Hold-On Handle Review

My third child is a mover and a shaker...she always has been. She was climbing on tables before she could walk and has brought a whole new meaning to the word "baby-proofing". I've  had to baby proof things with her that I never had to worry about with my first two kids. She keeps life interesting that is for sure. She loves her new found freedom of being 2.5 and getting to go places out of the stroller or shopping cart now. She loves to follow her big brother and sister around and since she's not the baby anymore she loves to go wherever she chooses. 

When I was contacted about reviewing the Hold-On Handles from Greater Than One Kids that was created by a mother of triplets I jumped at the chance. I thought maybe this will truly help me feel a little better about not taking the double stroller everywhere and will give Hannah a little bit of the freedom that she desires. The hold-on handles come with a giant carabiner that can hook onto many different places or I can just hang on to it. The plush panda bear is fun for Hannah to hang onto yet the length of the strap gives her "just enough" freedom to wander. There's also a second loop that Micah hangs onto sometimes which gives me confidence in his safety as well since he doesn't always pay attention. 

"With Hold-On Handles you can feel more confident, and your children can be safer, more active and happily independent when you are out and about together – a far better option, we believe, than a leash or harness."

I was sent the Zany Zoo Plush Panda handle and we love it. It's so cute and Hannah loves it too. Yes, sometimes I have to remind her to hold onto the bear but she's 2.5 so that's expected!

We used our hold-on handles when we went to visit papa in the hospital, it was so much better than letting the kids go ahead or making them hang right onto the stroller. When they used to hang onto the stroller directly, inevitably someone got stepped on. Hold-on handles gives the kids enough distance to keep their heals intact ;)

We also like to use the hold-on handles when going to the pool at my parents condo. We have to walk on the street to get to the pool so it makes me feel a little better when I know Hannah is holding on to something and not just left to wander.

I would HIGHLY recommend the hold-on handle to anyone with more than one kid...multiples or just a curious toddler with a baby in tow. It saved me many headaches and Hannah is getting trained to hold on more often and actually likes the panda bear...I think we'll have to name it soon! 

I was sent a Zany Zoo Plush Hold-On Handle in exchange for my opinion. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated in any other way.

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April Fools Day

Did you Prank anyone for April Fools Day this year? We did!

My mom and dad helped by making sushi and jello (drink) cups for the kids.

They had fun with it. They knew as soon as they saw the rice krispy treat. LOL But hey, we tried at least! They are getting too old to trick. Darn it.

But....they aren't too old to help mommy trick daddy! We pulled a switch-a-roo on daddy's cereal. We bought the cereal and some paper glue. Before heading home we pulled the switch in the car, glued the box and headed home. Bonus trick....When daddy called to see how long we would be, we fibbed and said we were stuck in town. Probably a couple more hours. :( We live 35-40 minutes from the big town where we shop. We fooled him when we walked in the door 20 minutes later. Yes, we were closer than we said when we text. And no, I did not text and drive. That's a no, no!!! My son relayed all messages for me. ;D

When we got home we sure surprised him with our early arrival and the cereal switch up too! Muah ha ha ha ha.

I also successfully pulled two more. Hee! Hee! Just add tape to the sensors on your remote control or mouse. You will totally fool them into thinking they don't work. They may even try to change the batteries before figuring it out. 

What did you do on April Fools Day? Did you pull a fun prank or get pranked yourself? Please share. I am always looking for ideas for next year. I may even sneak in a prank here or there through out the year. Wouldn't that be fun!?! ;D

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Happy Easter

Happy Easter friends! I pray that your day is blessed in new and exciting ways. I pray that the love of the Father is more evident to you today and always!! Have a blessed day!!

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Meal Planning and healthy snacks

So did you make any New Year's Resolutions? Are you still sticking with them? Or are they starting to become a thing of the past. Earlier this week on my blog I talked about how I'm not really one for resolutions in the "formal" sense of the word, but I like to resolve to do things differently throughout the year. I talked about decluttering and simplifying my home. I've been after a lifestyle change for a long time. Wanting and making it happen are two different things though. I finally feel like the little changes are starting to add up and that the lifestyle change is starting to happen and be where I want it to be. Yes, I still slack off from time to time and fall into my old habits but if my new habits become my old habits in a few months then I'll be good!!

