June 2014 | Page 3 of 4 |

SAY CHEESE!!!! #MC #HavartiParty

“I participated in an Influencer Activation on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Arla Dofino. I received product samples to facilitate my review as well as a promotional item to thank me for my participation.”

Last weekend our neighbors came over and her daughter and Connor just love to play together. While they played Savannah & I sampled some yummy cheese while we drank our Moscato 🙂

Sometimes you just need to have some Mommy time while the kids play. I LOVE cheese….like seriously I could eat it every day….all day and never get tired of eating cheese.

Arla Dofino has some great Havarti cheeses. So, I made a plate of cheese and crackers for Savannah and I to try. We tried the Arla Dofino Creamy Havarti, Dill Havarti, and Hickory Smoked Havarti.

Served with crackers it makes a great snack. We talked and pretty much ate half that plate of cheese.

My favorite was the dill flavor. It’s so fresh and I think it would be great in dip or in mashed potatoes. YUM.

Savannah loved the Hickory Smoked Havarti.

The kiddos pretty much went with the plain creamy Havarti. They both love cheese- of course they are 4 & 5 year olds!!!

See all that yummy dill going through the cheese??? Soooooo good!

We had a great playdate and wine and cheese sampling thanks to Arla Dofino Cheeses. I can’t wait until we can do this again sometime.

Check out more about these yummy cheeses on Facebook & Pinterest

That Costs Lots of Dollars….

Teaching a kid the value of things is about like taking them to a public restroom without manhandling the toilet seat. My germ radar goes off the charts when we have to go to the potty in a public place….omg LYSOL! How do you even get your kids not to touch the toilet???

Anyway…

So last week I was going through some photos and Connor was standing next to me at the desk. He grabbed my 50 mm lens (of course I was paying no attention) and then BAM…he dropped it. I didn’t think anything of it until I tried to use it today and it wouldn’t focus. I then asked Terence to try it out and he couldn’t get it to either. Commence me telling him that Connor dropped it and a whole conversation of why I had all my camera gear laying out in the open anyway….blah blah blah.

Because I am lazy and constantly switching lenses and I didn’t want to put it in the bag…mmmmmmkay?

I was PISSED. I mean I know it was an accident, but seriously I didn’t want to spend the moolah on a lens right now. We headed to the camera store and after discussing it decided to just get the new version of the 50 mm 1.4 because it would be over half the cost just to send it off and replace it. Plus I wouldn’t have it for a couple of months.

So here we are trying to teach Connor the value of things. I know it was just an object to him and he didn’t mean it. Poor kid. But yes…it cost lots of dollars.

Live and learn child. Live and learn. I’m still trying every day.

Love you boo…..even though you broke my favorite lens. To the moon and back.

Five on Friday!

Hallelujah! It’s finally Friday….I have a week of vacation ahead….my twin sister is getting married next Saturday. Good times.

1. My hometown of Conway, AR has a Pineapple Whip stand. OMG. I crave it so badly when I’m here in Texas and it’s so refreshing on a hot day. They mix the flavors and every week have a different one like mango/pineapple, fruit punch/pineapple, or orange/pineapple. Soooooo good!

2. My favorite color is green. Not because of Starbucks….but ya know that doesn’t hurt. I got a new summer purse and am loving this bright shade of green. This is the Kate Spade Cobble Hill Minka bag.

3. I love Target. Especially because you can find fashions for under $10 bucks! I bought this orange stripe (orange is my 2nd favorite color) shirt for $9 bucks! Holla! Great for summa-summa-time!

4. I’m a picture-taking freak. I’m so glad I am though because I treasure every single one! I’m really enjoying doing photo sessions on the weekend too! If you live in DFW holler at me if you need any portraits taken mmmmmmkay?

Here is a recent favorite of my booger:

5. Also while paroozing Target the other day I found these adorable heart push pins. Why do I need these. I don’t….but Target bull’s-eye sways me in with all the vibrant colors and patterns…. it’s almost like I’m in a coma and suddenly shoving crap in my cart because it’s cute and I’ll need it eventually right? The brand is Yoobi and I’m sure you’ll notice the Yoobi isle if you visit Target soon.

Follow along with me every day on Instagram!!!

Finish This Week 22: A Link Up (A Day LATE!)

Welcome to Week 22 of Finish This! This link-up is hosted by NICOLE (Three31) LISA (COASTLINED), JEN (The Arizona Russums), BECKY (The Java Mama) and I and we’re so glad you’re here. If you’ve joined us before, thanks for returning! Be sure to add your post to the link-up. If you don’t have a blog, don’t worry. Simply answer the prompts in a comment. Next week’s prompts are at the bottom of this post.

1. I conquer fear … By praying. There are so many scary things in this world we are living in right now. I just want put Connor in a bubble so he won’t be exposed to all the hate and violence out there. Unfortunately, I can’t do that. I just have to have faith that God will take care of us and protect my family.

2. I follow my heart … I think I lead with my heart a lot. I’m a very sensitive person in general and I care greatly for others. My way of showing I care is by doing “service” for others and it makes me feel good to serve others. In doing this I think you have to follow your heart 🙂

3. I feed my soul by … Praying. Meditating in prayer, talking to God. Quiet time and every now and then throughout the day I’ll just have a soul moment where I feel like it’s God guiding me in a way. I feel Him throughout the day and I’m thankful I have that relationship to talk to Him whenever I want. He’s always there and He is always listening!

