I know, I know.

It looks delicious and you wish you had some.

That’s not what you were thinking?

Here’s what Jenny had to say about it:
“Cousin, I KNOW we’ve had the discussion before about how lunch should be CHEWED, not SLURPED. Don’t make me get out my “INTERVENTION” banner on you. YOU KNOW I WILL.”

Jenny loves green drinks but prefers them chock full of caffeine and high fructose corn syrup.

In any case, I’ve been drinking green smoothies every morning in 2012, and I love them. Seriously, I do. I put a pear, a banana, an apple, some celery, and either spinach or kale in the blender, hit the “smoothie” button, and one minute later I’ve got a delicious, nutritious concoction that I can sip/slurp/chew on the way to work.

All five servings of fruit and vegetables before I’ve even had my coffee.

I’ve found a zillion recipes – my favorite website so far is IncredibleSmoothies.com. You can look up recipes by ingredient, which I find helpful. I can’t wait to try a watermelon smoothie this summer.

Any other green smoothie drinkers out there?

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This post is linked up to Things I Love Thursday at the Diaper Diaries.

I addition to it being not curly but not straight, gray, and all around annoying, it is so thin on the top front of my head.

It makes me cringe to call attention to it, but take a look…

The thin part on the top of my head is the bane of my existence. I’ve been trying to do things that will make it better (or at least hide it)… vitamins, different shampoo, styling products, etc. A year or so ago I discovered something that did help quite a bit – highlights. I had resisted highlights for so long because frankly I was cheap, but once I got them I was hooked. So every few months, I grit my teeth and hand over my credit card to the girl at the salon. Expensive? Sure. Worth it? Definitely.

I’ve come to terms with the expense. Just recently I told my sister that the only way I’ve found to make my hair situation better is to throw money at it. It was then that I had a revelation – I was getting pricey cuts and color and using high-end hair goo, but I was using cheap hair appliances every day. My hair dryer and straightening iron together probably didn’t cost $50, and it seemed entirely possible that better models would produce better results. I started scouring the internet and found folica.com. Not only do they have every hair tool anyone could ever possibly need, the customer reviews are amazing. These people are serious about their hair! Since I was clueless, the reviews were a big help to me.

I reached out to the people at folica and they were nice enough to send me the Sedu Revolution Pro Tourmaline Ionic 4000i (say that 5 times fast) hair dryer for review.

This hair dryer is definitely an investment – the regular price is $200 (although it’s on sale for $159.99 right now), but I love it. It is a serious machine – according to the website, the air comes out at 80 mph. It has an on/off button for the ionic generator, which is great when you’re going for a smooth, straight look, but not so much when you’re looking for volume. It’s got 6 different speed/heat settings and a cool blast button as well.

I can seriously tell a difference in my hair when I use this dryer, as compared to my drugstore model. I’m not sure how to describe it, but it leaves my hair more fluffy (in a good way) and full, which is critical for hiding my thin spots! I also love how quickly and thoroughly it dries. Kate has really thick hair (lucky girl) that’s below her shoulders, and most of the time she and I lose interest in getting her hair dry when it’s about half way there… the Sedu Revolution cuts the time it takes in half, so she is no longer going to bed with a wet head.

I liked this new hair dryer so much that I asked Andy to buy me a professional-grade flat iron as a Christmas present (and by asked I mean sent him a link with a coupon code for $25 off if he ordered it that day. Which he didn’t. So I did. He stuck it in a gift bag on Christmas Eve, though, so it was still technically a present). After scouring Folica for the perfect model, I decided on a Sedu 1.5 inch flat iron.

The flat iron came in a set with clips, a heat mat, Sedu Antifrizz Polishing treatment (which I am obsessed with) and a black clutch for travel. It’s regularly $244.98 (*gulp*) but thanks to some CRAZY sales they had going on, I managed to score it for about $80. Even that is about 4 times what I’ve ever spent on one before, but it is worth every penny. It makes my hair so straight and smooth, I feel like I just came out of the salon.

