Five on Friday and Favorites!

Happy Friday!!  I'm linking up to  Erika, Andrea and Narci for some Friday Favorites!

one // I made Andrea's monster cookies the other week for John and they were a hit!  So easy to make as well, the only ingredient I didn't have on hand were the m&m's but I threw a bunch of sprinkles on top and no one was the wiser. 😉

two // I shared the cutest little valentine project yesterday.  Go check it out if you're looking for an easy adorable idea for valentine's day.

three // Keeping a clean kitchen!  Disclaimer: I don't normally clean my kitchen at night before I got to bed, i know it's awful.  But since the new year I've been trying to clean it up after dinner and either wash the dishes and put them away or at least put everything in the dishwasher, wipe the counters down and have the coffee ready to go for the morning and ya'll, wow it has been making a huge difference.  i love it! I just feel better knowing it's clean.  Now I just need to start packing my lunch up at night too, I may need to ease myself into that one 😉

four // Having an actual date night!  We don't do it often but it's so nice to get out and do some adulting!  We went last weekend with some friends and I didn't get any pics, boo!  But we went to a great restaurant called Portico, delicious food and a great atmosphere.

five // Looking forward to the weekend!  Going to the library, meal planning, getting our house cleaned, going to the gym.  I'm trying to find some good exercises to help with my herniated disk - if you have any recommendations I'd love to hear them!

Also linking up to these lovely ladies, April, Natasha, and Christina!  I adore their blogs!

Have a great weekend Friends!

Valentine Robot | An Easy DIY

Hello, hello!  I thought I would share an easy valentines DIY today.  I made these little cuties last year for my son's valentines party.  

It was so easy and the result was adorable!

Supplies you'll need:

hot glue gun

craft eyeballs

nerds candy

juice boxes

smarties

raisins

chocolate hearts

Directions:  You just hot glue it all together.  You can use the pics that I took as a guide.  I ended up putting them in the clear plastic treat bags you can get at Target, the dollar store, etc.

How cute are they!?!  I loved out they turned out!

BTW - these were definitely a Pinterest find! 😉

What's Up Wednesday | 1/25/17

Cheers to my first What's Up Wednesday post!

I'm excited to be linking up to  Mel, Sheaffer and Shay

Here we go!

1: WHAT WE'RE EATING THIS WEEK:

Quick Tikka Massala - recipe coming soon

Carolina Charm's Zuppa Toscana Soup

Salmon and greens

Shay's Chicken and Dumplings

2: WHAT I'M REMINISCING ABOUT:

This little muffin right here. 

How is he getting ready to be 4?!?!

3: WHAT I'M LOVING:

My yoga ball for work.  Hopefully it's giving me a little bit of exercise while I sit at my desk?! 

4:  WHAT WE'VE BEEN UP TO:

This past weekend we went to Discover the Dinosaurs and while the lines were out of control, John really enjoyed himself!

5:  WHAT I'M DREADING:

As you're reading this I'll be getting an epidural injection for a herniated disk in my lower back 😭. I hate needles, but I've had this herniated disk since September and I'm ready to be better.  So while the shot probably will hurt, I'm ready for some relief.

6:  WHAT I'M WORKING ON:

I really want to do this little project with John.  It spoke to my heart and I think it's such a wonderful thing to teach your children about having compassion for others.

7:  WHAT I'M EXCITED ABOUT:

Blogging again!

I've been out of the game for a while but I'm excited to get back to this creative outlet!

8:  WHAT I'M WATCHING/READING

Watching:

Victoria

I'm totally hooked on this new Masterpiece show.  

I'm a sucker for a period drama.

Reading: 

 All the Missing Girls

9:  WHAT I'M LISTENING TO:

Audio Books:

  I always listen to audio books during my commute to and from work.

What Alice Forgot

10:  WHAT I'M WEARING:

I've been loving this striped turtleneck from Target.  I've paired it with leggings, jeans and work pants.  Very versatile.  (Not a very good picture, but it's what I'm loving!)

11:  WHAT I'M DOING THIS WEEKEND:

Decorating for Valentine's Day

Swimming

Park

12: WHAT I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO NEXT MONTH:

Valentine's Day!  Every year I send my boys on a valentine's treasure hunt and it's always a fun time.

13:  WHAT ELSE IS NEW:

Nothing much really - wah-wah

Show and Tell Tuesday | Steal & Splurge

I'm so psyched to be joining this link up.   I'm linking up to Andrea and today I'm sharing how I save my family lots of money and what I think is worth the splurge.

Steals:

1.  Amazon Prime 

This is something that more than pays for itself.  You get free two day shipping, access to all kinds of videos and tv shows, you get to use Prime now, the prices are very competitive and the list could go on.  It's definitely a steal for our family.

2.  Costco membership

Again the membership more than pays for itself.  I not only use it for food, but also for the gas (lowest by far) and also for ordering pictures or large prints as well as refilling printer ink cartridges.  Love this steal for my family.

