Each year, we get family photos taken with a local photographer. I got our pictures back recently and thought I would share a few with you all.

I love finding new ways to put together weeknight meals and use every day products.  In an effort to get our kids more interested in fresh, raw vegetables, I have been seeking out different dips to make eating them fun!

I took a trip to Wal-Mart after hearing about the Kraft Anything Dressings (#anythingdressing) that were out now. I figured they would make good options for vegetable dips.

I picked a really busy day though because most of the carts were out!

Unfortunately, I had missed the demo at my local Wal-Mart store.  Check your local Wal-Mart for upcoming demos as they will be going on all this month!

Want some new dinner ideas?  Tweet @kraftdressing with the hashtag #dresscipe and #AnythingDressing along with an ingredient and have a new meal idea sent to you.

 
With my menu in hand, I headed over to the vegetable aisle to pick out some vegetables for dipping.

I know H loves carrots so that was an obvious choice.

Once I had my vegetables that I was planning to try and convince my kids to eat, I headed to find a dip.

There was a display of Kraft Anything Dressings (#anythingdressing) right at the entrance of the aisle.

I know my family loves ranch so I chose a ranch plus a salsa to mix with it.

See more of my shopping trip in my Google+ Album.

Once I was home, I got cooking.  First up was to mix 1/2 cup of my ranch dressing with 2 Tbsp of salsa.  I used half as a marinade for my fajita chicken. The other half I saved for my vegetable dip.

I also made chicken fingers for the kids because they don’t always love fajitas.

Once all the food was done, I plated it and called the family to dinner!

Want to connect with Kraft to find out more?  Find them on Twitter or Facebook.

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  Kraft  #CBias #SocialFabric”

Our basement has doors!

The basement finishing continues to move along. The newest addition: doors! I was on kid duty so, unfortunately, I have zero pictures or details on the physical hanging of the doors.

I promise the doors are level. I just couldn’t seem to get a straight photo. #bloggerfail

Don’t fret though. I do have some info on how we fixed an oops with one of the doors. {Those stories are better anyways, right?!}

My craft room has a set of double doors on it. The only thing I insisted on with the doors were that they did not have the little pressure mounted thing at the top {think apartment laundry room doors} because it constantly needs readjusting. So, Mathlete bought me double doors where the handles actually turn and open/close the doors.

When we built the room, Mathlete framed the opening for a standard size double door. BUT, the doors I wanted were special order and slightly smaller. Yep, there is the oops I mentioned! Now there was a gap between the door frame and the drywall.

No problem! Mathlete bought a small piece of drywall and put it into the gap.

Then, using this stuff

He “mudded” over the drywall to prep it for tape.

Once the mud was smoothed out, he applied the drywall tape.

Then, mud again.

The only trick is to make sure that, as the addition mud is being added, it needs to be really smooth so it matched with the other existing drywall.