These new toys have made such a difference in how I feel about my hair and about myself as I head out the door every morning. Like I said – Expensive? Sure. Worth it? Definitely.

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I’m linking up to Things I Love Thursdays at the Diaper Diaries!

Once, I “ran” a half marathon… and decided about 12 seconds after I crossed the finish line that I would never. Run. Again.

But then, nine months or so later, I decided to give it another go, even though I hated it. Needless to say, I quit.

Here’s the thing. I hate running, I’m not good at running and I’m never going to be a runner. So rather than continue to set myself up for failure, I decided to try to find something I actually enjoy, and I tried a yoga class.

People. I love it. It’s not the calorie-burning intense workout that running is (at least the class I go to isn’t, but I would love to try out cardio yoga) but it feels so good, both while I’m doing it and after it’s over. I love it and I wish I could go to class every day! But since I don’t have time for that, I’ve been looking into the next best thing – yoga I can do at home.

I’ve discovered a few good resources… there are yoga videos on Netflix, for starters. There’s also a huge library on GaiamTV, with a subscription fee. I’ve been wanting to get Kate into yoga as well, because I think it would be a great thing for us to do together. I got a review copy of Shanti Generation: Yoga Skills for Youth Peacemakers, which is designed to teach yoga exercises and mindfulness techniques for kids from 7 to 16.

We’ve done it a few times and it is a nice way to end the day. Kate is on the young end of the age range they’re targeting, and she sometimes, uh, lacks focus. But she enjoys it and I’m sure she’ll get better over time. Yoga cultivates body awareness, flexibility, concentration, stress reduction and self-expression – all things she and I could use more of.

It’s exciting to me that I’ve finally found an exercise that I actually look forward to and want to do. I never, ever felt that way about running (and seriously, runner’s high? I just don’t buy that).

What about you? Do you have an exercise you love?

This post is linked up to Things I Love Thursday at the Diaper Diaries. Check it out!

Recently because the Wonder Forge is awe-some, I’ve gotten to review some of their newest games!  And you should totally buy them all! Well, maybe not this first one if you have all boys…but here are my top picks for new games for Christmas presents, birthday presents, or JUST BECAUSE!

Angelina Ballerina Dance with Me game:

A great choice for your little girly girl. The Wonder Forge up and sent Sophie this for her birthday, total surprise!  And she loo-oo-ooves it!

This game is totally cute, and builds up to a dance sequence so your little one not only learns some dance vocabulary, but gets up and moves around!  And, it’s great for teaching memory and multi-step directions.  Even though I am NOT a ballerina and look a *little* silly playing it, I love playing this with Sophie!

Richard Scarry’s Busytown Busy, Busy Airport game:

I think this might be my favorite of the games I am reviewing today. I LOVE it, Big ol’ puffy heart it!  This game requires you to fly your plane and passengers to 4 different destinations (which you place in different locations around the room) to pick up souvenirs.  The game board is also the box and is super-cleverly designed.  Once again, this game gets you up and moving!  The game involves making choices, counting, and a chance for kids to learn an early form of strategy.  And it’s really fun, and moves fast. Love it! Both Joshua, Sophie and myself had a great time playing this together (at least 4 times the first day we got it!)

She had to play it first thing in the morning!

Last up, and also super-fun (the kids actually played this one the most times in one day, 6 I think!) is Chuggington Let’s Ride the Rails game:

This game is fun because each player gets to be all three characters, and you win by guessing that also involves a process of elimination skill. Colors, numbers, counting, animals – this game has it all!  And it stars your fave Chuggers Wilson, Koko, and Brewster.  This game goes pretty fast which is one reason you won’t mind playing it over & over again with your kiddos.

SO there ya go – three of the latest and greatest I can do that! games from the Wonder Forge.  Go buy them! OR tell Grandma to! You won’t regret it!

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The Wonder Forge sent me all these awesome games to review.  All opinions are my own, and I would like to make the point that I have purchased several of their games with my very own money because they are worth every penny!  The links in these posts are NOT affiliate links.

