Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Save or Spluge: TJ Maxx

 I love buying home decor and decorating.  I wish I had an unlimited budget for decorating our new house, but I don't.  So I am shopping smart, finding good deals, mixing vintage and new pieces and loving how the house is coming together!

Today I want to talk to you about my very favorite store... TJ MAXX.
It's been my favorite place to shop for many years.  I love buying shoes, purses, kid clothes, home decor, kitchen items and clothes there.  You've got to be prepared to dig a little, to stop in regularly and always be on the lookout for something great.  I mentioned back in June that I found a great mirror for our half bathroom for a fraction of the cost that Lowes was asking for a very similar mirror.  I had never paid much attention to the mirrors at TJ Maxx so I was glad I kept my eyes peeled for this treasure.

My finds today involve an amazing clearance deal and a beautiful rug!

Lately we've been running errands as a whole family.  We'll load up the kids with snacks and head out to cross things off our to do list.  We take turns staying in the car with the kids and the other parent runs in the store by themselves.  It works out great because we don't have to pay a baby sitter to stay with the kids, we both get things done and we're all hanging out together.  We'll usually wrap up running errands by all going in to get groceries or pick up dinner.

So I ran into TJ Maxx looking for tennis shoes.  No tennis shoes so I headed to the home section and found this lamp.  It was gorgeous and caught my eye immediately.  I was guessing it would be close to $100 because it's very heavy, sturdy and has a nice shade.  I turned the tag around and couldn't believe my eyes... CLEARANCE marked down to $59.99!!  I knew I had to have it.  I picked it up and carried it straight to the register.  It was like I found a treasure and was worried someone was going to snatch it up.  It looks like it was made for our family room!

GOLD FLOOR LAMP
It's a Max Studio Home Lamp.  Originally marked $79.99 clearanced out to $59.99

Save or Splurge???
TJ MAXX $59.99      or      Macys $359.99
That's a saving of $300!!  Hooray for TJ Maxx!!

 GRAY AZTEC RUG
Home inspired by India collection 4x6 rug for $39.99

 The quality was great and it was the perfect thickness to put in my kitchen at the back door.  I love the pattern, the colors and the style.  I thought the price was great for a rug this size.

 Here's how it looks in my kitchen - isn't it pretty!/?!?



Where do you find great deals on home decor??
 Do you have good luck shopping at TJ Maxx?

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Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Tuesday Talk: Grace



Grace.  Are you good at giving grace to your children when they act out, don't listen when you ask them to do something or when they don't do the things you expect them to do?  I felt super convicted after reading this quote from the Positive Parenting: Toddlers and Beyond Facebook page on Sunday:


"So often children are punished for being human... None of us are perfect, and we must stop holding our children to a higher standard of perfection than we can attain ourselves."  Rebecca Eanes

Here's the passage that follows this quote from The Newbie's Guide to Positive Parenting by Rebecca Eanes for some context

"Of course I'm not saying to always "let them by with it" just because they're human. Teach them better! Teach them it's not okay to project a bad mood on those around you. Teach them how to handle frustration, anger, fear, sadness, and disappointment. Teach them that it's not acceptable to be rude to people. Hold them to a high standard! But please, hold yourself to one, too. Don't project your bad moods. Learn how to handle your frustration, anger, fear, sadness, and disappointment. Don't be rude to them. We all need high standards, and do you know what else we all need?

A little grace.

You know better, but sometimes you have a bad day and you say something that isn't nice, or you slam a door, or you yell at your kids. We aren't robots. Sometimes life is just plain hard, and we need a break, not a lecture. We need a hug, not a scornful look. We know we did wrong, but we're having a hard time. We just need grace.  The same goes for our children."


 I'm guilty of overreacting when...

Olive undresses for the tenth time in one day.
she's sassy back to me when I ask her to do something.
she does something she knows better than to do.
when she won't say sorry for something she's done.
She finds the water table on our way out the door and ends up soaking herself.
Olive throws a fit in the store over something little
or when she won't cooperate with a simple request.

I get mad or annoyed and then give her a consequence.  She's upset at me and I'm upset at her. I haven't really heard her out or taught her anything, definitely haven't given her any grace for the situation and am not sure why she's reacting the way she is.  We're both "strustrated" as Olive likes to say.