So, along with really wanting to simplify and declutter my home I want to get my meal planning in order and have a better system. I'm good one week and not so good the next. Consistently inconsistent. I just need to make it a habit and stick with it. It will help us eat better, save us money and help things in the home run more smoothly with less stress around meal time because I'll have a plan and not have to worry about "what's for dinner". I've been using my crock-pot a LOT this winter and I don't think I'll stop. The crock-pot is almost always on my counter top and usually it's full of some yummy simmering food. One of my favorite Christmas gifts was from a lady at church. It's a Fix-It and Forget-it 5 ingredient crock-pot cookbook. 175 recipes with 5 ingredients for the crock-pot! Amazing!! It's a great book and has saved me time and money already!!

I am really trying to do a better job with eating healthier as well. I am trying to cut out processed foods, although I know I won't cut out all processed foods from our diets I will do my best. I am also trying to cut out sugars and I want to make more of the snacks we eat. Are these goals lofty. Yeah maybe a little. But they've been done by people before me (with more kids and less time) and they will continue to be done by people after me, so why not me too!? For me this is more than just meal planning and saving a buck. It's about the lifestyle change that I really want to happen. And I will make it happen. Having a more simplified home, having a plan for meals, saving money so we can spend it on more important things than just a meal that I didn't have to cook are important to me. It's not that my lifestyle was bad or undesirable it's just that there are some changes that could be made to make it even better!!

Part of having a meal plan includes healthy snacks. I think snack time is where I would reach for processed foods the most. Fruit snacks are number one on my kids list (mostly Micah's) but I stopped buying them. They get raisins now instead. Hannah LOVES to eat crackers, so while I'm still perfecting my cracker making she's getting wheat thins or graham crackers. Naomi will eat just about anything so I'm not worried about her snacking choices. We've been turning a lot more to fruit; apples with peanut butter (which they think is like dessert), cuties, and bananas. I am hoping to get in on the smoothie bandwagon too and make those for snacks!! I am trying out some new recipes for crackers, granola bars and muffins...two of which I will share with you here. Just trying to get into a routine of making our snacks and staying away from the processed junk and the fake food.

I've found some really great blogs that are helping me in this journey and I want to share them with you here.
I made some delicious peanut butter granola that I put on some Greek yogurt in the morning! It's delicious and so easy to make!! The recipe is from the Shape Blog. Sorry, no pictures of the granola!

I found this recipe for Toddler Muffins and thought I'd give it a try. I was afraid that they were going to taste awful and that I'd have to eat them just to get them out of the house...but that is not the case. These muffins taste like banana bread! They are super moist and dense and toddler approved!! My kids loved them and I don't feel bad about letting them have a couple of these mini muffins for a snack. When I posted about these on facebook and what was in them one of my friends suggested that they could also be called "husband muffins"! Ha! It's a great way to get more fruits and veggies in your kids (or husbands) diet. Just make sure to serve fruits and veggies at the table too...double fruits and veggies never hurt anyone and the kids need to learn to eat them if they don't already. My kids love their fruits and veggies so for me this recipe is just another way to get even more!

I think next time I may try doing a 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour and a 1/2 cup of all purpose flour...we'll see how that turns out!

I also made some granola bars that I got from the Super Healthy Kids website. I love this website. It is full of great recipes that are very healthy and very delicious. One of the authors of the website is a Registered Dietitian and her goal is to help families live a healthy and active lifestyle....there we go again with the lifestyle change I'm after. There are so many great recipes on this website and they also have meal plans. You can put together your own meal plans with recipes from the site or you can pay to have the already assembled meal plans mailed to your inbox!!
The granola bar recipe actually comes from a The Organic Family cookbook. My kids liked the granola bars but they seemed to be a little bit too chewy...I'm going to try a few more recipes but I think this one is worth trying out!

