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14 Yummy Recpies We Can’t Wait to Try
There have been so many great recipes shared with us at Your Designs This Time on Monday’s at 8:00am EST. Here is a collection of the ones that are on our “Must Try” list.
Melon Salad From t-shirt & jeans
Homemade Mayonnaise From Anderson and Grant
Homemade Starbucks Passion Tea Lemonade From Joy in Our Home
Chocolate Cake From Sum Of Their Stories
Blackberry Lemonade Popsicles From Home. Made. Interest.
Cherry Smash Cocktail From Hello Little Home
Homemade Taco Seasoning From Canary Street Crafts
The Best Homemade Salsa From A Cowboy’s Life
Summer Berry Cheese Rolls From Houseologie
Cheesy Quinoa Chicken Bake From Oh Suzzie Q
Mexican Black Bean Wrap From Hello Little Home
The New Smore From My Creative Days
Roasted Chickpeas From Kreativ 77
Homemade Croutons From Fynes Designs -
Preparing for Back to School Season and the Emotions That Go With It
This shop is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and Del Monte, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #DelMonteBTS http://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV”
Summer is almost over! Where did it go? It flew by and now it is back to school time. My little guys and I had an amazing summer together and now I am conflicted with my feelings on sending both of them to preschool this year. My oldest is 4 and I know how much he loves seeing his friends and learning new things each day. I am extremely excited for him, as I know he will thrive and grow tremendously this year.
My almost 3 year old will be heading to preschool this year too. We have recently learned that he has Sensory Processing Disorder and can get quite overwhelmed with change. I am nervous about how he will handle the new environment. He melts down during transitions and gets very over stimulated with others around. These little guys will most definitely be missed this year while at school, but in my heart I know this is the right thing for both of them.
My boys argue and fight a lot (like most siblings) and I am always looking for ways for them to bond and hoping the commonality of preschool will help bring them together. Also, snack time is usually a good time for us to sit down and talk about what the boys did at school that day. Both of my boys are obsessed with fruit. While recently shopping at my local Walmart Super Store, I discovered Del Monte Fruit Burst Squeezers. (See end of post for free back to school photo offer and coupon details.) I know these will definitely be a go to snack and lunch item for us.
My youngest is pretty particular when it comes to food textures and these squeezers are a favorite of his. I can give them to the boys in the car on the way home or with lunch and even grab some for a quick breakfast that will help the kids get a good start for the day.
The school my children will be attending is a Co-op Preschool. It is run by a board of parents and everyone is extremely involved. Several times this year, we will be providing a snack for each of the boys’ classes. The convenience of the Del Monte 4-pack fruit cups will make a great healthy choice for my sons’ classmates. In both my boys’ classes there are children with allergies and fruit would be a great way to avoid any issues.
This year to make the transitions to and from school go a little smoother, I have decided to create a little snack station near our door. This way I can easily grab squeezers for the boys on the way out or in. Leaving the house with my two preschoolers can sometimes be a fight, so this hanging snack basket will be extremely convenient to just grab a snack and go.
Check back later this week to see a full tutorial on the hanging snack basket!
What are your kid’s favorite healthy snack and lunch items?
____________________________________________________________________ Head to your local WALMART Super Store and take part in the free back to school photo offer and purchase (2) Del Monte 4-pack Fruit Cups or Fruit Burst Squeezers with your $1 off coupon.
To receive your $1 off coupon you must participate in the free back to school photo print offer. To participate you will need to bring in a photo (no copyrighted photos, like school pictures, will be eligible for the free print) of your kid(s) or you can upload and use one from your phone or SD card while in store. The Walmart Print Shop will then make your picture into a 5”x7” print with a Back to School border. Your actual picture will be 4”x6”. When you receive your picture after it is printed you should receive a coupon for $1 off Del Monte products in the photo envelope. This promotion runs August 1 – September 13, while supplies last. This offer is running at SELECT Walmart Super Stores.
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Train and Cars Board
Our 3 year old son loves to play with his cars and trains. He is OBSESSED. He is always toting one around in his hand throughout the house, stores and restaurants. So, I’m sure it is no surprise that he is infatuated with the train tables at Barnes and Noble and at various toy stores.
