Busy, busy, busy

Like I mentioned in my weekly update, school is crazy busy!!!  I think things are starting to settle in, but I hesitate to say that.  That is when things fall apart!!!

Home is good.  P is knocking on the door of potty training but she is just not there.  She had her 2.5 year check up yesterday and everything is in check.  She is soooo tall at 36.5inches.  Her eating is a little pickier than it was 6 months ago but she still likes to eat.  She is talking up a storm and loves her visits to the Little Gym.

J and I are on autopilot but we are having a date night this weekend.  I am looking forward to getting a few things done and spending some time together. We are starting to look at a new couch.  Wish us luck!  Wildtree was really good for a couple months and this month is a little more slow.  No biggie, since everything else is busy.

That is the basic wrap up.  I am here and getting many back on track!!

Review: Kristen's cute creations

Other than the fact that I get to show of P some more, here is the next cute hat that she will be wearing this fall!!!

     

Kristen is a fellow mom who makes some of the cutest stuff on Earth!  I am so happy that she choose me to share her products with you!

Here is some more about Kristen in her own words:
When my son was born, I had a huge desire to make things for him. I'm not the most crafty person so I knew it had to be something simple. I also tend to start projects and then leave them half finished. My thought was that I could teach myself how to crochet and I would start to make hats for him to wear during the cooler months.

My first project was an adorable snowman hat. I finished the hat fairly quickly, taking full advantage of my son's nap times. Once I put the hat on it was a huge hit. I showed it to a mom group that I'm apart of on Facebook, and the next thing I knew I had people wanting to buy my creation. And that was the beginning of my business.
Crochet has truly changed my life. What was once a hobby, quickly became a lifestyle and passion. I love what I do and love making people's day when they receive one of my products. I hope to continue with this endeavor for years to come.


Check out these cute items her etsy shop.  You can get there from here.
       
*these photos are from her etsy page

You can also find out about her specials and sales on her Facebook page here.

I really love P's hat and she does too.  We have not hit cooler weather yet, but she is wearing her hat around the house and wants to wear it outside.  I am hoping for some good fall weather soon so we can try it out!!

I'm Alive!!!

OMG!!  The start of the school year really got me!  I am so sorry that I have been away for so long.  I have some posts just waiting to be clicked and some great ideas on the list.  I think that things have calmed down a little for the beginning of the year, but who knows.  I think that I will be looking to post a couple of times a week as the school year goes on.  Fingers crossed I can keep up with that!!!

This week I will fill you in on what has been going on in our house and I have a great review that is WAITING for me to show it off!  I can't wait!

Be jealous of my old fridge!

I have spent many of P's naps this summer going through and organizing different little areas of our house.  I love re-organizing and purging of stuff that we don't need any more.  I think out o all the jobs that I have done this summer my favorite is the fridge.  Sad but true!

Other than just cleaning it out, I also purchased Fridge Coasters.  I have had my eye on these for about a year.  I finally splurged and got them!  Fridge Coasters are not just pretty they will absorb spills.  They are made of food industry-grade, quick-drying, hard-pressed wood pulp.

Here is my before:

Here is the after:

I love how everything all throughout the house is coming together too! We also building quite a pile for a garage sale for next summer.  Yeah!!!

PS - I was not compensated for this review and all opinions are my own.

Weekly Update

Ugh!  I don't know if it is my tablet or the fact that I am using random browsers when I write.  The 2 posts I wrote and {thought} I posted last week are not showing.  This week and next week will be good that way :)

Here is the plan for this week:
- I have a great new review!
- Update on organizing my house.
- I'm a working mom and here is what I think about it.

Weekly Update

Hello!  Sorry I am a little behind this week but I did an extra post with the Thyme review and I had a big Wildtree party on Sunday.  I am excited to let you know about a giveaway that will be coming up soon!!  More to come on that!

