Don't look now, but school's here! Are you ready for one of the biggest challenges for Moms of school-age kids - preparing school lunches day after day?

There's hope and help for you yet. Here are 7 back-to-school lunch tips. Hey, I can't come over and make your kids' lunches for you, but these tips will surely make it much easier:

1. Make dinner do double-duty

You're already in the kitchen preparing your family's dinner, why not use that time to get a head-start on the next day's brown bag lunches?

Make a double batch of meals that taste just as good "the morning after," you know, like fried chicken. Or cook dishes that can be transformed into something "new", such as pasta sauce that's just as yummy as pizza topping (on ready-made crust of course).

To make meal planning easier, take a look at Dine Without Whine. It's a monthly service for planning your family's meals and grocery shopping.

2. Include lunches when meal planning

To do tip #1, you need to be more organized. This means including  your kids' lunches when planning your family dinners.

3. Let the kids participate

Lighten your load and teach your children some important life skills at the same time. Even small children can help  prepare their lunches.

If morning is too stressful, then make this an after-dinner activity - which brings us to...

4. Make advance preparations

Do whatever you can do ahead of time. For example, cook in batches on the weekend, or put leftovers in packable containers the night before.

5. DIY fast food

Commercial packed lunches are attractive but unhealthy. But who says you can't make your own? Buy your own colorful and attractive lunch boxes, such as a bento-style lunchbox.

Fill it up with a variety of healthy food. Think of mixing up foods with different textures and colors. And cut them up into small pieces so they're easy and fast to eat.

6. Soup it Up

Soup makes a quick and healthy lunch. You can cook a large pot in the weekend and pack it in a thermos for a warm and satisfying lunch. Serve with whole wheat bread and some fresh fruit and you've got a complete meal!

7. Sprinkle in some fun

Sneak a little surprise into your child's lunchbox once in a while. It could be a little chocolate treat, stickers, or a sweet note from you. Getting something unexpected makes lunch fun.

With planning and creativity, your children can have healthy, delicious lunches without too much work for you.

For meal planning help, go to Dine Without Whine. It makes meal planning a breeze, while helping you save time and money.

Then you'll have time and energy for those school lunches.

http://www.michaels.com/art/online/displayArticle?articleNum=as0293

So simple - yet so cute.

The bright colored embelishments were actually iron-on embroidered art doodles.  I just used one white, and one black fabric pen and added some of the backfround designs.  (Swirls, stars, hearts, little buildings...honestly - anyone can do it!)

They also have some "flocked" matching iron ons that you can use to add detail (see the octopus photo).

Everything, including the transfers, tees, and pens cost me less than $20!

Click the link above for more information...and don't forget to grab your online Michaels coupon!

I bought 4 pairs of girls Jeans at Kohls - and three more pairs at Old Navy for a total of $$65.00  I felt like I'd hit the jackpot.

...and then - fitting time.

I unloaded my bags and had my six year old daughter try on her jeans.  The first pair (from Kohls) was from the "Jumping Beans" line.  One of my all time favorites.

Cute, stylish...yet still "childish" - elastic waistband...cute detailing including little "heart" pockets.  Perfect.  I spent $7.00 - cha-ching!

Next, we tried the "SO" Kohls brand jeans 2 for $22.00.  Again, cute...simple - adjustable waistband...again - perfect.

Finally, the Old Navy brand jeans.  I bought one "boot cut" pair, and another "flare leg" in size 6.

....Not a fan.  My six year old daughter literally had to "jump" up and down to get the jeans to her waist.  If that wasn't horrifying enough...they were skin tight on the thighs and extremely low-waisted.

...I am not a prude (by any stretch of the imagination)  - but why in the world would a little girl need to "hop" into her jeans?  ....and why so tight?  My daughter is average-sized (a little slim) and these jeans were tighter than tight around the thighs and bottom...and "low-rise" enough that if she bent over to pick up a crayon...her bottom would be showing.

Do we really need to "show-off" the figures of little girls? Do they even have a figure yet?

Mind you, I am a huge fan of Old Navy for myself - but I will no longer be shopping there for anything but graphic tees for my little girl.

I just don't get it...

Lately her condition has worsened and it is no longer funny to either of us.  While I had hoped that the humidity of summer would improve the problem it has aggravated it.  (I am suspect that the 3X daily dose of sunscreen or seasonal allergies is making it worse).

