A Very Merry Christmas...

I must say that out of all the Holiday's Christmas is my favorite one. There is just something magical and special about Christmas that makes love it...

On Christmas Eve after we all had dinner, we went out to look at some Christmas lights. The thing was that both the kids actually fell asleep in the back of the car while we were out driving around (they both didn't take any naps)...

Once we were home, we got both kids in their Christmas Jammies, which I decided to make for them this year...

Once the kids were in bed and fast asleep...

J Dude woke up around 6:30am thinking it was time to play, but thankfully I was able to get him back to sleep for a little while. The Bug woke up around 7:30am and we let the kids play upstairs for a little while. Around 8:00am we headed downstairs...

The kids were so excited and I loved to see their faces...

Bug has been all about the Wonder Pets lately, so she was ecstatic when she saw this book...



J Dude and Bug had a great time opening their presents and seeing what the other one got. Bug really likes her iXL and as you can see J Dude had to check it out too...

Here is the aftermath of what happened...

Later on that afternoon, J Dude decided to bust out his tools from his tool bench and decided to give daddy a hand on putting together his gift from Santa...

We had a wonderful time together as a family and the kids had a great time playing! Bug really loves her iXL, Tree Puzzle from Discovery Kids and Leap Frog Scribble and Write. J Dude absolutely loves his Tool Bench, his Tonka Truck and Fire Engine. Both the kids are just working on sharing their new toys with each other now, LoL!

Oh! Before I forget I actually got my Christmas present early, but my awesome husband got me a camera bag and 2 camera lenses for my Canon Rebel Xsi. The other present I was not suppose to know about that my son handed me the receipt to one day was a feather-bed for our bed (not to self, don't leave receipts lying around)...

Anyways, hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas.

Pictures with Mr. & Mrs. Claus

Apparently before the Christmas Break at Bug's school, Mr. and Mrs. Claus stopped by (who knows if they actually arrived on a sled and reindeer, seeing how Horse and Buggys are quite often seen on the roads here...)

Bug seemed happy that Mr. and Mrs. Claus were able to find her here in PA as last year she lived in VA. As you can see she also figured out what Santa's favorite snack was...

So, these must be the people that my sister was telling me about that bring us neat toys on Christmas Day once a year...

As you can see Bug became a cookie monster and didn't seem to want to share her cookie with anyone, not even Santa. Better be careful, you could end up on the Naughty list...

J Dude flirted with Mrs. C, but as you can see that is nothing new. He thinks she's even better than Mr. C!

Pie or Pizza?

So, needless to say if you haven't noticed I am totally behind on Blogging. Not because I forgot, BUT we all got sick. Apparently we had been hit by the Adenovirus (at least that is what the doctor "thinks" that Bella was sick with). Well Bella & Daddy were sick, then Jerrick and Mommy got sick too...

Well so knowing how Mommy was sick and wasn't feeling too well Daddy took care of dinner that night!

Bella went to bed herself that night, she was sound asleep before the "pie" man got here to deliver our "pie". Apprently out here pizza is called "pie". So needless to say when the guy showed up at my door asking if we had ordered some "pie", I was like ?

Doesn't look like Jerrick had any objections...

Pizza always goes down better when you wash it down with a little milk?

18...

So, J Dude recently turned 18 months a couple of days ago...

We went to his 18 month well baby check-up today. He is 25.5lbs, stands 32 1/8" tall and has a really big head measuring at 51cm.

He loves to play with his sister, some of his favorite toys are Lego's and Chuck the Talking Truck. He also likes to play at the park, loves to climb.

J Dude loves to eat, some of his favorite foods are Spaghetti, Macaroni and Cheese and he loves Green Beans. This is what happens after he eats a good dinner followed by 8oz of milk...

When he hears the phone ring he will say "har-row". The other morning I found him wrapped up in Garland and he looked up at me and said "uh-oh, pagetti-o". J Dude also loves to flirt with the girls...

Have to admit that he is one handsome dude...

Winner of Rockin' Green Giveaway

This winner of the Rockin' Green giveaway is...

Congradulations to Brittany. Please contact me so that you can claim your bag of Rockin' Green!