Here is the plan for this week:
- my thoughts on being a working mom
- even though my summer is winding down, I wanted to share my pool bag with you
- I have more pictures to share
- I want to tell you more about my Wildtree business!

Thyme Maternity Review

Pregnant and nursing moms have more options than ever for cute clothes but they are not all cute AND functional.  Enter Thyme Maternity!!  Super cute clothes that function during pregnancy and beyond!!

A little bit about Thyme:

Thyme Maternity is more than a leading fashion retailer for pregnant women. We're an international maternity and nursing fashion brand whose family of experts is dedicated to ensuring you look and feel your absolute best throughout your entire pregnancy and after your little one is born.

Every garment is specifically designed with the pregnant body in mind, offering you comfort where you need it most.  We hold ourselves to the highest standards so you can trust us to guide you through you pregnancy with knowledge, expertise, and enthusiasm.

Ultimately, their goal is to make your feel and look your best with the best service possible!! 
I was lucky enough to get one of their nursing tops to try out and tell you about.  I received the snap front crossover nursing and maternity top in green.  Here is my best job at a selfie!!

While this would definitely work during pregnancy since it has nice stretchy material and ruched sides.  This would be a great nursing top.  The three snaps open to another single snap, which open to allow easy access to either (or both pumpers) sides.

I am wearing a regular tank underneath so I could show you how it looks but no show!

After wearing it all day, I will say that I love that it is lightweight but very stylish.  The fit guide is true.  I am a medium and this fits well.  I think it would work for me during pregnancy too, but I did not get too big.  If you have a bigger belly then you may want to consider moving up a size for maternity wear.

I also really like their yoga pants and cowl neck tops!!  Best of all, EVERYTHING is on sale right now!  40% off through August 1st.  Go shopping here!

Update on other stuff in our life

I've been writing a lot about cleaning and organizing but we are still getting along here.  It's summer (have I mentioned that?) and I am finally enjoying some free time.  Summer school is in full swing, but most of my day is open.

P is looking ahead each day to swinging, playing in water (water table, water park, pool), taking walks to pick flowers, and playing.  We are in a little bit of a rut eating wise but she still eats like a champ.  Variety is just not there.  I need to work on that!  J is working hard and looking at how to move up down the road.

My Wildtree business is going a little.  I have my first actual tasting coming up and two more in the works.  I am hosting my second freezer meal workshop and a client is hosting one with me too.  I am hoping that this might become a little bit of spending money.  Right now, I have just been using the profits to buy products for us to eat because they are really that good.  Time will tell, right?

Now that I write about it, there is not that much to update.  I guess not too much news is better than bad stuff, right?  What's happening in your house now?

Wordless Wednesday - Water park!!

12 years of wedded bliss!

J and celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary last Sunday.  I cannot believe that it has been 12 years, but I can't remember life without him.  To celebrate we have a tradition that I hope goes on forever!  We go downtown Cincinnati, stay in a nice hotel overnight, and go to Jeff Ruby's.

Jeff Ruby's is a FANTASTIC steak house that we happened upon for our first anniversary.  We had such great food and service we have been back ever since.  For about 5 years straight we even had the same waiter - Drew.  He treated us like we were his only customers.  He moved on to another job so we had to move on, but I think that Chris J, our current waiter, may be our next favorite. 

He even comped us a yummy and beautiful dessert!

This year at the beginning of dinner, the manager came over.  He welcomed us, congratulated us, and then thanked us for coming back year after year.  He even took our picture and printed us a copy!!  To top it off - I really think it is a great picture of us both!

I am already looking forward to next year!!!

My Faves Now

Last week I shared some of P's favorites now it's my turn!  My list, like P's, is summer oriented since that is where I am.  Keep in mind that also means cleaning and organizing for me!  Here goes...

