Healthier Mud Pies / gluten and dairy free

I bought some Glutino oreo's for the boys. They love these cookies! I thought it would be fun to make them some mud pies with the cookies crumbled on top and a couple gummy worms. My mom sent them Albanese gummy worms. 

I found a chocolate chia pudding recipe on Pinterest. It was super easy to make. 

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 cup dairy free milk - I used almond milk

1 tablespoon maple syrup

1/8 tsp salt

1/4 cup chia seeds

1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix it all together and chill for 4-6 hours in the fridge. 

I crumbled up the cookies, sprinkled them over the top and put 2 worms in each bowl. George thought they were super cute and delicious. Cash would only eat the worms. lol

George ended up thinking it was a cute idea, but only ate about 3 bites. George isn't a chocolate fan. Cash loves all sweets, so I am not sure why he wouldn't even try them. Cash just kept yelling he wanted more worms. Next time I will just try to see if he will eat the pudding without worms. 

First Day of School Outfits

As I write this blog post I am not sure if G will have a first day of school or what exactly it all entails. We have been told Cash will have preschool in the fall. I am hoping that if G has virtual school a couple days a week I can work that out with C schedule. That way I can be able to help G with his school one on one when C is at school. If they say G school will all be virtual I most likely will home school. This is my worst nightmare. I am not a home school mom, nor am I for home schooling at all. 

Anyhow I am hoping everyone will have school. I bought them first day of school outfits with a positive attitude that we will be going to school!

I first found G outfit at Carter's. He loves dinosaurs, so I thought I would find something he loved to maybe help his nerves. The turquoise polo will bring out his blue eyes too. He will look so darling! Carter's showed the shorts with a coral colored polo too. I am tempted to get him that polo as an additional outfit. 

I found C outfit randomly at TJ Maxx on clearance. Both boys will get to wear dinosaurs for their first day of school! This is a first day of preschool outfit only. White on a preschooler is never a good idea. I learned very quickly with G that you don't send kids to preschool in their best clothes because they come back with paint and markers all over them. 

Outfit Details:

Cash Outfit: 
Carters 

G's Outfit: 
Polo
Shorts

Happy Birthday Cash!

It is hard to believe Cash is 2 today! This boy is the best cuddlier, momma's boy, hilarious, always has a smile for us, and a snarky little thing. lol

Cash snarkiness makes me laugh. If he doesn't know you he is not going to smile or be friendly. He will give you the snark. People will say how cute he is at the store and out comes the snark. It cracks me up! 

We took birthday pictures with both boys a week ago. Cash brought his snark. Man we had to work so hard just to get a little smile. He was not in the mood for pictures at all. I even offered a cookie with little to no luck. These pictures capture his personality and he is full of personality this one! 

DIY Letter Beaded Bracelets

One of the trends are these adorable gold beaded letter bracelets. I really wanted one with each of the boys name on them. ShopBop has them for $36 and up. Etsy has them too, but they are still pricey. 

I was going to buy the gold beads at Michael's, but if you don't buy the real gold beads the color starts to rub off quickly. I decided to take a different route and make mine with colored beads. I saw the Dollar Tree had some seed beads and letter beads. 

Each package of the seed beads was $1 and the letter beads were $1. I spent $3 on beads total. I also have enough beads to make probably 10 more bracelets. I barely put a dent in the one package of blue beads.  I bought the elastic string on Amazon for $3.  

I decided to make the bracelets while Cashy was napping one day. G had a great time making his own bracelet and playing with the beads. He asked me to get his sensory bin down while I finished. We both sat at the table chatting away with our projects. 

I tied the elastic in a knot and then put clear nail polish over the knot. I tried to pull the bracelet to put it on before I put the clear nail polish and the bracelet exploded all over the dining room. I know there are beads hiding still after G and I both searched the floor on our hands and knees. Take it from me. Seal it with nail polish before you put them on. lol

I spent a total of $6 on supplies. I have plenty of supplies left that I could make numerous other bracelets. 

The boys love these bracelets. They each point to their names and smile. G will tell me each letter from the bracelets. They are so proud that I wear their names on my wrist. 

Dining Room

I have slowly been working on one room at time in our home. The living room is pretty much done. I need a new rug for the living room. I will look for one during sales this year to complete that room. 

The dining room has taken the longest to get to this point.  When we left California we got rid of our dining room table. My cousin so graciously said he would build us a table. I sent him the legs that I wanted and a picture from Pinterest. He made the table exactly like the picture I sent! The table turned out AMAZING! I love it! 

We picked up the table in February. I had plans to buy chairs, but Covid happened. Overstock was having a sale over Memorial Day on chairs I have been watching. I finally pulled the trigger on them. It took about 2.5 weeks to get them. 

