April Monthly Meal Planning #FreePrintable #Organization

I have been enjoying my monthly meal planning and all the time it saves me. Although I waited to the last minute this time around I did finally get it done (deep sigh of relief). I have the April monthly meal plan completed and ready and have included a free printable for your convenience. I complete a monthly meal plan for my family to save time, money, and stay organized and efficient. Planning this way keeps us from eating out and keeps our trips to the grocery store to a minimum.   

How to make Homemade Gak: hands-on activity for kids #CraftsForKids

My children love hands on activities - as I am sure most little ones do. They love to paint, mix, and dig. But what my children love the most are science experiments. They love watching ordinary household stuff turn into something new and cool. Our latest experiment had to do with mixing some stuff together and watching it change into something gooey and fun to play with. They loved making homemade gak. They loved the elasticity and the squishiness of it!

Layering this spring with the Aden + Anais Dream Blanket #Review #Giveaway

I am ready for spring. To be perfectly honest I am more than ready for spring. I am ready to get outdoors and enjoy the sunshine. I am ready for cool morning walks with my children and I am ready for a trip to the zoo! Spring is the perfect in between weather for me. It is not cold enough for a full on snowsuit and it is not warm enough for tank tops and shorts. It is however the perfect weather for layering. And I like to layer with blankets.

Shopping for Home Décor & DIY Inspiration

I don’t get to go out and do a lot of child free shopping, but when I do I cannot help but be inspired. I see fun DIY ideas everywhere I look. My mother-in-law, sister-in-law, and I all went out to breakfast last month and then spent the better part of the morning shopping in Geneva IL. There are some seriously fabulous shops. One shop in particular that caught my eye was Good Cents. Talk about inspiration around every corner! I thought I would share some of my home decorating inspirational pictures with you.

Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes #Recipe

I am an oddity in my family, as I have never been a fan of mashed potatoes or baked potatoes. While everyone in my family loves to eat potatoes in all its many forms, I have always been a bit pickier in my excursions into the world of potatoes. Sweet potatoes on the other hand are a whole other matter entirely in my book. I love sweet potatoes and love experimenting with fun ways to incorporate them into family meals. My most recent experiment has been a success - as I was hard pressed to share my twice baked sweet potatoes with the rest of my family and I gobbled up the leftover one the next day for lunch.

#DIY upcycle a shirt into a baby dress

I am all about reusing something old and repurposing it for something fresh and new. With spring cleaning under way I have been trying to make a dent in my closet and that means cleaning out clothing that I no longer use. Since a lot of my old tee shirts weren’t even good enough to donate to Goodwill, I set them aside for repurposing. This usually means that the old tee shirts get ripped up and using for rags, but this time around I decided to try and be a bit more creative. I decided that I wanted to upcycle an old tee shirt into a baby dress.

Treasures of the Walt Disney Archives #MOSI

I love pretty much all things Disney. Shock among shocks, right? A few weeks ago my husband discovered that our favorite place to take the kids in the city {Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago} was having a Disney exhibit and he asked me if I wanted to take the family… um yes! So we packed up the family for a day in the city to see the Treasures of the Walt Disney Archives and we even invited my sister-in-law and her family to join us.

Wonderfully Simple Glazed Carrots #Recipe

My mother-in-law asked me to bring a glazed carrots dish to share this last Thanksgiving and my response was a big fat no. I did not like glazed carrots {not that I can even remember ever eating them}. But I was not a fan of cooked carrots and was not going to make something for such a big holiday that I had never made before. So my mother-in-law asked someone else to make it… and I tried them… and they were delicious. So I have been testing away trying to replicate the ones that I had on thanksgiving.

  

Ready to rock with the 4moms rockaRoo #Review

I have been a fan of 4mom products for quite some time. I enjoyed using the infant bathtub for my son when he was a newborn and still enjoy using the spout cover for my children’s bath time. I also own a mamaRoo and I absolutely love it as it is one of the only ways I can get my run in while my daughter is awake.  So when I heard that 4moms was coming out with the rockaRoo I knew I wanted to test it out for myself.

I was given a 4moms rockaRoo to test by 4moms as a part of the 4moms Insider program {which anyone can join via the 4moms website}. Once the testing was complete I sadly had to part with my rockaRoo and return it to 4moms. I really did not want to give it back. I was not paid to write this review and in fact have only recently been given the all clear to post a review here. So here goes…

Cajun Shrimp Po’ Boy #Recipe

One of my all time favorite cities to visit is New Orleans. I love the food, the beverages, the architecture, and the personality of the city. I have been fortunate enough to have been able to visit New Orleans a couple of times and I would love to go back again and again and again. The atmosphere is just phenomenal and it doesn’t hurt that everything I eat when I am there tastes like it was baked with goodness and then fried with a side of yum. It is no wonder I look to New Orleans for my food inspiration so often. I decided that the perfect meal to celebrate fat Tuesday would be a little New Orleans classic, the shrimp po’ boy. 

The Beyblade Battle

My boys are addicted to Beyblades. They love the little spinning tops… as well as the show… and the comic books… and the list goes on. If it is a Beyblade, my boys love it and want it and will spend hours reading it, watching it, and battling with it. My husband bought the boys each a Beyblade for Christmas as a stocking stuffer and we have been having nonstop Beyblade battles ever since.

Baby Gear, Bloggers, and Mommy-Con oh my! #MommyConChicago

This last weekend was a very busy weekend for me. On Saturday I attended Mommy-Con Chicago for the better part of the day before racing home to take over so my husband could go to the Blackhawks game (GO HAWKS!). Then I got all dressed up and tried to navigate a snowstorm to celebrate one of my best friends’ weddings – only to have to turn around due to unsafe roads. While I considered not going to Mommy-con because of the snow storm that was supposed to hit, I took a chance and attended and the weather cooperated… at least for a bit.  I am so glad that I got to attend. There was so much to see, so many great people to talk to, and a ton of really cool baby gear to play with.

Since I did not bring any of my babies with me to #MommyCon I was able to get more hands on time with strollers, car seats, carriers… and more! I was even able to snap some pictures of some pretty awesome looking products to share with you.