Simple Vegetable Side Dish – Balsamic Roasted Brussels Sprouts #Recipe

As a child I was never a fan of brussels sprouts. I don’t know very many children that are. That is not to say that these children who love brussels sprouts don’t exist. I am quite sure that they do. I just don’t happen to know them. Growing up, I was never a fan… in fact I cannot remember ever having brussels sprouts as a child. I remember eating a lot of broccoli and green beans and peas, but not really brussels sprouts. Needless to say, I am much more adventurous with food as an adult than I ever was as a child. In fact I really enjoy brussels sprouts now and have fun playing around and finding fun ways to eat them. As a result I have a new balsamic roasted brussels sprout recipe to share with you today!

  

A little bit at a time… decorating for the holidays with perfection in mind.

I love looking at great chic Christmas displays. I think about color schemes and styles that I would like to try. I go to family and friends homes and get inspiration for things I would like to see in my own home. I am completely addicted to pinning holiday décor on Pinterest (who isn't)… but my own home can be somewhat lacking in holiday decorations.

I used to attribute this to the fact that I didn't have the time or energy to decorate seasonally. I worked. And then when I no longer worked, I had a baby… and then I had a baby and a toddler, and then I had two toddlers and another baby.  We sold a house and we bought a new house and still my seasonal decorating was minimal. There was always an excuse. Always a reason why not.

I think that part of me never started to decorate because I had unrealistic expectations of what I wanted my home to look like. I would see pictures of homes with beautifully crafted centerpieces and picture perfect mantel displays and I would get intimidated. I would look at my mantel and see everything I needed to change in order to attain this image of perfection. I would get so flustered I would not know where to begin. And then once I would decide to begin – to do SOMETHING – I would get so caught up in all of my choices that I would just get completely overwhelmed all over again. Did I want to do gold theme Christmas décor? Did I want to do felt garland and modern pops of color all over? Did I want lots of garland or lots of ornaments? There were just so many choices.

… and then one day my husband asked me to get some holiday decorations for the house. There was no judgment on our current lack of décor, just a simple “hey, if you have some time can you pick up some more Christmas decorations for the house?” Apparently that was all I needed to get started, someone to ask.  I looked on Pinterest for two days and looked at what I could do with what I had and I made a decision. This was not rocket science. I would NOT get caught up with unrealistic perfectionism. I would take it slowly and do what I could.

DIY Finger Paint Recipe #CraftsForKids

My children love to paint. It is one of their favorite activities to do when given a choice. They love all arts and crafts to be perfectly honest, but painting is one where they tend to think outside the lines and really let their creativity flow. I decided that we needed to give finger paint another chance – as the first time we tried it my children wanted nothing to do with it {they do not like to have sticky messy hands}. I was not going to waste my money on store bought finger paint if it wasn’t going to get used… so we made our own.

GB Child Zuzu Stroller – Travel made easy!

I go shopping with my children. I visit family and friends with my children. I take trips to the park, the zoo, and the museum – all with my children. In fact there is not much that I do without my children right by my side. The funny thing is – I love taking my kids everywhere. I enjoy experiencing life through their eyes. It is often entertaining and frequently enlightening. Despite the fact that I enjoy traveling with my family, I am getting to the stage where I no longer want to pack the entire house up for a weekend getaway. So when I come across baby gear that makes traveling with kids easier I tend to do a little happy dance… Okay, a big happy dance.

I was able to check out the gb Child Zuzu stroller while in Las Vegas at the ABC Kids Expo and I was impressed from the get go. But it was when I had the opportunity to play with the zuzu at home that I really came to appreciate its great features and specs {thank you gb Child for sending us a sample of the zuzu stroller for the purposes of review}. With a five, three, and one year old to use the Zuzu stroller with on various occasions – I was able to get a really good feel for this stroller and what it could do. And for me, it made traveling with children just a little bit easier.