The entire room looks so much better!!! I absolutely love these chairs. I am so happy with the look and quality of the chairs! 

Table: custom made by cousin

Chairs: Overstock

Clock: TJ Maxx

Gather lazy susan: Nutcracker Market 

Cash sit at the right end of the table, so I keep that chair to the side under the light switches. There is plenty of room to keep the chair there until he is done with his high chair. We eat breakfast and lunch by the island in the kitchen. We just move the high chair to the table for dinner and put it back by the kitchen for the rest of the meals. Cash can move it himself and puts it in his spot for dinner. All I have to say is time to eat, off he runs to get the high chair and he stands there yelling for us to put him in. That boy doesn't mess around when it's time for a meal. 

I broke down and hired a sleep coach!

I broke down and hired a sleep coach!  My boys as babies were never good sleepers. Cash was the worst! G got to the point he would wake up 1 time a night, take a bottle and go back to sleep. Cash has required to eat around the clock every 2-3 hours since he was born. 

When Cash was 18 months old I stopped breast feeding. He would still wake up 1-2 times a night and wanted a bottle. Then he went through a HORRIBLE period where he wouldn't go back to sleep until we rocked him back to sleep. We spent about 3 weeks dealing with this. We tried laying with him, he wouldn't sleep in our bed, so he would just play. We broke every "rule" out there just trying to get this kid to sleep. I tried to let him cry it out and he would scream for 2-3 hours. He wouldn't let up. It was a freaking nightmare! 

I asked some friends for their advice. One of them suggested hiring a sleep coach Sleep Happy Consulting. I had thought about it, but seriously what could this person do that I couldn't? I just didn't think they really could help me. I was desperate though, so I started looking for one. I checked out Sleep Happy and one other company. Sleep Happy offered a FREE 15 minute consultation. I checked her calendar to see what appointments she had available and thankfully she had one for that day during nap time. I signed up! 

I also started following Sleep Happy on Instagram just to see what this chick was all about. I read some of her posts, watched her stories and tried to get whatever tips I could get. I was hoping I could get all the tips for free without paying for a consultant. lol I'm just keeping it real folks! I am frugal and I try to save a buck anywhere I can! 

My 15 minute call with Jessica was great! I hired her on the spot. She sent me a questionnaire and we scheduled a time in the next couple days to do our 1 hour call.  Sleep Happy offers packages from $135 for a one hour call all the way up to $1650 in home coaching. I decided to go with the one hour call to start and add on if I needed further help. During our one hour call I took over 4 pages of notes!

Jessica gave us a schedule, jobs for the boys at night, signs to hang in their room with their jobs, and gave me confidence to make this all work. I was nervous! I figured the first few nights would be rough, but so had the past 18 months. lol 

The first night I sat both boys down, told them their jobs and then told Cash he would have to start going to sleep on his own in his own bed. Mommy and Daddy would NOT be coming into his room until morning. I told him he was safe, it was important everyone got sleep to grow, be healthy and to be happy. He kept shaking his head no when I said he had to stay in his bed. lol 

The first night was rough, the next night was better and after that he cried himself to sleep and stayed asleep. For me by spending the money on getting some help made me stick to the schedule and stay strong. It has totally changed our lives! I wish I had hired her back when he was 6 months old and we had moved. I can't change the past, but I can sure recommend Sleep Happy for all my friends with babies!!! 


Sleep Happy Consulting

Package 

Toys my Boys are Loving Right Now!

I am so thankful for our big back yard and the fact this pandemic hit during the best weather in Southern Texas! I can’t imagine this hitting in July. We would be stuck in the house all day!

I thought I would share some of the toys my boys are playing the most with right now. My oldest is 5 1/2 and the youngest is 20 months. These toys are great for both ages.

Duplos

G got this Duplo Set when he was around a year old for Christmas. This is the exact set we have, but doesn’t seem to be available on Amazon. There are lots of other sets to choose from - 1 / 2 / 3

G still plays with these all the time! Cash loves them too. They like to build towers, stacking them on top of each other, build a sky scraper and they ask me to build the exact items on the box!  One evening I took this entire box and dumped them in the bathtub with the boys. They LOVED it!!! The legos got a good wash and the boys had a blast!

Picasso Tiles

My boys LOVE these! They are a magnetic tile that stick together. I should buy 1 more set because there is a lot of fighting over them. G loves to make buildings for his star war characters and dinosaurs.

Cash loves when someone builds something to smash it down. A lot of times this causes problems because Cash doesn’t understand G just spent 10 min making his creation perfect. I try to make a few little buildings for Cash to crash, so he leaves brother alone.

A friend bought these for the boys for Christmas. They are played with every single day! I have added to their wish lists the wheels to be able to make cars with the tiles. I should probably add another set of these to the wish list too.

