We are moving!

Wordless Wednesday: Toddler with a camera!

My son loves my iPhone. Not for all of the amazing apps that I have downloaded for him to use. Nope. He lives for the camera function of the iPhone. He has figured out how to use it and will take off with my iPhone in order to capture the world through pictures.

He has gotten in the habit of stealing my iPhone off my nightstand in the morning and taking it around the house snapping pictures of everything. Here is my son’s morning trek through the house. 

Smoked Turkey Bacon Sandwich Recipe

I recently helped to host a wedding shower for my little sister and was introduced to one of the best sandwiches I have ever had the pleasure of eating. I actually made noises while eating this sandwich – it was just that good. So I picked it apart and tried to figure out what exactly was in it so I could replicate it once home… I have been doing this a lot lately!

Quick and Easy Greek Pasta Salad Recipe

I was perusing my local Meijer looking for something quick and easy I could make for a side dish when I saw they had a yummy looking pasta salad in their deli. I grabbed about 1 ½ pounds of the pasta salad and brought it home for a side dish that night. It was divine!

This was a big hit. It was delicious and looked like it would be fairly simple to reproduce. After some tinkering with the recipe I came up with my own version of the greek pasta salad. It does not taste the same as the Meijer greek pasta salad, but my version is very yummy too.I hope you enjoy. 

Q BBQ: Barbeque Goodness in Naperville!

I love summer. I love grilling out and enjoying all the flavors that summer has to offer. I do not however enjoy the mess that comes with the preparation of some of my favorite summer dishes. When I am in the mood for some good ribs or pulled pork and I don’t want to deal with all of the prep work involved in making these meals at home, I will get my BBQ fix from a restaurant that can do it right.

Mom Mart is a Kolcraft Mom!

I have some seriously exciting news here at Mom Mart! I am proud to announce that I am one of the newest members of Kolcraft Mom! As a stay at home mom blogger with two little boys I have had some experience with baby gear. Okay… I love baby gear! So I am very excited to be embarking on this adventure with such a fantastic company.

Kolcraft is a family owned and operated baby product manufacturer and I am looking forward to working with them throughout 2012. Need a bassinet, stroller, mattress, activity center, nursing pillow, potty seat, or baby carrier? Kolcraft offers a wide variety of products and also partners with some fabulous brand names to produce a variety of children's products.

I look forward to sharing news, reviews, and giveaways of new Kolcraft products over the next year! 

Do you have a favorite Kolcraft product? Is there a product that you really want to learn more about or have a chance to win?

Http://MomMart.blogspot.com

Wordless Wednesday: A day with the boys at Six Flags

I mentioned earlier that when I take my niece and nephew during the summer we pack in as much fun into their time with us a physically possible. Well… we took the family to Six Flags Great America and could not have had a more pleasant day.

Bunk Bed #Giveaway!

I have two boys and love the idea of having bunk beds.

When I was a little girl I had bunk beds and have fond memories associated with them.

Want to WIN a Walker Edison Bunk Bed of your own?

How was yours?

 

 

I hope everyone had an amazing Father’s Day. I had a great, yet tearful, Father’s Day yesterday. I am so thankful for the amazing men in my life that are such great examples for my boys. It is not always easy to be a role model and the men in my life do a great job!

Strathwood Brentwood 4-Piece Outdoor Furniture Set Giveaway!

One of my favorite things to do during the summer is sit outside and enjoy watching the kids play while I visit with family and friends. Now that we are getting ready to move I have been on the lookout for some new patio furniture for our new patio! So when an opportunity to win a new patio set came across my email I decided to participate and give my readers a chance to win a fabulous new patio set.

Welcome to the Summer Patio Retreat Giveaway Event 

brought to you by Mom to Bed by 8 the ‘Iowa-Mom’, Powered By Mom and Mommy and Baby Reviews and Giveaways! We would like to thank our special co-hosts Another Cent Saved , Giveaway Bandit, To Sew With Love and Opinions of a Moody Mama for joining us for this special event.

Batter Up!

  

My family is a very energetic family… and that is probably putting it nicely. Although most of the time we are not bouncing off the walls, there are certainly days when it feels that way. We are active and love to be engaged in one activity or another.

Ready for Vacation Bible School {VBS}

My three year-old son could not be more excited about being able to attend VBS {Vacation Bible School} this year. He wants to be a big boy and every big boy that he knows attends school. So when I told him he would be going to VBS this year he got really excited.

The one thing every big boy who goes to school needs is a big boy backpack. You just cannot go to school without a backpack. In preparation for attending VBS my son has been parading around the house modeling his Thomas the Train backpack.

  

Winner Announcement for Celebrating Dad Giveaway!

The winner of the Mom Mart Celebrating Dad Giveaway Package is:

Kicking off the summer with some good family fun!

