September 1, 2015 by Krista

Back To Campus with Schick Disposable Razors

Are you tired of all things ‘back to school’? Are you settled into your routine and the excitement of back to school is wearing down quickly? Or are you just starting back? While my little family is settling into the routine of being back in school and it’s almost old news, my siblings that live locally just started their college classes again last week. One of my favorite things about college: the schedule. Start back the end of August and out a few weeks before Christmas for a whole month and then done again by the middle of May. It’s perfection. Get in, get your work done and then get out. College is, by no means, an easy thing to complete; but, I prefer the heavier work load with more break time to the schedule that Big J and our county public school system has.

Helping my sister get ready for her last year of college was so much. We got some great sister bonding time and it was fun to reflect on my college experience. We headed to Walmart with her list of college life must-haves. We hit the back to school section and chaos ensued in our search for notebooks, paper, a ruler – she’s a design major and can’t seem to get enough rulers, pencils, erasers and colored pencils. But our shopping didn’t end once we were finished in the back to school section of the store. We headed over to health and beauty for some of the most important college supplies.

We picked up the basics: shampoo, conditioner, body wash, extra hair ties and bobby pins, a spray bottle, her preferred hair care products, a new toothbrush and toothpaste, and deodorant. Then we made sure to get enough Schick Disposable products to keep hairy situations under control. I even picked up some of the NEW Schick® Xtreme3® Disposable razors for Mr Napping. They are his favorite kind of disposable razors and I like my man clean-shaven. They had the Schick Hydro 5 disposable razors too, which I’ve actually used and they are pretty nice. It was pretty apparent other people liked them too, by the empty shelves.

I also grabbed some more disposable razors for myself – women’s this time – because shaving never ends and the worst thing ever is to try and shave with a dull disposable razor. I love the Schick® Quattro For Women® because the quadruple blades get all the way to the base of my hair without having to repeatedly shave over my legs. I’ll admit, I’m not the most consistent shaver once the shorts and capris get put in the closet and swimsuit season is over. When those pants come back out, the length between shaves and my leg hair grows longer and longer as it gets colder and colder. The Schick® Quattro For Women® helps keep the time I do shave to a minimum so I can do much more important things than shave my legs!

How would you like $10,000 to put toward tuition?! Right now, you can snap a summer selfie and enter to win 1 of 4 grand prizes, plus lots of other fun prizes too! See contest details for full rules and regulations.

Which Schick Disposable razor is your favorite? Check out all the great Schick Disposable Products at Walmart!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Schick®. The opinions and text are all mine.

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August 31, 2015 by Krista

Keeping Up With Our Filthiest Play

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Maytag for IZEA. All opinions are 100% mine.

I grew up with two sisters and one brother. When I was pregnant with Big J, I wanted a girl… because boys terrified me. I knew nothing about trucks, trains, dinosaurs and bugs. I wasn’t really afraid to get dirty, but it would be accurate to say that boys grossed me out. And intimidated me a little. Now I have three boys of my own, and it takes a real catastrophe to make me cringe at filthy messes now. It’s common to engage in the filthiest play we can. Did you really have fun if you didn’t get down and dirty seems to be a common theme within my four walls. And outside of them too.

To a young boy, everything needs to be explored. I’ve heard rumors of boys out there that are content to sit and color or read or paint, but those are not my boys. Things need to be tested – what does it take to destroy that? Into how many pieces can this napkin be torn? Is there really another tissue underneath this one? How many wipes are in one box? What happens when you mix mud and water? Can you add in some grass and rocks? Will all of my toys cover the entire floor? These are the things my boys seem to ask. My house is chaotic. It’s often disheveled and sometimes messy. Occasionally, it’s even filthy. Some of our messiest moments occur around the table.

