Jill Amery is a mom of 2 small boys and the Publisher of UrbanMommies, a stylish digital lifestyle magazine filled with fitness, style, health, recipes and savvy mom advice to help you through pregnancy, birth, and raising your kids.
Fall is usually the impeccable period to initiate new family traditions for several years to come. As winter is imminent, gather round to pop some corn, cozy up on the couch under a blanket and play the favourite movies of your family on Netflix.
The problem with being photogenic is that as you age, every angle is no longer your best angle. People can now tell that I’ve had little sleep or have neglected to eat cruciferous vegetables recently.
Mentors and role models are crucial to our kids’ development. I am lucky that my kids are growing up in a community where they are influenced and guided by their elders, and are learning to mentor younger kids themselves.
This beach-ready buttermilk fried chicken was fun to make and completely delicious.
After eating these at a baby shower, I dubbed them the world’s best crabcakes. I quickly pulled out my cell phone to write down the ingredients as the baby’s grandmother named ingredients. I had to figure out the recipe myself……
I’m one of those hardcore moms who never allowed the boys to play with squirt guns. They would find driftwood with some resemblance to weapons, and use imagination and creativity to make up games.
What better summer activity than a night outside watching a film? Friends, snacks, pillows and blankets with your very own private big screen.
We’ve all been there: unloading the backpack at the end of the day and throwing away half-eaten sandwiches and mushy bananas.
My son has been heartbroken, as the servers that we’ve been trying for the Pixelmon Minecraft mod haven’t been working at all. I offered to tweet the Minecraft guys. I tried to add different servers. No go. Figuring out how to install mods in Minecraft is tricky, as it depends on whether you use a PC or a Mac, and takes patience.
But then I watched a few Youtube videos about how to do this stuff, and made my son the happiest man in the house. I added a mod to Minecraft so that he could play as his beloved Pokemon characters.
It really wasn’t that difficult. First, you go to Pixelmonmod – it’s a great resource. Unfortunately the servers just wouldn’t work with the version of Minecraft that we have – 1.7.10. What I learned was that we had to instal a mod instead. We downloaded Forge in order to quickly install a mod. Once you open it click the top option to install the files. It will end up saying that 11 files have been installed. I found a free Pixelmon mod on Minecraft Six. Mods are saved as ‘jar’ files. Once downloaded to your computer, search your computer files for the Minecraft folder. In this folder will be a subfolder for ‘mods’. Pop the jar file into this folder, and you’re good to go.
When you open Minecraft, you must select the bottom (Forge) version from the dropdown menu. My son can now select his Pokemon characters and continue to build and explore the very spacial world of Minecraft.
Happy kids, happy Pokemon, and endless fun. And mommy looks like a computer genius rockstar! I just wish I could build half of what the kids can in Minecraft – actually I should start with a lesson on moving my character without bumping into walls and falling into oceans!
Usually I’m not preachy, but watching this video of three generations talking about summer ‘fun’ filmed by Nature Valley jarred me to my roots. Our relationship to nature is changing and with technology at our fingertips, it’s easy to forget about what’s important, like being outside and enjoying nature. With each passing generation, children seem to be playing outside less and less.
What if our connection to nature is lost for good? I want my grandchildren to develop skills and knowledge that can be acquired only in nature. Learning to fish, to camp, swim, built forts and plant seeds are part of childhood – play is necessary for development. Not only are motor skills developed, but creativity, reasoning, logic and life skills are honed. Can you imagine having no access to food other than fish, but the only time you’ve held a rod was during a fishing video game? So let’s make a pact to get the kids outside this summer, K?
The time is now to rediscover the joy of nature.
The kids and I have completed our ‘Summer Bucket List’ and pasted it to the fridge, where we can check off the items as we complete them. I’m giddy. Too often the summer slips away from us and I regret not having slept in a tent or taking the kayak out. This will be the best summer ever.
I challenge you to complete your own Bucket List (click to get your own printable)! I’d also love to hear your ideas in the comments below. Happy summer!