Mama Loves: Pumpkins

Welcome to another week of Mama Loves! I'm so thrilled that you stopped by!

Not sure what Mama Loves is? Check out the Mama Loves page for the scoop on what Mama Loves is all about.

Also---to see all the amazing ideas that have been shared here, check out the Mama Loves Pinterest page. So many crazy-good ideas there!


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A couple things to check out this week 

• Bath products for Mama and little ones that are free of all those yucky chemicals that Blogger won't acknowledge as real words. 
• Sippy cups that absolutely don't leak. Your search is over!

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Spring is my favorite time of year, followed closely by fall. This is odd when I take a moment to think about it, because they're the two transition seasons. Ushering in the warm, or ushering the cold.

Transition is hard. But I can do hard things; even embrace them sometimes---like two little ladies I know. And, the fall too. Mostly, because fall = pumpkins.

I love all things pumpkin.

Last Saturday we took our girlies for our annual trip to the pumpkin patch. I'm such a sucker for comparison shots. We were taking the girls to "pick out their  pumpkins" when they were tiny. Sometimes I build up these experiences in my mind, knowing that really, really they're too young to get it, but there will be pictures that we did it every. single. year.

  Last year, the girls had a whole lot more input in their pumpkin choosing experience.

And this year was a whole lot of fun! The girls went tromping through the pumpkin fields like experts.

But first, I just have to show you one thing. The girls were so excited to be sporting their new owl leg warmers:

Now, on to pumpkins.

This year the girls really liked big pumpkins:

So, our rule was that they needed to be able to lift the pumpkin (at least a little bit).

 

The girls had a great time running around the pumpkin fields. It was so fun to watch their strong legs carry them all the way to the end of the pumpkin fields. 

The girls rested briefly in the wagon with their pumpkins:

 But, our strong healthy girls preferred to help their papa secure their pumpkin loot:

We ended our pumpkin patch experience dancing to some bluegrass music. Brynne and Hadley had such a great time! Their carefree delight in pumpkins and music and dancing makes me smile till my face hurts.

So, let's see your pumpkin pictures, Mamas (and Papas)! Pumpkin carving, visits to the pumpkin patch, or just drinking a pumpkin spice latte. Any and all things pumpkin are welcome!

Can't wait to see them!

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Mama Loves: Potty Talk

Welcome to another week of Mama Loves! I'm so thrilled that you stopped by!

Not sure what Mama Loves is? Check out the Mama Loves page for the scoop on what Mama Loves is all about.

Also---to see all the amazing ideas that have been shared here, check out the Mama Loves Pinterest page. So many crazy-good ideas there!

 
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So, you might have heard, our girls are potty trained.

I'm not about to tell you that there is some magic formula that will get your kid potty trained. I don't think that's true. Each child is unique, and you know your child better than anyone else. While I tend to be a rule follower in some respects, when it came to potty training, I tried to be intuitive to what would work best for each one of my daughters' personalities. 

The method I based our training on was called the Three Day Potty Training method. You can read all sorts of testimonials and questions about it. Take it for what it's worth. I enjoyed the plan, because it was a short----no books to read, just an e-book, more like an e-pamphlet. Short and sweet. 

 

I also appreciated the detailed instructions, tips and even products to consider purchasing. For what it's worth, these are the products we loved to get us through the hard stuff. (Most of them are also mentioned here).

• GoodNites Disposable Bed Mats. Keeps down the laundry pile by protecting sheets while they sleep.
• BabyLegs to keep little legs warm.
• Baby Bjorn Toilet Trainer to make the big potty just right for little bottoms.
• This alarm clock that turns green when it's okay to wake up for the day. Worth.Every.Penny!

What would you add to the list? 

Can't wait to see what you're loving this week!

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Mama Loves: Kate Winslet??

Hi friends! There were a few great ideas shared this past week. I hope you'll take a moment to check them out!

• Krista adapted a popular toddler activity to make it easy to take on the go. 
• Mandy has found a great alternative to crumbly play-doh! If you strongly dislike the play-doh mess, you're gonna want to check this out!

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A couple days ago, Mandy shared this "fabulous-ness" (in quotes because blogger won't acknowledge this as a real word---come on, blogger!) on her facebook page. 

Mama love, Love, LOVES this!

