Coffee Beans and Kisses

P&G Baby Essentials Sam's Club $25 gift card GIVEAWAY!

2012-01-31T23:21:00.000-06:00

Couponing isn't for everyone and lots of people (sometimes myself included) really enjoy the convenience of shopping at Sam's Club for great prices!

Don´t miss out on precious moments by wasting hours at the grocery store and fussing over budgets. Discover an easy way to save on baby essentials from P&G by buying them in bulk at Sam´s Club this February! Purchase all the basics for baby at your local Sam´s Club store to save time and money with this limited-time $10 Gift Card offer.

Stock up on P&G products at Sam´s Club in February so you can afford to give your baby quality products and a little more mommy time.
Pick up any two of the following baby products to receive a $10 Sam´s Club Gift Card toward your purchase made between Feb 1st and Feb 29th:

Pampers Swaddlers or Pampers Cruisers Diapers
Pampers SoftCare Scented Baby Wipes
Similac Advance Powder or Similac Sensitive Powder

Dreft Liquid Laundry Detergent

{GIVEAWAY}

I was given some gift cards to stock up on baby essentials
and there is some to giveaway as well!

Disclosure: The Sam´s Club Gift Cards and information have been provided by Sam´s Club and P&G through MyBlogSpark. The opinions expressed here are my own and my differ from other's experience.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Baked Mini Donuts. Gluten, Dairy & Soy Free!

2012-01-26T21:43:00.004-06:00

Since Katie was born (and then Konny), it's always been kind of a bummer that donuts are out of the question for us. I mean they are just completely horrible for you, but it used to be a fun little treat we'd get for Kelton every now and again. (There are expensive frozen ones, but frugal me hates buying them)

I'm not sure why I didn't think sooner to just make my own! AND I can bake them, which is way healthier anyway, duh!

After we picked up our Azure order last week, we stopped buy Bed Bath & Beyond for donut pans. What do you know, they were out except for the mini ones. Better than nothing, so we got 2.

Saturday morning, Katie and I whipped up some batter. It's easiest to fill the pans if you pour your batter into a bag and then snip the end off.

I ended up overfilling the first batch.
They looked like mini muffins instead of mini donuts.

The second batch turned out great!

We topped some with glaze and sprinkles and others with cinnamon powdered sugar.

They were a pretty big hit all the way around!
Plus I put 2 dz plain ones in the freezer.

Baked Donuts
(Adapted from Wilton)

2 cups Namaste Perfect Flour Blend
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup buttermilk (coconut milk with a splash of vinegar)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 Tbsp Earth Balance (soy & dairy free), melted

Preheat oven to 425°F. Spray the donut pan with allergy friendly nonstick cooking spray.

Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, nutmeg, and salt in a large mixing bowl.

Whisk in buttermilk, eggs, and butter and beat until just combined. Fill each donut cup until about 1/2 full.

Bake 4-6 minutes, or until the top of the donuts spring back when touched. Cool for a couple minutes before removing from pan.

This made 5 dz donuts, but there probably would have been 6 dz if it wasn't for the overfilling incident with the first batch.

I can't wait to try other flavors! We had so much fun with them!

Happy 8th Bday, Kelton!

2012-01-23T07:43:00.001-06:00

Eight years ago today, I was handed 9lbs 8oz of baby and life has never been the same! Overall, Kelton has been such an easy going fantastic guy. We do have a little "talking too much in class" issue, but he's also so smart and we are super proud of him! Not to mention, he's a great big brother who adores his Buggy and Bear.

Since we got our smart phones last year, Kelton has been all about angry birds. He loves to play and decided he really wanted an angry birds themed bday party. Not too hard considering how popular the game is and of course with the help of pinterest.

I made angry birds invitations, a banner, a cake, and bean bags to play real life angry birds! Thankfully I was able to reuse part of Konny's bday banner because the little signs and the beans bags were very time consuming!

Notice in my rush, I put his name up wrong! Oops!

Like always, we made sure all the treats were safe for all 3 kids. I think marshmallow treats and puppy chow have become a bday party staple at our house. Thanks to Mimi for making the gluten free, soy free chocolate sheet cake. YUM!

He received tons of fun gifts. Although he does love his new games for the Wii and DSi, I think he was even more excited that Uncle Pete brought him over some jalapeno cheese deer sticks!

He's sharing angry birds cupcakes with his class today (they're not bake sale material, but the kids will like them) and tonight, we're taking him to dinner at Kobe's Japanese Steakhouse. He can't wait until they throw shimp at him to catch in his mouth!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY
to the smartest most handsome 8 yr old boy I know!

Play Make-Up!!

2012-01-22T21:17:00.005-06:00

Katie is very much into being a girl lately and that includes make-up. I don't so much mind putting a little white glittery eye shadow on her, but I thought she'd be thrilled with her own play make-up. Making it is crazy easy, just old make up containers and nail polish. Yet another pinterest idea!

Since I don't wear make-up everyday, by the time I'm finished with a compact or blush, it's pretty tattered looking, so I picked up some cheap stuff at Dollar Tree.

First, scrape the powder out of the compacts. It comes out really easy, just run a toothpick around the edges and it should come out in mostly one piece.

I was lucky that one of the ladies at work had a lot of old nail polish she wanted to get rid of.

Pour your desired color into the empty make up containers and set it aside to dry.

I put mine in our bathroom with the space heater on for a few hours to get it started but then it still takes days to fully set. This is not a quick project, but your little lady will be so pleased when you're finished!

I can't wait to send some to my nieces for Valentine's Day!

Progresso Souper You Giveaway!

2012-01-18T21:49:00.005-06:00

Progresso has 40 delicious soups with 100 calories or less per servings. This large variety of offerings help you beat diet boredom and satisfy your taste cravings, while helping you stick to your weight management calorie goals. Progresso soups are packed with hearty ingredients like pasta, beans, rice, meat and vegetables that suit your taste buds and make you feel good about including it in your meal choices.

The Progresso Souper You Contest will provide three lucky winners with an ultimate makeover experience in Hollywood; this includes a trip for 2 to Los Angeles, California where the winner will receive a head-to-toe makeover including hair and makeup, guided shopping spree with a $1,000 fashion retailer gift card, $1,000 spending money and 2 tickets to this season´s live finale of NBC´s The Biggest Loser.

Visit Souper You and submit a photo with a brief essay about why you love Progresso soups and deserve a makeover. The deadline is February 22nd.

Check back March 12 for the announcement of the top ten finalists, and to vote for your favorite finalist until March 25th.

Here's a coupon to get your started..

$1.25/4 cans of Progresso soups. Don't forget to tune into The Biggest Loser on NBC Tues at 8/7c!

Also check out this video of last year's winners...

{GIVEAWAY}
I like Progresso because a can of soup is always a great quick and easy lunch on work days. Progresso sent me some yummy soups to enjoy and there's some for you to win also! Plus since being healthy means working out, The Biggest Loser workout DVD is included. I can't wait to try it!

Disclosure: The Progresso Souper You prize pack, information, coupon, and giveaway have been provided by Progresso through MyBlogSpark. The opinions expressed are my own and may differ from other's experiences.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Nutella Rice Krispy Treats

2012-01-11T21:03:00.000-06:00

I hadn't met nutella before this fall. My friend, Lisa, kept raving about it. She very persistently convinced me to try it. HOLY WOW! It's like how you wonder what you ever did without a cell phone. That's how I feel about life before nutella.

Last weekend was play date time again (slumber party style) and since the girls love the stuff too (Katie's always tell me, "Momma, stop eating MY chocolate!), we made them Nutella Rice Krispie treats and there was nothing to it!

Ingredients

3 Tbsp butter
bag of marshmallows
1/2 cup nutella
6 cups cocoa krispy rice cereal

Melt the butter. Add the marshmallows and stir until melted, then add nutella. Stir in the cereal until completely coated. Press into a greased 9x12 pan. Lick the spoon while the treats cool enough for the children.

Lisa and I had chicken and avocado soup for dinner. Not wanting to let the girls enjoy all the nutella, we made ourselves nutella donuts for dessert! (If you don't own a donut pan, you should!)

Since we'd both just finished reading The Help, we watched the movie. It wasn't nearly as good but still worth watching. We also got started on stuff for Valentine's Day, making these heart shaped crayons! Thank you pinterest!

The girls spent a lot of time dressed as disney princesses!

For breakfast, we made cake batter pancakes. Totally delicious and very easily made gluten free!

This weekend, Beauty and Beast will be in theaters again and we're taking the girls. They both have Belle dresses to wear. It's going to be so much fun!

Hair today. Gone tomorrow.

2012-01-11T09:54:00.002-06:00

Finding time to get my hair cut isn't easy. Seems like we're always busy, not to mention, it's one of the few things I really prefer to do without children in tow.

It had started to get long enough that I figured I'd just wait and grow it a little longer so I could donate it again.

I sent away my last ponytail over 5 yrs ago.

GASP! I looked so much younger before
Katie arrived and cried 24/7 for a year!
Just like last time, I was super nervous. Almost sick feeling because I knew this was going to be shorter than my hair has ever been before. My poor pony tail had gotten so thin though from having K2 and K3 close together and following a restricted diet.

My friend Angela said she had a vision.
I love the way it turned out.

It feels so light and bouncy. I'm actually considering keeping it shorter for awhile and maybe even having her take it a little higher in the back!

After 30 comes 31

2012-01-09T20:58:00.002-06:00

And doesn't it seem so much older than 30?
I think so.
I was crazy spoiled by my family, as always. I went to lunch, got a pedicure, had awesome soy free, gluten free red velvet cake made by my mom, ate some yummy steaks, and received some hunting boots and great new friends for my kitchen!

In 2011, I managed to cross a couple things off my 30 Year List:

6)Build a fire in the fireplace by myself
29)Attend a Nascar race (with Kelton)

There are also several things I'm in the process of doing:

9)Move towards becoming more self sufficient; grow more of our own produce and continue to rely on venison for our red meat
18)Learn to crochet
23)Learn to french braid
26)Convert my spice cabinet to all organic spices
30)Continue to strive to reduce our carbon footprint

I'd say that's not too bad considering I've got 29 more years to work on it. I'm hoping to check off one of the big ones in 2012!

Natural Skin Toner

2012-01-04T22:44:00.007-06:00

When Konny weaned, my hormones shifted and my skin went CRAZY. I was getting big deep painful cysts. It's considered adult acne and the remedy is benzoyl peroxide or salicylic acid and it was getting me nowhere. I figured there has to be a better solution, so I started researching natural acne treatments.

The first thing I did was switch to a more natural cleanser. I also started using the oil cleansing method once a week or so, but the thing that made the biggest difference is apple cider vinegar.

It took several weeks of consistent use to really see a difference and I still get occasional breakouts, but they're just at the surface. The big deep painful cysts are gone.

All you need is apple cider vinegar, water and a container to put it in. Make sure to find an organic or natural apple cider vinegar that is cloudy and/or separates a bit. That's the good stuff, also known as the "mother of vinegar."

