Coupons!

So...growing up my Dad would not take us anywhere unless we had a coupon to use! We only went to a restaurant if we had a coupon to use, most groceries were only purchased because we had a coupon, and any kids activities required a coupon as well.  If he were here today I know he would totally be on this website...http://thekrazycouponlady.com/.

Got an email from a friend with a link to the site today, she also reminded me that my Dad would love it! Which is so funny that my friends also remember all the funny things he did.  Although, I am not quite a "crazy coupon lady". I usually will not buy clothing (especially kids) or diapers without a coupon.  Groceries, well I haven't quite ventured into the grocery couponing just yet.

I may be the last person to find out about this site and I have only checked the site out for a few minutes, but have signed up for some great coupon deals for things like paper towels, toilet paper, and other household products.  Registered for a free potty training kit (needing lots of help with that) and I also got a code for a FREE mini photo book!!!! (look under Freebies) Check it out and let me know if you find any other good stuff on there!

3 years!

Celebrated our 3 year anniversary yesterday! Made some last minute plans for my BIL and SIL to babysit so we could grab a quick dinner! Had heard a lot of people talk about Emily's in Mohnton and we drive past it just about everyday, so we decided to give it a try.

Very cute inside, but we decided since it was finally not 100 degrees out, we would sit outside on their patio to eat.  Since live right down the road and know how bad the bugs are at our house. we probably should have known better.  It wasn't too bad out there great little view, very relaxing. quiet, and FILLED with flies! They were everywhere.  Of course there wasn't anything Emily's could do about it, it just goes along with the territory!

Relaxing (with the wrong glass of wine), but relaxing none the less! 

We started our meal with drinks (they brought me the wrong wine, but quickly fixed it for me) and a really yummy appetizer. This was the best part of our meal!
 

Crab and Fontina Cheese Dip

I ordered Lobster Pasta and my husband ordered Beef Tenderloin topped with crab for dinner.  They were both good, but for the price they weren't fabulous.  The pasta was a little under seasoned and the peas weren't cooked enough.  My husband had tons of crab shells in his meal.  They looked gorgeous though! 

We decided not to have any dessert.  We had a nice evening though.  The food, like I said, wasn't terrible, but was pretty expensive for it to not be perfect! The atmosphere was great (minus the flies). We were expecting it to be more like an upscale bar and grill than a fine dining restaurant.  I would say we'd give it 3 1/2 out of 5 stars! We are probably more likely to visit our Anniversary spot from last year Bistro 614 in West Reading the next time we go out.  We love it there and usually go there for our fancy dinner celebrations!

My hubby also surprised me with this awesome lounge chair for our new deck for my anniversary gift! It has a cushion with it too, but due to the rain I don't have it out! 

And well since my husband buys everything he wants, when he wants it, all he got for our Anniversary was a new coffee cup, new sneakers, and a Happy Birthday card since apparently I can't read! :) LOL

Children's Place vs. Gymboree

Spent Monday morning at the Coventry Mall in Pottstown.  Went specifically to find an anniversary gift for my husband, but of course had to visit at the children's stores too! Started at the Children's Place because I had an email coupon.  Found some great bargains and just some great buys!

Terrible picture, but I got all of this for $40! 

I also had a coupon from the mail for Gymboree, so I decided to venture in to see what kind of sales they had.  Found a few things on the sale rack, a little summer dress and a pant outift.  (sorry I don't have a picture of them).  Of course go to pay for them, use my coupon, and my total is $32!!!! And I also didn't realize until I get home that the pant outfit I bought is one piece (looks like it should be two).  That usually doesn't work well for Alissa cause I often have to roll her pants cause she's so tiny! 

Children's place is the winner!!! (My opinion of course) I do think the Gymboree clothes are a little better quality, but when the kid wears them twice and then you pack them away in a box, who cares!!! The Children's Place clothing also runs smaller and is more petite which is perfect for my baby girl! Will probably end up returning at least one of the Gymboree outfits if not both of them.  If you haven't already, sign up for Children's place emails to get some great coupons! 

