I knew that she was in the kitchen.

I knew that she was sitting at the table.

I called to her from the other room as I cleaned up this and that.  “Hey Lily!  What are you up to?”

“I’m just making a craft, Mom.  It’s a picture for little Lily – my friend at pony club.”

I didn’t have much cause to worry.  Lily is, after all, a well-behaved kid for the most part.  I knew that she had plenty of paper and various coloring books to attack with stamps, stickers and markers.

About 15 minutes later, I finally made it back to the kitchen.  Lily proudly held up her  artwork – a creation that she no doubt labored over and poured her heart and soul into.  Look closely.  Can you tell what she used?

Yes.

That would be my oil bill.

All sealed up, check enclosed, ready to mail.

I’m not sure which was worse – telling Lily that she couldn’t keep this exquisite example of modern art to give to her friend or making the decision to actually put a STAMP on this thing and put it in the MAIL.

Unfortunately, a copy of our bill was carbon copied onto the inside of the actual envelope, so handing it to Lily’s little friend was not an option.

Hopefully it gives whoever is in charge of receiving payments at Farm & Home Oil Company a smile.

Though I did add this disclaimer:

More coffee please.

adventurous,

sweet,

spunky,

and creative little girl,

who makes Mother’s Day something to look forward to celebrating every year.

This Hallmark holiday went from a day I dreaded every single year after my mom died…

to a day I cherish and spend loving on my sweet girl just like every other 364 days of the year.

I love you, Lily (more than you will ever possibly know)!

For Easter dessert this year, we made two desserts that were new to our traditional menu.  One was the Lemon Poke Cake that I posted about earlier this week and the other was cheesecake and chocolate filled strawberries.

And O.M.G. were they DELICIOUS!

This recipe was inspired by my trusty Kraft Food and Family Magazine (Spring 2013 issue).  The original recipe called for white chocolate pudding mix but when I saw a cheesecake variety at the store I just had to try it.  Instead of using Baker’s Bittersweet Chocolate, I used semi-sweet chocolate morsels.

You will need:

45 large fresh strawberries (around 2 lbs)

1/4 Cup Cream Cheese (feel free to use a reduced fat variety)

1 Cup cold fat-free milk, divided

1 package Jell-O Cheesecake Flavor Fat Free Sugar Free Instant Pudding Mix

1 Cup thawed Cool Whip Sugar Free Whipped Topping

1 tsp lemon zest

1 oz semi-sweet chocolate morsels

How to make:

Cut stems off of strawberries.

Cut an “X” in the bottom of each berry and spread pieces apart.

Whisk cream cheese and 1/4 cup milk in a bowl until well blended.

Gradually whisk in remaining milk.

Add dry pudding mix and whisk for 2 minutes.

Stir in Cool Whip and lemon zest.

Spoon mixture into a resealable plastic bag.

Cut a small corner from the bottom of the bag and pipe the mixture into the berries.

Melt chocolate morsels as directed and drizzle over berries.

Refrigerate until you’re ready to serve.

YUM!!

Afternoons.

That tricky time of day when my energy starts to wane, the kid may or may not take a nap, dinner must be started.  Caffeine is almost always a must and the better my coffee tastes, the more my mood improves.

I remember many many moons ago, back in high school maybe, when my mom received a monthly shipment of coffee.  It wasn’t just any coffee – it was Gevalia.  At that time the only way you could enjoy the rich taste of Gevalia coffee was to order it via snail mail.

Thankfully, times have change.

Today I had exactly 45 minutes between the time I dropped Lily off at preschool and when I had to return to school for their Mother’s Day program.  Time was fleeting and every second counted.  I needed to pick up some KCups for my afternoon dose of caffeine, as well as a few things for dinner.  So not only can Gevalia now be purchased in stores nationwide, you can also find their traditional roast coffee in SINGLE CUP FORM.  Perfect for Keurig addicts such as myself.

I wasted no time getting to my local Walmart and racing back to the coffee aisle.  You can see I was at absolutely no loss for selection.

Fortunately those YELLOW Gevalia boxes stand out, even in a crowd.  I zeroed in on the three available varieties and had to decide which one to take home.

My choice!

I went with a mild-medium roast – the Signature Blend.

Can you even believe how many single cup options there are these days?!

