Friday Favorites

Friday Favorites: Lug Nap Sac

October 27, 2017October 27, 2017 chantelledoll

Friday Favorites Title My kids are OBSESSED with their fuzzy blankets, and drag them everywhere throughout the house. Because of this, I knew cozy blankets would be essential to pack both for the airplane and for a little extra comfort in the hotel room during our upcoming trip

Blankets and pillows can take up quite a bit of valuable suitcase or carry-on space so while trying to narrow down which of the kids blankets to bring, it occurred to me that I already had a great combo travel pillow and blanket in the plush, fuzzy fabric my kids love.

Friday Favorites_Lug Nap Sac Continue reading “Friday Favorites: Lug Nap Sac” →

Everyday Life, Friday Favorites, Two Legged Fun

Friday Favorites: Girls Mesh Tutu Skirt from Walmart

September 22, 2017September 22, 2017 chantelledoll

A wide selection of tutu’s and sparkly skirts have always been a staple in my 5 year old daughter’s wardrobe . Sometimes outfits are coordinated around the skirts, or often they are simply added on top of the outfit I have chosen for the day. Tutu’s are worn for almost any occasion or activity including school, birthday parties, bike riding, running through fountains or even hiking!

Continue reading “Friday Favorites: Girls Mesh Tutu Skirt from Walmart” →

Everyday Life, Friday Favorites, Two Legged Fun

Friday Favorites: Baileys Pumpkin Spice

September 15, 2017September 15, 2017 chantelledoll

Friday Favorites Title

It is September so that means all things pumpkin spice are hitting the shelves! I do enjoy pumpkin spice, but I think the craze has gotten slightly out of hand. I normally try to glaze over the various new limited edition pumpkin spice flavored items, but when I spotted this in the liquor store flyer I was willing to make an exception:

Baileys Irish Cream Limited Edition Pumpkin Spice Continue reading “Friday Favorites: Baileys Pumpkin Spice” →

Friday Favorites, GIfts, Gifts, Uncategorized

Friday Favorites: Sing-A-Long Elsa

December 11, 2015December 11, 2015 chantelledoll

We had a lot of great moments on our trip to Disneyland this past February, but I think my absolute favorite moment was my 2 year old belting out her own rendition of Let it Go during the Frozen Sing-Along.

Continue reading “Friday Favorites: Sing-A-Long Elsa” →

Friday Favorites, Gift Ideas, Uncategorized

Friday Favorites: “Do You Want to Build a Snowman” Jewelry Box

November 27, 2015November 30, 2015 chantelledoll

Today marks 2 years since Frozen was released in theaters. The movie is still a huge hit in our house, and judging by all the Frozen merchandise in stores this Holiday season, I have a feeling my daughter is not alone.

When shopping with my 3 year old we always inevitably end up in the princess filled aisle so she can check out all the latest and greatest in dolls and dresses. While checking everything out on a recent shopping trip, she was immediately drawn to this “Do You Want to Build a Snowman” Jewelry Box* by Jakks Pacific.

"Do You Want to Build a Snowman" Jewelry Box Continue reading “Friday Favorites: “Do You Want to Build a Snowman” Jewelry Box” →

Friday Favorites, Gift Ideas

Friday Favorites: Playmobil

November 13, 2015November 13, 2015 chantelledoll

Playmobil Logo

For Christmas this year, I have decided to venture into the world of Playmobil. The teeny tiny pieces have scared me off in the past, but since we now have Lego scattered all over the house I figured what’s a few more tiny pieces to deal with?! Plus, I figure the really small stuff can be tucked away if need be. Continue reading “Friday Favorites: Playmobil” →

Friday Favorites, GIfts

Friday Favorites: Qixels

November 9, 2015November 20, 2015 chantelledoll

Back in September we went to Toys R Us for their annual Play Day event and one of the toy samples we got was this fun little Qixel sword. My 5 year old son is huge into Minecraft at the moment so when he received the small pack of 8 bit pixel beads to create a Minecraft-like sword, he was very excited to get home and try it out.

SONY DSC

Continue reading “Friday Favorites: Qixels” →

Everyday Life, Friday Favorites, Two Legged Fun

For the First Time in Forever

July 24, 2015July 24, 2015 chantelledoll

Okay, well maybe not FOREVER, but it has been over 2 years since my husband and I have actually been out to dinner alone.

We celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary on July 17th and today we are dropping off the kids and checking out a local restaurant. Somewhere without coloring books and crayons, or chicken fingers on the menu!

How is this possible? It is all thanks to My Gym! I enrolled the kids in a weekly class in June and was delighted to discover they also offer a monthly Parent’s Night Out that allows us to drop off the kids for 3 full hours of uninterrupted adult time.

