My First GIVEAWAY!!

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned once or twice (or five hundred times) in the past that I am a total sugar freak when it comes to the foods I feed my kids.  When they were younger, it was super easy- they didn't even know what they were missing out on.  But know that they're older, they're on to my game.  They totally have it all figured out.  They know that granola bars and candy bars are in fact NOT the same things.  They know that smoothies are in fact NOT milkshakes, and that chips at a cookout are more fun to eat than apples. 

Well, I was SUPER excited to get a giant package of Funky Monkey Fruit Snacks in the mail the other day.  They are little pieces of freeze dried fruit.  They crunch like chips, but have no added sugar or other flavorings.  Just fruit.  I love that, and so did my kids!  They are perfect for any diet you or your kids follow- vegan, gluten-free, organic, nut-free (did I miss any?) 

I know you hoarders care less about the prize, and more about claiming your free goods, so here's the deal:  you gotta go check out my post on skinnymom.com. Follow the instructions over there, and GOOD LUCK! 

Here's the direct link to the post, just cuz I love ya so much and I wanna make this as easy as possible for you. 

Have a healthy day,

J

Candy Heaven

When we were little, we used to wake up at some obscene hour on Easter morning to scour the house for our hidden baskets.  Upon finding them, (and about 50 thousand hidden eggs), the candy eating began.  And went on and on and on. My parents were normally pretty strict about how much sugar we ate. (We had the world's most boring bagged lunches.  Seriously. I mean, what second grader is excited about baby carrots and a peanut butter sandwich on brown bread? Boo.) But apparently the Easter Bunny did not have such particular guidelines.  He filled, and I mean filled our baskets with a huge chocolate bunny surrounded by ridiculously fun amounts of every single kind of candy imaginable.  Hooray for Candy Heaven!! 

This is a random picture of some lucky kid's
basket. Peeps AND Cadbury minis?! Wow.
Some major candy hoarding would have
been happening FOR SURE.

We knew it was only a matter of time before my mother announced that whatever wasn't eaten in two days was getting thrown in the trash.  THROWING CANDY IN THE TRASH?!!?!?!?  ISN'T THAT, LIKE, AGAINST THE LAW OR SOMETHING?!?! And so we embarked on a crazy sugar high,  and then taught ourselves some pretty intense candy hoarding tricks. (Well, my sister and I hoarded.  My brother just ate all of his, and then begged us for ours when he realized a week later what we had done). Hey man, it was survival of the fittest.

Well, I never really understood the whole "eat it all NOW" reasoning until I became a mother myself a couple of years ago, and became even crazier stricter about sugar consumption than my own mom was.  My poor lucky children won't even have the chance to candy hoard this Easter because there will hardly be any candy in their baskets.  Instead, the Easter Bunny found some non-candy (yet still fun) alternatives. 

Here is a list of things that are either being included in this year's basket, or were in last year's. Feel free to do this with your kids.  Trust me, everyone will be happy at the end of the day.

Plastic eggs filled with bunny-shaped cheese crackers or yogurt covered raisins. (Ok, ok, a few will have M&Ms or jelly beans too... but not too many!!)

Sunglasses

Stuff from the $1 bins at Target. This year I found some pretty cool Spiderman gliding airplanes. Fun!

Sidewalk chalk, shaped like eggs of course

Welch's Fruit Snacks

 

Flip-flops (We are getting ridiculously excited for summer around here)

Small Lego kits

Coloring books

Bubbles

Books

Granola bars (which they call "candy bars". I wonder when they'll figure out the truth...)

100% fruit "leather" (you know, those fruit strips that are actually made from fruit.)

There are probably more things that belong on this list, but I'm drawing a blank right now.  Tell me: what do you put in your kids' Easter baskets? What was in your basket when you were growing up? 

Have a healthy day (and a Happy Easter, or a Happy Passover, or just a great weekend),

J

I LOVE THAT.

I ran up the stairs the other day as my son was calling that he needed me up there RIGHT NOWWWWW! Wanna know where I found him? In his closet, doing a headstand against the wall.  (And by the way, he was wearing nothing except socks. He's four. God I love that kid.) Once I told him that, wow, that's a really cool trick, he responded with, "thanks. Ok, you can leave my room.  I gotta put on shorts and lift heavy stuff now." His little brother chimed in with, "yeah, I gotta work on my musclessss", and flexed for me.  Yes, their new favorite game is "Gym". I love that.

Look at how cute these guys are. I mean, seriously.

They are constantly running, jumping, climbing, and being otherwise physical.  They know that we go to the gym to be healthy, that we take lots of walks so Mama can get exercise, that Dada lifts heavy weights to get big muscles. And now when I've taken a few days off, they'll even suggest, "Hey, are we going to the gym today?" I love that!

We got a new Laurie Berkner CD from the library the other day (BEST kids' artist EVER btw!), and at the end of the "Pretzel Song" she says, "oh well, I guess I'll go eat some chips".  Didn't my kids, on their own, yell out, "Hey, you don't need to be eating chips.  Pick an apple or a plum instead!"  You know where I'm going here...  I LOVE THAT!! 

This is the CD we've been listening to.  I highly recommend it.

Now... I'm not a health freak.  My children have consumed more than their fair share of chips.  All four of us have a major weakness for french fries, and who doesn't love them some cupcakes?!?  But it's all about moderation and building good habits. I LOVE that my kids (at 3 and 4 years old) understand that those things are treats.  That too many treats are unhealthy, and that exercise is a mandatory part of life.   

What kinds of habits are your kids building?  (I'm also feeling the guilt here, and must admit that amidst all of this great stuff, my kids are also in the habit of never eating vegetables, not picking up their toys, and only wearing socks when forced... Baby steps, right?!)

Have a healthy day!

J