Getting Kids To Detox From Electronics Before Summer Ends

I try daily to get my kids off their electronics. It is a conscious effort. Sometimes it means giving them a ton of small chores that keeps them moving and too busy to miss their electronics. It might be a movie they have been asking to re-watch again or even a new movie (DVD, Library Borrows, or Netflix (I will not spend movie if I don't have to). We volunteer as much as we can at an animal shelter cleaning cages, play cards, do puzzles, play board games, read books as a family (this year it is Harry Potter). I also sign them up for every free class given at the school or library AND sometimes we just head to the park. Anything that doesn't cost money because who has a ton of cash laying around to just take them out every day?

I am happy even if they are off line for a few short hours so if you guys have any suggestions for other things we can do that do not cost money but get them off their electronics doing something they will love I am so interested in hearing.

Yesterday we headed to the park with friends and their parents were excited that they were moving "in real life" and not just in a game.   It wasn't a great weather day and drizzled on us a few times on top of being so damn hot but mostly I was just happy to see them all outside.

Things got even more interesting when the Goonies found a dead something under a grate. They couldn't distinguish whether it was a bird or a rat or a mouse but were so upset that it was being eaten by bugs.

I didn't get any great pics because I wanted them to just do their thing without me shoving a camera in their face or making them pose but I am so glad I got some shots of Goddess hanging with her oldest friend and her current BFF.

We LOVE Toadlets #toadlet

There is something about these tiny toadlets. First, they are friggin adorable and perfect. They look like a full size toad or frog but miniature.

Toadlets will eventually be full size but until then they are some of our cutest finds and we never get bored of seeing them.

Get Off Your iPad, iPhone, Tablet or Computer and Spend Some Quality Time Together - This Is Not Your Grandmother's Puzzle

Adult themed puzzles are coming and they are awesome!  You can get yours August 15th but until then let me tell you all about it and show you one of the puzzles.

Guys, it is TIME to make a conscious effort to put down the electronics and get back to real socialization. My husband and I sit in the same room with the TV on in the background on our separate electronics and maybe talk for 20 minutes out of the 4 hours we watch TV before bed at night unless we make a conscious effort to get off our respective devices.  In fact, I spend some of my nightly online time doing puzzles on my iPad. It's crazy. I love puzzles and love how competitive it can get when we do it as a group. What? You don't get competitive? Is it just us?

Anyway...let me mention a puzzle I did the other day with my husband and then my daughter (she loves them too) Yeah, I put a puzzle with shot glasses together with my 13 year old don't judge.

I did this puzzle twice and will be doing it again Friday night!

I was craving a shot after this puzzle

Looking For Something New That Makes Your Tastes Buds So So Happy?!

Polaner Fruit & Maple premium fruit spread. It is made from delicious fruits and real(pure) golden  maple syrup – from Polaner, a food company that is over 100 years old. Their ingredients are so clean and simple:

Raspberry: raspberries; maple syrup; raspberry juice concentrate and fruit pectin.

Peach: peaches; maple syrup; peach juice concentrate, fruit pectin and citric acid ( natural preservative in the peach)

The 411:

GUYS...I need to tell you about Polaner Fruit and Maple Fruit Spread. I am a huge fan of jellys and jams but I am not someone who uses them often I am always thinking of calories. Not obsessively but enough that I don't allow myself to eat the way I would want. I have the occasional Peanut Butter and Jelly or Cream Cheese and Jelly but not even once every other month. HOWEVER, now that I have said that....I found myself eating these spreads with my daughter (who can eat whatever she wants but is so picky) twice today including on a spoon. Oh come on...that is not okay. I only worked out once last week and no time to go to the gym yesterday but it was so good!

The spreads use pure maple syrup instead of cane sugar. How can this not taste good?! I haven't tried it on anything else yet but I bet the peach would be good on chicken and on sweet potatoes. I added some of the raspberry to my plain yogurt for lunch and it was probably my favorite yogurt to date. I am very picky with yogurt and only eat it because I know it is good for me. 

This morning I went to the gym and came home and made my son breakfast and myself a bagel with Polaner Fruit and Maple Spread Peach flavored. It really is amazing. It is sweet and yummy just like I like my guilty pleasures. 

Above is my daughter's breakfast and below...her afternoon snack. Needless to say..Polander is a hit!

Garden Lites Have Made Summer Life Easier For My No Meat Eating Daughter

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The 411 by Maria:

My daughter is extremely picky and not always hungry. She doesn't eat meat well maybe bacon once a month or "chicken nuggets" once every other month so getting her to eat something before we leave the house for the day gets annoying.  She always says "I'm not hungry". Come on...eat something! I was pleasantly surprised when she tried the Garden Lite's muffins. She loves both flavors we have tried so far. The Chocolate Muffins and the Blueberry Oat Muffins which were the flavors I could find at my Shoprite.

She eats one every morning for breakfast and around 6 says, "I can really go for another muffin but I want to savor them."  She savors them so much that she has been using a Demitasse spoon to eat them so it takes longer.

What We think:

They are both good and easy for quick on the go meals which is exactly what we need these days. You can defrost if you are going to make them immediately but why bother. You can take them from the freezer to the plate in 30 seconds. Simply pop in the microwave for 35 seconds and eat!

 The chocolate has a lovely chocolate flavor. It is tasty. Good alone or with milk or coffee.  It doesn't have a nasty aftertaste. In fact, it is the perfect treat when you want some chocolate. They are

Allergy-friendly! Gluten, Dairy & Nut Free and only 120 calories.  If you are doing Weight Watchers they are only 5 points.

We both like the Blueberry Oat Muffins better. The blueberries are big and you can really see the veggies in there. They are moist and delicious. This is her go to muffin and she cannot wait to try others.

