My sweet and sour type of day

    Ever have one of those days when it's just on the fence? It's not a horribly awful day but it's also not one of those fantastic energetic days. It's both sweet and sour. That's the type of day I'm having today.
    I woke up and felt better than I have in a while. Granted T.W woke up Bear well before she usually gets up but we embraced the early breakfast (while I secretly harvested an annoyance knowing that she was literally going to be a Bear come mid-morning).
    The coffee seemed like it took forever to brew - and I have a Keurig. It couldn't get into my cup fast enough but once it did it was amazing! So amazing I had about four cups throughout the day.
    Lulu has been asking for weeks for me to make homemade tacos so I thought I would surprise her with dinner this fine evening...., only to have her come home with a mega sore throat and feeling icky. She managed to eat one, which proved to me she is sick. On a normal day she could pack down at least four of them!
    I was cleaning up the shoe explosion in the entry way and T.W and Bear decided I needed some "help" and wandered over to try on ALL the shoes..., which was silly for a bit but then just annoyed me. Once we wrapped up that up we went into the living room to read but no one wanted to actually sit while I read. Oy!
    Needless to say, it was just one of those days. I am a bit bummed it wrapped itself up into a knotted ball with few glimmers to work out the kinks but bleh!
    What do you do when you have a day like this? I worked extra hard to prevent it from trickling down to the kiddos but I fear my energy didn't pay off as much as I had hoped.., I noticed T.W was getting edgy in the afternoon. That's one thing I want to work on more.., keeping my frustrations from trickling down.
    Maybe I should have switched to decaf at one point eh? Sigh.

You are the apple of my eye - and a chip!

    Last year the weather here was not very friendly to apple farmers BUT this year rocked and we were able to go off to pick our own instead of grab a bushel. The kids all had a blast and it was fun to go with my brother and his fiancé - too bad the Hubs was off helping a move at last minute's notice.
    Let's fast forward - what are we going to do with three bags of apples?! I'll tell you where we start! Release the mandolin!!! I have a not so secret love affair with my mandolin. We make chips together. We've made beat chips and potato chips and let's not forget zucchini chips (they were to die for! if you like the taste of pumpkin seeds you'll like those).
    Here are some pics of TT and I making some apple chips for when Lulu came home from school. We like to create in the kitchen while Bear is taking her afternoon nap.
   

Scene of the crime

 

Getting a little silly

 

Apple Star!

 

All set and sugared up.

 

In they go -

 

- He got a bit distracted -

 

How delish do these look??!!

 

Well they were definitely delish. The kids devoured them.

 

What do you like to do with apples?

Goodies Co. Kids Box Unveiling Sept 2013

    I finally loaded the pictures and videos from my camera and while I was going through the folder I saw this little video chilling out. Then I thought "Oh goodness! I never loaded our unveiling of our September Goodies Co. Kids Box to the ol' blog"
    So here it is. Yes, its a month late. And yes, we'll be getting our October box soon BUT this is still one of our favorite boxes to get and the cost doesn't break the old wallet either. It's fun to have the kids try out the treats inside and discover new things.
    Enjoy! We sure did!!

 

 

 

 

***Not so fine print disclaimer - This box was purchased by me. I was not sent this from the company and was not compensated in any way for what was said. ***

   

Wordless Wednesday

Bear's first apple picking experience

 

 

(last year the apple trees were unfortunately affected by the drought and weather

which forced many "U-pick" farms to only offer pre-picked bundles

but luckily this year they were back in full force!)

 

What's more fun than a box - Kate Quinn Organics

    Surprisingly for the most part all the clothes that I had saved after Big Sis I have been able to use on Bear - even with the difference of being born in January and June. My galies are peanuts.
    I have picked up some clothes here and there for Bear - either dead cheep or fancy and fun pieces. I did try out Wittlebee under a discount code and was incredibly disappointed with the clothes and customer service. But we're over that and hopefully they've hammered out whatever hiccups they were going through for customer's sakes. Ironically I had received a Kate Quinn Organics onesie in a box but that wasn't enough after the disaster they sent to keep me on board.
    Let's fast forward. I swoon over Kate Quinn Organics and Violet + Moss. The clothes are beautiful, classic and warm my heart. You can occasionally see them featured on Zulily. I also love a good mystery so when I found out that they offer an Outlet Grab Bag subscription I knew I had to check it out.
    Here is a blurb from their website about it: our outlet grab bags contain either 3 or 6 items every month, depending on what option you chose. your bag will contain items from our outlet, and can include past season styles, samples and overstock items!
    Recently they offered a deal where you purchased three months and got the forth month for free - perfect!! Count me in! I signed up with Bear in mind, sizing up to 2T with no color preferences in a moderate climate.
    I received our first grab bag the other day and I am so excited. The items are beautiful and fun.

