Classic Toys

It may only be September but our little one is about to turn 4 and christmas is around the corner so I took to the web to find classic toys that she can play with for years and not cheap plastic that will break in a month. These are the toys we are currently loving!

Lilah's 4th birthday present






Christmas gifts- of course we amazon prime everything in our house because we live in Alaska and shipping is free with amazon, unlike everywhere else. 

 

Easy Toddler Eating

Back in June we noticed our youngest was struggling with eating...mainly getting food inside her mouth. Yes there were a lot of messes and battling with a two year old you will lose. She didn't want our help with feeding her. So I took to the internet searching for pouches that were spill free and easy enough for her to get the food out. After trying about 4 different types of pouches we found our favorites!




Squeasy snackers by far were the best they are super simple to clean they have a no spill insert that you can just pop in for youngsters that may just squeazy to hard causing a mess. We choose not to use the insert with our 3 year old. Best food for your babies with out a mess yogurt, apple sauce, smoothies they can do it on their own with no mess. The price is right and they clean super easy just rinse and throw in the dish washer. They even can turn inside out for tough messes.














 

Disneyland Food for Kids with Peanut Allergies.

Our 3 day adventurous family vacation was beyond a success. Disneyland has made major improvements on food allergies. We were at first stressed about all day trips their but with lots of investigation we found many restaurants and diners that are safe for our little bean. She is deathly allergic to peanuts. While I helicopter over her I also want her to have all the same experiences as other children.

Disneyland is expensive  what ever way you look at it.

Places to eat in disney:
$$$$ Blue Bayou - you can make a reservation, kids at about 21$ and adults 40$ each but despite the price you can sit down see a live show, and your child get there own special allergy menu that lists for peanuts, tree nut, dairy, vegan and gluten free. I think its totally worth the price after walking for 8 hours straight.

$$$ Ariel's Grotto - make a reservation for your children to meet their favorite characters at Ariels Grotto this is the only character dining that is not a buffet style. Buffets  really freak me out with food allergies. It was reasonable prices.

$$ Rancho Del Zocalo Resturante-  This place was amazing kid menu was simple, they make the food right in front of you the kids ate bean and cheese burritos with rice. Super Simple. Prices was really low kids meal with drinks was $7. Our family of four ate for $48.98 which included drinks, amazing service, and fee refills. Which we needed since it was so hot that day. I may be biased but one of my good friends works their and it just made even more special.

$ Hungary Bear Restaurant - This place was perfect for a quick bite to eat, sandwiches, burgers, and fried food. They do not use peanuts or peanut oils so that was a sure fire win!  They even have little toddler meals that are for 2 and under perfect size scoop of mac&cheese and fries with a  drink for like $4. kid meals are great prices and with the temp rising all day the lemonade smoothie with honey stick was a perfect desert.

Snacks we found:

Carmel corn is safe for kids with peanut allergies.
cotton candy, smoothies, and fruit stands (pineapple, grapes, & watermelon)

All time kid favorite ICE CREAM Check our my post on  Gibson Ice Cream Parlor and nut allergies

Disneyland and food allergies

We just took our first family vacation to disneyland in August. Sounds amazing right, well when you have a child with food allergies vacations are a little more stressful. We prepare ourselves with safe snacks, a list of questions when eating out, and epi pens.  Even though our youngest has no allergies, we still try to make sure everyone eats safe. That way Lilah doesn't feel left out. In 3 1/2 years we have not been able to take Lilah to an Ice Cream Parlor because of cross contamination. (Mind you we are pretty soft on cross contamination except when it comes to ice cream scoops and topping.) Gives me an anxiety attack just thinking about it. 

Disneyland changed the game for us! Lilah was able to watch her dreams come true meeting her heroes and favorite princesses. While being able to enjoy ice-cream like all the other kids!

The Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlor, saved us! It was extremely hot in august like 97 degrees and the kids were miserable after waiting in lines, they were slightly Hangry (hungry/ angry). I went into Gibson first just because I normally ask all the questions before Lilah even knows about the ice cream. To my amazement the lady is like of course she can have some ice cream but all the ice cream out here has been cross contaminated. I was heart broken until she grabbed a chef from the back. He's like I will clean the area in the kitchen were they have individual tubs of ice cream just for kiddos with nut allergies that stay off the line in the back he will use new sanitized scoops. I literally started to cry, never in her life could I take her to get ice cream except at home. They even offered two flavors which is better than nothing. Chocolate and vanilla, the chef delivered it in person and told her Mickey had to taste it just to make sure it was perfect. 

