My Little Pilot

March 21, 2012 By 14 Comments

Mister has a vivid imagination and always talks about flying airplanes because he thinks Daddy flies airplanes (Hubs works on F15’s) and he aspires to be just like Daddy.

Sister plays dress up all the time (i.e. her ballerina costume and such) and Mister has often said, “I wish I could dress up,”  which got me to thinking about boys costumes and dress up clothes.  When I found a Child Junior Armed Forces Pilot Costume on WholesaleCostumeClub and HAD to have it for him.

He was ECSTATIC when I opened the costume and gave it to him.  He immediately climbed into the jumpsuit and put the helmet on.   Child Junior Armed Forces Pilot Costume

He has worn it for a little while nearly every day since I gave it to him.

Child Junior Armed Forces Pilot Costume

Fortunately for me, it is well constructed and the washing instructions are simple (machine wash cold with like colors).  It’s a little big in the arm and leg length (he’s a 4T, and it’s a size 4-6), but he doesn’t seem to care.  He loves  “flying” outside in it.

Wholesale Costume Club is new concept in costume shopping. It is the only costume website that lets you purchase costumes at wholesale club member or non-member prices that are below the lowest retail prices you’ll find on any other online costume store.  You don’t even need to be a member, although for a very low $5 fee you can become a member and save even more.

When you shop Wholesale Costume Club, you will see the retail value of the costume, the non-member price, and the member price and then you decide at checkout what price you want to pay.

Wholesale Costume Club

They offer flat rate shipping of $5.99 (standard US ground) no matter how big your order.  Expedited shipping is just $6.99.

Check out Wholesale Costume Club on Facebook for special sales and savings year round, because costumes aren’t just for Halloween!  I plan on checking out their other occupational costumes for the kids.

***I received a product sample to facilitate this review.  All opinions, and cute kid pilot, are my own.***

Filed Under: Life in General, Reviews, Shopping, Toys Tagged With: , , ,

Avocado Baby Food

February 1, 2012 By 26 Comments

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Avocados from Mexico for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Did you know that babies can eat avocado?  When my kids were babies, I made their baby food, and some of their favorites included avocado.  The awesome thing about avocado in baby food is that it doesn’t have to be cooked. That made it so easy to throw into various recipes.  And because babies need a fair amount of fat in their diet, for brain development, I loved that they could get good fat from avocados. 

We frequently used Avocados from Mexico in our recipes, and I was thinking about the avocado baby food recipe’s I’d used and sent a friend some virtual avocado slices to ask if she had tried them with her son yet…

I thought I would share a couple of the avocado baby food recipes that we used, and my kids loved. 

Banana- Avocado Mash

Cut an avocado in half, remove the pit, and cut the meat out. Mash the meat with a fork, then mash a banana and add to the avocado mash.

You can use a blender, or food processor, to puree to desired consistency, but my little ones just loved it if I put it in one of those mesh baby food strainers for them to eat from. 

Baby Guac

Cut an avocado in half, remove the pit, and cut the meat out.  Mash the meat with a fork, set aside. 

Place a 1/4 cup Cheerios in a zipper bag, and crush  them.  Add plain yogurt and crushed cheerios to the avocado mash, until desired consistency.  You can add spices (i.e. garlic) to season, but my kids liked it without the spices.

Sweet Potato-cado Mash

1 small sweet potato (can substitute butternut squash puree if desired)
1 avocado, peeled

Bake the sweet potato in its skin until tender (30-45 minutes, depending on size and oven temp).
Cool, then remove the flesh from the skin and mash with the avocado.

My kids loved these recipes.  Of course, they get their avocado love from their mama!

Show your love for Avocados from Mexico at I love avocados on Facebook and on Twitter with @guacgrl

Visit Sponsor's Site

Filed Under: Life in General, On the Menu Tagged With: , ,

My Amazon Wish List

January 31, 2012 By 19 Comments

One of my all time favorite shopping sites is Amazon. One of the reasons I really enjoy Amazon is the Amazon Wish List feature.  I am always adding to and deleting things from my list.

And today, I LOVE my Amazon Wish List!!

My Amazon Wish List

You can buy just about anything on Amazon, from chocolate covered fruit to boxer shorts to camera lenses. It is my “I’d like to have this some day… but don’t have the money, or don’t need it, right now list. Over the last few months, I’ve added quite a few kitchen goodies to my wish list. I fully intended to by them for myself. Someday.

My husband used my list to shop for my birthday, before I had a chance!

