a weekly meal chart and put it out for your child to see. That way, there’s no debate or question about what’s for dinner. Plus, if you put their favorite food on that chart, they’ll know they’ll be able to eat it soon and be less fussy when a new dish is at the table.

• “Oh no! We’re all out!”: Your kid wants spaghetti but they’re had spaghetti every dinner for the past two weeks? Don’t buy it for a while. Tell them there’s none left, but they should try this new food – assure them that “if you love spaghetti then you’ll love this.” Eventually, being hungry will overtake being headstrong, and they will eat.

• Be Patient: Stand your ground – remember, you are the parent. But sometimes it can take time, and it can be a struggle. If it weren’t, we wouldn’t be writing this post! Very little in parenting happens overnight. Be consistent and your kid will catch on. Soon enough, the picky eater days will be gone and your child will be eating a variety of new and healthy foods.

Last year, my family and I discovered the Biomes Marine Biology Center. Since then, we have been back more times than I can count. What an amazing place for both children and adults.

About The Biomes Marine Biology Center

The Biomes Marine Biology Center is located in North Kingston, RI. It’s the only private marine education facility in New England. Biomes has been providing interactive marine biology programs for schools and families since 1989. They specialize in teaching children and adults about the marine animals of Narragansett Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. Some of the programs the Biomes Marine Biology Center has to offer are private birthday parties, school field trips, preschool classes, homeschool classes and senior programs. You can find additional info on all of their programs here. Biomes is open daily from noon to 5. Visit their Walk-Ins page for more information on public hours.

What To See At The Biomes Marine Biology Center

Some of the animals you can expect to see at the Biomes Marine Biology Center include seahorses, skates, lionfish, lobsters, eels, snakes, sea urchins, spider crabs and many more. They also have a handful of rescued reptiles and a few amphibians too – Darwin the tortoise, an assortment of fresh water turtles, a boa constrictor, and 2 types of frogs. What I love the most about The Biomes Marine Biology Center is that it’s extremely hands-on. There are many “touch tanks” throughout the center, and the kids are encouraged to get up close and personal with the animals. The animals that you are able to touch include sting rays, skates, dogfish sharks, horseshoe crabs, star fish, and more. Petting the sharks is definitely my boys’ favorite part of our visit. Visiting Darwin the Tortoise is a close second!

Demonstrations At The Biomes Marine Biology Center

On Saturdays and Sundays, The Biomes Marine Biology Center holds demonstrations throughout the day. Some of the demonstrations include feeding the horseshoe crabs, sharks, seahorses, and skates. You can also watch an octopus open a jar to get to the food inside! Our favorite demonstration is watching the pufferfish fill up with water and then spit it all out! My boys really get a kick out of that one!

Photo taken by Biomes Marine Biology Center

The Biomes Marine Biology Center Play Areas

On top of all the amazing sea creatures at The Biomes Marine Biology Center, there are also few play areas available for little ones. There’s a large sandbox filled with lots of different shells. My boys love holding the shells up to their ears to listen to “the ocean”. There is also a sensory table filled with rice and sand toys, and a few other tables with different activities. Finally, there’s a gated section with lots of toys for the kids to play with. Puppets, figurines, books, a marble maze, etc. We always visit this area for a bit of fun before we leave. There is just so much to do at The Biomes Marine Biology Center. Whether it’s a cold rainy day, or too hot to play outside, Biomes is the perfect place to spend the afternoon. This Sunday, October 19th, The Biomes Marine Biology Center is hosting an event to celebrate all of their recent changes – The Biomes Bash.Throughout the day, there will be face painting, and lots of fun activities going on. There will also be prizes given away every half hour. Prizes include free passes and a grand price of a one year membership to Biomes! How exciting! If you haven’t been to The Biomes Marine Biology Center yet, Sunday is the day to check it out! I know I will definitely be there with my family!

We recently spent the day at the zoo, where they had a puppet theater set up for the kids to play with. Now, my boys have lots of puppets but for some reason, I never got around to getting them a theater. They had so much fun putting on shows for us at the zoo, that I decided it was time for us to get a theater of our own. Rather than spending a ton of money on a theater that would take up a huge amount of space, I decided to make my own DYI Doorway Puppet Theater. In this post, I’ll show you how you can make one too! 

