Ready, Set, Read!

We are participating in our local libraryโ€˜s reading program โ€œReady Set Read!โ€. They have a long list of different books to read for pre-K aged children. For every 10 books read from the list we earn a prize and after we have read 60 books we get a grand prize. The books that they chose have a lot of educational and STEM focused topics which I love. The majority of the books listed are ones we have never ย read so this is a great opportunity to introduce some new reading! I hope we can at least get through 10/20 of them!

Here is our pick from the listย for the week: D762C833-6D86-4FDA-BB6B-2FF686D60EA0

Have you or your child ever done a reading challenge before? Comment below! Thank you for visiting & happy reading!

 

My favorite, everyday beauty picks!

Today I thought I would talk about something different: Beauty and makeup! Beauty and makeup products have been a part of my life since I was a preteen. Always a girly girl, I’ve never been able to resist checking out the new make up displays at the drugstore. Gone are the days of listening to The Spice Girls while trying to figure out how to use all these products. Since then, my make up and beauty -addiction- has been going at full force. Sephora and Ulta are my weakness, and my collection of makeup is ever growing. Do I need help? Probably. Do I care? Not really. Fortunately being a mom on a budget, I can not go overboard with purchases. Besides the chapstick, I don’t use these products everyday as I don’t wear makeup everyday. Today, I will chat about some of the go to products that I use and love!

Dream Cream Body LotionLush’s Dream Cream=Amazing! I purchased this product after reading several reviews over the years about how great the stuff was for helping dry skin and eczema. My son has mild eczema & we have been using throughout winter to combat dry skin. So far, this dream cream really is a dream. I love how Lush’s products are made of non-toxic ingredients which makes me feel better about applying it to my sons skin. The smell of the cream is warm and yummy, it reminds me of a creamsicle. The texture is so creamy and a little bit goes a long way. Hands down, the best moisturizer I’ve used!

Fit Me! Loose Finishing PowderMaybelline’s Fit Me Lose powder is a first for me, but since buying this product I have no real complaints. It is an affordable, basic, everyday powder that I use to set my foundation and concealer. It has a translucent, light coverage. I definitely will be repurchasing again.

Anastasia Beverly Hills Concealer StickOh yes, my favorite. My Anastasia Beverly Hills concealer/ foundation stick. I have been using this product for probably over a year and it isn’t my go to product for a basic coverage on the face and under eyes. It has a medium to light coverage and stays put fairly long. And this is my second stick and it has lasted me so long.

The Naked 3 palette. This is my all-time favorite eyeshadow palette. The colors are pink-ish and go well with an every day basic look. This is the only naked palette that I have owned or tried. I absolutely love urban decay eyeshadow’s.

Butter Gloss and Cocoa Butter Chapstick

If you need a really good chapstick try Palmers Cocoa Butter Formula. It is amazing and I use it everyday, several times a day!! I wish I had more than one stick for my car, and purse.

For lip color I use NYX Butter Gloss. It is my ultimate, most favorite lip gloss. It is so moisturizing and the pigments are light, it adds the perfect hue of color to top off the look.

What are your everyday, go to beauty products?

I hope you find my review helpful and I hope you enjoyed reading!

๐Ÿ’•Jess

Rainy Day Activities

Living in the great Pacific Northwest we have to contend with a lot of rainy days. With so much rain we have to adapt, so don your rain gear and venture out. However, playing in the rain can get cold and uncomfortably wet after a while so you have to be creative with coming up with indoor activities to do. Here are a few of our favorites!

Arts and Crafts!

I get so many ideas for pre-k arts n crafts on IG and Pinterest! A lot of them are so easy to put together from materials you already have at home. A lot of stores such as Michaels or Hobby Lobby carry kits for kids projects and get new ones seasonally. In the picture below we made a snowman ornament!

Kinetic Sand!

Very fun for sensory play! My son can spend a good hour with this activity.

The Children’s Museum

This is by far my sons favorite place to play. So many activities available such as water play, a building workshop, things to climb and slide on, as well as fun & innovative creations for the kids to play and learn from. My sons favorite is the vacuum tubes that suck colorful scarves through a maze of tubes.

Bounce House!

This is another one of my sons favorite activities and mine too since it burns off SO much energy! They offer an hour and half of open jump per session! A great way for me to catch up on any reading or emails while he is busy jumping away.

Visiting our local Library:

Our public library system is amazing! They offer so many different activities for children that are offered several times a month. They have a weekly story time, after school arts and crafts, play to learn groups, and a lot of STEM related activities such as coding and robotics. We recently went to a group which introduced young ones to coding with the Cubetto Activity robot. We had a blast learning and trying to make it navigate by coding the controls. I’m not sure who had more fun my son or husband!

A lot of the times, I just need to buck up and get outside. Let them jump in puddles to burn off all those wiggles!

