National Hamburger Day! May 28.

Make sure you eat a burger today because today, May 28th, is National Hamburger Day!!

 {We made sure to eat a hamburger for lunch :) But there's also some fun craft activities you could do with your lil ones! Hey, maybe the older one's too ;)}

Over at the *Come Together Kids* blog, they made these adorable hamburger cookies!!
And at education.com they have a hamburger printable for a fun game to play!

And least but not last, because there's a plethora of ideas you could come up with! Print out this fun Hamburger coloring sheet, over at edupics and let the coloring begin! 


Enjoy your hamburgery day! :)

belVita Breakfast Biscuits in Chocolate Review

I'm on a roll with these belVita biscuits lol. Since I liked the blueberry and cinnamon brown sugar belVita's...I decided I had to try them all. This time I purchased the belVita in Chocolate. They taste a lot like an Oreo without cream. While chewing, it seems to gum up in your teeth, something I'm not fond of. I think the chocolate one is my least favorite, which is surprising because I love chocolate! These are my little boy's favorite..probably because they're the most like a cookie lol. They are made with 19 grams of whole grain, 3 grams of fiber, B Vitamins, and 8grams total fat per serving (4 biscuits).


belVita comes in 5 different flavors:  
And can be found in several grocery stores at the retail price of $3.69 for a box of 5 packets of 4 biscuits.




Find belVita on Facebook and Twitter, as well as their website

Rainbow Fan *Fail*

I came across this cool picture on Pinterest awhile back, about painting your fan blades the 3 primary colors (blue, red & yellow) so that it makes a rainbow when the fan is in use. I decided this would be a fun and simple project and my fan needed cleaned out anyway...so I got to work. First I had to find a screwdriver long enough to fit down in the fan screw holes, then the project truly began ;)

I cleaned the dust from my fan by using rubbing alcohol and a ton of paper towels. What felt like took forever, got me thinking I should see if there's an easier way to do this. So I found that you can clean the dust from a fan using dryer sheets! And that the dust should just rub right off. So I tried this on the remaining dust debris and it seemed to work really well! The dryer cleaned up a pretty good amount of dust and was a big help at getting into the small crevices.

  Once the fan was cleaned up and dried, I began painting. For some reason I decided to use finger paints for the blue and yellow...only to find that once it dried and the fan was on...it all blew away. LOL. All but the red. For the red, I used Fabric Paint, which turned out to be ideal. It held great. I then chiseled away the remaining blue and yellow finger paint, and repainted with blue and yellow fabric paint. I couldn't wait for it to dry so I could try it out!! I put about two or three coats of paint and it dried fairly quick..I put the fan back together and plugged that bad boy in. I turned the fan on high and....it... did....nothing. There was no rainbow. Just an ordinary fan with an ordinary color. I tried the fan on low...still..nothing. It wasn't until I turned the fan completely OFF and the blades were slowing down..that I saw a slight "Rainbow"...if you could even call it that.

   Oh well, at least the fan brings bright cheerful colors to my living room when it's off! :)

Michael Bublé - To Be Loved - Album Review


Michael Bublé has a new album out titles "To Be Loved" which has that fun, classical feeling to his music, covering songs by Frank Sinatra, the Bee Gees, Jackson 5, Elvis Presley, Van Morrison and more, as well as four of his own original co-written songs.

"The album swings big time: it rocks, it’s soulful, it’s happy, sometimes a little sad. It’s romantic, it’s yummy, and it’s heartfelt."   -Michael Bublé

 An album you can sit down to relax to. You can feel the emotion in his singing. I love the song "Close Your Eyes" it is so beautiful. It was one of Michael Bublé's original songs, written about his wife and the power of all the women in his life. Here's a piece of this song. Very Sweet.

 "Close your eyes
Let me tell you all the reasons why
You’re never going to have to cry
Because you’re one of a kind
Yeah, here’s to you
The one that always pulls us through
You always do what you got to do, baby
Because you’re one of a kind."


  "After All" is so good too, probably my 2nd favorite. I also enjoyed his song "I Got It Easy" another original piece by him. I found it interesting how in the beginning of the song, his voice sings so deep, but once the song gets started, his voice goes back to his usual. But I like this song because Bublé is counting his blessings and pointing out how great of a life God has given him, not being proud or bragging, just realizing the good he has in his life and how blessed he really is. "It's a Beautiful Day" is one of those songs that would be great for someone who's getting over a breakup. Listening to it in the car with the windows down and the sun shining. It's one of those kind of songs that you will want to sing along to. I like the positive vibes "It's a beautiful day, the sun is up, the music's playing" I can imagine this being a great song for a high schooler going through a breakup :P

   Michael Bublé did a great job with another Album. 
You can purchase To Be Loved on iTunes or Amazon 
As well as sample his songs.

