Gena, Author at Ginger Casa

Gena is the mother of three boys, wife to DFW Dad, gardener, cook, crafter, DIYer, former teacher, and more! They live in the Dallas, Texas area.

How to Stay Focused on Your Job When You Work from Home

September 20, 2018 By Gena

How to Stay Focused on Your Job When You Work from Home was brought to you by Best Buy. All opinions are mine.

I have been lucky enough to be a work-at-home mom for about 7+ years now. I always knew I wanted to be able to stay at home with my children, but was not sure how we were going to pull that off. When I became a blogger in 2011, our oldest was 2 and our second son was 4 months old. This blog has progressed and luckily, this is working well for our family. Without going any further, being a parent is hard enough in itself. Stay-at-home parents are some of the hardest working parents out there. Add in a JOB that you have to do while you are parenting children…it gets pretty tough!

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Apple Danish with Crumble Topping – Easy Dessert That Celebrates The Flavors of Fall!

September 18, 2018 By Gena

Apple Danish with Crumble Topping We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

There are no better flavors on this earth than the flavors of fall. Whether or not you agree, you cannot deny that the flavors and smells of fall are unique and invoke a certain feeling. The cooler weather, school, leaves falling, it’s all SO wonderful! The flavors and smells of cinnamon, apples, pumpkin…amazing! My favorite fall recipes, other than these delicious apple danishes are Instant Pot Cinnamon Apples and Apple Cranberry Crumble.View Post

Instant Pot Refried Beans – No Soak Pressure Cooker Pinto Beans, Ready in About an Hour!

September 13, 2018 By Gena

Taco Tuesday. Mexican food. Cheese Enchiladas. Mexican Rice. These are a few of my favorite things! And added to that list are these Instant Pot refried beans! There is just something about a steaming hot plate full of Mexican food. The smells, the flavors…it is SO good!View Post

How to Keep Your Hungry Kids Fed (Without Getting in the Car!)

September 10, 2018 By Gena

How to Keep Your Hungry Kids Fed (Without Getting in the Car) is sponsored by BabbleBoxx.com.

Today begins the fourth week that our oldest two kids have been back to school. It always amazes me how quickly time flies by when you are busy. We started soccer season this past weekend (or tried to, they were all cancelled by heavy thunderstorms and flooded fields!) Every day of our week has an activity and keeping it all together is a bit of a challenge, but I have learned to make calendars and checklists so everything goes smoothly. There is one part of our lives that could always use some more careful attention, and that is how to keep those hungry kids fed while saving time and NOT relying on the drive-thru.View Post

NEW Must Have Books for Adventure Seeking Kids from National Geographic

September 4, 2018 By Gena

Must Have Books for Adventure Seeking Kids from National Geographic was sponsored by National Geographic. I received this product for free from Moms Meet to use and post my honest opinions. Compensation for this post was provided and this page may contain affiliate links.

Our oldest is almost 10, and I am SO thankful that he has always loved to read. For the past few years, it has been a challenge to find age appropriate books that he ENJOYS reading. The books he has always loved reading are books from National Geographic Kids. The “Weird But True” series is an easy read with beautiful pictures, and seeing his eyes light up when he sees these different books is such a joy to me. He can get lost for hours reading National Geographic Kids books, and has loved National Geographic Kids Everything Soccer this summer!

Because of his love for Nat Geo books, I was thrilled to be able to hand him the latest – National Geographic Kids Almanac 2019 and Explorer Academy: The Nebula Secret.View Post

Pumpkin Craft for Kids + Fall Decor to Bring Autumn into Your Home!

August 30, 2018 By Gena

While we are still baking in the summer heat, Fall is not far away! The scent of pumpkin spice is already beginning to fill the air and it is the BEST TIME OF THE YEAR!!!

The four-year-old and I made this adorable pumpkin craft for fun, but it turned out pretty cute so we used it alongside two printables from fellow bloggers and made a cute Fall display for our entry way.

Get the Welcome Fall printable from Retro Housewife Goes Green and the Fall Favorites printable from My Suburban Kitchen.

