FREE FRANCIES FOR PHOTOS

Here at TeamFRANCIE PANTS we absolutely love
to see our customers enjoying their Francies!

So what better way to encourage you to send us
your best pix than to give you free FRANCIE PANTS?

So give us your best shot and let your FRANCIE PANTS
attitude shine!  Photos need to be high quality and
at least 1200×1200 in size.

Summertime Sprinkler Fun

It really doesn’t take a lot of money or fancy toys for kids to have fun staying cool in the summer time. On those sticky, sweltering days sometimes all you need is a simple garden hose, your basic lawn sprinkler – and maybe just a little bit of creativity. Along with simply running back and forth to get soaked (always fun by itself to begin with anyway), there are a myriad of other fun ideas that can keep kids interested and occupied (and cool!) for longer. Here are a few to get you started, then let your own kids’ creativity take over!

• Sprinkler Tag – A variation of the usual playground game, but spiced up by requiring players to run through the water to get away from ‘It’. Just remember to caution kids to be careful when running on the wet ground, as it gets slippery.
• Ring Around the Sprinkler – Fun especially for smaller kids who enjoy this game to begin with, and everyone ‘falls down’ into the wet grass at the end.
• Sprinkler Rain Day – Hand out umbrellas and give everyone the challenge to try and stay dry while running back and forth through the water.
• Follow the Leader… through the Sprinkler – Let the ‘leader’ take everyone over, through, around or however else they want to interact with the sprinkler and the spraying water.
• Catch the Water – Arm everyone with plastic buckets and see how long it takes to fill them simply by standing in various spots underneath the sprinkler.
• Splashing in Street Clothes – If you don’t mind throwing everything in the laundry when you’re done, let the kids run through the sprinkler in their regular play clothes. They’ll get a blast from the novelty of being allowed to get their shorts and shirts wet!

Really, just about any typical playground game can be adapted to create additional fun when playing in the sprinkler – ‘Mother May I’, ‘Simon Says’, ‘Red Rover’, and more. Or let your kids make up their own games as they go. But don’t forget to put on your own bathing suit and join in – it’s a great way for mom or dad to stay cool and join in the fun too!

Let’s Go on a Bug Safari!

Whether you have boys or girls (or both), there’s always something fun about roaming either through the yard or maybe a local park on the hunt for rare and exotic species of bugs. Or just your plain, everyday kind too.

Although you can find specific products for catching and keeping bugs at local retail stores (and even the dollar store often has them), some of the essential gear for a bug safari can include a lot of things that you might already have lying around the house, such as:

• Magnifying glass – for finding those tiny little bugs hiding in the long grass or under leaves.
• Jar or plastic container with holes punched in the lid – to keep your bugs safe and secure. And alive.
• Butterfly net – to catch butterflies, moths and fireflies
• Tweezers – to pick up bugs that you might not want to touch with your fingers
• Notebook/pencil – to take notes about what kinds of bugs you found and where
• Camera – to take pictures of your bugs. You can even print out the pictures later and paste them onto your notebook pages to make a journal of all of the bugs you’ve found.
• A friend (or two) to go bug hunting with!

You never know what kinds of exciting things you might be able to find in your own backyard – good luck!

It’s almost Fourth of July parade time!

Every summer my family enjoys our local Fourth of July activities. This holiday is one of the more major ones in our town, with a whole weekend full of activities – everything from skydivers to an arts & crafts fair. And the parade, of course.

If there’s no other time to get out and show your community pride and spirit, the Fourth of July is it. The entire community turns out – with everyone in their favorite patriotic gear. From parade-time until the fireworks light up the sky that night, the whole community parties together.

July 4th is one of my favorite holidays and I’ve always enjoyed dressing my kids up for the day. Last year we attended the parade all decked out – shirts, check. Hats, check. Patriotic socks or flip-flops, check. Sparkly red, white, and blue jewelry? Check. I do have girls, after all.

The highlight of my 8-year-old’s time at the parade was seeing the high school varsity cheerleaders march by – she knows several of them from the cheerleading camp that they put on every summer, and their coach is also a local preschool teacher who’s had all 3 of my kids in her class over the years now.

In just over a couple of weeks it will be Fourth of July time again, and I’ve already got this year’s shirts picked out for my girls and I. And we’ll be out there on the parade route again, cheering on our community as we celebrate the birthday of our country.

