The Baby Store features gently used and new kids clothing and gear- which I have to say, I’m totally into. Baby clothes and toys are SO expensive for the amount of use kids get out of them- I bought Ellie’s whole vacation wardrobe and most of her bigger toys (an her high chair!) second-hand and probably saved well over $200. No joke.

Check the store out on Facebook, and pop in for some great deals (and cute new hats and clippies!).

Word to the wise: do NOT leave your mischievous toddler with this toy unattended. Because it’s *possible* that she could think that objects other than the included plastic balls will fit in that trunk. And it’s *possible* that other objects might include Cheerios. And it’s *possible* that too many Cheerios in the trunk will clog up the system so that air won’t blow out of it anymore.

Then, you might walk in to the living room and see that the toy isn’t working, and it’s *possible* that you’ll turn it upside down and dump one or two Cheerios out of it. You might think you’ve fixed the problem, and it’s *possible* that you’ll put your face over the trunk hole to look inside.

Now I’m not saying its a definite, but as you have your eye one centimeter from the trunk, it is *extremely possible* that your toddler will push that effing red button.

When If this happens, it’s *probable* that the rest of those Cheerios that kidlet shoved in there will shoot out of the toy like bullets and pelt you directly in the face. Cheerio crumbs might get in your eyes and under your contacts, making you throw drop the toy and dance around like a baboon while trying not to yell obscenities.

And then… it’s 100% INEVITABLE that your toddler will laugh hysterically. And maybe clap.

(This public service announcement has been brought to you by Superwife. You’ve been warned.)

The recipe said 3 hours in the oven at 150 degrees. Ummm…. NOT EVEN CLOSE. To even *sort of* dry out, it took TEN HOURS. And then they were disgusting anyway.

F@$&ing Pinterest.

So… cut to dinner later that evening with my boss.

Boss: So, it looks like we may have a few extra hours to kill before the flight tomorrow. What is there to do around here?

Me: Oh, well, we could have lunch at Lavelle’s, then we could go to Pioneer Park and do a little bit of touristy stuff… oh hey! Maybe we could go to that stimulation room! ACK! *chokes on wine, almost spews out nose* … I mean SIMULATION ROOM. SIMULATION. Oh god, haha, oops. SIMulation.

Boss: Um, that sounds fun. Could we just skip lunch and go straight there? Haha!

Yeah, I’m that awesome. Maybe less wine at dinner with the boss next time. For the record though, he blushed too. :)

Most recently I finished the three books in the Hunger Games series – it’s YA, and I definitely recommend. I wasn’t too hot on the last book, but it does close everything up nicely. The Hunger Games is a dystopian story about a teen girl who is forced to compete to the death in a televised, government-controlled survivor battle. It’s fast-paced and definitely not boring! 

1. The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins
2. Catching Fire – Suzanne Collins
3. Mockingjay – Suzanne Collins

Because I’m on a YA kick right now, I’m currently reading Rick Riordan’s continuation of the Percy Jackson series. I just finished the first one, and started the second book while on the elliptical yesterday. If you’ve read the original Percy Jackson books, you’ll enjoy seeing him again in the new series (and if you haven’t read the original books, do that first – they’re great!). All of these books are about greek gods and demi-gods, and battles and saving the world, lol – I enjoyed trying to remember all of the stories about the Greeks from my high school and college days, as Riordan does a great job of working in pretty accurate Greek mythology.

1. The Lost Hero (Heroes of Olympus) - Rick Riordan
2. The Son of Neptune (Heroes of Olympus) – Rick Riordan

So… what are you reading? Any good suggestions? :)

Well, not real books. He does, however, love the Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader books – you know, the ones with a ton of random facts. I even bought him a few Bathroom Reader CDs a while back to listen to while he goes on long drives for work. He loves these books so much that he’s pretty much the Random Trivia King Genius of the World. NO. JOKE. You want him on your team if you’re playing a trivia game… he WILL win.

Anyway… a few days ago he discovered the Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader iPhone app. Oh joy – random trivia 24/7. 

So, the other night we’re laying in bed. I’m falling asleep, Adam is playing on his phone. All of a sudden, breaking the silence at one o’clock in the morning…

“Hey, you wanna hear about aardvarks?”

This year, however, Adam offered to help.

HOLD. THE. PHONE. What?

Yep… SuperHubs actually made time just to help Ellie and I decorate our Christmas tree. –pause for collective “awwwwwww”– I was ridiculously happy to spend an evening at home with just my family – Mommy, Daddy, Ellie & Tali. Gives me warm fuzzies just thinking about it. :)

A few gems from that evening:

Adam: Ohp! Gotta do an egg.

Me: What? An egg?

Adam: Duh, I do it every year.