Language Builder

One of the first ones I found was Language Builder from the Mobile Education Store, and it was just what I was looking for.  It’s an app with beautiful, real-life pictures, and a record feature so that your child or student can record themselves saying a sentence about the picture, then play it back.  There are options for different levels of play so that you can make the activity easier or more challenging.  This was a great tool for Sophie and I to work on her descriptive language and sentence formation. It was very challenging for her at first, but she came to love it as she got better at it and could see the benefits of her hard work.

Since I liked Language Builder so much, I decided to purchase another app from Mobile Education Store – Story Builder.  Again, this app completely met the needs of what I was trying to accomplish with Sophie – working on storytelling, sequencing, and descriptive language.  Like LanguageBuilder, it has different levels of play so you can make it easier or harder, and hints you can turn on, off, or customize.  It shows a picture and asks a series of questions about the picture which your child or student then records his or her response to.  At the end, you play all the responses together and it makes a story. You can save the recordings and archive them if you want to listen to them later. This is SO fun and has resulted in some really cute stories from Sophie, and Joshua too. Joshua loves playing with it even though he has no speech delay whatsoever. It’s just really FUN!  Sophie has done so well with it and I love being able to play her stories back.

Story Builder

Since I was so pleased with those two apps, I contacted Mobile Education Store to see if I could review some of their other apps.  Next, I chose to try Speech Journal and QuestionBuilder.

Speech Journal

Speech Journal was a natural follow-up to StoryBuilder and is just so much fun. It allows the student to create their own story from pictures on the iPad. They can either take a new picture to add to their story sequence or use photos that are already on the iPad.  Then, they record a sentence or two about the picture, then add another picture  - as many as they want to make up their very own story.  I ADORE this app, and so do my kids.  Sophie has taken her storytelling to a whole new level, and Joshua is enhancing his own creativity.  I really encourage you to get this app even if you don’t have any speech therapy needs in your family. It is just a great way to play.

Question Builder

Lastly, I reviewed QuestionBuilder.  This app displays a picture, then asks a question about the picture, giving the child several answers from which to choose.  You can choose from Why, What, Where, and How questions or have the questions be asked at random.  There are three levels of play and optional hints.  This is great for helping a child learn to answer abstract questions.  Some of them have been really challenging for Sophie and she is learning so much from it!

These apps are SO GREAT.  Since I am just a mom, not a professional, I am so thankful for these tools that give me the materials I need to work with Sophie at home to help her reach her speech goals. We are having a great time together with these.  Mobile Education Store has lots more apps for both iPhone and iPad, so make sure and check them out to see if there is one that meets your child’s speech needs.

Thanks, Mobile Education Store!  Keep up the great work!!

I linked this post up to Things I love Thursday at the Diaper Diaries. Head on over there to see what others are lovin’ this week.

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Mobile Education Store provided me with Speech Journal and QuestionBuilder at no cost to help facilitate my review.

He’s wearing:

Short-sleeve Mesh Polo - this classic has recently been re-vamped and will now look like new for much longer!  The 100% cotton mesh resists shrinkage and fading and stains wash out easier than ever before. I love the monogram with Joshua’s school logo.  It looks awesome and it was easy for me to search online for Joshua’s school.  It is part of the Preferred School Program so when I purchase uniform items with the preferred school number, the school earns cash back!

Plain front Iron-Knees Stain & Wrinkle Resistant Chinos - Iron Knees!! I love it! This is a new product that I am really excited about.  Little boys are tough on the knees of their uniform pants, and these pants combat that with a hidden interior knee patch that is undetectable from the outside.  Pretty sweet if you ask me!  Can’t wait to see how these last when Joshua puts them through the paces!

Microfleece half-zip jacket: I love this because it looks super-sharp with the school logo, and it is just as warm as a sweater but more lightweight.  Perfect to layer over the uniform polos, or alone for “dress down day” that Joshua’s school has a couple Friday’s a year.