You'll want to test out different ratios to see what your skin tolerates. Apple cider vinegar is an acid and has the potential to burn your skin. Start with it very diluted and work your way up. I prefer 1:2 vinegar to water.

Apple cider vinegar has amazing antiseptic and antibacterial properties. It helps regulate the pH of your skin and keep the acne causing bacteria at bay. Supposedly this works even better if you ingest a tbsp or two daily, but I am so not there yet.

Since using it on my face, I've read tons of other uses for apple cider vinegar. It's definitely a product you don't want to be without in your home!

Elf on the Shelf...take 2

2012-01-01T18:57:00.002-06:00

Hartzell continued to be lots of fun this Christmas. Amazingly enough, he had very few days where I woke up and realized "oh no!" he forgot to move last night! Now the challenge will be coming up with better ideas next year.

The last thing he did was paint our noses red during the night.

Christmas

2011-12-30T15:38:00.004-06:00

What a better way to start the long Christmas weekend than with a little hair tinsel?!! Lisa and I took Katie and Savannah on Friday afternoon to get some bling. The best part was listening to them sing Taylor Swift in the car, yet they were amazingly silent after we stopped at Sonic!

Christmas Eve we celebrated at my mom's house. I didn't get many pictures, but managed to catch her opening the grandkids reindeer footprints.

That evening we always give the kids a gift from us. We try to pick out one special thing we know they'll love and then Santa brings 3 gifts because that's how many baby Jesus received at his birth.

Can't forget matching jammies! E is a pretty good sport about it!

Jasmine didn't have matching jammies, but she dressed up too!

We left to drive through the Isle of Lights and somehow managed to get home and get everyone to bed so E and I could go to the Christmas Eve service at Church.

Katie woke up around 7am and helped me put some glazed donut muffins in the oven while we waited for the boys.

Nearly 2 hours later, they were up and we were able to check out our stockings and open presents!

I hope everyone else had an equally fabulous day!

Wordless Wednesday - The Climber

2011-12-28T09:00:00.001-06:00

Konny's First Haircut!!

2011-12-27T21:12:00.004-06:00

Since his hair had gotten long enough that I was putting it in a little ponytail to keep it out of his face, I knew it was probably time for a trim. Our friend, Angela, did a great job since he was kind of a moving target.

He looks like such a big boy now, but he's still my baby!

Thank You Pinterest!!

2011-12-26T19:38:00.005-06:00

I know everyone laughs about all the fun ideas they pin at pinterest and never get around to trying. I haven't had the chance to do as many as I'd like, but I've found time for a few things.

One that I knew I had to do was this wipes container with fabric scraps idea for Konny. He is forever emptying the wipes, so I knew he would love this.

I made these cute orange slice baggies for Kelton's classroom earlier this month. (I've decided I love being a room mother.)

I've made these little Extra Thank Yous to leave anonymously for people who really deserve it. There is nothing more fun than doing things like this without being caught!

Pinterest also came in handy for Christmas this year! I got so many ideas and had a lot of fun making them all!

I made our parents little finger print snowmen canvases. Instead of having each child make a seperate one, I had each of us put one finger print to represent the whole family.

For my mom, I gathered all the grandkids feet to make reindeer footprints on a canvas. Needless to say, she LOVED it!

These little containers for puppy chow are out of starbucks frapp bottles. An excellent reason for drinking them since they are great for things like this!

All the bath and body gifts were probably the most fun to make!
Oatmeal Cookie Bath

Candy Cane Bath Salts

Salt and Sugar Scrub

Honey Lemon Lip Scrub
I subbed lemon essential oil for the lemon juice and
added vit E oil as a preservative.

Since I only have a zillon other things pinned I know I'm going to stay crazy busy in 2012, starting with the kids birthdays!

Christmas at the Farm

2011-12-25T12:33:00.011-06:00

We had our first Christmas celebration at Eric's parent's house last weekend with his brother's family. It's always so much fun because there are 4 other K-kids to play with. We nearly have one of every age when we get together...8,7,6,5,3,2,1.

Hartzell was sneaky enough to find us again and left candy canes on the tree for all the kids.

One of the first things we did was ride the tractor and we discovered how much Konnor LOVES it! He was not a happy camper when it was time to get out.

We got some shooting in..

And of course, there's always some work to be done.

Don't forget the presents!!

And Konny decided he does like Uncle Shawn!

It was a great weekend and we were sad to say goodbye because it probably won't be till spring or later when we see the K-cousins again, but we'll be back at Nana & Papa's next weekend so Moosey can shoot a deer!

Crayola Innovative Holiday Prize Pack Winner!

2011-12-21T09:46:00.000-06:00

Peppermint Mocha Body Scrub

2011-12-19T23:52:00.009-06:00

I've had a lot of fun whipping up batches of several different body scrubs and bath salts that I've found recipes for on pinterest. I came across one over the weekend that used coffee for the exfoliant. Brilliant!

Since I do love me some Starbucks, what would be better than to scrub myself down with one of the wonderful scents that sends my pickup through the drive up nearly every time I go into town?!

That's how my peppermint mocha body scrub was born! It was so easy, especially since I already had all the ingredients.

Okay, I lie. I refused to use my good coffee and purchased some inexpensive stuff specifically for this project.
Everything else, I had. Really.

You will need...

1 cup ground coffee
1 cup turbinado or brown sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup oil (safflower, vegetable, canola, olive oil, etc)
1 tsp vit E
5-10 drops peppermint oil

First, combine all the dry ingredients really well. Make sure to break up any clumps of sugar or cocoa.

Add oils and mix well.

If this scrub is for you, turn the shower on and you're ready to go.

If you're gifting it, scoop some into a container**, attach a label and you have an easy, frugal gift that you made in minutes!

**While I think gifts like this look super cute in a glass jar, the images of said glass jar dropping and breaking a toe or shattering and slicing a foot isn't nearly so cute. Both events would ruin your shower and this terrific scrub. That is why I use plastic containers. They're very inexpensive to purchase and if my friends return them when they're empty, I'll provide refills!

Fabric Coffee Sleeve Winner!

2011-12-17T21:07:00.005-06:00

And the winner is...

Robin!

Check out the Crayola Giveaway, just a few days left!

Homemade Vanilla Extract

2011-12-12T20:00:00.003-06:00

The last time I spent an absurd amount of money on a small bottle of pure vanilla extract, I thought to myself....This is crazy!! I can surely make my own!

After a bit of googling and come consultation with my DIY partner in crime, I gathered my supplies and got to work.

We knew that if we were going to keep this adventure as frugal as possible, we wouldn't be able to spend the $2-$3 per vanilla bean at the store. Lisa looked around and found they were available on ebay for a great price! We also learned that while all vanilla beans aren't certified organic, the large majority of them are organic because most of the farmers are too poor to do it any other way.

Next, we needed vodka. I was hesitant to buy any old nasty cheap vodka, so I chose Svedka. The guy at the liqor store said it's a nice middle of the road vodka and should work great. It's best to use a glass bottle because plastic isn't 100% gas proof.

In my blog browsing, I found that the number of vanilla beans used varied greatly, from just a few beans to well over 50 beans. I decided to go with 35 for 1.75L of vodka.

Pour out some of the vodka to make room for the vanilla beans. Using a knife or kitchen shears, cut them almost all the way through and put them in the vodka bottle.

Pour as much of the vodka back in as you can without overflowing the bottle. Put the lid back on and label it the with the date. Give it a good shake and store your vodka/beans in a cool dark place, shaking it vigoursly once a week or so.

The length of time to let your vanilla beans marinate varied greatly in my research, from just a few weeks to 6 months. Just to be on the safe side, I went with 6 months.

My vanilla just happened to be ready just as I ran out of my last store bought bottle.

Using a strainer and some cheesecloth, strain out all the bits and chunks of vanilla bean.

I strained mine into a glass meansuring cup, making it easy to funnel into little glass jars for gift giving. Dark colored jars work best for this as light can age and damage your extract.

Add a label and a little decoration and you're ready to gift them.

I've already got another bottle of vanilla "cooking",
so I'll never run out again!

Elf on the Shelf

2011-12-11T11:14:00.001-06:00

The kids are loving Hartzell's elf antics this year!

Hopefully he doesn't run out of ideas before Christmas arrives! ;-)

Giveaway: Crayola Innovative Holiday

2011-12-07T22:35:00.047-06:00

While I definitely enjoy prize packs that contain great stuff for me, I think any parent will agree that seeing your children smile is about as great as it can get! So when I was offered this giveaway, I couldn't have been more excited!

When I think of any type of children's art supplies, my mind immediately thinks Crayola. It is my go-to brand. I trust them and feel at ease knowing they are safe for my kids!

Crayola brings colorful ideas to life and allows kids to express everything imaginable by making it super easy for friends and family to find something that will unleash all kids´ original ideas with the Holiday Gift Guide.

If there is one thing my kids love to do, it's color. Almost any spare chance they get, all 3 of them are at the table with a crayon in hand. It wasn't a stretch to know the 150 ct. Telescoping Crayon Tower would be a huge hit!

Hartzell (our elf on the shelf) dropped it off for us one night.

The Ultimate Art Supply Kit is an awesome case full of 24 crayons, 8 washable broad line markers, 12 colored pencils, 8 washable watercolors, 1 paint brush, school glue, scissors, and colored paper. I put this puppy up in the closet. It will be prefect for those impending snow days or to take with us on vacation next summer!

The Glow Book, we could not resist playing right away! You can use the templates or draw your own story. Kelton can't wait to get more time with it!

As hard as it is to wait to play with something fun, I thought it would be nice to wait to use the Jewelry Boutique until we could share it with our girly K-cousins. I know this is right up their alley and Katie will have even more fun sharing it with them.

{WIN IT}
The people at Crayola through MyBlogSpark sent me this great prize pack and there is one to give away as well!

Use Rafflecopter to enter....

That's why it's called hunting....

2011-12-05T20:38:00.002-06:00

and not killing.
Because it's not that easy!
We went back to Nana and Papa's over the weekend with high hopes of bagging 3 deer early on and relaxing the rest of the weekend. That's not even close to what happened! We sat out for 2 hrs Fri evening, in a thunderstorm Sat morning and then at least another hour on Sat evening. We didn't see anything! Talk about disheartening! There weren't even fresh tracks after the rain.

We decided to try once more on Sunday evening and walked up on some does. Did you know 7 yr olds aren't very good at sneaking up on anything? Hmmm, we know now! E and I crawled through a muddy field to a fence for a shot and the deer were still about 100 yds out. I took aim at the one doe I could see well. She was looking right at me and wouldn't turn broadside. I shot anyway and missed completely. I don't know if it's because I was wheezing more than breathing or if I pulled up when I shot. E tried to make me feel better by saying my rifle probably got knocked out of sight. He shot once and then his gun jammed up. It just wasn't our weekend.

Poor Moosey, he was so excited. He was pleased though to have a close encounter with a coyote.

He did get in a little Target practice while we were there.

And of course, they all enjoyed spending time with Nana and Papa.

