craft room

So there has been a lot of talk about creating a craft room for me. Right now both girls have their own room but is that really necessary at this age (10 months and 6 years old)?

I've really been getting hard core into crafts and I have craft stuff everywhere right now. Glue sticks, ribbon, tulle, alligator clips, "bling", and the list goes on. Most of it is housed in our bedroom since most of the time I do my crafts in bed when the girls are asleep and DH is playing Xbox.
So I'd really like my own area where I can put up pretty shelves, a huge table and just make it my space since that's really hard to come by now a days. I love the look of this room because it's so clean and simple so if I was a millionaire I'd definitely design my room around it! I'm thinking Ikea and Target will help get me to my goal though.

source

Currently it'll be really easy to combine the girls into one room since we'd just have to put Kendall's crib in Makenna's room but eventually we'll probably need to look into children's bunk bed so there will be a lot of play space on the floor for both girls.

The hubby wants us to look into regular twin over twin bunk beds but I'm just not into that. It's still a girls room and I want it to be more personal and pretty.
Besides lots of storage areas and toy chests their bed is important to me and I'm sure to them too. I want to look into loft bunks because 1.) I never had one and 2.) they bring a lot of creativity and I hope if we could get one like the picture below, it can inspire a lot of imagination.

C'mon, isn't it amazing?! Of course I can't get it for a while but if Kendall sleeps on the bottom next year it could work. I mean look, it comes with built-in side protectors so she can't even fall off! Just to be safe I'd still buy some so they could go down the exposed areas because she is such an active kid when she sleeps.
I just think it's beautiful though and I especially know Makenna will love it because it would be her very own place house and she could sleep on top. Plus, I love the extra storage on the front - perfect for pictures and other little nick nacks.

So for now I will dream of loft bunks and start shopping for my craft room stuff. First is first, the paint color. Maybe a pretty ocean blue.......?

father's day

So tell me, what is everyone planning for Father's Day? Both the men in my life are so hard to shop so and I'm pretty stuck at this point. Ties, golf clubs, flasks and all the other "normal" presents definitely wont cut it with these two men.
My dad is building a 1967 car so I'm sure some parts for it would be his ideal present but last time I checked I known almost nothing about cars so I would have to ask him what he needs and then that would ruin the surprise part of everything.

For our anniversary I got the hubby an amazing gas grill so of course I can't get him one for Father's Day too but I was thinking about getting a grill for my dad since his is almost older then time.
I found an amazing grill that I know he would die over but it's definitely not in my budget

I'll probably end up going with a Brinkman grill since they tend to be on the decent side of the price bar and are good quality. Finding the cheapest Weber grills might be a challenge but I'm on a mission.

Searching through grills and grilling accessories is so nerve wracking and annoying that I've been searching for a couple weeks now and I'll probably be on the hunt for the perfect one for right up until the last minute. My dad is sorta into golf so I might be able to get him something along those lines as well.
Can anyone please tell me why it's so hard to shop for, or has that just been all the men in my life?!

So as far as my hubby I'm still lost as to what to get him. I'll probably stick with the trusty video game for his Xbox since that always seems to work. Problem with that is nothing is out that he doesn't already have! Grrr, what am I going to do??

I am desperate! I need some ideas, please!

Wordless Wednesday - Family Love

Complete credit goes to the amazing Alison Patterson, owner of Pretty Pix by Ali P. If you're in the Central Florida area... or not (and want to take a drive) then I highly recommend her!

None of these were edited by Photoshop Actions as far as color corrections and such. Just simply black and white adjusting for prettiness, hehe.

As always, click on the picture for a larger view

Spring Cleaning

I never keep the house dirty and in fact it's sometimes too clean in this house. Everything has it's place and when it's not in it's correct place I go into "clean attacks" as the hubby says and I just start cleaning everything and anything I can. John can't help but stand back and watch because he doesn't want to get in my way.

We all know what Spring means. Spring Cleaning. Most of us have already done our Spring Cleaning but not much of that has gone on around here. We really should go through the garage and attic and see what doesn't need to be there also.

Windows need to be cleaned, blinds taken down and washed off, the top of the cupboards wiped down and finally hiring a steam cleaner for the tile floors we have. We have a Shark steam cleaner (and I love it) but sometimes I feel the floors really need a deep deep cleaning, especially now that Kendall is crawling around.

