A Family Vacation to Remember

We have a special surprise for you today! 

Kendra Thornton: a travel advocate, TV spokesperson, PR businesswoman, wife and mother is giving us travel advice!  I'm so excited for this!  I'm not experienced at traveling whatsoever, so I love reading this! Enjoy and get ready to travel!

A Family Vacation to Remember

There's nothing quite like a family vacation in the beautiful summer weather. Although it's getting late in the season to plan a summer trip, there's still time to iron out the details for a hassle-free getaway.

1. Surprise Your Kids


Try something new by surprising the vacation on your kids with no previous warning! They will be thrilled at the prospect of doing something different. If this seems a bit too extreme, build up anticipation for the trip by hinting at it to your children in the weeks leading up to leaving. Remember though, if you are going to surprise them, there has to be a destination that they are going to be excited about.


2. Booking a Hotel


Get a jumpstart on booking your hotel early on to get the best deal for your family. However, remember to look at more than just the cost of the hotel when booking. Check for things like microwaves and refrigerators in the room so you can store food you bring with you, rather than having to spend lots of money at a restaurant for every meal. I used Gogobot to find a fantastic Orlando hotel that offered a free continental breakfast for my entire family. Look through user reviews to see if a hotel has all the amenities your family needs. 


3. Make the Airport Check-In Easy


It’s easy to become flustered when trying to check luggage and go through security with kids, but if you come prepared these headaches can be avoided. Print the boarding passes beforehand and even put slip-on shoes on the little ones to make going through security a breeze. If you are having a question about whether you can bring something through security or not, check out the My TSA mobile app.


4. Stick to a Schedule


Even when the family is having a blast, there's still time needed for naps and bed times. Skipping breaks and not providing some downtime can result in sour attitudes that ruin the day. Make sure you bring some healthy snacks around with you in case mealtimes might get pushed back a bit.


5. Comfortable Traveling


Whether you are traveling by air or road, you will not want your kid to be crabby. Keep the kids occupied by bringing a favorite book or toy with you, or a portable DVD player. If you have a young child, you might consider investing in car window blinds to block out the sunlight so they can nap.


Being prepared means more fun for the whole family! I hope these tips come in handy, and remember to have fun and travel safe!

Thanks again!

Reference 1: I used Gogobot to find a fantastic Orlando hotel that offered a free continental breakfast for my entire family.

Link: http://www.gogobot.com/orlando-walt-disney-world-florida--hotels

Reference 2: If you are having a question about whether you can bring something through security or not, check out the My TSA mobile app.

Link: http://www.tsa.gov/traveler-information/my-tsa-mobile-application

Reference 3: If you have a young child, you might consider investing in car window blinds to block out the sunlight so they can nap.

Link: http://www.toysrus.com/buy/outdoor-play/summer-safety/car-travel-safety/dream-baby-car-window-shade-2-pack-l2072-4439434

 

Kendra Thornton: Travel advocate, TV spokesperson, PR businesswoman, proud wife and mama of 3. I am a long time travel expert who has been packing my bags and traveling the world since I was 3 months old! I've found my utmost desire in life is right here in my own home. I have taken my excitement for travel and brought it to you with some of my favorite travel tips and tricks. Enjoy!

Twitter: https://twitter.com/KendraThornton

Website: http://www.thorntonpr.com/

Lulu Mom- Gingerbread Men

Today we have Jami from Lulu Mom here with us!
 She is going to show us how to make some yummy Gingerbread Men.  But, lets get to know a little about Jami first!

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Well hello there you lovely Babblings and More Readers. My goodness, I don't know about you but I absolutely adore this blog! I mean, what an amazing sisterhood they have going on. So of course, I'm beyond honored to write a guest post for them. Let me start by introducing myself.  My name is Jami and I blog over at the Lulu Mom.