Hartzell even found us!

We're hoping to go out hunting again this weekend...
with better luck!

Kettle Cuisine Soups Winner!

2011-12-02T21:25:00.005-06:00

The winner of the Kettle Cuisine Soups prize pack is....

luvinmykevin@

Check out my current giveaway for a

Fabric Coffee Sleeve

and stayed tuned for a Crayola giveaway coming up soon!

Getting ready for Christmas!

2011-11-30T23:08:00.001-06:00

It's our tradition to get out the Christmas decorations the Sunday after Thanksgiving. The kids are always so excited!

This is the 2nd yr that we've put the tree in the basement. It's so nice and cozy with the pellet stove going!

Each year I get them (at least one) new ornament featuring a favorite sport, hobby or just something that reminds me of them. This way, they will have lots of ornaments to take with them when they start out on their own.

Kelton got a soccer player. It even was his number from this fall!

Katie got Belle. I had her help me pick it out and it was quite painstaking trying to decide between this and Justin Bieber.

I had a hard time thinking of what to get Konnor because he doesn't particularly have any favorites yet. I saw this bear and thought it was perfect since we call him our little bear.

This was my attempt to get a photo of them all in front of the tree after we were finished. LOL

We also hung up our stockings.

Getting out the tree also means Hartzell, our Elf on the Shelf returns. Kelton reads the story and then we set him on the fire place and don't touch him again until we pack him away after Christmas as not to spoil his magic! {This obviously required matching jammies!}

He's been a funny little Elf this year....

Hopefully I'll remember to take a picture of all our elf antics. I do believe Kelton is becoming at little wise, but Katie is loving it and Konnor just loves whatever Katie loves. It's so much fun!

Giveaway : Reusable Fabric Coffee Sleeve/Cozie {CLOSED}

2011-11-27T20:30:00.003-06:00

On Earth Day, I talked about some of my favorite earth friendly products. One of them was my fabric coffee sleeve from Tina Magee Sews on Etsy. I keep it tucked in my purse in case I get a chance to drive through a coffee shop (which is way more often that I'd like to admit).

I know ideally, it's best to bring your own coffee cup. Seriously though, that's just not super convenient. However, using my own sleeve takes no effort on my part and I'm saving tons of cardboard this way! Reusable sleeves save an estimated 10lbs of paper per coffee drinker per year!

I looked all over Etsy forever before deciding which type of sleeve to buy. If you look closely at Tina's, there's elastic. These will fit any cup! I noticed some of the sleeves that didn't have elastic only fit on the very bottom of a venti size cup (and don't we all have those venti days!?).

They are also reversible!

Recently when I was making an order for a Christmas Gift, I was telling this great lady how much I love my sleeve and she kindly agreed to let me give one away! YESSSS!

{WIN IT}

Tina will send the winner the coffee sleeve pictured above!
Mandatory Entry:
Visit Tina Magee Sews and tell me which sleeve is your favorite or if one of her other awesome items strikes your fancy!

Additional entries:(leave a separate comment for each entry)
1.) Follow Coffee Beans and Kisses with Google Friend Connect.
2.) Place an order with Tina Magee Sews and leave a comment for each item purchased.

PLEASE LEAVE A WAY FOR ME TO CONTACT YOU!

US residents only, please.
This giveaway will end Thurs Dec 15th at 10:59 PM CST. A winner will be chosen with random.org and have 48 hrs to respond or a new winner will be selected.

Disclaimer: No compensation was received for this post. The opinions expressed here are my own and may differ from other's experience.

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-25T19:47:00.000-06:00

Am I the only one who gets grumpy about Christmas encroaching on Thanksgiving more and more every year? Seriously! I think it's so important to stop and really reflect and be thankful for all we have and give to others just as much as we possibly can.

We were blessed again this to year to be able to provide dinner for large family in the area. I really enjoy the day just hanging out and cooking with my family and it makes me smile to think of them doing the same.

Dinner was completely allergy friendly again this year! I even tried my hand at stuffing for the first time and I'm so pleased with how it came out! I used a Namaste Mix for the bread.

Crockpots had pumpkin pie, corn casserole and sweet potatoes!

Our bread was honey corn muffins.

And Eric handled the turkey.

My favorite blessings are these smiling faces!

And we were joined by a 4th this year!
She's a beauty and a fabulous little eater!
It was fun to be able to share Thanksgiving with the Woodles!

The k-kids were super happy to have them with us also.
They LOVE Miss Braylee!

Being insane, I left the house around 8:30pm that night to head to Walmart. It actually wasn't a total madhouse and we got everything we went for! Awesome!

We're putting up the tree this weekend!
These little critters can't wait!

Seventh Generation Dish Liquid Giveaway Winner!

2011-11-21T13:11:00.002-06:00

The winner is Jessie C!

Check out my latest giveaway,
Kettle Cuisine Soups.
They are delicious!

Review & Giveaway: Kettle Cuisine Soups {CLOSED}

2011-11-16T12:44:00.010-06:00

I was super excited when Kettle Cuisine Soups contacted me about doing this review and giveaway. I love soup and it's that time of year again when I can make it for dinner as often as I like!

Kettle Cuisine was founded by Jerry Shafir and his vision of creating all natural soups for restaurants. When his daughter Kate was diagnosed with celiac disease, he realized how limited options were for this style of eating. There are now 10 varieties of single serve frozen soups available, all gluten free with no artificial ingredients and 6 of them are dairy free as well!

The soup for me to sample arrived on dry ice - how cool is that!?

Let me tell you, these came at just the right time! The kids passed me a little virus which kicked up my asthma and I have been coughing and wheezing like it's my job for a week now!

The first variety I tried was the Chicken Chili with White Beans. I was craving something warm and fulfilling and definitely did not feel like cooking. I got the kids down for their naps and heated up a bowl. The smell was amazing and the taste even better. It was comforting and I was completely satisfied!

Now that the babe has weaned and I'm no longer required to follow a strict diet, I still prefer keep the majority of food in our house safe for everyone to eat. If you're a Mommy, you know that if you're eating something, it's fair game for whatever child happens to walk by. I love that I can share bites of this with all 3 kids! Not to mention these taste great, which isn't always the case with allergy friendly food!

I also tried the Angus Beef Steak Chili with Beans.
Delicious! I was sad when my bowl was empty.

And most recently Roasted Vegetable Soup between inhaler puffs to help me get through the rest of my work day. Very comforting!

See the MSG and all those names
that are impossible to pronounce?

Yea, me neither! :-)
I love the minimal ingredients. It is exactly like homemade! Compare that to a can of soup!

{WIN IT}

The great people at Kettle Cuisine Soups are going to give away a prize pack to one of my readers which will include...

3 free product coupons
cents off coupons to share with friends and family
Kettle Cuisine cooler tote bag

Mandatory Entry:
Leave a comment letting me know which Kettle Cuisine Soup
you'd like to try.

Addition Entries: (leave a separate comment for each)
1.) LIKE Kettle Cuisine on facebook.
2.) follow coffee beans and kisses through google friend connect.

Please leave a way for me to contact you!
US and Canada residents only.
This giveaway will end Thurs, Dec 1st at 10:59 PM CST. A winner will be chosen with random.org and have 48 hrs to respond or a new winner will be selected.

Disclaimer: Kettle Cuisine provided me soups to sample free of charge. No other type of compensation was received. The opinions expressed here are my own and may differ from other's experiences.

We Love Nascar!

2011-11-14T20:28:00.006-06:00

In October, one of my sweet friends offered us tickets to the race at the Kansas Speedway. Thankfully, we were able to find a sitter for the younger kids and we were really able to surprise Kelton! We managed to keep it a secret until we were well on our way to Kansas City.

We had a great time (even though there weren't any good wrecks and Kyle didn't win) and I crossed #29 off my 30 year list.

Dillon's Shopping Trip 11/4

2011-11-09T20:47:00.002-06:00

It's been forever since I posted a shopping trip, mostly because I don't have time to take a picture! I did snap a quick pic (minus 2 organic green peppers) of last weekend's grocery shopping though because it really shows how I shop.

I don't go out and buy 100 pkgs of ramen noodles or beanie weanies because I can get them free. I don't have 100 deodorants stashed under my toddlers bed. Every closet I own is not full of shampoo, shaving cream or fabric softener.

I stock up when something's on sale. I try to use a coupon for every single item I buy. I try to save my coupons to use during a sale. There are also times, I just buy what I need, when I need it.

I was actually pretty proud of this trip, considering all 3 children were along for the ride. The total was $28.15 before tax, with my total savings (according to the receipt) $53.26. It wasn't the best money saving trip I've made, just normal every day shopping. Extreme couponer, I AM NOT.

Things like the Honest Tea, I got because they were super cheap (.25). Things like the hair mousse and Enjoy Life cookies, I don't even know how much they were, just that we needed them (I did have coupons though).

Happy Halloween!!

2011-11-04T19:06:00.005-05:00

We finally got around to carving our pumpkins on Sunday afternoon. Kelton went with the symbol for the red ranger, Katie insisted on polka dots and Konnor's was just a pumpkin face.

Sunday evening, Kelton and I finally BOOED the neighbors. Like carving pumpkins, were a little late getting around to this also. It's always so much fun. It'll be great when the other two are old enough for us to do this as a family.

Monday evening, we couldn't wait to get into our costumes and go get some candy!

Jason, Dolly and Braylee came over to have fun with us!

For as strong of personality as Katie has, she can be surprisingly timid and wouldn't go up to a door without Kelton.

Konnor figured out what was going on immediately and would have trick or treated all night if we would have let him!

Was he not the cutest skunk ever?

I had a little mommy moment since he's my last baby,
so the last one to wear the costume.
Katie 2010

Kelton 2005

These are the yummy treats I made for Kelton's class.

And the pumpkin spice rice krispy treats I made for Katie's class.

I also had fun making these pumpkin lanterns.

I'm actually super glad Halloween is over! Now on to Thanksgiving and then Christmas! With as busy as we'll be, the rest of the year will be over in a blink!

We love fall - The pumpkin patch!

2011-10-30T13:34:00.000-05:00

Fall is seriously or favorite time of year! It's no longer 100 degrees everyday and we can spend more time outside. It also means apples and pears! Nana's apple trees weren't real productive this year, but we were able to get 20lbs from Azure Standard for a great price! We also got lots of pears from one of E's co-workers.

We always make apple or pear butter, but his year I also made spiced pear applesauce. Crazy good!

Konny especially liked it!

The kids ended up eating most of the apples right out of the box!

The kids were super excited to decorate for Halloween! Gel window clings and foam crafts are so inexpensive and fun, we have them for every holiday!

That night was the pumpkin patch!

And of course, we can't forget the matching skeleton jammies!
It's a tradition!

Seventh Generation Dish Liquid Giveaway {CLOSED}

2011-10-24T23:30:00.006-05:00

The power of scent is amazing. It can have positive effects on your mood, reduce stress, and even help you sleep better. But not all scents are created equal. Only essential oils and botanical extracts are used to create the scents in Seventh Generation´s new natural dish liquid, making it free of unnecessary synthetic colors or chemically engineered scents.