1. Vera Bradley

I got a new purse for my birthday and I am IN LOVE.  They have a bag called "mom's day out" and it is perfect.  A little bigger than my last so I can put a couple of diapers, some wipes, and P's sippy in there and not need a diaper bag.  On the same note, it is not too big for me to carry without her stuff!

2. Sundresses

I hate shorts.  With a passion almost.  This summer I have fallen in love with simple sundresses.  Target has been my go to, as I think I am a medium and a half at Old Navy.

3. Pinterest

As I mentioned, summer is my clean out and organize time.  Pinterest has come to my rescue on cleaners and organizing ideas out the yin yang!  Including my 21 day challenge that I am working through!  Read more here!

4. Big Brother

Although I am not keen on the racist people in the house, this is still one of my favorite reality shows of all time!!!

5. A/C
It is HOT here.  I am so glad that as of now our A/C has not pooped out on us.  We replaced our furnace just short of 2 years ago and they said that our air conditioner was okay but limping.  Still with us for a couple more month old unit!!!

Weekly Update

My 21 day (turned 7 week) challenge is going very well.  It will turn into a garage sale at some point.  Not a big one like I did last year, but enough to make it worth my time (I hope).  Here is my blog plan for the week:

- My favorites... it only seems fair.
- More pictures of my cutie!
- update on our lives.

We are running down on summer but I am still loving life!!! And happy birthday to me!!

Wordless Wednesday - Golf at Dick's Sporting Goods

P's fave now

P is almost 28 months - she is 2.  She is getting to be more independent by the day.  Since her interests are growing, I thought that I would share some of her favorite things right now.

1. Duplo blocks

As you saw know, she LOVES building.  I actually went out and bought another set so she would have more blocks to work with.  I love that they are big enough for her to work with and put together herself but not too small to eat or kill my feet.

2. Swimming

I know that this is not really a thing, but she loves the water.  Water table, pool, water park, the hose.  Put her in her swimsuit and it is game on.  I do want to note that for the second year we are in Snapme bathing suits and I love them for quick changes when needed.  They snap and the crotch and have two rows of snaps to extend the wear!

3. Her babies

P calls everything a baby and coos over them regularly.  Her bed is almost too full for her.  She really loves these babies from Target.  Soft bodies and not too spendy make them good for mommy too!

4. Zoo

I happened upon this at Meier on sale for $10.  Score for me becuase I have seen it since for $50!! It has lots of additional animals (I got a few more on clearance).  I like that it has options for the animals to "play" and if you put them on the speaker, it tells you the animal name and the sound they make.  P loves the slide and swing for the animals.

5. Fuzzies (AKA soft blankets)

I think that I have mentioned before that P loves her blankets.  Luckily for me, as long as they are fuzzy she likes them all.  She has grown partial to the two white ones for reasons unknown to anyone.  We may have to invest in more just in case one have a stain problem!

Weekly update

Much better week!  I'm hoping that this posts since I am n my iPad so we will see. I have lots of good stuff this week!

Here's the plan:
- what is P into now?  I'll tell you.
- more cute pictures on Wednesday
- J and I celebrated our anniversary. It was too fun not to share!

Yummy Desserts!!

Whenever our families get together (my side or J's), I am normally in charge of bringing some type of dessert.  I have posted about several of them here.  Now I have two more to tell you about.  One with pictures - of my own.

Let's start with the one that I don't have pictures of my own.  Here is what I found on Pinterest:

 

Buckeye cake!!!

As the picture shows, this is courtesy of bunsinmyoven.com.

Just so you know, the middle layer is a peanut butter cheesecake with peanut butter chocolate glaze on both sides.  OMG is right!  Easier than it looks to make and just as yummy!  It is decedent - you only need a little piece at a time.

The other are these little wonders.

I also found these on Pinterest (in several locations) but I used the instructions on the box of cones I bought for them.  Here are the basic ingredients:

Make the batter according to the box instructions.  Then fill each cone about 2/3 of the way full.

I used my mini muffin tin to keep the mini cones upright and easier to manage in and out of the oven.