Family Getaway Part 4

My sister and her family decided to spend Thursday and Friday of their vacation at our house! I was happy to have them over, and found that it was a little easier to have all the kids at our house with all the toys, Wii, and bouncey house! We had a great steak dinner Thursday night, and Friday we decided to visit Weaver's Orchard (see previous blogs for more info on Weaver's) to pick some blueberries and raspberries.  

We had a great time, although by the time we got there it was a bit hot! So we filled our bucket as quickly as we could.  I also learned how much cheaper berries are when you pick them yourself! :) We also spent some time in their market buying some baked goodies! 

When we got home we waited for our lunch delivery from Cali Burrito in Allentown (thanks to my awesome niece Mindy).  Then we headed to French Creek State Park to swim and Kayak.  

That night my sister, her husband, and my nephew went back to my moms, but one nephew and one niece decided to spend the night with me. (My hubby was away taking his National Fire Certification Test, and he passed woohooo!) Saturday I took them all back to Emmaus and spent the day at my moms house with them.  

We went shopping at the The Promenade Shops at Saucon Valley (love it there).  Had some icecream, Dede bought all the kids a toy, and then we headed to Saturday night church at LifeChurch West (love it there too).  Tried to leave Alissa in the Nursery for the first time in a long time and it didn't go so well.  She spent most of the time screaming and when they paged me she was so upset and so sweaty, I felt so bad about leaving her.  Still working on the separation anxiety (for both of us).  She does great when I leave her at home with anyone, and she doesn't cry when I leave her in the nursery until she realizes that I'm gone.  I'm so used to seeing kids clinging to their parents and crying cause they don't want to stay in the nursery, but Alissa isn't like that.  She walks in as independent as can be, starts playing, I sneak out and then she comes looking for me to show me something and I'm gone.  Then she freaks out! Any suggestions on what to do??

Sorry went off on a tangent there! After church we ordered Thai food (my favorite) from Thai Thai House in Emmaus.  Very yummy and I could not believe how much Alissa loved it!  Anyone know any good Thai places in the Tri County area??

Was very sad to leave Saturday night, but was happy to go home to see my hubby who I hadn't seen all week.  Can't wait until the next Family Getaway, maybe in Florida next time :) 

Family Getaway Part 3

Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom: Allentown, PA 

Spent last Wednesday afternoon at Dorney Park with the family! Grew up right down the road from Dorney and spent MANY hours with friends there and made many great memories! I was excited to take Alissa.  We got discount tickets through the company my mom works for which was another plus! And kids under 2 are free! 

Seeing that it was a hot summer day, I expected the place to be crowded! We were pleasantly surprised when we saw many empty parking lots as we pulled in! Before we even entered the park Alissa saw the "horsies" also known as the carousel.  So that was the first ride we went on. 

We spent a few hours in Planet Snoopy, the kiddie area at Dorney, and it was great entertainment for a 2 year old (ahh can't believe she's almost 2) and a 4 1/2 year old.  They have a great Snoopy Show and many more rides than they had the last time I was there.  My niece who is 8, of course wanted to go on the bigger rides so we had to split up for a little bit.  

I was sooo surprised at all their safety precautions/regulations though.  I guess it is a good thing they are very strict about the rules, but it was definitely almost a  little over the top as far as height requirements, safety restraints, etc. Someone had to come around and open our seatbelt on every ride we went on.  Defintely think the safety belts are a good thing, but it took a lot of time for the attendant to open every seatbelt at the end of the ride! (Seeing that we were riding rides such as the kiddie cars that go around in a slow circle).  But I guess better safe than sorry! It was very different from the experience we had at Hershey Park.  

