Mommy Octopus – Page 177 – We can all use a few more hands

Gift Idea – Homemade Sugar Scrub – 24 Recipes!

May 5, 2015 By MommyOctopus Leave a Comment
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This is a sponsored post, written for Dixie Crystals.

Have you realized that Mother’s Day is this Sunday? THIS one? It’s already sneaking up on us! If you’re panicking like I was, no need to fear! I took about 5 minutes and made some homemade sugar scrub and then printed up the labels and DONE! Easy as pie!

Over at Dixie Crystals Kids in the Kitchen website, you can find 24 different recipes for Dixie Crystals Sugar Scrubs. Delicious flavors like Lemon Rosemary, Orange Dreamsicle, and Strawberry Cream. I made the Lemon Brown Sugar Scrub recipe since I conveniently had all of those ingredients on hand.

Supplies Needed:

2 small jars (mason or other, 6-oz. works best) from a local craft store
2 – 2 1/2 cups Dixie Crystals Extra Fine Granulated or Dark Brown sugar (granulated sugar results in a more gentle scrub)
1/2 cup olive, coconut or canola oil
4 – 5 tablespoons lemon juice plus the zest of one lemon (optional)
Vanilla extract

Directions:

Measure 2 – 2 1/2 cups of sugar into a large mixing bowl.
Mix in olive oil.
Add lemon juice plus the zest of one lemon.
Add a few drops of vanilla extract to sweeten the scent.
Divide the mixture evenly between the jars.
Add a label, some ribbon for decoration, and a small wooden spoon for an added touch.

Then you are all ready for gift giving! See how easy that was? Awesome homemade gifts in minutes! Perfect for Mother’s Day this weekend or Teacher Appreciation week!

Be sure to check out all the sweet smelling sugar scrubs over on the Dixie Crystals website to make your own. You can also print FREE Sugar Scrub Labels while you’re there! Remember all ingredients are perishable, so it is recommended to use between 4-6 weeks. To use, simply apply some on your hands and rub in, allowing the sugar and oils to work their magic! Then rinse! Nice and smooth hands are heading your way.

Meal Plan Monday

May 4, 2015 By MommyOctopus Leave a Comment
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Gosh things have been so crazy the past year and is finally starting to settle down a bit where I can plan my weeks out right again. As always, I have a free meal plan printable worksheet that you can use. CLICK HERE to print it.

For us, here’s what our next week of dinners will be:

Monday: Sour Cream Beef Enchiladas

Tuesday: Spaghetti Squash Spaghetti and Meatballs

Wednesday: Grilled Sandwiches

Thursday: Homemade Pizza

Friday: Crock Pot Roast and butternut squash

Saturday: Biscuits, Eggs, Sausage

Sunday: Leftovers!

Using Dreft Through the Early Years #Amazinghood

May 2, 2015 By MommyOctopus 12 Comments
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Laundry, Laundry everywhere! In a house full of 4 children and 1 on the way, many of my days are spent doing laundry! As a new mom, you may have many concerns. Will your little one will be allergic to the detergent that you are using? Will it be too harsh on their precious skin? How will I ever get these toddler food stains out of their clothes?

Dreft has the solution! Dreft is available now in stages to cover all your needs from newborn through messy toddlerhood.

Dreft Newborn (Stage One): Expectant and new parents can wash their little one’s fabrics with Dreft’s same beloved hypoallergenic formula, designed to be tough on stains and gentle on baby’s skin with the beloved Dreft baby scent.
NEW Dreft Active Baby (Stage Two): Specially designed with a growing, developing baby in mind, NEW Dreft Active Baby helps to remove 99% of baby food stains and other outdoor messes with a gentle, hypoallergenic formula and fresh scent.
NEW Dreft Blissfuls (Stage Three): NEW Dreft Blissfuls in-wash scent boosters gives families the baby fresh scent they love. Safe on all fabrics, these beads help bring back that nostalgic, amazing baby scent (and all those memories) with every wash.

As we start preparing for our newest addition, I’ve begun washing all of his clothes in Dreft. The scent is absolutely amazing! Baby fever is in full swing now!

Check out this video to see how other parents are enjoying their Dreft #Amazinghood

Dreft has partnered with new mom and singer Kelly Rowland to unveil the brand’s new line of laundry products that take care of family laundry needs at each life stage – from pregnancy through toddlerhood and beyond. Join us on Tuesday, May 5th, from 9-10pmEST as we talk with Kelly about her life as a mom and how she plans to celebrate her very first Mother’s Day! RSVP here: http://vite.io/DoubleDutyDivas

Also, make sure to download Dreft’s “Amazing Baby” app now available for FREE on the App store. This one- of-a kind app helps parents – and parents to be – capture the amazing moments of pregnancy through their baby’s first year and has recently been updated so that moms and dads can make keepsake movies from photos and videos captured within the app!

