This was a huge hit at our house last summer – we did a slip ‘n slide kickball birthday party for my son and they loved it so much we set it up 3 more times and had a church youth group and a girl’s soccer team use it as well. It’s a perfect activity for a reunion, summer party, youth group, or bbq!

 

 

Here’s what you’ll need:

* 4 ft plastic sheeting

 

* garden/ fabric stakes

 

* pools – one for each base. We got the kiddie three ring one and the whale one – the whale one was our favorite – we didn’t inflate the tail. It was a perfect size. We lost one of the ring ones by the 5th or 6th use. You could pick up the hard plastic ones at the store, but we thought they may be kind of painful crashing into them.

 

* no tears baby wash/shampoo – this helps make it extra slippery and it was fine on the grass.

 

* kickball

 

 

You just run the plastic sheeting up to the pools and secure with landscape pins,

 

 

fill up the pools, get the plastic wet, add some baby wash,

 

 

and have a blast playing kickball and making up the rules.

 

 

A perfect summer activity! You don’t want to leave this out too long or it will kill the grass, we moved it around to the dry spots in the grass and they were green in no time when we emptied the pools.

 

 

Here’s to the beginning of summer!

Nordstrom is also having their half-yearly sale! Here are some favorites:

 

* Geo Pendant Necklace $9.49

 

* Zyla Faux Leather Tote $38.96

 

* Set of 5 Geo Etched Bangles $19.49

 

* Fitbit Flex 2 Wristband $59.95

 

* Utility Jacket $47.40

 

* Hexagon Pendant Necklace $9.49

 

Hello and happy February!

 You can buy individually wrapped Twizzlers here and here and choose a printable to go with them. 

Whatever one you choose, here are some fun printables I whipped up to go along with them.

 

Click here for the Yoda ones, 4 to a page

and click here for the heart ones, 4 to a page:

Just print them out on white cardstock, cut them out and attach the Twizzler with a dab of hot glue or some fun washi tape.

 

A whole $5 tub could set your family for Valentines! Or set out the tub at work or give to a special someone who loves licorice. ♥

 

I hope you enjoy them!

This was our first time to Disneyland in California as a family and I wanted to share some tips that I didn’t know when we went or wish I would have known: (this is NOT a sponsored or paid post!)

Hello! We just got back from our trip to Disneyland -- it was our first time going as a family and I wanted to share some things that we learned that might be helpful in planning your trip. We’re not experts, but I love reading others perspectives and tips and maybe you do too? :)

We LOVED our hotel, so I’m writing about it first. I’m NOT getting paid by them or we didn’t get any kind of discount, we found it by researching, checking TripAdvisor – it is consistently the #1 or #2 hotel ranked hotel in Anaheim, and asking around and it didn’t disappoint – we would recommend it to anyone! We stayed at the Homewood Suites Anaheim Convention Center. There are 2 Homewood Suites in Anaheim, make sure you get the Convention Center one. We found it was the cheapest to book directly through the Hilton site, but check definitely check around.


It worked for our family because we only had to get one room – we got the 1 Bedroom Family Suite because it has a full kitchen, pull out double sofa bed where the girls slept, a double bunk bed with a pull out trundle (so three beds!) where the boys slept, and a nice king bed for the parents.

I’m not going to lie, having only one bathroom was a little crazy when we all came home and had to go, but we were on the first floor right down the hall from the main hotel bathrooms so we used those a lot too.

But this hotel was perfect for us! It has a great heated pool, a kiddie pool, a splash area,


hot tub, basketball court & putting green,




awesome workout room, arcade, fire pit, and bbq area.


They also show a free family movie each night out on the patio.


It saved us A LOT in food too – we could buy our own snacks and keep them in the full size fridge/freezer.  There is a CVS just down the street and a Target and new Walmart really close where you can stock up. The hotel also have a really nice bbq area where we grilled our Sunday dinner and ate out on the patio – it was so nice!

But the best thing for us: they have a full hot breakfast every morning and then on weekday evenings (M-Th) they have a dinner.



