100 Days Of Play: Ice Excavating Activity for Kids

 

 Ice excavating is one of our FAVORITE outdoor activities! There are so many different ways you could take this as far as themes go.

 

Fill a container (metal cake pans work GREAT) with small toys and/or objects. Fill with water and freeze. A 3" cake pan takes just a couple of hours to freeze completely.

Our Trip to World Market ...for Dad!

This post brought to you by World Market. All opinions are 100% mine.

Father's Day is coming up, but it is fun to celebrate dad even when it is not a designated holiday. The daddy of our home is pretty awesome. We think he is pretty special. 

One of Dallin's cubscout requirements was to write a letter to a family member and let them know why you respect them. Dallin's went as follows:

"Dear Dad, The stuff I respect about your job is that you serve our contrey and you rescue people. Sencerly, Dallin"

 

He is a doting father, a gentle father, and a firm father. He is the dad that every kid deserves. In January his work schedule changed. He went from working during the day to working nights. He works late and sleeps late which means that we really don't see him at during the week. The schedule isn't forever, we know this, but it has still been hard. The only time we have together as a family is on the weekends.

 

One thing that he is especially good at is working the BBQ, and after a LONG week finishing up the new sprinkler system and landscaping back yard, we thought he deserved a nice end to an exhausting week! He mentioned that he'd like to try making a cola chicken. So when the girls and I were at World Market we checked to see if they had any racks that would work for that. We also grabbed some other items or our weekend BBQ.

The outdoor furniture and BBQ grilling section was fun to browse. Many unique gift ideas and items for our bbq that would be fun to try out...it made it hard to decide!

 

The nostalgic soda section was just plain FUN! You can create your own six-pack. And for $1.49 each, that's about $9.00 for a completely unique gift. The girls and I had fun picking out which sodas we would sample at the BBQ and made sure to grab an orange flavored one as well as a couple of root beers for Dad.

Kaylee loved exploring World Market. She found many items that she thought would be fun to bring home and sat in almost every chair she saw. "Take a picture of me, Mom!" From Outdoor Furniture & Decor, Home Bar items and accessories, unique treats and snack from around the world and BBQ & Grilling supplies, World Market is the place to find a unique gift that Dad doesn't already have!

In the end our cart was loaded up with 

2 beer can chicken roasters

1 pack of plastic food serving baskets

 liners

1 new pair of BBQ bamboo tongs

 1 new drink dispenser

 6-pack of nostalgic sodas

 

It was a HOT day so the drink dispenser worked out great. We all helped ourselves to the ice cold water. I can see this being used for many BBQs.

This was our first time with the cola chicken (we used Dr. Pepper) and roasted it over charcoal and it was AMAZING. It took a lot longer to finish than we expected, but was well worth the wait.

The sodas were a HIT with everyone and the kids thought it was fun to eat out of the baskets. We enjoyed roasted chicken, hot dogs, homemade oven fries, watermelon, fresh cherries....

and a big batch of Dad's favorite cookies....snickerdoodles.

 

A yummy dinner and a nice end to a hectic week! We love our daddy!

 

If you have a dad in your home who you think is pretty fantastic be sure to enter him in the World Market Sweepstakes! Cost Plus World Market is Celebrating Dad this year with our Dad’s Day Sweepstakes. Facebook Fans can enter for a chance to win one of 4 Weekly Grand Prize Packages: $1,000 World Market gift card for you and a $1,000 World Market gift card for dad to celebrate his special day!

Nominate your Dad here and be sure to check out all of the fun ideas for Father’s Day Gifts from Cost Plus World Market.

Fresh Strawberry Pie

 This is one of my FAVORITE pies. My good friend, Stephanie, shared this recipe with me. She always makes two pies at a time and usually gives the second one away. We've were the recipients of the second pie a couple of times when we lived in Ohio.
 

I like this recipe because it isn't sickeningly sweet like the strawberry glaze usually used in pies. It doesn't taste like sugary syrup...it tastes like strawberries.

CB2 Modern Furniture Sweepstakes #CB2NovogratzBrasilSweepstakes

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of CB2. All opinions are 100% mine.

 

 

If you haven't heard of the amazing CB2 collaborators Bob and Courney Novogratz, you are in a for a treat today. AND you can enter to win a trip of a lifetime to stay, with three friends, in their vacation home in Brazil!
Robert and Cortney Novogratz. are known for their bold, colorful style as seen on their popular TV home design shows. Their eye is playful, their mix of modern with vintage is fresh and unpredictable. Their latest collection debuts May 2nd, and was inspired by their vacation home in Brazil.

Easy Mod Podge Confetti Vase

 

 

Kaylee has been sick with an annoying stomach bug that over-stayed its welcome. After days and countless movies (I really don't want to think about how much TV she watched), naps, and stories, she was ready to do something fun today! It was so nice to see her running around the house and acting like her normal self. She pulled out her watercolors and art supplies and had a great time. We topped off the afternoon with a fun little craft. She is 4, so this a great project for any age.

 

 

Kaylee has an unhealthy obsession with flowers, so I decided to enable the obsession a bit more and help her make her own little vase.

 

Supplies Needed:

 

Vase or glass jar

mod podge

sponge brush

tissue paper cut or torn into any shape

A New Road Trip Destination!

This post brought to you by Missouri Department of Tourism. All opinions are 100% mine.



I grew up in California and for those 20 years I never traveled East of Utah. Even then, I had only been to Utah three times. We didn't get out much. Enter handsome active-duty military husband from Alaska. My husband's family was completely different. He grew up in a tiny town of Alaska so it wasn't a big deal to drive 6 hours into town several times a year. They did two cross country road trips when he was a child and he saw more of the country than most people do in a lifetime. So when we got married WE TRAVELED. Within the first year we went to Hawaii, Florida and Alaska. I hadn't ever imagined living outside of California. I couldn't imagine it since I didn't have anything to compare it to, but my eyes had been opened.

We soon moved to Alaska for 4 years and then to Ohio. I was pretty bummed when we got orders to Ohio. Ohiiiiiiio....what's out there in the Midwest? Corn? Clearly, I needed to make a trip out there. We absolutely fell in love with the Midwest. The people (SO friendly and welcoming), the beautiful 4 seasons and the abundance of things to do and places to see within driving distance.

A few years later my sister and her family moved to Missouri. We had gone to Illinois, Iowa and Indiana, but visiting her in Missouri was a new stop on our road trip.

Mombo Nursing Pillow Giveaway!

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Comfort and Harmony for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

 

Today I have the fun opportunity to share some darling newborn photos with you, review  the mombo nursing pillow , and offer a giveaway for YOU! It's a 3 in 1 post kind of day. Awesome.

 

Since my babies are all out of the nursing and infant stage, I enlisted the help of a friend who gave birth to a darling baby boy just three weeks ago to try out the Mombo nursing pillow and infant positioner.

 

Cue darling baby…