Seventh Generation natural dish liquid is available in 4 varieties: Free & Clear, Lavender Floral & Mint, Fresh Citrus & Ginger, and Lemongrass & Clementine Zest scents. All 3 scents are wonderful, but my favorite is the Lavender Floral & Mint, which I actually already use on a regular basis!

Right now you can enter the "Nature Makes Perfect Scents" sweepstakes for a chance to win a trip for two to one of the sourcing sites of the fragrances used in the dish liquid.

{WIN IT}
I am a BIG fan of Seventh Generation, so I did little happy dance when I was offered this review and giveaway! Seventh Generation through MyBlogSpark sent me this awesome prize pack and there is one to giveaway as well!

The prize pack contains:

- (4) bottles of Seventh Generation natural dish liquid varieties in Free & Clear, Lavender Floral & Mint, Fresh Citrus & Ginger, and Lemongrass & Clementine Zest scents
- Premium 3 Qt. 12" x 9" Baking Dish from Le Creuset
- (2) Twist© loofah sponges and (2) Twist© scour pads made from 100% post-recycled materials
- Set of 3 organic cotton dish towels

Mandatory Entry:
Leave a comment letting me know which Seventh Generation natural dish liquid scent you want to try or already use.

Additional Entries: (leave a separate comment for each)
1.) LIKE Seventh Generation on facebook.
2.) Follow Coffee Beans and Kisses through google friend connect.

Please leave a way for me to contact you!
US Residents Only.
This giveaway will end Thurs, Nov 17th at 10:59 PM CST. A winner will be chosen with random.org and have 48 hrs to respond or a new winner will be selected.

Disclosure: The Seventh Generation Natural Dish Liquid prize pack, product and information have been provided to me free of charge by Seventh Generation through MyBlogSpark. No other type of compensation was received.

General Mills and PinkTogether Prize Pack Winner!

2011-10-23T15:14:00.004-05:00

The winner is Ashley!

There will be another giveaway coming soon!

Flashback Friday - Pumpkin Painting

2011-10-21T13:01:00.002-05:00

It seems 20 months-ish of age is a fabulously fun time to let your little one paint a pumpkin. It's fun looking back at how each of them handled it differently....

Kelton - October 2005

Katie - October 2009

And this year was Konny's year. He really went to town!

We all had a lot of {messy} fun!

Playdate for the Divas

2011-10-20T19:29:00.001-05:00

When Lisa and I had our "playdate" last month, we decided we were overdue to get the girls together. Our little divas have so much fun together and it gives us a chance to hang out too.

The first thing we did was make cake batter rice krispy treats. They were super yummy and super duper easy to make GF. I can't wait to try these in a chocolate version!

Next we made lunch. The girls had spaghetti hot dogs. I'm not sure where this idea came from since we found it on pinterest and there was no link. They loved them!

Lisa and I had avocado chicken salad.

Next we made a fall tree pictures. There's no photos of this occurring because nonwashable paint and gymbo clothes don't mix, so the painting took place topless. LOL

The girls played (and somehow found {and emptied} a tube of carmex) while Lisa and I watched that week's Private Practice.

Then it was time to paint nails!

Finally we loaded up and headed to Marble Slab for ice cream! Yummy!

After we had tummies full of ice cream, we headed home. It was a fun (and apparently exhausting) day!

We can't wait to do it again!

Soccer Star!

2011-10-17T21:38:00.001-05:00

Kelton has really seemed to enjoy and excel at soccer the last two springs, so this fall we signed him up to play fall soccer in Derby. It's a commitment, 2 practices a week, a weeknight game and a Saturday game. I'm glad we did it though and so is Kelton. He's already excited to play this spring in Mulvane and I think Katie will be old enough to play as well.

We have been so lucky to always have EXTRA great coaches and this time was no exception. I made this little gift for Kelton to give him since the season is wrapping up. I got the idea off pinterest.

We're Winners!!

2011-10-15T12:01:00.006-05:00

Back in August I shared our Banana Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread Recipe that the kids and I had been working on all summer. We entered in the Namaste Foods Kid's Recipe Contest and got 2nd place! Woot! Woot!

The kids were thrilled when their prize box arrived, a case of mixes and a check for $50! We had so much fun participating and thank to Namaste for hosting the contest!

Fun at Home

2011-10-12T22:27:00.004-05:00

Most of my days off are packed with errands, appts, doing projects and lots of playing. Awhile back I made this little stuff a ball toy that is so simple and keeps both kids occupied for AGES!

Then there are days where this basically sums up our day! LOL

We do spend a lot of time playing beauty shop!

We admire nature.

We {try really hard to} share everything.

We also get lots of bumps and bruises. This was Konny just minutes before he slipped and split his chin open on the side of the tub. A trip to immediate care to get it glued back together and he was good as new.

We do lots of baking. MSM posted this recipe for Easy Morning Glory Muffins. We substituted 1 cup of brown rice flour, 1 cup of oat flour, plus 1 tsp of xantham gum. We also cut the oil back to 3/4 cup (and I think you could even use less), substituted 1 cup of sucanat for the sugar, and obviously left out the nuts.

They were super yummy! Konnor could not get enough of them. In fact, he ate 2-3/day until they were gone. Next time I want to try subbing zucchini for the carrots and craisins for the raisins.

Speaking of Konnor eating, I feel like we're really making progress in that area and mealtime isn't nearly as a headache as it used to be. We've also introduced some dairy (yogurt) and it seems to be going pretty well!

I wonder if he'll eat everything Daddy shoots this year....

Finally, I suppose this was inevitable.
I wonder if he'll follow suit and be a #18 fan also.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-10-05T06:49:00.000-05:00

General Mills and Pink Together Giveaway {CLOSED}

2011-09-30T17:29:00.002-05:00

It's that time of year when the days are getting shorter, the temps start getting cooler, everything goes PINK!

Aside from skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in the US. It is also the 2nd leading cause of cancer death in women of all races. Through research and earlier detection, rates are declining, but we still have so far to go.

Currently there are over 2.5 million breast cancer survivors in the US alone. PinkTogether.com is a place where breast cancer survivors, patients, family members, and supporters can connect to each other to share guidance, hope and maybe, one day, a cure.

I encourage you to visit PinkTogether.com and share your story of how breast cancer has impacted your life. My Aunt Peggy is a breast cancer survivor. It's on my 30 year list to eventually run in the Race for the Cure and I plan to do so in her honor.

General Mills is donating $1 to the Komen organization for each Message of Hope that is sent to someone who has shared their story on PinkTogether.com (up to $25,000) during October. This is in addition to a $2 million donation General Mills is making to the Komen organization.

This year, PinkTogether.com is having the consumers choose how $1 million of this donation will be shared between two important Komen programs: the Treatment and Assistance Program, which assists women in securing care they otherwise may not be able to afford, and Prevention Research, which helps unlock the keys to preventing breast cancer. Visit PinkTogether.com from September 19, 2011 through April 14, 2012 to make your choice. Results will be announced on Mother´s Day 2012.

Also check out the Pink Together Youtube Channel to meet the 2011 Pink Together Survivor Ambassadors, and hear their amazing stories of courage and survival.

{GIVEAWAY}
The awesome people at General Mills through MyBlogSpark sent me this great prize pack and there is one to give away as well!

It includes:
16 oz. box of Total cereal
Free coupon for one box of Cheerios
Free coupon for one box of Multigrain Cheerios
Free coupon for one cup of Yoplait yogurt
Betty Crocker Living with Cancer Cookbook Pink Together Edition
Water bottle and removable silicone awareness bracelet
Drawstring sport backpack
Rhinestone ear buds

Mandatory entry :
Share how you have been touched by breast cancer

Additional entries : (leave a seperate comment for each)
1.) Visit PinkTogether.com and LIKE the page
2.) Vote for the program you wish to recieve the $1 million donation and share which one you voted for.
3.) Become a follow of Coffee Beans and Kisses.

US residents only
This giveaway will end Thurs, Oct 20th at 10:59 PM CST. A winner will be chosen with random.org and have 48 hrs to respond or a new winner will be selected.

Disclosure: The Pink Together prize pack, information and coupons have been provided free of charge by General Mills through MyBlogSpark.

Tanganika

2011-09-25T16:47:00.003-05:00

I'm getting so behind on my blogging that I'm going to just link up to Nana's blog for everyone to see pictures from the Labor Day weekend at the lake.

The next weekend we had planned to take the kids to the zoo only to find out it happened to be the one day a year that the zoo is closed. So we went to Tanganika instead and it was so fun!

The kids loved being so close and able touch so many animals.

I think the biggest hit was the goats!

The lemurs were pretty cool too.

We finished up and headed home just before it rained a bit. We can't wait to go back sometime when Moosey can go with us!

Boogie Wipes Winner!!

2011-09-25T16:17:00.006-05:00

I got a little busy and forgot to pick a Boogie Wipes winner.
So finally, the winner is Rachel!

Please Vote For Us!

2011-09-15T22:53:00.005-05:00

I mentioned previously that the kids had entered the Namaste Foods Recipe Contest.

We made the finals and now we need your help!
LIKE Namaste Foods on facebook.
Then find our recipe. It's the 2nd one, Banana Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread. Then LIKE our recipe. The more LIKES we have, the better chance we have to win!

The kids are super excited! (and me too!)
Thanks a million!

PS. Make the bread. Seriously. It's delish!

24 Hours of Fun!!

2011-09-09T13:04:00.005-05:00

Earlier this spring, I was the maid of honor at my friend, Lisa's wedding. She had a fabulous cake from Cheri's Bakery, but of course, I couldn't eat any of it since I was still nursing the babe. I believe it was then that we started planning our "Theresa can eat freely" slumber party.

Our first stop was Cheri's, of course! Lisa ordered me a chocolate with chocolate filling, No Mo Milk cake. I seriously cannot describe how good it was or how sick I made myself eating way too much of it!!

Next we ran to Gymboree for the Circle of Friends sale. I picked up a few things including a green jumper Katie really wanted, a soccer shirt that Kelton picked out and a wingman hat for Konnor.

We grabbed some lunch at Chili's, including a pomegranate margarita. YUM! While we were there, we colored chili peppers for St Judes, a charity close to my heart that we regularly support.

Then we hit up JoAnn's and Target and headed back to Lisa's house to get ready for mass.

Lisa is Catholic and I was raised Catholic. I haven't been to mass forever and was really looking forward to going, but a wicked little storm blew in with lots of wind, rain and lightening. So we ended up staying home and slipping into our comfy pants a little earlier than planned.

There was freezer cooking and crafting on our agenda, but first we whipped up a couple snacks....raspberry chipotle bean dip and cheesy guacamole bean dip. Soooo, good!

Next up was our cream soups for the freezer. It was very easy to modify the recipe just by subsituting So Delicious Coconut Milk and Namaste Perfect Flour Blend. We made my batch first to avoid any cross contamination. In just an hour, we finished 6 cans worth of allergy friendly cream of chicken, 4 cans worth of regular cream of chicken and 4 cans worth of regular cream of mushroom. I'm really trying to use less plastic so I froze some of mine in glass jars.

