Month: September 2015

Let me just start by saying that I LOVED it! Not that it matters as much what I think of it as much as what my kids think of it. However, since I am the one reading it to him…it kind of does! The Ghoul on the Stool is a definite must have for the Halloween season. I can see this being one of the holiday traditions we stick with.

The book comes with a little push toy version of the ghoul who, if you guessed it, is sitting on a stool! Not only does it a really cute story with an adorable little ghoul, but it has really good message and BEAUTIFUL illustrations!

The ghoul comes from his candy filled cave, with his spider sidekick, to protect your Halloween candy. He is the keeper of all things holy to a toddler…CANDY!  In order to ensure their candy is safe he plays little tricks on all that come near. It’s super cute and funny…especially to my 3 1/2yr old.

I can say that the message is NOT sharing since now my son doesn’t want me to have any of his candy haha! It does encourage them to brush their teeth though so they don’t rot like the ghouls teeth. Every time we finish the story, my son tells me he needs to brush his teeth immediately! 👍

If you need some convincing, here is my 3 1/2 yr olds take on it…

Question 1: Do you like the book The Ghoul on the Stool?

Colin:  It was a good read!

( Can’t make this shit up! He totally said that…lol)

Question 2: What was your favorite part?

Colin: Mommy, don’t take my candy Okay? You need to have your own. The ghoul will give you bright red, BIG red feet if you touch my candy okay?

(That’s totally not what I asked)

Question 3: So…What was your favorite part?

Colin: The mommy and daddy getting big red feet!

(shaking my head)

Question 4: Did you like the ghoul? or did you think he was scary?

Colin: He was silly. He made a lot of silly faces.

Question 5: Do you want me to read it again?

Colin: No…I want daddy to!

(Thanks kid!)

In short,  you should order The Ghoul on the Stool !!! You and your children will enjoy this adorable book and Halloween tradition!

BUY BOOK HERE:  The Ghoul on the Stool

Other Reviews: http://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwbooks/article/New-Childrens-Book-THE-GHOUL-ON-THE-STOOL-is-Released-20141014

http://www.theintell.com/news/communities/new-hope/the-ghoul-on-the-stool/image_bb52d958-5d85-11e5-b891-a764280588ce.html

Just about every night we use bathtub crayons during bath time. It is so strange that I can get them to color for at least 20min in the tub, but try and get them to color on a piece of paper for more than 2min…forget it!!! Maybe it has to do with them being confined ;).

Anyways…the other day I was looking on pinterest and I found a pin for diy bath tub crayons. AMAZING! So, since we are in a dinosaur phase right now, I immediately thought of making dinosaur bathtub crayons. I mean, what else would I make right?!?

They were so incredibly easy to make and look amazing when complete. Best part… mommy is a total rock star today because I made dinosaur bathtub crayons. WIN!!

All you need is:

1. Clear Glycerin
2. food coloring (Originally I used glycerin soap coloring and that does NOT work)
3. Jell-O Dinosaur Mold

In order to make all 6 dinosaurs in the mold, you need to melt 10 squares from the package. Since it was my first time making them, I had to do 3 separate batches in order to fill them.

1. Cut out 10 squares, place them in a measuring cup and melt them in the microwave. The instructions on the package said 20-40sec and if not melted keep adding 10sec until fully melted.
2. After the glycerin soap is melted, add in the coloring. For each square, I put in 8 drops of coloring.
3. Stir in the food coloring.
4. Pour into the mold
5. Let sit for 30min
6. Carefully get the crayons out of the mold (turn upside down and slowly push out)

Hope you try them out with your little ones. Not only are they fun during bath time but we honestly had such a great time making them together :).

Let me know if you have any questions about these!!!

Yet another day of missing boot camp…ugh!!! This means I need to step it up at home and get a quick workout in. Below is just a quick 10-12min workout so at least I can say I did something today :). Try it out and let me know what you think!

Warm up:

• 50 High knees (running in place but lift your knees high)
• 20 Half Burpees

Circuit: repeat 2x

40 Kneeling Russian Twist

30 In and Outs

30 Straight Leg Bicycle Kicks

30 Plank Hip Touches

Keeping it real mommy style ;)!!!!

With the stomach bug moving from kid to kid in my house, I have not been to bootcamp in days!!! Since I can’t go…I made up a little 9-10min circuit! It’s not too intense and it’s just enough to feel like I have accomplished something :)!

