MAKE NEW FINDS, BUT KEEP THE OLD...

...ONE IS SILVER AND THE OTHER'S GOLD.

i've also heard it said, "out with the old, in with the new," but it just doesn't apply to these things.

we have some old stand-bys, but it is also fun to find some new things along the way.

FINDS FOR YOUR EYES AND EARS

eric carle or karen katz books will always remain constants at our house,

but thanks to a few experienced "boy mom" recommendations

graham's new favorites are dinosaurs love underpants and little blue truck.

and adelaide's current reading obsession is anything by kevin henkes.

FIND FOR YOUR MOUTH

i have grown up on good ol' cinnamon toast

(spread butter on bread, sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar, and toast),

but recently i discovered the pioneer woman's way to make cinnamon toast

(melt butter in a bowl, mix in cinnamon, sugar, and a splash of vanilla, spread all on bread and toast)

and i will never be the same.

FIND FOR YOUR SANITY

when it comes to little hands successfully getting stickers off the sticker page

i just discovered a huge tip (thank you emily):

peel off all the extra background part for them ahead of time

and then they can peel the stickers off so much easier themselves.

FIND FOR FINGERS AND TOES

i discovered essie nail polish a few summers ago and there has been no turning back.

while i still love my regular sized bottles of my favorite colors,

these mini sample packs are perfection for being able to try several different shades.

so far, i have found them on amazon and at nordstrom.

WHAT ARE YOUR RECENT SOLID GOLD FINDS?

A FEW OF MY FAVORITES...

i recently experienced my first FAVORITE THINGS party,

and it instantly became one of my FAVORITE nights.

i am thankful for time with these girls every few months. 

we usually grab dessert somewhere around town, 

but on this particular night we met at our house to share our FAVORITES. 

it was a collaborate effort and came together in such fun ways.

each friend grabbed a number from the tree and a question to answer
(the number drawn was the order we told about our FAVORITE thing).
we each brought four of the same item that we love,

and four of our friends would receive our item.

we put our own name in the bowl four times to be drawn for
four different FAVORITE things our friends brought.

 we used the FAVORITE striped paper straws to sip our drinks.

 

and dined on our friends' FAVORITE snack foods and desserts.

we also brought our FAVORITE baby item

for a surprise shower for an already dearly loved baby.

i love sharing my own current FAVORITE products from time to time.
this special bonus edition includes many others FAVORITE finds too, enjoy!

here are our FAVORITES in the order they were given:

williams-sonoma dishtowel with sweet paper baking cups
to dry dishes faster and no clean up cupcake or muffin baking (cook in cups directly on cookie sheet) 

lavendar vanilla pillow mist from bath and body works
to relax anytime you need to

origins sheer smileworthy lip tint in sugar cane or raw honey
to brighten up your face and look like you put some makeup on

watercolor scarf from target
to add variety to your wardrobe, came complete with a scarf tutorial

moleskine journal and colored sharpie colored pens
to make list-making and journaling more fun

pair of glam girl tweezers from sally's beauty supply and hair ties from easy
to make you smile while tweezing and snaz up ponytail hair

dishtowel with built-in hot pads
to simplify cooking in a genius way

coin purse from charming charlies

to easily grab when you don't want to take the whole diaper bag somewhere

latte bowl from anthropologie nd bright crawlers sour gummy worms
to use for serving dips, eating cereal or ice cream, or setting out a fave candy

what is your FAVORITE (under $10) item?

SPRING FLINGS...

thanks to birthday and easter TREATS,

i have several new SPRING FAVES.

please TAKE NOTE of the following:

fling on your fingers and toes-
ESSIE NAIL POLISH IN SPRING COLORS

this is my new favorite brand thanks to how smooth it goes on.

specifically these colors: 1st place- peach daiquiri,

runner-up clambake, and best non-traditional shade- absolutely shore.

all can be found at cvs or target.

fling on your desk-
KNOCK KNOCK NOTEPADS

i used to have the EAT pad, and planned our weekly menu on it until the pages ran out.

i've been given the two pictured recently and love them both, so practical AND fun.

available at anthropologie and online.

fling on your feet-
THESE ADORABLE SLIPPERS

the just right amount of coziness, not too hot for spring weather, 

and a steal!

fling on your fridge-
SCRABBLE MAGNETS FOR A GREAT CAUSE

these were actually given as a gift to the kids,

but evan and i have just as much fun rearranging them as they do.