I headed to the checkout (express lane, thank you very much!) and found myself feeling thankful that Walmart carried these Kcups so that I could also pick up a few items for our dinners this week without having to make another stop.

I made it back to preschool on time, tried not to cry as Lily and her friends sang and paraded around their moms.  We made a craft together, ate a snack, listened to a story and then it was time to head home.

We arrived home and it was straight to nap for her, though the verdict was still out on whether or not she would actually fall sleep.  No matter.  I revved up the computer and turned on the coffeemaker – ready for my afternoon reward.

So really, the only question was… hot or cold?

Cold brew won today!

The temperature is creeping towards 80 F so an icy afternoon escape was absolutely the answer I was looking for.  I rely on the fact that Gevalia is never bitter – something that can’t be said for all coffees.  I prefer a smooth blend rather than bitter… and that’s just what I got.

Lily never did end up taking a nap this afternoon… but she did stay up in her room for some “quiet” time for about an hour.  That gave me plenty of time to enjoy my drink, answer a few emails and I even tossed dinner in the crock pot to enjoy when we return home from her riding lesson tonight.

It may not be much, but to me it made a difference!

You can keep up with Gevalia on Facebook and Twitter!

This year we switched it up a little when it came to Easter dessert.  Instead of serving our traditional fare of brownies, fruit salad, etc, we looked for a couple of new recipes to try.  One of those new recipes came from the Spring 2013 issue of Kraft Food and Family Magazine.

Our Lemon Poke Cake was absolutely scrumptious.  It was light and not too sweet.  We ended up serving ours with fresh cut strawberry slices which took it to a whole new level.

Possible variation – by using a different flavor of Jell-O and/or Pudding Mix you could easily adapt this cake to another flavor of your choosing!

You will need:

2 round white cake layers (9 inch), cooled

2 cups boiling water

1 6 oz package of lemon flavored Jell-O Gelatin (not instant)

1 3.4 oz package of lemon flavored Jell-O Instant Pudding

1 cup cold milk

3 cups thawed Cool Whip Whipped Topping

Optional – thin lemon slices and fresh mint sprigs for decoration

How to make:

Using a large fork, pierce holes at 1/2 inch increments all over each cake layer.

Add boiling water to gelatin mix.

Stir for 2 minutes, until the mix is completely dissolved.

Pour over cake layers.  (I found it worked best if I went slow – otherwise the hot water started to disintegrate parts of the cake.)

Refrigerate cakes for 3 hours.

Before you pull the cakes out of the refrigerator you can make the frosting.

Beat the pudding mix and milk in a large bowl with a whisk for 2 minutes.

Stir in Cool Whip.

Remove cakes from refrigerator and dip the first cake pan in warm water for 10 seconds to unmold the cake.

Place first cake layer on a plate or cake stand.

Spread about 1 cup of your pudding frosting on top of this bottom layer of cake.

Unmold second cake layer and place it on top of the first layer.

Frost the entire cake with remaining frosting.

If desired, top with thinly sliced lemon slices and a sprig of fresh mint.  Refrigerate until it’s time to serve.

When Lily saw the new InnoTab 2 Baby come home in my goody bag from last week’s event in NYC, she could barely contain her excitement.  You see, we are no strangers to the InnoTab.  Lily received the original InnoTab tablet 2 years ago (when she was 3) for Christmas.  Since then this tablet has traveled with us on many road trips and seen many hours of play at home, both from Lily and from her cousin.  Not only did that version come with some ready-to-use apps, but we have added several game cartridges to the mix.  I keep my eye on Amazon for price drops and pick the games up with they go on sale.

I was planning to keep this new InnoTab 2 Baby in its box, put away for when baby #2 is old enough to enjoy it.  That didn’t last long because Lily noticed right away that not only does this new version come with some features that hers lacks (namely the camera), but she noted the “big kid” pictured on the box, clearly indicating to her that this was not just a baby toy.  Note – there are two different versions of VTech’s InnoTab 2.  The “Baby” version does not come with WiFi, the other version does.  WiFi can be used to download apps from the VTech Learning Lodge, etc but there is no web browser so no worries that kids will be surfing the net unattended.  The Baby version can still access the apps available for download – simply use the included USB cable.

