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I miss my van. My van was awesome. We've had so many adventures in that van... now the motor is gone and I don't know if I'll be getting it back. Broofy wants me to have his van, but I've told him that I would only have it for a month tops before we all die in some horrific accident. He'd be all alone, regretting the decision to make me drive it. I can't drive it... it's like driving on ice, it terrifies me. I don't think he believes me when I tell him that van will kill us. I want MY van back. My van that handles like a dream, has built-in car seats and a DVD player. My family van... the one with a working glove box, factory stereo, and stickers on the windows that scare me half to death every time to look over my shoulder to change lanes. The van with a cigarette outlet, dashboard that tells me which door the kids left ajar, and grey interior with custom denim flooring. We did everything in it, we lived in it. I miss my van.
I miss being able to go places whenever the mood struck. We went soooo many places last summer. We went to playground, beaches, parks, tracks, trails, events, and stores. We went wherever the roads took us. We had so much fun. We ate new foods, explored new places, and tried new things. One of our favorite things was also one that was pretty practical for our on-the-go lifestyle.
They're these pretty nifty food pouches that really help with taking food with you. They were pretty essential if we didn't want to pay out the nose for fast food or have sandwiches every day. There's no worry about who got more than the other, containers tipping over in the car, or the kids not quite shutting the container properly. We used it to eat mashed potatoes in the van, dress our salads at the beach... we could even fill it with hot soup, provided the soup didn't have large chunks. They were perfect for yogurt, baked beans, syrup drink mix, you name it.
These ones by Basics Best are 8 oz. each, which is on the bigger end of things. It holds enough food to fill babies and toddlers up and to hold over big kids and adults. It's perfect for my family. For Boogie and Baby Bee, I can fill a pouch with mashed potatoes, baked beans, oatmeal, or cheesy alphabet noodles. They can feed themselves, even traditionally messy foods, without making a mess in my van. It's a great way to know exactly what's in your baby's food and make sure they are eating well or avoiding allergens.
For the big kids and myself, I can bring along bread, a can of ham patties, and fill a pouch with mayo. Or maybe bring chips and fill one with nacho cheese and one with chili... whatever will go with what we're having that day. Or I could just hold us over with whatever the little kids are having, maybe add some bread sticks and chopped veggies to it to make it more filling for all of us. No knives or other dishes needed, nothing to clean up until you get home!
To fill the pouches, you open the bottom zip lock area when the cap is on securely. Then use a funnel, spoon, or pour spout to fill it (leaving enough room to compensate for when it's closed), then zip very carefully and very firmly. Turn upright over a sink or bowl to be sure it's locked well, then wipe clean and that's it! You can bring them in a plastic food storage container, in a lunch bag, small cooler or such.
There's a few cool features worth mentioning. One is that it has an area on the pouch for you to write what food is in it and when it was made. Or if you know you're only going to use it that one day, you could write who's it is.
Another pretty cool feature is that the box comes with a nice recipe on the side. It's the little things, you know? This recipe is for Pumpkin Puree. Yum! It also has a link to other awesome recipes for you to try and where you can also find ideas for adult food to put in it. Yes, please!
These pouches come in several designs, are BPA and PVC free, Phthalate and Lead free, Dishwasher and Freezer safe, and reusable! Do you have a really busy week coming up? Maybe a week that you're dreading because you have lots of appointments or a trip to take and you don't know how you'll manage it all? Make ahead and freeze! Cold breakfasts like smoothies, chai pudding, applesauce, etc. Or even warm breakfasts... the night before, thaw them out. The morning of, just place them in a bowl of very hot water to warm them up while you get dressed. Breakfast can be had in the car with no need of rushing the kids or cleaning up the table!
I can honestly see a neverending list of uses for these and they are all helpful to a busy mom like me. To learn more, check out Basics Best on Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, or on their website at BasicsBest.com.
Except for the product(s) given to me for the purpose of reviewing, I received no compensation for this post. All opinions are 100% my own.
My van is out of commission, I've actually just been told that it's permanently out of commission. My disappointment can not be understated, I love that van. But while it's been in the shop, I've been using Broofy's van for errands and appointments. Its... different. Than mine. It's not the same, and I don't like it. I just don't. I could list a million reasons why it's not my cup of tea, but first on that list is that it's made for tall people. Tall seats, tall buckles. Ugh!
Don't get me wrong, I'm super grateful that we're a two-vehicle family. I can't imagine what I would do at home all day and every single day with no errands to run or places to be. I've been home most of every day for a month or so and I'm pretty close to going AWOL. I love that I can get even a quick trip down town with his van. But I'm not tall. I will NEVER be tall, my kids mostly won't be tall. My husband... he's tall. I doubt he's even noticed how incredibly uncomfortable his van is for us shorties.
A few weeks ago, Streaker was commenting on this. She told me something in the way of, "Mom, these seat belts hurt my neck!". I told her, "Oh no, Honey... you just need to adjust them so they are the lowest they can get". I may or may not have been readjusting my own seat belt for the thousandth time that ride while telling her this. Surprise! Her seat belt WAS the lowest it could get. Just as mine was. That's what a seat belt adjuster is for, but I don't think his van has any. It was bought used. Solution?
This awesome seat belt pillow. It's like a stuffed animal that protects your neck from the belt. He's a giraffe and his name is Gerry. He comes with an awesome kick mat/seat organizer and a set of window sun shades. Let's look at Gerry first. He's adorable, no? He is, he's so cute. Those little blue Velcro covers are what hold Gerry onto the seat belt.
