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October 9, 2015October 9, 2015

Monster Cupcakes

I decided to do something fun and easy with the kids for Halloween. They had so much fun making these monster cupcakes, and even more fun eating them!

For something fun and different, I made ice cream cone cupcakes. It’s super easy. Just mix up any cake mix following the package directions and fill your ice cream cones about 1/2 full. Bake as directed on the cake mix box and let cool before icing.

I whipped up some buttercream icing, dyed it green, and piped it on. I gave them mini-marshmallows for eyes and triangle sprinkles for teeth. They ended up just sprinkling everything on top instead of creating the monsters I had envisioned, but they still ended up looking like some pretty awesome monsters with eyes all over.

We had so much fun making these, and they were tasty as well.

October 7, 2015April 9, 2016

Cover your gray™ Waterproof Brush In Root Touch Up – Review

I was sent 3 Cover your gray products to try. All 3 were in medium brown, which was a great match for my hair color. I have gray that irritates me that shows only at the roots and this sounded like a great product for me!

Cover your gray sent me three of their new waterproof products. These are great for when you don’t have the time to get your hair colored or just want to save money by extending the time in between services. The new waterproof formulas are sweat-proof, rain-proof and last through three shampoos.

The first product I tried was this Cover Your Gray hair color touch-up. I’ve never used a touch-up product before so I wasn’t sure if I should do it with my hair wet or dry, so I tried it with my hair wet. This was not a good idea. Even after my hair dried, every time I touched my hair I got brown on my fingers. Yuck! I tried it again later (after shampooing once) when my hair was dry and didn’t have this problem.

So, make sure you apply your touch-up after your hair is dry.

This color blended perfectly with my hair, you can’t even tell I added a touch-up color! Well, except for the missing gray. WooHoo!

The next product they sent me was the Cover Your Gray root touch-up. This is also easy to apply. And I applied it with my hair dry – so I didn’t have any color-bleed problems. This is for heaver root application, and less all-over touch-up.

When you use the root touch-up and the hair color touch-up together you get a really good result because you can blend into your hair and get your roots well covered.

The final product they sent was a Cover Your Gray Waterproof Pencil. It’s perfect for getting anything you missed with the root touch-up and the hair color touch-up. You do have to push pretty hard to apply it so it’s not good for all over, but it’s great for those harder to reach places, like the center of your part.

It’s been raining here the past few days, and with 3 kids I’ve gotten pretty wet while running errands. Whether or not this product is waterproof has been well tested! This product does not bleed in the rain. And that’s a very good thing!

These three products together are perfect for concealing that little bit of gray that especially stands out around my roots. It blends well with my hair color, and does a great job of hiding the gray for a couple of shampoos.

I received this product free for purposes of my review. All opinions are my own.

October 1, 2015April 9, 2016

Pink October

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. So get your pink ready! Pink is also my oldest daughter’s favorite color, she’ll really be in style this month!

For Breast Cancer awareness month Glamulet has created Pink Limited Edition Charms. For every set of charms added to the cart, 50% is donated to a charity organization. So, you can support breast cancer research and get something beautiful for yourself at the same time. Then, wear your new jewelry proudly through the month of October and show off your support for Women’s Health.

Glamulet has some super cute pink charms on their website here.

You can use these charms on bracelets or necklaces to create your own unique look.

This pink rose is so pretty.

Romantic-pink-rose-charm I love charms that I can swap out between my bracelet and my necklace, and this would look great on both! It would look great on this pink bracelet.

Really, I just love jewelry. Feeding my jewelry addiction and supporting a great cause at the same time, is a win win for everyone!

Spongellé Kid’s Sponge – Review and Discount

I received an adorable butterfly sponge to review. The girls were so excited! They love butterflies, and since which animal we got was random, they were so pleased to receive a butterfly!

This is a new product being offered by Spongelle. You can check it out and their other products on their website here.

Benefits:

Body Wash Infused Sponge Animals
Hypoallergenic & dermatologist tested
Sulfate-free, paragon-free, & cruelty-free
Proprietary infusion technology
For kids 3 & up
Gently cleans
Fruitilicious Scent
Multi-Use

This super cute sponge smells great. It’s easy to use, just wet, squeeze, and lather. There’s plenty of soap.