I'm an Oklahoma girl who is now living the dream in beautiful Colorado. I am a wife to a pretty great man, who is a cop in Aurora, CO. We have a 2 year old daughter who we lovingly call, Little Miss. She keeps me on my toes and I am learning a whole different level of patience with this crazy stage you might have heard of... Yep the terrible 2's.  So much fun. Today I'm going to share with you the best gingerbread recipe you will EVER have. Seriously, tuck this away and use it for next year. I've made gingerbread for as long as I can remember and this is the perfected recipe that was in the testing stages for many holidays!  :)  It's soft, and tastes divine.  Not crunchy and not bitter!  OH YUM! So ENJOY, and feel free to pop on over to my neck of the woods anytime. I'd love to have you!

Let's start by whisking together your dry ingredients.  Flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves all go into a bowl and you whisk it away.

Then in a Kitchen Aid (or use an electric mixer) mix together the butter and brown sugar until it's fluffy looking like this.

Before we move on let's talk about molasses. 

That thick kind of nasty looking stuff.

Yeah that... well there are many types of molasses, light, dark, blackstrap.

Don't get blackstrap and don't get light.

Dark is the proper choice for this recipe.

Now that we are clear on that, add the molasses, water and egg and mix it up. 

It kind of looks a little nasty, huh?

But you will soon learn the dough of this stuff ain't pretty.

Now all at once dump the flour mixture into the gross looking mixture and beat until it's combined.

Scrape the sides of the bowl as necessary.

And don't turn your mixture on to high because you might end up in a flour shower.... don't ask me how I know that.

Now keep mixing into the dough starts to form a sticky ball and then divide it into 3 different balls and wrap in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge to chill for at least 2 hours or for up to 2 days.

(we'll keep this picture small because it's looks kind of nasty... but it tastes good.  Promise)

Now comes the fun part.

Roll it out and start cutting with cookie cutters.

Make sure to use plenty of flour.  This dough has a tendency to stick.

Then call gangster daughter who likes to wear her hat side ways and let her help cut.

Cook these little guys in a 350 degree oven for 8 minutes.  

Pull them add and immediately add chocolate chips and then pull them off the baking sheet.

You don't want them to get crunchy so pull them off that hot sheet ASAP.

Continue this process until you have used up all of your dough.

Check out your cute little army!!!  :)

Now this trick my mom taught me and it is absolutely necessary for this army.

Once cooled, put your men in a big ol tupperware and layer it with wax paper and then.....

add 2 pieces of bread to the top.

Weird right?

But it works.

The cookies take the moisture of the bread and leaves the poor bread all cracker like, while the army ends up all soft and delicious.

Well there you go!

Hope you enjoy!!!!

Ordinary Happily Ever After: DIY Co-Sleeper

We are SUPER excited to have Courtney with us today!  She is the Author of Ordinary Happily Ever After.  She is such a talented lady!  Today she is going to show us how to build a DIY: Co-Sleeper.  Lets get to know a little about Courtney first...

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I'm so excited to be a guest author here at Babblings and More!

My name is Courtney and I’m an Air Force wife, a mother, teacher, patriot, a runner, and aspiring scholar. I love being a traditional mom, homeschooling my children, reading and politics. My husband calls me "dangerously self-confidant" and I love learning new things (things like how to build furniture). Most days I live over at Ordinary Happily Ever After where I share lofty and often over-the-top fitness goals, book reviews, political commentary, DIY tips and musings on my family, homeschooling, and life. 

My fifth child was born about six weeks ago. We've always kept our babies close at night during the first six months or so. I can't decide if the reason is because I'm paranoid about SIDS and babies stopping breathing in the middle of the night (I read that mom's heart beat etc. can jumpstart a baby who is having a hard time breathing or if his heart starts to act up) or just maybe I'm too lazy to get up every couple hours for six months.

Either reason is valid as far as I'm concerned. During the first six months or so baby's crib gets shoved up against our bed so that when I hear him start to fuss in the middle of the night, I reach over and pluck him out of his crib (or plastic box in my second child's case) and plug him in to eat. If I'm awake when he is done I just reach over and put him back.

