Family Time

  • An Easy Way to Brighten Someone’s Day TODAY

    (A note from Nickey: I just love seeing all of the ways that others are sung to teach their little ones kindness. Thank-you, Lizzie for sharing!)

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    It seems that everywhere I turn the past few weeks, everyone is feeling so BLAH. It is snowing and freezing here in the North East and warm weather cannot come soon enough. Spring is still a few weeks out, but I’ve got an easy solution to brighten your day TODAY. I promise, anyone can do it and everyone will benefit from it.

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  • Finding My Daughter’s Creative Heart

    (A note from Nickey: I have been wanting to have some guest bloggers on this blog for a while now, and I knew that Kelly Dampier was the perfect choice to kick things off. I absolutely adore Kelly’s mother’s heart… and the transparency in her writing is refreshing to the soul. I hope you enjoy reading this post as much as I did. )

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    by Kelly Dampier

    My daughter Lily is two and a half, and I am living in a world of scribbles, paint splatters, chalk dust and crusted colors of play-do that are a whole….other….level. I know that this is typical for her age, but it’s taken me an entire year to truly realize the creativity residing in her little soul. At first I thought that waking up to her entire side of her bed covered in a rainbow of crayon colors and drawings, was just that she was getting bored before I came to get her in the mornings. It took a big moment of ‘aha’ for me though, to figure out that this is a big part of her. Once I caught on, it completely changed the way that I communicate with her and try to structure her day.

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  • Project Love in Color

    I am so passionate about loving and being kind to others. You never know what someone maybe going through in a day. I am also passionate about creativity and imagination. So with that… Love In Color was born. Love In Color is hands down my favorite corner of my blog. It’s where I post ideas on how you can make encouraging creative crafts to help color your world into a brighter and better place. What better thing to do during family time than teaching your little ones the importance of kindness? Not much. Here is a post full of some of my favorite random acts of kindness over this past year. I hope that it inspires you :)

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  • Kool-Aid Clouds

    The other day my pet unicorn, Sprinkles, and I were babysitting my little niece. Now, normally we are not supposed to bring guests with us if we go visit Sprinkles’s family in the Cotton Candy Kingdom– but Mr. & Mrs. Unicorn have taken a liking to my niece (who wouldn’t really?).

    It was a super fun trip. My niece got to meet the Tooth Fairy, a group of mermaids, and Jack Frost. You would think that meeting such icons would have wowed her. Nope. She was most obsessed with the fact the ground with made of rainbow clouds. She jumped on them. Rolled on them, Slid on them. She was so happy I was concerned that she may have a #heartexplosion. 😉

    When we got home to Colorado… she really wanted to play in the rainbow clouds again. Unfortunately they don’t transport well…. so we have to come up with an idea so she could play in rainbow clouds at home. After searching the internet for hours, I came across a recipe from an amazing blogger.

    {Growing A Jeweled Rose has a fun recipe on her blog for a Kool-Aid sensory bin and I loved it so much we filled a kiddie pool in the stuff! Ha. You should totally take a second and check out her stuff. She’s a genius!} read more

  • The “I’m Bored” Jar

    It’s summer and that means: no school. I know as a nanny I always had mixed emotions when it came to summer (just getting real). On one hand I was able to plan all sorts of fun excursions, playdates and activities with the kids… and on the other hand– not every single moment can be filled with nonstop over the top entertainment. Unfortunately, more often than not, the removal of entertainment usually leads straight to screen time. Don’t get me wrong– I am not totally against all screen time. However, in the summer months the screens can get out of control– and with the removal of screens usually comes the 2 words that press my buttons the most: “I’m bored.”

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  • Monster Spray

    Ever since we relocated to Colorado (I love that color is in the name of our new state. How fitting) my pet unicorn, Sprinkles, has been a little shaken up– which totally understandable. I know this will sound crazy to some of you… but I think the contrast of having so much noise to fall asleep to in NYC to the absolute silence here near the mountains makes it harder for her to fall asleep. She can hear every little weird thing that is going on outside and thinks there are monsters in the house. After 2 weeks of sleepless nights I decided that it may be a good idea to make a trip to the Cotton Candy Kingdom and ask her parents how to deal with all of this.

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  • Nickey’s Bookshelf {Chapter 3}

    Hello. Happy April, and welcome back to my bookshelf!

    If you are new to this blog, this is my little corner of the web to share some of my favorite children’s books I have collected over the past 11 years as a nanny (or have put on my wish list). If you have read the same books on your kid’s bookshelf to them 873 times this week and need a little change in your life, check these out.

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  • Nickey’s Bookshelf {Chapter 2}

    Last month I started a series called “Nickey’s Bookshelf”, due to my obsession with collecting children’s books. So every month I will post 5 of the children’s books on my shelf or ones that I love and am waiting to acquire.

    This week I thought I would post 5 of my favorite classic picture books. Since it is Dr. Seuss’s birthday, he will definitely be getting 2 shout-outs.  I am sure many of you will have read most of these growing up (maybe not)… so enjoy your giant cup of nostalgia as we take a trip down Memory Lane.

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  • 25 kids who are already cooler than I am.

    Oh, Pinterest… how I loveth/hateth thee. You are there for me when I need a quick and creative recipe for dinner and you have 1,000’s of DIY ways for me to solve a problem. However… you also show of the many, many, many things in life that I didn’t even know that I wanted until I scrolled through your many boards and pins.

    One of my favorite things to pin is pictures of children’s fashion. Lets be real– everything looks cuter on a baby or a kid. People tell me it is because everything is smaller, and little things are cute. I guess that could be the reason… but I am sure there is something magical thing I am missing. Anyway, here are 25 kids who (seriously) are already cooler than I am:

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  • Snow Paint

    Well, I am sure you have all heard about (or were stuck in) Winter Storm Juno– aka The Snowpocalypse… aka Snowmageddon 2015. I for one was slightly disappointed by this blizzard. I grew up in Alaska and love a good snow storm. New York City had ample hype about the intensity of this storm– but our supposed 3 feet overnight turned into basically a half a foot in my neighborhood. I guess I will be eating nonperishables and drinking this 4 gallons of water for the next few days (and I will be thankful that I didn’t really have to use them.) So Juno many not have hit New York City like I imagined… but it did manage to make her white and ever so beautiful.

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