Make sure to visit Dreft on Twitter and Facebook to keep up with all the #Amazinghood news!

One lucky reader will win their own Dreft Prize Pack which includes:

Dreft Product Line
Little Me Receiving Blankets
Booster Chair
Lovey
5 Year Memory Book

To enter, fill out the Rafflecopter below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This review was made possible by Double Duty Divas and Dreft. I was provided the featured product free of charge to facilitate my review and compensation, but all opinions are 100% mine.

National Police Week Ideas

April 24, 2015 By MommyOctopus 1 Comment
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National Police Week is sneaking back up on us again! This year, it is May 10-16, 2015. I’ve been working on putting together some new ideas in addition to our law enforcement appreciations bags from last year. In the past year, so much negativity has been brought out towards our officers. Being married to one, all the hatred really hurts. There are fantastic guys and gals that go out every day to keep us all safe. It’s great to take a few days to just say thank you and offer a little token of our appreciation. Even a simple “Thank You” says a lot!

If you are looking for some great store-bought gifts for your local officers, Family Christian has a couple to consider. I recommend both the Courageous DVD and the Grace Card DVD. We have both of these and they are fantastic. I honestly don’t think I could pick a favorite between the two. Both are encouraging for not only officers, but fathers as well. Another item that I’m considering grabbing for our guys are these Beatitudes Bookmarks. People often forget the “Blessed are the peacemakers” part.

If you prefer something homemade, I’ve put together some goodies that don’t cost as much as the bags I put together last year, but I know they will still appreciate it! I’ve made some fun printables to go along with these so you can print and make as well. All you need is a printer, some small bags of chips, and some kit-kats!

To download the free printable, simply click on their name below to view and print the PDF:

Here’s a photo of the Kit-Kat one. It’s really basic but cheap enough that you could make a bunch easily.

And of course a reminder of our bags from last year:

And the printables:

Do you have any other ideas? I’d love to hear them! How are you saying “Thank You” this year?

Top 10 FREE Activities at Disney World

April 24, 2015 By MommyOctopus Leave a Comment
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This is a guest post by my friend Jennifer. Jennifer is a Disney Vacation Specialist with Destinations in Florida. Get the best price on your Walt Disney World Vacation Package… Guaranteed!

Everyone loves freebies! There are lots of things at Disney World that actually do not cost a cent. They are perfect for your lighter days away from the busyness of the parks. Here is our favorite list of Top 10 Free Activities at Disney World:

#10. Downtown Disney – You can walk around this huge shopping, dining and entertainment complex at Disney World. There is free entertainment at the Downtown Disney Marketplace that includes getting your picture taken with statutes of Buzz Lightyear and a pirate from the crew of the Flying Duchess, watching the boats, sprites, and ferries travel across the bay, pin trading at the pin pavilion, dig for dinosaurs at T-Rex, and the kids can play at the LegoLand playground and Legos area. To stay cool, the kids can bring their swimsuits and play in the water jet areas. We could easily spend an entire day just wandering around Downtown Disney.

#9. Animal Programs at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge – You can visit the animals in the savanna at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge. Depending on your viewing location, of which there are several, you will see giraffe, pelicans, flamingos, and gazelles roaming the 33-acre wildlife preserve that surrounds the resort. Great way to see some animas without spending more!

There are several educational programs throughout the day including special viewings in the evening with night vision goggles and special feeding times throughout the day. At the end of the day, stories will be told around the fire pit just outside the main lobby. Be sure to call and find out what time activities will be happening.

#8. Hidden Mickey Hunt – Here’s another one of our favorite activities! Take a Hidden Mickey Hunt around any of the Disney resorts. Many of the resort front desks will have a Hidden Mickey guide for that resort, such as the Hidden Mickey Safari at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge. These hidden versions of the classic Mickey ears logo (°o°) can be found throughout Disney property. This is a fun activity for kids and adults!

#7. Stables – Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort has a fun area near Pioneer Hall that has stables with horses from Magic Kingdom. My kids love checking out the ponies. Plus for a nominal fee, kids can take a pony ride. There are height restrictions, so check into those before you end up with disappointed kiddos.