I feel like this idea of giving grace applies more to my toddler than to my baby.  Sure, I get frustrated when he won't fall asleep when I know he's tired or when he's pulling hair or when he gets fussy for no apparent reason.  I just seem to give him more grace because he's a BABY and I feel like he's supposed to be needier than his sister.  Knowing this makes me want to focus extra hard on giving grace to Olive in her toddler years and beyond.

I rarely take into account her having a bad day or bad moment, her feeling anxious about something new, how much she loves routines and how much she'd appreciate me talking through situations before they happen.  I love routines, too.  I love knowing what to expect for the day and I think she would agree.  I could definitely do a better job of talking through things with her, taking a moment to ask her why she's throwing such a big fit about wearing the dress she'd picked out moments earlier and give her more grace.  I know we'd both end up feeling less frustrated if we did more communicating.

I am guilty of being a perfectionist and wanting things to go perfect all the time.  I've spent good chunks of time working hard to make things perfect and to do things as close to perfect as possible.  It's not my favorite characteristic about myself and I certainly don't want to teach Olive that she needs to try to be perfect.  It's a completely unreasonable notion and silly for me to have that expectation of myself and my family.  Things are never going to be perfect so I am getting better just going with things as they happen and making the best of things.  

Parenting has helped teach me that lesson.  Just because one thing goes wrong or just because everyone is crying at that moment doesn't mean that the whole day is ruined.  Give it 30 minutes and everything will likely be better.  Don't let one event or one huge fit ruin a fun time.  Give everyone time to cool off with a big helping of grace and then move forward with your day.

I want to be known as the mom who loves her kids no matter what.  Who has high expectations for her kids, but also realizes that kids aren't supposed to be perfect.  I want to teach them the right way to do things and to behave and then be able to give them grace for the times that they act differently than expected.  I want my kids to be sweet, polite, respectful little people and I know that doesn't happen overnight.  I don't want to raise robots who just do what I say when I'm around and then don't know what to do with themselves when they are on their own.  I want to raise kids who have learned all kinds of life skills that will serve them well when they grow up.

Are you good at giving grace to your kids?
Giving grace to yourself?


It's something I'm working hard on and would love to improve on as my family grows up together.


It's time to link up with my favorite ladies for Tuesday Talk
Join us with your best post of the week:

Polka-Dotty Place

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Monday, August 29, 2016

August Recipe Round Up

I did a lot of cooking this month and am excited to share several new recipes with you.  We've been eating colorful meals, lots of salads and trying to do quick dinners so that no one is stuck in the kitchen all evening preparing food and doing dishes.  

// 1 //
SALADS
Fruit salads, super veggie salads, and everything in between.  The key to eating lots of salads seems to be lots of veggie chopping by me each week, regular trips to the store for salad ingredients each week and planning to eat at least one salad a day.

// 2 //
PESTO PASTA
Mini bow tie pasta
pesto
fresh grated parmesan cheese
rotisserie chicken

Cook the pasta, add as much pesto as you'd like, stir together until the pasta is well coated, add in the chicken and top with parmesan cheese.  This meal was so easy and SO GOOD!!

// 3 //
BBQ Pork Quesadillas
We had BBQ pulled pork for dinner a few times this month and I always ended up with leftover meat.  I whipped up this BBQ quesadillas for lunch and they were amazing!
Small tortilla shells
sharp cheddar cheese
BBQ pulled pork

I served them with carrot sticks and they were delish!

// 4 //
PIZZA PASTA BOWLS
My husband isn't a huge pasta fan so I've got to get creative to get him excited about seeing pasta on the menu.  It's probably a good thing he doesn't love pasta because I'd eat pasta for every meal if it was my choice :)  I got coupon on apps and in the paper for this new Homestyle Ragu sauce recently.  I was curious if it was any good and I'm excited to tell you that it is AMAZING!!!

We use it for pizza sauce, spaghetti sauce and for these Pizza Pasta Bowls.  I'm stocking up on it while they are offering all kind of coupons for it.

I boiled the pasta and then had the pizza toppings in bowls for everyone to build their own pasta bowl.  I had turkey sausage crumbles, turkey pepperoni, parmesan cheese and the Ragu sauce.  We each build our own and LOVED it!


We ate our favorite Krusteaz blueberry muffins for breakfast this month.  I LOVE this brand and am a huge fan of anything they make.

We made Indoor S'more Bars that were a huge hit.

What have you been cooking this month??
Any yummy recipes you'd like to share with me??



I'm linking up with three of my favorite cooking ladies today
and we're all sharing our best recipes from the month.