We then decided to spend our last hour or so at Wildwater Kingdom, hoping that most people would be heading over to Dorney Park at that time, and we would have to worry about changing to go back on the rides.  First thing we saw when we walked in was the wave pool. My sisters kids (who are excellent swimmers) wanted to run right in! That was until they saw the sign that said "If you are under 48" you need to wear a life vest".  Well needless to say that didn't go over well with my nephew, which then led to meltdowns from very tired kids. We did put life vests on and try the wave pool for a little, then decided to check out the rest of the park.  We found some great kiddie pools with cute slides (which

Alissa hated of course).  But she loved the fountains! 

However, after a few meltdowns and injuries we decided it was time to head home! We had a great afternoon, probably should have tried to get there a little earlier so the kids didn't get so tired by the end of the afternoon.  But all in all, I would recommend this park to anyone with kids! I suggest a weekday visit, as we barely had to wait in line for any rides (and really wouldn't have had too if it didn't take so long to unbuckle seatbelts).  Check into local businesses to see if they offer any discount tickets also! Otherwise, just like any other amusement park it gets a little expensive! 

Family Getaway Part 2

My sister had planned to visit us from Florida sometime in August.  But made some last minute changes and decided to visit us for a week in July instead.  So after spending some time in the Poconos we drove down to the Lehigh Valley (Emmaus, great little town where I grew up) to spend time with my mom, sister, brother, nieces and nephew.

Alissa adores her cousins so much and I wish they didn't live 1,000 miles away! Every morning while we were at my Mom's house, she would wake up and say "downstairs see Cael and Cole" (short for Nicole).  In fact she is still doing that even though they are at home in Florida! Watching them play together was just so amazing to me! And watching my 8 year old niece be my little helper was so awesome! We spent time hanging out at my Mom's letting the kids play, as well as, taking them on various other adventures!

We spent Monday at my sister's girlfriend's house with her family and lots of kids! Great to have friends for Alissa and for Mommy to have some adult conversation!

Playing with her new friend Carter 

The next day we went to Emmaus Community Park to swim and play at the playground.  It had been many years since I was swimming at that pool! It is such a great pool, with 2 water slides, a diving board, huge swimming area, and huge kiddie pool, and the playground is awesome too! The pool was a bit dirty, but I think it was mostly because we had some storms the night before. But it brought back so many great memories! If you live in the Emmaus/Allentown area check it out! 

The kids were exhausted after a day of swimming and sun, and I was on my own with the 3 of them that night! Honestly, was kind of dreading it because I was tired too and wasn't sure how well everyone would go to sleep for me! But they were sooo good! My sister got to visit with her girlfriends and I got some time with the kiddos! And bedtime was a success, of course with some help from my little helper and awesome story reader! 

We all got some shut eye after storytime! (and after I finished The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks, great book!)  We all needed the rest for Wednesday's adventure....Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom! 

Family Getaway Part 1

Had such a crazy and busy week with our families, as I upload all the photos onto our computer, I decided it would be great to share some of the fun activities! Although most of our time was spent in NEPA and the Lehigh Valley, they are both not to far from the Tri County area! 

Part 1 of our family getaway began in the Poconos.  We spent some time with my husbands family and did a lot of swimming at their amazing pool, which was a total plus, seeing that it was another scorching weekend even in the mountains! And of course relaxed in their awesome house. It was like being at an all inclusive resort all weekend! (Thank you Jennifer and Poppy!)

Gorgeous, relaxing, and so much fun! 

Ahhh....this is the life! 

We usually plan our summer visit to the Poconos specifically when the Pocono Township Fire Company Carnival is happening! My husband spent two years as the Carnival chairman while we lived there.  As a Carnival Chairman's wife I learned how much hard work goes into an event like this one! And it is ALOT of work for so many dedicated people.  So we like to pay a visit, support the fire company, and catch up with a great group of friends that we miss so much! And it is a blast for kids of all ages! 

I was also thankful that my sister (who had just landed on her flight from FL) brought her kids up to the Poconos to visit with us too! 

Just a few of the prizes we went home with! 