Aren’t pumpkins the best thing ever? I love their color and everything about them!

Pumpkin Craft for Kids

Materials Needed:

orange tissue paper, cut in squares
scissors
paper bowl
piece of cardboard
glue

Directions:

Turn the paper bowl over. Working in sections, apply glue to a quarter sized area.
Scrunch up a square of tissue paper and press it onto the glue.
Repeat until entire bowl is covered with scrunched tissue paper squares!
Let dry
Cut a “stem” out of cardboard and glue it to the back of the bowl and let dry.
Display your pumpkin craft and celebrate FALL!

Don’t miss this adorable apple craft for kids to celebrate fall, too!

Do you LOVE Fall? How do you celebrate the best season of the year?

Hallmark Channel’s #SummerNights “Season for Love” Premiering Saturday, August 25th at 9pm/8c! #SeasonforLove

August 23, 2018 By Gena

Summer Nights “Season For Love” post brought to you by Hallmark Channel. All opinions are mine.

My kids are back in school, but those summer trips and vacation are still fresh on my mind! We travelled North, West, and South, but I think our favorite trip was going to Arkansas for the first time. We were on a mission trip, but we still had time to explore a beautiful local creek and campsite. It was gorgeous! What was your favorite summer trip?

Hallmark Channel is reliving all of those sweet summer nights with their new Summer Nights movie lineup! Have you tuned in yet? There are five NEW original romantic movies and Season 3 of Chesapeake Shores.

This Saturday, August 25th, at 9 pm/8c, Hallmark Channel is premiering the fabulous new movie Season For Love,starring Autumn Reeser and Marc Blucas. Here’s the synopsis:

It’s been years since high school sweethearts Tyler and Corey saw each other and now they’re back in Red Rock, Texas, competing in the Annual BBQ Cook-off. She just lost her job as a sous chef in San Francisco and he’s flying in from New York to be the festival’s celebrity chef. Definitely coming from different places in their lives, they still feel the same about being back home and cooking great BBQ. But even with three bestselling cookbooks, his own product line, three restaurants and his own TV cooking show in the works, Corey is reluctant to get back to all the big city hoopla. And even though Tyler has just been offered the position of head chef at a new Bay Area restaurant, she’s not ready to leave her hometown. It could just be the heat of the cooking competition, but sparks have definitely been flying between these two. In fact, right up until the final moment of the cook-off, no one knows who will claim victory…and it might just be the people of this All-American town who will come out the winners.

Tweet With Us!

While you are watching the movie, tweet live with us! Follow the hashtags #SeasonForLove and #SummerNights, along with tweets from @HallmarkChannel to join in on the fun conversation!

Summer Nights Sweepstakes

Don’t miss Hallmark Channel’s Summer Nights Bucket List Sweepstakes! You could win $5,000 to make your summer nights bucket list a reality!

Blueberry Yogurt Muffins and Other Easy Breakfasts with Yogurt

August 22, 2018 By Gena

Blueberry Yogurt Muffins and Other Easy Breakfasts with Yogurt brought to you by Clover Sonoma and Mambo Sprouts. All opinions are mine.

Next week, the boys will start back to school and the sleeping in will have to end. Ahhhh summer, how I will miss you! The boys will both eat lunch at noon, I think, which means breakfast will be of utmost importance! It is so important to have a filling breakfast to get them to lunch and keep their brains on their schoolwork and not their growling tummies. That is why I have had to come up with quick easy breakfasts made with yogurt and easy make ahead breakfasts like these Blueberry Yogurt Muffins.View Post

Important Things to Remember at the First Week of School Drop-off!

August 20, 2018 By Gena

Important Things to Remember on the First Day of School was brought to you by Toyota USA. All opinions are mine.

This month and next, most kids are headed back to school. It is an exciting time for some, but it also can come with a lot of stress! Are you a laid back parent or one that gets stressed? I would like to think I am less stressed than years past, but others in my family may say otherwise. ha!