They advertise it as a light dinner each of the nights had something different and it was basically all you can eat. Some of the menus:

* Italian Sliders, mac & cheese, pasta, fruit, soup, potato salad, caesar salad

* Asian Stir Fry with chicken & vegetables, rice, fruit, kale salad, green salad, soup

* Salad bar with meats, cheeses, toppings, rolls, soup, salads

We don’t drink alcohol, but they also had complimentary beer & wine and also lemonades and juices.

We would be at Disney right when it opened each morning and went strong until around 3 p.m. then we went back to the hotel to rest, swim, eat dinner and then headed back to Disney around 6 p.m. for the rest of the evening. So we only had to buy lunch and fun treats at the park each day which saved a lot of money for our family.

Now the biggest drawback is that the hotel is 3 1/2 blocks from Disney, which is about a 15-20 minute walk. It’s great in the morning when everyone is fresh and ready to go but it can feel really long at around 11 p.m. after a full day of walking.



Some solutions for that:
1. One of the parents run back to the hotel (ahem—my awesome husband!) to grab the van to come pick everyone up. It totally makes up for the Monte Cristo sandwich you just ate.


2. The Toy Story Disneyland Parking Lot is right next to the hotel! So you can hop on any of the toy story parking shuttles at the end of the day (free) and it will save you lots of walking.

3. There are taxi vans right there at the pickup and drop off lot and it may be the best $10 you ever spend to get right to the hotel and not have to walk anymore.

4. There is also an Anaheim shuttle service (ART) you can buy tickets for at the front desk. I think around $12 per person for the week?

We went at an off-season time – the 2nd week in May and our rate was $152/night plus tax and parking is $16 a night. It may be more or less depending on when you go. We liked staying on the first floor to have great access to everything but if you stay on the higher floors, you can request a fireworks view to see the Disney fireworks every night. Some other hotels we considered and why we eventually chose the Homewood Suites:

* The #1 ranked hotel in Anaheim was the Courtyard Marriott Theme Park Entrance – it was right across the street and had a little water park right there, but it was about $40 more per night and no kitchen, no breakfast or dinner.

* The Springhill Suites was also right down from us and we were seriously looking at this one too. About the same price, It is a little closer, but the pool area wasn’t as big/nice, no dinner, valet parking only.

* The Candy Cane Inn – the rooms were less expensive but we would have to get 2 rooms, no kitchen, lighter breakfast, but it was well kept, had breakfast and the pools.

It just depends on what you are looking for: closer location, meals, pool, how many rooms you need, etc. I hope this helps – what is your favorite Disneyland hotel? I’ll share some Disneyland tips I wish I had known in another post ~

Hello! Since I have had frames and walls on my mind lately -- I figured I was hanging stuff anyway so I might as well knock it out downstairs too! You will recognize most of these from our basement playroom in our Virginia home.

The “order here” sign was a quickie that I painted from some scrap wood and craft paint. I was totally going to try to DIY a lighted arrow but my sister Kerri did one and said NO! it takes forever! So I was thrilled to find this one on clearance at Bed, Bath & Beyond for $10.

 Hello -- come on in to our upstairs bathroom! This is the one my younger boys and guests use. I actually have a long, drawn out, melodramatic story to go with the decisions for this space, but that is for another post! Today is just to show it and make it look it easy :)

Before the kids come home, sometimes it’s good to open the fridge and see what you need to get rid of. I had some pears that were getting really soft, some big pieces of cheese that were drying out on the edges (because someone who shall not be named forgot to close the package) and a huge box of crackers from Costco that no one never seemed interested in.

I cut them up, put them out, and everything was gone in a few minutes. They get a snack, you don’t waste food, everyone is happy.

If you put it out, they will eat it.
At least my kids will -- most of the time.

I *try* (key word here is try) to do the same thing with meal planning -- I see what I have, what needs to be used and try to plan around that. It will save you money and kids won’t be opening every door and cabinet wondering what there is to eat. 