While you’re here, Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort has some of the most scenic and lengthy walking paths of any resort on Disney property, so get out there and enjoy some fitness in the beautiful Florida weather! There are very nice playgrounds and trading posts for pin trading as well.

#6. Water Taxi/Ferry Ride – Enjoy a leisure boat ride from Downtown Disney to Disney’s Port Orleans Riverside Resort. You can walk around the beautiful trails and rivers around Disney’s Port Orleans Riverside and then ride the water taxi back to Downtown Disney.

Additionally, you can take a ride on one of the ferries that takes resort guests to the Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. These include the ferry from the Wilderness Lodge that goes to Magic Kingdom, then Fort Wilderness, and finally back to Wilderness Lodge. This ferry gives riders great views of both Bay Lake and the Seven Seas Lagoon, including seeing long forgotten Disney attractions like River Country and Treasure Island.

Also, this ride will take you over one of the engineering feats on Disney property, the water “bridge.” This canal passes over a road as cars pass “under” the water. Disney’s Boardwalk, Yacht & Beach Clubs, and the Swan and Dolphin have a ferry that travels from these resorts to Disney’s Hollywood Studios and back providing amazing views of the Florida landscape and the Tower of Terror ride. All the resorts will provide you with a short-term parking permit (2-3 hours, depending on the season) to explore the resort.

#5. Electrical Water Pageant – Spend an evening in a hammock on the beach at Disney’s Polynesian Resort while you watch the Electrical Water Pageant. This fun water parade runs in front of Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort, Disney’s Polynesian Resort, Disney’s Contemporary Resort, Disney’s Wilderness Lodge Resort, and Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort, nightly. We’ve always watched it from the beach at Fort Wilderness Resort. It doesn’t get too crowded.

#4. Wishes Fireworks – You can watch the Wishes Fireworks at Magic Kingdom from the Deck at Disney’s Contemporary Resort. This is an amazing view of the fireworks above Cinderella’s Castle. You can also see these at many areas throughout the property if the weather cooperates.

#3. Ride the Monorail – Need a place indoors and out of the heat? You can take a ride on the monorail loop to see some of the Walt Disney World Resort. This is always a fun ride for the whole family. In fact, my kids have always assumed it is, in fact, a ride!

The main loop goes from the Magic Kingdom front entrance to the Ticketing and Transportation Center to EPCOT and back. There is also an “inner” loop that will take you from the front entrance of Magic Kingdom to Disney’s Grand Floridian, Disney’s Polynesian Resort, Disney’s Contemporary Resort, and then returning to the front entrance of Magic Kingdom.

#2. Campfire Singalong – Enjoy a fun evening at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort. Chip and Dale will greet you for this fun campfire sing-along. You can roast marshmallows and then sing some fun songs around the campfire. After the sing-along, enjoy a classic Disney movie on the big screen for FREE! You can get Chip and Dale’s autographs and even photos with them!

#1. Disney’s Boardwalk – Enjoy evening activities on Disney’s Boardwalk including games and live entertainment. Walk over to Disney’s Yacht & Beach Club Resort and enjoy a campfire and movie under the stars. You can even see some of the IllumiNations Show at Epcot along the Disney’s Boardwalk.

For more information about Disney World, view our Disney World post roundup.

What are your favorite free things to do at Disney World?

Easy Taco Lettuce Wraps

April 24, 2015 By MommyOctopus Leave a Comment
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Our family has been trying to cut back on sugar and processed carbs and looking for alternative ways to enjoy some of our favorite foods! We made these easy taco lettuce wraps the other night and they were a huge hit! Even the kids enjoyed them! We’re finding so many of our favorite foods can be delicious with a lettuce wrap instead of whatever is normally used.

If you follow the Trim Healthy Mama plan, these would be considered an S if you leave out the beans and use beef. It can be an E with the ground turkey and beans and light cheese. Yummy either way!

For starters, gather your ingredients and start browning your ground beef or turkey. Drain and add your taco seasonings. When done, start building your tacos with your favorite ingredients! Easy peasy!

