This is a sponsored post in partnership with Disney Book Group. All opinions are my own.
Have you ever thought back on key moments in your life, the people involved, and the events that fell into place, which then provided an opportunity that you have now? Mo Willems' new book Because is about those times where all of these things fall into place to make something magical happen! A little girl learns to create beautiful music because of a few chance happenings, hard work, and the impact of people around her.
Can you think of any similar times in your life? For example, because someone bought your child a basketball for Christmas when they were five, they worked hard, were supported, and became a starter on their high school basketball team? For my family I would say because I started making my daughter these fun lunches six years ago, I was able to discover a love for social media, which opened up an opportunity to change careers and get a full-time job doing social media for a company. Sometimes I still can't believe it.
Take a minute to try and remember some of these "because" moments in your life or your family's life. Go ahead, I'll wait. Pretty amazing to think back on, right? If you enjoy seeing how everything is tied together, you and your kids will love the book Because. I won't give it all away, but my favorite points of the story are seeing the roles that people play that you don't even consider important at first. Train operators, paper printers, people who clean the floors, and others help make the music happen. Everyone is important!
This is a sponsored post in partnership with Disrupt Aging from AARP. All opinions are my own.
Do you realize that 1999 was twenty years ago? TWENTY YEARS AGO! I'm not lying, do the math. When I think of 1999, I like to tell myself it was six or seven years ago tops. in 1999 I was twenty-one-years old, dating my future wife, finishing college, and not entertaining any of the thoughts that consume my mind today. I had endless passion and energy, could function on two hours of sleep, and could eat as much spicy food as I desired with zero regrets the next morning. However, what I lacked was the wisdom that comes with life experience.
The thing is, I don't really feel much older than I did in my twenties. Except when I sleep on the wrong pillow and wake up paralyzed and unable to look left for the first half of the day. It is then that I remember that I'm in my forties now. Besides that, there are many things that I know now that I wish my younger self was more aware of. Here are five things that I wish that I could tell my twenty-one year old self to help Disrupt Aging.
St. Patrick's Day has always held a special place in our hearts. I don't know whether it's the shamrocks, the leprechauns, the pots of gold, or the corned beef and cabbage, we just really enjoy this holiday! We usually cook a St. Patty's Day meal at our house, but we also do some fun school lunches on or before the green celebration. This year is no different.
Here are a few ideas that we came up and one that we borrowed from a friend. If you want to find more, Pinterest is an awesome place to search. Also just search here on my blog for past ideas or just google "St. Patrick's Day Lunchbox Dad" for a list of them as well!
This is a sponsored post in partnership with Paramount Pictures. All opinions are my own.
If your family is like our family, you all love amusement parks and love movies! We go on rides and head to theaters to see the latest family film every chance we get. This is why we can't wait until Wonder Park comes out on March 15! We have watched the trailer at least a dozen times, so it is pretty much engrained in my kids' heads. Inspired by the film, I made this fun after-school snack idea. You can share this snack platter with your kids while you all watch the trailer below together!
Wonder Park is about a girl named June who imagines an amazing amusement park and magically brings it to life with some help from her new animal friends. The character that makes us laugh the most has to be Boomer the big blue bear, so this snack idea features him at the top of a roller coaster. He is just so hilarious that I'm pretty sure once we see the movie itself, he will definitely be our favorite. Meet Boomer in the video below and then keep scrolling to see how to make this fun after-school snack!
Dr. Seuss is definitely one of our family's favorite authors, big surprise right? This is one of the reasons why we love National Read Across America Day, which happens to be Dr. Seuss' birthday. It's this week so we thought we would celebrate by making my kids a school lunch that includes a nod to a few of their favorite Seuss books! While you're making this one, check out some more Dr. Seuss recipe ideas from my blog.
This is a sponsored post in partnership with Universal Pictures. All opinions are my own.
I swear that every time my family has gone to the movies lately we have seen a trailer for How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World. And every time the preview is over my kids make me promise that we can go see it. Just between you and me I have to admit something. I might be just as excited as they are to experience it. I can't wait for this movie to release in theaters on February 22nd!
We have been How to Train Your Dragon fans since the movies first came out. In fact, my middle child actually wore a viking hat to the theater when we went to watch the second movie! My kids love Toothless the dragon of course, but my favorite part is how creative and unique each dragon is. The storyline that we are most looking forward to in this new movie is that of the brand new Light Fury. If you aren't familiar with the series, Toothless is a rare Night Fury dragon. They are black, extremely fast, and instead of normal flames, can shoot purple fire (or plasma) blasts from their mouths. Find out more about The Hidden World by watching the trailer below!
In this installment of How to Train Your Dragon, we meet the white colored Light Fury. This is where our fun lunch surprise comes in. I wanted to tap into my kids excitement for the movie, while helping them feel special at school. Make it yourself by following my directions below!
Ingredients: Flour tortilla, cheddar cheese, assorted small fruits and vegetables, blue and black fondant, black food coloring, yogurt covered raisins, red wax cheese round, nori (dried seaweed), purple yogurt, purple cereal.
Directions:
1. Fill main compartment of lunchbox with assorted small fruits and vegetables that your kids will enjoy. I used grapes, blackberries, and grape tomatoes.
2. Cut flour tortilla and cheddar cheese into the dragon pieces below. It is way easier than it sounds and it doesn't have to be exact!
3. Assemble the Light Fury on top of the fruits and veggies in the main compartment. Shape the fondant into the eyes and place on top of face. Use black food coloring and toothpick to make the nostrils and nails.
4. Cut nori into Toothless dragon silhouette shape. To make it easier, I cut it into three sections for the head, wing, and tail and arranged them on top of the red wax cheese round. I then moistened it with water to stick it to the top. Place cheese on top of yogurt covered raisins in side compartment.
5. Drop purple yogurt into second side compartment. If you want, you can actually freeze it overnight and then put the rest of the food in the other compartments the next morning. That way the yogurt stays really cold. I topped it with purple cereal for the purple fireballs that Toothless and the Light Fury shoot out of their mouths!
The last step is to surprise your kids of course. A fun idea would be to give this to them for lunch and then after school head straight to the theatre to watch the movie together. However, no matter when you watch it, just be prepared to enjoy this movie as much as your kids will! To find out even more information, just head to the How to Train Your Dragon website. Don't forget to go see How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World in theaters February 22!
If you are looking for a family who loves LEGO and is super excited for The LEGO Movie 2, then you've come to the right place! If you're looking for LEGO kids lunch recipe ideas, then you've also come to the right place! Since the movie was just released, I of course had to make an Emmet lunch for my kids to take to school.
The great thing about LEGO lunches is that they are actually pretty easy to create LEGO minifigure heads are basic shapes and the facial features are simple as well. I think anyone can copy these ideas for your own kid's lunch! Keep reading to find out how I made it.
