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.

2014 Ultimate Holiday Gift Guide Giveaway!

The holidays are just around the corner and it is the season to be giving! Baby Dickey and Mom Mart have teamed up this year to bring you the ULTIMATE Holiday Gift Guide! Have you seen it yet?! It's filled with great ideas for the entire family—gifts for babies and kids, gifts for mom and dad, items for the home, and tons more to gift to your friends and family!

Even better?! EVERYTHING you see on our 2014 Holiday Gift Guide is being given away to ONE super awesome amazing lucky winner! That's over $2700 in gifts! So let's check them out because we're excited about it... are you excited?!

Grilled Cheese Caprese Sandwich #Recipe

It got a little chilly outside recently and as a result I have been making a lot of warm comfort foods over the last week. The cold is working its way through my family right now and everyone has the sniffles but me. So I have been toiling away like crazy in my kitchen making soups, sandwiches, and every comfort dish I can think of to help my family feel better. One of my go-to comfort foods (especially for lunch time) is the grilled cheese sandwich. Only… I have been having a craving for caprese lately. So I decided to combine my love of grilled cheese with my need to eat caprese and BOOM – my grilled cheese caprese sandwich is the result (it is really yummy too).

Keeping an eye on the little ones with the Motorola MBP36S Video Baby Monitor

My children are sneaky. And when I say my children – I mean all of them from the baby to the oldest, they are all sneaky little rascals. My boys goof around at night when they are supposed to be sleeping and my daughter has a new hobby of throwing everything out of her crib in the middle of the night and then crying relentlessly because she wants everything back in her crib. I have to keep an eye on these children to make sure they are being safe and to make sure that if I am opening the door to their rooms I know what I am walking into. 

I love having a video baby monitor, because it means that I can check on my children without worrying about waking them up. I can see them day or night {thanks to the infrared night vision} and I can even talk to them through the Motorola MBP36S Video Baby Monitor. And if they move around and get out of bed I can remotely pan, tilt, and zoom. This is especially helpful for my children that are out of the crib and think that hide and go seek at night is a good idea.

 

Reese’s Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies #Recipe

There is way too much Halloween candy in my house right now and I am in the mood to bake. As a result, I have spent my morning chopping up Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and mixing cookie dough. The result is a yummy Reese’s Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip cookie that is super simple to make and really tasty… I will be sharing some of these cookies with a few friends, family, and neighbors close by so that I don’t eat them all! If you are looking for a way to use up some of your excess Halloween candy you should give these simple cookies a try!

#DIY Faux Nail Head Trimmed Cork Board

We recently turned our old laundry room into a mudroom complete with lockers. It is essentially our command center. It is where we enter and leave our home and so it is where all important information needs to be seen before we head out for the day. My husband was over the reality of having magnets and papers stuck all over the oven - so he requested that I find a cork board for our mudroom. I did not want an ordinary cork board. I wanted a nail head trim cork board that not only worked well, but also looked good. So I went to the store, bought a cork board {with a 40% off coupon}, some fabric, and some thumb tacks and I got to work!

Contours Options Elite Tandem Double Stroller

I have been a fan of Contours Baby for a very long time. I love that they are a family-owned company who are passionate about what they create and it shows in the products that they make. Contours recently launched their brand new tandem double stroller, the Contours Options Elite. I received one to review and I was very impressed with this stroller. Since I own the Optima tandem stroller I was also able to compare the two strollers a bit .

Give back this fall with Champions For Kids #SIMPLEGiving

Disclaimer: I have participated in this program on behalf of Champions for Kids and The Motherhood. All opinions are my own.

My family and I have participated in Champions For Kids Simple Service projects quite a few times over the last few years. The act of helping others that are in need is something I hope will be second nature to my children as they grow into adulthood. People in need can be found in every community and there are countless ways to reach out and help someone.

I was really excited to get the opportunity to work with The Motherhood on this campaign helping children in my own community. So of course I made sure that my own children were involved with picking out the items we would donate as well as well as participating in the actual donation itself. My children and I headed to our local Walmart to purchase some personal care items to donate. My kiddos really like being part of the Champions For Kids campaigns and I like their enthusiasm for helping others. We picked up some Unilever shampoo and deodorant for our donations… and a few pumpkins for home as well.

