Aquatic Sensory Bin

During a rare nap by all 3 of my kids I decided to throw together a sensory bin for my 3 year old since we have had numerous days in a row with rain.  He spent hours playing with this one!

Aden & Anais Crib Sheets!

How many times have you purchased crib sheets and wash them a million times only to find out that they are not soft and will never be soft?  I feel like i've spent a small fortune trying to find soft sheets for my little guy.  He loves his Aden and Anais dream blanket and security blankets that he sleeps with them under his face.  I almost died when I saw that Aden & Anais just came out with their super soft fabric in a crib sheet!  Now they are super expensive for sheets (I mean all their other stuff is expensive), but it's worth it right?? 
Below is the link to Amazon.com where you can purchase these sheets!  My credit card is already out!
Aden & Anais organic sheets via Amazon

Perfection!

Kate Middleton is perfection in my mind.  She looks so stunning in this Orla Kiely dress.  I just love everything she wears and how she carries herself.  Just lovely!  Photo from People.com

Keep Calm...

Gosh it's been a long time since I last blogged.  Between dinner parties (in which I didn't take pictures of any food I made...dang), a husband being out of town, selling a house, planning a move across the country I just haven't had any time.
I did come across this great saying online.  I love all these "Keep Calm" sayings, but this one takes the cake.  Next time I get stressed out I'll try to channel Kate and hopefully get through it with poise!
Happy Friday!

Get curly hair from a sock?

Okay I was very skeptical (and excited) at first when I read how you can get curls without a curling iron...The best part...you do it overnight.  This is great for busy mom's like me who shower at night since our children get up at an ungodly hour.
All you so is steal your husbands dress sock and cut a hole in the toe.  Roll the sock so it makes a ring (similar to a hair band).  Put your hair in a super high (like on top of your head) pony tail.  Spritz hair with water so it's damp but not wet and slide your pony tail through the sock bun.  Start at the tip of your hair and roll your hair under the sock bun until you get all your hair in the sock.  This will make a bun on the top of your head that you sleep in...It won't come out...I swear!
Here is where I found the idea and she has a great video for all you visual readers:
Curly Hair from a sock
Day 1 of the sock bun experiment: Big fail.  Although my hair did get volume the curls lasted about 1 hour and they weren't pretty curls...looked like birds nest...This was of course totally my fault so i'm not giving up.  I still have hope!  Someday my hair will look like this:

New Years Eve Dinner

Happy New Year!!!  Steak, mushrooms, and crab legs (not pictured) prepared by my husband!

Kids Art Display

Since my son has been in "school" we have aquired a lot of art pieces on our fridge.  To free up some space we headed to Home Depot to find a solution to the clutter.  We simply bought a curtain rod and curtain clips, installed it on the wall in his play room and put up his artwork.  So easy and looks great in a play room.

Little dog vs Big dog

My 20lb dog stealing my 110lb dogs bed...

I won, I won, I won!!!

It has been so long since I won something, but last week I entered to win a Rachel Ray Baking Dish on Heather Christo's blog (fantastic blog by the way).  I was so excited to find a box on my front porch with my new blue Rachel Ray Baking dish.  I can't wait to use it!!!

Fall is here!

Just a few pictures at my attempt to be crafty this fall.  With my son at grandma's and grandpa's house this afternoon I was able to get pumpkins and supplies to create my front "fall scape".  Oh and two pictures of my dogs...could they be more different from each other?

Homemade Playdough

This recipe for Playdough is all over the internet.  You can find it anywhere.  I got mine from fun.familyeducation.com.  This Playdough was surprising so easy and fast to make!  I have no idea why Playdough is so fun for kids, but my son is crazy about the stuff!

Homemade Playdough
Ingedients:
1 cup water
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 cup salt
1 tablespoon cream of tartar
a few drops of food coloring
1 cup flour
Directions:
Combine water, oil, salt, cream of tartar and food coloring in a pot and turn burner on.  Heat mixture until warm.  Remove from heat and add flour.  Stir until combined.  Once cool enough to handle take out and place on parchment paper.  Kneed dough until Playdough consistency.

A Week In Review...

My week in review
2 Trips to Target
1 Trip to Walmart
3 My Gym Classes
4 Bike Rides
3 Trips to the park
2 Trips to the splash pad
3 Trips to the grocery store
1 Golf game
5 Walks around the neighborhood
Endless hours of playing outside
=1 tired mommy and 1 tired baby...