Besides that, he's got two pockets in the front to hold a cell phone, small toy, crayons, etc. He also has a pretty neat pocket in his side that has a zippered closure. It goes all the way through to the other side. This pocket is an especially nice feature because if the kid moves from one side of the car to the other, they can still access their stuff. It's such a smart design!
The kick mat is pretty great too. It comes in the same color scheme as Gerry himself and his face and name is printed on the front of it.
It's got two big front pockets. The top one is for a tablet and has side holes for the headphone jack to go into. We found a spot that was just right for where our headphones needed to be plugged in. There are holes on both sides and both bottom corners. The tablet you see in the photo is 7" and there is plenty of surrounding space. You could also use it to house a secondary DVD screen or just to put a photo of loved ones.
The bottom pocket has a Velcro strap closure and is perfect for books, activity pads, the headphones, or lots of other things. The Velcro strap prevents the pocket from gaping open like many organizer pockets will do sometimes.
It also has two sets of side pockets. The top side pockets are great for small things like a phone, coin purse, charging cords, snacks, etc. They are not too small, but not big like the bottom side pockets.
The bottom pockets are cup holder pockets. I like that it has one on each side, I want my kids to always have plenty of water nearby so we don't give into the slushie run.
The window shades are pretty awesome in their own right. They don't require any suction cups. It has a window cling type surface that sticks itself to the window without any extra assistance. It acts just the way that decorative window clings that you use to decorate for the holidays does.
They are cute and match the kick mat and Gerry. It's got an SPF rating of 30 and is semitransparent, so the child can still see through the window. This whole set exceeded my expectations and I recommend it for any parent with a vehicle.
To learn more, check out Quik Solve on Amazon.
Except for the product(s) given to me for the purpose of reviewing, I received no compensation for this post. All opinions are 100% my own.
Every once in a while when I'm looking for new things that I want to try, I find something that I struggle with. I know that I need to be more organized and sometimes I come across something that isn't necessarily needed. I know it's not needed, but it looks so cool! You know that feeling? Sometimes it's an item that I could use, but likely might not use often, or it's an item that I have always wanted to try, but I know I might not use it at all after the initial "oooh" and "aww" of it.
Well, this was one of those things. I wanted to see it and try it, but I was sure it wouldn't be something I would likely use too often. It's the Unisex Atomizer / Spray Bottle. Obviously, I chose pink, so it's not super unisex. But it comes in silver too. It's basically a super small spray bottle that you can carry with you in case you need a spritz here and there.
It looks cool, right? It'll pretty much hold anything that you but in a spray bottle. I chose to use it for a perfume that my mom bought me. It's a small bottle, the type you get in a convenience store. So imagine my surprise when I got done filling the atomizer and realized that my perfume bottle was pretty much still full!
And it's lasted me longer than expected too. Though it clearly sprays well and enough of it comes out so that I don't need to spray more times than usual, it's not dwindling as fast as you'd think a tiny bottle would.
To fill the atomizer, you just find the hole in the bottom, then remove the spray cap from the full bottle you are putting into the atomizer. You align that straw with the atomizer's hole and pump until it's full. It was super easy.
And here, you can see that it sprays quite well. Because it's so small, I can carry it all the time in any pocket without it being in the way or being obvious. So I am definitely planning to use it more often than I thought. It stays in my coat and when I walk out the door just having rolled out of bed, I can at least smell okay.
This atomizer is less than $4 on Amazon, I recommend it for anyone who could use a small spritzer to take with them or for any parent looking for a stuffer for your older child who maybe is just dabbling in cologne or body sprays. I think it's pretty handy. What's your favorite scent?
To learn more, check out FuzzyGreen on Amazon.
Except for the product(s) given to me for the purpose of reviewing, I received no compensation for this post. All opinions are 100% my own.
I am not a super organized person. I'm not. I often notice that I am at a drive through getting drinks and yet I still have all cup holders full from earlier. Or I will be bringing the cart full of groceries to the van just to remember that I never did unload the trunk from our beach trip the week before. The beach trip where I brought a bunch of floaties with no way to carry them all down to the sand except by armload. I'm awful. I never think about where things will go or how I will juggle it all.
So big thanks to Dot & Dot for the awesome help in that area. No longer will I have to try to juggle my drink, Boog's drink, my camera, and other such things when we go to the beach or walk around town. Check out my new Dot & Dot stroller organizer!
What makes this so cool is how versatile it is. It fits pretty much any stroller! It fits my jogging stroller and my umbrella stroller and I know it will fit the double stroller because it comes with this extra double ended extender belt. The belt not only can be used to create a loop for stroller handles, but can also be used to create a loop that can be used on a head rest in a vehicle.
But my absolute favorite part is the hooks. I think they're meant to help hold other things like for example, my water bottle there, or a camera bag, etc. But I used them to lower the whole unit so that the brake cable on the stroller wasn't interfering in the items in the organizer. It was an awesome thing to have, that's for sure.
It has two bottle holders and a rectangle pocket with a magnet closure on top as well as a rectangle zipper pocket and a smaller open pocket in the front. Another cool feature is that the inside of bottle containers is kind of puffy, so it holds the drinks tight. I'm definitely super happy to have this, it's going to help a LOT whenever we go anywhere. I recommend it for sure!
What's your favorite way to keep things organized on the go? To learn more, check out Dot & Dot on Facebook, Youtube, Pinterest, Amazon, and on their website at DotDotTravel.com.
Except for the product(s) given to me for the purpose of reviewing, I received no compensation for this post. All opinions are 100% my own.