Making Monday Marvelous at C.R.A.F.T.,  Makin’ You Crave Monday at Mrs. Happy Homemaker, Show Me What Ya Got at Not Just a Housewife, What’s in the Gunny Sack Linky Party at The Gunny Sack, Made by You Mondays at Skip to My Lou, Weekend Warrior Party at Ask Anna,  Make It Pretty Monday at The Dedicated House, Making the Scene Monday at Alderberry Hill, Creative Mondays at Clairejustineoxox,  Pintastic Monday Link Party at Sarah Dawn Designs, Motivate Me Monday at Keeping it Simple, Monday Link Party at I Gotta Try That,  Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch, Market Yourself Monday at Sumos Sweet Stuff, the Craft Catwalk and Embellishing Life, More the Merrier Monday at DIY Home Sweet Home, Show Me What You Got at Our Delightful Home, Mauvin’ Monday at Vintage Mauve, It’s Party Time at It’s So Very Cheri, DIY Project Parade at DIY Showoff, Insprire Me Monday at Singing Three Little Birds, Calling All Crafters Monday at All Things Fee, Monday Craft Party at Polly Want a Crafter, Cure for the Common Monday at Lines Across, Tuesday Confessional at Crafty Confessions,  Lil Luna Link Party at Lil Luna, Tell Me Tuesday at Me and My Boys, Too Cute Tuesday at Funky Polka Dot Giraffe, Tuesday Time Out at Reasons to Skip the Housework, Tutorials and Tips at Home Stories A to Z, Get Your Craft on Tuesday at Today’s Creative Blog, Nifty Thrift Tuesday at Coastal Charm, Time to Shine Party at a Diamond in the Stuff,  Uncommonly Yours Link Party at Uncommon Designs, Handmade Tuesdays at Ladybug Blessings, Terrific Under Ten Tuesday at At Home with K, One Project at a Time at A Bowl Full of Lemons, Be Inspired at Elizebeth & Co., Tutorial Tuesday at With Hope Studios, Take a Look Tuesday at Sugar Bee Crafts,  Tasty Tuesday at Naptime Creations, Tip Me Tuesday at Tip Junkie, the Tuesday Talent Show at Chef-N-Training, Open Call Tuesday at Salt Tree, Share It Linky Party at the Winthrop Chronicles. Naturally Nifty Linky Party at Natural Nesters, Tiptoe Thru Tuesday at Crayon Freckles, Show & Share at Southern Lovely and Vintage Gwen, Will Craft For at Tales of a Trophy Wife, Hoo’s Got Talent at Nightowl Crafting, Sugar & Spice {Wednesday} at 733 Blog, From Dream to Reality at The DIY Dreamer, Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts, Show and Tell at Snap!, Penny Pinching Partyat The Thrifty Home, We’re Organized Wednesday at Organize and Decorate Everything, Wow Us Wednesday on Ginger Snap Crafts, What’s New Wednesday at Grateful Belly, Your Whims Wednesday at My Girlish Whims, Inspiring Creativity at Dragonfly Designs, Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways Wednesday at Frugally Sustainable, Wow Me Wednesdays at Polka Dots on Parade, 100 Ideas Under $100 at Beyond the Picket Fence, the Crafty Sasse Wednesday Linky Party at the Sasse Life,  Strut Your Stuff at Somewhat Simple, Taking a Time Out Thursday at Mom On Time Out, Hooking up with HoH at House of Hepworths, Sweet Treats and Swanky Stuff at Something Swanky, Pretty Things Thursday at Scissors and Spatulas, Creative Thursday Link Party at Michelle’s Tasty Creations,  Look at Me, Live, Laugh Linky Thursday at Live, Laugh Rowe, Spread the Love at Love Notes by Lauryn, Thing’s I’ve Done Thursday at Bear Rabbit Bear, Creative Juice Link Party at Momnivore’s Dilemma, Crafty Soiree at Yesterday on Tuesday, 20 Below Thursday at Christina’s Adventures, Creative Genius Party at The Creative Paige, Kiss and Tell at I Gotta Create, Craft, Scrappy Happy Me Thursday at Craft, Scappy Happy, Catch a Glimpse Thursday at A Glimpse Inside, Thursday Temptation at Two Yellow Birds Decor, Get Your Brag On at Gluesticks, Show Off Your Stuff at Fireflies and Jellybeans, Share Awesomeness Thursdays atThe 36^th Avenue, Thrifty Thursday at Thrifty Decorating, P’Inspirational Thursday at The Artsy Girl Connection, Taylor House Thursday at The Taylor House,  I’m Lovin It at Tidy Mom, Feature Yourself Friday at Fingerprints on the Fridge,  Share What You Did Friday at Two Sasters, Frugalicious Friday at Finding Fabulous, Flaunt it Friday at Chic on a Shoestring Decorating, The Pity Party at 30 Days, Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage, Show and Share Day at Just a Girl, Freestyle Friday at Happy Hour Projects, Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home, Free For All Friday at Young & Crafty, Fresh Friday Link Party at Release Me Creations, Project Party WEekend at Bubbly Nature Creations, Weekend Show Off Party at Ladybird Ln, Fancy This at Truly Lovely Blog, It’s a Hodgepodge Friday at It’s a Hodgepodge Life, Lovely Craft Weekend at Lovely Crafty Home, the Featured Friday Free for All at Five Days, Five Ways, the Featured Friday Linky Party at Blissful and Domestic, Shine on Fridays at One Artsy Mama, the Anything Goes Linky Party at Bacon Time, Kitchen Fun and Crafty Friday Link Party at Kitchen Fun with My 3 Sons, Do Something Crafty at The Crafty Nest, the Weekdend Link Party at Lolly Jane Boutique, the Weekend Wrap-up Party at Tatertots and Jello, Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground, Show and Tell Saturday at Be Different, Act Normal,  Nifty Thrifty Sunday at Nifty Thrifty Things, the Sunday Scoop at I Heart Naptime and the Before and After Party at Thrifty Décor Chick.  