After the bath, just rinse the sponge and you can use it with your favorite body soap or for art projects. My 7yr old decided to use it (after her bath) to wash my dishes! So sweet of her.

After doing the dishes I cleaned the sponge and we used it for a fun art project. The 4yr old traced the butterflies, I cute them out, and everyone decorated them.

Interested in getting your own Sponge Animals Body Wash Infused Sponges by Spongelle? Visit their website, and use coupon code BBLOGGER20 for 20% off through October 19.

I received this product free for purposes of my review. All opinions are my own.

September 29, 2015April 9, 2016

Summer Recap

Coca-Cola Life is all about enjoying, well, life, and all the adventures that come with life. As summer has officially come to an end – according to the calendar it is now fall – it’s a great time to reminisce about all the fun I’ve had this summer.

And a few fun pictures from my summer wouldn’t hurt either. For starters, here’s the view from where I’ve been doing most of my blogging this summer. Because the kids want to be outside. This way they get to play and I get to work. It’s a win-win for everyone.

And, of course, my daughter tried to steal my coke, and hid when I took a picture.

We spent most of our summer in the back yard. Playing on the swingset, swimming in the kid’s pool, and playing on the teeter-totter.

At the end of summer we took a trip to the beach with friends. Such a fun end to the summer!

We had a nice laid-back, easy-going summer this year. And that was so nice!

What was your favorite part of summer this year?

I received this product free for purposes of my review. All opinions are my own.

September 21, 2015September 19, 2015

Homeschooling Mondays – what I’m up to

This year has been an interesting year for homeschooling. And we’re only a month and a half in!

1. I have a 2nd grader and a Pre-K who’s dying to learn to read. Yay! It’s way easier to each reading when the child wants to learn.

2. We decided to do Classical Conversations this year, and I’m tutoring a class of 7yr old boys in my first year in CC. As if tutoring wasn’t enough of a challenge! Actually, we’re settling in and I’m learning a lot about teaching. Every week is better than the previous one so I think we’re going to have a great year!

3. I moved the schoolroom downstairs to our office/den. My 2nd grader has her own desk, whiteboard, and all our art and school supplies are downstairs instead of in my kitchen. It’s so nice to have all that off my counters.

4. Our first official week of school I was in the Band that Sunday so I was up at Church by 7:15 am and I arrived home around 12:30 (it’s a long morning!). We were also celebrating my oldest’s birthday with pizza and cake, so by the time I arrived home the party was in full swing.

Monday we had Classical Conversations – it’s a homeschool co-op. We had to be there by 8 and then we got home around 3:30.

As you can imagine, by Tuesday, I was super tired. Tuesday was a rough day because everyone was tired (starting school two weeks before this to settle in before CC hadn’t worked as well as I hoped). I gave up around noon because it just wasn’t worth it.

At 4:00 on my very bad Tuesday my husband called me to tell me he had been laid off. This has never happened to him before so he was pretty upset. His company was being bought by another company and they picked a bunch of people to let go, and he was one of the “lucky” ones. Needless to say, I had a pretty bad week after that. I’m not a fan of change. He was told he didn’t have to come back at all, so he was home effectively immediately.

I have my own system during the day and having him home for 2 weeks over Christmas and New Year’s last year was not fun and we had already decided to spread out his vacation days a little better this year.

So, now he’s home. All the time.

He’s always dreamed of having his own consulting company, so we decided that now would be a great time to give this a try.

It’s a month in and we haven’t killed each other yet. We’re actually figuring out a decent system. As long as the weather is good. When winter arrives I’m just not sure. Currently me and the kids take all our school stuff out to the back patio because it’s so pretty out and he can be on phone calls and such without being disturbed too much.

Oh, yes, maybe I forgot to mention, the new schoolroom setup? It’s the same room as my husband’s office. I hadn’t planned for any overlapping time in there. So, we basically haven’t used our schoolroom – or the nifty whiteboard – since school started. I think I’m just going to get the dry erase markers and draw funny pictures on there one night.

The first day he was working from home I tried to do school in the schoolroom. Right in the middle of a phone call the 2yr old decided that was a great time to have a meltdown, and the girls were working on memorization work out loud, with music. Yeah, that didn’t work so well.

I really, really don’t want all the school stuff in my kitchen again this year. I’m actually leaning towards “office hours”. Times when my husband can be on calls and times when he can’t. That way we can all get our work and schoolwork done without interrupting each other too much.

