Giveaways Galore!
I am excited to formally announce our 8 book giveaway, which is already underway! AdoraPet will be posting Facebook updates {CONTINUE READING...}

4th of July Fun Drink Idea!
I cannot wait for the 3 "F's" that come along with this holiday... food, family, & fireworks! It takes a bit {CONTINUE READING...}

Swimming Tips for Toddlers: Kicks
Once your toddler has mastered the art of blowing bubbles into the water, it may be time to start thinking {CONTINUE READING...}

Swimming Tips for Toddlers: Blowing Bubbles
Yesterday was an almost unbelievably hot day in New York City. The rain and dreary weather of the past month {CONTINUE READING...}

5 Fun Rainy Day Activities for Kids
With all the wet weather this past month has brought, I thought what better time than now to explore some {CONTINUE READING...}

Father's Day Fun
Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there. Here's a fun reminder to everyone else so you don't forget {CONTINUE READING...}

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Easy Family Lifestyle

Swimming Tips for Toddlers: Kicks

Once your toddler has mastered the art of blowing bubbles into the water, it may be time to start thinking about actually getting them to stay afloat!

Getting your child to kick will help them to build strength in their legs.

Slide Into the Water

If you are in a pool, show your child how to slide into the water by sitting on the edge, placing your two hands on the wall, and gently turning your body to enter the water.

This will help them understand the importance of holding onto the wall rather than running on the deck and jumping into the water.

If they slide in the water this way, this also puts them in a good position for kicking and blowing bubbles!

Hold the Wall

Show them first how you hold the wall, blow bubbles, and kick your toes up behind you.

Splash them lightly with your kicks and ask them if they can get you wet with theirs!

Once they are comfortable with that, you can easily bring them out into the water for more practice.

Help Your Toddler Kick

Try holding your child so their arms are resting on your forearms, and your hands are free to reach under their legs and kick up and down for them.

This helps them to understand the feeling of kicking. Make sure to use lots of encouraging words!

Always remind them to try and keep their legs at the top of the water and make big, big splashes.

Check back soon for more tips on getting your child’s face wet & scooping and paddling!

~YiShaun

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by YiShaun on June 27, 2012 · 0 comments | in Easy Family Lifestyle, Health & Fitness, Parenting & Children

Swimming Tips for Toddlers: Blowing Bubbles

Yesterday was an almost unbelievably hot day in New York City. The rain and dreary weather of the past month are finally leaving us in peace!

The only logical thing to do on a day as hot as this is, of course, swim!

To help get your toddler swimming this summer, here’s a quick breakdown of some easy exercises you can practice with them at the pool or even in the bathtub!

Start with focusing on blowing bubbles, kicks, scoops, and getting kids’ ears wet (check back for when these links become active!).

Blowing bubbles is a key way to keep your toddler from swallowing water and choking.

Start by first showing them how you blow into the water.

Then cup your hands with a small amount of water and have your child blow into the water in your hands.

Kind of a cute image, isn’t it?

Once they are comfortable with that, try it in the pool or the bathtub. This will also get them adjusted to getting their faces wet.

It may be helpful to tell them that they are “talking to the fishies” when they do this. From there, it will be easier to encourage them to get their ears wet, or “listen to the fishies.”

I’ll be posting more swim tips on: Kicking in Water, Scoops, and Getting Kids’ Ears Wet in future posts, so come back when these links are active.

When your toddler understands these basic swimming blocks, make sure to keep up the repetition throughout the summer.

Do you have any tips or stories of teaching your toddler to swim? ~YiShaun

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by YiShaun on June 22, 2012 · 0 comments | in Easy Family Lifestyle, Health & Fitness, Parenting & Children

5 Fun Rainy Day Activities for Kids

With all the wet weather this past month has brought, I thought what better time than now to explore some other ideas and activities to keep everyone busy and having fun until the sun comes back out!

Bake!
Spending time together and making a delicious treat that everyone can enjoy. Whether it’s cookies or cupcakes, you can take your time going through a recipe.

Make cooking fun by including your “assistant chefs” in the process by assigning them different responsibilities, like counting the eggs and stirring the batter.

Taste the batter (my favorite part!), and decorate at the end with sprinkles or icing.

The kitchen may get a little messy, but the time will fly by and the delicious treat that you get to enjoy together will make up for it.

Build a Fort!
Together, you and your kids can build a fort out of furniture, pillows, blankets, and cushions in the family room.

Then you can cozy up in the fort and watch T.V. or a movie together, or you can leave your kids to their own games (like pretending to be on a camping trip) in their new fortress of fun.

Puddle Jumping!
What rain? If your kids are still looking for an outdoor adventure… hunt down a couple of ponchos, slip on your rain boots, grab the umbrellas and you’re good to go!