Whitney @ Come Home for Comfort
Katie @ Cup of Tea
and Stephanie @ Wife, Mommy, Me

Head over to their blogs to see what delicious meals they are sharing this month!
 We've also started a Pinterest Board called
New Recipes We've Tried and Loved!
Be sure to check it out and get some great ideas for meals at your house.
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Friday, August 26, 2016

The Highlights

Happy Friday!  I hope you had a wonderful week.  The week has been a bit of a slow one for us with sick people, sleeping routines off, hot days and preparing for a busy weekend.  I'm happy to report we are all running at about 90% and looking forward to some fun weekend plans with family, friends, hosting a dinner party and hoping to get some things done around the house.

The best parts of my week:

// 1 //
 Fresh Air & Exercise
Our double stroller is up and running and we have used it several times this week.  I load up the kids and we walk for about an hour.  My best option for exercising during the day is to walk so I'm making sure I go walking with them several times a week.  Sometimes they catch a nap, sometimes they snack and talk through our walk and sometimes we are all sweaty and ready to head home when the walk is done.  I picked up some new tennis shoes on super sale so it's been fun to get out and about to exercise together.  I'm trying to figure out if it's best to walk first thing in the morning or later on in the day.  So we are going to work on getting into a good exercising routine in September.  When do you find time to work out??

 // 2 //
Salads
Raspberries were on sale this week so we ate LOTS of them.  I made salads with them and then we just washed and ate the rest.  This salad was a hit - raspberries, avocado, rotisserie chicken, almond slivers, mixed greens and raspberry vinaigrette.

 // 3 //
TJ Maxx Haul
I found this gorgeous Aztec rug at TJ Maxx this week and a gold floor lamp!  I felt like I hit the jackpot with both items and rushed up to the register to pay for them.  I'd been on the hunt for an Aztec print rug for a while so it was exciting to find one at TJ.  Check back next week for more rug and lamp details because they both look so pretty in their new spots.  Topher is a big fan of our new rug :)

// 4 //
Friends & Routines
We are finding our back to school routines with friends and regular activities this week.  It's fun to have more of a schedule to go to events at the library, meet up with friends, invite people to our house, lunch dates with Kevin and participate in some fun educational things that are going on.  We had a great breakfast play date and Olive loves playing with her buddies.  And I love visiting with the other moms over iced coffee and donuts :)

// 5 //
Chicken Noodle Soup for the Soul
We all had colds this week and I knew I had to whip up a big batch of homemade chicken noodle soup.  It was delicious and we are all feeling better after eating many bowls of this soup.  That and taking our Zicam :)   The kids needed extra snuggles and we were happy to take it easy for several days.

 // 6 //
Favorite Kid Pics
Olive got a turtle sand box for her birthday back in May.  It took us three months, but we finally got some sand for it.  She was thrilled and said, I really love my new beach!  It's been a fun play spot for her this week.

 Fletcher love to be outside when it's not blazing hot.   He just watches everything, coos and is so happy to be along for the ride.

The best posts of the week:

Sharing Fletcher's 4 month pictures and my favorite monogramming shop.

I hope you have a really great weekend!!
Do you have any fun plans in the works?

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Thursday, August 25, 2016

Blue Eyed Boy

I picked up Fletcher's pictures from his 4 month photo shoot earlier this week and I love how they turned out!  It was a quick session.  We did two outfits.  He arrived in my favorite and then we switched to one other outfit.  We had to keep things moving quickly, but our photographer got some great shots.  I thought I'd share my favorites with you.  I paid for a photo cd with a release of the pictures and then got a few prints for free.  I love owning the pictures and always opt to go with a photographer that gives a cd of pictures.

I put Fletcher in blue outfits to match his blue eyes and am anxious to frame some pictures for our house or maybe have a few canvas prints made.  I splurged on two monogrammed outfits for Fletcher so far and love how sweet and classic this checked one is.  

My favorite monogrammed clothing shop is Smocked Auctions.  I follow them on instagram and check out their website regularly.  I usually buy Olive's dressed a size bigger than she's currently wearing so she gets to wear them for two years and pick up items when they are on sale.  I like to buy birthday gifts for friends and family from here and they always get rave reviews!!

My very favorite shots are the first one and the last one :)









Little man turns 5 months old next week :)
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Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Dear High School Whitney

(My graduation open house 2000)

Dear Whitney,

It's 1996 and you're just starting high school.  The next four years will fly by and I want to make sure you do them right.  You'll be graduating with the class of 2000 in no time and I don't want you to miss out on anything.  You're going to LOVE high school and those memories will always hold a special place in your heart.