We had such a great time! And although PTFC is a bit of a drive for many of you, I encourage you all to look into your local fire company's events! Carnivals, Bingo, Egg Hunts, Breakfasts, etc.! The Firefighters and Auxillary's work really hard for their community all year long and to have these events, so show them your support!  (Had to make sure you all read this part!!) 

 

I'm Baaacckkk!

Sorry about the lack of posts! Assuming anyone noticed! haha.  We had an incredible week with family and friends! First we got to spend sometime with my husband's family in the Poconos! It was such a great weekend. We swam, and ate, and swam, and ate, which to me is the definition of a perfect weekend! We also got to go back to the PTFC carnival! My husband used to run the carnival before we moved.  He is somewhat "emotionally attached" to it now, so we try to make an appearance every year.  Such a great group of people working very hard for the community! 

My sister, brother in law, niece, and nephews also paid us a visit from Florida for the WHOLE week! Although it was a last minute trip, I was sooooo happy to see them and thrilled that they could stay for the week.  But most of all Alissa was so happy to spend time with her cousins! We had a blast all week and it was so sad leaving them last night! I will hopefully get some more posts in about the great places we visited and fun we had throughout the week as I get caught up with everything else, i.e. laundry and cleaning! 

Last Minute Dinner

Today was one of those days where 5:00 rolls around and I had no idea what I was going to make for dinner. Thankfully Weaver's Orchard is right down the street! Defrosted Porterhouse steak and made the 2 minute trip to Weaver's for amazing corn on the cob and green beans.


Marinated and grilled the steak, and we usually will grill our corn on the cob, but tonight we boiled it in some water, butter, and milk mixture. (yes, I say we because my hubby was a big help tonight). Sautéed the green beans in olive oil and garlic. Quick and easy dinner that was so yummy!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Everlasting Sandcastle- Art Project FAIL

Well, I have learned once again that I have pretty much no artistic ability! But I did through that process find a great craft (if done correctly) and we had fun attempting to make an everlasting sandcastle.

Months ago I downloaded the SproutPlayer app for my Iphone, but it never really worked well with the Iphone 3G, so I had never used it. Tried it the other day on the IPhone 4 and it worked really well and had some great clips from the Sprout shows.  We watched the clip on how to make an everlasting sandcastle and my daughter loved it. She would not stop saying "make sandcastle like kids".  So I told her we would get all the supplies the next day.  She was so excited when we brought everything home!

Of course it started raining as we began the project and I was a little apprehensive about doing it inside because it does involve a bucket of SAND, but I thought it wouldn't make THAT much of a mess.  And had we had the proper supplies it wouldn't have made such a mess.  So to make a long story short we had the wrong kind of glue or maybe just needed more glue (we tried Elmer's school glue) and the sand we had was way to wet.  So below are some pictures of our "masterpiece" that we created. Although, my daugther still loves it even though it looks terrible! With the right supplies it could be really awesome! We may try it again later this week after we attempt to let our sand dry out in the hot weather!

Had all the supplies ready...so we thought

Time to glue! 

She had fun playing in the sand

Thought the glue might work better on the cardboard...nope

Our Everlasting Sandcastle..hahaha

This craft is a great beach craft, the sand from the beach would work great (and was really what they wanted you to use).  Here is a link to the directions, which I recommend following since we did not and this is what we got for it! Everlasting Sandcastle

Smoothie Update!

After a long day at Hershey Park and not very much sleep (still haven't figured out why), we woke up this morning very tired.  Wasn't in the mood to cook a fancy breakfast and I had a ton of fruit from the Farmer's Market at Elverson (see previous post).  So I decided to make some smoothies with a slightly different recipe.  Here is what we tried today that helped brighten our morning!

Blueberry, peach, melon, banana smoothies!!!

