Celebratory Pretzel After Nighttime Race

Princess G ran in her first timed race, in the dark and the rain. Princess A and G loved running the race with Daddy.

Secret of the Wings

Right after school we went straight to Target to pick up Secret of the Wings!

Their New $25 Glasses from JCPenny

G in her first pair of glasses, we picked them up yesterday.  Princess G has been mentioning that things looked a little fuzzy so I wanted to have her eyes examined before school started. I did not really think she would need glasses. The Doctor said that she is just on the edge of needing glasses or not. They do make things clearer but her eyesight was good enough that she does not have to wear them. We left it up to Princess G if she wanted to get glasses or not. She said that she loves being able to see everything so much clearer and wanted to get them. We got a pair through our insurance and bought her a second pair from JCPenny. Her other glasses are still not in yet. 

 Princess A is wearing the new glasses we bought her earlier this month. 

Today is the last day for complete pair of glasses for only $25 at JCPenny. Even if your child already has glasses it is a great price for a back up pair of glasses. 

Crayola Color Wonder Review

I remember when my niece and sister came to meet my new baby.  My niece was on my carpet coloring with markers.  I was a little worried as she was only three and I really did not want different colored carpet.  My sister told me not to worry because it was Crayola Wonder!  I had never heard of it before that day over nine years ago.  Crayola Color Wonder markers (and other mediums) only work on special paper.  If the child colors off the paper the color is just clear but on the paper it is in color.  Ever since then I have been a fan of Crayola Color Wonder.  When Princess A started finger painting I got her Crayola Color Wonder finger paints so I did not have to worry about her coloring her clothes.  My girls are older but we still love Crayola Color Wonder.  They are perfect for home and on the go.  This summer we took many trips by car.  I had no worries that my kids would accidentally color my car or even the white duvets inside our hotel rooms. 

I was sent a box of different Crayola products to try.  As soon as the box arrived (it was right before bedtime) they could not wait to try them out.  The products were perfect as the following day we left on a short 3 day trip.  Princess A liked the Barbie Color Wonder pages and Princess G really liked the Matchbox Cars color Wonder pages as they are metallic when colored.  They both loved the dry erase, they kept taking turns drawing different super heroes. 

We took many trips this summer and each time we took the Crayola Color Wonder products.  The girls colored them in the car, in our hotel rooms and when we were out to dinner!

The information, products and additional Crayola Summer Fun gift pack was provided by Crayola® through MyBlogSpark.

Giveaway:THE OOGIELOVES BIG BALLOON ADVENTURE

Have you seen the Oogieloves yet?  They are just so cute! The three Oogieloves are: Goobie (lovable inventor), Zoobie (love languages and is the girls) and Toofie (the youngest and is fearless).  They also have Ruffy (slightly grumpy fish), J. Edgar (caring vacuum), Schluufy (loving pillow) and Windy (a crystal ball like window). 

Next Wednesday, August 29, the first family interactive movie will be released: The Ooogiloves Big Balloon Adventure!  This not movie that you just sit back and watch, you actually are encouraged to get up and sing and dance.  I have not seen this movie yet but it does sound like so much fun. The premise of the movie is that it is all the friends are organizing a secret birthday party for Schluufy (the fluffiest pillow) and lose five magical balloons.  They then have a series of adventures to recover the balloons and get back in time for the surprise party.

 I imagine that it would be a great first movie for a child since they would not have to sit still and be quiet, instead they get to wiggle and sing with permission. 

Giveaway

The Oogieloves prize pack includes a poster, Frisbee, beach ball, stickers and the glitter stencil tattoo kits. I have 6 prize packs to giveaway! Please enter using the Rafflecopter form below.

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

I was not compenstated for this posting and all opinions are my own.  The prize packs were provided on behalf of the movie.

WindTunnel Air Review

My husband is the main vacuumer in our home and he really likes this vacuum. The vacuum is not too heavy or bulky but still does a great job cleaning. We also have Dyson DC33 and the WindTunnel Air cleans the carpets just as well. The WindTunnel Air has a slightly smaller width compared to our other vacuum therefore the surface area cleaned on each pass is a bit smaller. My husband did notice that he had to make an extra pass to clean an area but it is so much lighter he did not mind.

