Halloween Festivities and a Give-a-Way!

For those that are coming from MacDonald's Playland, HELLO! For those that keep coming back (thank you!) Scroll to the end so you can enter to win $205! My weekend...it was busy but so much fun! Well mostly fun, you'll see why in 3....2....1...

This picture you might ask? Is of me at 2:45am buying cough medicine...Baby Fox was coughing all night and by 2:30am had still not fallen asleep because of so much coughing. We had nothing to help him, poor guy. I looked online and found that honey was supposed to help. Baby Fox loved eating straight up honey, it sort of worked? I say sort of because he was still coughing when I left, and by the time I got back, he had fallen asleep. Thank goodness!

Luckily the rest of the weekend was pretty great. Friday I had the day off, so Baby Fox was well enough and was not coughing and wanted to go to school. So off to school he went and I went and visited some friends (which I took no pictures). Friday evening we decided to go on a quick errand to get some hangers for Mr. at Home Goods, and then ran next store to to the Japanese everything is $1.50 store. It's pretty awesome. Baby Fox got some Nunchucks.

Totally normal to be wearing a tool belt with nunchucks right?

Saturday we woke up and decided to go up to Starbucks and hang out. We called my parents to see if they wanted to meet up with us. Of course they did, Sister came along too.

Before Mini Fox was born, both of us would ride our bikes up here, but now Mr. takes Baby Fox and I drive Mini Fox and myself up there. I'm too chicken to ride my bike with another human on it, I can barely ride myself up these big hills we have here.

Mini Fox getting some walking practice...and I just realize that my parents match, they are such dorks.

We decided to let Mini Fox have her first turn in the bike seat...mostly because we weren't ready to leave just yet and she was having a missed my morning nap meltdown, but she loved it!

Baby Fox and I did some shopping before heading home. We stopped at Old Navy and got a balloon, and I was surprised/didn't know that the balloon was still colored in it's shadow, anyone else with me? I feel like I should have known this...please lie to me if you did know and am now thinking I'm the crazy lady who didn't know that.

Saturday night we had a Halloween Party to go to. We haven't been to know in a while...oh and my Halloween costume that I had to alter? Turned out great! Better than expected. yay!

Sneak peek at our costumes...can you guess? Full pictures on Friday!

 Clear winner of the costume contest that didn't exist but if it did, they would win.

All the kids...I can't believe that they stayed still long enough for us to take pictures!

How cute are these desserts? These are those homemade Oreo cookies...clever right?

The kids had a fantastic time, running around, eating as much candy as they wanted, and some more running around, oh but they did stop to enjoy a movie towards the end of the night.

Sunday we met up with our friends for year three of the pumpkin patch. Best picture we got, there is only 1 missing, and he just didn't want to sit down.

Mini Fox hates hay, being around it, near it, sitting on it...hates all of it.

She does like to try and walk around, excpet these cute Toms will not stay on her feet!

Time #256 of putting her shoes back on

We did the easiest corn maze in the history of the world.  We tried to get lost...it didn't work, the whole thing is a spiral, you can't get lost..

Moms and as many kids that would get into the picture

Dads with as many kids that would get into the picture

After much needed naps, I took Mini Fox to the mall to return some stuff...she kept this headband on for an hour...that's an hour longer than she has done that in the past 2 months!

And then 2 seconds after this the headband came off...haha

We went to Costco to pick something up and they had their Ginger Bread house, you need to go get this ginger bread house now! It's only $10 and it's big...this is ours from last year. It comes assembled and they give you candy and icing to decorate, easy right?

It made Mini Fox insanely happy

All the way home she talked to the pictures and was tapping the box and giggling.

 

That was our weekend, don't forget to come back Friday to see what we're being for Halloween!

I have teamed up with Aly from Ooh La Lovely Blog, Pamela from Macdonald's Playland, and 18 other awesome bloggers to bring you this $205 Target Gift Card Giveaway! Simply enter in the rafflecopter below for your chance to win and be sure to check out all of the wonderful ladies who have teamed up to bring you this giveaway! Giveaway ends next Monday, November 3rd! Best of luck!

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Macdonald's Playland | Ooh La Lovely Blog

Co-Hosted by:

Behind Blue Eyes | Epic Mommy Adventures | Paper Bag Styling | Motherhood Through My Eyes

S & T Time | Wedding Rings to Teething Rings | Mommy Like Whoa | Pig and Dac

 Elevate Everyday | Mr and Mrs Powell | Yummy Mummy Life | Bite of Delight

Lane and Alley | Two Miracles | Xo Hello Darling | Here for Your Reviews

Foxy's Domestic Side | Life of Faith

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Linking up with Faith, Sarah and Heather for Mommy Moments

With Bella & Lisa for Weekend Link-up

Keeping in Shape with a Toddler...or Two

I've talked about post pregnancy body, and how I got back into shape after the baby, but now I'm going to touch on the subject of staying in shape.