Here's a song you can leave on! 
"You Make Me Feel So Young" by Michael Bublé





I participated in this campaign for One2One Network. I received a free digital copy of the album to facilitate my review. 
By posting, I am eligible for incentives. All opinions stated are my own.

My Barefoot Book $15 Gift Card (put to use!)

Awhile back, Barefoot Books was giving out $15 gift cards to everyone, to get a book from their site, for free!! I chose the book "Herb, The Vegetarian Dragon" and had a little bit left over to get the Niamh's Fairy Horse print because I liked it for myself hehe...but really, I had the idea to use it in my future daughters room so I went ahead and got it. Kinda wishing now that I wouldn't have since I don't know when they day will come and it's just one more thing to hang on to, but I'm sure I'll find a use for it eventually lol. Anyways, the Herb, The Vegetarian Dragon book is cute. I love the illustrations in it and Herb's heart. Even though the other dragons are trying to convince him to become a meat eater like them, to escape being captured, Herb stays true to himself and what he believes and everything turns out great in the end. A very cute read and you can do some fun activities with your child after. In the story, Herb makes a soup which he calls "Herbs Famous Lakewater Veggie Slurp" made of butter, leeks, onions and potatoes. This would be a fun activity to do with your child, making your own veggie slurp :) Or having the child make their own paper dragon with one of these printouts:

http://www.pheemcfaddell.com/crafts/christmas07/art/07DecDragonLarge1BW670.png
{via}
http://www.storytimecrafts.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/dragon.jpg
{via}
  



Here is my son's dragon turnout :)


Maybe making a healthy dragon snack too!
{via}


Lots of fun can come from Herb, The Vegetarian Dragon! Thank you Barefoot Books!

Centrum Flavor Burst Multi-Vitamins Review

Centrum Flavor Burst Multi-Vitamins are a new and fun way for adults to take their vitamins everyday! The vitamins are little chewy balls in the flavors of Wild Grape, Mixed Berry or the New Tropical Fruit. They are packed with B Vitamins to support energy and vitality and C & E Vitamins to support your immune system. You take 4 chews daily, and you can eat them with or without food!

  Smiley360 sent me a sample pack of Centrum Flavor Burst in Wild Grape Flavor, as well as a $2 off coupon to purchase any Centrum Flavor Burst chews. My sample was said to be Wild Grape but it tasted more like berries to me lol. I was surprised on how much these vitamins taste like candy. They have a similar texture to the first bite into a gumball, with a tart yet sweet taste. The chew becomes much like the consistency of a soft taffy or jelly bean until it pretty much dissolves or becomes swallow-able. The chews taste like they're packed full of sugar for how sweet they are, making me wonder how good are they really are for you. 

These probably won't be vitamins I would continue on but if you would like to try them out,  
Centrum has a $2 off coupon you can use!! 



This post is made possible by Smiley360 in providing me the above sample, in exchange for my review. 
All opinions are my own.

My Husband's Experimental Sloppy Joe's

The hubs likes to experiment with food when he cooks..I know this is scary for a lot of wives out there haha, but my hubby is an amazing cook and when he throws things together, the taste is magical! This time he made Experimental Sloppy Joe's. I never imagined mixing pickles and cherry tomatoes with chili would be good but he made this meal delicious.

To make his Experimental Sloppy Joe's, he combined the following into a pan:

A can of no bean chili
3 Hotdogs chopped
7 Cherry Tomatoes chopped
Pickle Juice approximately 2-3 Tbs.
Cajun Seasoning to taste

He cooked this up and spread it onto Brown Bread which was toasted and buttered, and melted with a slice of Pepper-jack cheese on one side. Press the bread together and eat as a sandwich. Sided with pickles. This was pure comfort food, so good and warm, but very messy! :)


How long is too long?

How long is too long to hold on to your "pre-baby clothes"?