Magformers

Apparently building items are the best Christmas gifts because all of our sets were gifts. lol These are so magnetic and work with the Picasso tiles. Often times we have both sets out to build large creations as G likes to call them.

It’s nice these sets interact with each other, so the kids can create large things.

Nugget Comfort

I heard about the Nugget from a friend who ordered one last year. I wanted to get one for the boys for Christmas. Well everyone else had that same idea. I was able to get ours around February. Another great item I am so happy we have during this time! 

I bought the koala gray color. We keep it in the boys room against the wall when it's not being used. The boys are able to drag it out on their own. They practice their ninja and gym moves on it. We build houses, use it to climb, jump, flips, relax and sleep on. It's actually REALLY comfortable to sleep on. 

If you want a Nugget it's going to be very difficult to get one. They are closed during the pandemic, but you can get on their back order list. I was able to get one by ordering one in December on their back order and we received it about 6 weeks later. They did say it would take up to 14 weeks for delivery, but we got it much faster. They run about $250. I can see us using this for years! This is one of my favorite purchases we have made for the boys in the past year. 

Outdoor Toys

Bubble flash light

The boys love bubbles!!! I found this adorable bubble flash light at Target for Easter. This is a perfect toy for Cash. He can easily use it and loves it. 

Big Wheel

When the grandkids on Art’s side of the family turn 2 Art’s parents buy them all a big wheel  car. G picked out a fire truck. We moved this car across the country and man am I glad we did. We had nooooo yard for this thing in California. He could go in a circle in our back yard or down the sidewalk. It wasn’t used that much.

Well now we have a huge yard! G drives it and Cash rides in it. G has been trying to give Cash driving lessons. It’s rather entertaining to watch.

I feel I’ve been able to teach them a lot of vehicle safety with the fire truck. Why we need to look all around before we back up. Why it’s important to sit down when someone else is driving. How doors are always kept shut when driving. All of these things sound like something a mom is yelling at teenagers. Lord help me!!!

Solo Cups

Veronika from Veronika’s Blushing posted on Instagram her kids playing with solo cups and building towers. I ordered a big bag from Amazon for around $7. The kids love to stack them up and crash them down with super hero’s or drive their cars into them.

One night I built a tower around the coffee table for them to wake up too. They love finding things I’ve built them the next morning. 

What have you been doing to keep your kids entertained during this pandemic? Are there certain toys your kids have played with for years? 

Gallery Wall on a Budget

One of my favorite bloggers Veronika's Blushing did this AMAZING gallery wall in her home. You can find her blog post HERE. When she posted the gallery wall it was around the time we were listing our house and planning to move to Texas. I decided in my next house this was the type of gallery wall I wanted to do. It was clean, crisp and beautiful!!! 

When we looked at our house I immediately thought of 2 places to do the gallery wall. I started planning to do one. I loved the frames Veronika used. She got hers at Target HERE. I put a lot of thought into those frames. I have all silver or brushed nickel hardware in my house. I love the gold frames, but I was concerned with having large statement gold frames with silver every where else. Also the cost was another reason I just wasn't sure I could go for them. 

Walmart has REALLY stepped up their game with their home items. I have bought a few things from them for the new house. I bought this bench for my mud room. It is very sturdy and adorable! I also bought this desk which matches the bench. We have the desk in the mud room too. The mud room is very large, so I wanted the items to match. The colors of both items are gray and they go together well. The description of the names isn't the same online. I feel they might have had a different option for the desk when I bought it months back. Anyhow these items are great quality! 

I started looking for frames all over the internet. Amazon, Walmart, Target, Kohls etc. I read a lot of reviews to see what people were saying. I wanted to keep the gallery under $150. The size of the frames I wanted to use if I went with the Target frames it would cost me around $300. Walmart had THESE frames for $10.99. I was able to get all 9 frames for under $100. The frames I bought from Walmart are AMAZING quality! If you bought them from any other retailer you would spend $25 and up on them. 

The frames sat in an enormous box in our guest room for a month. The thought of measuring and hanging them was daunting. I ordered all the pictures except one. I had Cash's pictures taken, so I wanted to put one of his new pictures in a frame. I was talking with my friend Krystal and she mentioned using these Command Strips to hang pictures. Using the strips no longer sounded like a daunting task trying to hang 9 frames. I ordered the strips from Amazon. Then I came down with strep throat and the project got pushed back another week or so. 

One day during nap time I decided it was time to just bite the bullet and hang the pictures. The huge box kept George entertained while I took all the frames out of their packaging, put the pictures in the frame, adding the command strips and arranged them how I wanted them to be on the wall. Laying them out of the floor really helped give me a visual of how I wanted them on the wall. I moved certain pictures around and was able to determine the order before applying the strips on the wall. 

