Our Trampoline Birthday Party was Flippin Awesome!

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When I was a kid, one of the coolest sets of lyrics to be put to a dope beat was “jump up, jump up, and get down.” The song “Jump Around” by House of Pain included the word “jump” approximately 94 times which, coincidentally, is about how many jumps I have to do to get a full workout. Working up a sweat as an adult is SO much easier than it was when I was a kid, so our son’s trampoline birthday party recently doubled as my gym visit for the day and his celebration. Score!

What’s in my Football Tailgating Bag

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When I went off to college at UCLA, I knew that it would be the start of a whole new world of experiences. Sports were a big deal at school. Coming from a decidedly non-sports family, my first games were in the Rose Bowl where I cheered on this dude named Nate who lived on my dorm floor. Back in those days, my football tailgating bags were built from the ground up out of sheer necessity. Through trial and error, I learned what items I needed to get through a long day. Now that most stadium events have implemented a mandatory “see through” bag policy to speed up security lines, it’s more important than ever that items in that bag be compact and useful.

A New RV Mattress Helps us Get Amazing Adventure Sleep

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Getting out and exploring the world is definitely something we identify with. We live for wide open spaces, trees, mountains and streams. It’s all part of our life plan. So much so, in fact, that Chelsea and I recently invested in something to keep us out in the wilds for longer than normal. After a few years of sleeping in a tent, then in the back of the truck, then in a tent on top of the truck (which is still fun), we gave each other permission and bought a 37-foot trailer RV. Specifically, we bought a “toy hauler,” so we have extra space in the back to make the boys a room and to tote toys around. First on our list of upgrades was a new RV mattress – and here’s why.

Going Back to School was Surprisingly Painless this Year!

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Our big boys started back to school last week. Second grade and kindergarten! To be honest, I was anxious after a couple of bumpy years. I’ve shared that we do sort of a “modified” schooling situation, pairing long stretches of independent study with a more traditional elementary school setting. This summer took us on a new homeschool adventure, with an educational consultant and lots of fun curriculum, but we ultimately decided to continue with the part-time classroom situation for at least another year. I was nervous that the kids wouldn’t want to head back.

A Minions Oral Care Setup for your Movie-Loving Kid

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To say that we have some BIG Minions fans in our household would be an understatement. We’ve dressed up as the characters for Halloween, our third son is nicknamed “Minion”, and they’re all over our kids’ favorite jammies! So when our dentist said we needed to motivate our kids to brush their teeth more consistently, I knew exactly what approach to take. A Minions toothbrush, all the Minion-y gear I could find to go along with it, and the new augmented reality brushing experience from Colgate on the Blippar app!

Eliminating Phantom Risks at Home

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So, a few months back, Chelsea and I were perusing a blogging conference and ran in to some of the great people from Kidde. I was excited to speak with them and was stoked when they reached back out to us last month and asked if we could talk about Kidde carbon monoxide alarms. Despite the fact that we’ve been a Kidde family for…well…as long as I can remember, they still sent over a plug-in CO alarm. I’ll talk about that later, though.

How I Ditched Postpartum Acne

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My 4th baby gave me lots of joy, sleepless nights, and SERIOUS postpartum acne. It took me a lot of trial and error, but I finally ditched those blemishes for good. Here’s how.

Addressing Learning Differences at a Young Age

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I’ll never forget the day that my oldest son’s preschool called me in to talk about addressing his “learning differences.” As an involved parent and a former teacher, I was acutely aware from infancy that he processed things differently than his peers. I was just surprised to hear someone else acknowledge it. Worry wasn’t top of mind during that conversation, when they suggested we have him assessed by the county for an IEP and start making minor adjustments to his day at the learning center.

I was relieved to be getting help.

Here’s the Booster we Take Along When we Travel

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My three-year-old is in a booster seat, and I don’t even know how this happened. Basically, I blinked, and now he’s a walking-talking-functional human being with independent thoughts and ideas. I’ve mentioned how buying clothes for him is a little weird because he’s huge for his age. The car seat situation is the same. He’s too big for most harness seats, but he’s still mentally immature and needing something SOLID that keeps him contained in one spot if he wiggles a bit. With our frequent travels, we also need something that can go from car-to-train-to-Uber without much fanfare.

What to do when You Have Trouble Seeing Close Up

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I’m thirty-three years old. Three years ago, I had laser eye surgery to correct life-long nearsightedness. Before the surgery, I had no trouble seeing close up. Books, computers, cell phones and faces in conversation were easy. What caused me to squint were things like street signs, chalkboards and clocks across the room. The doc warned me that my vision may swing the other way after the surgery: based on my eyes and genetics, I’d likely have trouble seeing close up sooner than most people. Surgery could help me travel and navigate airports or roads, but soon I would probably find myself holding reading material and menus further away, struggling to make out words that were right in front of my face.

She was right. 

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