good for the planet and fun for kids

My sister introduced me to the world of Green Toys. Green Toys makes children's toys constructed from 100% recycled plastic. Why is that important? It helps reduce fossil fuel use and reduces greenhouse gas emissions, improving the overall health and happiness of the planet! Plus, they are made in the USA and they do not contain BPA. Yay for all of that! For more info on how the toys are made you can go here. Also, I just noticed that they recently introduced Green Eats, tableware for kids. Cool! So far we have two of the toy vehicles, but I would love to add more things to our collection. You can shop through them online or they are at a lot of retailers like Amazon, Barnes & Nobel, Pottery Barn Kids and more.

my star

My little star

Lots of things to post about this week! Stay tuned!

watch it

This video was emailed to me by my awesome friend Lauren W. with a note saying, "Watch this, it takes 20 minutes. Find the time." (I love my friends that tell me what to do because they know I might get too busy). I watched it. I kind of breezed through the first part not connecting fully, but by the end I had shed a few tears with the connection I made. I laugh too because Lauren and I have a lot of similarities, but I think we connected in totally different ways. Which makes me realize that this is a great video for all kinds of women and mothers. I watched it late at night with my headphones in so I would not be distracted.

my new favorite place

Today I went to a Lakeshore Learning Store because I wanted to get something to help my son learn how to tie his own shoes. When I walked in it was like the clouds parted and the birds were singing. Why hadn't I ever been there before? So much color and so much stuff, especially for crafts! I was in heaven. I could not believe all the things that they had that I had looked so hard for in the past. Some things are not in my price range because they are for the classroom, but there were still a lot of things that I wanted to take home. So great! I did find the manipulative to tie shoes and some preschool scissors, which are hard to find. I can't wait to go back to get more.

update

Remeber this post? Well I tried the oatmeal and it was good!! When I first opened it, it looked watery, but by the time I stirred it, it had plumped up and was so tasty!

I was really curious about the nutrition info, so I looked online:

(Click on it to see it bigger)

and the ingredients:

I thought it would be really bad, but it wasn't. I think it's an acceptable breakfast when you are on the go!

this and that

Since I can't afford to try this (but want to):

I am going to try this instead:

And since I can't afford to go do this:

I am going to do this instead:

I can't wait to tell you how it all turns out. Fingers crossed! I need some firming on my facial skin and some major whitening on my teeth!

it's friday

I am a busy bee with not enough time to get anything done! Laundry, calendars, homework, soccer schedules....I am drowning in stuff. So glad it's Friday so we can have some fun too.

Hoping you have a wonderful weekend!

better eating

After my daughter was born I was really into cooking healthy meals for my family. Meals with lots of veggies and good ingredients. I monitored the foods we brought into the house and kept juice boxes and gummy snacks for special treats outside of our home. But after my son was born and our lives became more stressed financially, I lost the drive and the dedication it takes to meal plan and to really pay attention to what we were eating. I noticed that certain types of snacks were sneaking in my house and we would eat a lot of frozen meals. Mostly due to time, money and stress eating. But I'm getting back on my old path slowly, making sure that we are cooking dinners at home Mon-Fri. We are staying clear of frozen food and trying new healthy recipes. I am also starting to read up on nutrition and wholesome foods. I am currently reading this book Simple Food for Busy Families. I have been skimming the book so far but I am ready to dive into their whole life nutrition approach. It's less of a cookbook and more of a guide. I want to start integrating some of the ingredients they talk about. First up will be the Basic Hummus Recipe for my one-year-old. After that I might explore the world of grain and beans more. And I definitely want to try making one of their fruit cobblers.

i sing loudly

I got a review copy of the Kids Bop 19. I have to tell you that I like it A LOT. First run I was like, "this is cute." By the second run I was picking MY favorite songs and literally dancing in the car. I love it. But what I love most, is that I don't have to worry about what song is going to come on next and if the lyrics are appropriate. I'm addicted and the kids love to have their own special cd to groove to in the car. If you want to hear snippets of the songs you can go to the website!

friendly favs

Today's Favs are brought to us by my friend Vanessa, who always has great taste! She had some nifty new gadgets the last time I saw her so I asked her to be a guest blogger and share some of her newest favs. Enjoy!

1. McDonald's Oatmeal! Who would've thought, right!? I grabbed this on the morning of our move (since we had NO food in the pantry) and let me say, it did NOT disappoint! I would normally NEVER (and I mean never) grab breakfast at McDonald's, but I'm totally hooked on this oatmeal, now! It would be totally easy to eat in the car, too. Pretty sure it comes in at 4.5 grams of fat and 290 calories; not too bad :)

2. Ikea's Smaland!! Up to one-hour of FREE childcare!!! Need I say more!?!? Really, I dropped Hailey off one day last week and went and casually browsed up and down every aisle of the store (I was tempted to even just sit in the cafe and sip on a cup of coffee!)! She had a blast, too! During my browse session, it got me thinking if there's a limit as to how often I can drop her off??? You can darn well put your money on it that some mom, somewhere is abusing the "free" childcare ;)

3. Boon Spoon: Easy to clean, easy to use, easy, easy, easy!

4. The Miracle Blanket. This puppy is not called the "miracle" blanket for nothing! Two kids later, I've tried EVERY swaddle blanket known to man (or moms, get it??) and this one is by far, the BEST! Justin and I joke that it's kind of borderline a baby straightjacket, but oddly enough, our babies have loved it (and so has every other baby we've recommended it to)! The best part is that it is now sold at Babies R Us.

Thanks Vanessa. Now I have to go to McDonalds in the morning and try the Oatmeal...no seriously!