We cleaned everything up, ate another piece of cake, poured a glass of wine and broke out the craft supplies!

Oh and when we got bored with the wine, we had some of this....

I'm so thrilled with how my wreath came out. I wish I would have taken pictures of the process. I used...

a foam wreath
3 black boas
wooden letters to spell BOO
orange paint and glitter paint
orange ribbon

First, I painted the letters so that they'd have plenty of time to dry. Then I wrapped the boas around the wreath. They didn't even need to be very close because of the fullness of the boas. I attached the ends with a small piece of wire stuck into the foam. I was having trouble figuring out how to attach my letters. Finally, I ended up hot gluing a piece of wire to the back and wrapping it around the wreath. Because the boas are so full, they hide the wire. I attached an orange ribbon to hang it and Voila! The perfect Halloween wreath!

Lisa made a fall wreath, which I totally love. I plan to make one like it also so I have something to hang up when Halloween is over.

Lisa has a daughter a year older than Katie and we're planning a super fun play date in the near future. We've also excited to have another slumber party where we're going to make tons of different red velvet cake recipes! If you follow me on pinterest, you can see the ideas we're finding!

While Lisa and I were consuming enough calories to sustain a gorilla, Eric was at the lake with his parents and the kids. That will be the next blog. I'm trying to talk him into writing it!

Review and Giveaway : Boogie Wipes {CLOSED}

2011-09-05T17:17:00.004-05:00

Last fall when we tried Boogie Wipes for the first time, I blogged about how I was totally skeptical at first. I couldn't help but wonder if they were just another baby product that wasn't really necessary. Needless to say, I completely changed my mind once we actually tried them.....

"After the first couple uses, I fell in love. They are like magic wipes, magic dried crusty boogie removing with no tears from toddler wipes. Awesome!"

Boogie Wipes are natural saline wipes designed to help easily remove "all that fun stuff" that covers your child's face when they're dealing with a cold or allergies. Boogie wipes are alcohol, papaben and phthalate free.

Boogie Wipes come in 90 ct canisters, 30 ct soft packs and in boxes of individually wrapped wipes that are great for on the go!

Check out Boogie Wipes website to sign up for the mailing list and receive a coupon to use towards your next purchase! Then head over to Save the Sleeve for a fun, interactive way to remind your kids where their boogies should go. While you're there you can enter your child in the "Snot Your Average Kid Search" for a chance to have their face featured on the 90 ct tubs.

Since school just started, this was the absolute perfect time of year to feature this product! It didn't take long for all 3 kids to start getting snotty AND fall allergy season is literally a sneeze away!

Buggy woke up the other morning with quite the crusty mess!

With Boogie Wipes, we were able to rememedy the problem, asap!

I keep the pack out all the time, so she can grab a wipe when she needs it. She also loves to help wipe Konny's nose, athough he really doesn't appreciate it!

Boogie Wipes are available at every mass retailer I've been too lately, which is great so that I'm able to pick up a pack when we're out no matter where I happen to be shopping that day.

{WIN IT}
The awesome people at Boogie Wipes are going to send one of my readers two 30 ct soft packs of boogie wipes! Just in time for cold and allergy season to start!

Mandatory Entry: Visit Boogie Wipes and tell me which scent you would most like to try or which scent you already enjoy using.

Additional Entries (leave a seperate comment for each):
1.) LIKE Boogie Wipes on facebook
2.) Follow Boogie Wipes on twitter
3.) Become a follower of Coffee Beans and Kisses
4.) Blog about this giveaway and tell me where to find it

BE SURE THERE IS A WAY FOR ME TO CONTACT YOU.
US, Canada and Australia residents only, please.
This giveaway will end Tuesday, Sept 20th at 10:59 PM CST. A winner will be chosen with random.org and will have 48 hrs to respond or a new winner will be selected.

Disclaimer: I received free samples from Boogie Wipes for this review. No other type of compensation was received. The opinions expressed here are my own and may differ from other's experiences.

How does your zucchini grow?

2011-08-29T14:39:00.001-05:00

That's a good question, actually. It's only been 105 here most of the summer and yet we've grown mounds of the stuff, so we've gotten more creative beyond bread and shreds for the freezer.

Speaking of bread, the kids and I been perfecting our recipe since the garden started yielding boatloads of zucchini. Katie is always eager to help and everyone in the house (Konny included) is more than happy to eat it. We finally have it perfected and entered it in the Namaste Kids Recipe Contest.

Banana Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread Recipe

2 cups Namaste Perfect Flour Blend
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
3 eggs
1/2 cup light olive oil
1 cup sucanat
1 tsp vanilla
2 mashed ripe bananas
2 cups shredded zucchini
1/2 cup Enjoy Life chocolate chips

Peel and mash bananas. Shred zucchini making sure to squeeze out excess liquid. Set aside

Mix together flour, baking powder, soda and spices. Set aside.

Mix together eggs, oil, and sucanat. Add dry ingredients a little at a time until well blended.

Stir in vanilla, bananas, zucchini and chocolate chips until just combined.

Pour into 1 large or 2 small greased loaf pans. Bake at 350 for 50-65 min or until toothpick comes out clean.

Zucchini is so easy to hide in baked goods. It's makes them super moist so it's easy to leave out some or all the oil.....chocolate chocolate chip zucchini muffins, anyone? :-)

One of the first new zucchini dishes of the summer was Stuffed Zucchini. They're like little zucchini boats stuffed with all kinds of goodness. I've linked some of Janna's recipes before and all have been amazing. I'm pretty confident she and I would be buds if they still lived in the area.

The other main dish I've made is Sausage Zucchini Bake. Super easy and fabulously delicious! Everyone loved it, although it was obviously not Konny friendly.

Probably Kelton's favorite (and mine too) is Cornmeal Crusted Zucchini. These can be fried or broiled. The first time we tried both methods, but frying is just so stinky and messy (although tasty), that we just stick to the broiling method. These are SO GOOD and so allergy friendly. We seriously cannot get enough of them and I'm thrilled to report even Konny ate some!

Next up is preserving zucchini. The first thing I made was Zucchini Jelly. Sounds odd doesn't it? Just a warning....prepare yourself for the amount of sugar this takes. I was seriously shocked. Completely. I wanted to use turbinado, but was out, so I went with regular old organic sugar. I have it admit, it's super delicious.

I like a good sweet relish, so when one of my friends posted on facebook about making Zucchini Relish, I was intrigued. With her guidance, I gave it a go. These still need to sit for about a month before I'll know if it's any good, but hopefully it will become another summer staple at our house!

And finally, if you can't think of anything else to do with your zucchini, they apparently make great toy telephones!

Namaste Foods Winner

2011-08-28T21:28:00.000-05:00

The winner is Berendina!
Thank you everyone for participating!
I have another giveaway that I hope to get up by the end of the week. I'm excited because it's perfect for this time of year!

Konny is 1/2 way to another bday!!

2011-08-20T14:39:00.000-05:00

Mr Konny Bear was 18 mo last weekend. We were scheduled to get his pictures done, but he came down with some sort of virus. So not only did we miss pictures, but I was crazy nervous about his check up on Weds because I figured he'd lost weight being ill.

Katie did a happy dance with me though when we saw his weight was 20lbs 15oz and length was 29in! That's some great growing!

At 18mo, Kelton was 22lbs 8oz and 30.75in.
Katie was 20lbs 13oz and 29.5in.

We have an appt scheduled with Rainbows United to evaluate his gross motor and texture issues. We're a little late getting started on this as our ped wanted the eval around 16mo, but I wanted to get through his hypospadia sx first.

Speaking of his sx, I finally got around to sending out thank you notes from all the goodies he was given. I used a card that Carrie designed for me and then stamped his little hand on it.

We did make it in on Friday for pictures and Konny wasn't exactly cooperative. I wish we could have gotten some better smiles, but he's too cute anyway!

He is quite the busy little man these days! A couple of his new favorite things are climbing....

Flushing the toilet...

And eating with a spoon...

Or not...

Konny just recently had his first taste of a lollipop. Kelton was more than eager to share the experience with him and since we just got a new bag of (allergy friendly) YummyEarth Lollipops, there are plenty to go around!

Almost exactly 2yrs ago, Katie had her first experience with a lollipop. As has come to be custom for her, she did it a bit messier!

As much as we still talk about Katie being a horrible sleeper, at least by this age, she was sleeping through the night. Konnor, not so much! Hopefully that will come soon as I'm sure it'd help him (and Mommy and Daddy) not be nearly so crabby!

The 2nd Grader

2011-08-17T19:58:00.000-05:00

I'm still trying to figure out how Kelton is already old enough to be in 2nd grade!? Crazy! This will be his last year at the primary school so although I managed to avoid crying on Monday, I'm sure I'll be in puddles next year when he moves up to
the grade school (3rd-5th).

I guess by the time you hit 2nd grade, school is pretty much old hat because while he was excited, he was still pretty chill.

I snapped a few pictures, begged for a hug and that was that!

Unbeknowst to Moosey, Daddy and I discussed a special 1st day of school treat to surprise him after the other kids were in bed. I had him load up in the truck, but didn't say where we were going.
I let him play Angry Birds on the way.

I loved the grin on his face when we pulled up to CherryBerry Yogurt Bar. It's so much fun getting your yogurt and favorite toppings! We loaded up our bowls and pigged out!

It's always fun spending special time with my Moosey!

**Notice a difference in the quality of pictures from before he went to school to our trip to CherryBerrys? We'd been talking for awhile about needing a new camera and it was upsetting when I was trying to get a picture of Kelton before school and they weren't turning out at all. So we're now the proud owners of an SLR and we're really enjoying it!

Review & Giveaway : Namaste Foods{CLOSED}

2011-08-14T13:45:00.000-05:00

Awhile back, I sent Namaste Foods a little email about how much I love their products. Because I honestly do, LOVE THEM and I feel very grateful to companies dedicated to producing products safe for people with multiple food allergies/sensitivities. (Compliments also often lead to coupons in the mailbox!)

I cannot tell you how thrilled I was a few days later when I received an email asking if I'd like to host a review/giveaway on my blog. For my favorite allergy friendly company? Uh, YES!

Namaste Foods is a small, yet growing company founded in 1999. Their products are manufactured in a dedicated allergy friendly facility. Every product they produce is free of wheat, gluten, corn, soy, potato, dairy, casein, tree nuts, and peanuts. They are also free of GMOs and are kosher certified.

I first stumbled across Namaste when we were navigating the waters of "what in the world is wrong with Katie?" At the time, I knew very little about this world we were entering in and was just trying all the different things available.

I was immediately in love with the Perfect Flour Blend. More than anything, I wanted a flour that I could use universally when a recipe calls for all purpose flour and Namaste met that need! I have tried other brands and they truly do not measure up. I always return to Namaste. My other favorite is the Spice Cake Mix. It is fabulous and even if the day comes when we're no longer needing allergy friendly products, I can't say I'll be able to give this one up! We really like to add shredded zucchini and chopped apple for muffins! I used the Chocolate Cake Mix to make cake balls for Kelton's 6th Bday.