Each summer I take my niece and my nephew for a week each. We plan family friendly outings around town as well as trips to places like Six Flags Great America. It is a week filled with places to go and people to see. This is the week that I have my nephew, so we are very very busy!

My nephew came on Thursday evening and already we have gone to a park, had a picnic, visited the zoo, went to a baseball game, and spent a day at Six Flags! I am exhausted and it is only Monday. This week we have plans for each and every day and even more plans for each and every evening. I am not kidding you… my calendar looks like my three year-old got a hold of a sharpie.

Some of the three most cherished words… You’re right mom!

Usually when I ask my children to do something I am met with “Why”, or “I don’t want to”, or simply “No”. I get head shakes and dirty looks if what I am asking goes against what they want. The terrible twos weren’t too terrible. The theatrical threes on the other hand is one hot mess.

There is an attitude and temper tantrum every time I turn around. Naptime and bedtime are met with complete meltdowns. I am completely and totally over this phase. I partially attribute this to my son being exposed to more children through pre-school and park play; in reality it is the age. This is typical three year old behavior and is something that we are going to have to work on {mentally banging my head on the wall}.

Needless to say I was more than a little surprised by my son’s reaction to me telling him that he needed to get down from the roof of his Little Tikes Cozy Coupe Police Car.

Celebrating Father’s Day with Sears #GrillingIsHappiness #Giveaway

All summer long my family gathers outdoors. The kids play in the yard while my husband mans the grill. We spend most evening as a family preparing dinner and we like to grill out as much as possible. Grilling enables the whole family to spend more time together as a family while enjoying the great outdoors.

My husband especially loves to grill and he is great at it. He likes to find new marinades and rubs and he loves to try new recipes whenever given the chance. He is my family’s grilling specialist and when it comes to grilling I defer to his expertise. Like any art form, the correct tools are essential.

A broken handle, a rusty grate, and a shredded grill cover are not the best tools to use when trying to create a grilling masterpiece. We received our grill well over six years ago from my parents and it has not held up well over the years. In fact it is falling apart. I decided that for Father’s Day this year my husband deserved a new grill that was fully functional and looked great. 

 
This weekend we went to Sears to pick out a new grill and some great grilling accessories for my husband’s Father’s Day gift from the whole family. I knew that I wanted to make this purchase through Sears after I had the opportunity to peruse my Sears Local Ad as well as their online catalog.

Winner Announcement of the Mom Mart Shake Rattle & Roll Giveaway!

 

 

The winner of the Mom Mart Shake Rattle & Roll Giveaway Package is:

Wordless Wednesday: It a fun fun world!

I love that both of my boys are big enough and mobile enough to truly enjoy things like ball pits, jungle gyms, slides, and bounce houses. One place near us that has it all is Odyssey Fun World and on lazy days when we have no plans {this does not happen very often} we like to take the whole family for some free time fun!

It is ALL about the boots!

I will try and keep this short and sweet.

Memorial Day weekend we went to visit some family in Indiana and had a wonderful time. It was great to see everyone and spend some time just visiting. I love nothing more than spending time with family and enjoying the great outdoors.

Even the kids had a fabulous time. William could not stop talking about just how much fun he had and how he cannot wait to go back. I think this might have something to do with a certain pair of boots that came home with us from this trip.

Somehow my son wound up taking home a pair of Darth Vader boots… I don’t know how this happened… Okay I totally know how this happened. Aunt Vicki asked me to look through the treasure trove of childhood wonderland she calls a basement and see if there was anything there I could use for the boys. And what do I see popping out of the top of a box? Yup, you guessed it! Darth Vader snow boots in William’s size.

Attention All Bloggers! Free Blogger Event for a Bunk Bed Giveaway!

When I was little I had bunk beds and shared a room with my little sister and I have some hilarious memories of that time in my life. Now I am the mother of two little boys and have been toying around with the idea of putting my boys in bunk beds once they are both big enough. So when I saw this giveaway opportunity I jumped at the chance to participate!

 

 

 

 

I am incredibly excited to announce that I will be participating with Children Teaching Mama to give one lucky reader a Walker Edison Bunk Bed sponsored by BunkBedsAtoZ!

This is a FREE blogger event, open to US and Canadian Residents and is accepting sign-ups right now! Click Here to Sign-Up! The event will run June 20th to July 10th!

Win a Step2 My Clubhouse {ARV $259.99} #Giveaway

I spend hours upon hours each day with my children playing pretend. One of our favorite games to play involves a clubhouse and a nursery rhyme {my son just loves the Three Little Pigs}. Make believe is one of my favorite activities to participate in with my children. I am always amazed by their imagination.

When I was given the opportunity to participate in a giveaway for a Step2 My Clubhouse {ARV $259.99}, I thought that my readers {YOU} would love a chance to win one!

 My Clubhouse Giveaway -Hours of Pretend Play