Handful of blueberries
1/4 of a peach
a few chunks of cantelope
1/2 banana
1/2 container of Blueberry flavored greek yogurt
Ice
Water to desired consistency

This combo was awesome! At least we thought so! We ran out of protein powder so we left that out, and I also didn't have any kefir left so I decided to try it with the greek yogurt. I had bought it a week ago and just couldn't get used to the different taste that greek yogurt has, but thought maybe mixing in a smoothie it would taste ok.  And it did! The greek yogurt also has sugar in it, which I am sure was one of the reasons it tasted so good! Planning on making some more tomorrow!

The Sweetest Place on Earth

When my husband told me his company picnic was going to be at Hershey Park, I was so excited! I had such great memories of the Park from when I was little, I couldn't wait to take my baby girl! I hadn't been there for a few years so I wasn't sure exactly what to expect.  But we packed a bag (or two, or three, I always overpack for everything) and took the trip for the day! 

We had a blast! It was a bit warm with temps around 90, but we found some ways to stay cool and drank plenty of water (and although I packed some we still had to splurge on the $4.00 bottle when we ran out).  Here is a little bit of info for anyone wanting to make the trip: 

It took us about an hour to get there from Berks County. The parking is around $10, thankfully we had a free parking pass.  The admission is a bit pricey, thankfully that was pretty much covered for us as well.  Despite those 2 negatives, there is a TON to do! It is great fun for all ages, however, my daugther was a bit young (22 months) for most rides we still found things to do that we all enjoyed. Thankfully, a nice ride attendant let her ride the small carousel by herself even though she wasn't tall enough.  She is still talking about "riding little horsies". And when it got to hot we made the short walk to Chocolate World to take their free tour in the air conditioning.  They have a great water park there as well, but we honestly only walked through and didn't venture into any of the pools as they were really crowded.  Crowded water parks just really aren't our thing especially with a toddler! But they looked fun and seemed great if your kids are swimming on their own.  Zoo America is also located at the park and is included in your admission.  They had a few nice exhibits, but wasn't too exciting (probably because that was the last thing we did and we were hot and really tired by that point). They have some great shows to see at the Aquatheater and other spots throughout that park.  Overall I was pretty impressed with the Park and was surprised that it wasn't as crowded as I thought it was going to be!  We had a great day, but definitely came home worn out! 

The Farmers' Market at Elverson

The weekend has finally arrived and it is the first weekend in awhile that we have been home on Saturday! I have been wanting to check out the Farmer's Market in Elverson for awhile, so after our My Gym make-up class this morning we decided to check it out.  They are a local Farmer's market that is open on Saturdays from Memorial Day to Labor Day from 8-1.  

I had viewed their website last night and was really excited for the organic produce, raw milk cheese, and grass fed beef.  However, when we got there it was not exactly what I had expected.  I quickly realized that the ONLY vendors there were organic produce stand, raw milk cheese stand, and grass fed beef! (pretty much anyway).  The vendors that were there were great and had great items for sale, but I was expecting much more after reading articles in the paper and seeing their website.  Two of the vendors are also stores that we usually visit on a regular basis anyway and they raise their prices on the produce they bring to market.  :(   

It wasn't all disappointing, I was able to get information on LOCAL all-natural grass fed beef as well as eat one of their burgers for lunch! We bought some peaches, blueberries, and a few sugary treats from the Weaver's Orchard stand, as well as cantaloupe from another local farmer (which was almost to ripe to eat).  My favorite item I purchased was raw milk cheddar cheese from a local farm.  Although, I don't think all their cows are grass or green fed :( I did get information on the farm and the cheese is excellent! I also purchased yogurt from them and would be writing about how it was had I not left it sit on the table at the market! ARGH! There were a few other stands with local coffee, treats, and some veggie/fruit plants.  

Overall, I love that the market is geared toward organic and grass fed foods. But it was a bit overpriced and there weren't really many options or vendors there.  We also went a little later in the day, so we may have missed some of the deals or better produce.  I am hoping that the market grows in the future because it is such a great idea and a great way to find some great local produce! If you want more info on the Farmer's Market here is a link to theWebsite.  

Recipe of the Week!

