kids stuff Archives - My Suburban Kitchen

A Glimpse: Summer Fun Day

June 14, 2014 By Shannah Coe Leave a Comment

To close out the month of May and get a jumpstart on summer fun, the family and I packed it up and headed to Busch Gardens for a summer fun day. Busch Gardens is where I went almost every summer as I was growing up and, during college, I had season passes so I could visit all the time. Now, we are a little farther away but we like to go and take the kids at least once a year.

As we drove in, we were greeted by famouns Loch Ness Monster roller coaster. I was trying to convince Maya to ride it with me but wasn’t being too successful.

Our first stop was Germany so we could all grab some lunch. There is nothing like the refuge of Oktoberfest’s air conditioning and delicious food when you are hot and hungry! With full stomachs, it was time to hit the rides.

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A Glimpse: Our Clean Routine

February 24, 2014 By Shannah Coe 3 Comments

“This shop is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group™ and Cottonelle but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #CtnlCareRoutine http://cmp.ly/3/8vNxcO”

With the new year, I wanted to focus a little more on some of the things that happen with our family and in our home. A big subject around our house these days is staying clean. You see we tackled potty training with very little problems. BUT, it seems the hard work actually comes AFTER the potty training. Once you get the kids to the potty, you have to teach them the correct way to wipe, remind them to flush and clean their hands. This goes on even now.
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20 DIY Halloween Costumes

October 10, 2013 By Shannah Coe 38 Comments

October has hit. Panic has set in at the Just Us Four house because the kids don’t have Halloween costumes picked out yet. Typically, we have our costumes in hand by early September so we get the pick of what is available. I am totally blaming PBK for this lapse in Halloween preparation since their catalog is usually what prompts me to order costumes. This year, I am thinking our late decisions on what to be will leave us with a lot less choices. So, like any good mom/blogger, I went cruising the interwebs and found 20 DIY Halloween costumes that could serve as back-ups…or first choices if DIY Halloween costumes are your thing! …

Let’s Dig In – E’s Construction Birthday Party

September 5, 2013 By Shannah Coe 34 Comments

The party bus left H’s Rainbow Barbie birthday party and dropped two very tired parents and two exhausted grandparents back at Casa de Just Us Four to prep for the next party: E’s Construction birthday party.

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Ten Last Minute Back to School Ideas

September 2, 2013 By Shannah Coe Leave a Comment

Gah…it is September! And our kids head back to school in like a day. How did that creep up so fast? Well, I saw fast but, if you are a “good” blogger, you probably started thinking about back to school in June…it is just what we tend to do. Then, there are the people like me who get so swamped with general life and wake up to realize school starts in a few days. You still want the cool ideas for your kids to celebrate back to school time but you just need stuff that takes a lot less time. Don’t worry…I’ve got your back.

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Happy Mail…for Kids!

August 13, 2013 By Shannah Coe Leave a Comment

I was so excited to check out the newest Kiwi Crate coutesy of KiwiCrate.com. As always, all the thoughts and opinions below are my own and I wouldn’t be sharing any product with you that I wouldn’t use on my own/buy with my own money.

We get a lot of packages on the Just Us Four doorstep. Some of things I order, some are things for different sponsored posts and occasionally we get a few gifts too. H is always super excited to see packages on the front door and bounds out to see if any of the happy mail is for her. More often than not…the packages aren’t for the kids. ::Sad Face::

A few weeks ago, I was so excited because I knew one of the packages heading our way was speficially for her. Kiwi Crate is a monthly subscription that delivers boxes of crafts and activities to your door. They recently revamped the crates and we were being sent one to check it out. The target age is 3-7 so I knew it would be perfect for my rising 6 year old.

H loves exploring nature so this box was absolutely perfect for her! Plus, being summer, we are always looking for activities to do outdoors.
I immediately wrote her name on the outside of the collection box so she could take it with her on the next walk to the playground.

The box gives you all the supplies a kids need to really make the collection box one of a kind.

H, of course, while digging through the box, immediately locked onto some of the stickers and put them on her box.

Then, we took a little bit of time to check out the books that come inside the crate to help kids get even more from the crafts and activities.

Next in line is putting together our lantern for evening walks around the block…stay tuned because I’ll be back to share it with you 🙂

What kinds of activities do you like to do to entertain your kids? Do you subscribe to a monthly service like Kiwi Crate to keep the activities new and different each month?

Looking for some activities to keep your kids entertained through the rest of the late summer months? Check out Kiwi Crate’s Summer Discovery Series where each month has a specific outdoor theme. August is Wonders of Water which I will be checking out for my little waterbug, E.

You Can Quote Me – Back to School Bubble

August 21, 2012 By Shannah 43 Comments

With H going back to school, we wanted a way to capture some of her favorite things so we could see how her tastes evolve as she gets older.

I bought these cool mdf quote boards from an Etsy seller and painted them in black chalkboard paint

Then, I used painters tape to section off where I wanted to draw lines.

I used my chalk ink markers to trace lines against the painters tape. Then, I wrote in my “categories” based on what H wanted to talk about. My bubble isn’t very big so I just wanted to capture her basic likes so I included: food, color, song and movie.

From there, I just got H to give me the answers to the questions and I filled it in. I was a little surprised by 2 of her answers but it is her bubble so we went with it. Once the answers were all filled in, we headed outside for a photo shoot.

Wow, MDF must be a lot heavier once you add chalkboard paint.

We’ll do another photo session on the actual first day of school. Who knows…her answers might change by then. She is 5 after all.

You can find this post at the parties listed here.

Back to School Wreath

August 20, 2012 By Shannah 11 Comments

Want a quick and easy back to school project? This one is for you then! Just a few easy supplies and you have a super fast but really cute back to school wreath!

Start with a circle of some kind. You could cut a circle out of a cardboard box. I used the cardboard that came under H’s birthday cake {you can get them at Michaels or Party City} and then painted it red.

Then, grab some pencils and colored pencils along with your hot glue gun. Just start hot gluing the pencils around the perimeter of the circle! I alternated the regular yellow pencils with the colored pencils as I went around the outside of my circle. I also alternated points out or erasers out.

Once I all the pencils are glued on, grab a stencil and stencil the front with a marker.

I also added in some little yellow stenciling too with acrylic paint.

Disclaimer: I had some help with my lettering in the form of a certain blond 5 year old. It might explain the lopsided letters a bit..or maybe I am just totally incapable of writing in a straight line.

Just hang on the door and go…all ready for back to school.

You can find this post linked up to the list of parties found here.