Head to the nearest street corner to find the perfect puddle for your wet adventure. A park may also be a fun place to go for a walk in the rain. “Raindrops keep falling on my head” may be a good tune to sing while you play!

Old Fashioned Fun!
Try playing some of your own favorite games from your childhood! Hide and seek, follow the leader, Simon Says, and scavenger hunts can make for great indoor fun and exercise!

For added exercise, try introducing more aerobic activities to follow the leader or Simon Says, like jumping jacks, short planks, or jump rope.

Read a Book!
This fun and educational indoor activity can be made into more of a game by making a grab bag with your child’s favorite books. Then you can read a few books that they pull out at random. This will keep the guessing game going and hopefully keep your child excited for the next book!

Even more fun, have your kids act out the parts as you read the books or use silly voices and gestures to bring the book to life.

AdoraPet children’s books are a great choice for this activity because they are small enough for a child’s hands and can be tossed into a bag easily when the rain finally stops and your family is on the go!

Check them out on the AdoraPet website!

~YiShaun

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by YiShaun on June 18, 2012 · 0 comments | in Easy Family Lifestyle, Parenting & Children

Father’s Day Fun

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there. Here’s a fun reminder to everyone else so you don’t forget to say those three special words to dad today.

Mishka says \"I Love You\" – Video Credit: Mishka & Family

For some added fun, have dad watch Jimmy Fallon’s Evolution of Dad Dancing (if you’re lucky dad just might break out his own dance moves and provide some entertainment for the whole family!)

I think my personal favorite would have to be the “Clap & Shake.” What do you think?

Have a great Father’s Day Sunday!

~YiShaun

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by YiShaun on June 17, 2012 · 0 comments | in Celebrations, Easy Family Lifestyle

Reliving J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit”

“All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost.”- J.R.R. Tolkien

Picked this famous children’s fantasy novel back up recently and loving it! Super excited for the new movie in December… the trailer looks action-packed.

If you haven’t looked too much into it, the movie is actually going to be split up into a two-part adventure. I wonder what Peter Jackson has up his sleeves… but The Lord of the Rings was so well done that I’m almost prepared to trust him. Either way, he certainly has a lot to live up to!

What do you think about the book and/or upcoming film? Leave a comment & let me know.

Have a great weekend (hopefully spent with a good book in hand)!

~YiShaun

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by YiShaun on June 15, 2012 · 0 comments | in Easy Family Lifestyle, Favorite Things, Miscellaneous

Watermelon Frosty!

Photo Credit: lunchboxbunch.com

Did I mention I’m currently obsessed with watermelon?

In case you aren’t on watermelon lockdown like I am, I wanted to share this Watermelon Frosty recipe I found for a quick and tasty treat that can make for a delicious snack on a warm day!

Super simple. Takes less than 5 minutes.

INGREDIENTS:
2 1/2 cups of frozen watermelon pieces
1 large lemon (squeezed)
1 fresh banana
2 tbsp maple syrup
1/2 cup of water

DIRECTIONS:
Freeze (overnight) pieces of chopped up watermelon.

(Make sure the frozen watermelon will fit into a blender and not be the shape and size of an entire unblendable iceberg.)

Squeeze lemon juice into glass, or directly into the blender.

Place frozen watermelon pieces into blender with the banana, maple syrup, and lemon juice.

Blend these ingredients, then add the water and blend again so it’s more beverage like and not sorbet like.

For extra zestiness, add some lime juice.

Pour & Enjoy!

Serves 2

If you are not with child like I am, try adding some tequila for a watermelon margarita!

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by YiShaun on June 12, 2012 · 0 comments | in Easy Family Lifestyle, Food

Decorate Your Child’s Room in 30 Minutes or Less!

With baby boy on the way very, very soon (35 more days till my due date!), I’ve certainly had a lot of planning, organizing, and preparing to do. But not all of it has to be, well, work. One of the more fun and creative ventures that I’ve recently invested my time in is decorating!

It certainly can be a long process if you’re indecisive and don’t know where to begin. Thus, I want to share my findings…

I stumbled across a couple of really cool and funny wall decals that are Super Mario themed and Pac Man themed, which are great for nostalgia and taking my husband and me back to our own childhoods. The URL (thisiswhyimbroke.com) alone caught my attention in a good (interesting) and bad (I’m never actually gonna buy anything here) way!

Although the wall decals would definitely be more for my husband’s amusement (do little kids these days even know who Pac Man is?), I was not willing to give in quite yet and throw away the simple sticker idea.

I kept up the search and found some more affordable, and still adorable, decals.

For a nursery, I found a Winnie the Pooh themed set of stickers, which would work well for a baby boy or girl, and on top of that, it also includes a measuring line so you can record baby’s growth!