I’ve gotten really into green cleaning products recently. With all of the attention we pay to the chemicals we ingest, we sometimes forget about the stuff we clean with. I collected some of my favorite DIY green cleaning recipes to share with you. If you’re looking to cut down on using chemicals that are harmful to the environment and to our bodies, this post is for you.

Whenever I tell people I make my own cleaning products, the first thing I get is the Huuuuh? face. As in, why on earth would you do that when you could run to the store and pick one up that’s already made for you?

Let me start by telling you right off the bat that if it wasn’t easy, I wouldn’t do it. I’ve got way too much going on to be bothered with complicated green cleaning recipes. The recipes I use are incredibly simple and nontoxic—in my book, this is key when you have a toddler who not only puts just about anything in her mouth but scales furniture when I turn my back.

The next thought that flickers across a person’s face is usually, How do you know it actually works? Most people don’t ask that out loud but you can totally see that they’re thinking it (my sister, however, absolutely asks it out loud). Once I explain the ingredients I use and their magical powers (which I’ll get to in a bit) the face is usually all Tell me your secrets!

Since I can never remember these magical recipes off the top of my head (I keep them on a card in my recipe box), I thought I’d lay them all out for you right here…

Oriental Trading Company provided me with product for review but all opinions (and drama) are my own.

My girls get their love of crafting from me. They also get their inability to finish projects before flitting off to another creative venture from me, but you can talk to my husband about that. I prefer to concentrate on the positive. Like making pretty ornaments for our tree and to gift to friends and family.

We got a few inches of snow dumped on us on Saturday and it was the perfect time to hunker down in front of the Christmas tree and get our craft on.

It’s no secret that my daring fashionistas are big fans of LittleMissMatched. They go wild over the fun clothes, but the real winner in our house is always the socks. They are a staple over here. In case you’re not familiar with LittleMissMatched socks (um, get on it!), they come in sets of three and none of them are perfect matches. This is a huge deal in our house!

Well, I have something that might be an even bigger deal:

The LittleMissMatched  Project Sock Design Contest is back!

Kids can submit their own sock design to win a cash prize and—possibly even more exciting—be a part of LittleMissMatched’s Spring 2017 Line! This contest encourages kids to allow their creative spirits to come alive and create whatever want—no limitations.

If your kid thinks he/she has what it takes to “think outside the socks” (I know mine do!), get them started!

To enter, kids should:

• Print out the entry form and sample sock templates
• Design three socks any way that they want (just don’t make them match!)
• Submit them via email to LMMProjectSock@LittleMissMatched.com by October 31, 2016.

A panel of judges selected by the LittleMissMatched team will pick 24 semi-finalists. Their entries will be uploaded to an online voting gallery for everyone and anyone to vote on their fan favorites!

There will be three winners:

• First prize wins a $500 cash prize and 10 packs of his or her sock designs.
• Second and third prize winners will receive $250 cash and 5 packs of their winning sock designs, which will also be a part of LittleMissMatched’s 2017 collection.

For more information (including how to enter via Instagram), visit the LittleMissMatched Project Sock page.

PS If you want to learn a little bit about last year’s winner, Westchester’s own Tori S (pictured above), head over to Westchester with Kids for an interview with her!

The girls and I (and Samantha’s BFF) took a trip down to New Jersey this weekend to have some fun at Liberty Science Center. We had a blast the last time we were there and were expecting nothing less than an amazing time. While that’s usually a recipe for disaster, I’m happy to report that Liberty Science Center totally delivered.

I was shocked (again) at how much there is to do there. While the girls spent a fair amount of time climbing around the Infinity Climber and checking out Infection Connection like they did last time, this experience was completely different.

This post was sponsored by the Boys & Girls Club of America as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central.

This year, Samantha’s 10th birthday coincided with the last day of school. We surprised her with a (refurbished) iPad and it was clear within a few hours that we would have to put some serious restrictions on her usage of the thing this summer. If it were up to her, girlfriend would be on musical.ly 24 hours a day until the bus comes back to drag her to fifth grade.

But this is not a blog post about the evils of screen time. Because, to be honest, I don’t think all screen time is evil. Ellie has been doing yoga almost daily lately, thanks to DVDs we picked up at the library. Yes, there’s a screen involved, but she’s up and moving her body in ways she might not have been.

While I don’t want my girls glued to glowing screens all day, I’m no fool. Technological savvy will be a major asset to them in the future. By 2018, jobs in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) are expected to grow almost twice as fast as jobs in other fields in the US. Plus, there are ways to have them use tech positively so that they’re learning without even realizing it. Samantha is obsessed with apps like Scratch and Hopscotch, which teach kids basic programming and coding skills. I like that they stimulate her and encourage her to continue learning—even while on summer vacation.