Lilah's eyes lit up her dreams were really coming true.

Thank you DISNEYLAND!
 For more food restaurants and options for your vacation check out my blog on eating in Disneyland

DIY Weed Killer

As we all know landscaping is a full time job. In Alaska with the sun never setting it seems like the weeds just grow like wild fire. We have chick weed problems, this is 2 weeks of not weeding. My back yard is turning into a jungle.

I have a hard time justifying buying weed spray, all the chemicals, toxic, dogs, and toddlers. It just unrealistic for me to find an hour by myself to go spray roundup everywhere. Then barricade the kids and dogs from messing with it. There is a lot of DIY weed killers on the internet so I decided to experiment with the common ones and adjust the measurements. I think I have perfected this recipe.

What you will need:
Vinegar White
Salt (everyday table salt)
Dish soap
Spray bottle

I started off by pouring about 2-3 Table Spoons of salt in the bottom of the empty spray bottle. 3 Table Spoonful of dish soap on top of that. Then add Vinegar. I did not mix or shake it up, It naturally mixes! I was afraid of suds mess.

Thats it I just went to town on the weeds near our house. I even let Lilah go spray since she just loves helping mommy out. This mixture was just right in an hours I could already see the weeds wilting, and changing color. 

24 hour results

Super EASY! Happy Weeding!

XO

REDHEAD Problems

Just a fun short video on redhead problems. This video was so much fun to make. It is just common thing us redheads hear on a daily basis. Hope you enjoyed this video!



Xo

Summer Beauty Favorites

It's no secret that I am a total beauty product junkie. I have a major addiction to trying

new products. These are my 2015 summer  favorites. 

EOS shaving cream is 100x better than any shaving product I have ever used. It is super hydrating, smells amazing, and leaves my legs soft all day.

Naked 2 palette is so perfect it has a wide range of colors from shimmery champagne colors, golden bronze colors, to darker evening colors. Perfect for any summer day.

Infallible Pro-Matte foundation and powder from L'OREAL are definitely long wear  foundations with medium coverage. They say 16 to 24 hours on them I don't wear my makeup that long but they do actually LAST ALL DAY! They are super matte which is ideal for contouring, and keeps you from not looking greasy in the summer sun. They are currently my Holy Grail face products. Yes I said it, they totally beat out MAC foundations. 

Better Than Sex mascara from Too Faced is my favorite, regardless if its not water proof. It doesn't flake, smear, and it actually makes your lashes look amazing you can wear one layer or you can build it up for dramatic effect with out clumping.

NYX HD concealer in Light pale, It has perfect coverage to cover any of my dark circles since I never sleep. It isn't to heavy. I really enjoy the fact that it acts as a highlight brightening up my eyes. 

Last of my summer favorites is MOISTURIZER from LATHER. It is actually ultra light I received this in my last months Ipsy bag and it is not greasy, doesn't break me out, it is perfectly light and keeps my skin soft all day long. I have major laugh lines on my forehead which the moisture in the product has actually reduced. Total bonus.

If you are not following me on Social Media you should. 

Camping Toys Toddler Edition

Every summer our family favorite time is camping time! Which what is not to love, dirt, out doors, & family time. We love fishing adventures and just being outside with out electronics. I comprised a new list of our favorite toddler toys to bring with us on camping trips.

Fisher price Ride on $34.00
Princess table: They have all types of these tables, we bought ours on black friday for only $20
Tonka truck any toy store pretty cheap less than $10
Beach toys $10
Kettler Trike $119 they have amazing safety ratings, they grow with your kid so its truly worth the price. Both of our girls have these trikes.
Radio flyer Worm ride on $70 its a kid favorite in our house and with all the neighbor kids they love this guy because it rides, bounces and looks so COOL.




HAPPY CAMPING!

Camping with Toddlers * Packing List

Due to such a high volume of traffic though pinterest on camping with toddlers. I thought it was time to do an updated segment and include a Packing List. I love to make detailed to do lists with the girls so that I do not forget anything. As for camping in a Alaska weather changes so quick, its sunny all the time but it can go from 78 degrees to 50 at night so for Jammies we packed footsie Pjs for the girls. We always take a wide range of clothes long sleeve and short sleeves, sweats for the morning and night, and a change of pants and shorts for the after noon. This is how I stay organized with our two kiddos!

