Easy bento lunch ideas
The kids are back n school and we are giving the Bento boxes a go. So far so good. It’s funny how a small change like a new lunchbox can make packing the lunches easer to bear. I love how easy these are to pack. No more ziplocs, containers, etc. Here are a few of our lunches from the past week: India is my picky eat. She got a turkey sandwich on sourdough, hummus and carrots, almonds, and an orange. Karis got a peanut-butter sandwich, blueberries and almonds (her favorite . . .
Our family modeling debut
Right before we left for our trip, we went to an event at Walt Disney Studio Lot to commemorate Old Navy’s new Mickey Through the Decades vintage tee collection. The folks from Old Navy asked us if we’d be willing to do a little modeling of the clothes for a spot on Access Hollywood. They interviewed us together and then in smaller groups. I caught this picture while it was Mark and India’s turn. So squinty! It was crazy hot. The t-shirt line is really cute – they . . .
Shooting the Happy Family in New York City
A couple months ago I took a trip to New York to shoot a commercial for Happy Family . . . a brand of organic snacks for kids. I use an app called TripIt to organize my travel and I had to laugh at how this looked in my calendar, followed by the next trip: I’m just gonna shoot the happy family and then attend a conference about killer tribes. Ahem. The trip was much less nefarious than it looked on paper. Happy Family invited 8 bloggers to come and share stories about the trials of feeding . . .
Summertime sanity: new Netflix features that will make your life easier
This post was sponsored by Netflix. You can check out some of the new family features at Netlfix.com/families. It seems like most of the country has already started summer, but my kids have school for the rest of the week. I’m equally excited and panicked about them getting out of school. I’m looking forward to some fun and some lazy summer days, but I’m also a little concerned how I will continue to get my work done with all of them home all day. I’m trying to come up with some structure for . . .
Skate park Saturday
Last weekend Karis spent the night at Grandma and Grandpa’s, which left me the opportunity to do something fun with just the older kids. They’ve been begging to go to the skate park but Karis is a bit too young, so it seemed like the perfect day to venture out with the big kids. Blue Diamond Almonds sent me a snack pack for our day, and once again my children ate through most of it the minute I opened the box. Not pictured: a can of Wasabi Soy almonds being held by Jafta. cowering over them in . . .
The time we went kayaking and almost died
Last week we decided to take the kids on an adventure and try kayaking as a family. Mark and I enjoyed kayaking before the kids came along, but we’ve not really managed to do it with all six of us . . . Karis is just now past the squirmy stage. So we headed down to Newport Beach and rented two kayaks. Kembe and India pulled one of the kayaks down to the beach. Jafta and Karis sat and ate almonds. Thanks for your help, guys. True story: this post was sponsored by Blue Diamond Almonds, and . . .
Summer Shoe Guide
etnies Autism Speaks Fader Vulc Strap Skate Shoe Where do I start with my love for the etnies Autism Speaks line? Etnies has long been one of my favorite brands because their shoes are built so well, and they've teamed up with Autism Speaks to help spread awareness and raise money for autism research. Many kid's shoe lines stop making velcro closures for size 2 and up, but etnies has vekcro for every age so that kids with fine motor issues can have more independence in . . .
mother’s day gift guide
Mother’s day is coming up, and in case you are looking for something awesome for your own mom (or want to drop a couple hints to your husband) here are some things that would make great gifts. I’ve been following Karen Walrond’s blog Chookooloonks for quite some time, and I knew her book would be full of her stunning photography. What I didn’t expect, though, is that it would be such a powerful emotional and spiritual guidebook. The Beauty of Different addresses, those aspects of . . .