Be active, be present, be aware. Trust me it is so much easier and calmer when my kids use their iPads or are in front of the tv, but that's not how we role for long! I am grateful to have such active ands creative kids. They live outside when its nice out.  Living in Chicago, we HAVE to take full advantage of these beautiful fall days! Today I had like 3 loads of laundry, a dirty floor, and other chores that were backed up. I had 2 choices, let the kids watch TV while I did my chores...OR, go out and play! Yep! You better believe I went out to play with them! One day I will grow up, and before we know it, they will too. BUT today was not that day. 

I had purchased these forts last year at Micheals and they were a hit. This year I got them off of Amazon. The link is below! I have to admit, they are a bit of work to put together, you can see me struggle in one of my photos hahahah. I was not giving up, and it was well worth it. All 3 of my kids and their friends from 2-12 years of age had fun painting and putting them together! 

Be present with your kids. Be aware of too much TV and iPad use. Try to find things you enjoy as well to do with them. I think the biggest thing is, the idea of a big mess comes before we can think of the fun. Don't be afraid to make a mess or get messy, a mess can be cleaned up in minutes, memories will last you a life time!

P.S. Bonus insert...Very rarely do I shy away from a bet or a dare! SO you can see me win a bet with a box jump my husband told me I couldn't do while I was helping build these forts in my video hahahah 

P.S.S The jumbo lego blocks that Dante built his 2 story house with and what I did my box jump on, has been the most played with toy than any other toy he has ever gotten! He builds everything and anything with those things since he was 5. He is now 8 and I have seen his imagination build some pretty impressive things with them. The ONLY hard thing about them is storing them. But I am telling you they are SO worth it!!!! See link below.