Braun Forehead Thermometer

Being sick is no fun. Especially having a child with a fever. I was given the honor the other day by Influenster to check out and try the new Braun Forehead Thermometer. This thermometer tells you the temperature digitally and the screen shows green, yellow or red for different temperatures along with your temperature.  If your temperature is high the background shows red. For a low grade fever the background is yellow. If there is no fever green is the background color. This thermometer is very fast and easy to use. You get accurate readings within seconds. I love that you can see the screen in the dark, so no more having to turn on a light to read the temperature and waking up your precious little one. I really like this thermometer, to me it is one of the best digital thermometer I have used.

There is a $10 rebate for buying this product on the Braun website.




"I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes."

The outfit I designed from ModCloth

I entered into a contest hosted by the store ModCloth to design an outfit using their Heart and Solar System Dress that is one of ModCloth's favorite pieces. The rules was to pick out up to seven items to wear with the dress from their website http://www.modcloth.com. After reviewing their site many times I finally came up with how I would wear the dress.
Here is what I would add to the dress to make it pop. 
I would wear the Flair-y Tale Boot in Cognac for my shoes. 
I would pair that with the Room and Bordeaux Bag in Cognac. 
I would put on the Shine is of Essense Earings. 
And I would top off the outfit with the Countryside a Stroll Hat. 

Hopefully my design will be featured on the ModCloth's site. If not I had fun picking out items to go with this awesome dress. You should check out their site and the items they sell. http://www.modcloth.com. I believe there  is still time for items for Christmas if not there is Valentines Day around the corner.

Christmas Table Center Piece


If you are still looking for a Christmas table center piece look no further. This center piece did not cost me anything to make, because I had all the items already laying around my house. 

Items you will need:
Cupcake stand- I used Wilton's brand
Ornaments - small and large
Wired ribbon- any color


To start just make a bow out of your ribbon and wrap it around the inner part of the stem for each layer. The object of the ribbon is just to hide the gaps. Then just place your ornaments on the stand. I layed the ornaments on their sides to hide the tops. 


When you get to the top hook the ribbon around the top. This will help hide the eye of the ornament and help hold the top ornament in place.


There you have it. This center piece took me about ten minutes to make. I just love it. 





I have added this post to the following sites.

http://croppedstories.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-pincentive-blog-hop-week-15.html?m=1




Where Isabella the Elf has been hiding

Isabella the Elf has been very active at our house here lately. That elf has been getting into some serious mischief. There was one day that I forgot to move Isabella, but it worked out to my advantage. See my daughter the day before was was not being very truthful and she was also not grateful for a star that Isabella brought from the North Pole, that was placed on the top of my daughter's Christmas tree. Isabella was sitting there all day holding that star. I think she was proud of it. My daughter did not like the star and told all of us that. The next morning I forgot to move Isabella from the star and my daughter wanted to know why Isabella did not move. I told my daughter, I guess you hurt her feelings for not liking the star that she brought from the North Pole. I also threw in there, that I believed that Santa had one of his toy working elf's make that especially for her. Isabella also did not place any checks on the Isabella Naughty List that morning either. I went on to tell my daughter that maybe if she apologized to Isabella that she might move while she was at school. I told my daughter that this needed to be a good lesson for her to be grateful for any and all gifts she receives this Christmas season. I did move Isabella while my daughter was at school. I also placed her boarder line check between Good and Naughty on Isabella's Naughty List and wrote she should never be untruthful to Daddy and Mommy.
Here is the star that Isabella brought.
I moved her to the canoe of snowmen that day after the apology.
I had a basket of ornaments that I had not placed anywhere yet. I am starting to grow fond of the basket with ornaments in it. I guess Isabella thought they were a ball pit. We found her playing in the basket.

I guess Isabella was missing Santa this day.


An outside hot tub in a make believe forest.

What a mess, Isabella was playing in the potty paper and fell down the stairs.

What elf ,does not like green milk?
 That's all of the stuff Isabella has done so far. Do you have a Elf on the Shelf? I would love to hear from you, please feel free to offer some suggestions on where I can hide Isabella next.  If you missed my last post about the first week Isabella arrived you can find it at Our Elf on the Shelf Isabella.