Thank you for reading! Happy 2019!

Jess

Whatโ€™s in my sons Christmas Eve Box?

One of the Christmas Eve traditions we do in our house is to put together a box filled with goodies for my son.

He usually opens his Christmas Eve Box in the morning so we can watch the movies and do all the fun activities that were included inside.

This evening little man is at his grandparents, so the hubby and I are trying to wrap and prep his gifts!

Here is a picture of my sons Christmas Eve Box. We purchased it at Michaels craft store 3-4 years ago.

Here is the box opened and filled with goodies. I am unsure weather or not I should add tissue paper or what, suggestions are welcome!

The box is filled with lots of fun! Check out the items below!

JELL-O Play Construction Cutters Kit

My little guy loves Jello and we thought this would be a fun activity to do! Yum!

Curious George DVD

My son loves Curious George and I have to admit he’s pretty cute! I included this movie to watch Christmas Eve night with some Popcorn!Crayola Silly Scents Crayons

I thought these would be fun for him to use with his winter activity pad! We’ve never had the twistable crayons before. However, I’m not going to lie the scent is off putting. ๐Ÿ˜’

Wintertime Activity Pad

A cute, travel sized activity and coloring pad for him to use while in the car traveling to see our families.

The Sweet Smell of Christmas BookThis book is so nostalgic to my childhood I had to add this to our collection! This will be fun to scratch and sniff through all the holiday scents!

Santa Key!

We got this key as we don’t have a “real” fireplace with a chimney. With this “magical” key, Santa can come through our door! This is the first year we added this to his box!

Also we will be putting out Cookies ๐Ÿช and ๐Ÿฅ› milk for Santa ๐ŸŽ…๐Ÿฝ as well as some veggies๐Ÿฅ• for Santa’s reindeer!

What are your Christmas Eve Traditions?

Thanks for reading! Merry Christmas!

Jess

Here are links of the products listed above. (I could not find exact link for the box or Santa key so I for those I linked similar products!) ๐ŸŽ„

Christmas Box

Jell-0 playset

Curious George DVD

Warm and Busy WintertimeActivity Pad

Sweet Smell of Christmas Book

Crayola smelly twistable crayons

Santa Key

Disclaimer: In the name of full transparency, please be aware that this blog post contains affiliate links and any purchases made through such links will result in a small commission for me (at no extra cost for you).

Our Favorite Christmas Books!

December is one of my favorite months of the year. The Christmas decorations, celebrations, traditions, being with family and friends make this season super magical!

December is also when I pull out my sons Christmas themed books and display them on his bookshelf. ๐Ÿ‘‡

Needless to say we love to read Christmas stories! In this post I will list our favorite Christmas books. These books would make great Christmas gifts for any child. I included the book links in case!

These are books that we own or have rented from our local library.

1. The Great SpruceA new favorite! This book is about an adventurous boy named Alec who loves to climb trees! Impressed by the beauty and size of the tree, the beloved tree is chosen for the cities Christmas display. Conflicted, Alec brainstorms and comes up with a plan! Super cute read and shows our young ones the importance of trees in nature๐Ÿ’•. I love how the author included a note on the history and tradition of the ๐ŸŽ„ Christmas Tree.The Great Spruce

2. Night TreeThis is another wonderful book that tells a tale of the Christmas tree and the importance it has in the forest not only for the animals and nature but for a family tradition. This book always warms my heart! Night Tree

3. Santa Claus Is Coming To TownThis is a book my son listens to all year round.๐Ÿ˜ This book allows you record your voice reading the story. The classic tale of Santa Claus is one of my sons favorite book! Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

4. Little SantaA super cute read about a boy who had Santa Claus for a Dad. After his dad sprains his ankle he finally gets his wish to help his father deliver the presents. Towards the end of the night he gets to deliver an even more special gift to one deserving child. This is beautifully written and has a good message!โค๏ธ๐ŸŽ„Little Santa

5. Llama Llama Holiday DramaOne of my sons favorite book character is Llama Llama. He was thrilled when we checked this out from the library! It tells a tale of how being patient is important.โค๏ธLlama Llama Holiday Drama

What are your favorite Christmas books that you enjoy reading with your family? Please comment down below!๐Ÿ‘‡

Thanks for reading! Merry Christmas! Jessica

Disclaimer: In the name of full transparency, please be aware that this blog post contains affiliate links and any purchases made through such links will result in a small commission for me (at no extra cost for you).

About Moi ๐Ÿ’•

Hello, Jess here!

I am a 30-something year old momma of a rambunctious, sweet boy as well as several fur babies!๐Ÿ’•

I live in the great PNW and I couldn’t be happier!

1C47279C-B663-46C2-8918-EB95B2D3EF64

I am a L&D R.N and have recently cut back a lot of hours to stay home with my boy!