I have seen many articles and videos about back to school and specifically, back to school car lines. YES they are annoying and YES we realize that everyone is in a hurry, but you have to remember that we are dealing with real people and real kids here, so I have gathered a few thoughts and ideas to make this a smooth, safe process.View Post

Summer Never Ends at Epic Waters in Grand Prairie, Texas!

August 17, 2018 By Gena

This post was brought to you by Epic Waters in Grand Prairie. All opinions are mine.

We recently made our first trip to Epic Waters in Grand Prairie, Texas and all five of us had a day of fun! Despite being in August, we went on a very gloomy day. Of course there was no concern about the weather outside, because Epic Waters is open year-round! DFW’s newest indoor waterpark is 80,000 square feet of water fun for the whole family! Epic Waters has a retractable roof, eleven waterslides, an arcade, and many other attractions!

Water Fun For Little Ones

Our boys are all smack dab in the “in between” ages. Our youngest is 4 1/2 and the oldest is 9 1/2. Rascal’s Roundup is perfect for little ones. All three boys had fun splashing in this area, even though is is recommended for kids 5 and under. The two older brothers loved taking the little brother around the exciting slides, geysers, sprinklers, and the 300 gallon tipping bucket made everyone squeal when it dumped! Luckily, a bell rings beforehand, leaving you lots of time to get out of there if you are not a fan of water being dumped on your head!

Epic Slides!

Rascal’s Roundup was a great starting point and got the 4 year-old ready to attempt a slide that he was tall enough to ride – E-Racers. The boys raced Daddy down the four colorful slides and had a fun time! In fact, I think Daddy and the 4 year-old went down the E-Racers at LEAST five times!

Other awesome rides that kids 48″ and up can enjoy are Yellowjacket Drop, Texas Twist, and my personal favorite, Aquanaut. The boys were all too light to ride the Lasso Loop and Prairie Plunge, which require riders to be at least 99 lbs and 48″. They will be riding these all too soon, though!!

FlowRider®

The older two and Daddy loved the FlowRider®, which riders can ride the perfect wave alone on a boogie board. It takes some practice, but they had it in no time! I loved that there were some older men surfing on the FlowRider®! It was totally fun to watch! Tip: Get in line early because there will be a line, due to the fact that only one rider is permitted at at time!

Endless Fun For Everyone!

If you are not a water lover, or just want to take a break from the water, check out the large Epic Waters arcade!

If you are not a thrill seeker or need to relax a bit, the Rio Grand is the largest indoor lazy river in Texas! Some waters are tranquil and some are not! Make sure that little ones are wearing a life jacket or are in a tube because those surges are intense! (But perfect if you are floating along in a tube!) This was our favorite attraction as a family.

The Swimming Hole is a great place to practice your swimming moves or even basketball shots! The boys absolutely loved playing water basketball.

Safety First

If you are concerned that your little ones might not be safe at Epic Waters, have no fear! While you should always stay with your kids and watch out for them, there are many life jackets in many different sizes for kids. There are also many trained lifeguards positioned around the water park, always watching to make sure everyone is safe.

Cabanas

If you will be staying the day at Epic Waters, a cabana is a great idea. Visit EpicWatersGP.com to rent one for your visit. It will provide a meeting place for families, a place to take a nap in the middle of the day, a refuge for little ones who need some quiet time, a place to eat, and also a place to keep your towels!

Food

Plan to eat pizza, burgers, salads, desserts, sandwiches and more at Epic Waters! They have great food..something for everyone! Hubby tried the Epic Dog, which is a hot dog with BBQ pork and fritos, with jalapeños!

Keep Your Stuff Safe

Do not be worried about how to keep your wallet and keys safe while you enjoy the indoor water park. Locker rentals are available in three different sizes and are easy to use.

Birthday Parties and Events

I LOVE that Epic Waters is open year round for one very special reason. My boys’ birthdays are all in November or December and they always want to have a pool party like some of their friends. Well now they can!! Wouldn’t a pool party in December be SO FUN!? Epic Waters can accommodate groups, parties, and private events, so make sure to hop on their website and contact them!