 

fling on your gifts-
DOODLEBUG PAPERS

i am loving the bright designs and quailty products from this store.

these easter stickers came from doodlebug and so did cute waterproof labels for the kids' sippy cups.

fling on your lips and in your purse-
EOS LIP  BALM

kelly is in the know, because she's who told me about this and the clambake color nail polish.

but before i found it at a store the easter bunny put some in my basket!

this lip balm goes on so smooth and lasts wonderfully.

fling in your backyard-

BUBBLES OOODLES

oh how these teeny-tiny bubbles, and the ease of blowing them,

brings smiles across all of our faces.

fling in your mouth-

DREYER'S CREAMY COCONUT FRUIT BARS

i keep checking the nutrition content because it just doesn't seem possible

there are only 3 grams of fat and 120 calories in something so delish.

NOW IT'S YOUR TURN.

what else should make the list?

SHOW US WHERE YOU LIVE FRIDAY, KITCHEN EDITION...

i've said it before, but i love recurring events.
so here i go again, as i join kelly's korner, "SHOW US WHERE YOU LIVE FRIDAY!"

last friday the tour highlighted kitchens so i'd like to welcome you to my KITCHEN.
the first view is walking in from the dining room,
the second view is coming in from the den,
and the final view is taken from the laundry room.


while we were looking for a place to be our new address in houston,
i fell in love with this house immediately. i know a big reason for that was this kitchen.
i love the cabinets, and the counter tops, and the backsplash, and the shutters, and the storage capacity, and the deep sink, and the windows, and the shutters, and the hidden dishwasher, and pretty much every thing about it. the only big change we made was paint. green is my favorite color and the kitchen is my favorite room so it was an obvious choice to pair the two. the shade of green we chose is called "seedling" and i originally fell in love with it on the pages of a pottery barn catalog.

as much as i love my current kitchen i haven't always cooked in such a personal dream kitchen. during our first days of marriage i had to pull open the kitchen drawers to use as cooling racks for hot pans of food because there wasn't enough counter space. we came awfully close to having to wash several big pots and pans in the bathtub instead of our little sink. and the dishwashers definitely had names.

however, regardless of the aesthetic value of any given kitchen, i always enjoy time spent in this room. i've come to realize that is partly because of some of my favorite things that can be found there.

MENU BOARD

my aunt and uncle made this for us as a housewarming gift. i'd seen similar ones in magazines and catalogs but never wanted to spend the money on it, so you can imagine my delight when they offered to make me one using incredible heavy old chalkboard from a classroom and a frame they found at a garage sale. i loved the finished product. i enjoy making a plan for our week's dinner on sunday or monday and trying to get all the ingredients with one big trip to the grocery store each week. it's helped us eat at home more than we used to and helped us avoid the frustrating conversation of "what's for dinner tonight?"

VINTAGE SALT AND PEPPER SHAKERS

i know i was officially a part of evan's family when i received these green glass shakers as a gift from my mother-in-law. i'd admired similar ones at his parents' house and his grandparents' house many times, so opening up a set of my own was a dream come true. they make me smile with every shake.

TEA TOWELS AND APRONS

some of my favorite kitchen items are made out of fabric. over the years i have gathered quite the collection of tea towels, aprons, and placemats too (more pictured below). some of them are funky, some are classic, some are feminine, and some are just practical, but i love them all and use them all. lots.

BAKING SUPPLIES

i've had to practice a lot to become even a decent cook, but baking has always come a little easier to me. a few of my favorite supplies for baking are my beloved black kitchen aid mixer, the oxo angled liquid measuring cup (makes perfect measurements easy), vanilla flavoring (which i never measure- the more the better), cookie cutters (for sugar cookies, sandwiches, cheeses, and more), a good cutting board and rolling pin, and wilton icing colors (much more vibrant than regular food coloring, can buy at michaels).

WARING PRO WAFFLE MAKER

we received this as a wedding present. as a self-proclaimed belgium waffle conoussier i know a perfect waffle when i find it and this machine helps me get closer to perfection every time. it takes me back to the days of making waffles at college in "the bean" or pouring my own batter onto a machine at any hotel continental breakfast. only better, because i get to do it with my own homemade waffle batter in my own home.

BLACK AND DECKER FOOD CHOPPER

my grandparents gave this to us at a wedding shower. i'm embarrassed to say i didn't even open it out of the box for over a year. until one day when we needed to chop pecans for a recipe and evan remembered we had a chopping contraption somewhere and was determined to use it. the rest is history. after using it once it has become one of our best friends. it chops vegetables, fruit, nuts, eggs, meats, and anything else we need. i just plug it in and push the button. how was dinner ever ready in time before this?

DISHES AND PLACE SETTINGS

finally, some of my favorite kitchen things are dishes. to the left is our china. i love its simple elegance. it is fancy enough for a nice meal, but not too fancy to actually use. below are some of our "everyday dishes." i enjoy mixing and matching the different colors together to create place settings for different seasons and meals.

this pictures shows our true "everyday dishes!" i love melamine, hard plastic, dishes. every morning at breakfast you can find me eating cereal out of one of my flower bowls that are still standing strong from my college dorm days. i'll be drinking room temperature water from some huge cup (like this tervis tumbler). adelaide will be sitting next to me eating and drinking from her own hard plastic dishes. she has quite a collection already. she comes by it honestly.

next stop, the LIVING ROOM (coming soon).

