Everyday Favorites

It's always fun to hear what other people use every day...especially other moms.  There are so many wonderful products out there and I would love to hear what I've been missing out on!  So, I encourage all my blogger friends to do the same.  Here are just ten of my favs...what are yours?

1. Stonyfield Organic whole milk yogurt. YUM!  I bought some of this stuff a couple of months ago and have been stuck on it ever since.  When the kids were going through rounds of antibiotics, I started making fruit smoothies with probiotic powder EVERY day and this yogurt is a yummy base.  Sure, I miss a day here and there...but I try my best.

2. Clek booster seats.  After we got in our car accident a year and a half ago, I took the opportunity to trade in our beLOVEd Britax Marathons for some new boosters.  Of course, I did lots of research.  Mainly, I wanted them to be safe, comfortable, and user-friendly.  These seats are very comfortable, they are height adjustable, they recline, AND they latch!  It's rare to find a booster that latches in your vehicle.  My main complaint with them is that the recline can be tricky and very frustrating.  Overall, though, I think these seats are fantastic and worth the hefty penny they take to purchase...ugh.

3.  Thieves household cleaner.  Natural, kills germs, smells lovely (kinda clove-y), cost effective, versatile.  I use this stuff in my home daily, use it when I clean with my friend in her cleaning business, and I've got the local preschool using it. It's just plain great.

4.  Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 lens.  I got this lens for Christmas, and though I still haven't taken the time to figure out my camera, I really love this lens!  PS....I accidentally dropped my camera last month and thought I had broken it! BUT, my darling husband fixed it...phew!

5.  Leapfrog Leapster Explorer.  I got these for my kids a couple of Christmases ago, and they are pretty fantastic.  My kids go through phases of playing with them, but they are great for the car.  The new LeapPads look pretty cool too...but I'm not gonna fork out the extra money for new ones.  Since getting our new computer, I've been able to utilize the online part of the Leapsters and have been able to see what the kids have been learning!  It's pretty neat.

6.  Mary Kay Lash Love mascara.  OK...I didn't really want to put MK on this list, but I just can't get over how much I love Mary Kay mascara! I've got blonde lashes that usually need several coats of mascara to be dark enough for my liking and then, by the end of the day my mascara has flaked and faded. I started using MK Ultimate mascara a long time ago and was sooo impressed.  It only took me two coats and I was done.  Lash Love (fairly new) only takes one coat, and neither mascara fades by the end of the day. LOVE!

7.  Liquid Vitamin D3.  We've been buying this stuff at Costco for the last year or two and it's a great way to give D to the kids.  I give each kid a double dose every night.  I'm not a fan of the fact that it changed it's product to now use Sucralose to sweeten it, but use it still.  If there are any readers out there that have a better suggestion, I'd love to hear it!

8.  Etsy.com.  I realize this isn't really a product, but it's the one place that I LOVE to browse on a regular basis.  In case you were wondering, I haven't joined Pinterest yet...on purpose.  I really only have time for Facebook, Etsy, and Blogger...and by the lack of posts, you can see I don't even have time for that!

9.  Borax.  I started using this last year when I started making my own laundry soap.  Now I use it for cleaning...and it works great! I love it for cleaning the shower.

10.  Odwalla Juice.  I don't get nearly enough fruit and veggies in my diet.  I'm always feeding them to my kids, but for some reason, I don't eat them as much.  Back in March, my parents bought my husband a juicer for his birthday, and we love it....but don't seem to find the time to juice enough.  It's also difficult because we live a few miles out of town and only buy fresh produce about once a week.  It's hard to plan for those times when you actually have some time to juice and have the produce on hand.  So, we (Adam and I) drink a lot of Odawalla...superfood is my fav!