Rockin' Green

So you are probably wondering, Rockin' Green? Well, I started cloth diapering after my daughter, Bug was born in 2006 and has VERY sensitive skin. Nothing worked, but cloth diapers! I started by trying fitteds and pockets, and then quickly moved to AIOs. We now have her in cloth trainers and her little brother is Cloth Diapered about 50% - 70% of the time. Needless to say we were on the hunt for a detergent that would work with my daughter's super sensitive skin! She has Eczema and many detergents leave a residue behind, so I was in search of something that is clean rising...

I started my search on the internet and came across Rockin' Green...

Rockin' Green Diaper Detergent makes diaper washing easy and cuts the worry along with the "stink" in your cloth diaper laundry! Born out of necessity, this cloth diaper and laundry detergent is absolutely GREEN - easy on the planet and safe for kids and adults alike!

This special formula only requires a small amount be used with each load of diapers; it rinses clean, saving you both time and money!

Dye Free, Enzyme Free, Phosphate Free…

This cloth diaper detergent ROCKS, hence the name. What can you expect from Rockin' Green Diaper Detergent? The better question might be what you should NOT expect - for instance, it won't wash your car; sad, but true.

But seriously, here is a list of what you get with a bag of Rockin' Green Diaper Detergent:

• A detergent FREE OF dyes, enzymes, fillers, optical brighteners and phosphates!
• Several scents to choose from, but also an unscented version for those with sensitive skin. The scented versions contain natural fragrances.
• An easy rinsing, HE compatible formula; also approved for military use.
• Vegan - no need to compromise convictions in your cloth diaper washing detergent!
• Reusable packaging - you are reusing diapers, you certainly don't need throwaway packaging!
• Economical! Rockin’ Green Diaper Detergent washes 45/90 loads and costs you $0.13 a load!

Soft Rock, Classic Rock or Hard Rock?

There are three types of Rockin' Green Detergent available; review the manufacturer's recommendations below when selecting a type.

Soft Rock: "This unscented version is gentler than the original and is great for little ones that have sensitive skin."

Classic Rock: "This is the sound that started it all. Our original formula is great for diapers and regular clothes. So use it on everything!"

Hard Rock: "This hard water formula is perfect for those that struggle with diaper laundry! Our newest formula in the lineup will knock the stink out of anything you throw at it!"

I wasn't sure if it was really going to work out for us. Well no worries, you can order samples for just .75 - .80, we ordered some Classic Rock as that is what it suggested for Virginia water. So, it arrived in the mail fairly quickly and we gave it a whirl. It was amazing to see what kind of stuff came out of my daughter's cloth diapers (you wouldn't think the water would be gray in color...), so it passed the cleaning test. We then had to test it out for about a week or so on her skin, I am happy to say that it passed that test too...

We moved in Central PA and were having some issues with the Classic Rock at the time. NO FEAR! Kim took the time to troubleshoot with me and even sent me some samples to try out, well it turns out we have Hard Water, so we switched to Hard Rock 2.0 and the Eczema rash went away again!

Another reason why we switched to Rockin' Green for all our laundry needs, is because it is VERY ECONOMICAL. It is actually cheaper than buying All Baby or Dreft.

Then, you can't beat the AMAZING customer service. I had gotten an order of Rockin' Green and one of the bags had leaked, I contacted customer service and they sent me out a replacement bag right away at no extra charge!


So, since it is the month of November and with Thanksgiving coming up I think it is time to "pay it forward" and pass on something that I enjoy using in my household to yours...

The Giveaway:

Enter to win a 45/90 load bag in scent of your choice:

Leave a comment here - 1 Point

Follow my blog - 1 Point

Fan Rockin' Green on Facebook - 1 Point

Leave a message on Rockin's Green's Facebook page - 1 Point

Share this on Facebook - 1 Point

You are going to have to leave separate comments for each entry in order for them to count.

The winner will be pick on Wednesday, November 10th at Noon, EST. I will notify the winner via Blog or E-mail, so please make sure I have a way to contact you!

Good Luck!



King of Prussia

We have lived here for about 4 months now, but hadn't really found a nice mall around the area. Yes, we have the outlets which we have Pottery Barn and Pottery Barn Kids Outlet (which can be dangerous)...

Today the kids and I were kidnapped. My husband decided he wanted to drive 1 hour and 30 minutes to King of Prussia...