For our review we picked two products that we hadn't tried yet, the Brownies and the Taco Pasta. I couldn't wait and anxiously checked the mail everyday until our box arrived.

Of course, the kids helped me with the brownies. We cut back the oil a tad and added a cup of shredded zucchini (Daddy didn't even notice!) They smelled fabulous and tasted even better! The real test is always E and after one bite, I heard the infamous statement..."I can't even tell they're gluten free." AWESOME! It made a whole 9x13 pan, which is one of the things I love about Namaste mixes. There's enough for a whole pan or a layered caked, whereas other gf mixes are 1/2 the size.

For dinner we made the pasta. It was super easy! I added some deer burger, black beans, tomatoes and corn. It was so good, we had to be careful not to eat too much so we'd have room to have the brownies! Konny even put some in his mouth (only to spit it out) BUT that is huge for him. Baby steps are still progress!

Whenever friends approach me for advice on going gluten free, Namaste is always one of the first companies that I recommend. It's a brand that our home is definitely never without!

{WIN IT}

Namaste Foods is going to send one of my readers an awesome prize pack containing:

3 Namaste Foods Products
Namaste grocery tote
Namaste Foods Simply Pleasures Cookbook
An issue of Living Without magazine
Assorted recipe cards

Mandatory entry:
Visit Namaste Foods and tell me which product you would most like to try or which product is already your favorite.

Additional entries (leave a separate comment for each):
1.) LIKE Namaste Foods on facebook.
2.) Link this giveaway on your blog or fb page and let me know where to find it.
3.) Follow Namaste Foods on twitter.

BE SURE THERE IS A WAY FOR ME TO CONTACT YOU
US and Canada residents only, please.
This giveaway will end Thur, Aug 25th at 10:59 PM CST. A winner will be chosen with random.org and will have 48 hrs to respond or a new winner will be selected.

Disclaimer: I received free samples from Namaste Foods for this review. No other type of compensation was received. The opinions expressed here are my own and may differ from other's experiences.

Peter Rabbit Organics Winner

2011-08-12T13:39:00.000-05:00

The winner is Renee!
I have sent an email, please respond within 48 hrs.
Thank you everyone for participating.
I've got another giveaway coming up next week!

Swimming Lessons!

2011-07-31T20:28:00.000-05:00

I started swimming lessons at a young age, moved on to swim club; competing and helping coach the little kids, gave private lessons, swam on the high school swim team, spent a summer as a life guard and recovered from two of my csections swimming laps.

I feel at home in the water. The smells, the sounds, all of it just evokes wonderful memories for me.

So naturally, I want my kids to be the same way. Ultimately, that will be their decision, but I do want them to at least have the ability to swim. I would love to enroll them in multiple classes, but due to time and $$, we usually only get in one a year.

Katie's was first. She remembered swimming with Daddy last year and was super excited to go again this year! And definitely excited to wear her ladybug swimsuit!

Next was Kelton. His session isn't over until the end of this week and he's trying really hard to pass to the next level!

I'm hoping to take a class with Konny this fall. He absolutely loves the water, especially having it splashed in his face, so I think it'd be really fun!

Review & Giveaway : Peter Rabbit Organics {CLOSED}

2011-07-25T07:24:00.000-05:00

When Katie was a small tot, we discovered food pouches. There were several different brands available, Peter Rabbit Organics being one of them. However when it came time for Konny to start eating, we skipped this brand because they didn't offer veggie flavors....UNTIL NOW!

Peter Rabbit Organics is a small privately owned company out of Oregon. They offer 4 varieties of 100% organic fruit snacks and 3 varieties of 100% organic veggie blends. All are free of any artificial ingredients, added sugar or salt.

I often joke that food pouches are a lazy mom's dream when it comes to feeding baby. Konnor LOVES his pouches and has been eating them himself since shortly after he started solids. Katie still eats them when I let her and I have a sneaking feeling that if I offered Kelton one, he wouldn't turn it down. So you can imagine we were pretty excited when these arrived in the mail!

It didn't take us long to gobble them down! Katie and Kelton tried the fruit varieties, which I tasted too...YUM! Konny has never met a pouch he didn't like!

I would recommend these to any mom and I actually think they'll make a great addition to 1 yr bday gifts!

You can buy Peter Rabbit Organics at Babies R Us, Diapers.com and Amazon. Visit Peter Rabbit Organics for a listing of all the available places to purchase their products locally and online.

{WIN IT}
Peter Rabbit Organics is going to send one of my readers a prize pack containing 12 assorted pouches! US Residents Only, please.

Mandatory Entry:
Visit Peter Rabbit Organics and tell me which flavor you think your child would most enjoy or which is already their favorite.

Extra Entries (leave a seperate comment for each):
1.) LIKE Peter Rabbit Organics on facebook.
2.) Follow Peter Rabbit Organics on Twitter.

BE SURE THERE IS A WAY FOR ME TO CONTACT YOU!
This giveaway will end Thursday, August 11th at 10:59 PM CST. A winner will be chosen with random.com and have 48hrs to respond or a new winner will be selected.

Disclaimer: I received free samples from Peter Rabbit Organics for this review. No other type of compensation was received. The opinions expressed here are my own and may differ from other's experiences.

The end of an era

2011-07-24T10:33:00.001-05:00

Friday morning, July 22nd, I nursed Konny for the last time. While I really thought he'd nurse longer, my goal was for him to self wean so I just followed his lead.

Kelton self weaned at 21 mo. I gave Katie a nudge at 17 mo since I was pg and exhausted and now Konnor is done at just over 17 mo. That's 4 yrs and 7 mo of breastfeeding under my belt.

Nursing Konnor has not been at all easy...the initial latch issues, the c. diff, the soy allergy. I am glad to be able to eat normally again, but at the same time feeling a little in shock that this chapter in my life is completely over.

While I won't be nursing anymore babies, I'm always glad to give support to friends and family who decide breastfeeding is best for them. It's on my 30 in 30 list to become a certified breastfeeding counselor or maybe an IBCLC. This is something I will always be passionate about and even though I will never again have a nursling, I know breastfeeding will always be a part of my life!

GOT BREASTMILK?
Kelton, 11 months. December 2004.

Katie, 12 months. March 2009.

Konnor, 17 months. July 2011.

Our 4th of July fun..

2011-07-12T20:54:00.000-05:00

We finally found the new Gluten Free Rice Krispies.

Katie was eager to try them out so we made some
4th of July marshmallow treats.

One of my favorite blogs had instructions for making korker bows and I had to try it! So easy. I think I made 9 all together. Katie is always eager for a new hair pretty. I also love being able to make them for my nieces and other special ladies in our lives.

We all had festive outfits!

Can't forget the nails!

Our neighborhood gets a little crazy around the 4th. We do fireworks every single night for like a week straight! That definitely makes for some cranky kids from all those late nights. It is lots of fun and I especially enjoy the time with our wonderful neighbors, but I'm glad we're done!

Boudreaux's Butt Paste Giveaway Winner!

2011-07-08T08:15:00.000-05:00

Usually I'm a night owl, but I was in bed by 11pm on Thursday so I picked the winner Friday morning (only after making sure the starving children were fed).

Random.org picked #31 - Jacqueline

I've got another giveaway in the works for this month! Exciting!

Konnor's Surgery

2011-07-05T16:54:00.000-05:00

Konny was less than 2 wks old when we first saw the urologist and found out he'd need hypospadia repair surgery after he was a year old. At the time, I just put it out of my mind, figuring there was no point worrying about it then. How quickly the year flew by!

We had a pre-op appt about 10 days before the surgery. Everything looked good to go but in order to stay that way, he couldn't even get a runny nose. Seriously! Aren't those pretty much standard in toddlers? Thankfully, (through lots of prayers) we managed to stay snot free.

Katie and Kelton were super excited to spend a few days at Nana and Papa's during this time and as I packed up their things on Mon evening, it all started seeming so close. I was pretty much keyed up Monday evening and all day Tuesday.

When we got home from work on Tuesday, these beautiful flowers and fun balloon were waiting for us from Eric's sweet cousin Katie. What a nice surprise after quite the anxiety ridden day!

Tuesday night was rough on Konnor since he couldn't have anything to drink after midnight, but I wasn't really able to sleep much anyway. By the time we left the house, I was feeling much calmer than I had been the previous day.

We got checked in and they had this little Ty tiger waiting for Konnor. Ty toys all have a birthdate and this one was Feb 13th, Konnor's bday! This just felt to me like a sign that the day was going to go fine.

We dressed Konny in a tiny hospital gown and tried our best to keep him happy while different Dr's and nurses came in to talk to us. They suggested some versed to make thing a little less traumatic when they took him back to the OR. We definitely agreed. It worked quickly and he hardly whimpered when the nice nurse took him back.

The surgery itself was about an hr and 15min. He was only away from us for just under 3 hrs. During this time, I discovered the hospital coffee shop carried almond milk, which is pretty uncommon. I was thrilled to have a latte and took it as another sign the day was going to go well. The only thing that took us off guard was finding out we'd be there all day and maybe overnight. Somewhere there was some lack of communication and we were under the impression we'd be leaving soon after he came out of anethesia. This left us a little unprepared but luckily Eric was able to find a health food store for coconut milk and snacks.

The first time I cried the whole day was when they wheeled him back to us. He was so tiny on the huge gurney and very pale and he hardly moved even when he saw us. I snuggled him up right away. He nursed and had some coconut milk and then just mostly slept. AND vomited. All over me. At that point the Dr was really pushing for us to stay but after several more hours he hadn't vomited anymore and they let us leave.

He slept really well that night and has just done great ever since! We thought we might get away without any of the lortab, but it's kind of hard to make a toddler sit still. After playing all day, he was a little uncomfortable and it helped take the edge off.

He was super happy when the other two kids came home. He and Kelton are definitely buddies!

We were worried that the surgery would be a little set back with him walking, but it hasn't at all. It hasn't stopped him from rocking out to Justin Bieber either!

Words cannot express how comforted and blessed we felt by all of the prayers, emails, texts, gifts and good thoughts! I know without all the love and support this would have been a much more difficult experience. XOXOXO

Review and Giveaway: Boudreaux's Butt Paste {CLOSED}

2011-06-24T16:50:00.000-05:00

I am super excited at the opportunity to host a giveaway for Blairex Laboratories Boudreaux's Butt Paste! They sent us a box full of goodies to try out, including...

All Natural Boudreaux's Butt Paste
Original Boudreaux's Butt Paste
Boudreaux's Butt Paste Max Strength
Boudreaux's Butt Bath - Body Wash & Shampoo
Boudreaux's Baby Kisses - Lip and Cheek Moisturizer
Boudreaux's Rash Protector

Despite the fact that I've had friends rave about this diaper cream, I tend to be brand loyal and in my over 7 yrs of diapering bottoms, I have always used the same product.