It's true. Our bodies are pretty incredible. They were carefully and uniquely knit together in our mama's womb, and they do many things. Maybe:

• your body carried and nourished your child(ren)
• your strong legs carry you miles towards a finish line
• your capable arms swing your little ones over your head and hug them tight
• your sparkling eyes look on others with love
• your hands serve others by cooking meals, folding laundry, cleaning
• your voice reads the same story a million times putting the same enthusiasm into every.single.word. the same way every time
• your smile lights up a room
• your mind creates beautiful things
• your heart loves unceasingly and unconditionally (and will go on and on--ha!)
• your hips shut drawers when your hands are full and know how to keep rhythm
• your feet take you and your child(ren) on grand adventures

So, tell me. What do you love about your body? Do you talk about this with your children, or with your friends or family? What does this look like? 

Can't wait to see what you're loving! Oh, and you're welcome for putting Celine Dion in your head on this fine fall afternoon.

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Mama Loves: Swap and Sell

Welcome to another week of Mama Loves! I'm so thrilled that you stopped by!

Not sure what Mama Loves is? Check out the Mama Loves page for the scoop on what Mama Loves is all about.

Also---to see all the amazing ideas that have been shared here, check out the Mama Loves Pinterest page. So many crazy-good ideas there!

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So. I realized earlier this week that I just completely forgot to do a Mama Loves last week. Doh! I was very under the weather Friday/Saturday last week, and we were in the middle of potty training (which turned out to be way harder and exhausting than I could have ever imagined it being). 

So, Saturday just sort of came and went. Please forgive me? Over the past couple of weeks I've been tardy with my posts, before completely dropping the ball last week. I know some of you plan ahead to post/link up, which is particularly hard to do when there's nothing to link it to. 

Today, I'm back!

But first...

...thank you to those of you who linked up your Real Life. I really enjoyed reading the comments under your posts. It seems you sharing the messes was blessings to your readers; to see a slice of the imperfect. Thanks for being vulnerable right along with me. 

• I love this one! Krista shares a lovely story about a craft/activity she planned for her son that didn't work out so well. 
• Melissa gives us all a beautiful slice of her life, and some very funny perception pictures that you should definitely check out! 
• Sweet Melissa inspired this in the first place. Thank you for sharing your messes here.
• Dearest Mandy, thank you for bravely showing us your kitchen counters. 

And then Ginger, thank you for linking up your fabulous "ice cream" idea----genius, as always!

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So, is anyone else on a local "swap and sell" facebook page? 

I've recently discovered our local swap and sell, and it is fabulous! I'm not opposed to yard/garage sales, it's just a lot of work, and involves waking up really early to get the good stuff. 

This is, literally, a virtual garage sale. And you get to meet some cool people too! (And, it's way less scary than Craig's List).

If you're looking for a specific toy, or article of clothing, or piece of furniture you can throw a comment up on the wall, and very quickly people will begin posting pictures of what they have that might just fit the bill. 

Or, if you're done with all your 2T pants, you can snap a picture and put it up on the page---"$3 each", and people will buy, buy, buy!

 

 

I've recently purchased:

• An organic Ergo baby carrier that was used twice for $50 (retails for $140---score!)
• A used train table for $40
• Two cute costumes for Halloween this year for $6!

I've met people at their homes, at Starbucks (great excuse to get one of those pumpkins spice lattes, you know, since I was already there), and even the parking lot of Walgreens. It's been fun to connect with other moms around the area, and to find gear/clothing at much cheaper prices. And, it's

a very "green" thing to do, if that does it for you.

So, if you live near me, and are not hooked up to the swap and sell, let me know, I'll invite you to join! And, if you don't live near me, and you don't know of one that exists, start your own! It's easy:

1. Start a group on facebook.
2. Invite your friends to join
3. Tell them to invite their friends, etc. 
4. Start listing what you want to sell/buy.
5. Have fun!

Can't wait to see what you're loving!

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Life is a beautiful struggle

This is long overdue.

(We've been full-on potty training and then I've been sick on top of that---so exhausting!)

I wanted to thank each of you that has reached out with encouragement, good thoughts, and prayers for our little baby's heart.

We belong to each other. You've revealed that truth to me over and over and over again. 

