Dreams To Do

Monthly DIY: Tissue Box Photo Cube Baby Shakers

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel @ Dreams To Do) — Thu, 24 May 2012 15:10:00 +0000

I wasn't quite sure what to call this little craft, so I just went with "Tissue Box Photo Cube Baby Shakers." I think that covers all the bases. :-)

I got the idea for this craft from one of Leila's old daycare teachers who made a similar one for her when she was still a babe. All it is is a cube tissue box with some rice and/or dried beans inside covered with photos and clear packaging tape. But, I decided to up the ante of this project by incorporating our names and some quotes and taping off the edges with colorful electrical tape.

Cute, huh?

Best part about these? Landon loves them! And it doesn't hurt that they make a cute decoration, too.

Supplies needed:

Empty square tissue box
Dried rice or beans
Six 4x6 photos and/or printed out quotes and/or scrap paper/post cards, etc. (whatever you fancy)
Clear packaging tape
Colored electrical tape (or you could try it with some fun washi tape or decorative paper tape that is all the rage right now)

What ya do:

Poor some rice and/or beans into your tissue box. Just enough to make a nice sound when you shake it. If you are using cheap dollar store tissue boxes (like I did), you may want to tape off the sides of your tissue box first so that no rice spills out the cracks (I learned this the hard way).
Tape off the hole on top of the box. Yes, some rice/beans will stick to the sticky tape when turned upside down, but I added enough rice/beans inside that I figured this wouldn't be an issue.
Stick one photo or paper image (quote/post card/scrapbook paper) on each side of the tissue box and cut the edges that hang over. Make sure you center your photo as much as possible before chopping any off. I used double sided tape to sick my images down, but you can use whatever you would like - even just rolled up tape.
Once each side has something on it, cover the edges of the box with your choice of decorative tape. I used electrical tape that I found at Target (like this) and it worked GREAT! It has a nice stretch to it and was very easy to work with. But, I know that craft tapes are all the rage right now and it might be fun to use a cool design (check this site out if interested).
Your box/shaker should be a thing of beauty now! If you just want to use this for decoration, you could probably leave it as is. But, if this will be a toy for your baby, you need to make it durable against sticky fingers and drool by wrapping it in clear packaging tape. It took me 3 wraps around each side to get it covered.

Put dried beans/rice in the tissue box and seal the hole with tape.

Stick photos on tissue box & cut edges OR cut edges & then stick on.

What it looks like before adding colored tape to the exposed tissue box edges...

Add pretty tape to edges of box.

If this will be a toy for your baby, wrap it in clear packaging tape.

Ta Da!

I made three of these shakers: one all about Landon (filled with beans), one all about Leila (filled with rice), and one with pics of our family (filled with a rice/bean mix). They each make a different sound when shaken and look great together. Leila loves stacking them up and Landon loves shaking them. :-)

And finally, a little video for your viewing pleasure.

Linking this post up with: Katie's Nesting Spot, Beyond The Picket Fence, Live Laugh Rowe, The Artsy Girl Collection, Days of Chalk & Chocolate

Do you need a good laugh?

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel @ Dreams To Do) — Wed, 23 May 2012 15:00:00 +0000

If so, I would love to offer you some humor at my expense. You may already know about this via Twitter/FB, but I figure it is too dang funny not to dedicate a post to. Here goes the story...

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On Monday I took advantage of my lunch break to run some errands. First I hit up Shopko for a b-day gift and some supplies for a cool craft project I have in the works. Next it was off to the dollar store for a few more things. I left the dollar store with my bag of goodies and an extra hop in my step (who wouldn't be excited about spending $5 on 3 boxes of tissue, 2 packs of gum, a gift bag, and wrapping paper?). I grabbed my keys outta my purse, and hopped in the driver's seat of my car. Or at least I thought it was my car...

Why does my car smell weird?
{looks at empty passenger seat}
Wait a sec, where's all the stuff I just bought at Shopko? Oh crap! Someone stole my stuff!
But I know I locked so how is that possible?
{turns and looks in backseat, realizes there are no carseats back there}
THIS ISN'T MY FRIGGIN' CAR!!!!
{proceeds to frantically jump out of stranger's car}

Yeah, that's right. I got in a stranger's car and it took me a good 15-20 seconds to realize it wasn't mine. In my defense, this car was IDENTICAL to mine. Same make/model, same exterior/interior color, same year. And it was parked two cars down from mine.

Needless to say, I hopped in my car with my heart racing and said THANK YOU to God for no one seeing me. And then I laughed my ass off at myself. That's all you can do in that situation right? :)

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Other recent humorous incidents in my life? Here ya go...

A cubicle party at work! Yes, my co-workers & I are that cool.
Am I pregnant? Nope. That would be the wind blowing up my dress and giving me a belly. Got some people good with that one. :-)

On Sunday Leila fell asleep in the car on the way to Costco munching on corn chips. She stayed asleep as I carried her into Costco. And then she remained asleep in the cart! This is SO not my kid.

Life can be so entertaining sometimes!

7 Months

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel @ Dreams To Do) — Tue, 22 May 2012 04:19:00 +0000

My boy turned 7 months old today. He looks like a one year old.

All about Landon Drew at 7 months...