Since Boudreaux's Butt Paste was created by a pharmacist with direction from a pediatrician, I felt comfortable trying it even with Konny's crazy sensitive skin. We got right down to business and gave these products a whirl!

Konnor's favorite was the Baby Kisses. He loves sharing lip gloss with Mommy and this is his very own tube! This product would be especially fabulous for winter when those sweet baby cheeks get so red and chapped!

Give me back my Boudreaux's!

I adore the Rash Protector and the way Konny giggles when I apply it. I just squirt a little on at bedtime and even if he messes his diaper, his bottom is still pretty when he wakes up! I especially love that it seems to work really well with our cloth diapers whereas regular diaper creams do not.

E was quite fond of the pastes (I love that one of them is natural!). He thought they were much smoother and had softer feel than our regular hiney cream. I also took some to daycare so that Debbie try it. She thought it was great too and she's probably used every cream out there.

I don't think it's far fetched to say we're totally sold! Then I'm reminded (and sad) that Konny is our last babe and we've got less than 2 yrs left of diapering him. Not that sad though because I miss sleeping and I can always buy Boudreaux's for my baby making friends!

{WIN IT}
Boudreaux's is going to send one of my readers a care package which will include one of each of the following:

All Natural Boudreaux's Butt Paste 2 oz.
ALL NEW Boudreaux's Butt Paste Max Strength
Boudreaux's Body Wash & Shampoo
Boudreaux's Baby Kisses
Boudreaux's Rash Protector

Mandatory Entry :
Visit Boudreaux's website and leave a comment telling me which product you would like to try or already enjoy using.

Extra Entries (leave a separate comment for each):
1.) LIKE Boudreaux's Butt Paste on facebook.
2.) Become a follower of Boudreaux's Butt Paste Blog.

Be sure there is a way for me to contact you!
This giveaway will end Thur, July 7th at 11:59 PM CST. A winner will be chosen with random.org and will have 48 hrs to respond or a new winner will be chosen.

Disclaimer: I received free samples of the products to review for this giveaway. No other type of compensation was received. The opinions expressed here are my own and may differ from other's experiences.

Father's Day!!

2011-06-20T22:28:00.000-05:00

What a great weekend we had! The kids were super excited to give Daddy the shirt we made a couple weeks ago. I thought I was being all creative and then I saw something similiar at Walmart this afternoon and it burst my bubble! Oh well, ours is definitely one of a kind and Daddy loved it!

Katie's are the purple hands. She was a little overzealous. I swear, she only has 2 hands, not 3. :)

I wanted to make Papa a shirt too, but figured it would be more special if we waited and put all the grandKids hand prints on it. So we made him this present instead...

For a special Father's Day treat, Katie and I made a yellow cake with chocolate frosting. We used one of the new Hodgson Mills gf mixes. It was really tasty, which is great since it's also a very reasonable price!

I think we all agree that the best part of the weekend though is all the walking that Konnor did. We've been praying so hard to avoid PT and are just thrilled that he's finally getting the hang of it!

**I am very aware what Konnor is wearing doesn't even come close to coordinating. E swears that Konnor picked it out himself. Uh huh ;)

Fun with the K-Cousins!

2011-06-15T14:59:00.000-05:00

We were lucky enough to sneak in a day with Eric's brother's family while they were here for a short visit a few weeks ago. There's so many people to see when they're home and we're always happy that they try hard to fit us in!

Katie and Kelton were super excited to get there and thankfully Konnor napped on the way.

Nana's new horse Cheyenne was a huge hit! Katie wasn't too excited after her tumble from Blackie earlier this spring, but we did get her to at least get on for a bit.

I didn't get many pictures because I forgot the camera and had to rely on my cell phone. It was a fantastic day though and we cannot wait to see them again this fall!! After refusing to even look at him for nearly the first two years of her life, Buggy has developed a deep affinity for Uncle Shawn - notice who she's with in most of the pictures! :)

We let Katie skip her nap to get in some extra playtime. We weren't even in the truck for 10 min and she was out!

A week from today, Konnor will be having surgery to repair his hypospadia. I know everything will be just fine, but we would appreciate all the prayers we can get!

Crockpots, coupons and crafts

2011-06-08T13:38:00.000-05:00

Yep, I still do all of those.
All. The. Time.
It's really great stress relief for me.
At least every Wednesday, I have one (or more) crockpots going.

Some of the recent recipes that we've tried and turned out to be a huge hit are....

Loose Meat Sandwiches
Peach Cobbler
Jalapeno Corn Pudding
Honey and Cinnamon Glazed Carrots
Chocolate Fudge Pudding Cake - This one is great to start at work first thing and we have a great treat by lunch time!

And of course, I still never shop without coupons. I rarely take pictures anymore, but I was proud of this stuff from Dillon's and snapped a quick one. Most of it will be donated or shared with family members. The total was $6.14. The cereal was .99, the cereal bars were $1.99 each and the rice cakes were .29 each. All the rest was free.

We picked up this stuff today at Target for $18.40. All the K's were with me and we high fived after we left for doing so well with our coupons! Cleanwell soap is usually almost $5/bottle, so we were psyched to get it for such a great price!

Finally, a few pics of the fun stuff I've been working on lately...

I get to have a giveaway on my blog soon and I'm so excited!
Stayed tuned!

Joplin clean up

2011-06-03T13:08:00.000-05:00

As the scenes from tornado ravaged Joplin started appearing on tv just shortly after the storm hit on May 22nd, my immediate thoughts went to what we could do to help. I knew we would donate money, I knew we could donate from our stockpile, but it just didn't feel like enough. After some prayer and discussion, we decided to also volunteer our time.

E's parents come over Sunday evening to stay with the kids. We got up shortly after 4am on Memorial Day and headed out around 5am. The drive really wasn't that bad. I don't mind driving in the early morning as long as I've got my cup of coffee. We got into Joplin sometime after 8am.

We didn't take a lot of pictures. I felt kind of numb the entire time. It was the most surreal thing I have ever experienced. When we first got into town, I burst into tears. The tears came again when we were being bused out to the area we were to be working. What you see on tv, just doesn't prepare you for what you see in person.

I have never seen distruction like this. It was as far as the eye could see. Our group had people from all over the states of KS and MO, even someone else from Mulvane. We didn't meet the two families who's property we cleared, we don't even know if they survived the tornado, but I prayed for them almost the whole time we were working. It was our honor to help them and we'd do it again in a heartbeat.

We are hopeful to return once a month for the next few months. It's easy to think that you're just one person and insignificant to provide help in such a large disaster. But if everyone felt that way and did nothing, there would be no help at all. In addition, Kelton will never forget that we did this. I pray that our children will be driven to help others as they walk through life and I can't expect that to happen without modeling those behaviors for them.

Black Bean Burgers

2011-05-31T23:48:00.000-05:00

So after the black bean brownie recipe, it must be obvious that I seriously love me some beans! I made black bean burgers last year and they were fantastic. I went to that blog to get the recipe and the link was dead! Ack! I couldn't recall exactly how I made them except that I had used oats and soy sauce, both of which are out of the question while I'm still nursing Konny.

When I was brainstorming for what I was going to use to hold these puppies together, I discovered that Janna has several recipes on her blog using quinoa, including black bean burgers!

Here's what I ended up throwing together. Even though I'm a dumper, I tried really hard to measure this time.

3 cups black beans (I used dry that I'd cooked ahead)
finely chopped veggies softened with some olive oil (I used carrots, green peppers and onions)
1 cup cooked quinoa
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp cumin
2 tsp coconut aminos
1/8 cup ketchup (get the kind without hfcs)
1/4 - 1/2 cup cornmeal, however much you need to firm them up enough to make patties

Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes.

This made 7 larger burgers. There was enough for 8, but I thought it might taste good as a dip with chips (and I was right!)

I'm really happy with how they came out. Even E (the ultimate carnivore) likes them. They're perfect to take to work for lunch. They freeze and reheat really well.

The quinoa worked wonderfully and I can't wait to try Janna's meatballs and stuffed zucchini! Both use quinoa.

Since quinoa and I are BFF's now,
I had some for breakfast too!

three cheers for strawberry picking

2011-05-25T13:14:00.001-05:00

Last year, we had three disappointed little faces when we didn't make it to Sargeant's in time to pick strawberries. They did brighten up and had a ball picking peaches but I promised them we'd for sure make it this year.

Getting ready with sunscreen and bug spray.

So excited and ready to go! Noticed Katie is forward facing now? We turned her a couple weeks ago and she thinks she's hot stuff!

Konny has a Marathon now too!

They were practically bursting out of the truck by the time we arrived! I can't believe Katie wasn't even walking yet last time we picked strawberries.

The berries were a little smaller than last time,
but still beautiful AND delicious!

So we picked 15lbs!

My mom stuck around and helped me hull all of these.
It took hours!

The girls thought they were pretty good with
Pamela's gf vanilla cake and cool whip.

And of course, I made freezer jam!

We already can't wait for next year!

15 months...ALREADY!

2011-05-20T16:36:00.000-05:00

Who said our last baby could grow up so quickly??
Wasn't he just born?
Beyond a short lived fever Mother's Day weekend, we are happy to finally have him well after being ill nearly all of April.

He is so funny and has really picked up signing and has a lot of spoken words too! He is into everything and loves to play, especially with his Busy Ball Popper.

His other love is his pound a ball toy from Nana.

And we can't forget his walk/ride toy from Mimi.

His well baby check was last Wednesday. He and Katie both ended up getting shots. I've felt so much better with following Dr Sears schedule this time around.

He weighed in at 18 lbs 13 oz and 26 in.
Comparatively Katie was 19 lbs 1 oz and 28.5 in
And Kelton was 21 lbs 8oz and 30 in

He's lost weight (which doesn't really concern me seeing that he was sick for a month) and he's fallen completely off the bottom of the growth charts. Still, I'm not super concerned since all my kids are on the petite side. Although honestly, just now typing out the other kids stats at this age made my heart sink just a bit because he's smaller than Katie was. Ugh.

However, since he's not a good eater (beyond pureed fruits and veggies), the ped would like us to try some OT to get him eating some other textures. It's not for lack of trying on our part and I guess I'll be glad to have the extra guidance. She's not in a rush for us to go though and wants to give it another month or so to see if he starts walking unassisted as well. If not, back to PT we'll go. He cruises EVERYWHERE, but has yet to let go. Katie hadn't either at this age, so it's just something else we have our eye on but aren't getting too excited about right yet.

I've been trying (without much luck) all kind of different foods for him. Our one success? Taco meat. Easy enough for me since I regularly get seasoning very cheap or free (or just use this taco seasoning recipe) and we have more than enough deer burger to get us through until next hunting season.

Just a few more pictures of my cutie for his adoring fans....

Mother's Day Weekend

2011-05-13T14:43:00.000-05:00

We started off the weekend with haircuts! Our friend, Angela, has been cutting my hair since we moved to Mulvane and Katie really likes her, so we decided to give it a try. It went great! I immediately said, "Let's take it to her shoulder blades." However, Angela said she took one look at E's face when I said it and knew she would not be cutting it that short. She snipped off two little curls and we all left happy.