School Uniform Boys’ All-Weather Oxford Shoes – I LOVE these shoes!  My kids always wear Lands’ End shoes but before these there were no uniform shoes that Joshua and I both liked.  These Oxfords are perfect. They are the oxford version of the famous Lands’ End All-Weather Mocs.  They are tough and comfy but have that dressier look and laces.  I love the durability of Lands’ End shoes and I am sure these are going to last Joshua all year!

Boys’ Solid ClassMate StudyHaul Backpack - I LOVE how Lands’ End has so many different sizes of backpacks!  Joshua has used a Lands’ End backpack for the past two years but it was really too big for him (although it still looks like NEW) – I wanted to get him a smaller one for the next couple of years, and we’ll put the big one back in rotation when he needs to haul more than just his homework folders and lunch box.  The StudyHaul (which really is for a smaller kid, I would say kindergarten to third grade-ish) has two big compartments to organize stuff, plus a removable pouch for school supplies, and mesh pockets for water bottles, etc.  And I love the way it looks with Joshua’s name on it!  There are lots of other ways you can personalize, too!

Lands’ End has lots of adorable girls uniform options too!  Next week I’ll share those with you.  My niece Murrin, is going from homeschool to junior high so her first day of 8th grade will be her first day of SCHOOL, and she will be looking great in her Lands’ End uniform.  Come back next week and you’ll see why I also love Lands’ End girls uniforms.

Don’t forget to check out Things I Love Thursday at the Diaper Diaries!

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Lands’ End provided me with these uniform items to review.  All opinions are my own.

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A few months ago when I started thinking about summer, I started thinking about the POOL, which Joshua, Sophie, and I have enjoyed big time the last couple of years, and my brain was all, “HOW THE HECK AM I GOING TO DO THE POOL WITH A BABY IN THE MIX!?”

And this was before I knew that the new, re-designed pool was going to be ridiculously crazy this year.

I saw my friend Steph wearing this very cool baby wrap (with her toddler in it!) at BlissDom, and she told me, “it’s a water wrap. You can also wear it in the pool.”  TA-DA!  The answer to all my problems!  Steph had gotten her wrap from BabyEtte, so when pool time approached, I contacted them to see if I could review a water wrap.

And I am happy to say, it is pretty much the best invention EVER!  Thanks to the BabyEtte wrap, I’ve been able to wear Jonah at the pool and still keep my hands free to keep a hold of the other two in the water.  The water wrap is made of a gorgeous, shimmery mesh, so it doesn’t get heavy in the water.  It dries out really fast, and it’s SO secure.  I even wear it for non-water situations, because it’s not stretchy like some other wraps I’ve tried.  So it doesn’t get loose.  It stays snug the whole time you’re wearing it.

Jonah is happy as a clam in the BabyEtte water wrap and I don’t know what I would have done without it.  And, I am getting all kinds of looks and comments about how CUTE he is and how COOL the wrap is. We didn’t get to the pool this week because we had swimming lessons elsewhere (ironic, eh?) but when we hit it next week my BabyEtte wrap will be saving the day once again!

I love my BabyEtte water wrap!  To see what other bloggers love,  check out Things I love Thursday at the Diaper Diaries.

So anyhoo, a couple of months ago I enlisted Cortney to help me with baby food making, since she made food for her little guys, and she had a food processor she was willing to let me borrow.  But then about 3 weeks before Jonah was going to start solid foods, I got an email from Mom Select asking if I wanted to review and throw a party for the Baby Brezza one-step baby food maker.

Heck yes I did!!

As soon as my Baby Brezza baby food  maker arrived I got busy making Jonah food.  And let me tell you, this thing is the SHIZZLE.  It steams hard foods and then blends them ALL IN ONE DEVICE!!  That’s right, one-step baby!  No more steaming foods on the stove and then transferring them to a food processor.  You just dice, add water to the steam tank, throw the fruits or veggies in, press a button, and walk away.  The Baby Brezza steams and blends the food while you get on with your life.  A-MAZING. I love, love, love it.  I have steamed everything possible that we have in the house, and gone to the grocery for more, even foods Jonah isn’t ready for yet, because it’s SO FUN!  Then, I freeze my baby food creations in ice cube trays and store them ’til Jonah’s ready to eat, at which time I heat & serve.  YAY!