I had plans for this being a really great school year with fun project with the kids and lots of time spent on language arts – mainly it’s the english grammar that needs help, but if I work on all of it (reading, writing, grammar, spelling) it makes learning the grammar rules a bit easier.

On a happier note, math is going way better this year. I switch curriculums and I seem to have found the right one for my 2nd grader. She’s learning way more, doing way better, and actually enjoying it this year. Yay!

I’m excited about all the changes, but change is hard. And hopefully by next month we’ll be settled in and have some sort of schedule to our school days.

September 11, 2015September 4, 2015

Food Fridays – Doughnut Holes

I realize that doughnut holes are not my usual vegetable recipe, but I’m on vacation this week and in the spirit of goofing off, I’m sharing my favorite doughnut hole recipe.

Doughnuts

2 tablespoons white vinegar
3/8 cup milk
2 tablespoons shortening
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 quart oil for deep frying
1 cup powdered sugar for dusting

Directions

Stir the vinegar into the milk, and let stand for a few minutes until thick.
In a medium bowl, cream together the shortening and sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg and vanilla until well blended. Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the sugar mixture alternating with the vinegar and milk. Roll dough out on a floured surface to 1/3 inch thickness. Cut into doughnuts using a doughnut cutter or other round cutter. Let stand for about 10 minutes.
Heat the oil in a large deep skillet to 375 degrees F. Fry doughnuts in the hot oil until golden, turning over once. Drain on paper towels. Dust with powdered sugar while they are still warm, and serve immediately.

Topping Variations

Mix 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 Tbsp cocoa powder, and 1 to 3 Tbsp water (until you get the consistency you want). Ice your doughnuts with this and dip in sprinkles if desired – my 6yr old iced all her own doughnuts!
Mix 1 Tbsp cocoa powder in 1 cup powdered sugar – stir this really well. Roll your fresh doughnut holes in this instead of the plain powdered sugar.
Mix 1/2 cup powdered sugar and 3 Tbsp water (more if needed) to make a thin glaze. Dip or roll your fresh doughnut holes in this and set on a cooling rack to dry.

Just in case you were curious. Here’s what I used to cut out my doughnut holes!

September 7, 2015April 9, 2016

Liebster Award

Since there’s no school today, I decided to post about something other than Homeschooling this week 🙂

Thanks to Karyl’s Kulinary Krusade for the Liebster Award!

Wow, thanks so much! I’m truly honored to be recognized. “Liebster” means “dearest” or “favorite” in German. It’s also known as the “Love Blog Award.”

The award is to show newer bloggers that they’re appreciated and to help spread the word about new blogs.

Here are the rules for the Liebster Award:
1. Acknowledge the blogger(s) who nominated you.
2. Post 11 random facts about yourself.
3. Answer the 11 questions the blogger who nominated you provided.
4. Choose 11 blogs you love and nominate them.
5. Create a list of 11 questions for your nominees.
6. Let your nominated bloggers know!

11 Random Facts about Me:
1. I love summer, I’d much much rather be hot than cold!
2. I used to hate chocolate ice cream. Until I was pregnant with my 3rd child. Now I love it.
3. While we’re talking about food, I haven’t liked chicken since becoming pregnant with my 1st child. It’s so strange how pregnancy changes so much.
4. I hate having my hands dirty.
5. I can sightread anything in a hymnal.
6. I do lots of random things left-handed, even though I’m not left-handed.
7. I love algebra.
8. I like all things elephant – jewelry, pictures, decorations, etc.
9. My hair gets so frizzy on humid days!
10. I have 3 children.
11. My favorite author is James Fenmore Cooper.

My 11 questions:

1. If you had a super power, what would it be? – I would love to fly. Because that has just got to be the best way to travel. Not sure how well flying would work for me while toting all 3 kid’s backpacks, and waterbottles, and lunches, and shoes, and… but I would have fun trying!

2. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be? – Honestly, I love Tennessee (that’s where I live). It’s so beautiful and we get all 4 seasons, but winters aren’t too awfully cold!

3. You have an entire day completely to yourself. No spouse/kids/work. How do you spend it? – Ummmm, hmmm, I really don’t know. I don’t think this has ever happened to me. I would probably clean the house and do lots of reading.