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Sunday, after a busy weekend the hubby and I decided to eat at Panera Bread for a quick dinner.  Love it there because you can eat on your own time and it is convenient with a toddler.  I ordered broccoli cheddar soup and the Sierra Turkey sandwich.  I can never eat all of it so I brought the soup home.  As I sat eating it for lunch the next day, I thought "This can't be to hard to make".  Can honestly admit that I never made soup from scratch before! (I know kind of sad, but like I had mentioned before my cooking knowledge is not that great).  So I turned to my AllRecipes.com app on my Iphone (LOVE IT) for a great recipe and set out on my first homemade soup adventure! This is my version of the AllRecipes.com recipe, but here is a link to their version if you'd prefer to try the original Best Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Ingredients:

1 head fresh broccoli, chopped

2 large carrots, chopped

1 package of Knorr Vegetable Recipe Mix 

3 1/2 cups water 

3/4 cups whole milk

2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions: 

1. In medium sized stock pot, over medium heat, combine soup mix and water stirring constantly until well mixed. 

2. Add broccoli florets and carrots, partially cover and simmer for 8-10 minutes stirring often.  

3. Once vegetables are tender, place soup in a food processor or blender and puree.  Once blended return soup mixture to stock pot. 

4. Add milk and stir. 

5. Add cheese to soup mixture keeping 1/2 cup set aside.  Stir soup until cheese is melted and then sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup on top of individual dishes.  

Tips: I added some extra cheese to it.  Also add water or milk as needed to desired consistency.  Also needed to add a little salt to taste.  

Tonight we had this soup with a yummy filet! Strange combination, but both were delicious! Baby girl even enjoyed them! 

You can learn a lot in 1 day!

Woke up this morning in some sort of "funk".  Felt like I hadn't slept a wink last night and didn't really have any specific plans for the day which always leads to lack of motivation for me! Made it through a somewhat trying day (with some help from Starbucks) and looking back am realizing everything I learned in what seemed like an uneventful day.  We'll start from the beginning.

1. Burg Restorations are just as fabulous as I said they were in a previous post! They came to paint the basement after tearing out the wall to fix our pipes.  Because they weren't sure they could color match the paint close enough, they painted our WHOLE basement for us! And it looks AMAZING!

2. Your children hear and will repeat EVERYTHING you say.  As the "paintman" arrives our dogs of course bark their heads off (as they do at everything that moves outside). And baby girl of course starts yelling "Knock it off" in the same exact tone I do when I yell at the dogs.  And although it was pretty darn funny, I have learned to be careful with what I say around the little sponge!

3. When you wake up in a "funk", blueberries and Clifford Crunch cereal seems like an amazing breakfast!

4. Spic and Span cleaner is not the best cleaning product for hardwood floors! I am now left with shiny, but sticky floors!

5. Google + is another social networking site that I really didn't need in my life, but somehow got sucked into!!!

6. A Tennis store is a great place to entertain a toddler for an hour! Baby girl had a blast running around and seeing all the "pretty dresses" aka tennis skirts.  And the entertainment even included seeing family and friends for a quick visit! (Fromuth- Reading, PA)

7. To go along with lesson #6 I also learned (well not really cause I sort of already knew this, but just wasn't listening to the instinct today) that taking a tired toddler to a tennis store during nap time is not the best idea.  She acted tired around 11:30, tried to get her to nap for about an hour without any luck. Decided to feed her lunch and jump in the car to meet up with my Mom for a little.  Of course she fell asleep within the first 5 minutes of the 20 minute drive.  And of course when we got to the tennis store the family wanted to see her so I woke her up.  I know most of you are thinking what is wrong with you, and I was thinking the same thing, but hoped she would maybe just fall asleep again on the way home.  HAHA, wishful thinking. She stayed awake of course, so I decided it was still early enough to try and get her down for a nap when we got home.  (Moms you probably know how this one goes) Now she was beyond tired and so cranky and would not fall asleep again.  As it was almost dinner time by this point I decided to keep her up and get started on dinner.  But she was of course miserable the rest of the evening!