I've tried just about everything to treat her eczema - from slathering on Hydrocortisone creams to trying the "as seen on TV" skin care remedies and while her condition improves somewhat (off and on) nothing has eliminated it.   During my monthly search for the "next best thing" I came across numerous websites that suggested adding a small amount of bleach to a child's bath water will help treat eczema.  Yes - bleach. Like many of you reading this, my initial reaction was, "are you kidding me?". Why would I put bleach in my child's bath water?   So I continued to search and realized that the bleach treatment was actually featured in numerous reputable magazines and websites including Time, WebMD, and ABC News.com.

From Time Magazine....

When treating children for chronic eczema, pediatricians may want to look in the laundry room, according to a new study published this week in the journal Pediatrics. The study reports that adding a small amount of household bleach to a child's bathwater can dramatically reduce the itching, rashes and discomfort caused by eczema.

The treatment sounds harsh, but the findings confirm what many pediatric dermatologists have seen anecdotally for years. The theory is that the antimicrobial properties of bleach help relieve symptoms of eczema not by acting directly on that skin condition, but by improving children's skin infections of staph bacteria — a common co-occurrence that exacerbates the irritating symptoms of eczema.

Last year  my husband (who also suffers from eczema) nearly wound up in the hospital after contracting a severe MRSA (anti-biotic resistant) strain of staph infection, therefore, I've been especially concerned about my daughter's condition.   While the "bleach bath" treatment sounds harsh, there is nothing worse than watching a loved one suffer from a staph infection and not knowing what antibiotics (or even *if* antibiotics) will help.

So I'm giving it a try and will post the results (after a few weeks) here.  She had her first bath tonight and so far, so good!    I used 1/4 cup of bleach in our full tub.   Her hair is the same color...her skin is the same color...and she didn't seem bothered by the smell.  (She actually liked it..."it smells like a pool in here".  Oh...and the tub is bright white and looks AWESOME. 

I'm planning to give her a 10 minute bleach bath nightly followed by a slathering of Aveeno oatmeal lotion (recommended by our neighborhood pharmacist).  Bookmark this post and I will share my review in a few weeks.

(This is just my personal opinion and review - please consult your pediatrician or dermatologist before trying this treatment).

I recently purchased a Castle Inflatable Bounce House w/ Slide (12' x 9') from Amazon.com and thought I would share my thoughts with you about this product.

We used it for the first time during our Father's Day BBQ.  My kids (5 & 6 and my *almost* seven year old nephew) played in it for at least an hour.  I used it again at my daughter's birthday party one week later.  All of the children (ages 3-7) had a great time.  The only downfall...they had to take turns because it is only large enough to hold 3-4 children at a time safely.

While I was afraid I would only use the bounce house for big events - my children have been using it at least twice per week.  On rainy days - we bring it indoors and on warmer days they pull it under the shade trees.

Set up for the bounce house is simple. In fact, my 6 year old daughter is able to drag it out of our backyard shed, plug it in and start it up.  It is also fairly light and easy to maneuver.  Just the other day I set it up in our basement when I wanted the kids to get some rainy-day exercise.

What I love most about this particular bounce house is that my children also use it as a playhouse.  They've draped blankets over the top to turn it into a "movie theater" and have loaded it full of stuffed animals to create an "animal hospital".

Overall, I am thrilled with this purchase.  I bought it for $249 at Amazon.com and have since seen lower prices on the internet.  It has been well worth the cost during the summer months and I expect that during the cold winter months it will be a great addition to the basement play area!

Here's a simple and unique solution...scrabble tiles!  Recently I purchased a simple silver chain at Hobby Lobby (for less than $5.00).  Next, I visited Etsy.com and searched for some simple pendants and found these wonderful, bright and unique Scrabble Tile pendants.   Most are available for less than $5.00.

These cute pendants make it easy to add a little "flair" to your summer wardrobe without breaking the bank.  I simply swap out the pendant in the morning to match my outfit...  I purchased four for $20.00 so now I have four unique looks for less than the cost of a single necklace.

I took a step forward in the technology department today by purchasing my very first Blackberry (or "crackberry") cell phone.  Within moments of ripping open the box I started searching for applications (shopping lists, calendars, to-do lists) etc.

Carrying around a cute little phone (mine is cherry red) certainly beats lugging around a 17 inch dinosaur laptop.

One of the first "apps" I downloaded (thanks to a variety of positive online reviews) was "Vlingo" which allows you to add tasks, send e-mails, & search the web using voice prompts.

