Nuby Section Plates

Note: I am a Nuby Mommy Blogger.  I receive products from Nuby for my family to try out. I received no compensation for this post. All opinions are my own.

At our house we are trying to transition Bug to grown-up food, and trying to encourage him to begin feeding himself every once in a while.

One of the products that Nuby has that makes this process a little easier is this plate.

This plate is made of a durable plastic and is sectioned into three sections.  It can hold either cold or hot foods, and it is dishwasher safe on the top rack.  Plus it is made to not fade or warp.  That means we can use it at every meal and I can stick it in the dishwasher with all our other dinner plates.

Bug still hasn't completely bought in to the notion of feeding himself big boy food.  He really prefers the jar stuff from mommy, but he's getting there.

The Nuby plate, and other feeding accessories, can be purchased from Amazon, Diapers{dot}com, and other baby retailers.

You can follow Nuby on Twitter or Facebook to get the latest news on all their awesome products.

Karen W

Duck Commander

I told you about our family getaway we had on Mother's Day weekend.  It was a wonderful weekend.  On Saturday we headed down the road to Monroe for a little surprise for Ting.

See, Ting and her Daddy have a little show they love to watch together.  You (and the rest of the country) may have heard about it?

I have to admit, I'm not a huge fan of Duck Dynasty.  It's a decent show and I'm glad that there is a show on TV that we can watch as a family and not have to worry about what the kids might see or hear.  But, I'm just not all crazy-into the TV show.

However...

I am crazy-into the Robertson family.  I admire this family, their story, and the way they continue to stand behind their unwavering faith. I've read Willie and Korie's book and I loved the story of the Robertson's as they boys were growing up.  I appreciated the stories of the struggles this family went through to get where they are today.  And I admire them for standing up to anyone who is willing to question them regarding their faith.

So when we knew we would actually get to go visit the Duck Commander site, we were excited to take the kids.  But we didn't tell Ting where we were going.  As we turned down the very ordinary street we were in awe at the crazy traffic jam that was in front of us.  There were cars and people every where.

As we passed the building in search of a parking spot, Ting yelled from the backseat, "Hey! That's that building that's on the Duck Dynasty show."  When we told her she was correct, she got excited.  I don't think she understood that what she was watching on TV was a real thing.  I guess that's not something we thought about.

Inside the gift shop it was packed out.  But, that is one very efficient operation and I was pleasantly surprised with how nice everyone was acting.  We didn't get to see any of the guys, but I think someone might have been there.  The lights were on in the office area and lots of people were putting their phones up to the window to take pictures.

Hubby and Ting each got a t-shirt and we got to look into the warehouse.  It was a fun experience, and I'm glad we got to take Ting to see the Duck Commander place.

Karen W

Blossom Festival

Over the weekend our town had our annual festival, The Blossom Festival.  This year was the 25th anniversary of the Blossom Festival, and I'm pretty sure it was my 23rd or 24th time to attend.  Our festival used to be just that - a festival.  Our town square would be filled with craft vendors, local shops would have sidewalk sales, and food vendors would set up.

Over the years the World Championship Steak Cook-off was added to the weekend.  That event grew to the point that nowadays we basically have a steak cook-off with just enough of that other stuff thrown in that it can still be called a festival.

Me

My day started bright and early.  My alarm went off at 5:15 and I got up and fixed myself some eggs.  I got dressed and headed up to the event.  You see, back in February I had this genius idea to sign up to run the annual 5K.  Back in February I was running on a regular basis and training for this event.  Then April 1st happened and I got sick. Very sick.  Anyone who has, or knows someone who has, IBS knows that the time spent learning about your new diet is not a good time to train for a 5K.  So the running shoes had been in the closet since March.

But I tied them on and hit the pavement anyway.  It was 7:30am, overcast, 70-something degrees, and 4,000% humidity when the race started.  I ran a mile, then walked and ran the rest of the way.  I finished in 39 minutes.  I got beat by a pregnant woman. And her five year old. And her stroller. Need I say more?

Ting

Ting is all about some festivals.  You say festival and she is roaring and ready for a good time.  This was no exception.  We went to the parade and she got one of everything that was being thrown at us.  We went to the crafts and she wanted to look at every booth and buy one of everything.

And then she got hot, hungry and cranky.  We got her signature festival food - the corn dog - and headed for a place to sit.  She ate most of her lunch, and a little bit of mine.  We ended up leaving early (keep reading) but my mom took her to play in the kids area as promised.  She ended up having some fun, and took an almost three-hour nap when we got home.

Bug

Bug neither knew nor cared that we were at a festival.  He knew that it was hot and there were a lot of people.  He was a good sport about watching the parade.  He acted very well as we fought the crowds and to the food court.  He was in the middle of his lunch when his little body went limp.  He was having trouble keeping his eyes open and we couldn't get him to drink any of his water.