That smile? It continues to melt my heart & causes me to forget how horrible of a sleeper he is.
That's right, still no sleeping through the night for this guy. He'll have a good night every now and then and then he'll have streaks like this one where he's up at least twice to chow down.
Landon has always had sensitive skin with mild eczema, but lately it's been worse than ever. It looks so painful sometimes. Breaks my heart.
Since I'm on a negative streak... Landon also suffers from some pretty severe constipation issues. The introduction of food over the last 1+ month has been rough on his tummy. Any pros mommas out there have some advice for me besides feeding him prunes?
Ok, enough of that. Constipation, itchy skin, helmet... my boy could care less! He is still such a happy little (big) man! & so easy going! Love him.
He weighs 20.3 lbs (84th percentile, I think).
Wearing 9-18 month clothes (and the occasional 6 month onesie that barely buttons at the crotch).
Favorite foods: prunes (good thing) and pears. Not so much: peas and green beans (mix in some prunes and we are good to go).
Landon still hates tummy time. Hates it. This kid won't be crawling any time soon - if ever.
He does roll over now, but prefers to spend his time just sitting up playing with toys.
Actually, he prefers playing with things that aren't toys. Like paper. Or spoons.
Landon is talking up a storm! Ga Ga Ga Ga GA GA GA! He's got the "G" down.
He also loves to slap his hands on things. Put out your hand and he'll give you 5-10-15-20-25 and so on. Or he'll slap on your chest. Or his helmet. Or your face.
Every now and then he'll give a big ole belly laugh, but mainly he just smiles his huge contagious smile and if he's really excited he'll inhale really deeply, making a squealing sound. Love it.
My little nuzzler. Loves to nuzzle right into you. Such a cuddly snuggle bunny.
Loves the bath. Loves to slap the water and kick and splash all over.
Landon is just becoming more and more fun each and every day.

Sooooooo long.

Leave me alone Mom!

Helmet Update:
Landon has taken to the helmet really well! We had one little bump in the road when he started wearing it through the night and we were washing it with alcohol (like suggested). Well, my sensitive boy had a nasty reaction on his cheeks to the alcohol. We had to take a couple of days off the helmet, apply some ointment, and let him heal up. Since then, we've only been washing it with his baby shampoo and letting it dry in the sun (when available). All is good! The downside of helmet life: the sweaty helmet smell (wet dog x1000), itchy scalp (Landon constantly tries to itch his head), and its just hard to snuggle a big chunk of plastic. The positive: we are seriously already seeing a huge improvement! Even the orthotist was impressed! I have NO regrets about doing this. :-)

And I must say that it does add to the cuteness factor!

I can't believe he's already 7 months old. Sigh.

Eyes

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel @ Dreams To Do) — Sun, 20 May 2012 21:55:00 +0000

Linking up with The Paper Mama for her weekly photo challenge. This week's challenge... Eyes. After going through all of my amazing eye pics, I've decided to enter my Billy dog...

Something about this photo just strikes me. I totally captured him. And those chihuahua eyes just steal the show.

However, since I was scanning through my "eye" pics, I really couldn't just share one on this here blog. After all, eyes are windows to the soul, right? If so, I can see right into my loves in these pics...

High Five for Friday!

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel @ Dreams To Do) — Fri, 18 May 2012 19:00:00 +0000

Gah! I'm so excited that Friday is here! I've got a weekend with my hubby & kiddos to look forward to and a great week behind me. Here are my top 5 moments from this past week...

1. Catching up on gossip mags in the sun. Yep, I actually got to enjoy 20 minutes of kid-free goodness to myself, soaking up the glorious sunshine and rotting my brain with celebrity gossip. It felt gooooood.

2. Andy made cookies. And this isn't in my top 5 list because the cookies were delicious. He tried out a healthy cookie recipe he found in a magazine and the recipe was totally wrong... he followed the directions to a T, but the dough was SO dry. He decided to bake them any way. They were HORRIBLE. And when they came out of the oven and we tried them, they were so nasty we couldn't help but laugh. And we couldn't stop laughing. The funniest part? They sat on our counter over night and Leila grabbed one in the morning and ate it. Stale and all. Then she gave one to Landon to try...

3. My girl. Leila has been SO funny this week. She is not a toddler any more - she's such a little girl! She's been cracking me up right and left all week with the little phrases she's learning like, "No I got it Mom" when I try to help her with something. And yes, she has moved on from calling me "mommy" or "mama" and now calls me "mom." I keep getting flashes of her as a teenager. It's freaking me out a little.

4. My latest purchases. I am absolutely stoked that bright colors are so trendy right now. I've always been a lover of color. This week I bought myself a fun yellow necklace at Old Navy (it was like $9!) and some "Tart Deco" Essie nail polish (it is seriously the most perfect creamy coral color). Love!

5. Landon's head is already rounding out! He is taking to his helmet so well (even though it makes his head super sweaty and smelly) and we are already seeing a serious difference! I am SO happy that we decided to just go for it and do this for him. I know I'll have no regrets about it whereas I may have had regrets later on down the road if we didn't take action.

Happy Friday my friends! I hope your weekend is a lovely one!

Linking up with Lauren @ From My Grey Desk today.

All About Cloth Diapers

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel @ Dreams To Do) — Thu, 17 May 2012 23:06:00 +0000

I've been cloth diapering for close to 6 months now, so I feel like it's time for me to dish on it - for those of you who are interested or may have questions about it. I am by no means a cloth diapering pro. I haven't experimented with all of the different varieties of cloth (only pocket dipes) and everything I purchased to get started has ended up working perfectly for us. I guess this isn't always the case with everyone. Sometimes people have to experiment to find out what works for them. Here's a rundown of what we use & love and how cloth diapering works for us. Overall, we love doing it and don't have any regrets.

First and foremost, cloth diapers are just so stinkin' adorable!

Our Cloth Diaper Schedule

We are part-time cloth diaperers. Landon doesn't wear cloth at daycare (because of my laziness in not wanting to launder them on the days I work - we may eventually change this) or overnight.
He wears them on the weekends and the 2 days/week that he is home with daddy.
We wash the dipes every 2 days. So, if he wears them Saturday & Sunday, I wash them Sunday night after he goes to sleep (and is out of his last one for the day).