Our Elf on the Shelf Isabella

Our Elf on the Shelf Isabella came last week. She came just in time to celebrate Thanksgiving and to bring a special gift to my daughter. I guess our Elf is very smart because she knew my daughter was going on her first snow skiing trip over Thanksgiving.
Isabella entered our house this year by sitting on the side of our refrigerator. Our daughter had not been minding to good, so Isabella brought a naughty list.
Every morning our daughter gets up and runs to find Isabella and then  looks to make sure Isabella gave her a good check from the day before. As for the other name on the list, he is so small he could care less about the naughty list. But his name had to go on there to or big Sister would ask questions.  I tried to make the list look like an Elf made it that night. So the lines ran together in some places.

The second night that Isabella was at our house, she was caught playing in the children's Christmas tree. It would have been nice if Isabella would have brought a star for the top of that tree.
The third night was the night before my daughters big trip. Our Elf brought her much needed snow goggles. I loved the note that Isabella the Elf wrote to her. She really thinks those goggles came from the North Pole. 

The day we left on our trip I forgot to take a picture of where Isabella was hiding out. I made sure we brought her on our trip by placing her in the front zipper of my daughters suitcase. Since we were driving I placed her to where her head and arms were out of the suitcase. This way Isabella the Elf could hear and see if either one was acting up. It really worked on our road trip.
Once we got to our destination the next morning we found Isabella the Elf sitting on top of the fire extinguisher in the living room area of our condo. Leave it to me to forget to take a picture of that. 

On our second day there we woke up to find Isabella hanging out in the hallway next to our snow gear and ski's. I guess she wanted to go play in the snow with us. 
Our last day of our vacation we found that silly elf in a box of Little Debbie Christmas Tree Cakes that I had packed in a plastic bin.



Stay tuned for more places Isabella the Elf hides.

Baby Pumpkins

Do you know someone who is expecting a little pumpkin of joy anytime soon? If so, baby pumpkins are the cutest ever to make in the fall. You can make them just for a gift or if you are throwing a baby shower decorate with them and use a fall theme. They are super easy to make and it only takes five items to make them.

You will need
Whatever size pumpkin you wish to use. I chose pumpkins from the Dollar Tree. 
Pacifier - I bought mine from the Dollar Tree again. There were two in a pack.
Krylon Glitter Blast Glitter Spray. I used Orange Burst, but you can use any color you wish.
Black Marker
Glue

Use your Krylon Glitter Blast to spray the pumpkins. I wanted to spray four small pumpkins. I was unable to spray all four pumpkins with one can. I was pushing it to get three sprayed. I would recommend buying two cans of this before the project starts. You can always take the extra can back if you don't use it.

Spraying the pumpkins was fun. You have to make sure to spray evenly. Some times I found the spray was only spraying the clear coat. So watch out. The spray also likes to run. Over all the Krylon Glitter Blast is messy but in the end your project looks awesome.The glitter does not come off either when rubbed.
After the paint dries decide where you are going to place the pacifier. Cut a hole in the pumpkin. Only make the hole big enough for the plastic part of the pacifier to go in. After trial and error, I learned that if you cut the round part of the pacifier off and just leave the plastic stub it is much easier to go in the pumpkin and stay. Notice in the picture that the hole is more like a rectangle slit.
Place glue on the plastic tip of the pacifier and stick the pacifier in the hole that was cut.
Draw any type of eyes on the pumpkins you like with the marker.
And there you have it, a beautiful baby pumpkin. You can add some bows and ribbons around the stem to make it a girl or add big eye lashes.


These baby pumpkins pictured was used in a baby shower one of my good friends hosted for me.We had a blast making them. To see more of the baby shower click here.


I have linked this pot to the following sites:
All Things Thursday Blog Hop

Fall Baby Shower

I just love fall themes, so when one of my best friends offered to host a baby shower for me, I knew I wanted a fall theme. She was excited to provide a chili bar setting to go along with everything. My friend worked so hard making my big day so special.


Together we chose a park pavilion to host the party at.We prayed for good weather but unfortunly it rained. We had to get creative to cover the food, so we used a brown tarp. I actually fell in love with it when it was up. I thought it drew attention to the chili bar. It was very windy an hour before the party and items kept blowing off, thank goodness the wind stopped before the party. The table was organized for depth and demisions and we found that it was hard to organize with five crock pots, but everything came together in the end.

The food that was served was:
White Chili
Fall Veggie Chili
Beef Chili
Red Chicken Chili
Plain Noodles
Corn Bread
Salad and dressing
Baked Potatoes

On the dessert table was the cake and the party favors which was caramel apples.
I love how the caramel apples are rolling out of the bucket and the string that is on them.