We are signed up to receive 3 items per month.

 

Cap sleeve bow dress in Purple Plum Moroccan - listed on the website at $38

You can see it in this picture but there is a bow in the middle of the front near the collar

 

Purple Plum Moroccan Organic Yoke Dress - I'm finding it online for $24.99

Leggings in Aqua Fleur Plume - listed on the website at $28

 

    I am over the moon happy with the items that were sent and the overall value of the grab bag. It is worth nearly triple than what I paid for it. The fabric is soft and feels incredibly durable. The dresses are so adorable and the leggings are beautiful. I highly suggest checking out this Grab Bag Subscription.  Even without the recent sale promotion they are definitely worth the cost per month.

    If you have already signed up - let me know what you're getting in your bags. I can't wait to dress Bear up in these amazing pieces!

 

 

**Again, I purchased the Grab Bag Subscription.

These opinions are my own and I was not compensated in any way for this post.**

What's more fun than a box - Citrus Lane September 2013

    I am over the moon on this month's Citrus Lane box! This is the second box that I had aged for my 3yo son. Last month's box was "pretty good" for him - he liked it and that's what matters right? We had received a cool double sided puzzle, some colorful themed band-aids, hand wipes and a coloring book set with a Fab Kids offer and a sample bag of Annie's cheddar bunnies. (I lost track of time and didn't get a chance to post our unveiling but it's here on my YouTube channel.) But this month takes the cake!
   

A stuffed box!!

The special treat for Mom this month was a bottle of nail color from Julep. I LOVE purples so I am stoked to try this out. It says that Julep nail polish does not contain formaldehyde resin, toluene and DBP and it is fast drying. (I did try out a coat on a nail and it is pretty stinky but the color is awesome!)

I haven't checked this subscription service out yet

but it is on my "check out wish list"

I am digging this hard cover book by Alexander Girard from AMMO Books. The pictures are fun and bright and the text is great! List price on the hard cover is $16.95

 

How fun is this spread?

Super fun text and an amazing bold, colorful picture!

 

Insert "swoon" here!

These bamboo vehicles from Hape Toys are awesome!

These cars are eco-friendly and just too cool!

These retail for $6.99 each

 

A tube of Peaceful Bubbles by Episencial. The younger kids love bubbles in their bath and I have been very happy with this brand in the past.

We already tried this out and it had a very pleasant scent. No icky film left in the tub and it didn't dry out their skin.

I'm guessing this tube was made for Citrus Lane -

an 8 oz. bottle retails for $8.99

 

This month's box was a great for us! The kids will all enjoy the Alexander Girard Color book. I'll be stashing the Hape cars as stocking stuffers for Big Bro. The younger two are enjoying the bubbles and in a bit I'll try to paint my nails to see how chip-resistant the nail polish is.

 

If you haven't checked out Citrus Lane yet, I suggest you do!

Get $10 off your subscription here.

 

Let me know if you sign up and what age you're gearing your box towards. I think I'm going to do another month for Big Bro (3yo) and then switch back over to Bear (15mo).

 

 

 

******

I purchased this Citrus Lane box - the opinions are my own and I have not been compensated in any way for this post. 

 

A (White) Greenhouse

    I love Ikea! I wish there was one closer - like around the corner close but sadly there isn't. On our recent road trip to Pittsburgh's Ikea I picked up their Socker Greenhouse for our herbs. Big Bro helped me assemble it - it was super easy! Luckily there were no major parts to assemble and it was super easy.
    In about 10 minutes we had our Greenhouse built and then got to work on starting our chives kit. Next we'll start the basil. Our afternoon projects while Bear is sleeping and Big Sis is at school.
    Trey is wondering why the Greenhouse isn't green - I tried to explain why it is called a Greenhouse but I don't think he bought it so I'm going to dig through some boxes and look for some of those yard sale dot stickers and have him stick some green ones on the white but for now our Greenhouse is a Whitehouse.