How do you celebrate the Fourth of July?

See more about Deb and her family at Mom of 3 Girls or follow her on Twitter (@DebMomOf3)!

Is it spring yet?

When I woke up on a recent Monday morning, one thing that I certainly wasn’t expecting to see when I looked out the window – was a world covered in white. Oh we’re used to a few flakes here or there during the springtime here in the Midwest, but I can’t remember another time in recent years where we’ve had snow on the ground as late as mid-April. Last year my girls had been running around in shorts and sandals for weeks by this time! We’ve had a few warmer days here and there so far this spring – and one 85+ degree day that seemed to come out of nowhere and barely lasted long enough to enjoy before the temperatures took a nosedive and the famous April Showers rolled in. Rain, we’re used to. Snow? Not as much, especially after I’d already packed away the snow pants and winter boots, assuming they wouldn’t be needed for months.

It’s about this time of year when the flowers usually start blooming and trees turn green. It’s also typically the start of what I call ‘cartwheel’ season, when my girls want to wear dresses and skirts every day, even while they’re begging to visit every nearby park and playground. And this usually involves hanging upside down from monkey bars and turning endless cartwheels in any open space they can find. Even though it’s going to be a little later than usual this year, I can’t wait until we can spent more time outside during the day than indoors. The calendar may say that it’s been spring for the past month or so – hopefully Mother Nature will catch up soon too!

Along with the kids, I know my flowers will certainly be happy about that.

See more about Deb and her family at Mom of 3 Girls or follow her on Twitter (@DebMomOf3)!

Meet Kiara Nowlin: Celebrity Francie Pants Fan!

At age 15, Kiara Nowlin is a tumbling and cheer powerhouse. She’s a 3-time gold medal winner at the World Age Games Competition in tumbling and double mini trampoline, a nationally ranked cheerleader who cheers for the California All Stars Cheer Team (as well as her own high school varsity squad), and is also a member of the USA Gymnastics Junior Elite Team.

Along with cheerleading and power tumbling, Kiara loves “shopping, McFlurrys and McDonald’s Sweet Tea, going to the beach, and hanging out with friends”, according to her Facebook page. She’s also a member of American Mensa and the National Charity League and says on her website that she wants to go to medical school and  become a pediatrician when she grows up.

A few fun facts about Kiara:

• Her favorite television show is So You Think You Can Dance
• She has two dogs, named Sooner Sammie and Nellie Tuesday
• Her favorite school subject is History

You can learn more about Kiara on her site at www.kiaranowlin.com. Thank you for being such a big fan of Francie Pants, Kiara!

Wordless Wednesday: Super Powers

When was the last time you climbed a tree?

Craft This: Angry Birds from Make and Takes

We love this simple craft from Make and Takes that brings the game Angry Birds to a table top near you! Click through for complete instructions.

Project SUPERPOWERS!

We’re excited to tell you a little bit about our new project. It’s a fun one. We’re making a movie!  A short one, but it’s going to be sweet. You can help us out and be a part!

We’re asking our friends and fans to share their Super Secret Super powers (real or imagined) with us.  From “Fashionista Girl” who can match colors from five miles away, to “Flippy McFlipperson” who triple flips without losing her triple scoops ice cream cone. We want to hear what special talents you have, or would have, if you were a superhero. Why? Because we think that our shorts give girls the confidence to be their most super selves.

Wait till you see what we’re doing with all those powers. One thing we promise: It’s going to be awesome.

Leave us a comment below by 10/20  with your super power and you’ll be entered to win three pairs of shorts to complete your Super Wardrobe.

Join our Affiliate Program!

Now  when you spread the word about your favorite privacy/sport shorts, you can earn rewards!

Our new affiliate program pays you for referring new customers. When your friends and family click through and purchase our shorts, you’ll get a commission. It’s our way of saying thanks for telling your friends about us. Our affiliate program is not complicated or difficult to implement. Once you sign up with the program, it’s as simple as placing our link (we’ll give you a unique version) on your blog, school or studio website. You can even send out the link in your newsletter.

Every sale that results as a click through, will be credited to YOU!

Earn cash for yourself, raise funds for your school or organization, all while spreading the word about a product that you already love. Click through for more information about the Francie Pants Affiliate Program.