Unfortunately, we just don’t have room for another large piece of furniture in our home, without getting rid of something else. So a train table is out of the question. However, I did find some unused real estate under the little guy’s toddler bed (aka, crib minus the front side,) which meant if we measured everything correctly, we could make a train and cars board that could neatly slide underneath the bed and out of the way. Yay for extra storage!
Making the board was super easy and can be completely customized to your own tastes. We knew we needed something big enough to encompass the wooden train and space for roads too. We started with some thin hardboard, a few Behr test paint pots, and chalkboard paint for the roads. (Colors clockwise from top are Green Energy, Intoxication, and Placid Sea.)
After a light sanding, I used a foam roller to paint the grass color on the board.
Next, we set up the train tracks, using a couple of train sets from Ikea. Once the configuration was how we wanted it, I used a pencil to draw in some roads and water. You may be able to see that there were a few oopsies with my drawing, but it wasn’t anything that couldn’t be fixed with a little extra paint.
Then, I used a small paint brush to fill in the water, roads and several bushes/tree areas.
Here is how it looked after it was all painted.
After that, it was time to attach the tracks with some wood glue. I looked at one of the photos I had previously taken of the setup and used that as a guideline to piece everything together. Then just pulled up each piece individually to glue them to the board.
This train and cars board is so fun!
And it fits perfectly under the bed, which saves us a ton of space.
This little guy could not be happier and we love that he now has a fun place to play with his vehicles!
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Together Again
Last week, Erin and her family came for a visit and stayed Tuesday through Friday with us in New York. Then on Friday, we all made the long trip to Erin’s house for the weekend.
Here are our latest adventures:
When Erin and I get together, it’s always a good time. It usually involves garbage picking, speaking only in fake accents, and a couple glasses of wine. This trip pretty much followed suite. Erin and I recruited our husbands one evening to watch the little kidos as we took her 9 year old daughter on her first
trashtreasure hunt.For Erin’s daughter, we hit the jackpot. We found an adorable white wagon, a pink folding papason chair, and a teal lava lamp. She was so excited and we all had such a blast together.
I was extremely excited when we came across a couch that appeared to be in excellent condition. Erin and I, without hesitation, agreed that we were not going to be able to get this couch in the small car we were driving. So, we headed back home and
beggedasked our husbands to pick up the couch in one of our larger vehicles. Like the wonderful amazing men that they are, they drove to the sofa’s roadside location and loaded it up.
Once they got it back, we all realized that sometimes things are too good to be true. What looked like a great piece of furniture that would clean up just nice turned out to be a disgusting sofa bed infested with mice. None of us were lucky enough to physically see these furry little rodents, but the droppings that were left behind was enough proof. Yuck!
In the morning, after the guys had already left for work, I told Erin that this thing needed to go. After several attempts to lift this bad boy to the curb and us not even getting it an inch off the ground, we slid this beast down the driveway, across the sidewalk, and left it roadside just in time for Mr./Ms. Garbage Man. Buh-bye creepy repulsive couch!
On Thursday, Erin and I decided to spurge and get a babysitter to watch all four of our kids. Luckily, I have a pretty fantastic babysitter that was up for the challenge. During our child-free break, we enjoyed a quiet lunch together, went antique shopping, and checked out some amazing furniture pieces at a local store from our blog friend, Brepurposed. She’s so talented.
On Saturday, when were all at Erin’s, we met up with our parents at the zoo. Overall, this trip was a success. The kid’s each went on a pony ride and loved it.
Everyone enjoyed seeing the animals and hanging out with each other.
Finally before heading back to New York, Erin and I were able to squeeze in a much needed photo shoot. If you remember, way back in November Erin and I tried to get a few pictures together for the blog. Man, did they turn out bad! If you want to see for yourself, check out this post, Two Sisters, Bad Photos. This time they weren’t too shabby. Come see our about page to view a new pic of us.
We really enjoyed our time spent together and agree that it doesn’t happen nearly enough. How did you spend your weekend?
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