Are you someone who struggles to exercise consistently? Meet two friends who were out of shape and needed a fun way to incorporate regular exercise into their lives. Authors of The Best Friends’ Guide to Getting Fit and founders of ConnectMoveTransform.com, Kris Carpenter and Kim Murphy are a real-life fitness and friendship success story. Learn about their story, connect with friends, move your body and start your own transformation. Read the rest »

Dear Carrie: What advice do you have for flying with small children?

Airplane travel. I vaguely remember the days of throwing a couple of magazines into whatever I was using for a carry-on and maybe a snack (or not, since in those days you were relatively well-fed on a plane). Those days are long gone in our family!

Looking back on it, I remember that flying with Lilly, our now almost-four-year-old, was a breeze. We had a couple of minor incidents, like when my husband realized an hour into our first (five-hour) flight that her diaper had leaked all over her clothes. She ended up flying out in a turtleneck and a diaper (very classy, I know) while the remainder of her attire dried on the floor below us. Thank heavens it was just wet. I got to learn my lesson gently that time. See, that was our first flight with a baby. I didn’t think about taking extra clothes, though I had enough entertainment to keep everyone on the plane busy for at least a couple of hours. Of course, everyone was already entertained because our child was standing in her seat half-naked – singing, dancing, waving. My husband quickly grew worried about the extrovert that appeared when the clothes disappeared, but that’s a whole different story. Read the rest »

Spaghetti is yummy. Worms are yucky. So begins the very fun and funny Yummy Yucky board book. Admittedly, it’s childish at best and gross at worst, but we really like Yummy Yucky. It makes us laugh. Our children laugh as well but not as much as we do.

There are some complaints we’ve read from parent reviewers on Amazon.com who complain about the word “booger” on one of the pages. Our advice is to skip the page if it’s not a word you would like to introduce and enjoy the book.

See CleverParents-tv Vidcast #2 featuring the Yummy Yucky board book.

Cooked rice or pasta can be frozen for up to three months. Make a large quantity, then divide between Ziploc freezer bags and pull out when you need them and then reheat. You will save time and energy.

In Case of EmergencyLast week we worked on the large filling drawer to keep important papers. These papers, although quite important, are not as imperative as the items I am going to ask you to keep in your smaller folio. Once completed this smaller folio will contain everything you need in case of an emergency. In addition, it is extremely important to instruct your family members as to where this folio is in case you are unable to get it. Read the rest »