Here is a look at everything included in the box.  You get 2 stylus pens, the tablet, an “Animal Photo Album” cartridge, instructions, a protective gel bumper, USB cable and (not pictured) an installation CD to setup the InnoTab 2 via computer.

We noticed right off the bat that this version is a little smaller than the original.  This makes sense as the target audience starts with 12 month olds.

The InnoTab 2 Baby runs on 4 AA batteries (not included) and you have the option to add an SD memory card (not included).  I recommend adding the memory card – this gives kids the storage space to save artwork, photos, music and more.

We popped in the batteries and memory card and we were ready to go!

This version of the InnoTab WILL play other InnoTab cartridges which is SUPER.  Lily popped in her Toy Story 3 game and I noticed that when you add the gel bumper to the tablet it covers the cartridge.  I like this feature – it would definitely help to prevent a baby/toddler from pulling it out by accident.

After we turned this tablet on, I was quickly left in the dust.  Lily had the hang of it immediately.  It was so similar to her other tablet, but more than that, it was colorful and full of inviting icons that were easy to navigate.

She seems to enjoy many of the features – the pre-loaded music, the coloring area, the art studio…  But by far her favorite spot was the camera.  She took picture after picture and used the photo templates to amuse herself for the entire morning.

At one point she put her Jake and the Neverland Pirates game cartridge in the InnoTab 2 Baby to discover a whole set of features involving the camera that she had never seen on her original InnoTab since it doesn’t have a camera.  It was like she was exploring a game she has played dozens of times for the first time.

This tablet certainly has more features than we have used at this point. Here are some worth mentioning:

:: Includes a baby sign language program from Baby Signs, Inc with 100 popular signs.

:: Includes 3 activities geared towards infants and toddlers: a simple Noah’s Ark e-book, 12 sing-along nursery rhyme songs, a drawing activity and a coloring activity.

:: Has a rotating camera and video recorder, MP3 music player, e-book reader, video player, art studio and other apps.

:: Has the capability to add more apps through VTech’s app store, the Learning Lodge.

It’s easy to see, we really loved this new version of the InnoTab.  It appears to be well-made, sturdy and is most definitely engaging.  If I could make one suggestion, just one, it would be: I wish VTech would include a wall adapter with this product.  As you might imagine, running on batteries alone can really add up.  Even with rechargeable batteries, the constant recharging gets to be a chore.  We have purchased 2 wall chargers (lost one, another one broke) and 1 car charger for our original InnoTab.  It would be GREAT to see one come with the console!

The InnoTab 2 Baby is recommended for ages 12 months – 9 years, so it is truly a tool that will grow with your child(ren).

Find this table in stores nationwide with an MSRP of $89.

Disclosure: The adventure that follows is entirely my own story and contains 100% my own opinions.  I was not compensated for attending this event.  I was under no obligation to write about my experience.

Sunday was quite the monumental day around here.  Lily had a horse show and for the first time in her equestrian career, I had to miss it.  As sad as I was to walk out the door and head in one direction while Bob and Lily drove off in another, I knew that it would be worth it.

I was heading off on my own adventure – a total girls’ day out – in New York City.  Our car ride was literally nonstop laughter as Steph, Steph, Lauryn and I edged ever closer to The Big Apple.  After hitting zero traffic en route to Manhattan, popping in and out of the Lincoln Tunnel with no delay and scoring FREE Sunday street parking just a block from our event, we knew it would be a good day.

Our destination was the Big Toy Book Baby Palooza event for moms-to-be and moms with young kiddos.  Sponsored by The Big Toy Book, Charlene Chronicles and Real Mom Media, we would have the opportunity to learn about the latest and greatest toys and gear from Delta, Cloud_b, VTech, The First Years, Madame Alexander and Mega Bloks.  Our afternoon was spent at Delta Children headquarters – just blocks away from the hustle and bustle of Times Square and Broadway.

Now, when #2 is born, Lily will have just turned 5 years old.  That means it’s been about 5 years since we have shopped for baby gear.  Let me just say – I could not BELIEVE the changes!  iPads were just starting to hit store shelves when Lily was born and iPhones were NOT owned buy the majority – times have certainly changed.  I loved learning about the newest toys that are hitting store shelves for this next generation.