He'll get kicked out of our room about the time he starts to keep me up for reasons other than to eat (like kicking me or wanting to play). That usually happens around six months. Perfect time for sleep training.

This was the first time I didn't have an extra crib lying around for the new baby to use. About six weeks before he was born I decided to build a co-sleeper!

I saw one floating around somewhere on the inter webs and thought it was brilliant. The price tag of $300 made me rethink it's brilliance, but having just finished my table I wasn't about to let that something as silly as price stop me.

I fired up google sketch-up (something my husband and I liked to use to dream up ridiculous house plans) and got to work.

The next day I went into the garage scrounging for scraps of wood.

I found just what I needed with plywood scraps!

I marked my measurements and cut the wood with Grandpa's old table saw (they were too wide for my miter saw and my circular saw died while I was building my table). 

Once I had my boards cut I took them upstairs (where my drill was) to the deck to assemble them. In case you were wondering, yes it is easier to take large pieces of wood, a palm sander, eye and ear protection, my Kreg Jig and all of my screws and bits UPSTAIRS than it would be to take my drill downstairs. Don't ask me why, it just is ;) 

I drilled my pocket holes and put the sides on first (by the way, please read the directions for your Kreg Jig for adjusting to your wood and screw length and remember them so that you don't accidentally drill a hole into your jig... not that I did that... or... um... anyway...) 

Then Jack discovered what I was doing. This boy loves his toys and flat surfaces to play with them on. He was delighted when he discovered this newly constructed "flat surface".

Once I pried Jack away (aka turned on Phineus and Ferb) I was able to put the back on. 

This is about the time when Matt suggested that I round off the corners. I used my new fancy shmancy jig saw to start it. As you can see, I was very technical and precise while tracing where to cut. 

I filled all of the holes with Elmer's Wood Filler Max and sanded all of the edges and rounded everything off with my palm sander. 

"Look, Mom! Perfect fit!" 

I already had some table legs hanging out just waiting to be put to good use. I also found a six foot piece of scrap plywood that I was able to cut in half for the slides that would go under the mattress (which was great because I didn't want to use my pretty wood for that). 

I put the slides on...

and took it up to my bedroom to fit on my bed in order measure how long the legs would have to be (pay no attention to the mess on the nightstand... or the unmade bed... or the trash on the floor). 

Then I cut the legs down to size with my miter saw. 

I drew circles (ish) around where I wanted the legs to be and used my countersink bit to drill some holes. Then instead of measuring everything really precisely only to have it turn out wrong, I drilled a hole in the center where I drew my circle (ish) thing. 

And in the center (ish) of the leg. 

I stuck a wooden skewer that I fished out of my kitchen drawer into the leg hole then stuck it through the hole in the center of my circle (ish) drawing. 

With the leg held in the correct place by the skewer I was able to drive the screws in without fear that I would miss the leg. I broke off the wooden skewer and then did the other one with the same skewer. 

Here she is! Ready for a couple coats of paint and a foam mattress! 

I painted the co-sleeper using my HVLP Spray Gun.

After it was dry I changed my mind on the color and painted again (pay no attention to the mess on the kitchen floor... my recycling bin threw up.) 

I ordered a thick piece of foam online and cut it down to size using my laser vision (technically my husband cut it down to size using the knife on his Leatherman.) 

After several weeks of use I can testify that the co-sleeper works great! The only downside is that if you happen to have a baby who prefers to snuggle up in his mommy's neck, you might not get much use out of it as you would like :) 

You can find detailed plans of this co-sleeper HERE.
When you have finished yours, I hope you skip on over to Ordinary Happily Ever After and let me know!

 I'd love to see it :)

Two Million Miles: Pizza Roll-Ups

Today we have the honor of having Jourdan from Two Million Miles here on our blog! 

Here she is!