Having a busy baby getting into everything has definitely made me want this place to be extra clean for her curious little hands. We also need to start baby proofing because as much as we knew this stage was going to happen we didn't take steps to protect any valuable things around the house or protect Kendall from getting hurt. A definitely must so we bought outlet protectors, a couple baby gates, crib side protector since she loves to chew on her crib now a days, and a few other things to help protect her.

I don't know why we waited so long to do this kind of stuff but I guess now is as good of a time as any, right?

so tell me, what do you do to really clean your house during spring time and are there any baby proofing things we absolutely need?

let's bounce!! hayneedle bounce house review and giveaway!

I have a love/hate relationship with our Florida weather. It was freezing one day and now it's scorching hot with humidity that could kill someone. I'm a sweaty person so the humidity and I are not friends, lol. Sorry was that too much info?
So on the days where I love our perfectly cool evenings with a light breeze, we play outside. With the help of Hayneedle, they make Spring and Summer time play that much easier. You can shop in one place for all our outdoor play things, BBQs, lawn mowers, inflatable water slides and so much more I swear!

We were sent the My Little Princess Bounce House by Kidwise that Hayneedle sells! Makenna had no idea it was sitting in the garage for a couple days. One a nice day we set it up and when she came home from school she was so excited to see it on the front lawn!

I love that everything is included so we didn't have to go out and buy a special blower or a part to attach to the air pump we already have for our cars.
Also included is 8 stakes, easy instructions, a repair kit and a carry bag.

Set up was extremely simple and took all of about 2 minutes. We have a nice size yard, front and back, but it's not the best for things like this because front, sides and back are pretty hill-y... if that's a word, haha. Please don't mind our patchy brown spots of grass it's a work in progress if you read previously. Side note: you can totally tell where our yard ends and the neighbor's yard is. They sooo don't care about their grass.

The air pump has 2 holes on either side that need to be staked into the ground, along with the bounce house which also has 2 holes on either side so of course it doesn't tip over, that would not be good.

It literally took about 45 seconds to inflate the whole castle which is great if you have little kids eager to bounce and play.

Castle Info:

Dimensions

7.5L x 7.5W x 6H feet

Material

Heavy Duty Vinyl

Weight Capacity

200 lbs.

Weight

35 lbs.

I love the pink-and-purple color scheme and beneath the turrets is a roomy bounce area with side netting to protect kids from falls. the My Little Princess Bounce House castle is ideal for children age 3 to 8 years old, and like some of the other small bounce houses on Hayneedle this one can accommodate two 100-pound kids at a time thanks to the 200 lb. weight capacity. The lightweight 35-pound design is easy to move also, which is great.

Shhh we broke the rules, we let Kendall play in it before Makenna got home from school. She had a blast playing with the ball pit balls we threw in there. So yes, even though the age restriction is for 3 years old we knew Kendall was safe since no other kids were around her.

And of course, once Makenna was home from school and changed our of her uniform clothes she jumped on in and had a blast! Her words are that, "It's so bouncy and funnn!" :) So take it from a 6 year old, this castle is awesome.

The most exciting thing about owning your own bounce house is knowing you don't have to rent one for a birthday party and your kids will have endless fun and burn off all that extra energy almost every day if you let them!

When the little kiddies are done bouncing and practically putting themselves to bed, it will only take you about 6 minutes to completely flatten out the bounce house once you turn off the air blower! It lays down pretty much exactly how it looked in the beginning all my itself but let me tell you... that pretty little square you see in the 1st picture, yeah it has never folded up like that again. We can still get it into the carry bag, thankfully but what I wouldn't give for it to look nice and neat.

Our next buy has to be one of the water trampolines that Hayneedle sells! Have you seen how cool these things are?! We live close to so many lakes that this would be a perfect investment!

Blast Zone Little Bopper Bouncey House! - ARV - $199.99



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**I was sent the product(s) free of charge by the company or PR representative. It has been used solely for the purpose of this honest review. The views are strictly 100% my own. Receiving the product did not influence me to produce a positive review**

Giveaway is open to USA residents only. It will end and close on June 6th @ 9:00pm EST. Any entries made after such time will not be counted and will be removed from the list. Winner will be contacted via email & will have 24 hours to respond. If winner does not respond their prize is then forfeited and a new winner will be selected.



Fighting Hunger

As a busy mom I never really eat "correctly". Either I skip meals or I eat junk throughout the day. I don't think I go one day eating just 3 meals a day with maybe 1 or 2 little snacks in between. It's so hard to sit down and eat a healthy breakfast or lunch when now a days I'm chasing Kendall because she is getting into everything known to man, or she's hungry. To top it off, once Makenna gets home from school it's non-stop until bed time.