Besides their line up of baby gear (strollers, play yards, high chairs and more), I absolutely LOVED Delta Children’s line of Disney furniture.  Lily almost exclusively watches Disney Jr and I quickly became a superhero mom when I sent Bob a text message with the picture below of a Sofia the First chair.  Apparently Lily went ballistic when she saw that picture and talked of little else for the rest of the day!

Here’s some of that baby gear – I cannot get over the Mickey and Minnie strollers – SO. CUTE.

VTech Toys have been a staple in our house since Lily was an infant.  She has enjoyed (and continues to enjoy) more of their toys than I can count.  Her current fave is her InnoTab (the original) which she received when she was 3 and continues to use almost every day.  We were able to take a look at the brand new Go Go Smart Wheels, InnoTab 2 (with WiFi!) and the InnoTab 2 for Babies.

I know MANY of your kids have a Cloud b product – whether it’s the star nightlight turtle or one of the stuffed animals that makes a soothing sound to help infants back to sleep.  The turtle was always on my list of things that I wanted to get for Lily but somehow we never got one.  Not only has Cloud b added smaller travel sized products to their repertoire, but the original turtle now comes with some serious technology.  The newest turtle is now equipped with bluetooth.  Not only can you upload your own playlist to the turtle, but you can access it remotely.  Turn the turtle on or off without EVER ENTERING your child’s room!  Genius!

Madame Alexander was on hand to show us their doll collection.  I was surprised to see that their line of dolls extends past the traditional baby doll.  They now have several branded plush doll lines – including Wizard of Oz, Pinkalicious, Angelina Ballerina and Fancy Nancy to name a few!

Mega Bloks were our very first experience with building blocks – many years ago! I was surprised and excited to see their new products – including several PINK and PRINCESS-y themes and a fantastic little activity table that comes complete with built-in storage.

Another “Whoa, technology” moment came at The First Years table.  We have used and enjoyed a bunch of their products over the years.  We got a look at their brand new car seat – for both infants and toddlers.

I loved the easy-adjust lever on the back… NO MORE fiddling with car seat straps when my ever-growing kid is ready for the next belt height.

But even cooler than that was the fact that this car seat is equipped with WiFi and a whole bunch of sensors.  Through a smartphone app this car seat will monitor when your child has escaped from his seat, the current temperature in the back seat and more.  Probably the most amazing feature was that the seat/app can detect when your car has stopped moving and your child has been left in his seat (for example, accidentally left in car seat).  It will text you an alert that your child is still in the seat and if you don’t respond to that message and get your kid out of harm’s way, it will start to send messages to emergency contacts who you enter in the app after downloading.  I would love to see this car seat and its features in action in a moving car!

We enjoyed lunch and even got to take a look at the Delta Children nursery showroom.  I still can’t believe that in the next few months we will be crib shopping again – it doesn’t seem real yet!

What a fun day!

Our whirlwind trip to the big city was capped with a stop to the famous Crumbs bakery.  An over-the-top eye-catching rainbow cake pop for Lily and two succulent gourmet cupcakes for the Mr. and I.

And as for the little pony wrangler, it turns out her first mom-less-horse-show went just swell.  She rode well, had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed her day with dad.

We LOVE asparagus – broiled, baked, boiled, grilled, whatEV.  Love it.

What I don’t love is that I feel like I have to use it RIGHT AWAY after bringing it home from the store or else it will get all wilty and shriveled.

I will be using this simple trick from now on – and can now enjoy fresh asparagus up to two weeks after I purchase it.

Grab a cup or a jar.  Place asparagus in jar, cut side down.  Fill with about an inch of water and store at room temperature (like on the counter).

I love a good challenge – especially when it has to do with savvy shopping!

Today’s challenge: head to my local Weis Grocery Store and shop for deals found in this week’s circular.

I think I can say that 99% of every grocery store trip that I do starts with a look through the circular.  I skim the circular for the best deals, using my knowledge of typical rock bottom prices for all sorts of products.  After I find the deals that interest me, I start to think about what meals I can make using these products throughout the week for my family.  Finally, I match up the products that I intend to purchase with any available coupons to further decrease my out-of-pocket spending.

I have shopped at Weis before – but this trip was going to be my first experience in the newest, nearest store to me (Doylestown, PA for local readers).  It was nice to have a location just 10 minutes from my house!

Last night I planned out my trip.  I started on the Weis website and quickly found their circular for this week.

After choosing my local store, I was ready to start looking at the available deals.

