Category: Uncategorized

Fisher at Age Four

fisher in the wildflowersMy wild and crazy first born turned four recently. He is such joy and stubbornness and sweetness and strength all wrapped up in a burly bear of a boy. He goes hard all the time until he crashes and sleeps. His energy level is full tilt and he loves life, people, sharks, and everything else.  He will great you with a hug, tell you about his shark tooth collection, and might ask you about your favorite dinosaur. He truly brings joy wherever he goes.

He loves to explore the world around him, and wants to learn about everything he sees. He loves to visit the library and pick out new books and movies to enjoy. He loves animals and will tell you all about them. He has an imaginary friend named Record who goes on all sorts of adventures.  I asked him a few questions about himself to take a snapshot of who he is at this moment. Please note that we just attended his friend Grant’s birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese in which he received a toy rocket to shoot, which may have influenced some of his answers.

Fisher at Four:

  • Favorite Food: toast
  • Favorite Color: red
  • Favorite Animal: shark
  • Favorite Show: Curious George
  • Favorite Book: all shark books
  • Favorite Movie: Peter Pan
  • Best Friend: Grant
  • Favorite Place: Chuck E. Cheese
  • Favorite Activity: shoot rockets

Fisher, you are the most precious gift and I’m so thankful you made me a mommy.

 

Preschool Fun: Have a Costume Dance Party with Curious George

halloween read and play pretend costume dance party
As a diehard bookworm, reading is a part of daily life. My kids share my love for books and we are always trying to find new ways to incorporate our favorite stories in to our play time. We recently found a fun book called “Curious George Goes to a Costume Party” at the library and have read it daily for the past few weeks. We decided to create our own costume party like George, and had a blast doing it. Read on to find out what we did and get lots of fun Halloween Read + Play ideas from other mamas in the Kid Blogger Network.

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Road Trip Tips: 5 Practical Uses for Wet-Nap on the Road with Kids #ShowUsYourMess #pmedia #ad

“This shop is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group™ and Wet-Nap but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #showusyourmess  http://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV

#showusyourmess#pmedia#adpracticalusesforwetnapontheroad

This has been a summer of travel for our family. We’ve been away from home for 46 days so far since May, with a few more still to go. Our kiddos seem to be perpetually sticky and crumb covered, so messes are the norm in our daily life at home and on the road. One of our secrets for keeping the mess to a minimum is bringing Wet-Nap on the road with us. Today I’m sharing a few ways we love to use Wet-Nap on the road so you can make your road trip with kids less messy. Did I mention I also have a $.55 off coupon? Bonus! Read on for details.

#showusyourmess#pmedia#adwetnaproadtriptips

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Make Summer Sun Safety a Breeze with SwimZip UV Swimwear for Kids and Adults #BareFeetontheBeach

easyuvprotectionswimzip

Welcome to the #BareFeetontheBeach blog series! Today is the first in a series of beach themed posts I’ll be sharing while we make our way across the country toward our own beach vacation. Follow along on Instagram as I share our road trip adventures. We love to play outside all year round, but after a scare with precancerous moles a few years ago I’ve become more proactive about sun safety. My darling daughter has the fairest skin around, so I know I’ll have to be extra vigilent with her all summer and especially on our beach trip.  When I saw the zipper swimwear created by SwimZip on Shark Tank, I knew the company had a genius idea. How many of you have ever wrestled a kid in to or out of a wet swim suit or rash guard? *Raises hand* It is ridiculously frustrating, as is lathering every inch of your wee ones with sunscreen only to have it come off as soon as they get wet. I reached out to Betsy (the head mompreneur) to review SwimZip UV Swimwear, and I’ll share our full review below.

swimzipforkids

 

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Meal Plan: Tortilla Soup for a Crowd and Bonus Holiday Entertaining Ideas

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Carton Smart for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

There is nothing like a hot bowl of soup to warm you up on a cold day, and this tortilla soup recipe is sure to be a crowd pleaser.  It would be the perfect easy dinner for a crowd on Christmas Eve, or great for freezing portions for meal planning.  It can be made ahead with the crockpot or created on the spot.  It has just enough kick for the spicy food lovers, but is still kid friendly.  Bonus – I made it with Pacific Foods Organic Chicken Stock from a #CartonSmart container that is responsibly sourced, reclosable,  and 100% recyclable.  Learn more about how to Become Carton Smart with your grocery choices.  

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Now for the recipe…

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Easy Tortilla Soup for a Crowd (Serves 14-16)

Ingredients:

8 oz Pacific Foods Organic Chicken Stock

3.5 cups or 2 cans pinto beans

3.5 cups or 2 cans kidney beans

3.5 cups or 2 cans corn

3 cups or 2 cans diced tomatoes with green chiles

3.5 cups or 2 cans plain chopped tomatoes

2 cups water

3.5 cups or 2 cans black beans

1 cup or 2 small cans diced green chiles

1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts

2 packets dry ranch dressing mix

2 packets taco seasoning

Directions:

1. Boil your chicken breasts until they reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees F.  Then shred the chicken with a knife or use your stand mixer paddle attachement.  By the way, shredding chicken with a stand mixer is the single most useful thing I’ve ever learned on Pinterest.  It will change your life.

2. Open all ingredients and add them to your crockpot or pot, stirring to mix well.  Do not drain or rinse any of the ingredients.  You can use Tetra Pak, canned, or frozen items.  If using frozen, please add additional chicken broth as needed.  Always recycled your containers – Tetra Pak and cans.  

3. Add the cooked chicken and bring to a boil (pot) or cook on low for at least 2 hours (crockpot).  After it reaches a boil, let simmer on low for 45 minutes or until ready to serve.  Done!

Serve with diced avocado and crushed tortilla chips.

A few other #CartonSmart food ideas: 

Our Pearl Girl is loving the Pacific Foods Pumpkin Puree.  It is a perfect ready made organic baby food or addition to any pumpkin recipe or substitute for oil in any baking recipe.  The possibilities are endless.

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Need a delicious cranberry sauce to add to your table?  Try Pacific Foods Organic Cranberry Sauce ready made for dining.  You can also put it on top of an 8 oz block of cream cheese and serve with crackers for a simple and tasty appetizer, or bake it on top of a wedge of brie cheese wrapped in crescent roll dough.  I love options.

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For more recipe ideas Follow #CartonSmart on Pinterest.  And check out their Twitter feed here: Tweet @CartonSmart.   If you like this recipe, be sure to pin it on Pinterest or share on other social media.  

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