Mr. and Mrs. Thompson

Daniel and Heather got married on Monday, April 9th...yes, Monday.  Apparently, the number 9 has some meaning...don't ask me what.  It was a whirlwind day, but absolutely beautiful considering they had 5 weeks to plan.  As I type, they are headed to Florida with Heather's parents on a trip that's been planned for months.  The trip was a gift for Heather's graduation from massage school and they invited Daniel to come too.  So, they decided to get married two days prior and make it a honeymoon as well!  Though it was a short engagement, this was no shotgun wedding.  I think they are just two love birds who know what they want and wanted to take the next step.  When they got together last July, I admit I thought they were an unlikely pair...but as the weeks passed, it was hard not to see how perfect they were.  I'm so happy for them!

I took quite a few pictures, and it was hard to pick just a few. I decreased the size of these so they aren't the best quality...but you get the idea...



Emily (a friend from massage school) and Heidi were bridesmaids.  Faith and Tyler (Heather's niece and nephew) and Synnove and Soren were flower girls and ring bearers. Not pictured...Steve Tadei and Henry Balensifer (groomsmen)

Getting ready to walk down the aisle

Lots of happy tears. Daniel giving his dad a big hug.

teary mommies

My great grandma Ruth Thompson made the cake for Don and Alice's wedding 24 years ago, so Doris (Alice's mom) thought it was only fitting to make the cake for Daniel's wedding.  She even made the groom's cake...Daniel's favorite (and mine)...chocolate.  Usually, I'm a white cake girl...but Doris' chocolate cake is to DIE for!  She even let me take the extra chocolate cake home! YUMM!

Synnove and Faith watching the cake cutting.



Off to their new apartment in Warrenton...Daniel had to go to work the next morning :)

Easter

Oh boy, Easter was a busy one this year.  The marathon started on Friday.  Synnove went to school and my Dad picked up Soren so I could clean 3 houses with Andrea before 2:40 (when the kids were going to be dropped off at her house by the bus).  From Andrea's I headed to Warrenton to drop Synnove off with my Mom and go to Les Shwab to get my studded tires off.  Synnove had a big school project due on Monday, and Friday night was going to be the only time that she I could get it done. We worked on the project while my car was being worked on. Meanwhile, Mom had planned a last-minute dinner at her house so that she could give all the kids their Easter baskets together.  A couple of weeks prior, Chris and Elise officially found out that Chris has an 11-year-old son.  As you can imagine, it's been an adjustment (to say the least), and as a family, we've been trying our best to make Forrest feel welcome.  Adam had taken the day off to take his Dad to the doctor in Portland, so he took a different way home so that he could have dinner with us.  We had Pizza.

The next morning, I got the kids ready to head over to my Grandma's in Warrenton to color eggs, eat candy, and have fun with the cousins.  It was a beautiful day and the kids had an exceptional time! We had Fultano's Pizza for lunch, hid eggs, and played with silly string.  We had to head out early to go to the rehersal for Daniel and Heather's wedding that the kids were asked to be flower girl and ring bearer in.  And guess where the rehearsal dinner was??...Fultano's Pizza.  Pizza for 3 meals in a row...wow.

On Easter Sunday the kids woke to gifts from the Easter Bunny and then we got ready for church.  We decided to go to my parent's church so that we could see family and friends.  Our church was having an early service, and was going to be much less intimate.  We had a wonderful breakfast at the church, I got to see some friends I haven't seen in many years, and the kids got to do another egg hunt!

After church, we all headed to Ridgefield, WA to have our traditional Easter celebration at my Aunt Kathi's house for more egg hunting and fantastic food.  We made it home at a reasonable time so that we could get the kids to bed for school and Daniel and Heather's wedding the next day...phew!

I only have pictures from Grandma Barb's house...

All the kids were there except Brielle...she was napping.

After I took this picture, I realized my camera was in manual focus...duh!

There were 3 girls and 3 boys so they took turns hiding eggs for each other.