I used a level to make sure each picture was level and to measure the space between each frame. It was so easy to do! It took longer to take them all out of the packaging then it did to hang them. It took me maybe 10 minutes max to hang them even with letting G climb up and down the step ladder a couple times. The entire project took me around an hour and a half from start to finish. I was able to sit down for about 10 minutes to enjoy the amazing gallery wall before Cashy woke up from his nap. 

I absolutely LOVE the final results!!!! I sit in my living room and love look at the gallery wall at least once a day. This is one of my favorite projects I have done in any of my homes. I love the white frames! I think it really lightens up the wall and makes the pictures pop more! 

Frames: Walmart 

Photo Credits:

Photography by Chelsea Lynn Bulik 

Sparkle Photography by Ashley 

I ordered all my pictures from Costco.Com  I have always used Costco to print my pictures. I find their quality to be great! I have pictures from them from 11 years ago that still are great quality and crisp. I spent maybe $10-$15 on the pictures. 

Total cost of the project was around $132. 

Frames were $98.91

Pictures were $15.00ish

Command Strips $18.00

Bike Rides

Growing up I spent HOURS riding my bike. I wore my tires down until they were balled. I loved to rid. As long as I could be outside I would ride my bike up and down our dirt road. I still LOVE riding bike! It's one of the things that can make me smile and relax me, so quickly. 

G outgrew his bike, so we bought him a new one recently. I also found a used bike since we didn't bring my old one from CA. G and I have loved going for a bike ride around the lake. The hard part is we can't go in the morning when it's the coolest. I have been searching Facebook Marketplace to find a bike trailer. I found one this past week. I loaded up both kids and off we went. Holy cow! Hauling 50 pounds of kids is a great workout for your legs! We made it around the lake one time before I had to go in. It was also 98 degrees outside. Cashy was singing away though on our ride! G will be able to ride his bike in front of us for our early morning rides in the future. 

My parents bought G this little Radio Flier trike for Christmas when he was a year old. When he opened it he gave the box a big hug and LOVED that trike! Now Cashy is big enough to ride in it and boy does he love it. If everyone goes outside he starts yelling that he wants to go outside. He knows if we take him out back we will put him on the trike. 

I have also been going on walks around the lake with the boys. G rides his bike and I push Cash on the trike. Houston heat is no joke! We make it around the lake once and will usually stop at the play ground for a little bit. Then it's home to drink a gallon of water! 

When we first moved into our neighborhood I struggled with how quiet it was. It was eerie to me. In CA we lived on a pretty busy street. Now that it has been a few months I LOVE how quiet our neighborhood is! I love that we can walk around without worrying about traffic. The lake is great to walk around. There is plenty of shade through the entire neighborhood from all the trees. The only thing I wish we had was a neighborhood pool. I feel there are always some trade offs though. You can't have everything, so we will find splash pads to visit in the summers. 

It's very nice to go out for a bike ride or walk and not stress about G staying right beside me. I lived in the country with absolutely no traffic until I was 16. I was able to run and play all day. I like that the boys will be able to go fishing at the lake, ride their bikes, and have space to run and play. 

Cashy - 10 Months

It's hard to believe this little guy is 10 months old today! He has brought so much joy to our family. The moment he was born there was an instant connection between the two of us. He has been the biggest mamma boy since he was very tiny. I have cherished that too! 

He sure loves his brother and daddy. Even though he is a mamma boy he refuses to say mamma. He says dada all the time. Actually every morning he gets up he looks for Art saying dada. Some days it's almost like he is telling me stories about Art. He will be jabbering away talking about dada. So adorable!

He wears 12-18 month clothes

Size 3 diapers

Crawls & walks around furniture

Favorite foods - bananas and sausage are his very favorites! 

We were shopping the other day. I picked up a package of chicken and apple sausages. He started SCREAMING. He wanted to eat one right there. He is WAY picker as a baby about food than G ever was. G wasn't picky about any food at all. G ate anything and everything until he was about 2.5 years old. Cash is not that way. He wants color and flavor with his foods. He spits things, refuses to eat, yells and is very vocal when it comes to food. 

If Cash sees a bottle he thinks he needs to have it even if he just finished eating. He can drink 4 ounces in 2.5 minutes. I should enter him into one of the baby bottle drinking contests. lol

Each day before Cash goes down for a nap or bedtime G has to give him a hug and kiss. G and Cash just adore each other. They are the sweetest together. G might get jealous at times, but he has never been mean to Cash. Cash giggles so much watching G. At this point Cash is 20 pounds and G is 32 pounds. One day Cash got on G back. G was yelling mom get Cash off me I can't move. bahahahha oh boy!