Included in my birthday gifts were…

A set of two Norpro Nonstick Mini Tortilla Bowl Makers, a set of two Chicago Metallic Non-Stick Large Tortilla Shell Pans, a Wilton Perfect Results 3 Piece Springform Set, two Farberware Nonstick Muffin Tins, two Cuisinart Cake Pans, and a Norpro Ice Cream Sandwich Maker.

Just look at the kitchen gadget love!!!

I love my new kitchen goodies. Of course, I love Hubs, the sweet purchaser of all my new baking goodies, even more. What a birthday loot!

Of course, he had to be cute in the way he gave me the gifts. First he gave me a small bag (with the ice cream sandwich maker) and a card. After I’d opened it, he said, “Oh wait, I forgot something…” and left the room and returned with a medium sized bag. It had the tortilla shell pans in it. Then he said, “Hold on, I forgot something else…” and left again. He returned with a large bag, which held the rest of my goodies.

Love. That. Man.

I bought myself a flour sifter and a candy thermometer.

My kitchen is HOOKED UP!

 

Filed Under: Life in General Tagged With: , ,

Birthday Outlook

January 31, 2012 By 14 Comments

It’s been a while since I’ve used birthday candles on my cakes, but if I did, I’d want one as cute as this (and flameless, lest I should set off any alarms)…

Source: ikatbag.com via Emily on Pinterest

 

So, 36 just sneaked right up and bonked me on the head.

I honestly didn’t think about the fact that it is my birthday until I opened my Facebook page and saw the deluge of warm wishes from family and friends!   I couldn’t help but smile as the emails, texts, phone calls, and Facebook wishes rolled in.  Thanks, ya’ll!

It made me think of past birthdays.

When it comes down to it, age really is just a number.

25 sucked because I expected it to suck. It was one of the most miserable years of my life. I got what I expected.

Then, I started expecting more. 30 was awesome. I’d just married my best friend, and knew it was going to be a great year. It was.

35 was even better.
What matters is outlook.

EYE Glasses

I’ve often heard, “You get what you ask for…” and “Come expecting…”

I am doing just that.

Should Jesus tarry, I expect it to be my best year yet!

What age did you like being the most? What age did you like being the least?

Filed Under: Life in General Tagged With: ,

Resolution Rewind with Trop50 plus Visa Giveaway

January 30, 2012 By 197 Comments

Did you know that statistically, over 40% of the people who set New Years Resolutions abandon them within the first thirty days?  As I mentioned in a a previous post, Resolutions or Goals, I tend to set SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-targeted) goals rather than resolutions.

I also mentioned that one of my goals was a revamp of this site.  As you can see, I’ve accomplished that (with a little help from my friend Greg).  Now that January is almost over, and I thought it would be fun to take a look at goals again.  But before I do, I thought I’d ask, do you know what the top 10 resolutions for 2012 were?  I do…

  1. Lose Weight
  2. Get Organized
  3. Spend Less, Save More
  4. Enjoy Life to the Fullest
  5. Staying Fit and Healthy
  6. Learn Something Exciting (New)
  7. Quit Smoking
  8. Help Others in Their Dreams
  9. Fall in Love
  10. Spend More Time with Family
    I thought it was interesting that more people resolved to lose weight than resolved to spend more time with their families.  Hopefully, all the plus size resolution makers are already spending time with their families, and their families (and a desire for health) is what prompted that goal.

I don’t know.

imageTropicana Trop50, a juice beverage that offers fruit juice goodness with 50% less sugar and fewer calories and NO artificial sweeteners, is celebrating the real reasons behind New Year’s resolutions with their Trop50 True Resolutions campaign on Facebook.  Some of the resolutions are serious (i.e. I want to lose weight, I want to give up chocolate—what?—I want to get fit, I want to get a new job, etc, etc) and some of them are downright funny.

Share your secret motivation on the Trop50 Facebook Page and you’ll earn a coupon for $1 off Trop50 for yourself and 50¢ off coupons for up to 50 of your friends. You can even submit incognito with a fierce disguise. Bonus: Whether you submit a resolution or not, you can also enter a sweepstakes for a chance to win a $1000 gift card!

In 2012, we (Hubs and I) want to… Be more creative with our kids.  You’ve seen (in the last few days) where creativity can take us, and frankly, we like it.  We get a kick out of doing projects with them, and whether painting or baking, they enjoy it, too.  We want our kids to look back one day and say, “Mom and Dad took time.”

 


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    Good luck, with the contest and your resolutions!
Filed Under: Giveaways, Life in General Tagged With: , , ,
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