Then I frosted them and sprinkled.

They are cute and fun but a little hard to transport.  The kids loved them!!

Summer and Working Out

So I am getting my cleaning and organizing on a schedule and that is going well. I was a little lazy over the long weekend and have to do 3.5 jobs this week, but it will be done.  I will write more next week.

This week's challenge is about getting the gym into my crazy summer schedule.  I am floored at the fact that getting to the gym during the school year is easier for me.   I think that since I am already out and about it makes it seem easier.

Here is a typical day for me:
5:30ish get up and get ready for school
6:30 getting coffee on my way to school
7:00 class starts
9:30 class ends
10:00 home and sitter is gone
noonish lunch
1:00 nap for P
3:30 snack for P
5:30 J is home
6:30 dinner
7:30 bedtime routine for P
10:00ish bedtime for me

So I have two real windows to get to the gym - 10:00 to noon and 4:00-6:00.  Honestly if I am not there by 4:00 it is crazy there, especially in the kid watch so I am not as big of a fan of doing that.

I need to commit to going either in the morning right when I get home, which normally is pool time when we have good weather, or going after naps.  I will do that soon!  Promise!

In the meantime I have found two apps that I am enjoying to get sit ups and squats done.  I need to get more diligent about doing that but I like that they are quick and I can do them anywhere.  Let's see if they do anything for me!!

Wordless Wednesday - Building Castles

OMG - this is crazy

So just for fun, I decided to look at my blog as a reader and just realized that all of the posts from last week (after my update) have not posted.  CRAZY!!  Needless to say, I have been writing and just not getting them posted properly.

Here is my plan for this week (and I will be checking):
- fun desserts that I have been making
- wordless Wednesday
- my new gym schedule

So sorry that things are not working.  I think I need to officially move over to Chrome or Firefox.  I am in the dark ages and still was using Explorer.  I know, I'm getting old.

21 day challenge

Summer is here so I need to find lots to keep myself busy.  I wrote here about how I am going to start using P's nap time to save J and I time on the weekend.  I am working on a few other schedules so that we (P and I) have fun and don't spend too much money but more to come on that on another day.

I always try to use summer to get things reordered in the house.  Pinterest helped me here again!  I found this:

This is not only a blog that I will be reading but also a new challenge I am going to try.  I am switching out day 18 for our office.  In the end this may result in some garage sale material.  That remains to be seen.  I am also only going to be working on this during weekdays - 3 days a week.  So this is really a 7 week challenge for me.  We have enough going on over the weekends and I want to save that time to be together as a family.  Except the garage, maybe that will be a weekend job???

I have already tackled the junk drawer!!  Yeah me!  I know, I know, it's not on the list.  I need to do the medicine cabinet because I have lost P's thermometer.

Sound interesting?  I though so!  Want to join me?  Tell me about it!  I will be updating as we go too!

Weekly Update

So I got a little behind last week so I will be posting about my 21 day challenge soon.  This week I have a few cool things to write about too.  Here is the plan:

- Wordless Wednesday - I really think P is too cute
- I need to get a gym schedule going with everything else.  Here is my plan!
- Update on the other stuff in our lives.

TV - what to do?

This post really could have gone with my toddler dilemas but it's really more about me.  I have a sick obsession with TV.  I love reality TV, cooking shows, Days of Our Lives, and wedding shows (yes I know that I am happily married).  I spend more time that I care to admit watching TV.  With Big Brother having just started, things are not going to get better. 

My justification is that I am so focused the rest of the day - work, P, house, etc - that TV is my escape.  It is the time of day that I don't have to think AT ALL!

Tell me it's okay and that you watch more TV than you should too!?!?  I am not judging!

STEM stuff

So my summer began in a classroom.  I spent a day and a half right after my work day in an assessment workshop.  Then I started a two week STEM institute.