Cloth Diaper Brands That We Use - & Love

BumGenius 4.0 One-Size Cloth Diapers ~ In my opinion, these are the mac-daddy of pocket diapers. They are thebomb.com! I read many, many reviews before purchasing a 12 pack of these bad boys (after finding a killer sale). Love them! Great fit on Landon, rediculously well-made, and wash great.
SunBaby Diapers ~ These are by far the best bang for your buck. Whenever a friend asks me about cloth diapering and says that they are considering it, I tell them to purchase some SunBabies just to try it out. You can't go wrong here! The owner of SunBaby, Sunpei, has some of the CUTEST designs and they are a steal. AND, you can seriously double your investment on these puppies if you re-sell them later on down the line. Some of the hardcore cloth diaperers out there are willing to pay a premium for discontinued prints. My BumGenius dipes are probably the best made, but I always find myself reaching for the SunBaby dipes first for some reason.
Jungle Roo Cloth Diapers ~ I only own one of these (you can read my review of it here), but I really like it a lot. It is SUPER soft and cute and so far, it works and washes well.
Go Green Champ 2.0 Pocket Diapers ~ I have 2 of these. They are really cute and run a little bit bigger than the other dipes we own, which is GREAT for my chubster! However, over time the inside hasn't stayed soft and I don't really like the inserts that came with them.

Our Must-Have Cloth Diaper Products

BumGenius Diaper Sprayer ~ A genius invention! This guy hooks right up to the water line on your toilet so that you can spray off the poo right into your john. I know it sounds super gross, but I swear it isn't bad at all (& I actually find it kinda fun - I'm sick, right?).
Biokleen Bac-Out Stain & Odor Eliminator ~ After spraying off the poopy dipes, I usually spritz them with this stuff before throwing them in the diaper pail. I had read a lot of great reviews about this helping with stains and smell and it is amazing. Completely cloth diaper safe, too.
Planet Wise Pail Liner/Wet Bag ~ My fave wet bag pail liner. I line a kitchen garbage can with one of these and it sits right by our upstairs toilet. Dirty dipes go right in there and when I'm ready to wash, it goes in with the dipes.
Kitchen Garbage Pail (7 gal) ~ No need for any fancy diaper pail. We just use a cheapo plastic kitchen trash can, line it with a wet bag pail liner, and we're good to go. Does it smell up our bathroom? NO! Dirty dipes do better if they have air flow reaching them - that way bacteria doesn't grow as quickly. I'm sure if I stuck my head in the pail it would smell, but after two days I honestly haven't noticed any stench in our bathroom.
GroVia Magic Stick Diaper Ointment ~ If you use cloth diapers, you have to use a CD safe butt cream and we love this one.
Country Save Laundry Detergent ~ You can't just use any ole laundry detergent when you cloth diaper. You want one that is CD friendly and won't irritate your baby's bum. I did a lot of research on this one. Country Save seemed to have consistently good reviews, especially according to my local cloth diapering Facebook group. And so far it's working great for us!
Calgon Water Softener ~ We have extremely hard water, so water softener helps prevent detergent build-up in our dipes and gets them extra white.
Dryer Balls ~ I throw these in the dryer with our inserts and it just helps fluff them and get them dry faster.
529 Baby Travel Wet Bag ~ This WAHM makes amazing wet bags! I have the cute robot pattern in a medium travel size. I keep it in the diaper bag so that if we are using CDs when out and about I can throw dirty ones in it.

How We Wash Our Cloth Diapers

From Landon to the Pail: If he has a wet dipe, we pull the insert out of the pocket diaper and throw both in the pail - no rinsing necessary. If it's poopy, we dump what we can in the toilet and spray off as much as possible with the diaper sprayer. Then, we wring it out, pull out the insert, and throw in the pail.
Washing: Diapers, inserts, and pail liner all go straight into the washing machine. We own a Frigidaire Affinity front load washer. Here's the wash cycle we use:

Cold Quick Wash with 1/4 scoop of Country Save detergent (this cycle gets out all of the yuck before the hot wash)
Hot Allergy Cycle with 1/4 scoop of Country Save + generous dump of Calgon
Warm Rinse - to make sure all of the soap is out
Side Note: once/month I add a tiny bit of bleach to the main wash cycle to keep the diapers extra clean and smelling fresh.

Drying: Inserts go straight into the dryer and the pocket diapers hang on a drying rack (they dry pretty quickly, even in our cold basement, usually within a few hours).

Okay, so I'm sorry if this post is boring and information overload, but I hope that at least some of you out there can find it helpful. If you have ANY questions at all, ask away! I'd love to help! :-)

Wise Words Wednesday: Passion

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel @ Dreams To Do) — Wed, 16 May 2012 16:08:00 +0000

"Above all, be true to yourself, and if you cannot put your heart in it, take yourself out of it." ~ Hardy D. Jackson

"Follow your heart, but be quiet for a while first. Ask questions, then feel the answer. Learn to trust your heart.” ~ Unknown

"Nothing great in the world has ever been accomplished without passion." ~ Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

I couldn't pick just one quote of inspiration today. This topic is deserving of more. Today I want to discuss passion. Not the passion you experience for your significant other or your children, the passion you feel towards life... finding your passion.

I have a vivid memory. I remember sitting in a circle on the floor in the 1st grade. The teacher was talking about careers and proceeded to ask us what we want to be when we grow up. We went around the circle sharing our dream careers with our classmates. Fire Fighter. Policeman. Doctor. By the time it was my turn, I still hadn't figured out what to say so I copied my friend who went before me and said, "teacher." I swear, ever since that day over 20 years ago I have put a TON of thought into what I want "to be when I grow up." And I still have no clue.

Once I hit the college years, the fact that I was clueless about what I wanted to do with my life stressed me out to the max. And my fears held me back from pursuing studies that may have interested me and this altered the path I'm on now. I think I may have even been a little bit depressed at the time. What is it with our society raising us to measure our worth by what our career is?

It seriously took me until just recently to realize that your life focus shouldn't be about your "career" or your "title." It's about finding your passion. Children shouldn't be raised to stress about what they are going to be when they grow up. They should be encouraged to explore things that interest them and find what makes them happy, even if this is outside of whatever career they end up in.

So, what do I want to do with my life? I want to find my passion. I want to encourage others to find what they are passionate about. I am content with where my life is right now. I don't love my job, but I love that it is fairly stress free and when I'm not working I get to do things that I do love, like...

blog,
and play with my family,
and daydream about finding my passion.