I will have to give Jaclyn McFarland congrats on making the cake that I feel in love with. She is so amazing with cakes. If you live in the Louisville area and looking for someone to do cakes send me a message and I will send you her contact information. She does great work.
As for the drinks that were served. There were mason jars filled with Trader Joe's Apple Cider and a Cranberry Mocktail.



As for the games, we played the typical diaper the baby and place the pacifer in the babies mouth blind folded. Since there were children there, we had guest play a sac race game. It was cute to watch the guest play the game.
I am so blessed to have such great friends and family. Thank you all who came to celebrate Baby Nelson's arrival.


I have linked this to the following sites:

http://www.thedwellingtree.com/2013/11/lets-be-friends-blog-hop-39-is-now-live.html

http://thediydreamer.com/from-dream-to-reality/93-party-time/


PIN MEme

Raising two children

Week 1

Last week we welcomed our newest family member to our family. Each day I  find is a learning experience for all of us. The pregnancy went great. Our little one graced us with his presents two weeks early. I did not have the car seat installed and his or my clothes packed. This little man was a scheduled c-section. My plan was to have everything done that upcoming weekend but our little one decided that he was going to pick his own birthday.
I kinda laughed at the day before I went into labor. At work we were joking about having a Italian food theme for birthdays the day before I was scheduled to have my little man. Things happened and we realized that boss's day and 2 other people's birthdays were that week, so we had our Italian theme meal early.
Low and behold when I got home from work the start of labor happened. My husband and I went to the hospital thinking my water had broke, to find out they sent us home saying my water did not break. How embarrassing was that? But my husband and I both had a feeling we were going to be delivering our little bundle soon.Well around 3 am I woke up to contractions, baby Nelson was on his way.
We did not let my daughter come for the birth. Once I was placed in my room, the baby was back from all the tests, my husband went to get our daughter. Our daughter was speechless when she saw her little brother. All she wanted to do was kiss him and hold him. I thought she might ask questions about why her little brother was not being fed by a bottle. She questioned it once and we told her that God created mommies to feed their little ones. She took that answer and she was fine with it. For the several days that we were in the hospital, our daughter was eager to come see us and hold her brother. That still has not changed. She wants to hold her brother all the time and she is mommy's big helper.
We had one big bump in the road, well it might not be a bump for some, but to me nursing my little man was top priority.  Little guy was not getting enough milk. So one of the nurses tried to tell me I needed to place him on formula, even going so far as to calling his doctor. I held my ground and waited to see the doctor. The doctor left my little one on breast milk, with the condition that after he nursed we had to finish up with a bottle of breast milk. It broke my heart to give my little one a bottle that early. I knew we were going to have latch problems later. When I handed my husband the bottle, his eyes got really big and excitement went thru him. He was actually getting to feed his child. With our first child I nursed her for weeks before introducing a bottle to her. The next day we made another little one happy too, we let big sissy give him a bottle. Grieving inside over the bottle deal, I was learning that a bottle might not be so bad after all, as long as it had breast milk in it. To all new mothers, who are wanting to nurse, stand your ground if the word formula comes up by a nurse. It is better to wait on the doctor and discuss it with them first.
When it was time to bring little one home I was very nervous about my 5 year old sitting next to brother in the car. I tried not to be one of those over protective parents so I sat in the front seat, while our two children were buckled up in the middle bench of our SUV. My daughter kept telling us that her brother was blowing bubbles and that his eyes were not open. I was so afraid that she was going to do something to him on accident. Well we managed to make it home with both children safe and sound. I learned that big sissy was going to be a great help in the back seat and that I might not have to ride in the back seat on trips, like I had to do with our daughter.
It was a tough first week of having two children. I was thankful that my mom came to stay with us for a week, until I was able to drive again. We needed someone to take our daughter to school in the mornings and help me run errands. We had to put our newborn underneath lights for 72hrs. If you ever have to go thru that it is torture. How could a doctor tell you to just place your newborn under these lights and only take them out to be fed and changed? If they scream and cry just leave them there, don't take them out, I could not do that. I was sleep deprived, recovering from surgery and dealing with a baby who did not want to go into this suitcase light machine. Our daughter everyday would come home from school wanting to hold her brother and feed him. Everyday she would get the bad news he must stay under the lights. Well we managed to make it thru the lights. I had a really good friend who came over and cooked us a good supper one of those nights, words cannot explain the gratitude we felt, it was an awesome meal.
So for our first week of being parents to two children, went the best it could be. We had help our first week with my mom staying with us. Stay tuned for week 2 with no more grandma staying, just my husband, daughter, son and I. I wonder what learning curves we will learn?