So, anyhoo, to celebrate the Baby Brezza’s awesomeness, I had a little party for some friends and their babies!  The Baby Brezza and the cutting boards they sent for my party guests  were my centerpiece!

Here’s Jonah enjoying some carrots I made in the Baby Brezza while his pal Archie looks on jealously.

Gimme some of those carrots!

We had a great time at the party and it was fun for me to demonstrate to my friends how EASY and FAST the Baby Brezza makes cookin’ up your own baby food.  Because, really, people, I am just that lazy.  If I had to steam the food separately, I MIGHT just give up making  my own food. Maybe I’d stick with it regardless, I don’t know. But I do know for SURE there is no way I will buy baby food at the store now that I have my Baby Brezza!  It is saving us SO MUCH MONEY!  It costs around $100 (again, mine was free to me for reviewing and throwing the party) and since I can make 10 servings of bananas out of about 55 cents worth of bananas instead of the 50 cents plus it would cost me for ONE serving of store-bought, I know the Baby Brezza is saving us a ton.  I made 10 servings of sweet potatoes out of a sweet potato that cost me a dollar!  Woo hoo!  It is simply amazingly cheap to make your own baby food vs. buying.

I had a blast at my baby food party and I am loving making food for Jonah.  I even brought the Baby Brezza with us on vacation, and it’s working out great!  I cannot recommend this product any more enthusiastically. GETCHA ONE!!

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I received a Baby Brezza baby food maker for review and cutting boards to give away to my friends from Baby Brezza and Mom Select. All opinions on this (totally AMAZING) product are my own!

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This post is linked up to Things I Love Thursday at the Diaper Diaries!

I know, you’re shocked. It’s not like I’ve never mentioned that fact before. But I’ve tried a few things from their new summer line, and I had to share my latest favorites.

First of all… dresses. I have a *thing* about dresses. I don’t know why, really – I don’t even wear them that often (hello, they require shaved legs) but loooove them. I particularly love my two newest ones from Lands’ End!

This is the Women’s Regular Sleeveless Cotton Shift Dress (originally $89.50 but on sale right now for $69.99!). It’s cotton (and machine washable), with textured material that has a very nice feel. I like that the dress is cut so that it has a nice curvy shape – that, combined with the darts and the belt make it very flattering. It’s fully lined, and I love the right-above-the-knee length.

When I picked this dress out, I originally asked to try it in red (because red dresses take my dress obsession to a whole new level), but they didn’t have it in my size so they sent me white. And I love it. The white makes it so versatile – I can change it up with jewelry, shoes, scarves, cardigans – whatever! It could go from a daytime/office look to a date night look very easily.

I also got this, the Women’s Regular Sleeveless Chambray Shirtdress.

This dress is perfect for a hot summer day. The soft cotton material looks great and will keep you cool. Like the shift dress, this one is cut and darted in a way that is quite flattering, and it’s also machine washable. A fun surprise to this dress is that it has pockets, which gives it a modern feel (and comes in handy, too). I just love the whole shirtdress look. I have it in khaki (my favorite color, because I am exciting like that), but it also comes in dusty jade and vintage chambray (blue). It will easily carry you into fall as well, with the addition of a jean jacket or cardigan. Very cute!

Land’s End is my go-to place for clothes, but until recently I had never tried anything from their home line. I had been eying their bedding for months, so when they asked if I’d like to review some of it, I was thrilled. However, I loved it all so much that I couldn’t decide which set I wanted to try. So, I told our old buddy @LandsEndPRMolly to surprise me! There was seriously not a set I didn’t like, and I knew I’d be happy with whatever she picked (and also, I know she has great taste!). Of course, I was not disappointed when this bedding set arrived on my doorstep:

The Shelby Linen Border Duvet Cover and shams really brighten up our bedroom and are so soft and cool – perfect for summer. The yarn-dyed border provides a fun pop of color without being overwhelming.

