Little Visitors.....

We had some cute little guests the other night......

Believe it or not we have never gotten our girls together to "play".....they were insta buddies! 

Like two peas in a pod...with matching Popsicle faces and static charged hair.

  Isn't it so great to be a kid....when you can sport that look with style. :)

This photo says it all....."B's" micheveous little smile.....my concerned face....Baby "C's" look of utter annoyance.  She was just a little infatuated.

*I am sorry Heather!  I am sure this photo gives you just a little anxiety :).  

After this photo opp we decided it best that little "B" and little "C" have a "Little" break from each other. 

 They played and played and played....

And what goes up, must come down......

Thanks for bringing them down Heather.  They had a blast!

Fab Find Friday

My girls are loving these toys.......

http://justb-byou.com/toys/curious/sugar-chute/

It started with a gift for my nephew.  I found this fun line of toys at Target.  Affordable (most under 20 bucks)....cute....unique....SCORE.  

He opened it up and it was quickly the favorite toy in the room.  With all of the kids!  All of the cousins eight and under were fighting over it.  

There is always a little satisfaction felt when you pick out a good toy.  An internal fist bump :).  One of those toys that don't get tossed aside for the next big thing.....this was one of them.  They even come with a little booklet of hilarious Kidism's for the adults enjoyment.  

After the warm reception I decided to buy one for B's birthday.  Only problem I have seen so far is the battle between the girls.  I am quickly realizing that I have to buy two of things these days.

I never understood the "two of everything" phenomenon until I had the two girls.  Same gender, close in age....you should automatically invest in two.

Funny enough, my girls are fighting over the "doco set" (as "B" calls it) right now, as I am blogging about it :).  

After the popularity of the first toy I thought I would try another one of their toys for Indiana's birthday.  

 http://justb-byou.com/toys/caring/critter-clinic/

Success yet again!  It combines the beloved "Dr. Kit" with tiny fury animals, doors and keys!  How could you go wrong there?  A steal under 25.00 and hours of entertainment for both of my girls.   

That completes my Fab Find Friday!  If you have any upcoming kids birthday parties to attend I highly recommend heading to Target and checking this line out.

Happy Friday Everyone! 

 

Business as Usual

I promised a post on "Women in Business" yesterday.....well, the business world took over.  Proposal deadlines had me working past midnight and I still haven't gotten around to hiring that live-in nanny.  Okay, more like I can't afford to hire that live-in nanny.  That is my "women in business" reality.  Thankful for the part-time sitter and preschool, but so wish I was paid enough to make a nanny reality!  More on this next time.

Stay tuned for Jody's Fab Friday Find.  Cute stuff!

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Making Room

I once heard a woman lecture on how to get something that you want.  Sadly, I don't recall her name, or I would be sure to mention it here.  And, while I don't remember her or much of what she said that day, I often think of one point she made.  She said that "if you want something you must make room for it in your life."  She gave the following example:  She had wanted a grand piano for a long time, but her husband had no interest in one.  Every time she would mention getting a piano, he would say, "Where would you put it?"  Well, after many years of this, she decided to make the room for it.  Even though they didn't have extra money in their budget for a piano, she sold most of their living room furniture and left a large empty spot for the piano.  Her husband was surprised by the open space and would comment on it every time he saw it.  I'm sure that you can see where this story is headed.....Yep, she wouldn't fill the empty space with anything until a grand piano filled it.

Now the woman telling the story implied that there was something "cosmic" to making space for those things that you want and the "universe giving", which is probably the reason I don't recall her name.  As a Christian, I don't believe in new age stuff.  But, the point was intriguing.  Essentially, if you don't make the time or "room" for something, it's simply not going to happen.

Making time and room for things desired has been a topic of conversation with Jody and I for some time now.  In fact, it seems like the theme to many discussions (especially business) over the past several years.

If you've been reading our blog for awhile, I'm sure that you've noticed that we typically have A LOT going on in our lives.  A WHOLE heckuvalot.  "Too many irons in the fire" comes to mind when I think of mine and Jody's lives.  It's our M.O.

With the new baby, new house, remodeling the new house, trying to sell our old house and going back to work I haven't had a whole lot of time for much of anything else.  To avoid a summer without any fun, the hubby and I scheduled a few days for just hanging out.  We had a great time in Park City for the Fourth of July (even though fireworks were cancelled due to all of the wild fires in Utah), and headed back up there yesterday for some time in the mountains at The Canyons Resort.  We took a gondola mid-mountain and did a little hiking.  It was beautiful! 