The Art of Taking a Self-Family Photo

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel @ Dreams To Do) — Tue, 15 May 2012 04:01:00 +0000

The other day on my drive home from work I got the brilliant idea to try to take a family photo with the timer on our camera. It was a beautiful day and my fam was home waiting for me, so I thought "why the heck not?" We have hardly any pics of the four of us together - and definitely not any good ones. Point blank...I'm cheap and don't want to fork over the $ for a professional photog. Lameness, I know.

So out into our backyard we ventured - me in my work clothes and the kiddos in whatever they were wearing that day. I did however make the hubby switch from sweatpants into jeans. I got some eye rolls for that one, but seriously, is a halfway decent family photo too much to ask for?

The Art (or maybe not so much) of Taking a Self-Family Photo

1. Set up camera on tripod and have a couple of your subjects pose in the photo area to set up the shot. Take a test shot (or several).

My super excited test shot subjects...

2. Set your camera to timer mode. We went with a 10 second delay after realizing it was set to 3 seconds and getting a fabulous shot of my ass (sorry, not sharing that one). With a toddler who doesn't want to take the pic to begin with at your side, press the shutter button and run to the rest of your family and jump in the pic.

I think we were all a little bit too excited. Hubby looks like he's jacked up on some-sort of happy pills (and trust me, he wasn't very happy about all this)...

3. Try again.

Fail. This time I took the happy pills. And Landon's got the back arch thing going on. Winning!

4. And try again. This time it gets a little tricky, though. Toddler will start crying, wanting you to "run to the other side of daddy." And when you don't do it, she'll get pissed.

Mommy & Daddy look ok, but brother got distracted by a sassy sissy...

5. Last try. Everyone is losing patience so you just gotta go for it. Keep your fingers crossed and say a quick prayer that everyone smiles (but not too cheesily) and looks and the camera.

I think this was the best shot we got. And it is FAR from perfect. My hair (& Leila's) is cRaZy from running into the photo. Lando-pie is distracted. Hubby & Billy look cute. Maybe another day.

Okay, so I mostly failed in the the self-family portrait project, but I will be trying again. Maybe I didn't get the perfect framable-hang-above-the-mantle shot that I was after, but we got some decent ones that capture US in the MOMENT. Nothing fake here people.

Any of you ever give the ole camera timer a shot before?

A day for da mommas.

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel @ Dreams To Do) — Mon, 14 May 2012 04:03:00 +0000

Okay, so I thought this Mother's Day was going to be "bla." Andy had to work and I thought I'd just be managing the kiddos alone, hanging out at the good ole homestead. Instead, today actually ended up being fabulous! Yes, the hubby still had to work, but the kiddos and I took a little adventure up north to my hometown for some time in the country.

My bro & dad took my momma to a movie, so my sis-in-law and I hung out with the kiddos. The weather was fantabulous! We got down and dirty making mud pies, enjoyed "fishing" in a little stream, and went on a beautiful nature walk through the woods (in which I got chased by a swarm of mosquitoes - the downfall of my day). The day ended with a BBQ with the whole fam (minus my poor hubby) and some very tired, but happy, kiddos. Life is good.

I just got the kiddos down to bed and I feel like one lucky momma. As I tucked Leila in tonight she wrapped her arms around my neck and said, "Mommy I love you soooooooooooo much!" Life doesn't get much better than that.

I truly hope that all you mommas out there felt special and showered with love today!

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Oh! & my friend Megan has a little blurb about me on her blog today, so you should check it out HERE. :-)

DIY Photo Collage Picture Frame

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel @ Dreams To Do) — Fri, 11 May 2012 04:44:00 +0000

Remember this beauty?

Instagram Photo Collage Wall Initial

Well, my mom came over shortly after I created it and she fell in love. She kept telling me how she wanted it, even though a "B" really wouldn't have much meaning for her. Since Mother's Day is coming right up, I decided to make her something very similar. A photo collage picture frame!

About this project:

I bought a plain wood craft frame for like $2 at Walmart. You can get the same thing at any craft store. OR, if you have an old wood photo frame that you want to re-purpose you could use that, too.
I did everything exactly the same as I did for my Photo Collage Wall Initial, except that I painted the outside and inside edges of the frame dark grey first. A bright color would have been fun, too.
This whole project seriously took me less than an hour to complete.

Side Note: I've decided that I'm obsessed with covering things in photos/paper:
example 1 || example 2 || example 3

Instead of putting a photo in it, I decided to just write a simple message. Don't you think this is a great alternative to a boring old Mother's Day card? And I'm thinking a simple black and white photo will look great in this frame. I'll probably print out a variety of options for her to put in it.

What are you getting your momma for Mother's Day? If you're a mom, do ya have any big plans? My hubby will be working this weekend, so I'll just be busy bonding with my kids and my momma. AND rocking the personalized Lisa Leonard necklace that I ordered as a gift to myself! Ha! I'll show ya sometime soon - it is awesome!

Wise Words Wednesday: Remember Happiness

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel @ Dreams To Do) — Wed, 09 May 2012 22:27:00 +0000

"Even if happiness forgets you a little bit, never completely forget about it."
~ Jacques Prevert

I don't know what's wrong with me today. I guess I just feel a little bit down in the dumps for no particular reason. Do you ever get that way? It's silly.

In an attempt to make myself feel better I searched out some "wise words" for today and stumbled upon the above quote. A good reminder to remember happiness - remember what happiness feels like when you are feeling anything but happy. So that's what I'm trying to do. I looked back on some recent Instagram pics that were taken in moments of sheer happiness. And ya know what? It did make me feel better. Maybe not happy, but better.

And once again, I'm trying to redirect my thoughts to just feeling grateful. Today I am so thankful for my beautiful children, my husband, my health, coffee with coconut creamer, flowering trees, blue skies, funny co-workers, my friend Charlie who gives me awesome scalp massages at work, yogurt covered pretzels, and Aruba Coconut body spray from Bath & Body Works. Lots to be happy about today! Wow, I actually do feel better now.