In the minutes, hours, days after I posted about little Pat's heart, prayers, words of encouragement, kind thoughts and personal experiences came pouring in. We were embraced and uplifted in love by so many people---some we've never even met.

Amazing! (My sweet friend's prayers for me to be amazed have been answered in more ways than one)

The echocardiogram revealed that our baby's heart has healed. The perinatologist spent a lot of time looking at our baby's tiny beating heart. He said there might be an itsy bitsy, pin-sized hole, but the ultrasound couldn't demonstrate it definitively. 

He said our baby's heart was beautiful.

See? Beautiful.  

I'm thankful to have walked through this experience. The month of waiting for our scan grew and blessed me in ways I never expected or knew were possible. 

So. Thank you.

Sharing with Ann.

Mama Loves: Real Life

Welcome to another week of Mama Loves! I'm so thrilled that you stopped by!

Not sure what Mama Loves is? Check out the Mama Loves page for the scoop on what Mama Loves is all about.

Also---to see all the amazing ideas that have been shared here, check out the Mama Loves Pinterest page. So many crazy-good ideas there!

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Great ideas from the past week:

• Melissa shared some great websites, facebook pages and apps that can help with meal planning. Perfect for busy mamas! And even a great tip for cleaning baked-on food off pots and pans. That tip alone is reason enough to check out her great post!  

 

• Ginger didn't link this up, but I thought it was too good not to share, especially as I'm getting ready to potty train the girls. She came up with a super-festive way to kick off potty training. Check out her fun idea! 

 
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So, we've been doing this Mama Loves thing for over a year now. I love all of the awesome, creative, cleverness that I've seen over the past year. It has definitely made me a better mama.

My friend Melissa has a different idea. She is daring mamas to reveal their messiness. She suggests that maybe, by revealing our messiness, we can encourage one another too. Earlier this week I wrote a bit about real life mess and Krista had the awesome idea to have a Mama Loves link up revolving around this concept.

Krista, love this idea! You rock!

So. This week, is Mama Loves: Real Life. Where we reveal our messes. We belong to each other, sharing in this journey of mama-ing. We can encourage in our brilliant ideas and in our moments of imperfection.

Unmade beds, sinks full of dishes, piles of laundry, abandoned play.

Here's my real life:

I dare you to join us! Older posts are welcome too!

I can't wait to see your messes this week!

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Mama Loves: Construction

Welcome to another week of Mama Loves! I'm so thrilled that you stopped by!

Not sure what Mama Loves is? Check out the Mama Loves page for the scoop on what Mama Loves is all about.

Also---to see all the amazing ideas that have been shared here, check out the Mama Loves Pinterest page. So many crazy-good ideas there!


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The winner of the Nellie's All-Natural Giveaway last week is Emily from hsquaredblog. Congrats, Emily! If you have a second, go say hi to Emily, give her some twin mama encouragement, and see some super cute pictures of her daughters Haley and Hazel.

A few great mama-ideas from last week:

• No-Spill Bubbles. You can probably already guess why these are a good idea. Katie will tell you all about them, and show you how they work too.

• Cat is a seasoned mama! She regulates sweets with her kids with a party bucket. This teaches her kiddos about economics and generosity. Check out this brilliant idea!

 
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Every time my girls passed by a construction site, we call all the equipment "tractors"---mostly because I don't know the technical names for most of them.  

So, my friend Ellyn suggested the book, Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site.




The book has rhythm and rhyme and talks about several different kinds of construction equipment. The girls love to read it, and now when we drive past construction sites, they can point out the bulldozers and excavators (and so can Mama!).

Can't wait to see what you're loving!

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Mama Loves: Free Laundry {GIVEAWAY}

Welcome to another week of Mama Loves! I'm so thrilled that you stopped by!

Not sure what Mama Loves is? Check out the Mama Loves page for the scoop on what Mama Loves is all about.

Also---to see all the amazing ideas that have been shared here, check out the Mama Loves Pinterest page. So many crazy-good ideas there!

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There's some great ideas from last week I'm eager to share with you!

• Before twins, Emily worked with infants in a daycare. She'll tell you all about how you don't have to wait till your kiddos are older to do crafts. Her six-month-olds fingerpainted some beautiful masterpieces with edible fingerpaints. She includes the recipe and tips for making the project all come together. Check it out!