I’ve mentioned before {at least once or twice} about how hectic our life can get sometimes. We have two kids in school plus we both work full time jobs with hour+ commutes each way. Yep, hectic should really be our last name.  Most of the time, I feel like this

[Source]

Despite how busy we seem to get, one thing I try to do regularly is have dinner at home. Sure, we go out from time to time but I think it is important to teach our children good eating habits and, also, use dinner time as family time.

Each week starts with a menu plan. 

Then, most weeks, that menu gets changed because of unexpected appointments, working late or some other schedule change.

For those nights, I try to keep some quick cooking meals for the kids on hand. I want to be able to feed them a good dinner and know they are getting the nutrition they need too. Having these meals around also helps when one {or both} of my littles decides they don’t want to eat what I’ve fixed for dinner!

A lot of times, I’ll take H with me to the store so she can pick out our “emergency” meals for the week.

There is a Harris Teeter right in our neighborhood so it is where go most often. For my major shopping trips, I use their online shopping feature and just drive up to pick it up…hectic remember?! We do still make it into the store at least once per week though.

Our first stop in the store is always fruit. We buy fruit on every.single.trip. {not that I am complaining!}

H really likes the samples that are always available in the fruit section.

On a recent trip, I noticed a new option in the frozen food section: Kidfresh Frozen Meals (#KFHealthyKids). As a mom of picky eaters, I have been known to try and sneak vegetables into their food. Kidfresh has the exact same idea and includes vegetables in every meal.

You can see more of our shopping trip in my Google+ album.

I grabbed my phone and found a coupon from the Kidfresh Facebook page which saved me a dollar off of the meal {shopping tip: always check the facebook page of a new product because there might be coupons available!}.  You can get a coupon of your own by clicking here.

There are a lot of options too that H seemed excited about.

We picked up a few and headed for check out.

Little did I know that we’d be using one of our “emergency meals” the very next night thanks to an awful traffic mess putting me home much later than planned. I let H choose her meal from the freezer.

The directions are really simple so, with help, she cooked it in the microwave.

Once it was done, I helped her stir it and put it on the plate.

She really enjoyed the macaroni and cheese.

In fact, she ate the entire bowl!

I was happy that we got a meal at home that I knew offered more health benefits than if we had grabbed fast food on the way home from school.

Hooray for hidden veggies and hectic weeknight meal solutions!

Do you want to learn more about the healthy options for dinnertime that Kidfresh has to offer?  Visit the Kidfresh website, connect with Kidfresh on Twitter or visit the Kidfresh Facebook page.

 I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community. This content has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™. and Kidfresh #CBias #SocialFabric

During our basement finishing project, we’ve done a ton of research of different kinds of stuff from carpet to countertops. During our flooring search, we found there are so many types of flooring that you can install in your home. A really popular option today is stained and polished concrete.

Concrete can be stained in a wide range of hues, and this provides you with the ability to customize the look of your space. It is sealed and polished to give it a gleam that looks like high-end tile or marble flooring, and the overall look can be impressive and sophisticated.

More than that, it is easy to maintain and durable. It offers great economic as well as green building benefits too. It is much less expensive to install than granite or marble.

Forrest Concrete is a great source for polished concrete installation. When you contact the company for assistance, you will enjoy expert guidance and personal assistance throughout the entire installation process. Forrest Concrete strives to provide high quality installation to ensure that your concrete flooring looks impressive for many years to come. Every step is taken to install a floor that is precisely stained and polished without blemishes. The company is well-known for its beautiful floors. On the website, Forrest Concrete offers a polished concrete estimator to request a quote on an upcoming project. There is also extensive information about the installation process.

Visit the gallery for pictures of past work. They even do logos into the flooring if requested!

If you are looking for new flooring for your home or office, be sure to check out Forrest Concrete for any polished or stamped concrete needs!

I have been compensated for this review. However, the opinions and thoughts expressed here are entirely my own.

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 Champions for Kids. #NickCFK #CBias

H has always loved books. Since starting Kindergarten, her love for books and reading has grown exponentially. We are always trying to introduce new books into her “library” at home. We also talk frequently about the library that will be opening right in our neighborhood very soon.

From #NickCFK Simple Service Project – Big Help Book Drive

In explaining more about the library, we talked about how the books are free to borrow which allows people, especially children, who don’t have access to books the way she does, to still learn to read and enjoy books. She said that she wanted to give books to the library so more kids could read {heart melt!}.

