Giveaway: Powder Pouch

*** This giveaway is closed ***
I was just sent a product for review and giveaway that I can't wait to share! Pure genius! And I'll give you all the juicy giveaway details...in a second.

I live 30 minutes from a gorgeous beach that's often featured in Family Fun magazine...it's that good. Think white beaches with clean sparkling water in walking distance from the cutest little shops, bistros, and ice cream parlors. The thing is, as much as I love the beach sand, I wish it would stay there and not on my feet, the car mats, and well...certain delicate areas. I can handle it (I'm a big girl) but I always feel for my kids. I usually peel off their suits to find a cup of sand in the suit and still more stuck to their tushies. Ouch. Talk about chaffing!

Here's the solution.... The Powder Pouch is a sand removal system. It includes a leather pouch to keep the inner powder pouch from pondering the inside of your beach bag and a 100% cotton pouch filled with their amazing powder. The pouch is washable and re-closes with Velcro so that you can refill it with your favorite powder or cornstarch....genius. Plus, it's just cute! It's extremely easy to use too. You just remove the pouch from the leather bag, pat it a few times to release the powder, and wipe off the sand with the pouch. And if your aren't impressed yet...let me jsut add that Powder Pouch was featured in InStyle magazine as a top recommended beach product and the only item to be labeled a "Wow Product"! Yeah, I know...wow! Is it just me or do I here babies rejoicing?! No more owie diaper changes at the beach!

And....I have 3 to giveaway! Leave a comment below for each entry. This contest ends Friday July 2.

1. First, and you must do this step to win. Become a follower of Parenting in Blue Jeans. If you already follow, just leave a comment and remind me.

2. An extra entry for visiting the Powder Pouch website. Come back here and leave a comment with the html and which fabric choice you think is the cutest.

3. A 3rd entry for following Parenting in Blue Jeans on Twitter. If you already are just leave a comment and remind me.

4. One more...why not?! A final entry for listing your favorite beach and or favorite beach story involving sand.

Traveling With Kids Tip

I was talking with some teenagers last weekend and they were going on about a road trip. They're new to driving and were planning discovering the back roads to the beach. I mentally traveled back in time and remembered the carefree road trips I used to take with my best friend from high school. Somehow, road trips don't have the appeal anymore with 2 kids in tow. Hmmm....trapped in a car with 2 kids singing at the top of their lungs, arguing about who's touching whom, and always needing to pee at the worst times. No thanks.

Time in the car is unavoidable with summer in full swing and family vacations booked. Here's a great tip (that I origianlly heard from my friend Angel over at Salty and Sweet)for keeping your sanity and paying your kids for good behavior! When you're all loaded and ready to hit the road, give your kids a roll or quarters. Most likely, you'll be buying them a treat or souvenir anyway. Might I suggest putting the roll in a Ziploc plastic bag with their name on it...we don't want to start any new fights. Warn your kids that anytime they argue, act rudly, or behave inappropriately during the trip in the car, they will be paying you a quarter. Then let them know that they may save or spend any quarters that they have left over at your final destination.

Yep, it's bribery. But it's fabulous! Happy trails friends!

Be sure to enter the Powder Pouch GEVEAWAY....here!

For other helpful ideas visit We Are That Family!

Control Freak Seeks Advice

I'm struggling in that very gray area between being helpful and being controlling. I leave for a 10 day vacation with my mom and sister in a few weeks. I'm thrilled for myself and trying not to feel too spoiled as my mom is the one whisking us away. Meanwhile, my brain is making lists in hyper-speed. It's actually making lists of things I need to make lists of...that's a sure sign of insanity.

I konw my husband and mother-in-law are completely capable of caring for the kids. I'm incredibly grateful for a husband who is willing to take a few days of vacation so that I can go to the Mediterranean. If it were the reverse, I would be so jealous and whiney. He's not. He's amazing. I'm also thankful for my MIL who's willing to move in for a few days! Here's where I'm struggling...how can I be helpful to them without being controlling?!

What I want to do is lay out everything the kids are going to wear the entire time I'm gone. Why? Ummm... well, maybe it has something to do with my son being spotted in Meijer at 9:30 pm with chocolate all over his face and a mismatched outfit on the last time I was gone. Hmmmm....

I also want to make ahead meals. Why? Ummm....maybe because hubby might think that Cheerios and marsh mellows are a great dinner.