3.  Aldi's for grocery shopping  

Ya'll if you are fortunate to have an Aldi's near you totally try it out.  I can do a weeks worth of shopping for my family of three for around $60.  That includes fruit/veggies, meats, dairy, etc.  All of it!  I try to shop there as much as possible because the savings are HUGE!

4. Public Library

 Okay so this technically isn't a steal or maybe it is, but I use my public library for all of my reading material as well as getting movies and books for John, my library has a great children's section and I love to take him in and let him go crazy.  And it's completely free!  Probably saves me somewhere in the 3 figure range because I love to read!!

Splurge:

1.  Childcare

And trust me we learned the hard way.  Long story short, my husband and I both work full time so we needed full time childcare and we went with the closest one to our house.  Big mistake, lesson learned.  So when we chose the daycare that our son is at now it was for the safety, staff, curriculum, and bonus they provide food for our son.  So while it's the more expensive it's worth every penny!

2.  Gym membership

We pay a decent amount for our gym membership because it has indoor family pools as well as a great outdoor pool facility that we use all the time in the summer.  Plus they have an amazing kidzone that we can use if we want to drop John off and go work out.  (we rarely use that though). 

3.  Target trips (vacation)

 Oh man, I don't splurge on one thing per se but more just everything.  You've heard the story a million times, you walk in with two things on your list and $120 later you walk out with 6 bags full of things you didn't realize you needed.  Target is an evil genius.   

4.  Starbucks

Do I really need to pay $5 for a coffee?  No I don't, but I do anyway.  I have no reason for justifying either, I just do.

#truth

My Picky Eater | Cauliflower Pizza

Happy Monday friends!  I have a confession to make - I have a 3 1/2 year old who is a picky eater (sigh).

A resolution that I didn't include in my last post is trying new recipes for my toddler to try and sneak in nutrition where I can.

A little background, my picky eater has a set of foods that he sticks to and kind of refuses to try new things.  His list includes, chicken nuggets, pizza, fish sticks, fruit (not all but some), corn, eggs.  Those are the main foods that he'll eat for dinner.  Sometimes I have had luck with noodles but rarely.

In an effort to broaden his palet, I made cauliflower pizza.  Now, I made this about a year or so ago and he ate it!!!!   I was over the moon because he ate cauliflower.  If you haven't seen the cauliflower pizza, here's the link to the recipe I used.  So fast forward to this past weekend and I made the pizza again.  I also made two naan pizzas for the grown ups, super easy and so delicious!!

The result:  he refused to eat the cauliflower pizza, he said it was yucky. 😒😒😒  But on a positive note he ate half of one of the naan pizza's.

Kid: 1

Mom: 0

I'm okay with this because I have some tricks up my sleeve still.  I'm also okay with it because my son gets different things at daycare.  His daycare provides breakfast, lunch and snacks and they are healthy and diverse, which is so great!  #hallelujah

Questions for you:  do you have a picky eater?  What do you feed them?  Have you been able to get them to eat anything new?

Workin' It Wednesdays

I am beyond thrilled to be participating in the Workin' It Wednesdays link up!  I've been reading Erika and Shays blogs for a while now and have been itching to participate.

The first topic of the year is New Year's Goals.  
Every year my husband and I sit down on New Year's Eve and look at the list we made the year before and then create a new one.  These are usually items related to our home, finances and family.

2017 Goals for us:
Lose weight (shocking and revolutionary!)
Finish getting new windows for our house (boring!)
Family vacation to somewhere warm in the Spring (this one is going to be fun!)
New cars (this will be a fun one too!)

I believe we have a few more on the list but they are obviously not good enough ones for me to remember.

2017 Goals for me:
Blog, blog, blog - I love to read blogs and I used to love to actually blog.  I got away from it when I became pregnant with my son because life got busy and I let it slide.  I really enjoy blogging though and this is something I plan on getting back into.
Reading - oh man, this was a goal last year and I'm proud of what I accomplished, I read way more than I thought I would and will keep this up in 2017.
Devotional time - I was completely inspired by Shay and her One Year Bible.  So much so that I asked for the One Year Bible for Christmas and am planning to read through it this year.  I even told a girlfriend about it and she is going to do it with me, we'll keep each other in check and discuss periodically what we're reading.
Get Active - I said last year that I would love to be more active, find something that I love to do whether it's yoga, cycling, tennis, just something to get me moving other than my toddler. ;)
New recipes - this is a goal that I have for myself every year.  I want to mix up the same old week night meals with some new ones.  So far I've tried two new recipes from Shays cookbook and they were both winners!
Save more money - oh man, I am really going to focus on saving this year.  Life can get crazy and hectic and away from me but I am planning on prioritizing and really setting a good budget to save more.

The last goal is my biggest goal: PURGE - oh my goodness do we have some stuff and it's taking over my life!  I want to get rid of things that I know I don't need and/or will never use again.  From old bills and magazines to clothes and household items, this year will be the year of the Purge for me.

So there are my 2017 goals....so far.....I'm sure there will be more added to list later.