The library will be opening in February 2013 and is funded mostly by local donations and fundraisers. They are always seeking book donations too! I figured donating books to the library would be a fantastic way for H to learn the important of access to books for everyone.

In doing some research about book donations, I discovered that the Champions for Kids featured SIMPLE Service project for September is the Nickelodeon Big Help Book Drive {#NickCFK: Help Them Read}! This was perfect! H and I talked about the book donations and she decided we should ask friends to participate too.

We headed off to Wal-Mart to pick up some books to donate to our Big Help Book Drive. H also asked if she could get some new books while we were there and I, of course, said ok 🙂

While in the store, we decided to grab a plastic container with a lid to collect our book donations. That way, the box can stay on our covered front porch for easy access but we won’t have to worry at all about the weather damaging the books!

Then, we made our way over to the book section to see what kind of great finds we could make. Since H is just learning to read, most of the books she selected were early reader books. Her favorite out of the ones we picked up was the Dora and the Birthday Surprise. She started reading it right there in the cart!

We bought two because she wanted to keep one and give one to the library. We also picked up a few more books before heading to checkout.

You can see more about our shopping trip by visiting my Google+ album.

At home, we used our plastic tub to create a book donation box. We used some of my paints to label the tub.

Then, we added our books to kick off the donations.

Want to know more about the Champions for Kids Nickelodeon Big Help Book Drive {#NickCFK} SIMPLE Service project and how you can participate? Check out these great social media tools to get involved:
– Champions for Kids Twitter 
– Champions for Kids Facebook
– Nickelodeon on Facebook
– Nickelodeon on Twitter

Do your kids love to read? How would you get your community involved in providing access to books for kids?

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 Champions for Kids. #NickCFK #CBias  All opinions expressed here are my own.

It has been awhile since I’ve shown you a little glimpse of our day to day life. Honestly, you are getting a lot of what our day to day life is about anytime I post about the basement project because that is most of our life. BUT, we do some non-basement stuff from time to time 😉

This past weekend I took a field trip to pick up some Annie Sloan Chalk Paint with my friend, Liz. We had a super duper cute companion too.

The closest stockist to us is at a cute little store called On a Whim. It is filled with all kinds of cute stuff.

Some more interesting items…

Oh, and of course…the Chalk Paint!

While her little man was sleeping, Liz and I grabbed some lunch at The Wine Kitchen. So delicious!

The rest of the weekend was spent painting my chalkboard wall and doing a little shopping with my little man (if for no other reason than to keep him OFF the table!).

Sunday was so gorgeous so H and I hung out in the front yard so she could practice riding her two wheel {big girl} scooter.

Did you do anything fun this weekend?