1. Join clubs and participate.  
You'll join French club as a requirement and say yes to going on as many events as possible.  Sell candy for them, eat at Le Petite Cafe and love it.  You'll fall in love with pottery and end up taking many years of classes to master your art.  Don't put off joining the yearbook team until the end of high school.  You'll love writing for and planning out the yearbook so start working on this sooner.  Look for things to be a part of.

2. Be friendly to everyone.  
You'll have your group of friends that you do things with outside of school, but work hard to be nice to everyone, get to know as many people as you can and always smile.  You may not be best friends with the people you sit with at lunch, the girl who helps you through your Econ class or the people you are partnered with, but it's important to be sweet to all of them.  They'll appreciate it about you and it's nice to be known as a nice girl.  You'll run into these people as you get older and it'll be fun to see them if you are nice to everyone.

3. Get a job and stick with it.  
You'll have to work when your friends are off, you'll have to wear a ridiculous Ponderosa uniform, but you'll learn a lot about working hard to put gas in your car, earn spending money and learn about people by waitressing.  Babysit, pet sit and do things to earn extra money because it's fun to be able to buy your own things.  It'll make you feel proud to earn a paycheck.

4. Don't date around.  
Guys will ask you out, older guys will hit on you and you'll be tempted to say yes at times.  Follow your heart and only say yes to someone you'd consider marrying.  Don't give your heart away.  Save it for the right boy and you'll be thankful you did twenty years down the road when you're married to him with two kids.

5. Be a good friend.  
Say yes to slumber parties, weekends away with their families, shopping together, Sonic milkshake dates and hanging out.  Enjoy the fun and how easy life is when you've got very few responsibilities.  Enjoy carpooling with your siblings even if they spill their breakfast in your car every morning.  Take home friends after school and look forward to getting to just hang out together.

6. Nothing good happens after midnight.  
You'll think your parents are a little crazy for making you have an early curfew when no one else does, but it'll keep you safe and really is for your own good.  Make your plans early and stay out of trouble.  Your dad is a policeman and no one wants him to get a call about you.

7. Don't spend so much time getting ready.  
When you're assigned swimming 2nd period of the day, it is ridiculous to shower and get ready so you look presentable for 1st period and then jump in a pool 2nd period.  No one cares that much about your hair.  Sleep in a bit and don't worry about it.  Also, you should probably rethink the royal blue mascara, glitter eye shadow, belle bottoms and platform shoes.

8. Go to events outside of school.  
Go to baseball games even if you're talking and not paying attention and get hit with a foul ball.  Go to football games even if your dad says he's dropping you off and just happens to run into some friends and stays the whole game to keep an eye on you.  Go to golf matches and follow your favorite players.  Go to musicals, dances and anything that's offered.

9. Go to all of the dances.  
Say yes to surprising invitations, invite boys when it's your turn, say no to boys who invite you because you know a friend is hoping they'll ask them and be sure to pick out a fabulous dress to wear.  You don't always have to go to a dance with your boyfriend or someone you love.  Go and have fun.  Take pictures with friends.  Get your hair done and have a blast.

10. Appreciate your teachers.  
You're going to have some amazing teachers over the four years so appreciate their hard work, their dedication and their enthusiasm for their jobs.  They will be inspiring to you as you head off to earn a teaching degree of your own.  You'll keep in contact with some as you get older and send Christmas cards to them long after you've graduated.

Love, Your Future Self 2016


What words of wisdom would you pass on to your high school self??


Linking up with Momfessionals today
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Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Tuesday Talk: Summer Faves

We are slowly, but surely collecting all kind of fun kid toys for our backyard.  Olive is three and we've been adding things to our collection since she was born.  Olive's birthday is late May so we often  ask for outdoor toys for her birthday.  

We have and LOVE our
water table
kid pool
swing
Little Tikes car
turtle sand box
tricycle
basketball hoop
side walk chalk
kid gardening tools

We recently added a bubble blower to our collection of backyard fun things.  I'd been looking at them for a while because I always ended up covered in bubbles when I was the bubble blower. I picked up the $10 Bubble Blitz Bubble Blowout machine, batteries, and the giant container of Bubble Blitz bubbles for $2.50 at Target.  There are a few different (read more expensive versions) available, but the $10 version is really impressive.  So keep your eyes peeled for end of the summer clearance.

