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Category: Products & Places

Tea

Posted on April 23, 2013April 19, 2013 by Andi

I’ve been really into tea lately. I get herbal and rooibos tea because they don’t have caffeine in them. I add some rock sugar and a little honey to my tea. Mostly, I love having a hot drink that isn’t filled with tons of calories and junk like hot chocolate. Don’t get me wrong….I do still love hot chocolate, I just drink it very infrequently.

When I first started to buy tea, I could never make it taste good enough for me to enjoy drinking it. But I was eating a lot of sugar and soda at the time. Now that my tastes have changed, I have really started to LOVE my tea! I just got a tea kettle because I thought it would be easier for heating up water when I want more than one cup at a time.

If anyone else likes fruity tea, I tried some new ones from Teavana that are delicious!

  • Berry Kiwi Colada
  • Berry Almond Amaretto
  • Pomegranate Cranberry Crush
  • Apple Lemon Pomegranate
  • Peach Tranquility

I also still like the ones I started with. I have a mix of Blueberry/Strawberry and Strawberry/Orange. Both are fabulous!

  • Blueberry Bliss
  • Strawberry Lemonade
  • Wild Orange Blossom

Have you found any teas lately that you really like? Do you like sweeter, fruity teas like me? Do you like your tea hot or cold? Will you drink any kind of tea? Or do you dislike tea all together? I know it was a learning curve for me to find what I liked best and make it just the way I liked it.

Now I’m off to make some for myself. All this talk about tea made me thirsty!

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IGM Gymnastics

Posted on April 19, 2013April 18, 2013 by Andi

Yesterday I told you about Gleason’s Gymnastics. Today, I’ll tell you about IGM Gymnastics. This is another local gymnastics studio that lets the kids just run around. There were some things I liked better about this place than Gleason’s and some things I liked less.

First, this place has a HUGE bouncy house and slide! Maddie wouldn’t go in it, but she was a bit crabby. I am sure with time, she will love it! I really wanted to go play on it, but Dannie was strapped to the front of me and it just seemed like a bad idea to jump on it with her. Smile

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There were lots of things for the kids to play on. I know Gleason’s changes things around every week, but since I have only been here once, I don’t know what they do. But it sure looked fun!

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Maddie isn’t sleeping in this picture, she’s trying to figure out how yet another thing works!

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There was also a big floor with balls for the kids to play with, more balance beams, and even a little play area for really small kids!

Unfortunately, they only had two trampolines for the kids to jump on, which was kind of a bummer. And the foam pit was much smaller here. Maddie loves playing in that. And the other downfall is that it is $8 per kid no matter how many kids. Gleason’s is $8 for one kid and $10 for more than one kid (family price) which is nice. I’m not sure if IGM has a punch card like Gleason’s has, either.

Since they are only open on Fridays, I probably will only be bringing Dannie with me next year since Maddie will be in preschool on Fridays, so it won’t matter too much to me, but it may matter to someone else.

So there’s my run down of the couple open gymnastics places I have been to! You should definitely give it a try if you have kids! They will love it!

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Gleason’s Gymnastics

Posted on April 18, 2013April 18, 2013 by Andi

There’s a couple gymnastics studios around where kids can just run around and use the equipment. We have been going to Gleason’s and Maddie loves it. The first time she was there she was a bit skeptical, but she warmed up to it. By the next time we went, she was taking off her shoes and running to the trampolines before I could pay and get Dannie out of her car seat!

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Maddie was fascinated to figure out how these bars worked. She is definitely Chuck’s daughter!

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Maddie runs and runs and runs along this line of tape.

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Maddie had a fun time with her friend playing with the foam blocks and then playing under the parachute!

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I love that there’s a place for her to run around and have fun. Especially when we seem to have a winter that just won’t end! If you have young kids, I highly recommend checking out this place or seeing if there is a gym like this in your area!

Sadly, when I was there yesterday, I found out that there is only one more week of open gym this season. I’m kind of bummed, but I understand there probably isn’t very good turn out during the summer. But just an FYI if you were going to check it out. But….there might be another local option. I’ll tell you about that one tomorrow!

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Library

Posted on March 29, 2013April 25, 2013 by Andi

Tuesday and Thursday this week, I went to a local library. Turns out….I LOVE this library! There are so many fun toys and activities and they even seem to encourage kids to play in this library! Here are pictures from my two recent visits.

My mom met me at the library Tuesday and had fun playing with Maddie. They did puzzles and we had quite the puppet show! Smile

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Maddie discovered that dinosaurs are fun!

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There was a little area that had a wooden boat and a bait shop. She liked looking in all the boxes. Although one of the boxes had a rope in it and she was scared of it because she thought it was a snake.

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Then on Thursday, my dad met me there and we spent the time chasing her around since she already remembered where everything was. They even had a movie playing that we watched for a while.

The first thing she did was run to the computer and wanted the headphones on. She has never worn headphones before. She was just banging on the keyboard, but I thought the picture was so cute. Smile

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Maddie loved getting the blocks and putting them on the belt and making them drop into the container. What a fun toy!

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Oh, and take note of the dinosaur stacked on top of the blocks in the truck. She was so proud of herself for that one! Smile

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Thank you Wescott Library for being so wonderful and helping keep a toddler busy for many hours!

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Fitbit

Posted on February 17, 2013 by Andi

For Valentine’s Day, Chuck got me a new FitBit. It’s the FitBit Zip….in pink, of course!