 

• Melissa's twins love a series of books by Eric Litwin about Pete the Cat.

• Laura loves organizing her girls' lunch boxes by using Ball freezer jars---an inexpensive, eco-friendly way to pack lunches. She'll tell you all about it.

 

• Cat will tell you about the most awesome idea to both give her children responsibility and to keep peace in her home. You must check this one out! 

 
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A few weeks ago I told you about  Nellie's All Natural Laundry Soda.



This tiny little bag gives you a whopping 50 loads of laundry, and does a pretty stellar job of getting everything clean, especially our cloth diapers.

What's beautiful about this laundry soda is that it's dye-free and perfume-free. Perfect for babies' sensitive skin, and free of all those harsh chemicals for the health and well-being of your entire family. 

Nellie's Naturals is giving away one of these to one of my readers. That's 50 loads of laundry for free!!

To enter to win please do two things: 

• Go "Like" Nellie's All-Natural on facebook
• Then, leave a comment letting me know you liked them, and tell me one thing you've done to make your home a little more "green"----hint: It can be as simple as what my friend SarahFae does in the bathroom; they reuse their towels a couple times before washing them.   

That's it. Just those two little things will get you entered to win.

Entries will be accepted through Friday, September 7th at 5PM (CST).

Can't wait to see what you're loving this week!

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Mama Loves: Large Canvas Floor Totes

Welcome to another week of Mama Loves! I'm so thrilled that you stopped by!

Not sure what Mama Loves is? Check out the Mama Loves page for the scoop on what Mama Loves is all about.

Also---to see all the amazing ideas that have been shared here, check out the Mama Loves Pinterest page. So many crazy-good ideas there!
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Lots of great ideas, again this week! Thanks so much for linking up your ideas here, friends!

• Katie loves these splat mats to go under the space where kids eat. Aren't they super cute? They actually go with decor in your home! 

• Laura shared one of her favorite parenting books. There's a boy version of this too.

 

• Krista shares the joy of rotating toys, so that old toys become "new" again. 

• Mandy shows us this very cool geometry activity that she came up with for her girls. They were entertained for an entire hour with this! 

 

•  Along the same lines, Marcia's twins loved working on this activity. Geometry, and hand-eye coordination----love it! (isn't her photography beautiful?!)

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Before I get going, I wanted to take a second to thank all of you who stopped by with your prayers and well wishes for our family on Monday. I feel so blessed by this big, beautiful blogging community. Oh, and I realized that I forgot to say that we'll be expecting our little "Pat" sometime around 07 January 2013, or if my husband had his way, sometime before the end of 2012. We'll see, Husband, we'll see.

Anyway, without further ado....

When the girls were born we were given a $50 gift certificate to Pottery Barn Kids. It took me a really long time to decide how to spend it, I wanted to get something practical and useful, because if you've ever shopped Pottery Barn Kids----$50 doesn't go very far.

I decided on the Large Canvas Floor Tote. At the time, the girls' toys were being kept in the living room, so I was pleased that the brown polka dot design blended with our decor.

A bonus, if you're interested, I noticed that Pottery Barn Kids does have these totes on sale this week, so your $50 gift card will go a bit further than normal.



I have to tell you-----these things are HUGE! When we first got the tote, we didn't have that many toys, but now, it's full, and let me tell you----it holds a lot. The girls thought it was hilarious that their mama was making such a big mess. But it did serve a purpose. Here's a size comparison for you (the girls are about 37.5 inches tall:

Ah! I do love organizing the chaos just a little bit!

Can't wait to see what you're loving this week!

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Mama Loves: Lots of good stuff!

Welcome to another week of Mama Loves! I'm so thrilled that you stopped by!

Not sure what Mama Loves is? Check out the Mama Loves page for the scoop on what Mama Loves is all about.

Also---to see all the amazing ideas that have been shared here, check out the Mama Loves Pinterest page. So many crazy-good ideas there!
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Friends! Such great ideas shared here last week! Thank so much to all of you that link up and share here!

This week, I'm not actually going to share a "love", and I don't have a giveaway for you either. It's been a busy, exhausting week, and since you guys rocked it over this past week-----there's plenty of good stuff.

I totally get it if you want to stop reading now, but I hope you'll stick around, because I'm excited to talk about your ideas here!