{via}
I had my son back in 2007..that's 6 years ago..and though I've wanted to have another baby for the last 3 years...life circumstances just hasn't allowed that to happen yet. So I've been dragging along a couple maternity clothes until recently I decided to get rid of them. Then I realized, I've still be dragging along all my pre-baby clothes too. I had my son when I was 19 (I'm 25 now) so these clothes are from when I was 17..but are in really good condition still. I don't have too much to lose to fit into these...maybe 20-40lbs lol..ok that is kind of a lot...but someday I'm determined to fit into them again which is why I've held onto them for so long. But there comes a time when we just have to move past the past, and I'm trying to decide if these jeans fit into that category. Holding on to them for 8+ years seems like forever! But they're practically in brand new condition so I'm torn. I also know that when you have babies your body figure changes so who knows if they'll even fit me once I get down to my goal size!

I don't know...what would you do? Would you continue to hang on to them or would you go ahead and say forget it! And get rid of them?

House on Plunkett Street Book Review

House on Plunkett Street is another Lorena Bathey book I am so glad I got to read! It's about a girl named Phoebe Bertram who lives a boring life living with her parents and brothers. She decides to move away to California hoping to end the slumpy boring life, only to find that it moved with her. Until things started changing in a negative way, her job becoming uncertain and her apartment changing to a condo so she would need to buy it or move...Phoebe decides it's time to look for a new place. Her friend knows of the perfect apartment where everything falls perfectly and Phoebe moves in. From there, her life changes for everything better then she imagined...Everything feels just right to her and then the moment comes...she see's 3 ghosts on her couch. Each ghost brings something different to Phoebe, helping her life blossom into everything it should have been.

   I tremendously loved this book! Another book you just don't want to put down. You will want to read it in one sitting! lol really, it's that good. Every person Phoebe comes across, is a new character you wish you could meet in real life. From Mr. Jameson, the apartment owner, who has such a sweet demeanor...I love that he allows Phoebe to make her space her own. He says "If you want to do some painting before you move in, feel free. I believe your space should be your space." The reason I like that part is because I am a painter..I love to paint and every apartment I move into, I wish I could paint my walls. All growing up, my mom let me choose my bedroom wall colors and let me paint it myself..it was a source of therapy for me lol..It gave me strength and a sense of self expression... It helped in so many ways. So Mr. Jameson's idea on making your space your own should be adapted by every apartment owner.
    I loved each ghosts perception on life and the energy they brought to Phoebe. One explaining how a woman's self worth was measured in her day..it was measured by how you took care of your husband and children, and whoever else was dependent upon you. I wish the world now days would measure a woman's self worth like that still, instead of how our bodies look. And saying "Everything you own should make you happy." this is so true. You should find happiness in everything possible!
     The last ghost that visited Phoebe, I found was the most helpful for me. She brought real talk. They all did, but this one hit me the most. Words that I can use in my daily life. She hits the nail on the head when she wrote "You women today are spoiled, and you all want a man to sweep you off your feet and then live in a fairy tale castle. That isn't real. Life is hard work, and so is being with someone you love. It takes effort and fairy tales don't have a place there." How true is that.
      I feel like there were bits and pieces throughout this book that spoke to me. Reading the House on Plunkett Street changed me. Parts of it have been placed into my soul and touched my heart. Things I needed to read were read. I just loved it so much. I will end this review with two quotes from the book that I found to be helpful.

"stop trying to make sense of what you don't understand. Don't try to think thing through that you'll never be able to make heads or tails of."  {Sounds like something my husband would tell me hehe}

And the biggest one:

 "it's how you react that will make the difference

Choose to react the best way possible. 
I highly recommend reading House on Plunkett Street. 
You won't be sorry you did!

You can find more information about Lorena B Books on Facebook, Twitter, and her website.



I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Look What I Won!

I won this adorable Nuby Tickle Toes Alligator from entering the Nuby Tickle Toes contest over at Gator Mommy Reviews

I let my son choose which Nuby Tickle Toes plushy he wanted and he chose the alligator --> Because it looks the most like a T-Rex, his favorite character lately :) When he was a baby he had the Nuby Tickle Toes Frog (which was a bit bigger) so it was exciting to win this! The laughing in the plush's foot is a lot louder then I remember though! lol.

{Here is a picture of my son when he was 10 months old with his Nuby Tickle Toes Frog}



*Thank you Gator Mommy Reviews & Nuby for sharing this awesome giveaway and choosing me to win! :)



Lose 5lbs in 7 Days??

