I participated in an Influencer Activation on behalf of Influence Central for LISTERINE. I received samples for this review and a promotional item to thank me for participating.

I wrote a little bit ago about heroic habits and how our family keeps up good habits, and more importantly how as parents we encourage our little "super heroes" to have good habits including making sure they keep their teeth healthy. Looking back on the years I know that I am in "constant watch mode" making sure our kids are brushing, flossing and doing everything else they can do to have healthy teeth, but that started to make me wonder if I am leading by example or am I just trying to stop them from making the same mistakes I did when I was younger, and my conclusion... I am not leading by example enough. I can do more and I can do better. I find myself getting after them to brush longer and then I find that when it comes time for me to brush my teeth I rush through it too fast and a lot of the time skip flossing all together. So my husband and I have decided we need to be better examples for our kiddos and have heroic habits of our own.

With that in mind we realized that we need to keep up those habits no matter where we are or what we are doing. This became a little bit of a challenge since we travel so often and even as I type this my husband and I are 2300 miles away from home on a 10 day vacation. Now it can be difficult to keep any and all good habits up while on vacation; one heroic habit that I have been trying to keep up on is eating healthy. On vacation I find myself gravitating towards fast and frugal meals which typically are not healthy. It's not easy eating healthy for 10 days and while being on the road every day! But it's part of the heroic habits I am trying to have and I know it sets a good example for my kids to see me eating fresh healthy food as often as possible. I thought this heroic habit would be pretty difficult when we were in NYC last week, but I actually found fruit and veggie stands all over Manhattan and also found fresh smoothie stands all over. Awesome right?!

Unfortunately once we left the big city and set out on the New England open road it became a little more difficult, but not impossible! I almost caved a few times as we drove past some of my favorite fast food restaurants, but I held strong. Sometimes when we try to get into new healthy habits we will want to cave when it gets hard and the same thing can happen when trying to keep up good dental hygiene. We justify it with "it's ok I will brush longer in the morning" or "I will floss tomorrow" but if we want our teeth to be the healthiest they can be and avoid major dental costs (and I'm pretty sure we all do) there is no justification for not brushing, flossing and doing anything else we need to do for a healthy smile. With that in mind my husband and I made a commitment to properly take care of our pearly whites while on vacation as well. Before we left we each packed a little "heroic dental habits" bag for while we were on vacation. This bag includes:

:: A toothbrush

:: LISTERINE Mouthwash

:: LISTERINE POCKETPAKS

:: LISTERINE ULTRACLEAN ACCESS Flosser

Everything you could need!

To snag these items for yourself you can go here!

All of these products will help us maintain our good habits and will also help us set a good example for our kids. Every day we Skype with our 4 and 6 year old and my 6 year old wanted me to watch her using her new Barbie LISTERINE and so I took that opportunity to show her that I was keeping my teeth nice and clean as well! Every day we now talk (as much as we can with a toothbrush in our mouths) and show each other that we are keeping up with our heroic habits. Also while on this trip I have realized how nice it is to have some of the items above in my purse.

I carry with me the LISTERINE ULTRACLEAN ACCESS Flosser and the LISTERINE POCKETPAKS. I find that the LISTERINE ULTRACLEAN ACCESS Flosser is a lifesaver after meals especially if you have food between your teeth in two seconds of using it you can get rid of any extra food between your teeth and do it seamlessly without looking like you are flossing. I also have been using the LISTERINE POCKETPAKS for after meals, especially those with garlic or other strong flavors and also I have realized that after being on the road for a few hours your mouth can feel a little gross and you need something refreshing and your fellow car passengers will appreciate it as well. 

What I have come to realize most of all is that no matter where you are or what you are doing you can keep up those heroic habits! And if you don't have any heroic habits it's not too late to be healthy and happy! 

You can learn more about LISTERINE and heroic habits by visiting their website.

Also be sure to subscribe to the LISTERINE YouTube channel to learn about new products and promotions and to watch the LISTERINE heroic heroes video series!

While it can be a little tedious, roasting pumpkin seeds is simple. Start by picking out a nice-sized pumpkin, in hopes that it will give you lots of seeds. Then take your prized pumpkin home and get to carving!

Start by cutting around the stem of the pumpkin. If you're going to be making a Jack-O-Lantern, be sure to cut the top with your knife at an angle, with the tip pointed towards the center of the pumpkin (where the stem is). By cutting at an angle, you'll be creating a pumpkin top that won't fall inside the pumpkin.

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I participated in an Influencer Activation Program on behalf of Influence-Central for Jif To Go Dippers. I received a sample to facilitate my review and a thank you item for participating.

I would love to say that I am a completely homemade type of mom, that everything that comes out of my kitchen I slaved over for hours to be able to provide for my kids, but I'm not. And in this day in age I see nothing wrong with it. Now don't get me wrong I have friends that will make completely homemade snacks like fruit leather and more that take at least several hours to complete from start to finish, but I just don't have time for that. I commend them for it, but I just can't. So when I go to the store I am looking specifically for items that fit this criteria:

:: Healthy

:: Mess Free

:: Convenient 

:: Can be eaten on the run 

:: And the last and most important... kid friendly. Something they will actually eat! 