What you never want to hear your 5yr old say.

I am still in shock what my 5 year old daughter told her daddy and I in IKEA the other day. We had just arrived at the store and we were going to grab something to eat when my daughter said she wanted us to buy her a toy. We looked at her and said Christmas is around the corner there will be no buying toys. Then one of us said you need to get started on your letter to Santa. She looks at us and says the words that every parent dreads. She said  "SANTA IS NOT REAL". My husband and I both took a double take and said WHAT with our eyes bulging out of our eye sockets. Then my daughter hesitated and said um um um I mean his elves are not real. I was lost for words. I remember telling her that when she quit believing in Santa Claus she would only get gifts from daddy and mommy and she would no longer get those special gifts that Santa brings and that our gifts are usually clothes. Let's just say, my shopping trip was ruined. I came out of IKEA buying nothing and during our hour and half drive back home, my mind was turning on how to do damage control.
My damage control consisted on making our Elf Isabella make an emergency stop at our house. So during the night our elf came back with a red crayon and a letter addressed to to my daughter. That morning my daughter woke up to find her elf and the letter in front of her TV. She was in shock that her elf was in her room.

The letter read:

Elizabeth,
Santa had me make an emergency trip to your house. He heard what you told your parents in IKEA. He wanted me to tell you that as long as you believe in you heart that he is real and magical you will always receive gifts and you will always see me. But the moment you don't believe anymore, there will be no more special gifts, you will only get gifts from your parents.
Tonight I must go back to the North Pole. It won't be much longer before I come back daily to do my reporting for Santa. So take care and remember to BELIEVE.
Love,
Isabella the Elf
P.S I love your new room.

After reading this letter to her. She was shocked that Santa heard what she said. All she talked about that day was how Isabella came to see her. She even wrote out her Christmas list to Santa. We also had to watch every Christmas movie we had in the house. I hope the damage control worked. I just can't believe how some kids would be that cruel and ruin the dreams and fantasies of other kids.
The day after Isabella the Elf went home. My daughter and I were talking. I told her that some children have been put on the naughty list and they don't receive presents anymore. So they want other children to get on the naughty list to, so they don't get toys either. I ended our conversation with  "no matter what anyone tells you, as long as you believe in Santa in your heart, you will always get those special gifts from Santa".
I hope my daughter believes in Santa once again. Have you ever had to go thru this with a little one? What did you do? I am guessing I really need to do Christmas up really big this year. What was some ways you kept your children believing when they were trying to figure out?



I have linked this to the following parties.

 http://linda-coastalcharm.blogspot.com/2013/10/nifty-thrifty-tuesday-no-183.html


Jungle Themed Baby Shower

The past few months have went by so fast. I can't believe the baby will be here soon. There is so many things in the third trimester of pregnacy to look foward to. I think the most funniest besides getting to see and hold your bundle of joy is the Baby Shower. If you are like me, I live about 160 miles away from family, so I am blessed to have 2 showers. Last weekend I was blessed to have a wonderful shower in my hometown with family, church family and extended friends. All I can say is that I am truly blessed to have such wonderful family and friends.
As for the shower, I think my Sister-n-Law Angela and my Mom did a terrific job on the invitations, decorations and the food. They must have planned for months. The funny thing is, they would not tell me the theme or even let me help. So I was totally shocked when I walked in to the shower.

The theme of the shower, was a safari theme.
The table decor was so cute. 

I got to take these little stuff guys home, to place in my jungle theme nursery.

 Here are few pictures of the party favors. Each one was a box of animal crackers, topped with an animal. This was a big hit with the children that came.

 To the left is how the tables were decorated. Talk about cute.
To tie it all together there was even a palm tree.

Here is what the gift table looked liked, before the guest arrived. One thing I really liked, is that they placed a jungle themed memory book on the table with a page opened for guests to write their names.


 Here is the cake. Who ever they had make the cake did a wonderful job. It really fit the theme and it tasted very yummy.

This was just a wall hanging on the wall.

I fell in love with the watering hole.





These cupcakes were made of bananas. I will have to get the recipe and post it later. They were very delicious.

 I loved the signs that were made. A sign was placed beside each entree and dessert.They were so cute.
Isn't this a great way to serve grapes

This is what the food table looked like. We had BBQ, potato salad, chip, meatballs and more.
Now you can see why I say I am so blessed. Thank you to all my family, church family and friends for all the gifts that I received and for being there to shower our new little bundle of joy. What a wonderful day it was.