In case you didn't know, STEM stands for Science Technology Engineering and Math.  It is a movement to help incorporate those ideas into our teaching more to help motivate students to enter careers in those fields.

As with most workshops some of if was not the best but I did get LOTS of work time with some of my closest colleagues and we were able to plan 3 good lessons and we have about 3-4 others that we might be able to use. 

I am glad that I was able to work on some plans and learn more about how to help make connections for my students.  I will also get to job shadow next summer to help develop another set of lessons with STEM in mind.

What have you done recently to inspire your work?

{Almost} Wordless Wednesday

We live very close to an amusement park and based on how much P likes the horses (merry go round) and LOVES the water park, we will be there A LOT this summer!!

Weekly update

I'm not going to try giving anyone any excuses.  I've been away too much, I know.  I am back - promise!  Summer is now in full swing and I have a lot to tell you all about.  I have some time today and will be writing to get ahead!!

Here is the plan for the week:
- I am starting a new challenge.  I want to share and am hoping that you might join me!
- I have fun picture of P to share on Wednesday.
- I want to share what I have been learning about.
- TV - can't live with it, can't live without it.

Wordless Wednesday - goofy girl

Weekly cleaning schedule

With summer basically here (I'm in a 2 week class that is almost the hours of a school day but no homework) I have more time during the week. J still works normal hours so I try to pick up my side of taking care of the house. With P still napping, I decided to develop a weekly schedule to try to get everything done so our weekends are more free to hang out together.

Here is my basic plan:
Mondays - dust and straighten up
Tuesdays - bathrooms
Wednesdays - vacuum and mop
Thursdays - windows/ meal planning
Friday - rest/catch up
Weekends - laundry

I'm hoping to make it pretty like this soon. :)

Weekly Update

I'm so sorry that I have been MIA.  The last two weeks of school turned out to be CRAZY!!!  I worked 4 track meets in 5 days, wrapped up classes, dealt with graduation and graduation parties, AND moved classrooms.  It was nuts!!  I now have plenty to write about. 

I would love to say that now that it is summer that I will be back on track but I am finished with the first day of a 2 week STEM institute.  Yeah, great idea right?  Well, I am hoping for some good ideas for future teaching, but we will see.  Needless to say, I am sticking with my goal of 3 posts a week until it is over.  Then I will try to up the goal!

Here is what is on the plan for this week:
- Wordless Wednesday
- a new cleaning schedule
- graduation experiences!

Weekly update

Happy summer!  Well almost. I have 6 more get ups with kids but then I have a workday (normally really easy but I am moving classrooms), a 2 day assessment workshop, followed by a 2 week STEM class, and I'm right into summer school. It still summer!!

Here is the blog plan for the week:
- wordless Wednesday is set
- I have several Wildtree recipes to share. They are yummy!
- my plans for the summer for me!

Toddler issue - preschool and socializing

I'm back with another toddler dilemma that we will soon be facing.  Both J and I work full time.  Luckily we have a great place for P to be while we are working.  We take her to an in home sitter.  Our sitter only watches a few other kids and luckily, one of the boys is right around P's age.  There is also a boy who is two years older who has been a a great role model.  Unfortunately he will not be returning next year.

We have a potential of a day care/preschool option through my work that would have P starting preschool at the beginning of the school year after she turns 3.  She would be in preschool for a few hours a day, then they have unstructured day care the remainder of the day.  We can do this for 2 years.  The only catch is, this preschool is only available if there are enough kids and my work offers it.

I have always wanted P to get into more structure and around more kids sooner rather than later.  Being an only child and only having a few kids at the sitter is great but also has it's problems.  I really want to get her social skills developed.  Preschool and more traditional daycare would really help with this.

My dilemma is that I am not sure if she needs two years of this or not.  What do you think?  Is two years of preschool necessary?

Wordless Wednesday - first haircut

Sorry this is a little later, I was so busy yesterday but I wanted to share!