There are so many good resources out there for healthy eating but two more that I really like are the Keeper of the Home and Hearts Hands Home. What is your favorite recipe/healthy eating blog/website?

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My little girl has arrived!!

Well friends, my little lady decided she wanted to stay put! Not sure how long she would have stayed if we didn't force her out!! I was induced on October 15th at 41 weeks and 1 day pregnant.  She was born after a GRUELING hour of drug free labor, not because I'm some kind of wonder mom or super hero but because the epidural DID NOT WORK! ugh! It was the most pain I've ever been in...but it was only an hour and it was totally worth it. I am so in love with my sweet little lady! 

Abi Grace is 7lbs 10oz and 20 inches of sweet baby girl!!

Recovery this time around is taking a lot longer than I hoped it would. But I'm enjoying snuggling with my little lady and watching the big kids play from the recliner. So blessed to have my parents here too, they have been incredibly helpful and I'm not sure how we would have done this without them! I'm also super thankful for the friends who have made us dinner and offered their help in so many ways. Sweet little Abi will be baptized tomorrow morning and we're so excited to have our family and friends here to witness her being welcomed into God's family!

Can't wait to share with you all the shirts I made for the kids!

Hopefully I'll have that post ready for you next Saturday (if not before!).

This little lady loves to sleep and I love to take her picture so it works out pretty well!!

You can see a few more photos on my photography website...some the same, some different.

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Been A Busy Bee

We have been busy little bee's lately! I wanted to share some of the things we have been working on.  I plan on also making some tutorials for a couple of these photos that I am sharing today.

First up is our tie dye fun! The volleyball team wanted some tie dye shirts, so we made some with them. We had some extra dye, so we made some more things with my kiddos at home.

I also made a cute outfit for my youngest daughters friends birthday! I added scraps to a skirt, a butterfly to the back of the shirt and I also made a headband and bracelet to match.

Here is another scrappy newborn dress I made for an Instagram Friend

My niece asked me to make her a headband.  Here it is. I loved it and I made one for the birthday gift outfit. I love them and plan on making a lot more!

My last share is some bracelets I made for my Grandad who is battling cancer right now. Please say a prayer for him as he continues his treatment.

And here is a pic on me wearing my 3 bracelets. Once for my husbands Godfather that we lost to cancer (you are always in our thoughts, we love and miss you) my Grandad's bracelet and the Heaven is For Real and You're Gonna Love It bracelet!

I played with some apps on my phone for the bracelet pics. I am in love with my apps. LOL

Happy Monday everyone! Be back soon!

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Family vacation

My family was able to spend a week together at a resort in Illinois about two weeks ago. We all got together because my parents had celebrated their 40th Wedding Anniversary in June. It was an incredible vacation with no set schedule and just doing whatever we wanted. We swam every day, played a little mini golf, there was a free 5 hole golf course that some people played, movies to watch, coloring, games and just hanging out with family (which was the best part).

My dad was having some health issues and ended up having to go back to WI for a dr. appointment and had to leave one night early for another one...he had surgery on his spinal cord this past Wednesday and is now at home recovering. We are praising God that his surgery was successful and that he can once again feel his hands and feet...the numbness and tingling was moving all the way up his legs and into his tummy. Scary. They said if he didn't have the surgery soon he could have been paralyzed. Again, we are thankful that God in His infinite wisdom has blessed my dad with good doctors and a successful surgery. He'll be in a neck brace for the next six weeks and then will probably have to do physical therapy. But he should make a full recovery.

We knew that while we were on vacation and had the whole family together (some from WI, some from CO, some from TN) we wanted to get a family photo. I had made these dresses for my girls a long time ago, in fact you can see how long ago because Hannah's used to be a dress but is now a shirt :). And I made the skirt and shirt for Lily for her third birthday. So, my sister-in-law suggested that I make another skirt for Ella to match and that we could use those outfits for our family photo! I love how we all coordinated and didn't really know what we were going to look like until the last minute. I am also totally impressed (if I may say so myself) that this photo was taken using a timer with the camera on the tripod. After the photo was taken I looked at it and said "we got a great one" and everyone said, we should do a few more just in case! Ha! I knew we had struck gold and probably wouldn't again.