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My old one was the first one we got many years ago. It wasn’t holding a charge very well anymore. This one takes a battery, which is much better for me since I suck at remembering to charge devices. It doesn’t have sleep tracking, but I never really used that anyway. It also syncs with a scale and a food tracking app I use (LoseIt). Overall, I love it!

If you don’t have a Fitbit and you are curious about how many steps you take and more…I highly recommend this!

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Valentine’s Day Gift

Posted on February 1, 2013 by Andi

Since today is February 1st, that means Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. If you are in the market to get me something for Valentine’s Day, I have the perfect gift! Not that I need another bag, but I need another bag! The colors, the stripes….it just screams LOVE!

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It’s a Retro Metro Tote. And a nice bonus would be the green or teal flower to go with it. 🙂

Just a suggestion! 🙂

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If I Were Made Of Money

Posted on October 8, 2012 by Andi

Or knew someone that needed a perfectly wonderful high chair….I would replace mine with this one:

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Only because I love the pattern. That is all. Smile I just wanted to share a picture so that when I want to look at its pretty chevron stripes in wonderful shades of grey, I have somewhere to look. Smile And my current one probably matches my eating area much better than this one would. But I can look. Smile

Is there any item that you have bought and love, but then it comes out in a new pattern and you want it even more than the one you love? Happens to me all the time. (This is probably the reason I have so many Thirty One bags. Smile)

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Mommy Calls Me Monkeypants

Posted on October 7, 2012 by Andi

A number of months ago, I came across this book at the library. I was renewing it all the time because Maddie loved the book and so did I. I did a little looking online and found that there are actually three books in the set.

Mommy Calls Me Monkeypants

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Daddy Calls Me Doodlebug

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Grandma Calls Me Gigglepie

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I have given these books to a couple different people as gifts. They have cute stories and Maddie has learned a bunch of different animals from them. My mom really likes reading “Grandma Calls Me Gigglepie” to Maddie, too.

So if you’re looking for a good gift, you need to add something to your kids’ Christmas/Birthday list or you just want a couple new books for your kids, I highly recommend these!

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Reviews

Posted on August 22, 2012April 7, 2016 by Andi

I have a category for reviews of things (Products), but I haven’t done a great job of reviewing anything. So I thought I would try and do more of those.

Most of the things I will review will probably be kid related things. Since I have a bunch of toys, I may start with some of my favorites and not-so-favorite things.

If there is something you are curious about, let me know. There’s a good chance I own it or have heard about it and I could do a review on it. I’m pretty good at giving my opinion on things, so why not.

With the arrival of Baby Girl #2 quickly approaching, there will be many things I will using again and some that I will be avoiding. Maybe my crazy opinions on things will help someone out!

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Gift For Grandma

Posted on July 30, 2012July 30, 2012 by Andi

Over the weekend, we celebrated Chuck’s mom’s birthday. We got (and made) her some things for the grand daughters (Maddie and Mira).

We got her a kids table for her house.

ikea-table-kids-chairs

And I made her some placemats and name tags for the chairs.

We also gave her a couple plates for the girls to use at the table. Mira isn’t quite old enough yet, but before we know it, we will have 3 little girls at the table!

Grandma Linda loved them and Maddie even got to try them out and loved it, too! It was a successful birthday!

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minihays

⛸️❤️ ⛸️❤️
#hayskidsyearlyphotos 📸 #hayskidsyearlyphotos 📸
❇️10❇️ Alex turned double digits (😧) ❇️10❇️ 

Alex turned double digits (😧) a little over a week ago and celebrated with some friends over the weekend. He is the happiest guy around and we hope he never changes! 💚💙🎉
✨12✨ I’m almost two weeks late posting abo ✨12✨ 

I’m almost two weeks late posting about Dannie’s bday, but she had a fabulous day celebrating various times with friends and family She was thoroughly spoiled and is so very loved! 💗🎉

minihaysreads

Anyone else use @loopearplugs? I got a pair last y Anyone else use @loopearplugs? I got a pair last year and I love them so much. They are wonderful in so many situations and really help me focus when there are lots of noises around.
Books & Bracelets! My new favorite activity has be Books & Bracelets! My new favorite activity has been creating bracelets to go with some of my favorite books. This was my first little and I loved these books and their little wrist friends so much. 🤩😍

More little creations are being added to @technicallyscattered.
When you volunteer at the book fair, you’re obvi When you volunteer at the book fair, you’re obviously going to come home with some new books! I think there was only one I regret not buying. Next time!
My youngest might have found our new favorite way My youngest might have found our new favorite way to read together! Under a blanket with a reading light!💡

haysonthelake

The new dock stacks so nicely on the shore! The le The new dock stacks so nicely on the shore! The legs even store inside. So smart!
Chuck’s dad came to help us take out the dock an Chuck’s dad came to help us take out the dock and Alex wanted in on the fun, too. It was so cute to watch three generations of Hays men hard at work. 😁 (Don’t worry…I helped, too!)
#the jet ski lift has been so helpful for moving around the dock sections and it turns out it’s fun for rides, too! 💦
Cleaned up the space under the porch and deck a fe Cleaned up the space under the porch and deck a few weeks ago for the winter. I love the kayak hanger Chuck found!
It’s spooky outside…Mother Nature sent us tric It’s spooky outside…Mother Nature sent us tricks today. Hopefully the neighbors are giving out treats tonight! 🎃❄️

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