Friday Faves..and a GIVEAWAY!

Happy FriYAY everyone! I thought I could jump on the 'Friday Favorite" bandwagon to share some things that I am loving with you all! I love reading other posts about what has been going on, what amazing things people have found and what everyone is sharing...after all-sharing is caring right?? So lets get to it...

1. Yoga. I did some yoga when I was pregnant and I've always loved Pilates. I've even loved PiYO, which is a mix of both! I've gone to the yoga studio down the road from us, Stafford House of Yoga a bit last fall and loved it. Unfortunately scheduling has not allowed me to go back to the classes I've liked. Good news though! They now offer childcare during your classes! That's one of the top reasons why we as moms can't make it to some of our workout classes right? Also, if you follow me on Instagram (@mrs_watkins723) you may have seen Kaden with his yoga mat...which is about the same size of him. We started our first 'Mom and Me' yoga class! We only had a couple other moms there since this was the first class and he was much more inquisitive about what was in the room and kept looking at me like 'what are you doing mom' but he did do some stretches and he smiled the whole class...I'd say that was a win for us. If you're interested in joining us, classes are on Thursday mornings at 10:00 am-oh and if you have a Military ID...you can get 10% off the class!

2. Consignment sales. If you know me, you know I LOVE a good deal. I don't even know if there's a stronger word above love...if there is-then apply it to this scenario. This weekend the traveling Weecycled Wardwrobe  is in town! Well, in Fredericksburg. So last night (they allowed Military members with their ID in for a pre-sale event) a friend and I packed up our toddlers and we made a trip. It wasn't as crazy as it was the last time I went to this one, but the line...my goodness the line. We were pushing dinner, bath and bedtime (to the max) so our little ones were having a blast exploring the toys. I went in looking for spring and summer gear for Kaden and walked out with some shorts, a whole arm full of Carters PJs, the cutest Elmo rainboots and a wonderful Melissa and Doug lock puzzle. This kid loves his locks-and this puzzle goes for about 20.00 on Amazon and Target.  I scored this baby for 6.00. OH and we found the most adorable little bookbag (or backpack...whichever) for our upcoming adventure of PRE-Preschool (as I like to call it..more on that later). Mom wins for sure.

3. Brickyard Buffalo. If you haven't checked them out, you need to. They feature little shops (like mine!) on their site for days at a time for other consumers (like all of you wonderful people) to purchase their items at a sale price! I was featured on their site earlier this month for my 'chosen family' bracelets and I have the pleasure of working with them again on two more designs! I thought that with Mother's Day around the corner each mom has their instincts of being "mama bear" right? (please say I'm not the only one..) SO what better way to affectionately display that than a bracelet? Also  sometimes we all need a little reminder (whether you are a mom or not) to "be brave".  This sale is going on RIGHT NOW and will end Sunday! So I would like to do a giveaway with you all...ready? Here's how you enter:

1. Go to the Facebook page: Watkins and Co. and make sure you LIKE the page.
2. Share this post (Friday Faves..and a Giveaway) with your friends from the Watkins and Co. Facebook page!
*Winner will be picked Monday morning!*

Keep your eyes peeled on Instagram (@mrs_watkins723) for a possible extra entry...

There you have it my friends! Our first Friday Favorites shared with you all! Now head on over to share away and get yourself (or someone special) a new bracelet!

Happy March!

Happy March everyone! February was a crazy month for us- Kaden turning two, our first snow storm,  battle with food poisoning..but onward to another month! I'm really excited for March, not only because the first day of SPRING is coming..I have some exciting news!

Have you ever checked out Brickyard Buffalo? It is an online pop up shop featuring different shops..and guess who gets to work with that wonderful site? Oh just little ol' me! I am incredibly excited about this opportunity and really hopeful that there is a great response. My 'chosen family' hand made cuff bracelets will be featured for 4 days starting on Monday! This bracelet means so much to me because of our lifestyle. We spend so much time away from our families, so we have to make our own 'framily'! We come across so many people with all of our moves but some people click more so than some others and we have lifetime friends, non-related sisters and non-biological aunts and uncles for our kids.
So do a girl a favor and go check it out, think about who you have in your life that is your own 'chosen family' and tell all your friends! :)

The Weecycled Wardworbe is coming up this month! I love going to this big sale to get all of Kaden's upcoming season things! You know this girl loves a deal. This month it is March 13-16, so don't forget to put it on your calendars! You'll see me there at the night before they open the doors to the public, let me know if you want to come along! :)

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for warmer weather. Yes I realize we are in Virginia and it is winter, but having a toddler- I long for warm weather so we can go outside and burn off that energy. Until then, we will be frequenting Kids in Motion which is an indoor inflatable bounce house filled with so many amazing things for little kids! We'll also be checking out a couple other places, we really want to get Kaden into soccer. I mean is there anything more adorable than a bunch of little kids learning how to play soccer? I think not.