So, it turns out that life made some room for a little education today.  M is sick and had to stay home, which meant I stayed home today and got to take an Alt Design Summit Class while the littles were sleeping.  What a treat!  Blogging 101 by Liz Stanley of the infamous Say Yes to Hoboken Blog.  She had some great insight and I learned quite a bit.  I'm having a ton of fun looking at all of the blogs of the other people that attended.  Talk about creative! 

The most important thing I took away from the class, though, was Liz's attitude toward blogging.  It was pretty interesting to hear how she treats her blog like a business just as Jody and I have been talking about blogging with more substance and purpose.  The timing was perfect.

Last week we rolled out our new "Fab Finds Friday" Feature.  Tomorrow, you shall read more about WOMEN IN BUSINESS!  

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Mom's Mental Health Monday......

My parents decided to take my two little girls (5 and 2)  to St George for three days...they left this morning.  Ahhhhhhh.......THANK YOU mom and dad!  

While my husband expressed his "concern" and his over protective dad mode kicked in.  Inside I was doing a little jig ;0).  I love those little girls with all my heart but my heart is singing a little today!  It is time for a couple days of mom time.  

On the Agenda:

A little reading.....

Some hiking.....

Some PG 13 movies.....(hey I still have an almost 13 yr old at home :) and ANYTHING is a step above a G movie. 

Lunch with my boy.....

Maybe a little mountain biking.....

A little Nonsensical Research AKA PINTEREST This truly counts as a form of research in my book ;).  On the "research" agenda today: AQUA.

I can not get enough of it....I want to paint with it....decorate with it....dress in it....paint my nails and my eyelids with it. 

I have to keep reminding myself that it is a passing color and as Heather says we are already two years behind the rest of the world in color so my love for aqua must be contained!  

I just had to indulge myself today:

http://www.betsywhite.com/flightsoffancy/2011/12/color-coded-aqua-ocean/

http://www.theperfectpalette.com/search/label/Dusty%20Aqua

 

http://hullogertrude.tumblr.com/post/21756312926/pheonixspelledwrong-want

http://homebedroomdecor.com/retro-bedroom-furniture/

http://bittersweetcolours.blogspot.com/2012/05/mint-stripes.html

Now that is what I can wear with my jeans!!  

I think what I will enjoy the most over the next few days....The QUIET.  

Happy Monday everyone.  I know I will enjoy mine!

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Fab Find Friday

It's official.  Jody and I are graduating to the the next blogging level.  We are ready to cut the apron strings, say we have "experimented" with blogging enough and we are ready to get down to some business.  Yes, we are fully aware that this blog is nowhere near infancy; but humor us.  It's been a rough couple to five years!

Today marks our first jump into the "blogging with substance and purpose pool."  Drum roll, please......Announcing one of our new "big blog" features:  FAB FIND FRIDAYS! 

Every Friday we are going to tell you about the wonderful products we come across, stumble upon and hear about for babies, children and moms.  Since we are always doing research for our children's product biz, we see tons of amazing stuff all of the time.  Of course, we have to try a lot out (research, right?).  When we try something that is fabulous, we'll share it with you here.

To kick off Fab Finds, I want to tell you about my newest Fave thing:  Check out this glass water bottle from Lifefactory:

I am absolutely loving this water bottle!  Truly a new FAVE!! 

My sweet friend, Nik, gave this exact bottle to me for my birthday.  She had no idea how perfect her timing really was.  It has been sweltering hot here in Utah, so I have been taking hydration with me wherever I go.  I have several plastic water bottles, but haven't wanted to use them because of the nasty taste they give to anything in them.  To me, drinks always taste best over ice and in glass.  So, I had actually been taking glasses of ice water with me in the car.  Yes, the spills were annoying and I could drink them down in a matter of minutes.  So, this fancy little number was the PERFECT solution!

Lifefactory's products are all made from materials that are BPA, phthalates, PVC, polycarbonate, lead and latex free!

The best thing about these bottles?  They are DISHWASHER safe!

And, this fabulous find isn't just for moms.  They make sippy cups and baby bottles, too.