Jillian Michael's
Jillian Michael's Detox Drink is going around on Pinterest and I decided to give it a shot! This detox drink is said that you will lose 5lbs in 7 Days and it's a pretty simple regime.

To make this detox drink you need:
60oz (7.5 cups) of distilled water (tap works just fine)
1 Tbsp of 100% pure cranberry juice (no sugar added)
2 Tbsp of lemon juice
1 Dandelion Root Tea Bag
 
    You make this concoction each day in a pitcher, drink it throughout the day and do this for 7 days in a row. I filled my pitcher with hot water and let the dandelion root tea bag simmer for at least an hour before I added in the other ingredients. It has a boring bitter taste but you quickly get use to that and it eventually teases your taste-buds into thinking it's good ;) It definitely gets your system on track and regulates your insides lol but I'm sad to say I didn't lose the said 5lbs...I lost a max of one and that could just be natural weight fluctuation. I peed like crazy after the first 2days so I'm surprised water weight didn't melt off of me...But my body feels slimmer and less heavy so it must have done something :) It helped in decreasing the bloat feeling even though the scale never changed and that's good enough for me! One thing I do want to take away with me from trying this detox is I want to make sure I try to drink 60oz of water each and everyday..or at least close to it. I don't want to be peeing like crazy but I want to make sure I'm keeping my body hydrated daily as it will help with skin aging and overall health anyways. 

   Though I didn't lose the 5lbs, drinking Jillian Michael's Detox plan was worth trying out and I'd love to hear from those who have tried this too! 
 
Has it worked for you? Let me know in the comments!


Eggnog Almonds

I found Eggnog Almonds in my local Grocery Outlet! I use to love eggnog as a drink..before I was pregnant with my son (back in '07)..haven't liked it since but when I found these eggnog flavored almonds, my love to try interesting flavors kicked in..sooo I bought them!

  They do indeed taste like eggnog so if you're an eggnog lover, you would love them! Even though I don't like the taste of the eggnog beverage anymore..these almonds had a catchy taste. something about mixing nuts with any kind of chocolate-in this case, white chocolate-is amazing. They have an addicting flavor lol.so if you do get lucky and find yourself some eggnog almonds...be careful! ;)


Bedtime Stories And Prayers Book Review

Bedtime Stories And Prayers: blessings for bedtime written by Dandi Daley Mackall and Kathleen Long Bostrom with illustrations by Elena Kucharik (who also created the Care bears!). A special bedtime edition, having one hundred and eleven pages with four favorite Little Blessings stories and prayers, telling of God's love and helping kids learn to thank God each day. It includes:
  • Bedtime Blessings-reminding children that God made nighttime and they have nothing to be afraid of.
  • Thank You God-which teaches kids to be thankful for everything.
  • Blessings Everywhere-reminds children of their blessings
  • God Loves You-holds the powerful message that God will comfort and guide the child through the night and through their lives.

   Such a cute bedtime book to read to your little ones. I would say age three and under...my son is five and he felt a little too grown for it ;) But the illustrations are beautiful and the poetry of each story is sweet. It reminds me much like a modern day Precious Moments piece. Some pictures are filled with humor, some with emotions, and all with just downright cuteness. My favorite story was the one called Blessings Everywhere. Here's a small excerpt from it:

 "Skipping on a winding path, 
Bubbles in my bubble bath!
 Muddy puddles, muddy me! 
Blessings Everywhere!"

I like the bitty reminders in it that focus on the little things in life, the little blessings that sometimes get overlooked, but are all great parts of childhood.  Here are a few illustrations, as you can see, they are just adorable! A great children's bedtime book that is sure to bring your lil one sweet dreams :)




Bedtime Stories and Prayers, available in an 8x8 padded hardcover, can be purchased with Tyndale House Publishers for $14.99 or you can find it for purchase on Amazon. You can also read a small pdf excerpt HERE.




This post is made possible by Tyndale House Publishers for providing me a book in exchange for my review. All opinions are my own.

Wummel Box Craft Kit Review

 I received a WummelBox craft kit from ChildsPlay Communications, to review, which made for lots of fun with my lil man!