Supplies Needed

• 2 Vinyl Tablecloths
• Tension pole
• Wooden Dowel or Metal Rod
• Scissors
• Sewing machine
• Ribbon

DIY Doorway Puppet Theater Directions

Step 1

Measure the opening of your doorway and cut one of the vinyl tablecloths one inch smaller than the width of the doorway. Our doorway is 31″ wide so I made our tablecloth 30″ wide. The length of the tablecloth really is a matter of preference. You could make it the length of the entire doorway, or just high enough for your children to play behind. Whichever you decide, give yourself an extra 8″  for the hems at the top and bottom of the tablecloth. 

Step 2

Next , make a 2″ fold at the top of your tablecloth and stitch across to make the first hem. This is where your tension pole will slide into once your puppet theater is complete.

Step 3

Repeat step 2 at the bottom of your tablecloth. Once this hem is complete, slide your wooden dowel or metal rod into it and stitch the ends closed. This rod will keep your puppet theater in place when in play.

Step 4

Slide your tension pole into the hem at the top of your puppet theater and hang it in your doorway. On the back of the tablecloth, draw a rectangle where you want your opening to be. Once you’ve marked your opening, take the tablecloth down and cut out your window.

Step 5

Using the second vinyl tablecloth, cut out a square slightly larger than the window you made in the first tablecloth. Stitch the sides and top of the square over your window. Be sure to leave the bottom of the square unattached. Once this square is on, cut up the middle to create the curtain for your puppet theater. Finally, stitch ribbons on either side of the window so you can tie up the curtains. 

Step 6

Hang your DIY Doorway Puppet Theater, sit back, and enjoy a show put on by your little ones! Best of all, this puppet theater can easily be taken down, rolled up, and stored away when not in use!

In 2002, I was diagnosed with non-hodgkins lymphoma and was told that, if I survived, I might not be able to have children. That became my biggest life challenge. Even though the doctors said I wasn’t going to make it, I refused to give up.  I went through over 6 months of inpatient chemotherapy and then a year of outpatient chemotherapy along with radiation. When I finally finished my treatments in 2004, I was determined to have the family I always dreamed I would.

In 2007, I met my husband, and we got married in 2009. In 2010 we welcomed our first son into the world. At that time, I had been a nanny with the same family for 7 years, but the kids were all heading off to school. What was I going to do? No one would want a nanny with a newborn–and did I really want to go back to working in a daycare center? No, not really. That’s when I decided to open my own home daycare. A year later, my husband and I welcomed our second son to our family.

Doctor’s Orders

When my son was around 22 months old, he became a fussy eater. Throughout the years, I had discovered that, in the eyes of children, everything seems to taste better when served on a toothpick! So, when my son started refusing to eat, I immediately went into the kitchen and started rolling up his sandwich meats and serving them on toothpicks. Problem immediately solved!

One day, my son developed an ear infection and I had to take him to the pediatrician. He asked if my son was eating and I answered, “Yes, as long as I put his food on a toothpick.” I explained the situation to the pediatrician and he responded “You might be on to something!” When I got home I jumped online to start searching.

I came across hundreds of parents also using toothpicks to get their fussy eaters to eat. Though many confirmed that toothpicks worked, they did not feel comfortable giving them to their children. Even though toothpicks work like magic, they are not kid-friendly. This is when I decided to create Pick-Ease.

Inventing Pick-Ease

In April 2012, when I first had the idea for Pick-Ease, many people told me I should pursue it. After further investigation, I found that there really was not another product like it available to parents. Okay, now I’m an inventor? I knew nothing about inventing, but I realized it was my chance to be able to give my boys everything they could ever want and more. I started doing tons of research. There is so much more to it than just having a great idea.

I decided: I’m going to do this. I’m going to make it happen. I made countless phone calls, met with many people, spent a lot of money and, now, after a few bumps in the road, I have my product in my hand! How exciting! I made it happen.

My goal is to eliminate the stress parents and caregivers feel when young children refuse to eat. I want to make meal times an enjoyable experience for picky eaters and their parents. Pick-Ease brings fun to the table as a new, unparalleled feeding utensil.

Thank you for supporting my dream and my family.