Making Monday Marvelous at C.R.A.F.T.,  Makin’ You Crave Monday at Mrs. Happy Homemaker, Show Me What Ya Got at Not Just a Housewife, What’s in the Gunny Sack Linky Party at The Gunny Sack, Made by You Mondays at Skip to My Lou, Weekend Warrior Party at Ask Anna,  Make It Pretty Monday at The Dedicated House, Making the Scene Monday at Alderberry Hill, Creative Mondays at Clairejustineoxox,  Pintastic Monday Link Party at Sarah Dawn Designs, Motivate Me Monday at Keeping it Simple, Monday Link Party at I Gotta Try That,  Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch, Market Yourself Monday at Sumos Sweet Stuff, the Craft Catwalk and Embellishing Life, More the Merrier Monday at DIY Home Sweet Home, Show Me What You Got at Our Delightful Home, Mauvin’ Monday at Vintage Mauve, It’s Party Time at It’s So Very Cheri, DIY Project Parade at DIY Showoff, Insprire Me Monday at Singing Three Little Birds, Calling All Crafters Monday at All Things Fee, Monday Craft Party at Polly Want a Crafter, Cure for the Common Monday at Lines Across, Tuesday Confessional at Crafty Confessions,  Lil Luna Link Party at Lil Luna, Tell Me Tuesday at Me and My Boys, Too Cute Tuesday at Funky Polka Dot Giraffe, Tuesday Time Out at Reasons to Skip the Housework, Tutorials and Tips at Home Stories A to Z, Get Your Craft on Tuesday at Today’s Creative Blog, Nifty Thrift Tuesday at Coastal Charm, Time to Shine Party at a Diamond in the Stuff,  Uncommonly Yours Link Party at Uncommon Designs, Handmade Tuesdays at Ladybug Blessings, Terrific Under Ten Tuesday at At Home with K, One Project at a Time at A Bowl Full of Lemons, Be Inspired at Elizebeth & Co., Tutorial Tuesday at With Hope Studios, Take a Look Tuesday at Sugar Bee Crafts,  Tasty Tuesday at Naptime Creations, Tip Me Tuesday at Tip Junkie, the Tuesday Talent Show at Chef-N-Training, Open Call Tuesday at Salt Tree, Share It Linky Party at the Winthrop Chronicles. Naturally Nifty Linky Party at Natural Nesters, Tiptoe Thru Tuesday at Crayon Freckles, Show & Share at Southern Lovely and Vintage Gwen, Will Craft For at Tales of a Trophy Wife, Hoo’s Got Talent at Nightowl Crafting, Sugar & Spice {Wednesday} at 733 Blog, From Dream to Reality at The DIY Dreamer, Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts, Show and Tell at Snap!, Penny Pinching Partyat The Thrifty Home, We’re Organized Wednesday at Organize and Decorate Everything, Wow Us Wednesday on Ginger Snap Crafts, What’s New Wednesday at Grateful Belly, Your Whims Wednesday at My Girlish Whims, Inspiring Creativity at Dragonfly Designs, Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways Wednesday at Frugally Sustainable, Wow Me Wednesdays at Polka Dots on Parade, 100 Ideas Under $100 at Beyond the Picket Fence, the Crafty Sasse Wednesday Linky Party at the Sasse Life,  Strut Your Stuff at Somewhat Simple, Taking a Time Out Thursday at Mom On Time Out, Hooking up with HoH at House of Hepworths, Sweet Treats and Swanky Stuff at Something Swanky, Pretty Things Thursday at Scissors and Spatulas, Creative Thursday Link Party at Michelle’s Tasty Creations,  Look at Me, Live, Laugh Linky Thursday at Live, Laugh Rowe, Spread the Love at Love Notes by Lauryn, Thing’s I’ve Done Thursday at Bear Rabbit Bear, Creative Juice Link Party at Momnivore’s Dilemma, Crafty Soiree at Yesterday on Tuesday, 20 Below Thursday at Christina’s Adventures, Creative Genius Party at The Creative Paige, Kiss and Tell at I Gotta Create, Craft, Scrappy Happy Me Thursday at Craft, Scappy Happy, Catch a Glimpse Thursday at A Glimpse Inside, Thursday Temptation at Two Yellow Birds Decor, Get Your Brag On at Gluesticks, Show Off Your Stuff at Fireflies and Jellybeans, Share Awesomeness Thursdays atThe 36^th Avenue, Thrifty Thursday at Thrifty Decorating, P’Inspirational Thursday at The Artsy Girl Connection, Taylor House Thursday at The Taylor House,  I’m Lovin It at Tidy Mom, Feature Yourself Friday at Fingerprints on the Fridge,  Share What You Did Friday at Two Sasters, Frugalicious Friday at Finding Fabulous, Flaunt it Friday at Chic on a Shoestring Decorating, The Pity Party at 30 Days, Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage, Show and Share Day at Just a Girl, Freestyle Friday at Happy Hour Projects, Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home, Free For All Friday at Young & Crafty, Fresh Friday Link Party at Release Me Creations, Project Party WEekend at Bubbly Nature Creations, Weekend Show Off Party at Ladybird Ln, Fancy This at Truly Lovely Blog, It’s a Hodgepodge Friday at It’s a Hodgepodge Life, Lovely Craft Weekend at Lovely Crafty Home, the Featured Friday Free for All at Five Days, Five Ways, the Featured Friday Linky Party at Blissful and Domestic, Shine on Fridays at One Artsy Mama, the Anything Goes Linky Party at Bacon Time, Kitchen Fun and Crafty Friday Link Party at Kitchen Fun with My 3 Sons, Do Something Crafty at The Crafty Nest, the Weekdend Link Party at Lolly Jane Boutique, the Weekend Wrap-up Party at Tatertots and Jello, Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground, Show and Tell Saturday at Be Different, Act Normal,  Nifty Thrifty Sunday at Nifty Thrifty Things, the Sunday Scoop at I Heart Naptime and the Before and After Party at Thrifty Décor Chick.