How to Relax and Enjoy that Road Trip (Plus a Travel Center Tutorial & 25+ Game/Activity Ideas!)

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc and its advertiser. 

All opinions are mine alone.

#RoadTripOil #CollectiveBias

What do you think of when you hear the word "road trip"? Do you groan and remember being stuck in a car for what felt like forever? OR do you get excited and start planning right away? I have to say that I have felt some of BOTH of these emotions. BUT...over the years, as we have traveled literally from the South to the North on both sides of the country, I have come to feel excitement all of the time now. Most of this is due to figuring out how to make road trips successful and making everyone in the car happy. And today I'm going to share all of my great tips with you to do just that!

Plus I have over 25 game and activity ideas for many different ages that you can play in the car...including a tutorial to make this fun and easy DIY Travel Activity Center.  

It's magnetic and keeps everything in one place and from falling all over the floor. So keep reading to see How to Make Your Road Trip a Happy One For Everyone.

The key is to prepare!

Childrens Books and Crafts Round Up; Goodnight Moon and DIY Children's Moon Nightlight

I'm excited to share today's post with you today. I love reading and want to instill that in my kids, so today I am sharing a favorite Children's book of ours for our littles and a craft to go along with it.  AND my little post is just part of 50+!!! posts on the same thing. Lots of lots of great books and crafts are being shared this week. I gotta say, I'm so happy that I was invited and signed up to be part of this big round up months ago, With everything being "out of whack" in my life recently, this has been great to still do with my kids. Read It, Make it Book + Craft over at Emma Owls here. 

AND it's perfect timing, with the summer months coming up! These will be great little afternoon time  filling helpers!

I honestly had a hard time choosing what book to do a craft on, so we've actually done a few lately. I posted one we have done in the past here with the book: There's a Monster at the end of this Book. It's still a favorite book of my kids and one I remember as a kid too!

But today, I chose a "classic" Goodnight Moon. It's one of those books that you read to your kids when they are really young, but that my 16 year old can still remember the words to! I love that! I love this book! It's so simple and yet the kids just love it!

And for the craft, I thought, what better than to make a fun little moon themed night light that the kids can take to bed after reading the book before bed?! 

Seasons of Life and Balancing it all

It's been awhile since I've been on here. I've still been pretty active on my FB and Instagram sites, but real life has taken over for me the last few months. And I've decided that's ok. It's all about seasons of life and balancing and right now, in this season, it's all I can do to get through some days and get my kids fed. Not necessarily the funnest and most glamorous of times for me (haha), but needed right now.

I announced that I was pregnant last fall and was sick. A lot! So, I've been pregnant and sick before, but nothing like this. It usually goes away by week 16 for me, and frankly it has not gone away this time. I am not sure I would have had more kids (or at least this many!) if every pregnancy was like this. It's like having the flu for 9 months! I've always had some issues like bad acid/heartburn when pregnant and my leg going numb when I am up very long, rashes, etc. But on top of that, I recently discovered that for the first time, I have gestational diabetes and low iron, so now my days seem to revolve around 1) my family (getting kids fed and to school and HW done), laying down constantly bc that's the only way I feel halfway normal still, trying to keep up with laundry, dishes, etc. and now 2) eating...I feel like I have to think about it all.day.long. lol I have to get up and check my blood sugar (and my fasting levels are always high!) So that kinda stresses me just to check my blood sugar, but I try not to stress, bc that also raises them! Ugh! Then I count carbs and protein levels of everything I eat all day. I time myself when I eat to when I have to again check my blood sugar levels, and then need to snack in between each meal and make sure I get ENOUGH carbs in...and this all while still not feeling well and really, just wanting some dang pizza! lol I am sure many others have gone through the same, and really this is a minor complication in pregnancy, compared to so many others. This isn't a sob story. I'm just saying it's affected my everyday. Thus, the lack of posts. :)

Anyway, I'm on the downhill at 31 weeks tomorrow! Yay! And still enjoy creating and can't wait to do more of it again soon! It's just as much fun while you are feeling sick. haha So thanks to all that have asked how I have been and have kept in touch through FB and Instagram.

Check back this week though, bc I have a couple of fun posts coming up!

Easy Peasy Bunny Cake

I remember making these fun bunny cakes when I was a kid, and now I get to help my own kiddos make them. They're so easy and turn out so cute and fun!

100th Day of School; Dress up like you are a 100 years old day

This week my daughter's class celebrated the 100th day of school. They were all told that they could dress up the way they think they will look when they are 100 years. I gotta say...I had a ton of fun with this and can't stop cracking up at all of my daughter's facial expressions in these pics! haha My younger daughter said, "I didn't know it was Old Lady's Day!" Bwahaha!

We decided to look together to see how we could easily make her look 100 without going out and buying much. This is what we came up with and we loved it!

We picked out a loose fitting dress and sweater for her to wear.

  

"I will walk by Faith..." Word Art

If you know me at all, you know I love word art. I have several up in my house and am always adding to them. In fact, I am in the middle of creating a "new wall full of word art" in my living room right now. And this new one I just finished is perfect to add to the wall!

I love anything funny, uplifting, thought provoking, encouraging, family related when it comes to quotes, sayings, and more. AND then...I love to turn it into word art to hang. And this one is no exception. It's perfect for an everyday reminder for me.