Since finding Ritz Crackerful I feel good that even though I am picking at food all day, I'm eating something healthy. Ritz Crackerfuls Multigrain is a great pick me up snack between meals - help curb hunger with real food, not sugar or something like those chips in a tall can!

The new Ritz Multigrain Crackerfuls offers 6g of whole grains per serving which definitely helps me stay full and satisfied. Plus, each sandwhich is individually wrapped so it's convenient for on-the-go when I have to run errands. I've only tried the Sharp Cheddar Cheese flavor but they also come in Multi Grain Garden Vegetable and Multi Grain Garlic Herb. I am definitely going to try the Garlic Herb flavor next, that sounds so good!

I've even joined the Ritz Facebook page because they have info on coupons, promotions and contests (Like a Glee contest currently going on!!!)

What's your favorite 'pick me up' snacks for afternoons? Please share any tips for fighting hunger between meals?

I am a member of One2One Network and because of this I received the product from One2One Network and Ritz to faciliate my review.
All opinions are my own

A Cool Highchair - The Nook by Joovy!

Joovy is no stranger to DDM. If you recall my review on the Joovy Zoom 360 Stroller last year. This year I was sent the Nook Highchair to review.

A highchair is one thing every family should have to be because it solves so much unnecessary stress when it comes to feeding your little one. Joovy has definitely made using a highchair even easier.

The Joovy Nook is only 15 pounds and 43" tall so it's definitely light-weight and the perfect height for the 50 pound max weight limit (or 4 years old).

So what makes this highchair different from every other highchair? First it's the compact fold! No more leaving the highchair out in the open, taking up space when it's not even in use.

As you see you just push the sliding button over and lift up the tab in one smooth motion and the high chair is then flat! There is a separate carry handle (not pictured) to make it easier to carry around.

When it's not in use just simply store in a corner, in a closet, or under the bed if your strapped for space. I think by far the flat folding is my favorite feature but that's not all that is different about the Nook.

Joovy has also integrated a swing open tray instead of a tray the slides out. This eliminates that tiny "tray" part underneath the actual tray. This makes putting your child in and out a lot easier. No more fighting with them to get their legs in the correct areas! Kendall always fights with us when she's not in the mood to sit down. Struggling with her has come to an end since we just have to sit her down and swing the tray over, locking it in place. There is a top tray that is removable and washable to make clean up a breeze.

The Nook comes in four different colors.

1. black and white - wipeable leatherette
2. green and orange - machine washable fabric.

We chose the black because it's wipeable and I figured the white (even though wipeable as well) wouldn't always look white and clean.

I love how simple clean up after each meal has become. Throw the removable tray in the dishwasher and wipe the chair down - easy!

Finally the Nook comes complete with a 5-point harness so you can be sure your child is safe and secure in their chair. One strap over each shoulder, 2 separate straps that go around the waist and finally 1 strap that comes up from the crotch area to connect all the straps together neatly.

We've been loving our Nook high chair for the past few months. I think this is a chair that is great for grandparents to have at their house and it great for traveling.

The Nook retails for $129.99 (fabric) and $139.99 (leatherette).

**I was sent the product(s) free of charge by the company or PR representative. It has been used solely for the purpose of this honest review. The views are strictly 100% my own. Receiving the product did not influence me to produce a positive review**

My Sad Lawn

It's that time of year that we're all outside. Working on our gardens, planting flowers, trees. I love it.

One thing I don't love is having a ugly yard and this past winter definitely did a number on our yard. See what I mean, the unusually cold winter killed our grass, just leaving tiny patches. It is horrible that it's May and Makenna doesn't have a beautiful lawn to play on.


So with that, it was definitely time to go shopping! I bought some weed and bug killer. Yes, sorry I kill bugs, especially ants! I HATE them!
That took just a couple days to get rid of all the hills in our yard. Next step, feeding our pathetic yard.

 I went out and purchased Scott's Southern Turf Builder. Besides it having more nutrients to withstand the heat here in Florida I'm sure it likes fried chicken since it's Southern. Anyway, with my trusty Scott's feeder I went to town on the front yard.
I absolutely love how easy it is to apply so my act of knowing all things of gardening can still hold true in my husbands eyes!