Me: You’ve NEVER done “an egg” – what does that even mean?

Adam: It means cool. Doesn’t it look cool?

Me: I’ve never even heard of this, EVER.

Adam: I do this every year. Call my brother.

—I call Alex–

Me: Hey Bro! Did you guys decorate your tree yet?

Alex: No not yet.

Me: Oh, well are you gonna do an egg this year?

Alex: WTF does that mean?

Me: WINNER.

Also, by the way, the egg IS cool. Adam hollowed out an egg from the fridge and then put a hole in it and attached it to a light on the tree. It IS cool… I’ve just never ever seen him do it before. Being that this is the FIRST YEAR EVER that he’s helped decorate the tree, I don’t see how he could have done this “every year, duh.”

Okay, in the spirit of equality… here is one where I’M the loser, lol:

Adam: Do we have to hang all of these bells? There’s too many bells on this tree. Isn’t there only supposed to be one? Like, every time a bell rings an angel gets it’s wings?

Me: This isn’t Peter Pan, ‘tard.

Adam: Um, it’s from ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’, ‘tard.

Me: Huh. What was Peter Pan then?

Adam: HAVE SOME MORE WINE.

Yeeeeaaaaaah. I *may* have been drinking.

This year, I expanded my involvement – by sharing it with YOU. I posted about this opportunity on the Superwife facebook page, and was able to sign up a wonderful group of generous SuperSponsors.

After coordinating with the MatSu Special Santa program to request individual wishlists for children in AK, Superwife’s SuperSponsors made a Christmas difference for 25 kiddos this year. TWENTY-FIVE.

Now THAT was a car load of gifts. :) Adam and I loaded up all of the presents on Tuesday night into the back of my new mom van, and on Wednesday morning I set out to deliver everything to the Special Santa Workshop out in Wasilla (with the help of SuperSponsor Charlotte and my darling little Ellie).

The program volunteers were ecstatic, and it was absolutely amazing to see the behind-the-scenes magic that happens in the workshop. Volunteers were bustling about, putting together packages for families; tables were stacked with toys, games, jackets, and sports items. Jackets, hats and gloves were hung in the middle of the room, waiting to be packed up. Bags marked with individual numbers for each family were neatly situated in the corner of the warehouse, packed and ready to go – each with a brightly colored winter sled attached.

Although we didn’t get to actually see the families pick up their gifts, this experience was just awesome. A HUGE thank you to all of the wonderful people who volunteered to fulfill wishlists this year – I know that these kids will absolutely LOVE the stuffed animals, winter gear, blankies, gift cards, princess stuff, pajamas, basketballs, bicycles, baby toys, diapers, backpacks, coloring books, scooters, and all of the other items you had fun shopping for.

I love that the feedback I recieved from you all was so heartwarming – many of you took this as an opportunity to teach your own children about helping and giving, and ALL of you were so excited to help and shop that you said you had a hard time staying within the program-set spending limits (me too!).  I seriously cried reading emails and texts from sponsors more than once during this whole event. *WARM FUZZIES!*

Next year… SuperSponsor goal is 50. I know we can do it! :)

I hope everyone is having a very merry Christmas, and I’ll be putting some fun up soon! :)

I’ve spent *a lot* of time shopping this holiday season. Like, a wholewholewhole lot. Most of it online, but a good amount in actual stores… and one of the stores I made a few trips to was Walmart. As most of you know, I came in 2nd place a few months ago in the Better Homes and Gardens State Cookie Contest - and I won a fabulous bakeware set from the BHG line from Walmart. Since I like the set so much, I decided to check out the other BHG offerings while I was Christmas shopping this year.

Holy moly, this company makes a TON of stuff! And not just kitchen stuff! We’re talking bath stuff, living room decor, bedroom stuff, blankets, candles, appliances, bakeware… you name it. So, courtesy of BHG… here are a few ideas for those of you who still need some 2011 Christmas gifts:

• BHG Ruffles Pillow ($12.97) – I bought this in red. I love it. It fits right in with my Christmas-y living room decor, and Ellie likes it because it’s got a cool texture. :)

• BHG Damask Shower Curtain ($20.97) – Redecorating my bathroom and LOVE this pattern! There were a bunch of other beauties as well, but I liked the elegance of this black and white pattern.

• BHG Candles ($5.97) – OMG, these smell so delicious! I bought Baked Pumpkin Pie (my favorite), Cinnamon Bun and Applie Pie. Best part? NO CALORIES. :)

Seriously guys… go check out the selection of stuff. I didn’t even get into the kitchen items – this post would have been 16x as long! I love the signature red accents on everything - it goes perfectly with my beautiful red kitchen. I spent at least 30 minutes at Walmart just oogling BHG kitchen appliances, lol.

Happy Shopping!