Valentine Gifts Galore; Day 5: Hot Air Balloon Valentine

Well, today is our last day of a week filled with DIY Valentine ideas. Which one has been your favorite so far? 

I've saved the best for last, because today's is just as easy and soooooo cute and fun and sure to catch some eyes. I love this one for teachers, kids, or your loved one. It's so fun and so easy! 

It's my favorite one this week!

It's a hot air balloon valentine that is so easy to make! 

  

All you need is:

Valentine Gifts Galore; Day 4: Star Wars YODA Valentines

If you love Star Wars, hang on to your hat, because I have a fun one for you today!

We have a house of Star Wars fans, so I wanted to come up with something simple to do with Star Wars. This YO-DA one for me is perfect! Whether you add it to a box of candy hearts OR throw a chocolate heart on top of the paper, it's so fun and easy peasy! 

Just copy and paste the image below, crop it to the size you want, and print. 

Valentines Day Gifts Galore! Day 3 {Think out of the Box Valentine and for the Leading Male in your Life}

 #diy #diyvalentines #valentines #valentinegiftideas #thinkoutofthebox #leadingmalevalentine #longdistancerealtionshipvalentine #createitgo

It's Day 3 of a week of Valentine DIY gift ideas! And I've got a couple of new ideas for you today! Both are also super simple and inexpensive again too!

The first is one that my kids are going to give to their teachers this year on Valentines Day. 

Grab a package of these cute little transparent heart boxes in the wedding section at a craft store and fill them with some festive and colorful candy. Then just print out a little tag that says, "Thanks for helping me think out of the box." 

Valentines Day Gifts Galore!/Day 2: You are SO-DA one for me!

For the last two years I have had so much fun coming up with little fun and inexpensive gift ideas. And this year is no exception, so this week, I will be posting ideas daily here on the blog! I try to keep them fairly simple, because I don't know about you, but life keeps me busy enough! Ha!

So to start out this week, I found this cute little glass soda "can" at a Dollar Tree store near me. (AND really...you don't even have to go find this little guy. Just pick up a soda can and it will work too!) ;)

A week of Valentines Day Gifts Galore; Day 1

I've had fun the past couple of years coming up with some fun DIY valentine gift ideas and this year has been the same way. I have so many new ideas that I decided to spend the whole week sharing them with you!

They're so fun and easy and my kids so get excited about giving them. Last year I shared these DIY valentines here and here.

Another favorite from a couple years ago was this

I pick you

Valentine

with the nose pencil sharpener:

And then, of course there is my all time top pinned Hogs and Kisses.

One thing about giving valentines, no matter what you do creates a smile, so give away! And check back every day this week for even more ideas!

New Years Eve {Printable} Countdown Game

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. 

All opinions are mine alone.

#NaturallyCheesy #CollectiveBias

Happy Monday! Did you survive the Christmas clean up this past weekend? Ha! That always seems like the worst part. You work for weeks getting ready for the BIG day and then all of the sudden it is over, and what's left is the aftermath. I do have to say that I enjoy seeing all that we are blessed with IN that aftermath though. It's all about perspective I guess, isn't it? Well, today I'm excited to share something with you that you can use THIS weekend with your friends and family to help you ring in the New Years together! A fun New Year's Eve Countdown Game that you can just print out and hang up. So so easy! Plus I've got yummy snacks to share like this Cracker Barrel Cheese Tray and ways to save over $13 with Kraft! So...don't go anywhere!

A Wall of Christmas {Decor}

I don't know about you, but I am so ready for the end of this week. If you have kiddos in school, you know how crazy these last two weeks have been...especially this one! I've been up since 5:30 this am working on last minute Christmas gifts my kids told me about last night! UGH! (My son told me last night he had a white elephant gift exchange in one class today and can he also take gifts to his teachers?) I think I have made about 20 teacher gifts now this week. Ha! Plus little gifts for my kids' friends and for classmates, and a teacher's bday, and and and...then you get all the class parties and more! I'm exhausted and so ready to sleep in! haha

One thing I did finish recently though was my "Wall of Christmas"! It's so fun with fun Christmas quotes. I love how it turned out and wanted to share.

It really was pretty easy and I love how it transforms our living room even more into the spirit of Christmas! I pretty much took boards and frames I already had and just gave them all an update! I also took a bunch of my fav pics of my kids in the snow and put them all in a frame. So fun!

Minion Lemon Bars Recipe #MinionMovieNight

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. 

All opinions are mine alone. 

#MinionsMovieNight #CollectiveBias

How many of you remember my fun DIY sock minion I posted awhile back? (You can find it here.)  It's been a favorite at our house and also one of my top pinned posts. How can you NOT love those fun little yellow guys?! Well, I have a super fun and easy minion recipe for you today! 

Glue Dots Designer

Have you checked out Glue Dots blog yet? I am excited to be one of their designers this year and have been having fun with some of my projects for them. In fact, two of them are up right now! The Winter Wonderland card and Christmas in a Can. Remember my little Hogs and Kisses can I made here? 

It's been one of my most pinned posts and was so fun and easy to make. If you like that, you need to check out my Christmas in a Can post on the Glue Dots site too! So fun and you could make from things you already have around your house!

Glue Dots is always posting all kinds of tips and tricks and fun little projects to do on their blog and on their Glue Dots Fan Facebook page as well. So go check them out and let me know what you think of my projects for them!