E and the kids always spoil me rotten on Mother's Day weekend. Every year on Saturday, it's my day to go out shopping, get a pedicure, and just do whatever I'd like.

This year, I got pancakes on Saturday AND Sunday morning! YUM!
Kelton picked me out some green flowers,
which he bought with his own money.

The kids also gifted me with a new coffee mug since my old one had been leaking. This one has their hand prints on it! I LOVE IT!

Sunday evening, we grilled and ate dinner on our finished deck. E did an outstanding job and we are so happy to have it.

The weekend could not have gone better (unless Konnor hadn't had a fever). We finished the day with one of my favorite things ever.....matching jammies!!

Our Big Backyard

2011-05-04T13:27:00.000-05:00

The backyard at this house is great. The other house had a nice size yard also, but there was a big slope, a large drain. Not fun.

Spring is great for working in the yard. Around this time last year, we were busy in the backyard. And we have thoroughly enjoyed that addition!

After a garden hiatus last year, I was really itching to have one again. Naturally, I wanted it where there happened to be phone lines, cable lines, etc buried, so E built this little bed for my veggies. We've got onions, tomatoes, green peppers, jalapenos, zucchini, cucumbers, and radishes. Katie was there "helping" the whole time. :)

A man after my own heart!

We found a ladybug and moose for the garden, but are still looking for a little bear for Konny. Let us know if you spot one somewhere so we can pick it up!

What a team!

Everything is growing great. Katie planted the radishes (they're on the lower left). They will need thinned out a bit!

Our other backyard project was originally planned for later this fall or even next spring. The cement slab out the back door had cracked down the center and was sinking. Katie kept tripping, Konny will be walking soon and E stubbed his toe just one too many times. We knew we needed to get it taken care of sooner than later.

I seriously am so grateful that E is such a handy man! He can do just about anything and it saves us TONS of money. He pounded out the cement with a sledge hammer and then one of his friends brought a jack hammer to demolish the top step. All 3 kids were very impressed.

We were also very blessed that E's parents are almost always able to come spend the day when we have big projects going on.

And I can't forget our neighbors! I really can't say enough times how much I love them all. They are always around, always willing to help out, and always there for us. The deck would not have come nearly as far on Saturday if it wasn't for them!

The next day, the kids got to help out a little too.

The date, all our hand prints and Konny's little foot print will be there forever. I imagine years down the road looking at those tiny little prints will really tug at my heart!

We're hoping to get it finished up in the next few weeks!

Easter!

2011-04-27T20:17:00.000-05:00

Konny is sick again, which doesn't leave me much free time. So just mostly pictures this time. We had a fabulous weekend!

Momma Easter bunny thought it would be a good idea to bring only treats that everyone in the house could eat, like jelly beans, cotton candy, applesauce pouches and Peeled Snacks. Plus matching jammies and summer shoes. Then Daddy Easter bunny caved and filled the Easter candy dispenser up with M&Ms. ;)

I dread the day when they refuse to let me dress them alike.

He looks disturbed, huh? He wouldn't even taste it!

Earth Day!!

2011-04-23T09:10:00.000-05:00

How fun it was to have Kelton home from school and Layla here to spend the day with us as well! Katie's been battling a virus since Sunday with a fever that keeps coming and going but seemed much better beyond a very runny nose.

After we put on our "earth day suits" as Layla called them,
we were ready to start our day!

For our Earth Day project, we made Earth ornaments.
First, we used the top of a cup to trace circles on wax paper.
Then Kelton and I cut them out.

Then we used blue and green crayon shavings that I'd made earlier in the morning to make it look like earth.

The second wax paper circle went on top with a piece of ribbon inside. I ironed them together and then we let them cool.

After naps we had green smoothies! YUM! Konny really liked it!

For dessert after dinner we had dirt and worms! I had to get a little creative to make it allergy friendly, including making my pudding from scratch. Which, by the way, is really easy and super yummy. Have you read the ingredients on the jello box anyway? I know I can't pronounce some of that stuff!

Chocolate Pudding (thanks to one of the ladies at work!)

1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix and cook until thick.

Since it's Earth Day, I also thought I'd blog about some of my favorite ecofriendly items at our house....

The first is cloth diapers! Konny is wearing them on my days off and weekends. E was pretty skeptical, but I think he's even starting to like them! I found a seller on Etsy, Velvet Rabbit Cloth and worked with her to get everything I needed. She is awesome, the diapers are awesome and I could not be happier with them. Seriously check her out! If you've ever thought about trying cloth, Don't Wait! I really wish I wouldn't have!

My next favorite is my fabric coffee sleeve. It's always in my purse for that impromptu drive through a coffee shop. I looked on Etsy for a long time to find the perfect one. Tinamagee had a great stash of fabulous fabric, but what really made me go with her is the elastic. These will fit ANY cup!

You'll also often see me with my reusable sandwich bags. Yet another Etsy purchase. See a pattern here? Johnsonfamilyzoo has great prices and really quality stuff. When it's time to put another load of kids clothes on ebay (that's how I fund my Etsy habit), I plan to get some of her produce bags!

On order is dryer balls from KCRovensky. I have been eyeing these for a long time, but was waiting for a few ebay auctions to end before I could order them. I buy the unscented dryer sheets, but they're still chemical laden so I figure these will be awesome for all the sensitive skin at our house. Not to mention they'll reduce dryer time!

We had so much fun but did end our day with a 911 call from Konny taking a tumble down the stairs. He's fine although I think I've yet to recover. We're definitely praising God over what could have a been quite the tragedy.

Soccer and Tumbling

2011-04-17T22:12:00.000-05:00

Kelton is playing soccer again this year. He really enjoys it and he's pretty good too! It's funny the difference a year can make. All the kids are a lot better this year and it looks more like an organized sport than a herd of boys kicking each other. Kelton scored his first goal last week and we're so proud!

Katie is finally old enough to take tumbling this spring. She went to the first class and LOVED it! Then there were canceled classes, spring break, Katie freaking out and not wanting to go and now illness. So hopefully she'll make it back for at least one more class before the end of the session.

We're excited that Kelton doesn't have school on Friday and IT'S EARTH DAY, then Easter weekend!

3 Things

2011-04-10T13:30:00.000-05:00

I've been wanting to do a blog about our goals for 2011 (4 months into the year, I know) and how we're doing with them. I've wanted to show the kids and the new spring activities they're doing. It seems time has gotten away from me though, so I'm just highlighting the top 3 things occupying my mind lately.

1.) It's wedding season! I'm very honored to be part of two special weddings this year. The first one was last weekend. E and I took the opportunity to stay out and get a full night's sleep. It was a beautiful day! Congrats Lisa and Brad!

2.) Do you ever feel like a song must have just been written for you? I was in the car when I heard this song for the first time. My mouth literally just dropped and I had tears in my eyes. I couldn't wait to get home to have E listen to it. You just have to love the subtle (and not so subtle) little reminders from God that he is always watching over us. Listen closely....."What if a thousand sleepless nights Are what it takes to know You’re near"

3.) Finally, the thing that has been most on our minds this past week, Mr Konnor and his pnuemonia.

When we got home from the wedding on Sunday, he wasn't feeling well and had started running a high fever. I thought he sounded croupy so we made a quick trip to urgent care where they said it was an ear infection and started us on some amoxicillin. It was his first abx and especially being so young, I felt a bit hesitant, but we started it since he was so miserable. By Tue afternoon, he was worse, taking in litttle to no fluids and running pretty constant at 103-105. I took him in the next day and after a chest xray and his O2 saturation at 90%, we had our dx. Thankfully the omnicef killed the fever and perked him up within 24 hrs. He's drinking and nursing again, but still a pretty pitiful little soul. We plan to keep him home most of the week to get those lungs doing better. Prayers for a quick recovery are definitely appreciated!

Spring Break

2011-03-30T19:38:00.000-05:00

I was super super excited for spring break for two reasons....lazy days at home with all my kiddos and lots of new recipes to try! I didn't get around to as many of them as I had planned, but we did have a couple tasty new dinners!

Monday night, we had a favorite: Taco Salad! We all just love it! When I have the time, I cook several lbs at once (always deer burger) and freeze it so that it's easy for E to just heat up on the nights he has to get dinner ready. I've started adding black beans too and it stretches the meat so much further! I didn't waste any of my precious organic canned black beans (those are for brownies!) on this, these were dry beans.

Tuesday, Layla came over to play!

I had planned soup since it was supposed to rain (and then it didn't). I went ahead and made sausage, white bean and kale soup anyway. I want Janna to be my mom. Seriously. This was some of the best soup I've had. Like Ever! We all really enjoyed it! She used chicken sausage. I used whatever I could find that was free of soy. I also left out the potatoes, but added extra beans. I wanted it to be freezer friendly (and I seriously love beans). This soup used up the last of my white beans in the freezer, so I need to plan a bean cooking day for sure as I'm mostly out of the other ones also.

On Wednesday, Eric grilled burgers and I made baked spinach. W.O.W. Smitten Kitchen, where have you been all my life? By using gf bread crumbs, Namaste perfect flour blend, Daiya cheese, and So Delicious coconut milk creamer, I was able to make this safe for the whole family. Even allergy friendly, it was completely amazing. The kids each ate their mandatory bites and didn't ask for more. Not that I cared....more for me!!

After dinner, we went to the park!

Then somehow, everyone ended up in the tub together.

Thursday morning, we went to Target in Wichita where I discovered we could score some detangler spray pretty cheap and Money Saving Mom posted it on her blog! We had our usual for dinner - waffles. I had planned to make up a bunch for the freezer, but everyone just happened to be quiet/napping at the same time and I dozed off too!

Friday, E took the kids back to his parent's for the day. Moosey and Buggy had fun riding Blackie, but that ended quickly when Bugs took a little tumble off the side. She is fine, thank goodness and eager to get right back on.

I spent most of my day at home enjoying the quiet, but I did venture out for Starbucks, a pedi and crazy cheap Annie's Dressing. I spent $4.90 on 10 bottles and and then got $7.50 in catalinas for my next trip! That's a pretty good money maker!

Saturday, we had wanted to go to the zoo, but it was yucky, cold and rainy, so we went to Exploration Place instead. Our kids always seem to migrate right towards the flight simulators. They must get that from Daddy!

Konny liked riding the horsey!

And Kelton thought the tornado simulator was pretty cool.
I wish we had video of Buggy in it, she was hilarious!

By Sunday, I had caught the cold that had been circulating our home, but I had one more thing I wanted to try - kale chips! They seem to be all the rage on the internets and easy to make, so I figured we'd give it a go.

They were tasty for sure, but the giant canker sore on my tonsil didn't agree. Buggy ate about a dozen and then decided she didn't like them anymore. Kelton wasn't sold and E wasn't quite sure either. I think we'll try them again with a sprinkle of parmesan when everyone can finally have dairy.

It was a great week and it went by WAY too quickly!