Food is just one more thing that needs to be explored. My boys are not picky eaters. They will eat whatever is put in front of them because we have encouraged them to try new foods, sometimes more than once or twice or even thrice. Because they are allowed to explore their food before they eat it, they are comfortable with it and are willing to try things that they would otherwise turn up their noses to. Obviously, there is a time and place to encourage messy exploration and play. I love to provide those opportunities for by kids. They become more independent, curious and brave by allowing them the chance to get dirty.

We love to spend time together as a family outside. Whether we are camping, hiking, riding ATV’s or out playing in a lake somewhere, we love to explore the great outdoors. It provides to many teaching opportunities and it’s just plain fun. It can also be dirty. And that’s a wonderful thing. There are lots of ways to get your kids to explore some of life’s messier moments. Make mud pies or cakes and use sticks as birthday candles, play restaurant outside and see what your kids can come up with to “cook” for you, do science experiments together, find some rocks to climb on – the bigger, the better, make a mud puddle with a challenge to see who can get the dirtiest, build sandcastles at the beach or in the sandbox with recycled molds from around the house, like empty cans. Paint a picture together with watercolors or tempera paint, draw a picture or make a gameboard with chalk, look for bugs or lizards in the backyard or garden, go camping and get the kids to help pitch the tent and build the campfire, play baseball, kickball, or soccer and go all out! What’s your favorite way play in the dirt?

If the filthiest play is also a part of your daily lives, you know that you need something that will keep up with all the adventures. Maytag’s newest top-load washer and dryer can handle all the dirt and grime your filthiest play can manage to create. They are designed, engineered and assembled in America and have the power to clean big league stains. They are the official washer and dryer of MLB, which is filthy play to the core. Maytag laundry appliances will help clean up your filthiest plays!

Maytag is calling ball players of all ages to upload photos or videos of their sliding, diving or just “filthy plays” using the hashtag #MyFilthiestPlay” on Twitter or Instagram! There will be weekly prizes, and the opportunity of a lifetime – a grand prize trip to the World Series, plus a Maytag Top Load Washer and Dryer pair. Submissions will be accepted until September 14th, 2015. Come share your Filthiest Plays of the Week and you could win!

August 28, 2015 by Krista

Coconut Lime Chicken

We are BIG fans of grilling. Not just during the summer either. My and Mr. Napping’s first Christmas after we were married, I was just getting over some terrible morning sickness and we splurged on some salmon for our Christmas Eve dinner. Mr. Napping grilled that delicious fish in the snow. I am always looking for a good marinade or rub to grill with. In the past few months, I have started using coconut oil more often. This lead me to coconut milk… and the most delicious marinade I have managed to concoct. And it’s just three ingredients. Ready for some delicious, hot off the grill Coconut Lime Chicken?

COCONUT LIME CHICKEN

Print This Recipe

Coconut Lime Chicken

Prep time: 4 hours 30 mins

Cook time: 25 mins

Total time: 4 hours 55 mins

Serves: 4-6 chicken breasts

Ingredients

- 1 (13.6 oz) can of coconut milk
- ¼ cup lime juice
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 4 to 6 chicken breasts

Instructions

- Thaw the chicken breasts if they frozen.
- Warm the can of coconut milk in hot water. Coconut milk can be solid or partially solid at room temperature. Warm it up and mix the milk with a whisk until it's all homogeneous and combined. It just needs to be warm enough to mix together.
- Combine the lime juice and the ground ginger with the coconut milk and mix together. The ginger sometimes clumps up, try to break it up as much as you can.
- In a large container (preferably with a lid), pour the coconut milk marinade on top of the chicken breasts. Put the lid on and shake the container to help the marinade get between the pieces of chicken.
- Let the chicken sit in the marinade for at least 4-6 hours, overnight is ideal.
- Cook the chicken. My preferred method is on the grill, but these are delicious baked in the oven as well.

August 26, 2015 by Krista

Keep Track of Your Box Tops Labels With a DIY Collection Container

Thanks to General Mills® for sponsoring today’s post. All content is 100% original and honest. Pinky promise.