Easy Taco Lettuce Wraps

Ingredients

1 lb. Ground Beef or Turkey
1 teas. Chili Powder
1 teas. Cumin
½ teas. Salt
½ teas. Pepper
½ teas. Garlic Powder
½ Cup Water
1 Can Black Beans, rinsed and drained
1 Cup Colby Jack Cheese, shredded
1 Avocado, sliced
½ Cup Sliced Black Olives
½ Red Onion, diced
8 Romaine lettuce leaves

Instructions

In a pan over medium high heat brown the meat, drain and return to the pan over medium heat.?Add the Chili powder, Cumin, Salt, Pepper and Garlic powder stir to combine and let cook 1 minute.
Add the water and beans, simmer until the liquid has almost completely evaporated, remove from heat.
To build, start with the lettuce leaf with the concave portion facing up. Sprinkle 1/8 of the cheese along the center rib, then the meat and beans, the avocado slices, olives and onions.
Serve with sour cream and salsa.

25 Free Homeschooling Resources

April 23, 2015 By MommyOctopus Leave a Comment
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Homeschooling your children is a big decision and one that shouldn’t be taken lightly. There’s a lot to consider and one of the biggest is whether your budget has room for you to purchase curriculum, supplies and everything else that comes along for the ride. Luckily, there is a boatload of free homeschooling resources on the net that you can use along with your curriculum or by themselves if you aren’t using a set curriculum. Take a look at them and see if there’s anything you can use. I’m sure you’ll find something that you like!

Free Kindle Books – Amazon is chock full of free Kindle books that are great for homeschool. They change almost hourly too so you’re always able to look and find a few new ones.
Open Culture – When it comes to homeschool freebies, Open Culture really is the place you want to be. Currently they feature over 200 free videos, online textbooks, games and more.
Educents – While Educents is technically an online store, they do offer a large amount of freebies each day. You’ll find them in a range from single printable to entire unit lesson plans. Most of the printables are created by either homeschooling Mom’s themselves or certified teachers so you can count on getting quality freebies for your kids.
Ambleside Online – If you’re a fan of the Charlotte Mason learning style, Ambleside Online will provide you with an entire curriculum to use from Kindergarten to grade 12 in the 5 basic subjects as well as electives such as art, Shakespeare, folks songs and more. This is a religious based curriculum so just keep that in mind if you’re a secular homeschooler.
Free Lesson Plans from Scholastic – If you’re looking for unit plans for specific things, Scholastic is a great resource for grabbing freebies. They offer multiple lessons in grades Pre-K through 12 on subjects like “Remembering Anne Frank,” outdoor learning centers and so much more.
Free Piano Sheet Music – If you’re including piano in your homeschool music program, Virtual Sheet Music is perfect for you! You can download free sheet music for the classics on piano as well as some that are duets for piano and other instruments.
Free Science DVD’s – Looking to supplement your science curriculum? The Howard Hughes Medical Institute has you covered. You can order over 25 free science related dvd’s for free! They’re great for adding onto what your child is already learning.
Discovery Education – If you’re a fan of the Discovery Channel, you can add them to your homeschool! They offer several free lesson plans on a few different topics. They’re great for when you just need a quick supplement.
Easy Peasy All in One Homeschool – Easy Peasy is another heavily religion based curriculum, but it is a full curriculum for grades K-12. She includes all of the core subjects plus a few extras.
Free homeschool planners – When it comes to homeschool planning and record keeping, Donna Young is the queen. She offers planners, records, calendars and more and they’re all free. If you’re keeping a homeschool binder, you’ll definitely want to take a look.
Free Tech Classes from Google – Every kid should learn a bit about coding and things and Google is the place to be for that. They offer a few different videos and lessons on coding and other tech services. Just be sure to select “student” from the drop down menu.
Free Art Lessons & Projects – Don’t let their name fool you. KinderArt is a great free resource for free art lessons or art projects for students of all ages. You can sort them out by age or medium to be sure that you find what you need to.
NASA Kid’s Club – Have a future space cadet in your homeschool? They’ll love the NASA Kid’s Club and you’ll love that they’re learning about space.
Free Kid’s Money & Budgeting Curriculum – The Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank offers their kid’s money & budgeting curriculum called “Great Minds Think Alike.” You can order a free physical copy or download it by PDF.
Free First Aid Classes – Homeschool isn’t just about the 3 R’s and these Free Basic and Advanced First Aid classes are perfect for adding an extra elective.
Free Sign Language Classes – Why not learn a new language that isn’t Spanish, French or German?
Free Banking Lessons and Curriculum – Head over to Hands on Banking for lessons and curriculum to help you teach your child the ins and outs of banking, budgets and more.
Project Gutenberg – With over 46,000 free e-books, you’ll never want for something to read. You can find both older classics and new ones indexed here and they add more every day.
Encyclopedias Britannica – Remember those thick books that sat on your book shelf? They’re not available online and for free.
We Give Books – Books can be super expensive and We Give Books is trying to help with that. Your child can read current books (Such as the “Who is” series, Nat Geo books and more) online in digital magazine form for free.
Free Nutrition Lessons – The USDA offers multiple free brochures, posters and worksheets to help you teach your child proper eating habits and nutrition. Just remember to read each option carefully because you could end up with 30 of each if you don’t.
Free Learning Worksheets – K5 Learning is an awesome site for worksheet in every core subject in, you guessed it, grades K-5.
Free Curriculum on Water – Learning the water cycle or how to conserve it? Head over to Water.org for free curriculum. They offer 3 different ones in Elementary, Middle and High School ages.
Free Teacher Resources – The Library of Congress offers multiple resources to both teachers and homeschoolers for free.
Free Online Clubs – Curriclick offers several free online clubs for homeschool students. Choose from things like American Girl, Lego and more. Topics change from semester to semester.