There are a lot of things that fit my first four criteria, but my kids won't eat it or they complain about it; which essentially equals me and my husband eating whatever it is or money down the drain. Either way it's not good. 

Our family in total has been to 31 states in the last 2 years! That's a lot of traveling and a lot of food for everyone so being able to have a easy snack taken care of is huge!

I don't have enough time in the day to spend watching my adorable 4 year old slowly eating his snack and making "good guys and bad guys" out of it. Food time for him turns into a full blown production. So having something he can eat anytime anywhere is a lifesaver.

What I do have time for and a snack that meets all the "demanding mom" criteria are the Jif To Go Dippers. Have you tried them yet? I would love to know what you think. I toss one to the kids as we are heading out the door or to my hubby when he goes on a bike ride. Jif To Go Dippers are also great for adults! My husband loves having something he can stop and quickly eat that gives him energy to keep riding. Now keep in mind he cycles 30-60 miles every time he goes out! So that says a lot about how much he approves of Jif To Go Dippers as a quality snack. 

We also have enjoyed them on the trip we are currently on; right now I am writing you from Martha's Vineyard! We found that Jif To Go Dippers are a great snack to take on the plane and to have when we haven't been close to food options or aren't quite hungry enough for a whole meal. My favorite is the chocolate and my hubbies favorite is the peanut butter and the kids like both. I absolutely love Jif To Go Dippers as an alternative to chips and other unhealthy snacks. Typically when you need a quick snack you will find yourself going for a greasy bag a chips and feeling very unsatisfied afterward, but that's not the case with Jif To Go Dippers. You know that you are getting protein, fiber, potassium and healthy fats when eating peanut butter that you need. I don't know of any other convenient on the go snack that can do that! Be sure to grab Jif To Go Dippers for your "on the go" family! 

Be sure to also check out Jif here:

The Jif® Website: Head over here to the Jif website 

Jif Facebook Page: Head over here to the Jif Facebook Page

I participated in an Influencer Activation on behalf of Influence Central for LISTERINE. I received samples for this review and a promotional item to thank me for participating.

Our kids are pretty obsessed superheroes so we try to use that theme when encouraging them on good habits. We want to make sure our kids are eating healthy so their superhero bodies are growing strong and we want them to have superhero attitudes which for us means being super kind and friendly to others and trying to create happy times with happy attitudes. Like most families we want our kids to have "heroic habits". So when it comes to oral hygiene we use that same principle and let our kids know that part of being a superhero is also having awesome healthy and strong teeth. This is point really hits close to me because on my side of the family we have a long history of bad dental genetics and we are prone to cavities and other issues, so I knew that I wanted it to be different with my kids and I wanted them to have super healthy teeth. With that in mind our kiddos know that a huge part of their "superhero responsibilities" includes keeping their teeth healthy and clean. Normally that just entails brushing their teeth for two minutes, but we recently started to use LISTERINE SMART RINSE and at first I was concerned if my kids would even use it or like it, and it turns out they LOVE it! They beg to be able to use it every night and love swooshing it around in their mouths. Be sure to grab some next time you are at the store, your kids will love it!

My husband and I have also "upped" our superhero tooth cleaning skills by flossing more often. This is something I have always had an issue doing, I don't know why, but I have just always hated flossing. I do understand how important it is though... it is really embarrassing for me to tell people this but when I was younger I lost two of my back teeth due to poor oral health care and bad genetics. And while I can't do anything about genetics I can do a lot more about my oral health care routine and I can make sure I am doing what I need to do so I don't lose any more teeth. This includes flossing which I personally love using the flosser, I feel it makes it a little easier to floss and ease makes me actually do it and not put it off! And speaking of easy... you can also buy all of your favorite LISTERINE products from the comfort of your own home!

After flossing and brushing the last step of our "heroic oral health habits" is to use mouthwash! Now, as you can tell from the pics above my kids absolutely love this step and so do I! I love feeling like my mouth is completely clean and I don't have any lingering food pieces left in my mouth. You can also use LISTERINE HEALTHY WHITE to help get those pearly whites you want!

So do you think your family is  ready to be oral health care superheros? What do you use or do with your kids to enforce good oral hygiene? Let us know!

You can learn more about LISTERINE and heroic habits by visiting their website.

Also be sure to subscribe to the LISTERINE YouTube channel to learn about new products and promotions and to watch the LISTERINE heroic heroes video series!

How awesome are these!! Especially with Halloween right around the corner! Your family will love these and they will disappear quick! 

And the best part... they're incredibly easy to make. Trust me. It may not look like it, but making your favorite candy bar is easier than you think. And you don't have to make it all at once either.  

You can make a layer here, let it sit, then make the next layer, let it sit, etc. SO EASY.

Let's get to it!

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