Our kids get so bored after day two that I have to remember to bring fun toys that I don't care if they get dirty or ruined. So I always stick to beach toys shovels, buckets, and trucks. The girls go nuts in the dirt so that's hours of entertainment. Then for calmer times we have crayons, coloring books, and white paper. I love to take Lilah around to scribble imprints of rocks, leaves, and different elements. Its a huge hit with the kids. Our girls LOVE their bikes and push toys so Kaylie gets a toy she can push with her feet, and Lilah brings her Trike which is amazing since its so simple to use. It is a Kettler trike which is our favorite type of trike along with radio flier. If this year we have the space we will try to bring the  hummer  for the kids to drive

Kaylie is wear this gorgeous red bow from MyLittleMissCo

Kettle Trike

The girls just love to be outdoors, we spend probably 8 hours a day outside so these photos are of our daily lives. More of our check list looks like this~

Cooking

paper plates

napkins

paper towels

pan & cooking pot

pam spray

tin foil

oven mitt

plastic silver wear

spatula, spoon for cooking

Can opener

table cloth

Wash bucket

dish soap/ towel

wash clothes

garbage bags

disclaimer**** All products in this blog were purchased by myself all opinions are my own personal opinions and reviews.

Camping Organization *Checklist

One of my favorite ways to prep for a family camping trip is Check lists. I always seem to forget something once we are 50 miles from civilization. So each year I keep track of major items I forget so that next time I have it! The last few years has been a spatula I have no Idea why it is always the spatula or can opener but it is!

Simple Garden Box

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Last weekend was project time of course, and it was time to get our plants into the garden. Simple easy garden planter box. Looks great on hilly areas, like our back yard.

Supplies
News paper
(6): bags of garden soil $10 each
(2): 2x6 x (16ft) $22 each

Directions
We cut the boards (2) @ 8 ft
(2) @ 4 ft

We attached the boards with 2.5" screws creating a raised planter.

No need to weed or dig up the ground,  just lay newspaper down and then fill with soil.

Last of all go pick out some fun vegetables to grow!

Have a wonderful weekend!

What we planted
Onions
Cabbage
Cauliflower

Lettuce
Broccoli

Tomatoes (beef master and cherry) 

Bell peppers

Baby Gate DIY

I have a love hate relationship with our stair case. We have been searching for a baby gate to fit our very wide stair case for over a month,  with no luck. Our stair length varies on the bottom 48.5" and the top is 52" due to a railing. Our goal was to find or make a gate that was SAFE and Kid Friendly.

 Lilah is 3 and needs to be able to go up and down the stairs freely while little Kaylie slightly uncoordinated and needs restriction. So Derrick & I have been discussing and pinning ideas on how to make the stairs safer, well we were a little too late. Yesterday morning Kaylie fell down the stairs. She has a black eye and bruised up nose. So I decided to follow my gut and create two gates one for the top and one for the bottom.

 So in my panic after the fall we headed to lowes to pick up some wood! Lilah is proud for being a big Helper!
Total cost for this gate $33.16 

 What you will need~

Sanding block (sanding paper)

Heavy gate hinges (2)

Gate lock (1)

Wood stain ( Old Leather)

Paint brush

Screws ( 1 1/4 ") short You don't want these to pop threw the other side

Wood

(1) 1x4x8  

(1) 1x6x8

(2) 1x3x8

 1x6x8 was cut to (2) 47" pieces, The stair width is 48.5" so I chose to go an inch smaller for the hinge and latch spacing.

 ~ The height of the gate is 24 " which is perfect height on our first step. Cut the 1x4x8 into (4) 24"  pieces. We used the two extra on the second gate.
Attach the 24" 1x4 to the 1x6 to create a rectangle.
Cut the 1x3x8 into 24" pieces, used only 6 of these boards. I attached them with screws at 3.5" spacing  between each board.

 Next stain the gate and let it dry for atleast 2 hours, Our stain had a seal mixed in it. Then attach the hinges.

Attach hinges to the gate first, then attach them to the wall make sure they are in a stud you don't want  the gate to rip a hole in your wall. Make sure the knuckle to the hinge is out, so that it does't get caught up on the wall. 

 Attach your gate latch, test your gate and you are done!

 Our latch is secured by a ribbon tied in the hole since the girls do not know how to un tie a bows, its perfect and beautiful.