Piano books everywhere. A mess. So, I was thrilled to find some more of these magazine holders, this time at Tuesday Morning. The first ones I found were at TJ Maxx, I have also seen them at Ross. They have been the perfect solution for keeping them corralled -- when they put them away after they practice. Ha! Ask how often that happens. But at least we have a place for them when it’s cleanup time. :)

I just did the number thing again with the years they were born - the font is Engravers MT, my favorite one for numbers.

A little Tuesday organizing tip --

Welcome to Day 1 of 31 Days at 320 Sycamore! We are slowly trying to figure out the best places for things as we unpack, organize, gather, and get rid of stuff in our boxes. The garage is on the top of our list because I hate the feeling of not knowing where things are. Especially when we are rushing out the door to a practice or a game -- I was so tired of wasting time looking for things. So, we decided to do something about it.

18. The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski : This is one I can’t make it through without crying. It’s about a change that occurs in a grumpy old man resulting from a request of a widow and her little boy.

17. The Snow Bear by Miriam Moss : my friend Robyn introduced us to this book. If you have a child that is very tactile (loves to touch everything!!), this is a book for you. It has different textures for all of the beautifully illustrated pages.

16. A Little House Christmas Treasury by Laura Ingalls Wilder. All of the Christmas stories from the Little House books in one collection. These were a part of my childhood, and curling up with this just takes me back.

15. Room for a Little One by Martin Waddell. This one was from my mom years ago, when I was expecting my 4th little one :) A sweet story about making room for each creature that comes to the barn on a cold night, with beautiful illustrations.

14. Peter Spier's Christmas!: this is another older book that is hard to come by. I adore Peter Spier’s illustrations and have loved all of his books. There are no words in this one, just charming pictures of a family getting ready for Christmas.

13. Corduroy's Christmas by Don Freeman: no complexity or heartwarming story here, my kids just adore the lift-the-flaps.

12. The Legend of the Candy Cane : a reminder of what Jesus has done for each of us. This one is best if you have candy canes to eat while you are reading! :)

11. The Last Straw by Fredrick H. Thury: this is about the Wise Men's visit to the Christ child through the eyes of their camel. You can decide together how to say the camel’s name :)

10. If You Love a Christmas Tale by Susanna Lockheart: this is another one my mom gave us. Two classic tales, the Night Before Christmas and the Nutcracker are told, but the book has the pages that change scenes when you turn the page. My kids love it.

9. The Small One by Alex Walsh: such a sweet, sweet story about a donkey that is willing to give his life for his friend.

8. How Murray Saved Christmas by Mike Weiss: I can’t believe this is on my list, but my kids LOVE it. It’s so dumb, but you can’t help but laugh when you read it.

7. Hurry Hurry Have You Heard by Laura Krauss Melmed: another sweet, beautifully illustrated set of poems about animals rushing to meet the newborn child

6. The Sweet Smell of Christmas: my favorite Christmas book when I was little. It’s a scratch and sniff storybook about a bear getting ready for Christmas. We scratched the cocoa sticker off until there was nothing left, but I swear it smelled better when I was a kid…

5. The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg: of course. The illustrations alone are worth buying it. My little Landon asks us every night if the Christmas train is coming tonight…

4. Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree by Robert Barry. Such a fun, clever book about a tree that is too tall!

3 . The Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore: it’s the illustrations by Douglas Gorsline that I love. This is the one we had growing up.

2. Christmas Day in the Morning by Pearl S. Buck: the classic tale of the boy that rushes out to do the chores on the farm before his Dad wakes up on Christmas morning. A sweet tale of the best kind of gifts to give.

1. Why Christmas Trees Aren't Perfect by Richard Schneider: my all-time favorite. “Living for the sake of others makes us most beautiful in the eyes of God.”

Whatever you do, don’t forget to have your kids sign their names on the inside cover when you add a new book to your collection. It’s my favorite part of opening Christmas books. What about you? Have you read and loved any of these? Many of them have come as recommendations from you~do you have any other favorites that you would add to the list? I love finding great books! Perhaps next year, we’ll have to make a longer list…