We did manage to get a little water down him, poured some on top of his head, and headed to the car.  While my mom took Ting to play in the kid zone, I took Bug to the car.  I got him in the car with the air on high.  The color began to come back in his face and he settled in for a good nap.  I got him home, stripped him down, and he slept for three hours as well.  He woke up feeling much better and ready to play.  He scared his mommy to death.

Hubby

Each year Hubby and his cousin fish in the bass tournament.  They leave out very early to be on the lake when the sun starts thinking about coming up.  They fish, they chat, and they get a sunburn.  Occasionally they will win an hourly prize.

This year Hubby remembered his sunscreen, and he caught this.

And that's how the fishing tournament went!  (Note to non-fish people: This is a catfish. They were fishing for bass.)

The Steak

Instead of fighting the lines a the steak cook-off, my mom had the wonderful idea to get tickets for the drive-thru dinner and take them back to their house.  So we did.  And it was great.  Our steaks were amazing and we enjoyed them at a real table in an air-conditioned house.  Afterwards we all went outside, the neighbors came over with their kids, and we all had a perfect ending to our day.

Next Year?

After the not-so-great day we had (not including the wonderful dinner), I have threatened to just forget about the Blossom Festival next year.  But I know I'll be there, hot cranky kids in tow!

Karen W

School Awards Program

Ting had her end-of-year school program Friday night.  It is always so much fun to attend and watch her class perform.

Ting received certificates for Scripture Memory and Pastor's Honor Roll.  She also received the "Most Creative" award for her class.

The preschool through 2nd grade did a small presentation of things they learned over the year.  It was precious. (Ting is the dark haired one of the front row, in case you were wondering)


Karen W

Nuby Tickle Toes

Note: I am a Nuby Mommy Blogger.  I receive products from Nuby for my children and family to use. I received no compensation for this post.  All opinions are my own.

I don't think anyone can deny that one of the sweetest sounds in the whole world is the sound of a child laughing and giggling.  Every time I hear my children giggle it just melts my heart in ways I never dreamed possible.

The folks have this awesome little critter that makes any kid (and adults at our house) laugh out loud.

The Tickle Toes is a stuffed animal type toy.  But, you squeeze the toe and the little guy just giggles and chuckles like crazy.  Bug is in love with his alligator Tickle Toes.  He totes it with him all over the house and just loves on it all the time.

But the real fun comes when we make it giggle for him.  Bug just laughs and laughs and then snuggles down with his Tickle Toes alligator.


The Tickle Toes comes in ten characters, so there is something to suit any child.  It can be purchased at Amazon, and other retailers.

To learn more about Nuby, be sure to check them out of Facebook or Twitter.  They are always having fun contests and love to give away products!

Karen W

Bean2Blog

When I was a much younger version of myself, I remember my parents watching the news at night.  There would often be a segment featuring a P. Allen Smith.  He was always on a roof-top garden giving tips about plants, flowers, vegetables, etc.  I thought he was pretty cool.

Several years later I became aware that P. Allen Smith is kinda a big deal.  He's everywhere and he is well known across the country as a designer, gardening and lifestyle expert. (In case you don't know who he is, check out his bio here.)

One of the things he does is support, and work closely with, the Arkansas Soybean Promotion Board.  The purpose of the Arkansas Soybean Promotion Board is to promote the growth of, the use of, and education about soybeans in Arkansas.

One of the ways that P. Allen Smith and the Arkansas Soybean Promotion Board work together to get the word out is through an annual event called Bean2Blog.  Bloggers from the state are invited to spend the day at the Moss Mountain garden home of P. Allen Smith and hear from representatives from the Arkansas Soybean Promotion Board. The day is filled with tours, education, and blogger networking.

When I read about this event last year, I thought it sounded like such a fun event.  I'm not very "up" on soybeans and all the many uses they apparently have.  I haven't seen much information or promotion about soybeans in our corner of the state and I would love to learn more.  And spending the day with P. Allen Smith at his garden home... well, need I say more?

So when I received an email inviting me to the 2013 Bean2Blog event, I could hardly contain my excitement.  A couple emails later and it was official!  On May 21 (yea, that's next week) I'm headed to Moss Mountain Farm with 19 other bloggers from Arkansas.

I can't wait to bring back tons of photos and information to share with all my readers.

Karen W

Scott Shared Values

Note: I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias®  and Scott Shared Values #cbias #SocialFabric #ScottValues

With two small children and two adults living in this house, it seems like I'm always buying toilet paper and paper towels.  We use paper towels at every meal, cleaning up random spills around the house, and for cleaning.  Toilet paper seems to go pretty quickly as well.  It seems Ting still hasn't gotten the hang of how much she needs, so we go through more than necessary.