Warm up:

• 50 high knees ( Running in place but make sure to bring your knees up high, at least up to your waist)
• 10  half burpees
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2KMnLRbN0A&feature=youtu.be
• 50 high knees

Circuit: repeat 2x

• 1min russian twist
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPXnn6ul-yk&feature=youtu.be
• 20sec rest
• 1min sumo squats
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPDP1nywI6Q&feature=youtu.be
• 20sec rest
• 10 half burpees

Remember to stretch afterwards!!!!

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Today was quite a day. I had two, sick, cranky boys to take care of and they were pretty big assholes. Is that okay to put out there?!?! No one will read this anyways right haha! Anyone that knows me knows how much I truly adore my sweet little boys. But…anyone that has a toddler knows what huge assholes they can be! Today was one of those days. They are great now…asleep in their beds ;).

To the point…I actually have this AMAZING way of clearing out my youngest sons nose. This is not something I was aware of with my oldest son but I wish I would have known sooner. It truly is the best way to clear out your baby’s nose.

It’s the same concept as the Netty pot for adults. Below is the video on what I do. It’s too much to explain so I figured I would post a video of how to do it. It’s an older video of my son from like 2 months back but it doesn’t really matter. I did the same thing today, just dealt with a little more hand swatting.

I recommend doing this before naps or bedtime to help keep your infant/toddler clear and breathing easily.

Instructions for the saline mixture: I mixed 1cup of lukewarm water, 2-3tsp of sea salt and 1tsp of baking soda. I filled the bulb with the saline mixture and proceeded to squirt it up his nose. As you can see from the video, it flushes all of the mucus out of the other nostril. Repeat the rinse twice on each side and use a nasal aspirator, I use Nosefrida Baby Nasal Aspirator, to suction any remaining mucus out after the rinse process is over!

Let me just quickly review the Nosefrida Baby Nasal Aspirator. Some people may think it’s strange because you have to suction it out “manually”. Let me tell you, it is so easy to do and the most effective way I have tried so far! You can see all of the mucus clearing out so you know you are getting it all out, then you just open it up and clean the aspirator. Nothing stays inside like using the bulb! It’s a definite must have with a congested little one!

Hope this video helps!!!

Why exactly don’t I have all brass in my house?!?! I think I can get over the appearance if it means less cleaning :).

Bananas and green apples please!!!!!!

I don’t know about you but I am always pinning “healthy” food recipes on pinterest and only actually making 1 out of 10 of them. Okay, maybe more like 1 out of 20!

There are a lot out there that claim to be healthy and after looking at the ingredients you realize, they aren’t at all! And, if they actually are healthy, they taste like sh*t! I can not be the only one that makes the healthy recipes and have them crumble, turn into balls of mush, not look anything like the picture and/or just plain have them taste AWFUL! This girl is NOT chef by any means, but I can follow a recipe and let me tell you, there are a lot of recipes out there that should never be made…EVER!

So, I came up with an idea to test out recipes from my pinterest food board. With the holidays coming up, this is the perfect time to test out different recipes and see which work and which ones don’t! Today I made a healthier version of a pinterest strawberry recipe. I think they turned out really good if I do say so myself. Not to say everyone will like them but if you like oatmeal, then chances are you will like these! My boys also really liked them so it’s a winner in my book!

The muffin recipe below took me a total of 56min from start to finish for this recipe (getting all the ingredients together to the time they were out of the oven). It took so long because of all my real life distractions…dogs going in and out of the house and my two boys wanting to “help”. Everytime I make a freaking recipe it says “10min prep and 20min cook” which is such BS and so unrealistic for someone like me who has nothing but distractions all day! Anyways, because of how long it took me,next time I will double it so I can freeze extra and store. I found an article about freezing muffins that I will follow and at a later date, I will let you know how it worked out!

INGREDIENTS:

1/2c sugar

2 1/2c oats

1 1/2tbsp flax

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2c sugar (you can substitute splenda)

1c greek yogurt

2 eggs (I used egg whites, the carton said 1/3c egg substitute)

2c diced strawberries

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. Spray muffin tins with cooking spray or line with foil liners
3. Add the ingredients, except for the strawberries, into a food processor and blend. I have the Ninja Kitchen System Pulse (BL201) (love it!).
4. In a large bowl, pour batter and fold in the strawberries.
5. Pour mixture into the muffin pan (makes exactly 12 muffins)
6. Bake for 25-30min. Test with a tooth pick. When it is dry, you know the muffins are done. It took mine 28min.