Getting back into shape I was at home, I didn't have to go to work everyday, so I could just wake up, get the kids up and go work out with my Stroller Strides group. Which I did 3-4 times a week.

Do you see me?

But now that I'm back at work I have to make time. Carve out specific time to work out. I'm not going to lie, it's hard. It's hard to not come home from work after 12 hours and want to just lay on the couch or play with the kids. We joined a new gym and that motivates me right there, I don't want to waste money in paying for a gym that we're not going to use. So that helps, but right now my schedule is working out on Monday and Wednesdays. I'd like to carve out some time on the weekend for an early morning run, but so far that's happened twice.

I think it's important to make time for yourself. Yes I'm gone for 12 hours a day at work (granted 4 of those hours the kids aren't even awake yet), but I need some time so that I can feel good about me. How does it help my family, if I just feel lousy about myself and how I look/fee? If that means that I get home to turn right around to go workout, with Baby Fox in tow, then so be it. He's come to expect that at least once a week we're going to the gym after work. Lately on Wednesdays Mr. has been working late, so I'll have my parents come babysit after work while I go to the gym for an hour. It's such a blessing to have them so close, so they can come over for an hour or so to watch the kids.

Diet is big too, I try not to over indulge, knowing that I'm only working out 2 times a week, 3 times if I'm lucky. Having food allergies helps too because most things that are really bad for you, I can't eat, so that helps too. I just realized I've never done a post about my food allergies...I'll have to do that soon!

Once Mini Fox is not taking that late evening nap, I'll probably take the kids out for a walk/run on those days that I'm not working out at the gym. I think that no matter what it's important for you to make time for yourself, some time to feel good about who you are and how you look, cause let's face it we all have those fat days when you just feel blah, and if working out twice a week helps lessen those blah days, then I'm all for it!

 How have you fit exercise into motherhood?  Check out the other mama's blogs for their stories.  And be sure to link up with us below if you also have a post on this topic. 

In the difficulty of motherhood, it's so important to find other mamas to relate to.  Toddlers can be a handful and leave you wondering what to do next.  This series is here to help you navigate through toddlerhood while being able to relate to other mamas going through the same thing.  We may not always know what we are doing but we give it our best shot anyway.  Come back each week to check out our new topic and read along with the other hosts of our One Year and Beyond series!  

The Not Quite Military Wife// Like a Morning Cup of Coffee//  Meet the Sullivan's

 From Here to Eternity//  Pig and Dac//   Everyday Love

A Cowboy's Life// Life of Faith//  Foxy's Domestic Side//  My Delicious Adventure

Oct 2:     Toddler Diaper Bag Essentials 

Oct 9:     Learning to love your post-pregnancy body

Oct 16:   Busy Toddler Activities

Oct 23:   Keeping in Shape While Caring for a Toddler

Oct 30:   Sick Day Tips

Nov 6:    How to Not Lose Your Patience with your Toddler

Nov 13:  Favorite Toddler Outings

An InLinkz Link-up

Fall Style Challenge - Week 2

Hello, hello! Another week of the Fall Challenge behind us. I did skip Day 7 because we went to Legoland and well, I wasn't about to wear pants, long sleeve t, and a scarf to Legoland on a 73° day, hehe. If you want to see what I wore on Day 1 and 2, click here.

Week 2 of the Fall Challenge

Let's break it down:

Day 3

Okay so I can't really break this down for you, because as I was transferring data from my camera to my laptop, the computer battery died and lost all of my pictures, boo! So I only got this one, so no close ups. If you look closely though, I do have a Ladder Necklace on, and I thought it really made the outfit less "country" plus the ankle boots helped too.

Shirt - Wet Seal, Pants - Loft (curvy), Booties - Nordstroms, Necklace - Jane.com

Day 4

I'm sort of loving the fancy sweatshirt. I never would have picked this up in a million years, but it's super comfy yet looks nice and not sloppy. Because it has the lace detail I don't think it needs anything else, just by itself, perfect for taking care of tiny humans (bonus points if you know where that is from).

Pants - Loft (old), Fancy Sweatshirt - Loft, Leopard Flats - DSW (old)

Day 5

Okay I admit that I put this one, took the pictures and then changed into shorts and a tank top. I was literally sweating taking this picture. It called for a cardigan, and I think if I were going out at night, I could add it, but during the day it was just too much.You can't tell, but the jeans I'm wearing are grey.

