The Great Swapoween Box

A few weeks ago I saw Chaotic Goddess was doing a fun blogger box swap with a Halloween theme and I instantly wanted in! A couple of years ago when we moved into this house my husband and I decided that we needed to slowly add to our collection of Halloween decor to make Halloween more festive. Now we haven't been super great at this but we haven't been slackers either. As a kid I didn't get into Halloween that much, but my kids just love it and I have grown to love it too. I think our kids are supposed to teach us and change us and that they have certainly done.

My Swapoween buddy was Penny and she blogs at Penny's Passion. Getting to expand our blogging horizons by getting to know other bloggers is one of the reasons I like doing these swaps. We emailed back and forth about a couple of blogging matters and then before I knew it the date was upon us to ship off the goodies!

My package arrived probably 10 days before Halloween and we got to incorporate some of the items on our mantel. This was the first time we bothered to do a Halloween mantel by the way. Amberly put it together which was fine by me because there's always plenty of other things for mom to do, like the dishes or helping the boys with homework. She took great care in how everything could fit and be seen and be a little bit spooky but not too much.

Amberly and I were running around to find things to put into our Halloween Boo Baskets when we stopped in at Hallmark and Michael's. We found a few awesome items deeply discounted like the Halloween snow globe and the eerie dark tree that would be perfect finishing touches to our Halloween mantel.

Here are a few other fun things Penny included in our box....

Halloween candy dish
Halloween napkins
Halloween straws
Halloween tissue

We had a lot of fun participating in this Great Swapoween Box Swap!

Two Fresh Ideas for an Honest Pick Me Up

I received product to sample in order to facilitate this review. All opinions are my own and I only share products and services I feel will be of value to my readers.

Fall is the season for change, and I have definitely been embracing that idea this year. I'm not sure if its the brisk air or the beautiful fall leaves,but there's something about fall that wakes up our senses. And for me that meant I no longer wanted dull and boring. A couple of weeks ago I decided to be bold and dye my hair. I ended up with a mahogany color which was a drastic change from my somewhat dirty golden blonde hair. And let me tell you the response I've been getting from people is makes me think the change was good!

Here's my before and after:

      

I love the sense of renewal and I definitely don't feel dull and boring now!

For a drastic fall pick me up you might consider dying your hair... but if you're not ready to commit to that, I've got something that is fresh and tasty too. Not too long ago I gave up my daily coffee addiction. It wasn't just the caffeine that had me, it was the sugar rush that held m captive. and I have been trying to find other satisfying drinks that will satisfy the craving for a pick me up in the afternoon. One that is not sugar ridden. I've discovered some of Honest Tea's new fall flavors to be just the thing to fill the gap. 

 Ginger Oasis Herbal Tea

Oops! I was caught chillin' in the hammock while the kids worked on homework.


Cinnamon Sunrise Herbal Tea

Snap! I drank up all the Cinnamon Sunrise Herbal Tea before I snapped a picture - hope Honest Tea is cool with this borrowed image from their Instagram.


Here's what I love about these teas:

• brewed with real ginger or cinnamon (respectively)
• have zero calories, 
• unsweetened and have zero grams of sugar, 
• caffeine free 
• fair trade
• USDA organic so you know it is as clean as it is refreshing. 

The zing from the Ginger Oasis Herbal Tea does more than wake up your taste buds! It's easy to drink and adds a refreshing charge to your afternoon. The Cinnamon Sunrise Herbal Tea may be just the thing you need to wake up first thing in the morning if you're trying to quit coffee. These flavors are spot on with their names and are the perfect thing to celebrate fall.  I know from time to time I'm going to want to grab something besides water but I don't want to drink my calories so this is a perfect find! 

Honest Tea cares about how they brew their tea from start to finish, starting with organic. The next time you want to put a little pep in your step, look for these fun fall flavors in the grocer's cold beverage section. 

Lucky for you I've got a giveaway for 5 readers to try these new Honest Tea fall flavors. Five winners will receive a week's supply of Honest Tea's fall flavors so enter below and get ready to celebrate the season of change! 

Honest Tea Fall Flavors

21 DIY Baby Halloween Costumes

Baby's first Halloween dressing up is so much fun and picking out their costume can be really tough given the wide array of uber cute choices. Some of my favorite baby and toddler costumes are the DIY ones because a lot of love goes into it and they've each got their own special flare. It can take as little or as much time as you want to create something unique and fun. There are a lot of awesome crafty mamas out there that I admire, but when it comes to a costume, I need some direction. Here are 21 inspirations for DIY Baby Halloween Costumes:

1. Manion Amor's Boo from Monsters Inc makes an excellent choice for a little girl.

2. A sweet Tinkerbell by The DIY Mommy will create beautiful photo keepsakes!

4. This  Olaf costume by Peek-a-boo Pages is to die for cute, right?

3. Simmworks Family aced simplicity with this Charlie Brown DIY costume.

5. Imagine your little guy in this awesome Batman ensemble shared by Haberdashery Fun!

6. Who can resist this charming Harry Potter costume shared by Love & Lion?

More baby character costumes.....

Baby Yoda

Pebbles

Peter Pan

Baby Minion

Wonder Woman

Where's Waldo



And for all you foodies out there.... or if you ever catch yourself saying "you're so cute I could eat you!" here are some fun food costume ideas!