The WindTunnel Air does not have a vacuum bag to change so you just dump the stuff you vacuumed up in the garage. Sometimes some dust is released but that is true with any bag less vacuum.

I am the one who uses the vacuum attachments. I like the WindTunnel Air attachments. For jobs that don't need much reach you just use the hose attached to the regular vacuum surface area. If you need to reach even high, say the top of a ceiling fan or air vents on the ceiling there is an additional hose extension. Both were easy to attach and remove. I figured out how to use the attachments with out using the instruction manual, unlike the Dyson. I had to read the Dyson manual to figure out the attachments.

My only problem with the vacuum is that the back wheels which are used when rolling the vacuum to another room while it is off are very small. I notice that it has a tendency to rock back in forth like a bad rolling suitcase. The vacuum is so light that it is easy to just carry it.

I also like that you can choose different height for the vacuum handle. My kids like vacuuming so I can set it to the shortest length for them and then extend it out for my much taller husband.

All in all I would recommend this vacuum. It does a great job cleaning, it is not so big it takes up your whole closet and is light enough to easily carry up and down the stairs.

I received a sample of this product to facilitate my review, but my opinions are entirely my own.

Falls Along the Columbia Gorge

Along with visiting Vista house, we also drove to Multnomah Falls the day before. The girls are on the viewing bridge. We did not hike up to the top but the view was still beautiful.

Vista House near Portland.

Last week we went with my husband to Portland for business. I was so excited when we pulled up to the Vista House. I visited it when I was Princess A's age and have been trying to figure out where it was. I only knew it was in Oregon or Washington! Now I found it and was able to share it with my girls.

$25 Complete Glasses at JCPennys this Month

As long as you pick a frame $120 or less and don't add anything such as anti reflective, children's glasses are only $25 for August. We ordered this pair for Princess A.

Matcha Green Tea Cheesecake Swirl Brownies (Recipe)

Matcha Green Tea Cheesecake Swirl Brownies are just so yummy!  My kids have already eaten half of them. We love brownies and we love cheesecake so a combination of the two is too natural. I was sent a sample of Mocafe Matcha Green tea powder and asked to use it in a recipe. (I requested the sample via 5MinutesForMom.com, the samples are gone but you can find more reipces there.)  

My kids have been asking for cheesecake brownies so I thought I could take it to another level by adding the Mocafe Matcha Green Tea powder.  Sometimes as a special treat we go to Pho Tai Vietamese and buy the girls Green Tea or cantaloupe  Bubble Tea.  If you have never had bubble tea it is more like a Frappe with large tapioca pearls at the bottom of course the girls like it without the bubbles (tapioca). 

Ingredients:

Brownies:
Box of Brownies mix and the ingredients listed to make plain brownies.
Mine called for eggs, oil and water
(Note: I substituted milk for the water for extra flavor)

Cheesecake topping:
1/3 cup of white sugar
8 oz. of Cream Cheese
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 Tablespoon Matcha Green Tea Powder

 Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F

Make brownies as instructed on the box.
Pour brownies into greased pan (9x13 in)



Mix the cream cheese and sugar together.  Add the egg and vanilla extract.  Mix until uniform.  Mix in the Matcha Green Tea Powder.
 
Add the cream cheese mixture to the brownies by the spoonful. Evenly distribute the cream cheese mixture over the surface of the brownie mix.  

 Once all of the cream cheese mixture is on top of the brownie mix swirl with a knife.  Hold the knife perpendicular to the pan and go back and forth in a grid pattern in one direction and then the other.

Bake the Brownies for about 1 hour. Let the Brownies coll, cut and then enjoy!

Roller Skating (For Free)

We were able to get free passes to skate at our local skating rink through KidsSkateFree.com. Check and she if it is available in your area.