Addition info: I also added one blueberry on top of each muffin just to add a special touch haha. Also, don’t get scared if they start to brown quickly. When I was baking the muffins they turned brown very quickly and I thought I was burning them but they were perfect after the 28min!

How to freeze: Check out this site

Note to self: Make sure to write on ziplock bags before putting muffins in. I obviously didn’t lol!

Links: Ninja Kitchen System Pulse (BL201)

Over the past few months, a lot of things have changed for me. With 2 little ones at home, I was, and still some days am, struggling to keep on top of things. My energy level was so low because I was constantly chasing after them, trying to clean, chasing after them, run errands and chase after them! Life with two little boys at home is not easy, I do not know how people manage with more lol.

Anyways, I started working out a little more and started noticing how much better I left, how much more productive I became and how much more energy I had. Not only that but I felt so much happier!  Happy mommy/wife makes for a happy everyone else, am I right?!?

After hemming and hawing about it, I decided to try a 30day trial at boot camp and see how I could make it happen with my schedule. Some of my girlfriends go to the 9:30am and one went to the 5:30am…never have I been a fan of early workouts but I decided to give it a try since I was too tired at the end of my days to workout. The 9:30 classes offer daycare but it was in the middle of my youngest sons nap time so I decided to try the 5:30am class. It was hard at first but it’s what worked for me and my family.

I have now been going to 5:30am boot camp for a little under 3 months now, 4-5 days a week!!! It is not realistic to think this routine will work for everyone because it won’t. However, hopefully you can take some of the suggestions below to make one that will work for you!

1. MAKE A FITNESS/HEALTH GOAL  

What is your fitness goal? WRITE IT DOWN. It could be losing weight, fitting into a certain pair of pants, toning up, increasing your energy, feeling better about yourself, etc. Just think about it and set up a routine to make it happen.

2. SET MULTIPLE ALARMS    

If you are doing early morning workouts, this is a must haha! Oh…and the louder the better. I set two alarms and I have still ended up sleeping in and missing/running late to my worko

3. SET CLOTHES OUT THE NIGHT BEFORE  

If you have your clothes set up the night before then it makes the early morning wake ups so much easier. You don’t have to worry about stumbling around the house, half asleep, looking for your workout gear. Even if you don’t plan on early morning workouts, you should still set it up so the next day when you consider whether or not to workout, you will feel more inclined to since your clothes is already out, ready to be worn!

4. GET PLENTY OF SLEEP      

This is a hard one, especially if you have kids, but it is important! You need 7-8hrs to be at your best. Okay, it’s prob more like 5-6hrs for me but I think I have just gotten use to no/very little sleep and being mediocre in what I do…hahaha!

5. PLAN OUT YOUR EXERCISE ROUTINE

Mine is already laid out for me. I go to boot camp so I don’t worry about a routine. You may not like classes so choose what works best for you…going to the gym, running, doing a fitness video. Whatever it is, plan it out so you when it’s time to do it…you actually do it!

6. MAKE THE INVESTMENT   

Whether it be paying for a gym membership or new fitness clothes, make it! It doesn’t have to be a lot, base it off your budget. But, do make it. It will keep you feeling invested and you are more likely to stick to your workout routine.

7. FITNESS PARTNER/FRIENDS/SUPPORT GROUP

For me this was easy. I had friends that were already going so that kept me accountable!  When we wake up we text each other so we know the other is up and ready for class. However, not everyone needs a “gym buddy”, it’s just works best for me. If you don’t have someone you can workout with, ask some friends, go to the gym and make some “gym friends” or try and sign up for a class and meet some people that have some of the same fitness goals as you!

8. MODIFY IF NEEDED  

You may try something for a week and find that it just doesn’t work for your life. Don’t give up on working out, just try working out at a different time! If working out is important to you, make it a priority, you will be so thankful you did!

Hope this has helped give you some helpful ideas on how to make your fitness goal attainable!

Other helpful links to become a morning workout person:

http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/weight-loss/tips/advice/how-to-become-a-morning-workout-person/?page=5?socsrc=fitpin15062815&crlt.pid=camp.LYwV4XQuH3Ia

http://www.organizeyourselfskinny.com/2014/12/12/7-tips-to-help-you-start-a-morning-exercise-routine/

WTF?!?! Good thing that’s during naptime… I am always home during naptime! 😉