We found a mall and went to check it out. This mall has stores that everyday people like you and me would shop at like Gymboree, Gap, Old Navy, Sears and maybe even JC Penny's. BUT, I can't name many malls that have stores like Tiffany, Bloomingdales or Gucci.

Jerrick seemed to really like the toy store, he really didn't want to leave...

Both of them had fun inside The Disney Store....

Bug went fishing:

J Dude decided he wanted to go mountain climbing:

In the end we all got hungry and started looking for the food court. We never did find the food court, but we did find "The Cafe Court". $30.00 later none of us were hungry anymore! Seriously, I can't remember the last time I spent $30.00 eating out at a mall, BUT it was no McDonald's either.

Trick or Treat

So, apparently the BIG "trick" was that Halloween is actually celebrated on the last Thursday in October prior to Halloween in Central, PA. Needless to say, as the "newcomers" we had no clue! The only way we found out was on our way home around 6:45pm the streets were over run by little ghosts, goblins and the like...

Anyways, so "trick or treating" starts at sunset and goes on till about 8pm. Well we got home around 7pm, so bewitching hours weren't quite over yet. Our little butterfly came out of her cocoon and was ready to scare her share of candy out of London Croft...

And here she is with a bunch of "treats"...

As far as how much candy she really got, who really knows...

Guess, now mom and dad must be very afraid - lets just hope she doesn't eat it all at the same time!

Getting Ready for Fall

The past couple of weeks have been filled with rain and nice fall weather, the leaves on the trees are already starting to change color and fall. Farmers are harvesting their crops...

So, I decided that I wanted to make Bella an outfit for the fall. I picked up some fabric that I thought was cute for a little girl that could be worn through the fall months without it just being for Halloween or Thanksgiving...

Here is what I came up with, you are going to have to bear with me and excuse some of the blurry pictures since I am still learning how to use my Canon Rebel Xsi.

Along with making Bella an outfit for the Fall, I am also knitting her a hat for the Fall and Winter months to come. Who knows, maybe one day I will finish the darn hat. I have been knitting on this on and off in between making her the outfit above...

I wasn't too sure about how all the colors would come together, however it is starting to grow on me.

How Do You Like Them Apples?

So, today we went to a Fall Harvest to check out the pick your own apples! They had lots of stuff todo there, from a corn maze, to pick your own pumpkins and a bounce house for the kids...

Jerrick inside the Bouce House

Bella inside the Bouce House

We then went on a Hayride, which I didn't really get any pictures of...  After the Hayride, we decided to head on over the the Apple Orchard to pick our Apples.

Here is one of our little helpers! Jerrick was busy sleeping at this point.

In the end we managed to pick a whole basket full of apples, which was 27lbs and it only cost us $6.00!

Now to make some apple pie and enjoy it with some ice cream!

Monster House

So, way back in June we rented our house down in VA and moved up to PA. I know that some of you have been curious to know what our new house looks like (not that you all haven't been pestering me for pictures or anything)...

Here is the front of the house:



We obiously need some seriously help growing a lawn!

Here is a plan of the first floor:



We gained a Study and Garage!

Here is a shot of our dining room:



The walls have actually been painted since this picture was taken, but it is still a work in progress, will share more later...

The Kitchen:



It helps to have dark appliances and coutertops when you have 2 little ones! Sorry, about the "not so good" picture quality, it was taken on my cell phone.

Here is the layout of the second floor:


Which I will have to take pictures of later. Both Bug and J Dude's room are work in progress, haven't painted the walls yet...

We have a basement too, but that is just full of junk at the moment, LoL!

Hope you all enjoyed a little tour of your new home...

The Monster Blog Design...

So, we just started this blog thing the other day. Well a good friend of mine had suggested Designer Blogs to get a really cute layout for our blog. Well, we looked around and found something that we thought would suit us. We are going with a custom design.

This is the kit that we picked out:

 

Cookie Monster

So, we had been looking at this BIG bag of M&M's and wondering what we should do with them...

Well we ended up making some cookies with them:

Here is the other little helper, testing the M&M's out of course...

Have to check out the cookies to see if they are safe for everyone to eat...

Then there is the cookie monster that Jerrick discovered... 

The remains of what the cookie monster left behind...