To celebrate a new movie coming called EPIC (© 2013 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved)  I wrote this as part of a sponsored post for Collective Bias®  All opinions are 100% my own.

Hummingbirds, edible slugs and an awesome dinner.  Not your typical material for a blog post right?  I will bring all 3 things together for you though, I promise!  Did you know that May 24th there is a new movie coming out called EPIC?  EPIC is by the makers if Ice Age and Rio.  There are two girls in our home who cannot wait to see it!  EPIC has everything our tweens want in a movie; nature, animals, a message about caring for the environment and plenty of laughs along the way.  They have about worn out my computer by watching the movie trailer for EPIC, over and over and over.

Since they were so excited I wanted to help them get in the Spirit of the movie so we went out shopping to make a celebratory dinner (any excuse for a party)!

We always love a trip to Sam’s Club. This trip was no different…except they were demoing everything! We did not even need lunch. We sampled many amazing items but we were completely sold on the Tyson/Del Monte demo. The lady was super sweet! She served up Tyson Chicken Nuggets and Del Monte green beans. Our family loves Tyson foods and the demo lady gave one more reason to love Tyson. Did you know their delicious chicken nuggets are 100% natural? It was great to find that out. The kids happily tossed a bag of Tyson Chicken Nuggets into our cart and I grabbed some Del Monte green beans.

After we got home, the girls watched the trailer to EPIC again. I pulled out my bag’o'mommy-resources and we got creative together. Mub, Grub, MK & Nod are some of the characters from EPIC. Among the cast and crew are featured hummingbirds and slugs. So, to celebrate the fact that EPIC releases in a few days (May 24 in theaters), we filled our favorite Hummingbird feeder!

By this point the kids were clamoring for a real meal. They were quick to remind me that we had healthy Tyson Chicken Nuggets and green beans.

Tyson All-Natural Chicken Nuggets and Del Monte green beans are a perfect pairing. Protein and veggies AND the kids are excited to eat it. As a busy mom, I love the fact that I can have these nuggets ready in about 20 minutes. Add some fruit and you have a healthy meal thanks to Tyson.

If you decide to go see EPIC this weekend don’t settle for greasy drive thru, grab some Tyson and serve your family an appropriate serving of all-white meat Tyson Chicken nuggets.

After the meal we decided to have some more fun together! First we made some slugs. Yes. We made edible slugs. The girls were thrilled since they really love the slugs in EPIC. You can find the full recipe here .

I didn’t stop there though! To finish off the fun we made homemade smoothies. On some we added some sliced strawberries for garnish and others had cute little umbrellas.

For these smoothies we used 100% natural orange juice and a mix of frozen pineapple, blueberries and strawberries. YUM! Just toss them in the blender and you are good to go.

So see? It IS possible to have a post that brings together hummingbirds, slugs, a great new movie and dinner!
Are you excited to see EPIC? If so, head on over and enter the contest on Tyson’s Facebook page . You can enter your information and get a chance to win free movie tickets to see EPIC with your family!

To celebrate a new movie coming called EPIC (© 2013 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved) I wrote this as part of a sponsored post for Collective Bias® All opinions are 100% my own.

Filed under: garden, movies, Review, tweens | 1 Comment »

I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias and their client.  All opinions are my own.

My husband is a good man.  He takes me on dates, he works hard to support us, he plays with our kids and he shows me in countless ways that he loves and appreciates me.  Nevertheless, I was surprised when he sent me off to the store with instructions to buy some certain food items and something special for myself.   He handed me a list of very particular items.  The list included; french fries, Tyson Fully Cooked Chicken Strips , ranch dressing, a chocolate pie and something special for myself.  The last item was the first I shopped for.  Mama got a new pair of shoes!

My oldest daughter is getting ready to run her first 5k so we checked out some running shorts.   Then we headed over to the food area and picked up the rest of the items.

After loading up our Tyson Fully Cooked Chicken Strips we decided to check out.  Wow.  My daughter and I had a great time trying not to laugh.  Honestly, I have no idea why this person was dressed up.  But it gave us a great laugh and a great memory too.  You just never know what you might find at your local Walmart right?

When I arrived home my husband met me out at the van and carried in all the groceries.  He gave my strict instructions to go do “something”.  I used my time to catch up on friend’s Facebook posts.  I could hear lots of banging and such in the kitchen.  The only thing I knew he was making was his famous dip.  After about 30 minutes he called us to the table for dinner, but not before showing off his cooking skills to our admiring toddler.

I was blown away!  My husband cooked an entire meal and made a lovely presentation too!

We had Tyson Fully Cooked Chicken Strips with his famous dip, french fries and my favorite fruits too.  It was delicious and so nice to enjoy a relaxing meal together.  Of course, my daughter felt obligated to fill everyone in on the dressed up shopper we saw which led to some more great laughs!

Tyson wants all moms to feel spoiled and pampered like me. Now through June 3rd, you can enter the Tyson Mother’s Day Payday. Simply buy specially marked bags of their delicious chicken strips. Feel good about what you feed your family (they are 100% all natural), hand over dinner prep to your husband and get entered to win some great prizes! A total win-win situation.

Filed under: dad, Family Life, food, Mom | 11 Comments »

Thank you Dermagist for my  Complete Rejuvenation System for review!

