Kids

Surprise! A Valentine’s Gift from Sweet

by Stacy on January 28, 2012

We’ve been spending a lot of time in the kitchen lately, and today we decided to bake up a special surprise for you.

At first, we thought … CUPCAKES!!

But, … they didn’t last very long …

So instead Sweet thought, maybe there are a few kids out there who also like to bake cupcakes and play dress up and spend extra special time with their Moms — know any kids like that?

Sweet thinks maybe they might like an extra special apron of their own.

So, she wants to give them one!

This week we’re giving away an apron of your choice from our Etsy shop,
She & Me Designs (in stock aprons only).

Sweet is so sweet, don’t you think?

Ways to Win an apron from She & Me Designs

1. Leave a comment letting us know which aprons from She & Me Designs are your favorite (Required – 1 Entry)

2. Like She & Me Designs on Facebook - and if you don’t win, you can take advantage of the special discount we’re sharing with our fans! (Optional – 1 Additional Entry)

3. Be a subscriber to Kids Stuff World – It could be by email, RSS, Facebook or Twitter (Optional – Just leave a comment letting me know which ways you follow and I’ll give you an extra entry for each way we’re connected)

That’s 6 ways to win!

*** Be sure to enter your email address,
so we’ll be able to contact you if you win ***

Contest ends Saturday, February 4th at midnight (EST)

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Wintertime Family Fun

by Stacy on December 22, 2011

Today wasn’t just the shortest day of the year {the winter solstice} or only the official first day of winter, but it’s also the first day I’ve started to notice my mom friends stressing out. Their kids are all home, they are starting to wreak havoc in the house and are looking for some new ways to burn off energy and have a little fun. Sound familiar?

Don’t worry Moms! Nature Rocks is here to help
with an awesome FREE download:

The 2011-2012 Winter Activity Guide

This guide is chock full of ways you can enjoy some quality family time together without a ton of preparation. You’ll be staying active, getting outdoors, making memories with the ones you love and even saving money. Now there’s a great way to spend Christmas vacation.

Download your copy today and you’ll get all the details you need to go on a Photo Safari, make some rain art, build a backyard beach and even watch a sweet potato grow! All this and many other ideas included in the winter activity guide.

A huge shout out to my fellow Nature Rocks Ambassadors Carlene, Debi, Katharine and Lindsey for their awesome ideas and contributions to this guide. These ladies are amazing resources. Check out their blogs and follow the Nature Rocks Facebook page where you’ll see us all contribute ideas from time to time.

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5 Easy Holiday Snacks

by Stacy on December 7, 2011

I’m on the Christmas Snack Committee for Happy’s kinder class. Normally his school is on a strict no added sugar and zero junk food policy, so when planning holiday snack ideas I had to get a bit creative in my search. Sure, a few of my ideas have sweets in them … but I’m checking to see if they ease their policies a bit for the holidays. Either way, I think parents and kids alike will all have fun building these cute snacks.

Santa Crackers

healthy christmas tree snack
Snap Pea Christmas Tree

Santa Hat Brownie Bites

Snowman Bagels

Snowman Donuts

As long as I was on the lookout, I thought I may as well share my findings with you! I’m probably not the only mother out there doing this right now and I know how hectic these weeks leading up till Christmas are becoming. I had no idea what a difference a school age child would make to our family dynamic. I really do miss the days when the world revolved around only us. Here’s hoping I can save you a few precious moments this week.

Have a semi-healthy holiday snack idea of your own? Please share!

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Countdown to Christmas!

by Stacy on November 30, 2011

It’s that time of year again, my favorite time of year! The time when we start to prepare for Christmas, get in to the holiday spirit and really focus on what it means to be a family. To do this in our house, we have countdown activities every day in December leading up to Christmas. In years past we have focused on crafts, but last year I felt we were a little too commercial for my taste, so this year our focus is just on spending quality time with one another and creating lasting memories. My biggest wish would be for this to become a tradition my children enjoy with their own kids someday.

Here’s a list of what we’ll be doing this year, I have not associated specific dates because I like spontaneity and because well, sometimes things change! Feel free to borrow any ideas and I will try to blog about as many as possible to show you how they went. If you do any of these activities with your family, I would love to hear how they turned out.

- Reindeer Thumbprint Ornament (C)
- Trim the Tree (T)
- Decorate the House & Yard for Christmas (T)
- Christmas Socks Day (T)
- Christmas Movie Marathon & Christmas Cookies (T)
- Snuggle up & Read Christmas Stories (T) My absolute favorite
- Paper Christmas Trees
- Popsicle Snowflake Ornaments (C)
- Dollar Store Shopping (O) *
- Kids Wrapping Party (C) New Technique*
- Christmas Movie Matinee (O)
- Tree & Snowman Shirts (C)
- Hill Country Holidays at Westin La Cantera (O)
- Make Gifts for our Neighbors & Y Friends (C)
- Go Visit Santa (O)
- Make Gingerbread Men & Gingerbread Girls (T)
- Afternoon at the Carnival w/ Kinder Class (O)
- Riverboat Ride (O)
- Christmas Light Spectacular Car Ride (T)
- Christmas Celebration at Sea World San Antonio (O)
- Snowman Sundaes for Happy’s Birthday (T)
- Christmas Pizza Night (T)
- Helping Hands Wreath (C) *
- Family in Jammies Party (Y)
- Jesus’ Birthday (T)

(*) Notes about a few of our traditions: (T = Together Time, O = Outing, C= Craft)

Dollar Store Shopping – each year we take the kids to the dollar store to let them shop for people on their list. We make a lot of gifts also, but shopping is part of the fun too. Here they can pick out anything they want and not worry about the price.

Kids Wrapping Party is another fun tradition we have. The kids make all their own paper and then wrap as many presents as possible on their own. Our wrapping has evolved over the years and now includes a 10 ft Christmas mural we work on a few days before the party.

Helping Hands Wreath: This is a great project and is very similar to the way we build our nativity manger for baby jesus. When the kids do something especially nice or helpful they get to cut a small piece of tan yarn to add to our manger for baby jesus. The more good deeds they do, the more comfortable he will be when he arrives. This year the kids will also get to cut out a hand from green construction paper when they help around the house. When we’re done, we’ll use these hands to create the wreath.

I hope you find some inspiration here and some new ideas for your family. If you’d like even more ideas, check out our ideas from 2010 & 2009.

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Life in an Instant: A celebration of gratitude

by Stacy on November 27, 2011

Baking / Kisses / Crafting / Spending time Together / Creating / Sharing / Lovin’ / Hugging / Passing on traditions & making new ones / Being a family

This year I tried to capture moments I was thankful for, as they were happening. I did it all with my iPhone and the help of a few apps. The result was magical, documenting my gratitude not only helped me to truly enjoy this special time with the ones I love, but looking back on these precious moments fills my heart with so much joy. I am so very grateful for each and every one of the reasons I have to be thankful this year.

Thankful for helping hands in the kitchen,

the very best sweet hugs & kisses.

A Nana who likes to craft,

siblings who love each other,

and teaching them to be thankful too.

Knowing my children have grandparents who want to be a part of their lives,

and to have known a love like this.

Thankful for the happy home I have built with my best friend.

Life is good and I am blessed.

To celebrate this feeling and in hopes of helping it spread throughout the holiday season, I’d like to start a new series we can all participate in – Life in An Instant. A chance for us to share those moments that matter most.

Follow along as I capture Life in an Instant here

Catch these moments as they happen in your Facebook feed

Or leave a collection of your own