4. I used to worry about ____ but then I …

I used to worry about what people think of me so much. If they were judging me or whatever. I have been on antidepressants since I was around 16. It’s just something that unfortunately is in my gene pool. I struggle with worry on a daily basis. Thankfully my faith has helped a lot. As I get older it’s been easier to let things roll of my back. Over the years you sort of figure out what truly matters in life.

LINK UP & VIEW OTHERS HERE

Now it’s your turn. Answer these prompts in a post on your own blog or, if you do not have a blog, simply add your responses in a comment. Join us next Wednesday for another round of Finish This where we’ll answer the prompts below!

Prompts for WEEK 23 (June 11) are: The best compliment I ever received … Wearing red lipstick makes me feel … The best investment I’ve made … My best childhood memory …

Also I’m doing a series on Instagram called #workingwardrobe I’d love for you all to link up!!! Peace out LOVES!

Revolution Foods: The Perfect, Healthy Snack for your Kiddos #MC

“I participated in an Influencer Program on behalf of Mom Central for Revolution Foods. I received a product sample to facilitate my review and a promotional item to thank me for participating.”

As a busy, working Mom it’s sometimes hard for me to make sure my family is eating the healthiest options out there. I’m constantly battling with myself about what to put on our table that is filling and also healthy.

Connor loves to build things like any young boy does! I went grocery shopping last weekend and picked up a few meal kids from Revolution Foods.
Revolution Foods was founded by two moms that ignited a healthy food movement in schools nationwide, now offers Revolution Foods Meal Kits, a convenient way for kids to eat meals made with natural, high quality ingredients and no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives (that your kids will actually enjoy!)

I picked up the Ham and Cheddar Meal Kit, Turkey and Cheddar Meal Kit, & Cheese Pizza Meal Kit.
Connor often snacks after school and I love that Revolution Foods kids have no artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives. Also, each meal kit contains at least 7 grams of whole grains and one serving of fruit.

Connor’s favorite thing about the snack was building his own “sandwiches”. He loves ham and cheese sandwiches so I knew he would enjoy the ham and cheese kit.

Revolution Foods Meal Kits are available at Safeway stores nationwide.

Right now you can get a Revolution Foods coupon for a discount on Revolution Foods Meal Kits HERE.

Favorites+ Working Mom Wardrobe Series

A lot of times I find something and I can’t wait to share with people. Tarte is no longer selling my favorite lipstick, LipSurgence in “Buff”. So where do I look for advice…fellow bloggers. I read about Kate from The Small Things Blog loved BITE lipstick. Of course I didn’t create my own. But I found a color that is pretty similar to what I wanted in a neutral lip color. This is the “Nude Almond”. What I love most about it is the taste/flavor. It’s not overpowering and it doesn’t taste like wax like a lot of lipsticks.

Another item I picked up was Formula X nail polish from Sephora. I really like this neutral lavender for spring. This is my second week wearing it and I’m getting chips, but the first week it held up pretty well.

In my Birchbox for May I received this BB Golden Glow crème. I have very fair skin and actually looks really good on me. It doesn’t give me a streaky fake tan look. Just a nice golden accent to my skin.

Another favorite item is this “Time to Get Stuff Done!” mug from Click & Blossom. I also ordered a really cute t-shirt but it’s way too small…if I can’t return it I may just give it away to one of y’all 🙂 It’s too small for my boobage! Darn.

So, I know there are a lot of fashion bloggers out there and I love seeing how they style things. Honestly, my style is pretty simple & because I work full-time I have to find things I can work into my every day life AND the work week. So I’d love to see how you style your work wardrobe. Follow along on Instagram and TAG YOURSELF #workingwardrobe

Here’s my #workingwardrobe for today. Picture courtesy of Connor 🙂

For details on this outfit visit my Instagram and click on the picture:

Tolalu Kids: Custom Kid Activities & Gifts

I received Tolalu products in exchange for a post about the personalized gifts for kids. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A few weeks ago I ordered some fun items from a company called Tolalu for Connor. Tolalu has beautifully designed, high quality customized products for children and parents.

Tolalu produces a range of affordable, tailor made products:

Calendars, Placemats, Growth charts, Stickers, Storybooks, Items for Mom and more!

At Tolalu you can customize your items by gender, color, & name.

All Tolalu product designs are first viewed by kids for their feedback. Only after getting their approval is the product introduced to customer.

When Connor is old enough to do “major” chores we are certainly going to use this chart. He loves it and keeps asking what it’s for. Right now his chores consist of sorting the laundry by color 🙂

I also created a personalized place mat to use during meal time. He likes seeing the dragon and all our pictures and he knows that’s HIS seat.

There are lots of fun activity books to choose from too. These are great for rainy indoor days where you need some busy work. Everything in the activity booklet is totally customized for your child too.

The last thing I got was some stickers with his name on them. He loves to trade stickers with all his friends at school.

I can definitely tell these are “kid approved” items because Connor certainly approved himself. He enjoyed everything! Tolalu has great personalized items for your children and the prices are SO GOOD too!

Check them out on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

Copywright The Java Mama/Becky Branch 2014