The newest member of our family...

Trying to kill time on a hot and humid Wednesday Max and I made our way over to Creative Kidstuff to play with all their toys.  After circling the store once Max comes across a shelf full of stuffed animals (mostly dogs) and pulls out a Beagle from the bottom of the pile.  He then proceeds to carry the dog around the store saying "pa, pa, pa" (puppy).  Naturally I buy the expensive animal to avoid tears (don't judge me).  Max continued to hold this "pa" the whole way home and up until lunch time.  This got me thinking what a great pet this Beagle is...He doesn't bark, bite, need to be fed, need to go out to potty and still provides my son with endless entertainment....THIS IS THE BEST PET EVER!  So now our family with 2 dogs has now been bumped up to 3 with "Pa" the Beagle.

I Left My Heart In San Francisco

I swear I will soon post some more recipes.  Between getting ready for vacation, taking vacation and coming back I haven't had much time to try new recipes. 
I had to post this picture from a recent trip to Northern California.  When my son plays in his sandbox outside I put my feet in the sand and close my eyes for just a second thinking about the beach in Carmel...

Real Housewife of New Jersey

Not only do I watch reality TV, but I also buy their cookbooks.  Let's hope Teresa cooks as well as she flips tables...

Flower Power!

Yesterday we celebrated Father's Day, my sisters birthday and my mom's birthday at my parents house.  My sister and I decided to do a "round 2" on making cupcakes.  The first round was for my dad's birthday and we made cupcakes in the shape of a golf course from the What's New Cupcake book.  This time for my mom's birthday we created these great flower cupcakes from that same book.  Here are a few pictures of how they turned out (pretty good if I do say so myself)

A great picture of the flower cupcakes

My sister and I with our cupcakes.

Date Night!!!

Friday night date night...Well after Max goes to sleep tonight.  We had a great grilled steak dinner with rosemary potatoes thanks to my husband :o)

Up next for the night is one of my favorite wines:  Louis M. Martini, which has been on sale for the past month...gotta love that!  As my friend from playgroup says "I'm in need of some vinotherapy...Pour me a drink"

And a redbox movie...True Grit!  To which my husband says it seems odd that we are drinking red wine and watching this movie.  I think it's more of a whiskey type movie...but I am definitely not a whiskey type girl (see earlier post).

I love Friday night date nights!

Weekend Recap

What a great holiday weekend!  My husband and I were able to have a much needed date night this weekend and went to Ciao Bella in Edina for dinner.  We had no idea this restaurant existed and it's part of the same people who own Zelo in the Twin Cities (which we LOVE).  The restaurant looked so similar to Zelo with art work on the walls and great local handmade food.  All their pasta is hand made and they have a lady that comes in every night to bake fresh bread!

Since we were baby-free for the night I ordered a yummy Kendall Jackson Reserve Chardonnay...

Here's me enjoying my glass of wine...

We started out with of course Calamari.  These were the largest Calamari rings I think we have ever had.  They also had a citrus aoli sauce that was superb!

Then I ordered Linguine with Sea Bass, Salmon, Ahi Tuna in a red sauce.  What I love about this restaurant is that not only can you get a 3oz glass of wine, but you can get a half plate of food.  The half plate is pretty much exactly the perfect amount of food for me.

After dinner we headed off to see Cirque Du Soleil's new show OVO.  I think I held my breath about a hundred times during the show.  I'm pretty sure that all the performers are made of rubber!  It was such a great memorable show!

The next morning it was time to dust off the golf clubs and shoes and get out all the golf balls!  The first golf game of the summer was Sunday in Stillwater with my family.  Last year it was so humid and hot it was so nice to golf in 60 degree weather and not get off the course dripping in sweat.  Although I did not golf the greatest game it was so nice to know the snow is gone and it's time to golf!

And Monday I spend the day with my two favorite people...

My son the artist

Yes he's only one and yes i'm his mother so i'll love any arts and craft thing he does, but I think we have an artist on our hands...This was his first attempt at finger painting on a wet rainy day at home.  He was in heaven in his diaper on the floor getting messy with paints...

Pedicure and Cookies

Last weekend I had a much needed girls night (bridal shower) where we got pedicures, saw Bridesmaids and had dinner.  I was so excited to have my first pedicure before the summer that I picked the brightest pinky coral color I could find:

I then come home to find these sitting on the counter:

Yes those are chocolate chunk cookies my husband made while I was out for the night!  Isn't he the best?!?!?!?