Sincerely,
Melissa Desrochers

Like most kids, my son is obsessed with Frozen… So when his birthday rolled around, it was quite obvious what theme he was going to pick. I’m that mom that gets really into party planning. I enjoy looking for themed food and decoration ideas but it is really time consuming. To make your life easier, I’ve created a list of all our themed ideas for Caleb’s Frozen birthday party! Read More

After a long day of drop-offs, pick-ups, play-dates, and lessons (not to mention a full day’s work!), you come home and get busy on a healthy meal for your kids that you know they’ll love.

You call them to the table, proudly place it in front of them…and watch in horror and frustration as they turn up their noses and shove it away.

Believe me, I’ve been there. And I’m here to help.
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Last weekend my family and I headed to Confreda Farm, located in Hope, RI, for some pumpkin picking fun. We usually go to a much smaller patch every year but now that our boys are bit older, we wanted to go somewhere that had more to offer than just pumpkin picking. After asking around, Confreda Farm seemed to be a favorite pumpkin picking spot for many of our Rhode Island friends.  Read More

I am always looking for Preschool Ideas online. For those of you who don’t know, I am the owner of a small home daycare. I like to run my daycare as more of a preschool and want to make sure my kids are continuously learning. Every month, I send home a calendar which lists our weekly themes as well as the letters, numbers, colors and shapes that we will be working on throughout the month. Here are a few of my beginning of the year Preschool Ideas. Read More

I come from a pretty big family and we all love spending time together. Last year I decided that we should add an annual Halloween Party to our list of get-togethers. My boys were 2 and 3 at the time, and old enough to participate in games with their little cousins so I started the party planning process. I’ve compiled a list of all my Halloween Party Ideas to help you throw a successful Halloween Party of your own!  Read More

I absolutely love Autumn. The weather is perfect, the colors are beautiful, and the festivities are never ending. One of my most favorite things to do, and something I look forward to every year, is Apple Picking with my family. Read More

I recently wrote a post about our favorite New England zoo. Southwick’s Zoo is nothing short of amazing but on the days when you aren’t able to spend 4+ hours at the zoo, you should check out this smaller, yet awesome, alternative – Capron Park Zoo. Read More

Last year my family and I discovered what we believe to be the best zoo in New England – Southwick’s Zoo! Southwick’s Zoo is located in Mendon, MA, about 45 minutes from Providence. It is a little further from us than other zoos in our area but totally worth the Read More

It’s that time of year again. The weather is warm, the kids are out of school, and you just planned your two-week vacation with the family. Maybe it’s up to Maine, maybe it’s down to Florida, but you’re on vacation and that’s all that matters. Traveling with children also means there’s going to be times when the menu doesn’t satisfy their wants. So what do you do? We developed a list of tricks for your next trip in order to travel with a picky eater successfully: Read More

Halloween has come and gone and Christmas is quickly approaching. A few years ago, The Elf On The Shelf became the big Christmas craze. If you are not familiar with The Elf On The Shelf, it is a book that was written in 2005 by Carol Aebersold and her daughter, Chanda Bell. The book tells a Christmas story about one of Santa’s scout elves visiting your home from Thanksgiving through Christmas Eve. The elf watches over your children during the day, and every night when your children go to sleep, he or she flies back to the North Pole to tell Santa if they have been naughty or nice. When your elf returns to your home, he hides in a new place, and when your children wake up, they have to find him. What a fun game of hide and seek for little ones! Read More

One of the best parts of Halloween is baking Halloween Cookies and making fun crafts with the kids. Here’s my favorite Halloween Cookie recipe, along with some Halloween craft ideas! Read More

When the time comes for your little one to stop using their binky, whether on your terms or theirs, there are a number of ways to get rid of it. Some parents choose to take it away cold turkey, while their children are still young. They deal with a few rough nights and then they’re done with it. Others choose to let their children keep their binky until they’re ready to get rid of it on their own. With my boys, I fall into the second group. Read More

So many parents struggle with deciding when they should take away their child’s pacifier, or as we call it in our house, “binky”. Before I had children, I would look at the 3 year old in the store with his binky in his mouth, and think “There is no way I am going to allow my kids to have a binky at that age!” Then my son, Caleb, came along… Read More

Last year, my family and I discovered the Biomes Marine Biology Center. Since then, we have been back more times than I can count. What an amazing place for both children and adults.

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Just as much as I love apple picking, I also really love pumpkin picking. There’s something about spending the day outdoors with my family that I just can’t get enough of. I truly enjoy watching my children explore and search for their “perfect” pumpkins. Read More