PRODUCT JUNKIE, BABY EDITION...

it's been over a year since my first edition of "product junkie." i had grand plans to do more from time to time, but it seems i forgot all about them. that is until this week. i was sitting at MOPS listening to announcements. "for our last meeting of the year their will be a gift exchange. each mom is supposed to bring a little something that makes life as a mom easier..." as i heard those words i suddenly remembered that i started a list on that same topic once upon a time. so here i am, finally sharing my top ten list of baby items, ranging from newborn essentials to toddler necessities.


swaddlers-
these diapers are worth every penny. i know there are others that are a little cheaper, but nothing held in the wet and the gross quite as well. once akm graduated from swaddlers i thought i would buy cruisers but she has less leaks in the regular pampers for some reason, so that is what we use now.






mustela wash and lotion-
i had never heard of this stuff until we received it as a baby gift (thanks megan!) evan and i both immediately fell in love with the scent. it just smells so clean and perfectly baby-like. plus it has never irritated her skin.







madame alexander baby huggums-
affectionately known as baby julie, or "bebe jee" at our house. grandmama gave this doll to adelaide on her first easter. it is a perfect first baby doll. it is the right size for holding, has soft arms and legs, and is so squeezable. there are several other versions of baby huggums that are appropriate for her at each age as she grows. adelaide received the next bigger one for christmas and it is still a great size for her to carry around on her own but has hard plastic arms and legs making it a little more like a "big girl doll." i love the sweet faces on these dolls.



diaper champ-
i know there are other good diaper pails out there but this one worked so well for us. i love that it just uses regular trash bags (you don't have to buy special refills for it). i love that i can operate it with one hand (especially when i was holding the baby girl in my other arm). and best of all i love that it kept the stank inside it's plastic shell. as the diapers have gotten bigger, it now only holds the wet diapers and the dirty ones go immediately outside to the big dumpster. but i still think it works well for the job.





diapees and wipees-
there are lots of different diaper pouches to choose from, but this is the only one i've ever used so i'm partial to it. i didn't realize at first how handy it would be. i keep a travel case of wipes, 2-4 diapers, and desitin in it at all times. when we are out and about it is so nice to open the diaper bag and pull out everything i need for a change all at once. at a restaurant i don't have to lug the whole diaper bag to the restroom i just carry this. and now when we are getting out for a quick errand i often times just throw this in my purse and leave her diaper bag at home.




oxi clean-
the baby oxi clean was the best at geting out spit up and blowout stains. it saved many outfits that i thought for sure would just have to be thrown away. i had never used any of these products before akm was born, but now it's second nature to throw a scoop of the regular powder in most of our loads. it makes our whites brighter and everything seem fresher. i use the liquid spray and it gets most stains out on the first try. for the tougher stains i soak the clothes in a bowl of water mixed with the powder overnight and it almost always does the trick.


bebe au lait nursing cover (aka: "the hooter hider")
hello, best friend. back in my nursing days this was my essential accessory. it is like an apron but better. the neck strap is adjustable so you can position it exactly where you need it. then along the top there is a wired rim that holds the fabric just far enough away from you so you can look down and check on the baby's positioning but others don't have that same view. and as an added bonus there is even a built-in burp cloth on the bottom corner. plus they come in the cutest fabrics.



fresh baby food trays-
while i definitely don't think making baby food is a necessity to being a good mom, i thought it sounded like fun to try cooking for miss priss and i enjoyed doing it. when we traveled she ate store-bought food but at home she ate food that i made using recipes from wholesomebaby. it turned out to be less expensive than buying it and fairly easy. i pureed her food in the blender then froze it into cubes until she was ready to eat them. these trays were wonderful for freezing 1 ounce cubes so i knew exactly how much she was eating each time, and the frozen product came out of the trays much easier than regular ice cube trays.


the snack trap-
it is a snack cup with an amazing lid. the lid allows little fingers to squeeze through and pull out bites of the snack for self-feeding, but when the cup is turned upside down the lid holds the food inside instead of spilling out. i did learn the hard way that cheerios are too small and will come tumbling out, but goldfish, wheat chex, cheese cubes, etc. work great!



praise baby and baby signing time-

these two dvd series are adelaide's favorite (and ours). she enjoyed praise baby long before she liked baby einstein and we love the praise music that accompanies it. as for baby signing time, the girl would watch it from the time she woke up until the time she goes to bed if i would let her. she signs along with it, sings along with it, and loves it with all her heart.




now it's your turn:
what are some of your favorite baby products?
and if you were me, what would you take to MOPS for a $5 mom treat?