Enjoying a park in Troutdale, OR

We need to stop, stretch our legs and enjoy the weather. What better way than to try a new park while traveling.

Fun in the Sun

After spending the morning at Owen's beach we came home, rested and now after dinner the girls wanted to go on the water slide.

Homeschooling, the right choice this year

You may have noticed that I have not been blogging as much the last few months.  I have just not had the time because I have been homeschooling Princess A.  Her school year started out alright.  I did not feel welcome in her classroom when I volunteered, but Princess A said class was fine.  I would talked to her about it once in a while and discovered she was doing nothing but reading.  I don't mean reading school books, I mean reading novels.  Princess A is an advanced child and her teacher was chosen by the school because the teacher was normally a 4th grade teacher but was teaching third grade this school year.  The thought was she could give Princess A extra challenges in class if she needed them.  Well she needed them but was not given anything extra to do.  As soon as she finished her regular school stuff she was allowed to read.  She finished so quickly most of her day was spent reading.  She loved it!  I was finally able to meet with her teacher near the end of October.  It was a quick meeting where her teacher told be that, besides one thing with paragraphs, Princess A knew everything she needed to learn by the end of the school year and wasn't that great.  I was happy she knew so much but was more concerned with what she would be learning the rest of the school year.  Her teacher would not answer me and asked me to help Princess A at home with the paragraph thing.  It took me five minutes to explain to Princess A to always write in paragraphs at school and the 'paragraph thing' was mastered. (Her teacher never told her to write in paragraphs so she hadn't.)  I tried to push her teacher to give her more and that teacher informed me "I have a set curriculum and can not deviate from it." I was not happy with that answer and after trying to work with the school district (the teacher was wrong she is suppose to deviate for kids) I decided to home school Princess A in Reading/Language arts and Math, the two subjects she is most advanced it, and have her remain in the classroom for the rest of her subjects.  This took place around Thanksgiving.  It was horrible!
Her teacher became very hostile and began to take it out on Princess A in class.  After a very uncomfortable two weeks during which Princess A was expected to magically receive instructions while she was not present, I pulled her out of that teacher's classroom.  Princess A was sad to leave her friends but so happy she did not have that teacher.  We decided that Princess A would still attend music (twice a week) and library (once a week) with her class as there are other teachers teaching during those times.  The teacher did not handle it well, she berated me in the cafeteria and later after Princess A was no longer in her class, yelled down the hall after me. I will not repeat all that she said but it was unprofessional.  The teacher also refused to acknowledge my daughter when she would say 'Hello."  So right before Christmas I started homeschooling Princess A full time.  My younger daughter is still in regular school and three times during the week Princess A has 30 minutes of instruction at her old school so we do have time constraints.
  It has been wonderful and very different.  I now have at least one child with me all of the time.  I now have a kid to drag around to doctor appointments, grocery stores and errands.  The best part is to see how much Princess A is learning.  When she was in regular school she had been complaining that math was still review in November and couldn't wait to start multiplication.  She also started knitting.  We are homeschooling through a program with the state so all of the materials are provided and she has at least 2 online classes per week.  It has been a wonderful time but Princess A wants to go back to a regular school, she misses her friends.  We were able to get her into a gifted program in our school district for next school year.  She will have to attend a new school and is a little nervous.  She is very excited too.  I am excited for her but also a little sad, it has been wonderful having her all day, everyday for the last few months.  Well at least I will have the summer to spend with both of them before mommy is on her own again. Less than three weeks until school is out!

Pacific Northwest Ballet Nutcracker Tickets On Sale

We attend the PNB's Nutcracker every year.  We have attended opening weekend for the last 6 years.  Can you tell we love the PNB's Nutcracker?! Usually tickets go on sale in July, which is when we always buy them.  The sooner you purchase the tickets the better seats you get for each price.  I received an email this morning stating they went on sale this morning, and no service charge through the end of May!

  We purchased our tickets this afternoon.  This year they are having fewer dates so if you plan on attending the Nutcracker Ballet in Seattle I would look into tickets now!