Tiny Oranges – Fresh, fun blog for OC moms

Recently we were contacted by Goosie Cards, a company that specializes in personalized flashcards for children, about doing a giveaway on our site. When I clicked over and saw what a cute product it is, I wished I would have known about Goosie Cards when my girls were in their first year!

The first thing that came to my mind was how much I would have loved to make a set of flashcards of our entire family with pictures and names. Cards like Nana, Papa, Oma and Opa with the grandparent’s pictures on them.  Because to a grandparent, there is nothing more exciting than when their grandbaby babbles their name for the first time.  And what a great way to teach them! Keep reading below for a Goosie Cards coupon code and to enter to win your own set!

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Can you believe its already back to school time? Most of us are in a major time crunch in the morning trying to get everyone ready, fed and out the door on time.  Packing a healthy lunch can prove to be challenging and time consuming.  Here are 5 simple ideas to help keep you sane during the morning rush.

* Purchasing the lunchbox and water bottle

Start off the back to school season by purchasing a good lunch box/bag and re-useable containers for food and drinks.  I always let my kids pick out a new lunch box and water bottle each year.  They are always excited to tote it around and show their friends when they get to school.

* Keep it simple

You don’t have to be super creative or go over the top to make a perfect lunch. Kids actually like consistency and don’t mind repetition. Feed them what they like, even if it doesn’t seem like a typical lunch.  My daughter’s favorite food is pasta, so I try to create different types of pasta salads using whole wheat pasta and a variety of veggies, cheese and sauces.

* Think Food Categories

When you are filling their lunch box think of completing food categories like protein, fiber, calcium and fruit/veggie.  Try to pack one of each category in each lunch.  Be sure you make WHOLE food choices, avoid processed foods.  Whenever possible feed your children “real food” instead of packaged food.  The more variety of color in your food the better.

* Plan Ahead

Spend some time on the weekend planning out what you will be packing for lunch each day.  Include your dinners to keep yourself organized for the week. Teach your kids traffic light eating and then ask them to go to the grocery store with you to pick out food in all colors of the rainbow. Try new foods and recipes on the weekend and when they are “approved” they can be included in week day lunches. Include healthy dinner leftovers for lunch to add variety and make your life easier.

* Don’t forget water

Don’t underestimate the importance of WATER.  Kids don’t get enough water during the day and they are usually running around, playing hard and even sweating.  They need to replace fluid lost which is about 1oz of fluid per pound of body weight.  Drinking water is a really good habit to start early.  I send my kids with a bottle of water in addition to any drink I include.

Melanie Meixner is San Clemente mom of two young girls and a Dr. Sears Certified L.E.A.N Coach. Her two picky eaters inspired her to learn more about nutrition and ways she could get creative with healthy food. If you are interested in learning more, contact Melanie about her L.E.A.N workshops, where you too can learn ways to foster a healthy lifestyle for your family.  Melanie can be reached at melanie.mexiner@gmail.com.

[Lunchbox in graphic from Pottery Barn Kids]

This find is too cute, I had to share. I have been a big fan of Frecklebox for years now and their darling personalized products and gifts.  Now they are offering free personalized coloring pages for kids that are just so cute! My daughter went crazy over them.

It’s so cute and easy, you just click on the one you want, then add in your child’s name, and click “preview” and then you can print it out yourself.

We are always looking for fun coloring projects and these have entertained my daughters for a long time! Oh, it is so fun to find cool free activities like this!

Also make sure to check out their cool products for back to school!  I personally love their lunchboxes and binders!

{Disclosure: Tiny Oranges is a Frecklebox Affiliate.}

Hello lovely ladies!  I just wanted to take a moment on this special weekend to wish you a VERY Happy Mother’s Day!

Now I know we all know that every day is “Mother’s Day,” but on this weekend of all weekends, I hope you feel extra pampered and appreciated for all you do.

I posted on Facebook this week asking what moms wanted to do for Mother’s Day, and one mom commented that she asked for individual “dates” or alone time with each family member over the course of the weekend.

She said, “I asked to spend one-on-one time with each person in my family this weekend. Dinner with my husband Friday night, miniature golf and lunch with my son on Saturday and pedicures and desserts with my daughter on Sunday. ”

I thought this was the CUTEST idea and I think I might just have to adopt it as a tradition!  I love the one-on-one idea of doing something special. Thanks for sharing Michelle!

But more than anything, I just want my girls to wake me up as they usually do running into the room yelling, “Mommy! Mommy!” because being greeted like a rock star with that level of enthusiasm pretty much can’t be beat.   And in that sense, every day truly is “Mother’s Day” for me.

Have a great weekend everyone!

xo

Jen

Since we are upon Easter weekend, I thought I might share an Easter tradition that I grew up with, and now we, or excuse me, the Easter Bunny does for our kiddos…a TREASURE HUNT!

When the kids wake up, the Easter Bunny leaves a basket for egg collecting outside of their bedrooms.   Inside the basket is an envelope with clue #1 written, and a clue is written on an index card.

The clues can be anything. Drawings of things with arrows, codes to decipher, puzzles like this…

You, or rather, the Easter Bunny can get as tricky as is age appropriate!

Each clue leads to the next and at the end there is the “grand prize.”  Last year the Easter Bunny left my daughter’s gift in the bathtub!

At the end we say, THANK YOU EASTER BUNNY!  It is a cute addition to the egg hunt and it is fun to watch little ones try to figure out the clues.

I hope you all have a glorious Easter weekend celebrating with your families! Do you have any special Easter traditions you would like to share?