Last week I talked a little bit about why I love the Box Tops for Education labels program so much. It’s an awesome way for my family and I to be able to contribute to my children’s school without having to volunteer a lot of time and effort. While other volunteer opportunities are wonderful, I don’t always have that option with two other youngsters at home. With the Box Tops labels, I can still help out and it fits into my hectic and crazy life. All I have to do is buy participating products, clip the labels, and send them into school with my son. His school gets $0.10 for every label and the money can be used wherever the school needs it. Last year’s Box Tops money helped them keep their Physical Education teacher this year. Definitely a worthy use of the money to me. And I don’t have to go out of my way to buy special products I won’t use. The labels are on many of the things we already buy. And, right now, at Walmart you can score BONUS Box Tops labels, making each product worth $0.50!

But, with all these Box Tops labels being cut out and saved, it’s not difficult to end up with stacks and piles of small rectangles of paper. I know from experience, these are just begging to be eaten by little ones. I knew I needed a system to keeping them collected and all in one place (and away from the baby!) so that when it was time to turn them in to school, I would be able to do just that. So, I made a simple little collection box to help me, and the rest of my family, know what to do with the labels after we’d clipped them. It’s nothing fancy and it was pretty simple to put together. Ready to test out your origami skills?! It’s really quite easy, I promise there’s no mountain or valley folds waiting for you.

BOX TOPS FOR EDUCATION LABELS
DIY COLLECTION BOX

Materials:
– Small box or a larger box you can cut down
– Scissors or a box cutter
– Packing tape
– Ruler
– Pencil
– Magnets, if you’re going to keep the box on your fridge (reuse some old ones or check any craft department or store for blanks)
– Hot glue gun and glue sticks (if you’re going to put magnets on your box)
– Box label (optional)
– Scrapbook paper (optional)
– Scotch Tape (optional)
– Any other embellishments or decor

Directions:
– I knew I didn’t want a huge collection container hanging around my kitchen; because, after all, those Box Tops labels don’t take up a lot of space so my collection container didn’t need to either. I decided to cut up an old empty box to fit my size needs. I used a cereal box and it was perfect.
– If you want to make a box like mine you can use the following steps to make your box from the back of an old cereal box. Make adjustments if you need to or make or find your own box. I searched for “box template” on Google and the results were a little overwhelming, so I’m sure you can find something that will work for you.
– Use the scissors to cut the back panel off the box. You can use the front panel too, but mine had a hole in it (where I’d cut out a Box Tops label…). Lay it out on a flat surface in portrait orientation.

– Fold the box as shown in the image below. Just a single straight across fold about an inch and a half before the two edges line up.

– Make another fold just like the last one but about two inches before the two edges line up. This will create the bottom of your box.

– Measure in an inch on each side and mark it with the pencil.

– Cut off the inch you measured to create the front of the box. Then, cut in an inch on the first fold line you made to create a tab.

– Measure the bottom of the box and then take the same measurement on each of the sides of the box.

– Fold the cardboard back where you made the marks and put a strip of packing tape on it with the sticky side up. Repeat this step on the other side of the box too.

– Fold up the front of the box and secure the tape by sticking your hand or the ruler inside the box and pressing down down firmly.

– When your box is all assembled you can take your scrapbook paper and cover up the old box print. Fold it around your box and use the Scotch tape to hold it in place. It’s like wrapping a present.

– I wanted it to be incredibly obvious what the little box was for, so I found a large photo of the Box Tops logo and printed it out to put on the front of my box.

– Attach the magnets to the back of the box with hot glue. Hang on your fridge or other metal surface.