Breakfast Quinoa

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel @ Dreams To Do) — Tue, 08 May 2012 16:11:00 +0000

Remember when I made that kick arse quinoa? Well, I've pretty much fallen in love with quinoa and I decided to try to make a breakfast version in hopes that my picky girl may take a liking to it as well. After all, she does love oatmeal.

Here's what I did:

I pre-cooked a bunch 'o quinoa the night before - just followed the directions on the bag.
The next morning I put some cooked quinoa in a bowl and added some pumpkin pie spice (we were all out of cinnamon) and some brown sugar.
I poured some milk on top of that, stirred it all together, and heated in the microwave.
Finally, I topped the bowl with chopped nuts and dried fruit.

Here's the fruit/nut mix I used - from Costco...

Okay, now that I've got you all interested in throwing together some breakfast quinoa, I've got to be honest. At first it tasted really good to me, but then something just didn't seem right. I think I'm so used to the taste of quinoa with lunch or dinner - as a savory dish - that it just didn't really work for me. However, my hubby really liked it and Leila actually ate some of it, too!

I think I will give it another shot and maybe play with some different combinations...

Peaches & Cream - with fresh peaches!
Strawberry Walnut
Apple Pie - applesauce & cinnamon

Or maybe I'll just stick with oatmeal. I just love all the good stuff that quinoa has to offer, though!

If ya try to make some breakfast quinoa, let me know what ya think!

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WINNER WINNER WINNER!

Congrats to AMY ~ the winner of the Stick To Kids Customized Temporary Tattoos giveaway! Check your email girl. ;-)

Weekend Wonders

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel @ Dreams To Do) — Mon, 07 May 2012 04:36:00 +0000

Another weekend come and gone. Normally I'm not one of those peeps who dreads going to work. I actually enjoy it. But this evening I am feeling that dread in the pit of my stomach. All because my weekend was that good. Nothing super special happened. I just savored every moment and every moment felt oh so good.

My weekend in bullets (cuz ya know I love me some bullet points)...

My hubby didn't have to work! This was our first weekend in over a month that we got to be together as a family the entire time. This made me very happy.
Leila had gymnastics (& Daddy got to come and watch for once!) and she was so into it the entire time. Usually she does really good the first half and then wants to do her own thing. (Probably doesn't help that it happens during her usual nap time.)

Landon slept in his helmet for the first time on Friday night and he's been sleeping better than he has for weeks! The helmet is giving him his mojo. :-)
Transformed our bedroom from Winter to Spring with different bedding and drapes. It feels so good!
We BBQ'd ribs and devoured pasta salad... not once, but twice! The weather was fab and it was screaming for summer foods - and more mojitos, of course!

Lando soaking up some sun with Auntie Jess...

Hubby & I watched "Horrible Bosses" - Hil-friggin-arious! (well, the 2/3 that I saw anyway - I fell asleep on the couch at 9:30)
Our backyard is looking better than ever - the tulips are stunning! - and we spents LOTS of time soaking it in.
Friends came over, family came over, good times were had by all.
My kiddos were on their best behavior all weekend long. Lots of smiles and very little tears. :-)

And the best part about it all was how loooooonnnnnggggg it seemed to stretch on. Ya know how usually the week days drag on forever, but the weekends seem to pass in the blink of an eye? Well, this one did the opposite - and I'm not complaining!

Okay, now I just have to bore you with some tulip pics! I'm too proud of them not to share. :-)

There ya have it! Hope your weekend was a good one, too!

Hmmmmmm...I just realized that I hardly ever have any pics of myself to post. I guess I'm always the one snapping away. I'll try to change that.

Pimp My Helmet

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel @ Dreams To Do) — Thu, 03 May 2012 17:53:00 +0000

Not to be confused with that old MTV show, "Pimp My Ride." This is MUCH cooler...

On Monday we got Landon's helmet for his plagiocephaly/brachycephaly (flat head). It was big and blue and boring, so I spiced it up a bit with some stickers and Mod Podge.

Plain helmet...

Fun with stickers!

So far, Landon is taking to his new appendage quite well! He actually doesn't seem to notice it at all. During this first week with it, we are supposed to gradually introduce him to it so that he adjusts well (i.e. Day 1: 1 hour on, 1 hour off; Day 2: 2 hours on, 1 hour off, etc.), but we've found that we are having him spend more time in it right away because he's taken to it so well. He still hasn't slept in it at night, but I'm thinking we'll give it a try Friday night (that way if he's miserable, I won't have to go to work the next day). By next week, he'll spend 23 hours/day in it.

For those of you interested in this whole plagiocephaly/brachycephaly thing, I thought I'd talk a little bit more about it. I know that there are a TON of parents out there dealing with it... and a bunch of new parents wondering if they should worry about their child's flat head.

As defined by Wikipedia...

Plagiocephaly is a condition characterized by an asymmetrical distortion (flattening of one side) of the skull. Plagiocephaly is the word that is used to describe a diagonal asymmetry across the head shape. This word particularly describes a flattening which is to one side at the back of the head and there is often some facial asymmetry. Brachycephaly describes a very wide head shape with a flattening across the whole back of the head.

In Landon's case, he has a combination of brachycephaly AND plagiocephaly. His head is wider than it is long (normal head proportions are 1/3 longer than wide), but his flattening is slightly more on the left back side.

Examples of plagiocephaly & brachycephaly from the Hanger Prosthetics & Orthotics website (Landon is on the right):

In terms of correcting plagiocephaly/brachycephaly, parents can try repositional therapy, cranialsacral therapy, and/or cranial remolding. From 4 to 6 months we actively repositioned Landon whenever he was laying down, but since that didn't improve his head shape much we decided to go with the helmet. There are a few big players in the infant cranial banding business, but we chose to go with Hanger. They are close to our house, I read great reviews from parents in my Baby Center Plagiocephaly Support Group, and they offered a free consultation (not to mention my insurance covers their product... too bad I opted for the high deductible plan this year - at least it counts towards that). So far we are very happy with them.