8. Speaking of dinner time, the 8th thing I learned was that Broccoli cheddar soup is super easy to make! (see recipe in later post)

9. And onto bedtime....Learned a lot at bedtime...Having Daddy try to put baby girl to sleep on a night that she is extremely exhausted is probably not the best idea and led to everyone being a little stressed out.

10. I was then reminded of how much I love rocking my baby girl to sleep and having her "snuggle Mommy's shoulder" that I was "secretly" happy that she wouldn't go to sleep for Daddy.  :)

It is amazing what life teaches you throughout the day and you don't realize how much you have learned, some silly things, but also some really important lessons.  Can't wait to see what "lessons" tomorrow holds!

Enjoy the Ride Rewards

I'm sure if you buy Huggies diapers or wipes you have seen the yellow stickers on the boxes or bags.  For the longest time I thought "I don't have time for collecting codes" and just threw the packages away.  I then decided to check out the website to see what things they had to offer and have now been collecting rewards points for about a year. It takes about 2 minutes to enter the codes and can usually get you free stuff or great coupons!

So far we have only been able to earn enough points for a new bead maze and a Huggies onesie.  But I have also spent points entering to win contests for vacations or room makeovers (which of course I didn't win).  But either way they have some nice items in their rewards catalog and I am sure if you have more than one child you could rack up points pretty quickly! There are times of the year that their catalog is pretty empty, but they usually have a few good items that you can redeem points for.  We also receive valuable coupons in the mail for diapers and wipes.

Just wanted to let you know those little yellow stickers can be pretty valuable! Here is a link to their website if you want to check it out! Enjoy the Ride Rewards

Bathroom Makeover!

This project has been in the works since March! And well, it's still not totally complete as I am still shopping for some accessories. But here are some before and after pictures of our new Master Bath. Once again my husband does an amazing job on a house project! :)

Before:

First paint color: My husband was working on this makeover while I was in Florida.  I helped picked the paint color, but was looking at the colors online.  He only did one coat and waited until I got home to finish.  It was a little to bright for us so we decided (and he lovingly agreed) to repaint with a different color.  So needless to say we have a few gallons of green paint if anyone is interested! 

The Second Paint Color: Sherwin Williams Hopsack

Pretty New Lights and new trim around the mirror

 My awesome hubby installed a new light in the shower since it was so dark in there before! It was not an easy task since there was barely any room in the attic for him to do all the wiring!

Some new accesories, but still in need of more! Taking suggestions!!

We didn't make to many obvious changes, most of them were small.  Here is a list of everything we updated/changed and some info on them!

New Paint: Sherwin Williams Hopsack
New lights: from Lowes
New trim around mirror
New fixtures (faucet, bathtub, towel racks, doors): changed from chrome to brushed nickel, from Lowes
Installed shower light: Lowes


Let me know if you have any suggestions! We hope to make some other changes as time goes on.  Our bathroom wasn't that old so we didn't think we needed to replace floors, shower, sinks yet.  We'll wait until they need to be replaced!

Week in Review

As this fabulous weekend comes to an end, I am looking back and realizing I have been so busy the past week that I haven't had time to blog! So now I am playing catch up! The Highlights (and low lights) of the week.... 

1. Broken pipe floods the basement! Thankfully we've had a great company, Berg Restoration, coming in to fix the carpet, wall, plumbing, and dry everything out. Still not completely back together, but we could have never done it on our own! 

2. Hubby and family built a new deck! We decided to add on to our existing deck and replace some of the wood. My husband, father in law, brother in law, and brother, worked their butts off to complete the deck in time for our 4th of July party. Ran into a couple snags with some of the railings and we had to order some brackets that haven't come in yet.  Although it isn't totally complete, it still looks amazing and I am so proud of their work! 