I'd love to pick up a puddle jumper, pool toys or a fun sprinkler toy on clearance to save for next year.  We're also keeping our eyes peeled for good deals on play houses and those big wooden play sets.  Man, those are quite the investment!

What are your favorite outdoor toys for kids??

Kevin's loving his Ozark Trail Tumbler from Wal-Mart.  I'm sure you've heard about these insulated tumblers comparing them to high end Yeti versions.  Well, spoiler alert, the Wal-Mart tumblers are just as great at a fraction of the cost keeping your hot drinks hot and your cold drinks icy.  My SIL has been busy personalizing them for people with monograms, logos and anything else you could want.  I'm thinking I need to jump on board the Ozark train soon.

Ozark Trail Tumbler 20oz


It's time to link up with my favorite ladies for Tuesday Talk.
Join us with your favorite recent post.


Polka-Dotty Place

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Monday, August 22, 2016

Good Reads

I've been collecting my favorite articles, blog posts and books to recommend to you today.  I am excited to share the best things I've read and hope to introduce you to a few new people.  

April from A. Liz Adventures posted about a S'more cookie and they looked tasty!  I love s'mores and these different than any other cookie I've made.  S'more Cookies

6 Things Moms Should do for Themselves as Often as Possible by Jennifer S. White got me thinking about my personal must do list for self care items.  Showers, walking, blogging, cooking, keeping in touch with friends... to name a few.

We love eating burgers at my house so I'm anxious to try A Little Bit of Emily's Thai Burgers

Andrea of Momfessionals always posts the most inspiring family book club ideas.  She works full time as a teacher so her book club days usually happen in the summer.  I'd love to plan out some book club ideas to do with my kids as they get older.  Her latest family book club day was themed around Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Is your house overflowing with kid art??  I really loved the way that Meghan documents her son's art work and saves it.  It's such a doable project that allows kids to look back through their art work regularly.  Organizing the Artwork

We love any mexican meal so I can't wait to give Jenn's Mexican Pizza a try ASAP

Annie always has the best DIY project posts.  I saved her How to Paint Cabinets Like a Pro: The Secret that Makes All the Difference to reference for future DIYs

I usually look for hair and make-up tips from Kate of The Small Things Blog, but her recent Vanilla Bean Homemade Ice Cream Recipe sounded so good.  I always buy vanilla bean ice cream so I'm eager to try to make my own.

I have pinned so many recipes for breakfast burritos over the years.  They sound so good and Sarah from Meet the Shaneyfelts shared her version of Breakfast Burritos recently.  I love that she uses turkey sausage and makes it sound so doable.

This post on The Dreaded Boob Light from Elements of Style made me laugh.  We definitely have a few of these boob lights in our house so I'm looking for other lighting options to replace them with in the future.


PRESENT OVER PERFECT
by Shauna Niequist

Present Over Perfect by Shauna Niequist has gotten a lot of hype lately and I was excited to read it after hearing all the positive things about it.  The book definitely lives up to its expectations.  I found myself taking notes throughout, writing ideas in the margins, asking myself honest questions about my priorities and identifying with many areas the book addresses.  Niequist writes from the perspective of a busy wife, mom and writer trying to focus on what is really important in her life.

  She points out that there are a lot of people that put expectations on you and that it's your job to decide what you say yes to and what things you make a priority in your life.  We decide what we spend our time on and we have important choices to make.  The message is impactful, gives you tons to think about and reevaluate in your own life.  I loved the idea that less is better than more in all areas of your life, her emphasis giving yourself time to truly rest and connecting with real people to build relationships that last.  I would have love to have done it in a book club format so I could have discussed chapters with friends.  It's very thought provoking book and is my favorite one she's written.

*I was sent this book from BookLookBloggers in exchange for an honest review of it.