Grey Jeans - Loft, Shirt - Target, Scarf - Target (looks like it's no longer available online, but I saw one in my local Target recently), Booties - Nordstroms

Day 6

This was the perfect Saturday running errands outfit. I was super comfortable but looked put together.

Yep, no make-up and all, that's how I run errands.

Day 7

Legoland!

Super comfy shorts, t-shirt, simple necklace, and some converse look a likes.

Day 8

I think this one is my favorite out of the week. I honestly didn't think I'd like the plaid shirt, thought it would make me feel too country, but I didn't, and that was a pleasant surprise.

Shirt - Wet Seal, Boyfriend Jeans - Old Navy, Military Jacket - Nordstroms (old), Booties - Target

Day 9

Again with the simple fancy sweatshirt, I think I need more fancy sweatshirts!

Black Jeans - Loft, Fancy Sweatshirt - Loft, Leopard Flats - DSW, Fox Ring - Francesca's Collection (old)

I tried on different necklaces, but nothing looked right against the lace, so I went with a nice fox ring, appropriate right?

I'm linking up with some fellow Fall Challengers, so take a peek at what they put together. It's so awesome to see people's different takes on the same outfit.

Deena | Christy | Jordan | Carrie C. | Shaunacey | Danielle | Beth | Joy | Sarah | 

Leslie | Katie | Jennifer | Carrie M. | Lisa | Sheila | Lana | Lauren | Anna | Alison

 also Linking up with Because Shanna Said So, Get Your Pretty On, The Pleated Poppy, Tucker Up 

Legoland Part 2

I didn't realize there was going to be a part 2...but there is, click here for part 1.

First, during the day they had trick or treating for the kids, Baby Fox loved it, they gave away magazines, candy, and some other random stuff:

But I have to tell you what happens AFTER you're done with the park...




Cousin #4 was staying at the Legoland Hotel, so we went and had dinner with them at the hotel. Let me tell you, they take Legos to a whole new level in that place. Everything was legos, from the picture frames to the flowers! I guess they change the pictures out depending on the season.

The kid activities (all told to me by my cousin)...first when you get to the hotel they give the kids a scavenger hunt to go on. They kids have to figure out a number sequence, and when they get all 4 numbers, it opens the treasure chest in your room, which then has legos that the kids get to keep! Each room has a bucket of legos for the kids to play with. 

Getting to your room is fun too, when the doors close the elevator becomes a disco dancing floor.

The rooms have bunk beds for the kids to sleep on. Each of the three floors has a different theme, they were on the adventure themed floor.

Back downstairs they had about 2 hours of entertainment for the kids. When you get to the hotel they tell you the theme of the night. Our theme was...Halloween Scary, or something like that. They have this huge pirate ship and it's "moat" is FILLED with thousands of legos...so the kids to get to building something to fit the theme of the night. Then a princess and pirate came out and did a Simon says type of game with them, charades, and then the building contest.

Each kid gets called and explains his or her lego creation. The night we went there were over 55 entries.

We didn't win, the girl that won had built a lego witch.

But it was a great way for the kids to blow off a little extra steam, get their creative juices flowing, and for the parents to sit back and relax and watch it all. Tip: Get there just after the park closes so you can be sure to get a table and chairs. We got there about 5:45 and we found the last two small tables.  It was such a great way to end the evening. Sitting in the lounge area, eating dinner with the kids ran around and built legos and played.

I'll end with 3 reasons why you need to go to Legoland/Legoland Hotel.

1.

It's not as crowded as the other amusements parks as this park is really geared toward smaller children.

2.

It opens at 10am and closes at 5pm so the longest you'll be there is 7 hours (unless you do the Brick or Treating, so add another 4 hours).

3.

The hotel is awesome, and has so much for the kids to do, you could seriously take them there and they would never know :) Okay they might because there's no rides, but they would have the time of their life...

4.

And one more because I'm nice like that. You can always get a discount to get in. Barbara's Cereal almost always has a coupon code to get 40% off. Also if you Google, you can almost always find a buy one get one free*, so we did buy one (me) get one free (Baby Fox) and then did a 40% off to get Mr. in (Mini Fox was free), so our grand total was about $120 for the 4 of us (Disneyland is $96/ticket!)

*the link provide says park hopper tickets, so I called and told them I only wanted to go to Legoland and didn't need a park hopper so they sold me just the Legoland ticket for $83 (the price of admission for Legoland) and then got a free one too. So just call and they'll do it for you, saves you almost $20.

I was not paid to tell you guys about this, I just went and thought it was a great experience for the family and thought I would share the wealth.