I will keep you all posted on Landon's progress. If any of you have ANY questions about this, please leave me a comment or email me ~ ariel{at}dreamstodo.com. I'm happy to tell you what I know! Also, I highly recommend joining the Baby Center Plagiocephaly Support Group - there is a wealth of knowledge there and everyone is very friendly and supportive.

Wise Words Wednesday: Gratitude

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel @ Dreams To Do) — Wed, 02 May 2012 19:00:00 +0000

"God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say 'thank you?'" ~ William A. Ward

It is SO easy to get caught up in the craziness of every day life. I struggle with this ALL. THE. TIME. An underlying theme in my life, and this here blog, and maybe my biggest unofficial Dream To Do has been my mission to focus on living in the moment, trying to slow down, appreciating the simple things in life, and living a life of love. I think what lies at the root of all of this is GRATITUDE - giving thanks and feeling grateful for all of the good in your life. It is way too easy to get caught up in minuscule details of every day life that feel HUGE at the time, but in the grand scheme of things are NOTHING.

Landon got his helmet on Monday (more about this tomorrow!). When we got home from his appointment I watched him sitting in the middle of our living room floor playing with toys with this big ole blue thing on his head and I felt sad. I'm not going to be able to kiss that sweet, fuzzy head of his whenever I want. Snuggling him won't be as easy - or comfortable. How is he going to handle it when it gets hot out? And ya know what I did? I caught myself worrying & feeling sorry for myself & being negative and I STOPPED. I stopped and I said a prayer of thanks. Thank you God for giving me the opportunity to do this for my son. Thank you for giving me his health, his happiness. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

And I instantly felt better.

There is just something about gratitude that puts everything in perspective. I need to remember to feel grateful more often. I think it takes practice. Time to bust out my gratitude journal again.

Stick To Kids Review + Giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel @ Dreams To Do) — Tue, 01 May 2012 14:00:00 +0000

My biggest fear in life is losing my children. Just the thought of something, anything, bad ever happening to them makes me get all teary eyed. With this fear comes the fear of bringing my toddler to crowded places (ummm, don't forget I did buy her a leash at one point). I mean, what if she wanders off? I even get anxiety at Target sometimes when Leila chooses to hide under clothing racks. It about gives me a heart attack every. single. time.

I would just die if something happened to this pretty face.

That is why I am loving Stick To Kids customized temporary tattoos. You can customize them with any info you want - your child's name, your phone number, allergies, a school name, or other medical alerts. I'm imagining these being PERFECT for family vacations (i.e. crazy airports) or school field trips. Wish we were still going to Hawaii so I could put these to use.

My phone number is blurred out for obvious reasons. Wouldn't want any of you crazies out there calling me up in the middle of the night. :)

And they're cute, too! Leila loved the butterfly (we also got bear & frog designs).

Once you apply the tattoo, it can last for days if your kid is careful (with a toddler? yeah, right.) and you can easily take them off when you don't want them on any more. Easy peasy. I'm thinking I'll keep some in our car so that if we ever go to a big event or anywhere crowded I can smack one on Leila, just in case. What is it with toddlers wanting to run away from you anyway?

If you're interested in learning more about Stick To Kids Customized Tattoos, or ya want to order your own (they have FREE shipping!), you can find them here:

One of you fab readers is going to WIN your very own set of customized tattoos from Stick To Kids!

I guess you knew that was coming. :-) Just use the little entry tool below - you can enter up to 6 times! The entry period will end on May 7th (is it seriously already May???) & I will contact the winner on the 8th. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Stick To Kids sent me some customized temporary tattoos in return for this review. All opinions are honestly my own.

DIY Fail ~ Cold ~ WINNER

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel @ Dreams To Do) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 15:27:00 +0000

Maybe you could tell by my Friday post that I was expecting unicorns and rainbows this past weekend. Well, for the most part it wasn't too bad, but I had a couple stingers bring it down.

First of all...today's post was going to be a break down of my April DIY project - bubble magnets. It's not that I didn't complete said project, it's just that they didn't turn out quite how I had hoped.

Regardless, I am proud of myself for giving it a go, but super bummed that I can't share that little project with you at this time. I will be giving it another try this weekend (tweaking some things) and will have them down to a perfect, and easier, art. :-)

Secondly, our furnace broke. We had 80 degree weather last week so no prob, right? WRONG. It dropped down to nearly freezing the last couple of nights so our house has been COLD. And I am NOT a fan of the cold.

Okay, enough whining. Other than those two setbacks, every thing was fab! Here are some happy weekend pics...

The tulips in our back yard bloomed!

Mmmmmm, carrots.

"I'm gonna get you Landon!"

And he's down.

Ha Ha! Those last two kill me.

More happy news? Congrats to the winner of the Jungle Roo Cloth Diaper Giveaway ~ TRACY! If your name is Tracy, check your email girl. :-)

Want some more random tid-bits? Well, you're getting them:

1. My little Lando gets his helmet today. I'm nervous. I hope he takes to it well. I will share pics soon. (Check my FB & Twitter tonight for sure.)

2. I have another giveaway coming your way in the next couple days. I'm just putting that out there because I know some people get irritated with giveaways and I want ya to know that I have no plans of becoming a blogger who gives something away every day or even every week. This will be the last one I have planned until something super cool comes my way.

Hope you all had a stupendous weekend & wishing you a wondrous week ahead! {Rainbows + Sunshine + Unicorns}

High Five for FRIDAY!

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel @ Dreams To Do) — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 16:41:00 +0000

What a GREAT week this has been! I just lurrrrvvve FRIDAY!

Highlights of my week...