Lifefactory didn't stop there.  They have built smart systems.  They offer several different caps (including flip caps), the 16 oz and 22 oz bottle caps are interchangeable and as your baby grows the baby bottles can become storage containers!

It doesn't get much better than that.  Well, actually the colors are fantastic, too.  Grab you one or even a few HERE

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Alt Design Summit

Let me tell you what we are stoked about! 

Alt Design Summit

 &

BING

 http://www.altitudesummit.com/blog/2012/6/25/two-free-classes-from-bing.html

The Altitude Design Summit & Bing are offering two free online classes from some super amazing blogging experts!  A big thanks to Bing for making it happen!

We are so excited to make a sandwich...pop some popcorn and log in to get our creative juices flowing.  

Heather and I have talked about the Alt Design Summit many, many times and would LOVE to attend this year.  To hobnob with creative geniuses in the mountains.....who could ask for more.  Right?

If you would like to get in on the love there is still a few classes left.  Check out the details HERE.

Happy Friday everyone!

JODY

Nick Names.....

My kids' nicknames are ever evolving....which would have to be terribly confusing for them (especially my 2 year old).

My hubby's nickname for "B" has evolved from "B" (for Baby) to Ava....my original favorite baby name.  Interesting :)

Indiana's nicknames have probably had the most evolution....she has been called Bug....Sis....Little Tiny....and her most current: LuLu.  

The "Coyster" has been Coy Bear.....and Bear....lately it is "Tween-y" or "PT".  At this age generally nicknames are out of the question.

You want to know what my nickname was as a kid....LYNARD.  Yep, I will forever be reminded, taunted, teased for that lovely nickname.

Can you get much worse than that?  If your nick name was worse....let me know.  

We can go to therapy together :).

JODY

Summer Fun

I am with Heather....I LOVE Summer!  (How I can keep sane with all the "Summer Fun" is up for discussion) I LOVE the long days, warm nights, the mountains, the parks, the pool, the BBQ's, All of it!  The activities are limitless...unfortunately time is not :).

For a stay home mom of three that works part time, blogs and someday's only DREAM's about working on her business it is hard to find a happy balance.  The balance between non stop summer fun for the kids, sanity for the mom and making time for myself. 

I had quite a bit of time to ponder this while standing in line for over an hour for my kids to go on one ride at our crowded local "fun center".  While waiting...and waiting...in the heat....my mind started to spin, about life...Summer...time...and how much of my time goes into making sure my kids have fun.  I surely don't put in an hour a day ensuring that I have enjoyed myself ;). 

While I think it is great to keep your kids entertained, enrich their imagination, give them some active playtime.  I constantly wonder....Is it too much? 

I don't know...what do you think????

The Ocean....

The Birthday's.....

The Strawberry Day's events.....

The cousins....the waterparks....

The art projects.....

The hikes...the picnics...

The Carnival(s).....

The Parks.....

The Camping.....

The fishing.....

The Zoo.....

Please also remember the events without the camera.....The trips to The Fun Center...The BBQ's....Waterparty's...You get where this is going.

The funny thing about the "FUN" Summer is even though it exhausts you to no end, it kind of turns you into a "FUN Junkie".  Now that we have been doing SO much I keep thinking...."What sounds fun for today?" 

Any of you mom's out there a bit of a "fun junkie"?  We really should start a support group ;).

I hope you are all out enjoying some Summer Fun this weekend! 

JODY

Birds of a Feather........

For "B"s big #2 we went up to the Tracy Aviary.  We were not exactly sure how much she would enjoy it being only two but she LOVES "aminals" right now especially birds so we thought we would give it a try.

She LOVED it!

Most of our photos were of the back of their heads :)......

There were so many different birds.  It was fun to see them all.  

These pretty little ladies & guys had to be my favorite.  I don't think I have ever seen a real Flamingo.  Now these are some guys that can sport pink like nobody's business :).

I think they were "B's" favorite too.  She kept saying/yelling "Hi Buddy" "Hi Buddy"

The kids loved chasing the Peacock.....I don't think he was too happy about it :).

 LOVE this pic....these little birds crack me up!

Happy Birthday "B"

If you live in Utah and haven't been to Tracy Aviary before I would strongly suggest you go.  Located within Liberty Park You can make a night or day out of it.  I don't think you will regret it!  

Happy Wednesday everyone!

JODY