4. What have you found to be the most frustrating part about blogging? – Just coming up with something to say every week can be a challenge. I’ve finally found some things that I like to blog about and I feel like I’m actually making some progress towards creating interesting content.

5. What is the best advice you have for new bloggers? – Be patient. And keep trying. It takes a long time to build up readers. And it takes lots of practice to create interesting content.

6. If you could have dinner with any 3 people, living or dead, who would they be? – My parents and my sister. I only get to eat dinner with them about 3 times a year because we don’t live close to each other. I would love to see them more often!

7. If you could change your first name, what would you change it to? – I really like my name, I have a few things I would NOT change it to, but I can’t really thing of a name I’d rather have.

8. If you were trapped on a deserted island what are your top 3 things you would want to have with you? – A really good book (because I might be reading it for a while), food (you’ve got to eat), my family (it would be so boring to be trapped alone!)

9. What is your favorite sport to watch? Your favorite team (college or pro)? Football, I’m a Dallas Cowboy’s fan (because my husband is). I grew up with baseball and didn’t really start paying attention to football until after I married.

10. What do you do at the end of a long day to relax and unwind? – I work on my blog. Honestly, I do. It’s the only part of the day that’s quiet and I can work in peace.

11. What inspired you to begin blogging? – I want to become a better write, and writing a blog is a great way to practice.

11 Blogs I Nominate:
1. So-So Mom
2. Takisha Nesbitt
3. Hey Little Sweet Thing
4. All Things Lovely
5. Mrs. Bishop
6. Blissful Gal
7. Amidst the Chaos
8. Her Heartland Soul
9. Birth With a French Fry
10. Because I’m Cheap
11. Boho Berry

My 11 Questions for You:
1. If you could meet anyone, living or dead, who would it be and why?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
4. If you could choose any occupation, what would you do?
5. What have you found to be the most frustrating part about blogging?
6. What inspired you to start blogging?
7. What do you like most about blogging?
8. What’s your favorite way to relax?
9. What’s a goal that you want to accomplish in the next couple of years?
10. If you could go on any vacation, where would you go and what would you do?
11. What’s your favorite instrument to listen to or play?

September 4, 2015September 4, 2015

Food Fridays – Spaghetti Squash

Making “pasta” with spaghetti squash is surprisingly easy!

Baked Spaghetti Squash

1 medium to large spaghetti squash
1 Tbsp oil
Salt & Pepper to taste
Spaghetti sauce of your choice

Cut your squash in half. Using a spoon scrape out the seeds and center of your squash. Place squash inside up in a pan. Brush with oil and salt and pepper to taste.

Bake in a 450 oven for 60 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cook for a few minutes. Take a fork and shred your squash. It turns into “spaghetti”.

Top with your favorite sauce and toppings.

September 2, 2015April 9, 2016

Captive – Book Review and Giveaway

CAPTIVE, based on a miraculous true story that drew the attention of the entire nation, is a thrilling drama about the spiritual collision of two broken lives. When Brian Nichols – on the run as the subject of a city wide manhunt and desperate to make contact with his newborn son – takes recovering meth addict Ashley Smith hostage in her own apartment, she turns for guidance to Rick Warren’s best-selling inspirational book, The Purpose Driven Life. While reading aloud, Ashley and her would-be killer each face crossroads where despair and death intersect hope.

Captive is written by Ashley Smith with Stacy Mattingly and was previously published as Unlikely Angel.

This is a great book about hope, forgiveness, and finding your purpose even in extremely difficult circumstances. It’s amazing how God can make himself known anytime, anywhere, and to anyone. This is such a great story of how God can bring purpose and freedom through impossible circumstances.

They also have a movie, based on the book, that will be in theaters soon. The movie releases September 18th. You can find the movie trailer here.

If you like audio books, check out this audio book excerpt, read by the author Ashley Smith.

Check out their website here, and join others in sharing what held you captive, and how you found your purpose. Use #FollowYourPurpose when you share.

I have a book to giveaway! Enter below for a chance to win your own copy of CAPTIVE.

Entry -Form

Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”): Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post.

Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway. If you have won a prize from our sponsor Propeller / FlyBy Promotions in the last 30 days, you are not eligible to win. If you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.

I received this product free for purposes of my review, all opinions are my own.