Big congrats to Miss SarahFae for winning the Sweaty Band giveaway this past week! Krista, I haven't forgotten you----thanks for emailing me your address----the book should be there shortly!
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• Krista has some fantastic tomatoes growing in her garden! Check out how she uses them to give her family delicious things to eat! 

 

• Laura shared some really amazing facts about tears. Did you know that there are three different kinds of tears we shed? Fascinating, and yes, Laura, so encouraging! 

 

•  Make your own shampoo and conditioner. I'm really excited about this one, because I finally took the plunge and started doing this-----all because of this great post by SarahFae. Also---do check out the comment section, there's helpful stuff there too!

 

• SarahFae also made her own paper towels and paper towel holder. Super cute, super functional, and it saves money! She walks you through the process step by step. 

Can't wait to see what you're loving this week!

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Mama Loves: Clean Diapers and another {GIVEAWAY}

Welcome to another week of Mama Loves! I'm so thrilled that you stopped by!

Not sure what Mama Loves is? Check out the Mama Loves page for the scoop on what Mama Loves is all about.

Also---to see all the amazing ideas that have been shared here, check out the Mama Loves Pinterest page. So many crazy-good ideas there!
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Some fantastic ideas shared this past week! Check it out!

• Krista loves dry erase crayons. I guess I need to try these---everyone seems to rave about them!

 

• Ginger loves no-spill bubbles, which I have to agree are a pretty fabulous idea, especially after one of the girls spilled a bottle of colored bubbles all over herself at a playdate recently.Yellow goo everywhere! (good thing it was a bath night). 

• Melissa linked up with a great list of things to do with toilet paper rolls. You'll want to pin this, friends! Lots of great ideas here! 

• Affton tells us all about how much her kiddos love Kindermusik---she loves it so much she's becoming a teacher! Awesome! Good luck with your first up-coming class, Affton!

• Laura gives us a great list of on-line references to combat the cultural pressures of beauty and body image.

Thank you, thank you, everyone for sharing your great ideas here!
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It was a year ago this week that we kicked off Mama Loves. Thank you, everyone, for showing up and contributing ideas----such a great community here!

So, good morning afternoon. We've had company, and I didn't do a better time of planning ahead.

Anyway.

Awhile back I told you about how much I love our dryerballs from Nellie's Naturals. After I raved about them here, I contacted the company, just to let them know how much I liked their product. They then sent me some Nellie's Laundry Soda to try.

 

 Now, I've told you that I make my own laundry detergent, so it took me awhile to actually give this a whirl, but I'm glad I did.

I like that it is small, and doesn't take much to clean an entire load---the scoop needed, is really small.

 
I also love that it's completely dye and fragrance-free. Even people with the most sensitive skin can use it.

What I love most is that it does a great job of cleaning cloth diapers, while leaving no residue behind. Yay! Definitely a product I can get behind!
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Okay, first thing's first.

A winner!

The winner of one of our most favorite books, The Pout-Pout Fish is Krista D. from Life on the Gravelly Road. Yay! Congrats, Krista! Could you email me the address you'd like it mailed to, please? (pontifications@hotmail.com)

And---now on to our next giveaway!

This gal loves a good workout, and I really, really love hair bands that don't slide out of my hair while I'm working up a good sweat! Sweaty Bands hold the hair out of my face, don't slip out of my hair, and they come in lots of great styles.

Just so happens that I have an extra one of these to giveaway to one of you! It's white with a bit of sparkle. Here's a picture:

To win this cute Sweaty Band:

• Please leave a comment below telling me your favorite way to get sweaty.

For additional entries, it would be an honor if you'd consider doing any of the following (please leave a separate comment for each entry below):

• Link-up this week! Blog about something you've been loving, and share it below! (You can link up a post you originally did for something else too---if it qualifies, share it!)
• Like Pontifications of  a Twin Mom on facebook (or leave a comment letting me know you're already a follower).
• Follow Pontifications of a Twin Mom via Google Friend Connect (or leave a comment letting me know you're already a follower). 

Each comment is worth one entry.
Entries can be made until Friday, August 17th at 5PM.
Winner will be announced August 18th during our weekly Mama Loves post.

Do check back next week---there just might be another Mama Loves giveaway!

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