This accent pillow completes the set.

But let’s not forget the most important part of a bed set – the sheets. Really, I don’t think there’s anything that feels better than slipping into a bed with a clean set of sheets – and these are by far the nicest sheets I’ve ever had.

The Organic Print Sheet Sets are 100% organic cotton and 300-thread count. They are soft, cool, and feel so good. I love them.

My husband and I both love the new look of our room, which is important because the last time we shopped for bedding, it took forever (and a ton of different stores) for us to find something we could agree on. From now on, I’ll just head straight to Lands’ End, because the entire bedding line is lovely, without being too feminine for Andy to be on board!

BTW, I was serious when I said I couldn’t pick from all their options – here are a couple others I love.

To see the complete line, click here. And for more Things I Love Thursday posts, visit Jill at The Diaper Diaries.

(I stole this picture from Cortney for reasons that will soon be apparent).

For the past almost-12 weeks, I have been shoving three kids, and consequently three car seats, in the back of my car.  Now I have made no secret about the fact that I love my ol’ Lexus with over 300,000 miles on it, but even when it was brand new in 1994, it wasn’t made to haul three kids!

I. NEEEEEEEEEEED. a minivan.

{so badly!}

And this spring, Bobby and I WILL be purchasing one.  That’s right, we have saved our pennies and we are jonesin’ for a van!  The search is ON!

Since I am quite the Toyota fan, I was really excited to get the opportunity to test drive the 2011 Toyota Sienna XLE a couple of weeks ago.

And now, I have a Sienna-shaped HOLE in my heart.  Oh my word.  It. was. AMAZING!

Unfortunately, the day it was delivered to my house, Joshua came down with is first-ever ear infection.  So, I did not get to do a lot of  ”joy riding”.  Therefore this post is not filled with cute photos of my kids boppin’ around in it.  :( BUT, I did get to take it to the pediatrician, the pharmacy, and the preschool drop-off and pickup.  And since I had all THREE kids because of Joshua being home sick, this van was a life-saver. You see, normally having to shove all three kids in the back of my car and get Sophie to preschool  and get them all back OUT of the car would have been a majorly stressful ordeal.  But with the Sienna’s keyless entry and power doors, it was a SNAP.  I mean, easy as pie.  It was ree-donkulously wonderful!

I NEED a smart key and power doors. NEED NEED NEED!

Another really convenient features of the Sienna are the rear seats are super-easy to lay down and put back up.  I am pretty much terrible at all things of this nature and I could do it easily. So you could say it’s idiot-proof!

I also really, really enjoyed the touch screen on the dash.  Navigation, music, a CAMERA that shows you what’s behind you when you are in reverse – wow!  It’s all there!  And there are so many more technical gadgets on this car.  I connected my iPod touch via bluetooth – didn’t even have to plug it in (although I certainly could’ve via USB port to charge it and listen if I wanted to).  There’s a real electrical plug, a totally unbelievable widescreen DVD player with wireless headphones, and you can even hook up your Wii and play it on the road!!  How awesome would that make road trips??

Oh, and did I mention it drives like a dream? Oh my goodness. It dumped snow on us the Friday of the week I was driving the Sienna, and I had an early-morning appointment (which is of course, precisely WHY it snowed.)  The roads were really not good, but the Sienna handled them perfectly.  It was definitely the most stable I have ever felt driving in the snow.  Ouch. My heart is hurting just thinking about it again.  The Sienna is now My Precious.

So here’s the deal.  I am going to buy a van. I don’t yet know what it will be,  but I know what I want it to be – a Toyota Sienna.  It’s the dream van, man.  If you’re in the market, you’ve GOT to test-drive one!

I LOVE the Toyota Sienna, so I linked this up to Things I love Thursday at the Diaper Diaries.  Head on over to see what everyone else loves!