My kiddos with their cousins!! Poor Micah will be the only boy on this side of the family!

Here is my family...Hannah was over having her photo taken at this point...but I still love this photo!

                          

Micah LOVES to take pictures with my camera and he's pretty good if you ask me. He took this shot of me at 29 weeks and 3 days prego!

                            

We also had a big surprise steak dinner to celebrate my parents 40th Anniversary and since Ruby is the 40th Anniversary color we all dressed in red and I made these little outfits for the kids to wear. These photos were taken the same day as the other ones so the kids were not totally thrilled about having to do it all again, but it's a great way for us to remember the Anniversary!

                              

My crazy family! LOVE them!!

Now it's time to get into school mode. Naomi will be starting kindergarten on the 16th and Micah will start pre-school on the 20th with an intro day on the 14th. We are so excited about the school they are going to and all they are going to learn this week. I'm also excited to have a little more "time" to go through some things and get some projects done before this baby girl comes. I hope Hannah is ready to help me :) Have your kids started school yet? Blessings on your last (maybe) free weekends before school starts! 

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A conversation with Mom

Talking with my mom today about raising kids and she text me this..."Do your Best and Pray for the rest". 

I told her that was a cute quote. So I made this for her. Hope you like it.

Keeping this post simple and sweet today. Have a wonderful day with your family.

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Garden Fresh Spaghetti Sauce

We finally have a bunch of tomatoes to call our own. I give all the credit to the man who started the tomato plants, he happens to have a Doctorate in Agriculture!! We've got three plants with at least 20 more tomatoes that will be ready to pick in a week or so. We've already gotten at least 15 tomatoes from the plants. Along with lots of tomatoes comes a need to use them. My kids can eat them like apples and they do for lunch sometimes, but when you get 10 tomatoes all at once you've gotta do something else with them besides putting them on sandwiches and just letting the kids eat them. 

I decided I needed to make some spaghetti sauce. I did a google search for a good spaghetti sauce and most of the ones I found made their sauce with canned tomatoes. So I looked at a few more and then decided to do my own thing with some suggestions from a few of the recipes I read. So, here's my version of Garden Fresh Spaghetti Sauce. Feel free to add or subtract from this recipe, I just used what I had on hand and it tasted pretty good in the end.

Ingredients:

1 onion

2 green onions

handful of baby carrots

1 zucchini

1/2 tsp minced garlic

oreganodried basil

2 large and 8 small tomatoes

2 tbsp white sugar

small can of tomato paste

dash of brown sugar at the end

I put the onion, green onions, carrots, and zucchini in the food processor and blended till everything was pretty small. I did add a little olive oil just to get things going. Then in a large pan I heated a little bit of olive oil and then added the veggies and cooked them for 10 minutes. This is also when I added the garlic, oregano and basil.

I cut the tomatoes into fourths before putting them in the food pro. I just pulsed it a few times because I didn't want tomato mush. I wanted the sauce to have a little bit of a texture.

Then I added the tomatoes to the veggies that had been cooking for 10 minutes and also added a little bit of white sugar, and the can of tomato paste. I let the sauce cook for about 40 minutes. The longer the better!! At the end I ended up adding a little bit of brown sugar because the sauce still seemed a little acidic to me.

I cooked up some Garden Fresh Fettuccine Noodles and we were all set. I also added a little cooked chicken to the spaghetti to give us some protein. I'm cheap so I buy the big bags of flash frozen chicken breast or tenderloins from the grocery store and then throw a bunch in the crock-pot...some I'll use right away and some I'll save for later in the week when I know I'll need chicken but may not have time to cook it. Saves me a lot of time. Plus it's nice to have cooked chicken on hand for salads and such.

I had plenty of sauce for dinner and I was also able to freeze some for another meal!!

We also had some farmers market green beans! Delicious!!

And no one even knows that I put a whole zucchini (also from the farmers market) and carrots in the sauce...so don't tell them, it'll be our little secret!

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