A few of my favorite quotes from the book:
"Picture your relationships like concentric circles: the inner circle is your spouse, your children, your very best friends.  Then the next circle out is your extended family and good friends.  Then people you know, but not well, colleagues, and so on, to the outer edge.  Aim to disappoint the people at the center as rarely as possible.  And then learn to be more and more comfortable with disappointing the people who lie at the edges of the circle - people you're not as close to, people who do not and should not require your unflagging dedication."
Page 55
"Present over perfect living is real over image, connecting over comparing, meaning over mania, depth over artifice." Page 130

"So much of adulthood is peeling off the layers of expectations and pressure, and protecting those precious things that lie beneath.  We live in a culture that shouts, that prescribes rather narrowly what it means to be a woman, what it means to be a success and what it means to live a valuable life.  
But those definitions require us to life on a treadmill, both literally and figuratively, always hustling to fit in, to be thin enough and young enough and sparkly enough, for our homes to be large and spotless, our children well-mannered and clean-faced, our dreams orderly and profitable.  But that's not real life.  That's not where the fullness of joy and meaning are found."
Page 191


Have you read or written anything great lately?
I'd love to read it so leave me a link in the comments :)
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Friday, August 19, 2016

The Best Parts

We had a pretty nice week at our house.  Visited family last weekend while Kevin was out of town for four days, enjoyed some down time at home, made some major progress in the potty training department and then somehow we all ended up sharing summer colds.  So the kids and I are all sick :(  Nothing terrible, but we are never far from a box of Puffs due to our ever runny noses and constant sneezing.  Here's to hoping these silly colds are short lived and that Kevin doesn't catch it.  He's got his first week of Fall classes starting next week so that's no time for a professor to get sick.

The best parts of our week were:

// 1 //
OLYMPICS
We are having so much fun watching the olympics.  It's fun to cheer the athletes on all day long and all of the different events are so cool.  I may have shed a tear when Kerri Walsh won bronze in beach volleyball, love watching the runners and I think that the USA gymnastics team wins the award for being the cutest girls of all time.  I think they'd be a blast to hang out with.  What have you enjoyed watching??

 // 2 //
He's HOME!
I mentioned that Kevin was out of town for 4 days and it felt like an eternity.  He had a good trip and we were thrilled to have him home.  It's amazing how much longer the days seemed when my partner in crime wasn't there to help me in the evenings.  I am thankful he doesn't travel often.  He loved Seattle (Maybe I can talk him into doing a guest post about his trip :) and brought us back some gifts.  
Olive got a cute t-shirt and he picked out this polka-dotted scarf for me.  He went with a group of guys and he said that he mentioned needing to find a shop to pick out some gifts to bring home.  None of the other guys had even thought to pick up something for their wives so after seeing him shopping for me, they all picked up something for their ladies.  It made me smile to know he was thinking of us on his trip and wasn't afraid to let the guys know he was missing us.  He's a keeper and our gifts were perfect :)

// 3 //
ROAD TRIP
I headed down to visit my parents while Kevin was out of town and the kids and I had a wonderful time.  We got to see lots of family, friends and packed a lot into our days.   It rained a lot or was super humid so we hung out indoor as much as possible.  We ate mexican, went to church with my family, played with cousins, ate with grandparents and had a blast.  I even made sure to get a breakfast sandwich from Hardees on our way home.  I love those things and usually only eat them on road trips.  Definitely a yummy treat.

 // 4 //
HEALTHY CHOICES
I stocked my fridge full of veggies this week so that salad making and eating would be easy.  I've eaten lots of salads and they all look similar to this one.  We also got our double stroller assembled and ready to go on walks.  We've been on two longs walks and I think this will be my best opportunity for exercise right now.  The kids love to ride, talk about all the sights and sounds in our neighborhood and I get a good work out.  Win-Win!

 // 5 //
 PRESENT OVER PERFECT
This book has been getting a lot of hype on-line and I'm happy to report that it's living up to it!  I'm LOVING the book and have almost finished it in just a few days.  Come back next week for a full review, but so far it's inspiring, motivating, thought provoking and I'm taking notes throughout the whole thing.  Have any of you read it yet??  I'd love to hear what you think of it.

// 6 //
FAVORITE KID PICS 
We've been scoping out bikes and helmets for Olive because this is what she has decided she wants to be her big potty training prize.  She's loving looking at the options, has definite opinions about what she wants and we have been her biggest cheerleaders as she's working on achieving this milestone.  Isn't this unicorn helmet adorable?!?! 
 Fletcher started eating rice cereal this week and I think he's a fan.  He pays such close attention to our food that I think he was happy to have something solid.  We've ordered some replacement parts for our high chair and are excited that he's ready for these big boy things.  He's also grabbing for toys, babbling all day and loving his toes.


Best Posts of the Week:
 
I shared my favorite recipe for Indoor S'more Bars
 



I hope you have a really great weekend!!
Do you have any fun plans in the works?



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