I figure a piece of toilet paper is 4" x 4".  There's 264 sheets, or 88 feet per roll.  My family goes through a roll a day.  That's 616 feet per week.  That's SIX MILES of toilet paper per year!

Thankfully Scott Brand makes these 24 packs of toilet paper, meaning I have to purchase it less often.

We don't go through paper towels quite a quickly, but I'm still glad to be able to purchase these six packs to make it possible to buy them less often.

Right now Scott has an amazing offer.  When you purchase the 24 pack of toilet paper, or the six pack of paper towels, you get a voucher for a $4 credit to Vudu.

Don't know what Vudu is?  It's an amazing site that lets you "rent" movies right from your couch and watch them through the streaming app.

We love Vudu at our house.  Usually when we decided to have a little date night it's too late to run out the video box to pick something out.  Vudu allows us to just flip over to the app on our blu-ray player (or on the computer) and then start watching the movie immediately.

Vudu also allows you to convert your current movies to digital copies.  Most kids movies these days even come with a code inside to allow you to add the digital version to your movie collection.

For our date night, we rented Promised Land on Vudu.  It was a great movie about a small town.

Head over to the Scott Facebook brand to receive information about their products and get coupons for future purchases.  You can also see what else I bought on my shopping trip this week over on Google+.


Karen W

Mother's Day Weekend

I have been hounding my hubby for us to have a little family getaway.  I didn't care where we went, I just wanted to take the kids and get away for the weekend.

So for Mother's Day, Hubby planned a weekend getaway at Lake D'Arbonne for our little family.  D'Arbonne is just outside Farmerville, Louisiana, about an hour and a half from our town. He found a lake house for us to rent, loaded up the boat he shares with my grandpa, and we headed out on Friday after work.

We drove through horrible storms to get there and made a stop at Walmart (of course) before headed to the lake house.  We arrived at the lake house and discovered we didn't have Internet or cell service.  Can you say perfect??!!

On Saturday morning Hubby headed out extra early and did some fishing.  We he came back we had breakfast and then we all went out for a boat ride.

It was a little windy, the water was a little rough, Ting didn't want to sit down, and Bug hated his life jacket.  I got all mommy-ish, so our boat ride got cut short.

We drove about thirty minutes to Monroe for a little surprise for Ting (read about it here).  We wanted to find something to eat so we pulled over in a parking lot and hit up the Yelp app looking for food.  Ting asked us what we were doing.  We explained that when we are on vacation we like to try places that we can't have at home.  She declared "Can't we just eat at McDonalds?".  Haha, we don't eat at McDonalds's at home so I guess that would be a vacation treat for her.  We landed at Catfish Charlie's and it was amazing!

Side story: Whenever we drive over lakes and other larger bodies of water, Hubby and I make this weird fake screaming sound. Ting has always laughed and laughed.  Well, when we drove over the bridge from West Monroe into Monroe, we made the sound.  Ting said "Yea yea, you did that last night when we drove over the lake. Hush hush now".  Ha, that girl is a hoot!

After we got back to the lake house, I got to sit in this chair on this patio and read my Allure magazine.  The entire magazine.  From cover to cover.  Even the articles. Total bliss!!

The kids played and played all weekend.  We all enjoyed some peaceful time on the dock.

It was an amazing weekend and the perfect Mother's Day present from my little family.  Oh, and Ting got to eat at McDonald's.  We stopped at one on the way home and let her have her chicken nuggets and some ice cream.

Karen W

How Do You Scramble?

Do you like eggs? Do you like scrambled eggs?

As a young girl, scrambled eggs was one of the first things my mom taught me to cook.  She taught me to break my eggs into a bowl, add some milk, stir them up real good, throw them in a skillet and stir them until they were all cooked.  I'm sure that's how my Mamaw taught her how to do it. That's probably how my Granny R taught my Mamaw. As far as I was concerned that was the only way to do it.

Then I got married and my hubby did it completely different.  Over the years I've developed my own little way of scrambled eggs.  As far as I'm concerned, my way is the best!

I start with four items, eggs, butter, cheese and a skillet.

First I melt some butter in my skillet.  This is probably where I should mention my eggs aren't exactly the healthy version!

After my butter is melted, I break my eggs into the skillet.  I always use the All Natural Large eggs from Great Day Farms.  They are an Arkansas company and they just seem to taste a little better.

Then I sprinkled shredded cheese on the top.

Then I wait for the whites to start turning white.  If you watch, the whites will begin to boil.  That's when you start breaking the yolks and stirring everything together while the eggs continue to cook.

Once they are all cooked just perfect, put them on the plate.  Add some biscuits and a meat and you have the perfect breakfast.

How do you scramble your eggs?

Note: Great Day Farms sent me some awesome coupons, but they didn't ask me to write this post. I love eggs and I love the Arkansas brand. That is all!

Karen W