A WummelBox craft kit is a box filled with 3-4 theme based projects, made to inspire children, ages 3-8, to learn and explore the world around them. The themes are made around things like nutrition, sounds, dexterity, sight, ect. to help inspire and build children's imagination. The box contains all materials needed for each craft and every piece is made with high quality, naturally sourced materials straight from Germany and Europe...as well as eco-friendly materials whenever possible. All materials have also been pre-tested to ensure the best possible crafting time. The WummelBox can be purchased at $35.95 a box and they come in a wide variety of themes, making every box filled with great fun and exploration.You could also purchase a Little Wummel 3-month subscription for $24.95 a month or a Big Wummel 12-month subscription for $19.95 a month.

 The them of the WummelBox we received was Time Travel. It was filled with 3 different craft projects & a story pamphlet, all related to time travel: Stone Age Stories, a Time Machine, Cave Painting, and a Hunter & Gatherer Game. This made a great box for my 5 year old son!

We started off by making the Time Machine. His favorite project in the box. He painted the wood, and once it dried, he put the stickers on and screwed the knobs in all by himself. He loves tinkering and fixing so this was great for him. His response to this craft was:
"The time machine is so cool..I'm gonna keep this until the day after heaven! Or when I'm 76."
He loved that he could "visit" the dinosaurs :)



Next we did the Cave Painting. He loved that he got to make the stamps himself and paint on material in which would be decoration for his fort later on. The stamps were easy to make, attaching foam shapes to wood by little glue dots. The water paints need a good stir before the color shows well, one thing lil man didn't like to well lol.





The last craft in the box was the Hunter & Gatherer Game. This one was the most difficult for my son. He painted the Wooly Mammoth and the cube dice, but cutting the felt footprints was a little difficult for him to do. He helped me trace some of the prints and cut the bear prints out himself, but the other two footprints were complicated so I did them.



 My son had a lot of fun doing the WummelBox crafts. It definitely encouraged his imagination. Crafting the Time Machine made him pretend he was going back in time to see the Dinosaurs. He was sitting in a plastic tub as his machine, using the controls he made :) The Cave Painting made a fun fort in his room, where he spends time in there practicing his reading or playing with his toys, and the Hunter & Gatherer game has him asking to play it daily! This has been a fun activity...WummelBox...what a great idea!


If you would like more information on the WummelBox visit  https://www.wummelbox.com/ 
{You can also find them on Facebook! }




This post is possible by ChildsPlay Communication for providing me with the products to review. All opinions are my own.


Rootbeer Milk Review

Have you ever tried adding some milk to your Root Beer? I don't drink soda very often, but when I do, my favorite is Root Beer and it is amazing when you have it with milk!! So when I saw this teeny tiny half pint of actual "Root Beer Milk" I found it in the milk isle at my local Walmart for only 31 cents! I had to get it.

   I realize it's probably not the healthiest thing, since it has 22g of sugar, contains corn syrup and artificial flavoring... but it was a one time try and I'm a sucker for interesting flavored products. The flavor is very similar to drinking actual Root Beer soda in milk, minus the carbonation. It's good, but not something I will probably drink again. lol.









More info on Umpqua's Root Beer flavored milk.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake + Recipe

My original plan was to make Pineapple Upside Down mini muffin cakes that I found on Pinterest from ThriftyFun, and when the batter was done and everything was ready to pour...I realized my muffin tin was too small for the pineapple rings!! Soooo I turned it into a normal cake size instead and it taste just as good!!...Just doesn't look as cute as little muffin cakes would.. ;)

  To make this Upside Down Pineapple Cake you need:
    Cake:
  • 2 eggs
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 4 Tbsp pineapple juice
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 2/3 cup flour
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • Topping:
  • 1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)
  • 2/3 cup brown sugar
  • 6 pineapple rings

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix the eggs, sugar, and pineapple juice together well. Then I added the rest of the ingredients and whipped it together real well. Over at ThriftyFun they recommend cooking the topping mix (sugar & butter) on the stove-top, which probably would've been easier, but I did mine in the microwave. Once the topping is made, pour it into your muffin tins or pan, layer the pineapples, then pour over the batter! Bake until golden brown and insert toothpick to assure it is baked through. Flip over onto plate or cake stand..let cool. Then eat...Delicious!

National Teacher Appreciation Day!

Today, May 7, 2013 is National Teacher Appreciation Day!

    And if you paid attention to my Twitter or Facebook... you would have seen my little sneak peek for what we did! ;) Me and my son made his teachers a cute little vase of "flowers" filled with M&M's. The hands are my sons and he wrote his teachers names on one hand flower, and signed his name on the other. I love how they turned out..so cute!!