Garden Lites range from $4 and change to $8 and change depending on where you buy them from. They were over $5 at my Shoprite but my daughter loves them so I have purchased again since receiving review coupons.

We think they taste amazing and were surprised to see how many veggies we could see in the muffins. They taste like homemade to me. We love them!

Mission: Record A Fox - The Fox Trot

I was leaving a home that I have been pet sitting for when I spotted a fox. I have only seen two in my life and since I was the driver this particular time I decided it was now or never.

My Life In Pictures July 1, 2018 - July 7, 2018

July is flying by! We are having an amazing summer and I hope everyone else is too! Here are photos for the first days of July.

July 1, 2018 - I have started keeping a planner to get more organized. I am enjoying it but really want to spend money and go all out and get a Happy Planner. I am basically using what I have right now while making sure it is something I will keep up with instead of buying a bunch of things and not using them. I do wish I had more things but this is a start.

July 2, 2018 - My daughter had a great time at her friend's birthday party. I love seeing these kids together. They are all wonderful people with wonderful parents. Unfortunately I don't have many photos from the day as I wasn't there but my friend shared a few. Ignore the guy taking a piss in the background.

July 3, 2018 - We adopted two more babies from the shelter we volunteer at which now means we are a 3 cat family. This is it. No more cats! My kids didn't ask for them. I just wanted them.

July 4, 2018 - I am in love. The kittens spend most of the day in the bathroom as we acclimate them into our home and introduce them to our house cat Luna. They are so small and we are terrified of losing them. We don't have names yet but are working on that. Look at those teeth. They are so sharp just like their nails.

July 5, 2018 - I got my husband The Bro Basket for all his hard work on our house over his vacation from work. He loved.

July 6, 2018 - Don't ask why the girl has on these long socks. She is crazy. She will suffer for her look. This was our first harvest day. Cut off about 6 cucumbers, some mint and some basil.

July 7, 2018 - The new steps. I am in love with the color of the house and the steps. It is a complete difference from what we have had the past 20 years. There is still so much to do but all in good time. Need handrails, shutters, new light fixture, walkway, windows and door but this is a beautiful start.

My Life In Pictures June 24, 2018 - June 30, 2018

I am always playing catch up with my photos. Life is too busy but I love having these pages in my Blog Book.

June 24, 2018 - My daughter hugging one of the kittens at the shelter. This girl was adopted two days later. Maybe she just needed some Goddess luck!

June 25, 2018 - The best time for me to work out is at 5:45 in the morning. I head to the gym and do 45 minutes of various weight machines and spin or recumbent bike. I love it and has become my favorite way to start the day.

June 26, 2018 - My favorite thing to do in Summer is to spend time in a pool. We have a membership that allows us to swim and exercise at a spa. My son spends hours jumping off this wall while my daughter swims and I take classes or use the exercise equipment before spending time with the kids in the pool. It is a great way to spend our time and I thank my husband in my heart every time we walk in.

June 27, 2018 -My husband had created a circle of wire for one of the crawler flowers to wrap around. My daughter asked if he could make it a heart. It looks amazing. I cannot wait to see how it ends up looking once the flowers bloom.

June 28, 2018- It's meeeee! Finally a pic of me. These are few and far between. Must have been feeling good about myself. I have no idea why I decided to take this.

June 29, 2018 - Goddess and her first bestie. They don't see each other as much as they should but they are friends since they were 3. I love seeing them together.

June 30, 2018 - Photo of the cats I didn't know I would soon be adopting in just a few days.

The Bro Basket Is The Perfect Idea For The Man or Men In Your Life #thebrobasket #videoreview

From boozy baskets like The Vodka Martini, The Ultimate Whisky Sampler, Ultimate Beer Lover and Viva Tequila to the boozeless Mini BBQ Party and Poker Night, The Bro Basket caters to every event.

I have been looking for this kind of gift forever! Something that tells my husband how much I appreciate all he does for us but also a place that I can go to whenever I need to send a gift out to my Uncle, Father, God-Father or friend. The Bro Basket has been saved to my favorites and I will be ordering from the often.

WHY I LOVE THE BRO BASKET?

There are so many reasons to love The Bro Basket but probably reason #1 is because of how much my husband loved it.  He is a man of very few words. He loved it! When I asked him to put it into words he said.

"It looks amazing as soon as you get it out of the box. If I didn't want to try the beer so badly I might have put it on a shelf or the fridge was big enough I would have put the whole basket in there to chill the beer and still have it looking nice. I have never been one who needed to try craft beers but found not knowing what I was getting interesting. I usually stick with my favorite beer and always just drink that. It honestly was fun just trying something different." I also like that they had a bottle opener and beer cozy. I have never used one before. I used it on every bottle. We have bottle openers but if you are sending a basket of beer it is nice that the basket comes with one for those who may not have one. This is a great first apartment basket, birthday gift basket, new job basket or the honey thanks for making new steps so I don't fall down them again basket."

Yeah this is true, he made new steps for me. I fell down twice in three months. They were "death steps". All better now.  He spent his whole vacation making them and they are amazing.

Oh, back to The Bro Basket...

I didn't get to taste the beers but I can tell you that they looked fun. He told me they were all good and that he enjoyed spending two days trying new beers.

 

 

 

The prices are great and are based on the size and contents of the basket. They also don't only have beer, spirits or wine. They also have cigars, snacks, fitness, coffee lovers baskets and more. One of my personal favorites is the Jack and Coke. It comes with Jack Daniels, Coke and pretzels. It is the perfect gift.

Go over and check out all the baskets available or make one of your own.

My Video Review