The Addictive Cheesy Pesto Dip #Recipe

I am all about a good dip. A really tasty dip is great as an appetizer for get-togethers with family and friends or as a snack for football games. The easier the dip is to make the more I like it. Recently a friend of mine passed along this tasty Cheesy Pesto Dip that is too good not to share. This is a super quick and easy appetizer to whip up and it is really really yummy. So I hope you give it a try and enjoy it just as much as I did!

  

Star Wars Wall Art Free Printables #FreePrintable

This year for Halloween my family will be dressing up as characters from Star Wars. We have done this in the past, but this year everyone wants to be something new. So I have been in my crafting room a lot working on costumes. I think that a large part of this Star Wars revitalization of enthusiasm stems from the new Star Wars Rebels show. We love it. At least that is why the kiddos are all about Star Wars. My husband and I are pretty thrilled with the fact that J.J. Abrams will be directing the new Star Wars: Episode VII. So this renewed interest in Star Wars got me thinking about all those blank walls in my basement. A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away… I made an inspiration board. – Sorry I couldn’t help it. The Star Wars inspiration board got me thinking about how I wanted to decorate my basement. Decorating ideas then got me sitting at my computer creating Star Wars Wall Art Printables.

5 tips for encouraging imaginative play {Begin Again Toys Balance Boat}

So much of our day is structured. We run from one activity to the next and there is not a whole lot of unaccounted for time throughout the day to simply sit back, relax, and enjoy our surroundings. With recess being a mere 10-15 minutes at school and homework piling up, free time for kids can become priceless. Imaginative play is a great way to develop social skills, language skills, and problem solving skills. I try to encourage imaginative play in our home as much as possible.  

  

The Toys of the ABC Kids Expo #ABCKids14

I am a big kid at heart and I adore shopping for toys for my children. I also love it when I find the perfect gift to give to my family and friends – be it child or adult. Because lets be perfectly honest here, a lot of toys are just as much for the parent as they are for the kid. At least that seems to be the way it is in our house. At the ABC Kids Expo in Las Vegas this year there were some really fun toys that I had the opportunity to check out and play with and there are definitely some that are making my the kids holiday wish list.

DIY Super Hero Face Masks: Champions for Kids #Fiskars365

I participated in this program on behalf of Champions for Kids, Fiskars, and The Motherhood. All opinions are my own.

My children are all about crafting and creating lately. They have been making costumes and playing dress up around the house for the quite some time now. We decided that since we have been enjoying arts and crafts so much, that it would be a good idea to invite some friends and family over to help us celebrate some creativity while being Champions for Kids with the Fiskars simple service project. We spent an afternoon crafting super hero face masks and were able to gather some art supplies to donate to my son’s elementary school as well. It was a great way to spend an afternoon.

Chipotle Carnitas and Homemade Pico de Gallo Recipe with La Morena #VivaLaMoreno #shop

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #VivaLaMorena #CollectiveBias

Time is a precious commodity in my house and I am all about a great slow cooker dinner that I can toss together in the morning and come home to after a long and busy day. I live for Crockpot meals in the fall and winter. This week I had a craving for some chipotle carnitas and homemade pico de gallo and it just so happens that I make my carnitas in the slow cooker. I love Latin food and authentic Mexican dishes. These meals make it on my weekly menu at least one night a week, if not more. I could eat a whole container of fresh homemade pico de gallo in one sitting.

  

September is Newborn Screening Awareness Month

September is almost over and October has one foot in the door, but before I say goodbye to September I wanted to give it one last shout-out. September is Newborn Screening Awareness Month and this is a very important topic for me as a mother of three little ones.

Baby Carriers at ABC Kids Expo – Babywearing #ABCKids14

I love babywearing and have been doing it for quite some time now. I started when I had my first child and I am still sporting a baby carrier all around town today. I love seeing how much babywearing has grown in popularity over the years and as a result the carriers are becoming better and better by the day. At the ABC Kids Expo this year there were plenty of baby carriers to ogle over and I thought I would share some of my favorites with you. Here are the baby carriers of #ABCKids14 that stood out to me in Las Vegas!

ABC Kids Expo – Strollers #ABCKids14

As many of you who follow me on Twitter and Instagram know – I recently attended the ABC Kids expo in Las Vegas. It was amazing. Since I am addicted to baby gear I was ridiculously excited to see what the baby industry had planned for new and amazing products. I was not disappointed. Since there was so much to see and play with I will be breaking up my fabulous finds into several posts. The first post is all about the strollers of #ABCKids14, and there were some pretty cool ones!