Our Favorite Things

For this post I thought I would put some of our favorite things. Maybe it will give some other mom's some good ideas for their own families.

Our favorite:

1. place to go out for dinner- 2 very family friendly places here in MN are Bonfire and the St. Clair Broiler. Bonfire is already loud so you don't feel bad if your kids are making noise. And if they order the kids pizza they get to go back and help make it. This is a big hit with Parker. St Clair Broiler has good food and doesn't cost too much. They also have a family friendly environment. Definitely order a chocolate milkshake!

2. fast food- Our fav is Little Caesars. Not exactly the closest place to us but worth the $5 yummy pizza. And they have a pretty good 2 pizza special on the weekends.

3. place to shop for groceries- we've found that the cheapest and easiest place to buy groceries... and everything else... is Super Target! And now if you go to one that has the updated carts you can find the gigantic "2-kid-carts" on the grocery side of the store. These are great because we can put both our kids in the seats and still have the original cart seat for the baby carrier and then we have a whole cart for groceries!

4. place to shop for clothes- KOHLS! Oh how i love Kohls! Their original prices are horrible but they always have sales and they're usually awesome sales. And if you browse the clearance racks you can find some really good deals!

5. books- My kids love Sandra Boynton! But even more then that lately they have been really into these "How Do Dinosaurs ___?" books by Jane Yolen and Mark Teague. What cute books, we read all of them several times a day and right now you can get them at Kohls for only $5!

6. mommy-desperately-needs-a-break movie- Curious George! Fun, cute, and one of those movies that both of my kids will watch all the way through! Even I don't mind watching it over and over again!

7. car ride accessories- The Doodle Pro. We have a big one of these that my kids always fight over so we bought 2 little ones for the car and they work really well.

8. church bribes- color by number coloring books or activity books work really well for Parker. Also the quiet game where you give the person who was the "quietest" a prize after church (works better for older kids). We have no idea how to make Mayli be good during church... any suggestions?

9. child scripture stories- The "Who's Your Hero?" books by David Bowman. So cute and funny. Makes the stories fun for the little ones. Just try and get your hands on the board book versions because our paperback copy has already been ripped a few times!

10. going-to-bed-good bribe- we have 2 little chairs next to the kids beds and if they have a night where they both go to bed without crying or whining for something then we put a treat on their chair for them to find the next morning. We get our supply of treats from the dollar spot at Target... another great feature of Target!

11. FHE source- the church now has a great FHE section online where you can access lessons and get age appropriate activities to go along with them.

12. stain removal method- Shout pads go with me everywhere. And when I'm at home Spray-n-Wash and my Clorox pen are my best friends! I almost prefer my kids wear white because I know I can get those stains out.

13. things to do when you're stuck at home- Crayola's Color Wonder products are great fun for kids and are mess free. Parker does well with markers but Mayli gets ink all over. With color wonder she can color or paint wherever she wants and it doesn't matter.

14. potty rewards- of course every child is different so what works for one might not work for another. But the most successful for us have been: computer games (links on the sidebar), sticker charts, candy, and walking around the apartment banging pans together and yelling "(Child's name) went peepee in the potty HOORAY"!!

15. things to watch after the kids go to bed- Heroes, LOST, House, 24, So You Think You Can Dance, and Supernatural (Brian's fav). If you haven't checked out these shows you should! And if you know of any good girly shows let me know! Since Gilmore Girls was cancelled I definitely need a new girl show to watch!

That's the end of my super long post. I hope it's helpful