1. Spring cleaning day with my Hubby! Yesterday, Andy & I played hooky...we dropped the kids off at daycare, skipped out on work, and spent the day DOMINATING our house. Cleaned the basement, got caught up on laundry (aren't you excited, you won't have to hear me whine about it for at least another week!), organized the pantry, & took a crap load of goods to Goodwill. A huge weight has lifted off my shoulders.

2. Reconnecting with my Hubby. With Andy & I both working full time & him having to work the weekends lately, we haven't gotten any quality one-on-one time for a while. Yesterday, after the cleaning was done and before we picked up the kiddos, we had a super yummy lunch date at a beautiful restaurant, followed by some shopping - just the two of us! I love that my hubby loves to shop, too!

3. SUNSHINE! I've said it before, the sunshine makes me SUPER happy! It has been the icing on the cake this week (even though yesterday was rainy... which actually worked out well for being inside and cleaning all day).

4. My first blog giveaway. I never thought I'd get into doing giveaways here, but it has been fun for me to see new visitors coming to my little ole blog. 2 more days to enter if you haven't yet!

5. A new baby! Two of my high school friends had their first baby together on Wednesday - Easton Michael (don't ya love the name?)! It was super exciting because they didn't know if they were having a boy or a girl. I can't wait to meet him! Hopefully him and Landon will grow up being close friends - they're only 6 months apart!

I hope you all have a fabulous Friday and an amazing weekend! I will be getting my craft on for my April DIY project (meant to do it this week, but I'm a procrastinator), taking Leila to gymnastics, going to a 2 year olds b-day party, and just trying to keep my sanity juggling the 2 kiddos while my Hubby works.

Linking up with Lauren today!

Malibu Mojito Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel @ Dreams To Do) — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 17:16:00 +0000

So, ya know how I talked about making mojitos in my last post? Well, I totally forgot to mention that I changed things up a bit this time and used Malibu Coconut Rum instead of the plain ole stuff. It ROCKED my world! Thought I'd share with you how I make a quick single serve mojito. Warning: I don't believe in measuring things.

Ingredients:

Malibu Coconut Rum
Club Soda
Lime
Some mint leaves
Sugar
A straw (to avoid drinking the mint leaves)

What ya do:

Cut your lime up in slices and squeeze them into a fancy glass (I swear it tastes better if it is in a pretty cup). For the glass pictured above, I used 1/2 a lime. Drop the squeezed out slices into the glass.
Tear up a bunch of mint leaves (as many as you see fit) and drop those in the glass, too.
Sprinkle some sugar on top. Just sprinkle a little bit - you can always add more at the end if it isn't sweet enough for you. I prefer a less sugary mojito, but you can make yours as sweet as you'd like.
Now the fun part! Mash it all together! We own a bad ass tool that is made specifically for muddling (it was a stocking stuffer for my hubby - you can buy it on amazon HERE for $9!), but you can easily use a spoon or fork, or the handle of a spatula, or your own fingers.
Pour in the Malibu Rum. Again, no measuring here for me. I just eye it. It will depend on the size of your glass/how strong you want your drink.
Muddle it all together one more time.
Add ice.
Fill the rest of your glass with club soda.
Try your drink & tweak as needed. Not sweet enough? Add more sugar. Too strong? Add more club soda. You get the idea.
ENJOY! Preferably with your feet kicked up and the sun hitting your face.

You can also enjoy a virgin mojito if you aren't a drinker! When I was preggo, I would just use 7-up or Sprite and add lime and mint. Super refreshing!

There's just something about sunshine.

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel @ Dreams To Do) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 15:00:00 +0000

It never ceases to amaze me how a little change in the weather can bring about such a huge change in my outlook on life. The glass is always half full when the first tastes of summer hit my hometown. This past weekend we had some freakishly warm-for-April weather. A few more pairs of flip flops came out of hiding, I got to show off my Vegas tan a little, I opted for iced coffee over hot, and my little Landon Drew got his hands on some lush, green grass for the very first time.

I love me some sunshine! Sunshine = Happiness. There are really on 2 things that I don't like about it... 1) skin cancer, 2) it draws me outside and away from the piles of laundry that still haunt my house. Oh yeah, haven't touched any of it in days. But, the glass is half full baby! I know it'll get done eventually (I'll be forced to do something when my kiddos are rocking their birthday suits because there's nothing clean to wear).

Yesterday I had a mid-day presentation outside of the office. On the way back, my co-worker and I made a detour at the liquor store (shhhhh...don't tell our boss). Now, I'm not really much of a drinker, but there's just something about 80 degree weather that screams for a mojito. So, last night I got to enjoy a refreshing beverage on our back porch while the hubby BBQ'd and the kiddos rolled around in the grass. Heaven, I say.

Is Summer approaching where you are? What's your fave thing about the sun?

Jungle Roo Cloth Diapers Review + Giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel @ Dreams To Do) — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 07:00:00 +0000

My little (big) Landon is 6 months old now and I've been cloth diapering him for about 5 months. I NEVER thought I would be up for the challenge of using cloth diapers, but it turns out that it really isn't very challenging and I actually love it! For us it is a win-win-win situation because we are reducing waste, preventing diaper rash and blowouts (we NEVER have blowouts with them), and they are friggin' adorable!

When the kind folks at Jungle Roo Cloth Diapers contacted me about doing a review, I seriously did a happy dance. All of you cloth diapering mommas out there know how exciting fluffy mail can be. :-) And when I got their Giraffe Roo Minky diaper in the mail, it was hard not to put it on Landon straight out of the package without washing it. This thing is seriously so stinkin' cute and ridiculously soft!

My little stud muffin, rocking his new dipe...

This Jungle Roo cloth diaper has a baby-blanket-soft minky leak proof exterior with suede cloth lining. It is a pocket diaper and the insert that comes with it is 3-layers of microfiber - I find it to be super absorbent. In terms of size, I am absolutely loving this dipe for my big boy. It will fit babies from 9-30 lbs, but in terms of overall size it seems to be slightly larger which is great for bigger babies. I layed it down next to a BumGenius 4.0 and a Sunbaby - the Jungle Roo is slightly larger than the BumGenius in terms of length and about the same in terms of width (which is quite a bit larger than the Sunbaby). Loving it! As for the snaps, this baby ROCKS! It has three rows of rise adjustment snaps, hip snaps, and waist tab overlap snaps for newborn fit. I will be getting plenty of use out of this bad boy!