Also, I'm going to do my best at something I 'created' called 'Money Saving March'. You may think I'm crazy- which is totally okay because I could be-but I literally do not need anything that could be considered 'fluff'. SO I'm going to be challenging myself to not buying anything that we absolutely do not need (besides heading to the consignment sale). That means no thrifting, no random Target runs..so I will be filling my time with getting rid of things! I don't know if its because of Spring coming up-but I want to try to get a jump on the Spring cleaning train! Wish me luck :)

So on that note...I'm going to go work on my mountain of laundry. Be sure to help this girl out and share the news of Brickyard Buffalo with your friends! Sale starts tomorrow bright and early!
xo

We have a toddler...

Alright friends. Here we go, I'm going to get my butt going with sharing whats going on! Now that we've had a week for the dust to settle-Kaden had his 2nd birthday party last weekend! I seriously can not believe how time has just flew by already! (You can read about his story here) We didn't have a big party for him last year since we just moved to our new home shortly before his birthday. So I was walking into unchartered territory with a toddler party. How much is TOO much? What do you cook? Do you have a list of activities for a bunch of 2 year olds? Most importantly: do you have mimosas for the moms?! (Spoiler alert: next time we have a toddler party...the answer is YES)
One of his favorite books ever is Little Blue Truck so I perused around looking at ideas for a toddler's party. I came across Kates blog, Nearly Crafty and she had such amazing ideas! Kate created the great invitations that I used for his party and even helped find the same font as what is in the story! And for a perfectionist, that is great news. The thought of having a house full of toddlers slightly terrified me, so one of my good friends suggested that we host the party at the clubhouse on base! Sounds like a fantastic idea to me, she reserved the room for me, the date was set and planning was under way. I used Kate's template for the invites, typed the information and took them to Staples to have them printed! Easy squeasy! Now if you're like me and want things to be 'cohesive' the font used in the book is called P.T. Barnum.

I also followed Kate's idea with some of the activities. I ordered little blue truck foam ornaments from Oriental Trading for the littles to make and to double as their own personalized favors! 

I later realized that we did NOT need glue, these bad boys are sticky after you peel the paper off the back! Pleasant surprise! We also had a bunch of blue truck printables for kids to color. 

I'm so sad I didn't get a whole picture of our foods! I tried to keep it simple (mainly because I was cooking it all) and thought about what kids would like to eat. We had mini corn-dogs, home made pasta salad (included veggies), homemade roasted red peppers hummus with crackers, rice crispy treats (which I have YET to make a perfect batch of...but I digress) lemonade, juices and most importantly...CUPCAKES. I made a classic white with a vanilla buttercream frosting.  I also made party popcorn for extra favors for everyone (because I'm crazy like that-this was a last minute decision) I'll share that recipe with you all another time!

I used the same font for his banner with my super amazing Silhouette machine. I also used the font and the machine with the print and cut feature to make thank you tags for the popcorn bags. 

Kids came to play, eat and run around. I think we had an overall good birthday party! We approached nap time...aka melt down time right before everyone left which we all thought would be coming our way. We truly have amazing friends that came to celebrate and help when we needed it. I may or may not have gotten a little teary eyed when we all sang to Kaden. I just can't believe that he is TWO! I can't believe he was once a little 3 pound baby living in an incubator and fighting for his life, I really do believe that you can't even tell. He has grown into such an amazing little person and his personality just surprises me every day. He is such a sweet, loving and compassionate little boy. I know all babies are sweet and loving, but I'm not sure when we will hit the 'rough and tough' stage but this little guy loves his mama and I'm not afraid to share that with the world- I'll take it as long as I can. 

I'm back...sort of.

Friends, I am so sorry that I have yet again seem to have a taken a 'hiatus' from the blogging world. I'm sure everyone has had a great holiday season and a great New Year celebration! It has been crazy over in our world, I don't even know where to begin. 

We are preparing for a 2nd birthday celebration next month- and I am having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that my little baby will be TWO. He's been all over the place, we call him 'jabber jaw' now. The amount of information that he is learning blows my mind and I am so proud of him every day. 

I am still making projects left and right. I told myself (and a couple of my best friends) that I wasn't going to take on anymore, but I just seem to have to try one more thing...after another. I have been working with hand stamping jewelry-necklaces and cuffs to be exact! I love creating custom personalized things for family and friends. Check out my Etsy site for listings! 

Kaden and I have started our second semester of MOPS this past week! Its so nice to be around such a positive environment. As a mom, we have our moments-right? MOPS (to me) is a place where you don't feel judgement based off of your decisions, your good days and bad days, your frustrations, your accomplishments or for just being yourself. We have great meetings that really get my mind thinking. I have plans on sharing some of our discussions with you all after our meetings :) It is also amazing that Kaden has fun going. He's in a room with kids his age, they play and do crafts for a couple of hours which I think is great for an almost 2 year old. I think it could be great preperation for when he heads to school.....someday.

We are embarking on a new adventure, the Watkins family. I'm sure I will have a whole butt load of crazy stories coming your way, along with (hopefully) weekly delicious recipes. Thank you all for sticking with us so far, I can't wait to share the next year of adventures with you all!
Don't forget to connect with me on Instagram HERE
And Don't forget to get connected to the Facebook page HERE
xo