Butterflies

Every spring I look forward to visiting the butterfly gardens! We went on Monday and it was the perfect sunny day. Here are my pigtailed cuties having fun:

I thought this picture was a good example of how Esther spends her days - with lots of little hands tickling and loving on her:

Hope you're enjoying spring too!

POM Wonderful Juice

I had never tried pomegranate juice until today. It tastes sort of like cranberry juice, but a bit different. POM Wonderful make a 100% pomegranate juice that is super healthy - no added sugars, preservatives, or colors. Pomegranate juice is a good source of potassium and antioxidants.

The POM Wonderful website has all sorts of fancy recipes that can be made with their juices. We chose to try a smoothie recipe that I thought my girls might like:

2 oz POM juice

6oz blueberry yogurt

1 cup frozen strawberries

Blend and enjoy.

This is my new favorite way to make a smoothie! The pomegranate juice adds just the right amount of tartness. I thought it was a bit sour just to drink, but Ross took some to work and thought it was fine. We enjoyed this and will definitely be using POM Wonderful more now that we've tried it.

I received some POM Wonderful juice for review but the opinions of course are all my own.

Pete the Cat

My mom recently came across a video clip of two little girls reading Pete the Cat and thought it was hilarious. She sent us the link and ever since, my girls have been singing "I love my white shoes." Check out the video here. Its so cute!

I was excited to have the chance to review the book Pete the Cat by Eric Litwin. Lucy and Julia wanted to read it right away as soon as they saw it in the mail and were thrilled to have this book. Pete the Cat goes walking along and steps in strawberries, blueberries and more, turning his white shoes various colors. The book has brightly colored illustrations, and Pete makes me laugh on several pages. James Dean is the illustrator and he does a great job.

Pete the Cat comes with a card so that you can download the song that goes along with the book. Lucy and Julia sing anything to that same tune - "I love my red coat. I love my macaroni." etc. This is definitely a fun book to have and the song is catchy. I love the message of the book as well; Pete keeps a good attitude no matter what happens. We discussed how Pete might have been sad when his new shoes got dirty, but didn't cry. Hopefully Pete's good attitude will inspire my girls a bit. We're enjoying this book.

Bloem and Grow

I found the cutest little name blocks for Esther recently! I went to a craft/ gift show while I was pregnant and fell in love with these adorable handcrafted blocks. I had to wait until Esther was born to order because we didn't know the gender or name yet. Kate at Bloem and Grow agreed to give me a set for review and even has a great discount code for us! Aren't they adorable...

Check out her website for more options. She has a variety of color schemes to choose from and will help you figure out a design that works for you. The set that I have is called "Sweet Garden". The blocks can say anything you like - Spring, Grandma, Hope, Family, Mom... and more. I keep thinking of sets I'd like to have. Julia wants a set with her name on them and I'd love a set that says Family for the living room. Here you can see the size:

Kate is mom to two little ones, Emmah 6, and Jake 4. She loves to scrapbook, shop, and spend time with family and friends. She has been married to her high school sweetheart for 8 years. Kate just opened an Etsy shop, be sure to check it out! You can see more examples of her work on her blog.

Being somewhat crafty, I had thought of trying to make these myself, but they are such a great price and Kate does such a good job that I decided to leave it up to the pros this time. I love the blocks and will probably be ordering more sets. These are so cute in the girls' bedroom, although I have to admit I left them in the living room for a couple of weeks just so I could look at them. If you want to order a set, just mention my blog and Kate will give you 25% off of your order! Check out her blog for prices and more photos. Thanks Kate!