Before 

During

After 

(with the temporary baby gates covering some openings)

3. Driveway! In the midst of having people coming in and out everyday working on the basement, and deck building happening in the backyard, we also had our driveway sealed! (It was supposed to happen before the deck building began, but the weather didn't cooperate) Just added one more factor to the craziness! But another project well worth it, the driveway looks really nice, thanks to Superior Seal Coating! 

4. 4th of July Picnic! We had a great picnic with family and friends on Saturday! Thanks to everyone who came out to celebrate and hope you all had a great time! 

5. Ended the weekend with a great day with my little family! Relaxed, played outside, cleaned a little, and made a special trip for an ice cream cone (which doesn't happen very often).  Alissa LOVED it, of course! 

We have another busy week ahead, but thankfully it is filled with fun activities and not so many house projects! 

A fun afternoon of swimming!

Well I know I have blogged about French Creek State Park, but just had such an awesome afternoon at French Creek Pool, I had to come home and write some more about it! If you have kids that are learning to swim their pool is amazing!

I took my daughter to swim lessons for 6 weeks in May and June, right before we went on vacation, to hopefully get her used to the water and teach her a little bit about safety in and around the pool.  The lessons were great and she loved the first 3, but after we missed a week and went back, she was not into it anymore.  I think she mostly didn't like the cold water (I don't blame her, I hate it too).  She was always willing to go in the water, but would always want to get right out.  She did the same thing while we were on vacation.  She would put her feet in, but hated getting wet!

So, when I made the last minute decision to head over to the pool for the first time this season, I was pretty sure she would not be a fan of swimming, plus we were going during nap time! I also forgot her  swimmies and tubes to float in, so I didn't think it was going to be a great afternoon. Decided to get a season pass for both of us, and was just praying she would enjoy it so it would be worth it!

Their pool's shallow end starts at 6 inches and goes up to 2 feet, and it is huge! So we started by getting our feet wet in the freezing cold water (my opinion of course).  She wasn't to thrilled so we walked around for a few minutes and she started asking to put clothes on! We took a short break on the blanket, as they have awesome grass areas to set up shop, and had a snack.  She watched all the kids jumping and playing in the water and decided she wanted to go back in.  We walked in down the ramp this time and she surprisingly walked right in! We walked around the whole shallow end of the pool for a long time and she even got brave and tried jumping in and walking into the deeper water.  I was so surprised that she remembered to reach for the wall when she couldn't stand anymore!

Snack Time! 

Such a great pool for teaching your kids to swim! They have a great snack bar, boat rentals, picnic areas, and locker rooms if you wanted to spend the whole day there with the kids! Can't wait to go back! If you are interested in info. on the pool here is a link to their website: French Creek Pool

Weaver's Orchard Read and Pick Storytime

Looking for something to do with the kids in Berks County? Weaver's Orchard in Morgantown hosts Read and Pick Storytime every Wednesday @ 10 AM throughout the summer.  It is $5 per child and well worth it! We have been there the past 2 weeks and had a blast! Here is a little bit about what we did!

We usually arrive a few minutes early and spend some time saying "hi" to the animals. They have goats, chickens, turkeys, and rabbits for the kids to feed and watch! They are a ton of fun! They also have a great swing set for the kids to play on.

 The kids then gather on a small stage and sit on hay bales to listen to the story.  The story each week involves a lesson about the fruit being picked. There is usually a song or dance to go along with the story and the kids love it! So far I have found that the stories are geared to elementary aged kids as opposed to preschoolers, but they are still great!

 You then collect your basket and head up to the orchard to pick fruit. You can spend as much time or as little time as you'd like picking fruit! You can also get extra buckets to pick more if you'd like, but you will have to pay extra for any fruit that doesn't fit in your basket. I have found 1 small basket is enough for us though! We have had a great time picking the fruit and are hoping the temperature is a little cooler next week which will make the day so much more enjoyable! Oh and can't forget to stop into their great market for some Texas Caviar and other great fruits, vegetables, pies, and breads!

Check out Weaver's Orchard's website for more info on the events and activities they have throughout the summer!