I was hesitant to book the Parent’s Night Out when I first enrolled the kids since they have a history of not liking the activities I sign they up for. Ball Hockey was a big flop for my son last year and my daughter wanted absolutely nothing to do with soccer this Spring. I actually only decided to try My Gym when I came across a half price Groupon – if they ended up absolutely hating it, I wouldn’t feel bad about “wasting” a lot of money.

Well, I am happy to report that they absolutely LOVE My Gym. The instructors are all amazing and my kids are actually excited to go to class each week. They do a variety of gymnastics skills and exercises, with free play and songs thrown in for good measure. The classes are a full hour of activity and my kids always come away with a big smile plastered across both their faces. It is a little pricier then some of the activities I have tried the kids in, but because of how much my kids enjoy it I was happy to start paying full price after our Groupon was used.

One other huge bonus for me is that I have even been able to have my two different aged kids enrolled in the same class! I think this has really helped my youngest get comfortable in a class setting and I love that it keeps things simple for scheduling on my end. And, when their weekly class isn’t enough for them, we have been taking advantage of the Practice and Play sessions. I can see this hour of free gym play being particularly handy come winter rather then paying admissions to other indoor playgrounds.

I am really looking forward to our Parent’s Night Out because I know our kids are in good hands and will be having a ton of fun while we finally enjoy some adult time. It is a Halloween theme and my son is excited to go in costume to play and eat pizza. I know I could have hired a sitter a long time ago to get a night out with my husband, but I have always felt guilty leaving the kids – this seems like the perfect win-win solution for all of us to have a great night.

Celebrations, Four Legged Fun, Friday Favorites

Friday Favorites: BarkBox

August 22, 2014 chantelledoll

This week we celebrated a very special birthday in our house – our loveable hound dog turned 6 on August 19!

I have always made an effort to celebrate the dog’s birthdays in our house, but this one was particularly meaningful to me because it is the first 6th birthday we have gotten to celebrate. Our sweet Bullini sadly passed shortly before her 6th birthday.

For her birthday, I baked Nova a birthday cake and the kids and I went to the pet store and picked out a couple new toys for the dogs to enjoy.

On top of that, I had decided to sign up for BarkBox last month and our first one arrived at the end of July. As eager as I was to see what was inside, I decided to hold off opening it until Nova’s birthday. Both dogs, and the kids, couldn’t wait to see what was inside the box.

I was hesitant ordering the BarkBox, but after good reviews from my sister I decided to take a chance. I was super impressed with the first box and can’t wait to get our next! The dogs love the Bixbi Chicken Jerky Treats and the Healthy Dogma Coconut Flavor Barkers smell so good that I am not even disgusted by the fact that my 2 year old keeps sticking them in her mouth! I also was worried about the quality of toy, but the Loopies Floppy Fishbone passed my tug test and looks like it will actually stand up to my heavy pullers.

We are blessed to have Nova in our lives. She is so sweet and loving. The kids crawl all over her and she is nothing but patient with them. One of Keira’s first words was, of course, “dog” and she was quick to expand it to “hound dog”. Nova is a sensitive soul and hides if there is too much noise or excitement, but never strays too far from the family. Her favorite spot in the new house has become the back bench and it brings a smile to my face everytime I see her curled up back there as I am going about my day.

Happy Birthday Bassanova! And thank you BarkBox for providing such a great product for the fur legged members of our family.

Friday Favorites, Uncategorized

Friday Favorites: Solo For Kids On-The-Go Cups

August 8, 2014 chantelledoll

In the warm summer months I like to occasionally treat myself to a slushy type drink – whether that be a Frappuccino, Time Horton’s Iced Capp, Frozen Lemonade or the good old standby, a Slurpee. Both my kids are old enough now that they know the delights of the drive-thru and gone are the days of me sneaking through to grab a frozen treat all of my own. I have learned that I need to now buy everyone each their own or risk having mine completely disappear.

Last summer Tim Horton’s still offered an XS sized cup that was the perfect size to get my then 3 year old a smoothie or Frozen Lemonade all his own. This has been discontinued and their smallest size is now way too big for just one of my kids, but not quite enough to split two ways. One day, since we were headed right home, I had the brilliant thought to just order a medium Frozen Lemonade and split it into their sippy cups when we got home. A medium is far cheaper then two smalls and there is way less drink wasted this way.

Shortly after, I recalled the packs of lidded Solo brand For Kids On-The-Go cups I had seen in the grocery store and decided to pick up a pack to keep handy in the car for just this reason.

McDonalds offers a snack size in their smoothie that is perfect for my kids, but everywhere else I have switched to ordering one medium and using these Solo cups. A Starbucks Grande smoothie divided perfectly for my two kids.

When we are on the road and end up with other tricky items such as square cartons of chocolate milk, I also pull out these cups. They fit nicely in the carseat cupholders and I love that the bendy straws mean less chance of them jabbing into the roof of the kids mouths if they are drinking and we hit a bump.