Beach Baby

I know ya'll must be thinking we fell off the face of the Earth, but I promise we're here and we'll be back blogging regularly soon!  We're in the middle of a little blog overhaul, changing up our topics and focus a little.  


Aaaanyway, I'm packing right now for our yearly beach trip and I thought I would let ya'll know my fave products to take to the beach for preschoolers and my tried and true products for beach babies!


Let's start with those itty bitties, shall we?  We took Noah to the beach for the first time when he was 5 months old.  Here's what worked for us...

The Bumbo seat was awesome!  Noah sat in his in the sand and at the edge of the ocean and just giggled up a storm.  I would show you a pic, but I'm still working on seeing what 40% of my data I have from my computer crash.  Boo! :(

We also took this sun dome by Kel-gar and Noah loved taking naps in here and cooling off in the shade.  It's also very handy for the backyard.  

Now that Noah is 4, he can play in the sand and ocean ALL day, so here's what helps us now...

I bought one of these pop-up mesh bags at Dollar Tree.  To pack, it folds up flat and then we put all of his sand toys in it to carry back & forth to the beach.  You can actually wash off everything in the bag at the same time and the water drains out.  

image via The Idea Room

A trick I just learned about, but haven't tried yet is using baby powder to get the sticky sand off of little bodies.  That is something we've struggled with for the past 3 years, so I'm anxious to see if this really works.  

My boy has always been really bothered by the heat, he sweats just walking out the door.  So, the swim tops that they make for boys don't work for him.  The sleeves come down to his elbows and they have high necks......can we say HOT???  So, I found out that mesh tank tops work great!  The fabric can get wet and dries super fast!  So, when I don't want his tummy & back to get burned, he wears these.  ***Walmart has these on sale right now for less than $3.00 size 6 month to 5T.  

And, finally...whatever you do, you must protect that sweet skin from the sun.  I've tried several different brands, but keep coming back to this Coppertone Water Babies.  It is the least sticky, no scent, and has the best coverage.  For active little ones like mine, I like the spray.  It takes less time and I don't have to hear, "Mommy, are you done yet?" five hundred times like with the lotion.  

Ok, better go get packing!  See you soon!

Too Sweet Tuesday

I cannot believe we've almost been married 5 years. It's been a great road---we've been through a lot together from finances to infertility and one thing that we've learned is that God comes number one in our marriage and that communication is key.  He is my biggest supporter and the first person I talk to each morning. He's truly my best friend and the second most important person in my life. 
So, to celebrate our 5th year we have decided to have a little party out at the lake. I thought I would search for some cute ideas and share them with you. 
One last thing I would like to add: if you find yourself struggling in your marriage and would like to strengthen it, the first thing I would suggest is prayer. However, for those of you that enjoy reading and feel that it helps you a little better along the way I enjoyed reading this book and they make one for husbands too!! Click the book for more information or to purchase. COMPLETELY worth every penny. I promise!

For our 1st Anniversary we did a BBQ theme so I thought I would kind of do that, but turn it into picnic style. 

Well, off to work on the invitation to match!! Oh what fun this will be! 

Menu Monday

I know ya'll are asking, where in the world have those Pixie Chicks been?  Wellllll, after traveling for Memorial Day, I had a little accident with my computer!  I had my laptop on my, well lap, and my little one came over for a hug.  Then, he tripped and almost fell into my night stand.  In the blink of an eye, I grabbed him and in the process my computer fell onto my carpet.  Now, my computer has been treated rather poorly since my energetic little boy came into my life.  It's been hit, dropped on the hardwood floor repeatedly, and stepped on.  So, I picked up my computer as always and thought nothing of it.  WRONG......when I picked it up, it rattled inside and I thought, m-kay that's not a good sound!  After that, I couldn't turn it on. I kept getting a symbol of a circle with a line through it.  come to find out, that means a critical file is missing.  After a trip to an Apple repair shop, I got the dreaded phone call saying, "I have really bad news.  We can't get ANY of your data off your computer."  Aaaahhhhhh!!!!!  So, I was a bad girl and hadn't backed up my files since the beginning of February and as of right now, all is lost!  My hard drive is in California at Drive Savers as we speak to see if they can rescue any of my data!  To a graphics designer, this is a catastrophe!  I'm currently typing this post on my hubby's work computer that I am borrowing for the time being.  


Whew...so, that is where I have been!  I'm now anxiously awaiting my phone call from Data Savers with hopefully good news!  In the meantime, here are a couple of meals I'm gonna attempt to cook this week.  

Monday: Sloppy Joe's:  I actually grew up calling these "Jiffy Hamburgers" and they are so simple AND so yummy.  They require 3 ingredients. Simply brown your hamburger meat, add 1 C Ketchup and 1 T Worcestershire Sauce.  Mix together, spoon onto to a bun, add cheese if you so desire, and enjoy! :)

Tuesday: Hot Dog Mac n' Cheese Casserole from Blog Chef

Wednesday and Thursday, the hubby has business dinners, so it's easy stuff for Noah & me like chicken nuggets, grilled cheese, and fish sticks.  Then, this weekend, we will celebrate our 12-year anniversary ♡ so a fun trip is in the works! Yay!  Stay tuned for a sale in my etsy shop and maybe our TN notebook shop cause Pixie Chick Jennifer celebrates her 5-year anniversary in a few weeks too!