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Hi Babblings and More readers! (: 

I am so excited to be here! I jumped at the chance to be a guest over here!I'm going to show you one of my favorite, easiest, go-to recipes EVER! {This is also the MOST popular post on my blog! I have hundreds of views on it each day, so if you didn't believe me when I say it's good, the stats don't lie!} 

Before I get started, I better use my manners and introduce myself! I am Jourdan and I am the face behind Two Million Miles, as well as Jourdan's Jewels,Jourdan's {Handmade} Jewels, and Perfectly Posh with Jourdan. 

I blog about life, my businesses, crafts, recipes, and whatever else comes to mind! 

 

I am a work-at-home mom to a one-year old boy! He's so crazy, but I love him more than I could ever explain. ♥Okay, now let's get to it! 

 

 Pizza Roll-Ups

What you will need:*8 Cresent Rolls*4 string cheese*About 32 pepperoni slicesHeat your oven according to the directions on the cresent roll package. {Mine was 375.} 

 

Open each cresent roll and place 4 pepperoni slices on each. As you can see, I did two on top and two down the middle. Then tear a string cheese in half and place it at the top of the roll. 

 

The roll up the little babies! You don't have to seal all the cracks this time. Then cook according to your cresent roll packages. {I did 12 minutes.} 

 

 Once they are done, eat them up!!! 

You can dip them in something yummy, like ranch or marinara if you like it!After you make them, be sure to stop by my blog and let me know how you liked them and what {if anything} you dipped them in and if you made any changes or additions! 

Thanks again for having me, Babblings and More! 

The Thrifty Rebel: Christmas Tree Ornaments

Today we have Tuula from The Thrifty Rebel here with us today!  She is going to show us how to make some Christmas Tree Ornaments out of plastic curtain rings.

Let us get to know a little about Tuula first....

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I'm just thrilled to be guest posting here at Babblings and More today. Thank you to Brooke, Bridget, Briana and Brittany for giving me this opportunity to share.

My name is Tuula and I blog over at The Thrifty Rebel. I've always loved decorating, gardening, crafting, and thrifting. I live over an hour away from the closest craft store so almost everything I use in my projects is found at thrift stores, flea markets, auctions, and garage sales. I've been known to lug home boxes of Christmas supplies in the middle of summer after hitting it big at an auction. Great deals know no season. 

I believe that anyone can create a home that they love without it costing a fortune. What I enjoy most is reusing and repurposing things in unexpected ways. Like making a snowman Christmas tree ornament out of plastic curtain rings.

A couple of months ago I thrifted a huge bag of different sized plastic shower curtain rings and regular curtain rings from the thrift store for $1. I had no idea what I was going to do with them at the time, but I hoped I would think of something. I have a bad habit of doing this. I guess I like the challenge, and sometimes I'm lucky and inspiration doesn't take too long to strike. Since then I've used them in the following projects.

Shower Curtain Ring Pumpkins

Shower Curtain Ring Christmas Tree

Curtain Ring Wreath Ornament

After these projects I still had some curtain rings left over so I decided to make some snowman tree ornaments. I started with a shower curtain ring and a smaller regular curtain ring. Before starting I made sure to close the shower curtain ring. 

I always have a lot of Christmas craft supplies around so I went through my stash and found these white/gold glittery pipe cleaners. I wrapped them around each ring until they were completely covered.

Then I glued the rings together using my glue gun.

To decorate my snowman I poked a hole into a decorative present with scissors and glued it onto the hanger of the curtain ring, which I made sure was on the side when I glued the rings together.  

Then I cut some small ribbon to look like a scarf and added a few other decorations to dress it up. Here's my snowman hanging on my tree. I still have a few curtain rings left so there will be another project or two in the future, although I haven't thought of them yet. lol.

I also like to repurpose when I'm decorating inside the house and outside in the garden. In my recent craft room makeover I repurposed an old pine wardrobe into a computer armoire by turning it upside down and giving it a total makeover.

And here's one of my most popular summer projects. I used thrifted items to put together these plate flowers.

Thanks so much for reading. I've enjoyed visiting with you today. I hope you'll stop by The Thrifty Rebel for a visit sometime. 

My door is always open. :)

Tuula :)