Scott's Turf Builder is made with 100% pure nutrition in every granule. Bargain brands can contain as much as 40% filler. Also the granules are tiny, so you achieve MORE even feeding and greening over every square inch of your lawn. Those bargain brands mix together separate larger particles that can result in hit or miss feeding/greening. So even though he may be getting a better "deal" on the cheapo stuff, you're going to be kicking yourself later when your lawn isn't pretty. Funny but the first thing I noticed when I opened the bag was that it looked like cat litter, lol. My husband came from from work and asked me what happened to the grass dirt.

Within a couple days he had nothing to say about the "cat litter" because we actually saw thick, beautiful grass growing! Just look what happened in just one weeks time! Yes, still a little patchy but it's still pretty and I am loving the yard now. Since taking this picture the grass has filled in a bit more and we actually have a yard to mow the other day! How exciting do you think I was - not so exciting for the hubby since he's the one who had to do it. Sorry babe.

One thing I learned is that you can apply Scott's Turf Builder year around on any type of grass and to help you out even more it's formulated with slow release nitrogen so you’ll get a beautiful, green lawn – without burning, even if you apply too much (that's a good feature for me). Just in case I forget something and need a little help I've signed up to receive Scott's email newsletter (and you should too!!) so I can get tips, tricks and even a custom feeding reminder schedule and lets not forget special offers!

Tomorrow when the hubby is off we are going straight back to Target and buying about 4 more bags so we can do the sides of the house and the backyard. Shhh those parts of the yard pretty much still look like the top nasty picture. I love love love Scott's Turf Builder and it is definitely my go-to lawn care brand now!


I am a member of One2One Network and because of this I received the product from One2One Network and Scott's to faciliate my review.
All opinions are my own

Summer Upon Us

Makenna brought home her last progress report [before summer vacation] a couple days ago and I must say, I teared up. Makenna is 6 BUT she's in Kinder because her birthday is in November. I hate that the school system works that way because it makes her one of the oldest in her class and she was held back from really learning before she could get into a classroom.

Kinder has been great for her. She loves her classmates and loves her teacher, heck we love her teacher. She's amazing.

So her report card. It said that this quarter Makenna has excelled in her reading and she is at the top of her class. Reading so fluently it surprises her (the teacher) and that Makenna can write a 5 sentence story perfectly. Her speech has definitely improved because of this too I must say.

Now with her first official summer vacation coming up before a new school year we've been trying to think what we want to do with her. Get some books and still teach her through out the few months she's off while still letting her enjoy her summer? Hire a tutor? Another this is that I know Spanish is huge here in Florida and it's one thing she's been really asking me about lately. I constantly hear, "Mommy how do you say ___ in Spanish?" or '____ in Spanish?', it's at random times but I always have to answer "I don't know" because yeah, I took Spanish in school but do I remember it?! Heck no!
So I think we might get Makenna a Spanish tutor for the summer and see how that goes. I think she'd love it and really learn a lot.

What are your plans for keeping your kids focus over the summer so they can still go back in August with the drive to learn?? I'd love some ideas on how you teach your kids from home without overwhelming them.

Headband Flower Rosettes: What I'm Makin' Monday

So this is my very first Makin' Monday post and honestly, probably my last. I'm crafty but not THAT crafty.

Today I made flower rosettes. I'm sick of looking at all these Etsy shops offering their flowers for $8-14! That's pretty crazy to me. They are beautiful but I don't want to pay that if I don't have to. So, I got myself some fabric and made some flowers to match one of Kendall's outfits.

It's 10pm and I just got done with these so I don't have a picture of Kendall modeling but I will get one up as soon as I can :)

So here they are. Two cherry flowers with pearls and a white flowers with clear gems.

Can you Believe it?!

I think we will all know exactly where we were when we (wow, that was 5 words starting with "w" in a row, lol) first heard Osama Bin Laden had been kill by US Troops. This war has definitely come full circle in a sense and now we know the last 10 years have not been in vain.

I know this probably doesn't fix anything and of course this doesn't mean the war is over, it just means one more evil person is off this earth. I'm not God, and therefore I cannot say when someone should or shouldn't die but Osama caused so much pain and sorrow to this and other countries that he has now definitely gotten what was coming to him.

Am I worried about retaliation? Not really. I figure that most of the people surviving him probably didn't want to be there in the first place. He was feared by many, especially those close to him. I'm sure they will try to live out his goal but with too many cooks in the kitchen things will definitely fall apart very quickly.

May God bless all of those who lost friends and family in the 9/11 attacks and that have been serving our wonderful country for the past 10 years.

WE DID IT!


It makes me want to blast this video!
(warning: some strong language, but it's a hilarious song!!)