April is a wonderful month, the weather is getting warmer and the flowers are in bloom. Some of us are planting veggie gardens and getting our back yards ready for the warm weather and outdoor entertaining. ?Along with April also brings a week called, “Spring break”, and that can be something we as mom’s look forward to or don’t look forward to. This year my husband and I started to think about what we could do for spring break and how we could make it fun for our kid’s during this time. We also had to think about how we were going to work and carve out time to ?have some fun. What ever we did decide on doing also had to be inexpensive and easy to get to. ?A lot of families that we know were going to amazing places and talking about taking trips to places we have never heard of. That was great for them and we were happy for them, but we weren’t going to be going on a trip unless it was near by.
Our theme for our families ?”Spring Break”, is KISS! ( Keep It Super Simple). So that’s exactly what we decided to do. We had a few ideas and now we had to put them into action and get ready to keep the boy’s busy. ?My husband and I are personal trainer’s and work from home. We are fortunate to have ?flexible schedules and to not have to worry about child-care for the week. ?That in its self is something we are very thankful for.
- One of the things we treated family to this year ?for spring break was a beach pass for the beach. This is a pass that we can have year round and also use anytime we wish. It is great because even though we live near the beach it would be really nice to just put everything in the car and drive down and park. We are fortunate to live by the beach and can even walk there but this year we decided that a pass would be fun even if it was to catch the sunset before it went down and come back home. This really is a treat for our family. We plan on having a cook out at the beach and also roasting?marshmallow’s?one evening.
- Flying a kite is something I enjoyed doing as a child, so I thought why not buy some kites and take them to the beach. It is a great way to spend time with the family and also do something else while being at the beach.
- Board games are a great way to hang out and spend time with your kid’s. Pop some popcorn, make some lemonade and your ready for a night of fun and laughter. After the games have a little desert is a great way to end the evening and have a conversation with each other.
- For Christmas this year our boy’s were lucky to get new bikes. So we have been doing some great bike rides to the beach and getting in some family exercise time. We ride our bikes and then hang out and people watch, it is fun and we enjoy just being together. So we will be doing some bike rides during spring break.
- Cooking in the kitchen is fun to do and letting your kid’s be apart of cooking is really great. We are going to be having the boy’s do more cooking this week and teaching them how to cook simple things that will be easy to cook and fun to eat. Having some themes for your dinners our fun to do, like taco Tuesday, and Friday night pizza night. You can buy all the food you need and then help the kid’s make it. It’s fun to be in the kitchen with the kids and it’s a great way to spend time with each other.
- Be sure and stalk up on healthy snacks for the kids: sugar-free ?popsicle, popcorn, fruits, veggies with light ?ranch dip, peanut butter, lemonade, healthy turkey meat and cheese, nuts, applesauce, string cheese, baked chips, pretzel’s with humus and other things you love. Have them near by so you eat at home and don’t give in to the fast food trips to places you wish you would have not gone too.
So just when you thought that “Spring Break”, had to be a busy, expensive time to empress your kid’s and break your bank account, it doesn’t. Use your imagination and just relax, sometimes the best time with your family is when you just hang out and spend time together.
My hope this “Spring Break”, will be that you do just that, have some fun & relax. After all is supposed to be a break right?
Spring brings on allergies and shiffles here are a few way’s to decrease them with a natural solution…
1. Increase your magnesium… This little mineral has shown way’s to relax the airway’s, and ease congestion. Aim for 200-400 mg. a day. Foods to help with this are bananas, nuts & spinach.
2. Add a squeeze of lime.. Limes contain natural antihistamines that can help to reduce allergy symptoms. Try to squeeze half a lime in some cold water throughout the day.
3. ?Eat more fish.. Salmon has omega-3 fatty acids in it and is not only great for your heart, ( especially if you are a mesomorph body- type), but also because it has anti-inflammatory properties in it. The anti-inflammatory may have ways to decrease swelling and itching of the eyes, nose and throat.
4. Exercise... If you exercise outdoors during this time of year, take note of the air quality for the day.??Check out the weather for the day and see when the best time of day would be for you with less pollution and dander in the air. That would be a great time to get your walk, biking or your hike for the day. If the air quality is bad, do an indoor workout or wait to exercise later in the day. Also think about doing some water aerobics, that is usually a win-win situation.
Kids Mini Quiche…
- Make your own mini quiches. Beat eggs or egg substitute and milk together as you would when making scrambled eggs, add cooked canidian bacon or lean ham pieces-poor mixture into muffin tins, add reduces-fat shredded cheese on top and bake for 20-25 minutes.
- Add cinnamon and a touch of honey to a low-fat yogurt.
Blessings,
StacyRaeFitnessMama