You can learn more about Jungle Roo Cloth Diapers here:

Jungle Roo pocket diaper + insert...

I love me a fluffy butt!

So, today I am super excited to be hosting my very first giveaway!

One of you is going to WIN your very own Jungle Roo Cloth Diaper!

Don't use cloth? Enter anyway and maybe you can give it a try! There are SIX possible ways for you to enter via the widget below. A winner will be randomly selected one week from today.

Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

"Multicolored" Photo Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel @ Dreams To Do) — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 21:13:00 +0000

I just can't resist linking up with The Paper Mama's "Multicolored" Photo Challenge today. When I saw the topic, I instantly thought of this pic I took of Leila almost exactly one year ago in front of our neighbor's house. It's about that time for the poppies to bloom again and I can't wait!

6 Months

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel @ Dreams To Do) — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 21:37:00 +0000

My little boy is 6 months old today - that's 1/2 a year already! Craziness, I say.

Landon Drew at 6 months...

Weight...we'll find out at his 6 month appt. next week. Around 20 lbs is my guess.
He's wearing 12 month clothing the most comfortably. We still have some 6 & 9 month things that we put him in, though.
Starting to eat food! He's tried avocado, sweet potato, rice cereal, squash, pears, & a Ritz cracker. :-)
NOT sleeping through the night. Boo hoo.
Landon is the HAPPIEST baby on the block. He seriously smiles pretty much non-stop and his smile just lights up the room. That's why it is super hard to be angry with him at 3am when he's just smiling his head off at you.
Sits up all by himself unassisted. Started that a couple weeks ago.
Still just barely rolling over. The kids got a lot of weight/girth to manage!
Sissy is still his favorite person ever.
He gets more and more vocal every day. A lot of cooing and squealing going on around here.
Loves his toys (especially Sophie the Giraffe - the most over-priced toy out there, but worth it for us because we're on kid #2 with it!). He seriously will sit in his high chair or on the floor and be totally content playing with something for up to a half an hour!
Landon still has the most beautiful baby blue eyes! I have a feeling they're sticking around.

Gosh, I just love this kid soooo much it hurts! I cannot even imagine our life without him in it.

Sissy got in on the photo-taking action, too...

Hope your weekend is off to a fabulous start! Stay tuned for my very first giveaway on Monday and my April DIY project later in the week. Yay!

It was too good to be true.

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel @ Dreams To Do) — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 16:13:00 +0000

Last night I finally got the opportunity to tackle the piles of clean laundry cluttering our bedrooms. Leila was watching an episode of Dora in the living room, so Landon and I headed upstairs to get to work. He sat on the floor of the bedroom cooing and smiling and just being too dang cute while I worked as fast as I could folding and hanging the clean clothes (now a little too wrinkled from laying in heaps for so long). Bursts of happiness ran through me - it just felt so good to be productive and to have both of my kiddos happily doing their own thing.

I successfully got all of the kiddos' laundry put away and realized that Leila's episode of Dora should have been over a while ago. I expected her to come interrupt my hard work right after it was over, requesting a snack (even though she just had dinner) or another show or a piggy-back ride. When I realized she hadn't came up and bugged me yet, I called down to her. No answer. So, I went downstairs and found this:

My sleeping beauty...

A huge smile spread across my face and I ran out of the room to find the camera. My girl falling asleep on the couch may not seem like a huge deal, but this girl NEVER falls asleep anywhere besides her bed or occasionally her car seat. And she just looked SO darn cute!

So basically, the feelings of happiness that were bursting inside me earlier now multiplied. I had my extra-smiley baby boy clinging to me and my beautiful princess asleep on the couch. I just felt SO blessed for these two AWESOME gifts I had been given.

I let her sleep for a couple more minutes and then decided to wake her so she wouldn't be up all night. I put Landon down and then gathered Leila up in my arms. As I maneuvered my arm under her behind I felt wetness. I looked down on the couch to find a HUGE wet spot. At that point I just had to laugh it off.

Two lessons I learned from this:

Don't put it past God to humble you when you least expect it.
If you're gonna buy a ridiculously expensive velvet couch when you have kids...1) you're probably an idiot like me & 2) put something down on it before your kiddo sits down.

Happy Friday! Here's to a fabulous weekend ahead for all of us!

The Last Thing

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel @ Dreams To Do) — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 15:00:00 +0000

A fun little Thursday post for ya. The last thing I...

ATE: Chocolate covered raisins. Those are healthy, right?

LAUGHED AT: What my co-worker did with the fruit on my desk. See for yourself...

PONDERED: What the heck am I going to create for my Monthly DIY project? & why do I always wait until the end of the month to figure this out? I guess I will be taking a little trip to Joanne's on my lunch break today.

WAS PROUD OF: How Landon behaved at his helmet appointment yesterday. He was such a happy little trouper! And the stocking thing they put over his head to take the scans and measurements cracked me up! We should be getting his helmet in a couple of weeks.

CRIED OVER: Our laundry situation. Dead serious. It wasn't like full on tears streaming down my face, I just got a little teary-eyed. Pathetic, huh? We are just SO. BACKED. UP. and there are piles of dirty and clean clothes taking over our house. Boo-hoo.

CRAVED: Chocolate covered gummy bears. My BFF has gotten me OBSESSED with these things. I seriously ate like a pound of them the other week. And I want MORE.

GOT EXCITED ABOUT: My first blog giveaway! I never really thought I would get involved in the blog giveaway world, but I've been getting approached by some sweet companies and I finally decided to say yes to a couple. A little sneak peak at what will be up for grabs next week...

HAPPY THURSDAY PEOPLE!