You’re now ready to begin collecting those little Box Tops labels! Or transfer your current collection into their new home for safe keeping. This will help make sure we don’t have Box Tops labels floating aimlessly around our house and that they get turned into cash for our school. I can’t wait to see what they decide to do with the money they earn this year! Guess I better go eat another Mint Chocolate Brownie so I can turn in that Box Tops label. <Wink, wink> Right now, you can score BONUS Box Tops labels on select General Mills® products at Walmart! What are you waiting for, fill up that collection box!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of General Mills®. The opinions and text are all mine.

August 25, 2015 by Krista

DIY Dry Erase Organizer Printables – Calendar, Menu Planner, Shopping List

Do you ever wish you were more organized? I sure do. Sometimes I have to be content with organizing the big things and that’s where this Organizer Printables set – that you can make reusable with dry or wet erase markers – is going to come in handy!

We are working on our third week of school here and the routine is finally starting to iron out a bit. But, it wasn’t always smooth sailing.

I need a good system. And, with any good system, comes some great organizers.

One thing I want in my organizers is that I can re-use them. I don’t want to waste that much paper and re-using the organizers lets me develop a system that works for me through trial and error.

I couldn’t find exactly the organizer printables I was looking for, so I made some. And, it’s super easy to make them reusable with this easy Dry Erase Organizer Printables Set and tutorial! Ready? Let’s do this!

DIY DRY ERASE ORGANIZER PRINTABLES

Materials:

– Thermal Laminator (This is the one I use)
– Thermal Pouches Letter Size (these are my preferred pouches)
– Printable Organizer Set (free download!)
– Dry Erase or Wet Erase Markers (I like these wet erase ones – the writing lasts better)
– Pen or Fine Tip Sharpie

Directions:

– Download and print out the Organizer Printables Pack. Click the link, download and save the file to your computer and then print out the pages. You can use them all or just pick and choose which pages you think will work best for you because I want these to be helpful for you. The pages are formatted to 8.5×11″ and the file is in PDF format.

– Turn on your Thermal Laminator and let it warm up completely. The little ready light will turn blue when you’re ready to go. Make sure the laminator is ready before you try to use it; you’ll get the best results that way.

– While the laminator warms up, put each organizer printables page into a thermal pouch. Pull the two layers of the pouch apart – one side of the pouch is sealed. Lay the page on one side of the pouch and fold the pouch back over.

– When the laminator is ready and your page is positioned in the pouch, line up the pouch on the paper tray of the laminator. In complete honesty: I loved everything about this laminator, except the paper tray. It has a fabulous fold up design, but because of that it is not very sturdy. I never had the tray collapse or anything, but it was pretty flimsy. But the cord wrapped away into the bottom of the machine and that almost made up for the unimpressive paper tray. And it had zero effect on the outcome of the pages.

– Gently slide the page into the machine until it starts to pull it through. Let go and the machine will pull it through.

– When the page completely comes out the other side, lay it down on a flat surface until it cools to prevent any curling or weird wrinkles.

– Use the dry or wet erase markers to fill out the organizer printables. I prefer the wet erase markers because they don’t wipe off as easily and my kids think it’s hilarious to wipe off my planners. The wet erase markers give me a slightly better chance of keeping all my info intact.

– Use your DIY Dry Erase Organizer Printables. I don’t actually keep all the organizers on my fridge, but I wanted to show them to you all at once. The menu planner and shopping list are my absolute favorite; the calendar and weekly planner pages are close seconds.

TIPS FOR USING YOUR ORGANIZER PRINTABLES

There are some pages that you may want to keep the information on and not have them be reusable. The important dates or important people pages, for example. I keep the important dates page next to our calendar to help keep me inline and not forget anything.

Use the important people pages as it fits your needs best. I have one page that has a list of important phone numbers on it. We keep it in a special drawer. I filled it out and then laminated it. It is not reusable because the info on here doesn’t change. My boys know where it is and know, if they have an emergency and there is not an adult that can help, that page will give them phone numbers to call. I also keep one that IS reusable as a baby-sitter reference, because I haven’t designed a baby-sitter reference page since my family is usually our sitter.