Okay...where do I start with the coolness?  A moment ago (when I was feeling sarcastic) I held the side key of my Blackberry and said, "note to self...get it together".  Later, I held the key and said, "tasks".  Whaddya know....my list of "to-do's" popped up.

(get it together)  (tee hee...)

(send a retirement card to mom)

(send invites to Jenna's birthday party)

....you can also search the web using simple voice prompts like....

(coffee shops in Billings Montana) and "wa-la" a list (via Google or Yahoo) of coffee shops.  Seriously...how cool is that?

Oh..and if you are a facebooker...or twitter'er - you can update your status by pushing a button and telling people what you are doing...in my case "rambling via blog". 

....anyway - needed to share since my blog is all about "simplicity" and I probably saved 30 minutes of tap-tap-tapping texts, searches, etc...using the application vs. my teeny-weeny phone keyboard (and fat fingers).

I don't mean sitting in the car munching on burgers from the drive-through. I mean sitting down at the table and sharing a home-cooked meal. If you can't remember when you last enjoyed a family dinner, make plans to have them more often.

Experts have found - and continue to discover - plenty of benefits for both children and adults when families have dinner together at least three times a week. I know...I know, it's not always easy, so click here if you need help with meal planning and grocery shopping.

Here are 10 reasons why you should have family meals more often:

Good For The Body

1. When families eat together, everyone tends to eat healthier. People who have frequent family meals consume more calcium, fiber, iron, and vitamins B6, B12, C and E. It could be because home-cooked meals are healthier than fast food and restaurant meals. (Source: Archives of Family Medicine)

2. Children tend to eat more fruits and vegetables when they frequently have dinner with their families. They also tend to eat fewer snack foods. (Source: American Dietetic Association)

3. Children in families who eat dinner together are less likely to be overweight (Source: Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine). This makes sense, given the findings in #1 and #2 above.

Good For The Brain

4. Children from families who eat meals together get better grades than their peers who don't have lots of family meal times (Source: Lou Harris-Reader's Digest National Poll). So family dinners are not only good for the body; they're also good for the brain.

5. When families eat together frequently, children have better language skills compared to kids from families who don't have family mealtimes often. (Source: Harvard University) Good For Emotional Health 6. Children of families who eat together report feeling happier and are more optimistic about the future, than their peers who have infrequent family meals. (Source: Lou Harris- Reader's Digest National Poll)

7. Teenagers are less likely to use drugs, smoke, and drink alcoholic drinks, when their families eat together regularly. (Source: Columbia University)

8. It may come as a surprise, but among Moms who work outside the home, those who have family mealtimes reported feeling less stress than those who had family dinners less often. (Source: Family and Consumer Sciences Research Journal)

9. The more often teen girls had meals with their families, the less likely they were to have symptoms of depression and suicidal behaviors. (Source: University of Minnesota)

Good For Family Bonding

10. Eating together gives family members the chance to communicate and build relationships, something that both adults and children appreciate very much. (Source: Nutrition Education Network of Washington & Oprah Winfrey's "Family Dinner Experiment") I hope these reasons motivate you and your family to try and eat together more often. We're all busy - even children have plenty of after-school activities.

But as the list above shows, family meals are worth every effort we put into them. It helps to plan ahead so that we're not scrambling to get dinner ready or panicking because we don't have all the ingredients we need.

To make it easier to get the family around the table with a home-cooked meal, check out Dine Without Whine's menu planning service. It cost just a penny to try it out!

We had a weeklong stretch where the kids literally could not go outside due to frigid temps.  They were getting stir-crazy...and so was I.

That's what motivated me to purchase a Wii and Active Life Outdoor Challenge for Christmas - and since the weather didn't break...we opened it up early.

It was an instant hit with my kids (a four year old boy...and five year old girl).  The loved the jump-roping, log-jumping, outdoor trampoline & mine cart race.  I was literally giddy as I watched them run in place, jump and swing their arms & sweat!

We love the game so much that we spend each afternoon doing a family workout.  I do a 20 minute running, hurdle & jumping routine while the kids run in place & jump beside me.  After that, they challenge one another in a variety of games while I clean the house.

Pinch me.  I have a clean house...I am getting a quick workout...and I have exhausted kids at the end of the day.

Here is a promotional video for the game.  I would love to hear your thoughts on the game if you have it (comments section)...and if not - give it a try!  Trust me, it is well worth the $59.00 price tag!