Grandma bought everyone a can of silly string...60 seconds of mayhem

Emmett Easter Egg Hunt

Here's some pictures from the 2nd annual Emmett Easter Egg Hunt on March 31st.  Last year's hunt benefited baby Emmett Rubus who had a rare liver disease (update...he is well and didn't end up needing a transplant because of Young Living Essential Oils!!).  This year's hunt went to benefit Roxy Nelson who had a recurrence of cancer that was hitting hard.  Roxy is the grandmother to my cousin Wendey's kids.  Unfortunately, she passed away a couple of days before the benefit.  Still, the benefit was a huge success and tons of fun!  They had planned for so much more than last year.  They had carnival games, basketball, bouncy house, sno-cones, popcorn, pictures with the Easter Bunny, hair extensions, crafts, hamburger/hot dog lunch, cake walk, face painting, and tons of donated raffle prizes.  Adam missed the hunt because of work, but showed up in time to have lunch with us.

Best friends Soren and Kade.  Even though they are 1.5 years apart, they just can't get enough of each other!

Overfilled...

Synnove standing next to Katelynn and Carlie waiting for the go-ahead

All finished

Tina, Rena, and Tembir (Bible study girlfriends) did face painting at the event. Grace (Rena's daughter) and Synnove pose with pretty faces.

Synnove was beyond excited to get a REAL purple hair extension like so many of her friends.  All for a good cause I guess :)

Heather's Bridal Shower

Daniel (my cousin) and Heather got engaged on February 29th...and long story short, decided to get married on April 9th. That's 5.5 weeks to plan a wedding (pics to come)! Lori, Heather's mom, was on top of it, and managed to get all the invites out on time and helped to plan a bridal shower for her too.  The shower was on March 25th, and there was a huge turnout!  I took quite a few pictures, but here are just a few...

See the mountain of gifts?! I bought her and Dan a big cooler to take camping...apparently that was Daniel's favorite gift...go figure :)

Synnove and Miss Evelyn

Elise and Sarah holding Evie (Evelyn) and Avie (Avyrie)...they are about 4.5 months apart.

Aunt Alice has been saving charms for Daniel since he was little, and Alice gave the bracelet to Heather in a very heartfelt and tearful exchange.

The Moms...Lori and Alice.

Dedication, Birthday, and Student of the Month

On March 11th, little Miss Evelyn Colleen was dedicated at Hilltop Church in Astoria...the same church my little sister was dedicated at 25 years ago.  Afterwards, all the family that came (Grandma Balensifer, Grandma and Grandpa Thompson, Uncle Jack and Aunt Jeanne, Henry, and Adam and I and the kids) headed to my parents' house for a Mexican feast.  We had a nice afternoon of visiting :)

Parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents

Evie is a mama's girl and started fussing soon after Pastor picked her up...then fussed the entire time.

Adam turned 32 on March 15th and the kids were excited to throw him a mini-party.  Weeks prior, Synnove and Soren had made pictures/gifts for their dad and wrapped them in painted pictures.  I made some red velvet cupcakes and Synnove made some decorations. 

Synnove received the Student of the Month award for February at school.  She was very excited! Unfortunately, Adam couldn't get out of work to attend the assembly, but Grandma Suzi was able to come!

More January Photos

On the evening of January 21st, I attended the Annual Astoria/Warrenton Chamber dinner to celebrate my dear grandma. She was completely in the dark and was told that my little brother was receiving an award from the Chamber for community service. Fortunately, she never suspected, and was shocked to tears when they announced her name to receive the prestigious Richard Ford Distinguished Service award for her lifelong service to the community and the City of Warrenton.

The next weekend, the kids and I attended J.R.'s 5th birthday at his house in Olney. It was a quiet birthday, but the kids enjoyed games and playing with friends outside in the surprisingly decent weather!

The next day, we had a big family party celebrating Synnove's 7th birthday. As always, it was a great time with family, friends, and food. She chose a Disney's "Tangled" theme and passed out fancy bracelets and purses to all her girl cousins and friends that came...the boys got binoculars :) She got lots of clothes, accessories, trinkets, and toys including a new bike! So spoiled!