I made this page as I have always been interested in blogging, and now having a bit of extra time I thought, why not?!

This page will focus on mommy hood and lifestyle as well as my interests of shopping hauls and gift guides, books and book reviews, food and cooking, cleaning and organizing, health, beauty, fashion and total body wellness.

I hope you come to enjoy my blog! Please comment or send me a message, I’d love to hear from you!

Jessica

Whatโ€™s in my Amazon Cart: My Top 5 Christmas Gift Ideas For a Four year old!

Ho Ho Ho! It’s that time of the year! A season to celebrate the Yuletide as well as various Religious holidays such as Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and Christmas.

We celebrate Christmas in our home and have a whole bucket list of Christmas activities planned out for the family.

Amazon (prime) is the holy grail when it comes to online shopping! My amazon cart has items in it 99.9% of the time! Throughout the last few months I’ve slowly added gift items for my 4 year old boy.

Listed below are some items that you can find in my Amazon cart right now! ๐Ÿ‘‡๐Ÿ›๐Ÿ›’

1. Camo Walkie Talkies

I am so excited for my son to receive these. He is obsessed with talking through intercoms, speakerphone, microphones, etc! He is obsessed with flashlights as well which is included on these! These will be super fun!

2. Lego Classic: Medium Box

My son has never spoken of LEGOs until recently. I have put off buying these for the obvious: hundreds of mini pieces to get lost and wedged in random places. My inner OCD is ringing the warning bells on this one. Any tips on organizing LEGO toys please comment below!!

3. Playskool Heroes Transformers Rescue Bots Heatwave the Fire-Bot Action Figure

My sons has also shown interest in transformers. This super cute rescue bot is for ages 3-7. Also! Any company that provides sustainable, frustration free packaging gets an A+ in my book!

4. Matchbox Rescue Headquarters Playset

My son is into policeman and fireman and I know he will have endless play with this!

5.Little Tikes Classic Racing Tire Toy Chest

My son is obsessed with cars, tires and wheels. He will be thrilled to see this! Hopefully this stays as a toy box and not a toy!

๐ŸŽI hope you find this blog useful for your Christmas shopping needs!

๐Ÿ‘‰Please comment or share what you purchased or plan to purchase for your little ones?

Thanks for reading!

Merry Christmas!

Jessica

Disclaimer: In the name of full transparency, please be aware that this blog post contains affiliate links and any purchases made through such links will result in a small commission for me (at no extra cost for you)

Childrenโ€™s Book Favorites for November ๐Ÿ“š๐Ÿ‚

1. Chimpanzees for TEA! By Jo Empson

This was read with my four year old and he absolutely loved it.

Vincent is a young boy who is asked by his mother to get her a list of items from the store. The list is lost and Vincent tries to remember all the things his mother wrote on the list. He gets them confused and ends up bringing home a whole bunch of surprises to his mom! This book was hilarious and I have never seen my son giggle so hard while reading.

My sons favorite part: “The Trapeeeze!” Since learning about the trapeze, he keeps asking about it and talking about it! ย He loves to swing from the rings and monkey bars at the park!

This book was a huge hit! ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿ‘

You can get this book on Amazon here: Chimpanzees for TEA!

2. Vegetables in Underwear by Jared Chapman

My son received this book for his birthday and since then we’ve read it over a few dozen times! This has been one of the books he always reaches for and wants to read. We also checked out the book Fruits In Suitsย written by the same author! ๐Ÿ’–

My sons favorite part: The underwear of course ! The silliness of vegetables in underwear is enough to make him giggle every time we read this!๐Ÿคฃ๐Ÿฅฆ๐Ÿ…

You can find this book on Amazon here: Vegetables in Underwear.

3. Tree: a peek-through picture book by Brittany Teckentrup

This beautiful book is a peek through picture book of an owl and other cute animals that live around the seasonal changing tree. It goes through the seasons one by one with beautiful illustrations. This is one of my favorite children’s books, and my son absolutely adores it as well! I love to bring it out in the fall and winter time as it is such a cute and cozy read! I hope that you and your littles get a chance to read this gem, a must have for all homes!

My sons favorite part: The Peek-through pictures and holes. This book is a great way to introduce learning about the seasons, as My son always wants to chat about the current season we are in after reading! ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ‘

You can find this book here:Tree: A Peek-Through Picture Book

Thank you for reading! ๐Ÿ“š What books did you read this month?

I hope that you enjoyed my monthly blog series of favorite books. Stay tuned for more monthly posts like these!!

๐Ÿ’–, Jess

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Aloha!

Hello and welcome!! I hope you enjoy following me on this journey to better health and wellness.

๐Ÿ’–,Jess

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. โ€” Izaak Walton

post