Little Pineapple

Shortstack Pancake Costume

Candy Corn

And the cutest Baby S'mores you gotta see!

Got a thing for sea creatures? Here are a few ideas....

Baby Octopus

Baby Mermaid

Baby Fish

I love seeing babies dressed up as animals because babies LOVE animals and it is even more fun when you teach them the sound the animals makes and they can mimic the sound.

Baby Cow

Baby Koala

Baby Owl

Peacock

Lady Bug


For the sports fanatics.....

Baby Football

Rockford Peach (A League of their Own)

And for the TWINS here are a few adorable ideas!

Cabbage Patch Dolls

Thing One and Thing Two

Raggedy Ann and Andy



Now, it wouldn't be a proper DIY Baby Halloween Costume Roundup if I didn't share some of the easiest type of costumes ever.... featuring the ONESIE!



SUPER SIMPLE ONESIE ideas for the very last minute types!

AND some AWESOME SUPER HERO ONESIES you can make!

It can be hard to decide what to dress you baby as for Halloween but don't let it become a paralysis by analysis situation! Just have fun with it. An you know what? If you decide not to make a costume for your baby, that''s totally fine. What's important is that you have fun and create memories!

Fortified Pumpkin Oatmeal

We've got pumpkin fever in this house! Yesterday we went to Bates Nut Farm for some good ole fashioned fun. I think we bought more at the store than we should have but there are a few items I was thrilled to find and can't wait to use like Pumpkin Scones, Pumpkin Pie Almonds and Maple Pumpkin Butter.

Since we didn't have any English muffins on hand we couldn't crack into the Maple Pumpkin Butter but thought it would make a perfect topping for our Fortified Pumpkin Oatmeal.... and I was right!

This is just one more thing to use your leftover canned pumpkin puree with if you buy the big cans like I do and never need all of it. You only want to store that in an airtight container in the fridge for about 2 weeks. I try to use mine up sooner than that. Maybe one day I'll get it together enough to buy smaller size freezer ziploc bags and store what I don't use in the freezer.... but for now I don't have to worry about it because we have been on a Pumpkin Craze!

Here's what you'll need:

2 cups organic milk
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
2 cups oats
3 tbsp raw shelled hemp seeds

Kitchen tools:

Medium pot
Liquid measuring cup
Dry measuring cups
measuring spoons
Stirring spoon

Combine first 5 items in a medium size pot over medium-high heat, stir ingredients and watch for the mil mixture to boil, it will happen pretty quickly. When it begins to boil, add oats and hemp seeds. Reduce heat to low, give a good stir and cover for 3-5 minutes stirring occasionally.

After spooning the oatmeal into the bowl I warmed just a couple teaspoons of the Pumpkin Maple Butter in the microwave to drizzle over the oatmeal and I was delighted with the addition.

We like to keep it healthy in this house, but I've got a sweet tooth so we try to find a balance. That's why I use organic milk and add the hemp seeds for protein. This is a breakfast treat I look forward to making again and again. Adding the Maple Pumpkin Butter sweet topping to perfect this autumn breakfast was just right.

What are your favorite fall breakfast treats?

Fortified Pumpkin Muffins

Sometimes I want something with pumpkin flavor that is sweet - but don't want all the guilt of eating a traditional pumpkin dessert or pastry. That's when we make my fortified pumpkin muffins!

Years ago after getting Jessica Seinfeld's Deceptively Delicious, I began to take extra effort to incorporate purees where I could and see if there were other things I could do to make something a little healthier for the entire family.

When October rolls around, one of the first pumpkin things I buy is a box of pumpkin bread mix at Costco. If I can keep it easy and not make it from scratch that's just what a busy mom's gotta do sometimes.

Here's how we adapt the box instructions to add a little bit of goodness to make these muffins even better...

Ingredients:

Ingredients:

1 pkg of pumpkin spice quick bread mix
2 organic eggs
1/3 cup Nutiva  organic virgin coconut oil, melted OR 1/3 cup pumpkin puree
3 TBSP of Nutiva organic shelled hempseed
a few shakes of pumpkin pie spice
60 Enjoy Life dark chocolate morsels (so much better than that "other" brand)
about a tsp of Nutiva coconut oil to grease the muffin tin

Kitchen Tools:

Muffin tin pan
Medium mixing bowl
Small dish for cracking eggs
Scissors
Spatula
Ice cream scoop
Liquid measuring cup
Regular measuring cup


Directions:

Turn oven to 400 degrees
Grease muffin tin with coconut oil. I use a sandwich baggie.
Mix the first 5 ingredients in the mixing bowl. When it is pumpkin season I use the pumpkin puree if I have it, otherwise I use Nutiva coconut oil in place of any vegetable oil that is called for in any baking recipe.
Scoop batter into muffin tin evenly to make 12 muffins.
Top each muffin with 5 dark chocolate morsels.
Put into the oven and bake 18-22 minutes

As soon as they come out my kids are grabbing for these! See how one is missing before I got a chance to take a photo?

I am happy to have learned that Nutiva has a whole line of super foods that I look forward to using to fortify more of our meals and snacks. We've been using their coconut oil for a number of years and I really had no idea all of the other products they make until they became a sponsor of ShiftCon, an Eco-wellness blogger conference.

Do you have any tricks in your apron pocket to give foods a boost in health benefits?