I’ll be the first to admit that I haven’t given as much thought to my skin care in the past as I probably should have.  I had acne when I was a teen and in my early 20′s and I used some over the counter acne products.  Once that was no longer an issue, I just used plain old soap and occasionally a moisturizer.  I have been pretty good about using sunscreen and I think that has helped my skin.  However, as I get older, I’ve started to notice some fine lines and wrinkles start to appear, especially around my eyes. Dermagist has a full line of anti-aging products as well as a line for acne prone skin and daily maintenance products.  I was excited to try their Complete Rejuvenation System.

This 3 product kit is formulated to attack all the signs of aging.  It contains products that target wrinkles on an instant and Long-term basis, plus peptides that aim to shrink enlarged pores, reduce age spots, fade redness, and drastically improve the look of deep wrinkles as well as fine lines.  The kit contains Original Smoothing Cream, Agre Defying Serum and Instant Effect Lifting Serum.  For maximum effect, they recommend using all 3 products together during a 30 day  cycle.  Once this cycle is over, you can start over or just use the formula of your choice.

I decided to take before and after pictures to see how well the products worked.  Here are the before pictures:

With this system you are supposed to use just the Original Wrinkle Smoothing Cream alone twice a day for 2 days.   On days 3 and 4 you start with the Age Defying Serum and then follow with the Soothing Cream both morning and night.  From day 5 until you finish the product,  you start with the Instant Effect Lifting Serum, then the Age Defying Serum and last the Soothing Cream again both morning and night.

The Soothing Cream was pretty thick and felt really nice on my skin.  The Age Defying Serum had a nice citrus scent and my skin felt a little tingly after I applied it.  I could feel my skin tighten up when I applied the Instant Effect Lifting Serum.  It seemed to instantly make my eyes look brighter and less sleepy (which says a lot since Little Miss hasn’t been sleeping well!).  Here are my after pictures:

I was pleasantly surprised!  It really did lesson the look of the lines around my eyes!  I don’t think it really made a difference on my melasma spots but I do think it evened out my skin tone and clarity.  I also have to confess that I wasn’t as disciplined as I should have been with using the products.  You are supposed to let each product dry before you apply the next one.  This allows each one to be fully absorbed.  However, it can be a little time consuming.  There were some days that were a little hectic and rushed and I didn’t get to apply all 3 products.  I also noticed that if I applied my makeup too soon after the Soothing Cream, it got a little cakey( I use powdered mineral makeup) so I sometimes skipped it.  Overall, I am super pleased with my results and will continue to use the system!

One very lucky reader will win the Complete Rejuvenation System to try for themselves!  This is a value of $129.99!  Please note, if you have won a giveaway from Dermagist in the past, you are not eligible to win.

Filed under: Current Giveaways, health and beauty, Mom, Review | 9 Comments »

Slug snacks.  Yep.  I made slug snacks with my kids.  I know, I know.  It certainly is not your normal rainy day activity but we did it anyways!  It is super fun and you probably have all the slug ingredients on hand.

I bought some green Jello and made it the night before so that it was good and set.  You can easily make slug snacks for kids without the Jello and just serve them on a plate.

Then you peel and slice one banana lengthwise.  And place it on the Jello, flat side down.

Next, you add pretzel antenna’s.

Let your kids decorate their slug with food coloring (buy all natural food coloring to make it healthier).

Your kids cannot ruin it!  They will love eating it and love making slugs!  Do it for the start of your garden season, for a rainy day activity or just for some fun with your kiddos.

The food coloring drips around the bananas and looks like slug slime!  Kids of all ages will love this and you will love their smiles.

Will you make slugs snacks for your kids?

Filed under: DIY, food, kids | 6 Comments »

We spend a lot of time outside during the summer and our deck gets a lot of use.  Lately we noticed it was looking a little rough.  I contacted Thompson’s WaterSeal and they graciously sent me some of their Thompson’s® WaterSeal® Advanced Natural Wood Protector.  It is available in 4 colors.  I chose natural cedar.

This sealer provides maximum strength protection with a coating that resists mildew and UV damage.  What I really liked about it was that there is no wait time with it.  You can clean and treat in one day and to apply immediately to new pressure-treated wood.

I couldn’t wait to try it out but unfortunately, we were either gone or it rained the first 3 weekends after I received it.  Last weekend, we finally had the chance to tackle the project.  We borrowed a pressure cleaner from our neighbor and got to work cleaning the deck.  We knew it was looking dingy but we didn’t realize just how bad it was!

Once we were done cleaning the deck, we could immediately start sealing it.  So convenient because once I start a project, I want to finish it ASAP.  Plus, with the unpredictable weather, I didn’t want to wait and risk having more rain.

The Thompson’s WaterSeal was so easy to apply.  We just poured some in a bucket and applied one thin even layer with a paintbrush.  One coat is all it takes!  In fact, the directions state not to apply more than one because it will not improve the performance of the sealer.  The color was a little more orange than I expected but I still liked it.  It took us about 2 hours to cover the deck and part of the railings (we ran out and need to get another jug).  Clean up was easy.  Since the sealer is water based, we just rinsed the bucket and brush and washed our hands.  Drying time can very but the directions recommend waiting 24 hours to use the deck.  However, the deck is the main access to our back yard so we just kept the kids off it for about and hour.  By then, it was no longer tacky and then could walk on it to get to the back yard.  We did wait until the next day to put the grill and table back though.

I am so happy with the results!  Our deck looks brand new!  And not only does it look pretty, it’s well protected!

Thompson’s WaterSeal offers a full line of cleaners, waterproofers,and exterior wood stains.  View the full selections HERE and let Thompson’s help you get your deck ready for summertime fun!

Filed under: DIY, Family Life, Home and Garden, Review | No Comments »