Homeschooling doesn’t have to be expensive and it doesn’t have to break your budget. Use these 25 freebies as a jumping off point. The internet is full of them and they’re all perfect for homeschooling on a budget!

Join Us in Fighting Child Hunger in America #FightHungerTogether

April 17, 2015 By MommyOctopus Leave a Comment
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Did you know that here in America, 1 in 5 children face hunger? That is 16 million children! That’s why ConAgra Foods and the ConAgra Foods Foundation are harnessing the power of youth to tackle this issue in neighborhoods across the country. I’m working with Conagra Foods Foundation and The Motherhood to help fight hunger together! The food pantries are in such need and we CAN make a difference!

This week, I took my 4 kiddos out and we purchased $50 worth of Conagra Foods to donate to our favorite local food donation center, Food 2 Kids Athens. We were able to donate over 25 lbs of food to help other kids! My kids took time picking out some great Conagra Foods in their favorite flavors, knowing that other kids would love those flavors as well.

While we were donating, Food 2 Kids generously gave us a tour and showed how they bag up the foods. The way this program works is that they make bags of food to send home with children from school so that way they have food to eat on the weekends. My kids were floored that some kids in our local community do not have food to eat on the weekend. Even more shocking was the number of how many kids they feed! I should have written it down, but I was so surprised at the number that I forgot!

One easy way to get involved is to look for the red pushpin and locate the code found on specially marked ConAgra Foods products. For each 8-digit code entered at www.ChildHungerEndsHere.com from March-August 2015, ConAgra Foods will donate the monetary equivalent of one meal to Feeding America, up to 3 million meals. That will truly make a difference!

Discover more about ConAgra Foods’ approach to fighting child hunger at ChildsHungerEndsHere.com

Mother of All Baby Showers 2015 with MomTV

April 13, 2015 By MommyOctopus Leave a Comment
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I’m so excited to be part of the Mother of All Baby Showers, a premier new/expectant mom expo being held in 5 cities, with a virtual shower on MomTV on April 14th.

Details:

Date: Tuesday, April 14th
Time: 8:00pm EST
Location: Tune in at the MomTV Facebook Page

MomTV will be giving away awesome prize packs from brands such as BRITAX, Pediped, HALO, Premama, and more. One lucky attendee will even win the new BRITAX B-Safe 35 Infant Car Seat! How awesome is that!

If you’ve never been part of a MomTV live event, it’s a fun and easy way to chat with other moms. Simply tune in on the MomTV Facebook page and log in as a guest or with your Twitter or Facebook account to chat. Watch the live video feed and interact with Maria and guests in the chat for a chance to win exciting prizes.

I was able to participate and in the video below, you can see me opening my gift!

Make sure you’re following MOABS on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date and find out if The Mother of All Baby Showers is coming to a city near you!

Frosted Frozen Lemonade Recipe

April 7, 2015 By MommyOctopus 3 Comments
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Recently, my hubby has gotten himself hooked on Chick-fil-A’s Frosted Lemonades. They are so refreshing! I went to work seeing if I could simply make him one here at home and it ended up being much easier than I expected! Only 2 ingredients needed for this CopyCat Chick-fil-A Frosted Lemonade recipe!

Simply gather lemonade and ice cream. For the best flavor, you’ll want to get real, quality ice cream, and a real lemonade. I used Turkey Hill French Vanilla and Simply Lemonade. You can figure out which ratio of ice cream to lemonade that you prefer, but I used 1 1/2 cups of lemonade to about 6 scoops of ice cream.

Blend until combined and smooth. Best served in chilled glasses and garnish with a lemon for extra fun. YUM!