All I know is that I don't want to be the gatekeeper. I don't want to be the type of wife/mom who stands in front of the kids and acts like my way is the only and the best way. At the same time, I want to help ahead of time because I won't be able to help when I'm gone.

Any advice? What practical thing have you done in advance to help with the time you're away? Please leave a comment if you have any ideas!

I'm Lovin' CSN

I love CSN stores! Remember how I live in our 2nd fixer upper...A.K.A. ugly 1960's ranch. Well, I've found that CSN is the perfect place to shop for the items that we need when we redecorate a room or, for that matter, when our coffee maker died 10 years to the date from our wedding....c'mon!

CSN Stores has over 200 online stores where you can find everything from cookware to cribs to specific needs such as dining room sets and dog beds! There are so many options that I'm having a hard time choosing! Should I go with what we need...a 8 quart pot, or something fun?! Stay tuned for the review...

**I received no compensation for posting this, but I will be receiving a gift certificate to use for an upcoming review. My opinions are 100% my own and others may have different opinions.**

How Long is Summer?

When my son finished preschool he was so sad to find out that he had to wait a whole summer until he could begin kindergarten. This year, he wasn't as naive but he still had a hard time grasping how long summer vacation would be.

My solution...a paper chain. My kids love having a green and red paper chain count down until Christmas and my thought was...why not for summer too?

We stretched out the days of summer in front of us...



Wow! That's a long summer. We have some plans for this summer that the kids are really jazzed about. It's what, week 2 or 3 of summer vacation and I'm already tired of explaining to them how long until our family vacation. That's why I went all color code crazy on the chain. Each color stands for a special event or vacation. The kids can easily see how long until each event and even count out the chains. Ahhhh...no more pestering mommy!



So, for us...
blue = nothing planned (I love seeing all that blue)
yellow = baseball
Red = mommy's out of town
orange = vacation Bible school
green = family vacation
red, white, & blue = 4th of July....what else?!

It's a great rainy day project and all it required was a scissor, stapler, and colored construction paper. Happy chaining!

This post is a part of Things I Love Thursday

Make a Haul

I hate lugging in the groceries. By the time I get the kids to the store, wrangle our 3 year old into the cart, argue about why we are not buying Oreos, unload the cart onto the conveyor belt, pay, load the cart back up with the bags, put 2 kids on the penny pony ride...I'm done! It's exhausting and the last step of putting the groceries away can seems like cruel and unusual punishment. Here's my favorite tip to get the groceries from the trunk into the kitchen...in one trip, which should sound like the hallelujah chorus to those of you who are not blessed with an attached garage.

Use a dowel or a broom handle to thread your bag handles onto. Put mommy in the back and a kid or two at the front and viola....one trip!


For more great tips visit We Are That Family

A post about weather...I must be getting old!

Last night we had a tornado warning or watch or something. If you haven't figured it out already...I live in Michigan and well, we just don't get tornadoes in Michigan.

I went to bed last night to some pretty lightning and a storm off in the distance. I love thunderstorms and I thought it was a beautiful way for creation to celebrate the summer solstice. Sometime in the early morning hours, I was awakened by the sirens. Like I said before, we don't get tornado excitement in Michigan so my ears didn't recognize the foreign sound. Like having an infant crying in your house, I realized that the sound wasn't going to go away, so I pushed back the covers and made my way the television. I was a little surprised by the weatherman's pronouncement to go to the basement. I walked back to our bedroom to rouse my husband, which is an extremely hard task. After much bouncing, tapping, and shaking he finally woke up. Our great protector would sleep through my murder...ah, well. We each scooped up a kid and their blankets and headed to our basement.

Now, our basement is not pretty. It's a wood paneled basement with a cement floor and it's dotted with the random pieces of free furniture. It's also where the majority of our kid's toys live and go to die. We snuggled our kids onto a day bed and turned on the basement television. Our local weatherman gets a little excited. Every year, the slightest snowfall turns into The Blizzard of 2000 whatever... So there we are...2 kids asleep on a random daybed, my husband and I watching the weatherman in all his glory, and lightening flashing all around us.

Nothing ever came of the storm. Today, all is calm. We're all a little more tired for it but I'm also in that state of heightened awareness that, the people who I head to the basement with, are the most important people and I love them the most. They are also the people I will force a nap on later today...