The online version of the Weis circular was easy to work with.  You can enlarge images, skip to different pages or choose to go to specific products based on category.

My initial plan was to find a handful of items in particular that interested me.  I marked those with a green heart (see images below).  I knew that once I got to the store I would pick up a paper circular and find a few additional products to compliment my meal plan.

I made my list, cut out some coupons and planned to head to the store the next morning!  My list contained some breakfast options (toast, English muffins), lunch (Lean Cuisines, chips, pretzels, yogurt) and two dinners (featuring various seafood products, fresh produce and rice and potato sides).

This morning we were ready to shop!

I had my list, my coupons, my Weis store card and of course my trusty shopping assistant.

Once we arrived at Weis, the first thing I did was pick up a copy of the circular so that I could glance at it as we shopped.

We had a great time perusing everything Weis had to offer – and the sales this week were great, especially if you’re into grilling (YUM!!).  Lots of grill-able produce, meat and other complimentary products were on sale.

We located everything on our list with relative ease and of course, several have-to-have-it impulse items sneaked into our cart.  The store itself was really nice.  It was large, spacious and there were many different departments offering everything from fresh baked goods to prepared deli salads and meats.

One thing that I noted was the huge produce section – with really fresh looking fruits and veggies.  I grabbed the asparagus that was on my list as well as some delicious looking corn for the grill and a BASIL plant.  LOVE fresh basil!!

I was impressed with the variety of products that Weis keeps in stock.  Whether I was picking out my Lean Cuisines, Mrs. Paul’s seafood or Ore Ida frozen potatoes – the options were plentiful.

Here are a few more advertised deals that I couldn’t help but pick up!

Of course, you most likely know my alter ego and know that she LOVES a good bargain.  I was thrilled to find this cart with HALF PRICE baked goods.  All have sell-by dates of tomorrow so I picked up bagels for just over a dollar per bag to throw in my freezer.  I also got a tray of danish for less than $3 – a great breakfast treat that won’t last more than a day or so in this house.

Checkout was seamless.  Our store loyalty card literally cut our total in HALF.  Then we saved another few dollars with our coupons.

Thanks to shopping the sales circular at Weis, I was able to pick up several dinners, lunches and breakfasts worth of food (plus extras!) for LESS than $60.  I consider that to be a great bargain – especially considering the fact that I only used a minimal amount of coupons (3).

We now have dinners (and each of these boxes of seafood will provide 2 meals) -

Lunches for me and yogurt for Lily -

And literally breakfast for the three of us for probably more than two weeks!

I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ #CBias #SocialFabric  All opinions, as always, are 100% my own.

You shoulda seen me on Easter Sunday.

I already told you I hosted dinner for my family.  They were very gracious and complimentary and seemed genuinely happy with everything we served.  But I kept waiting – JUST WAITING – for them to laugh at me as I pulled one Pinterest-inspired dish after another out of my fridge.  But they didn’t – they simply ooo’d and ahhh’d and let me, the very UNcreative girl, have a little moment to shine.

With all that being said, I figured if there was one dish that was really going to make them giggle, it would be this one – my hummus veggie garden.  This thing was sickly cute – but it only takes a second to realize that this is one of the most simplistic things you could ever attempt to make.

I kid you not.

Here is how easy this one is – feel free to swap out veggies that I used for ones your family likes better.

You will need:

Hummus (store bought or homemade, any variety… just get enough to give you at least half an inch thick base in whatever dish you intend to use)

Fresh veggies, uncooked (I used baby carrots, broccoli and celery)

Pretzels for the “fence” (I used the square pretzels because I had them left over from making Bunny Bites.  You could also use the small pretzel sticks.)

How to make:

Spread your hummus in a small dish.  You could really get creative here – use a terracotta pot or other type of planter to give it a “garden” feel.  I searched my local Walmart but couldn’t find anything that was JUST RIGHT, so I settled for a small rectangular pyrex dish.

Now stick several rows of vegetables into the hummus dip  – mimicking a farmer’s field of plants.

Next, use the pretzels to make a “fence” around the vegetable garden.

Place this dish onto a larger plate and fill the empty space with lots of fresh veggies.

Voila!

No kidding – I think this took me 10 minutes from start to finish.  That includes rinsing all veggies and cutting the celery.

SCORE!