Weekly Recap + a Giveaway!!

Happy Monday friends!! This is Brayden's last week before school starts so we are for sure going to enjoy as much as we can!

We had such a fun week followed by a great weekend! Let's take a peak at what we did:

Monday I took the kids to a new park we've been wanting to check out - they had lots of fun exploring!

Tuesday we headed to the Carousel Room at the park district - they were having crafts there too which the kids loved! Brayden & Ella were very careful when doing them and Avery just loooooved pouring out tons of glue

Wednesday we headed out super early to head to a fun play area/farm that's almost an hour away. They were having a free day for IL residents and wow was it busy - but I guess that's what comes with free days.

 

 

Some friends met up with us and the kids were happy to see them!

Thursday morning I had my yearly physical and then I took the kids to swim at my in laws. My Mom surprised me and took the bigs out with her for the afternoon while Avery napped so I had a free afternoon alone which was very welcomed.

Thursday night Rick took Brayden to watch the Bears game by his parents and me and the girls hung out. We played several games of connect 4 and there was only a little fighting going on. #sisterproblems

Friday morning Miss A had her 3yr well visit and she rocked it! She is so my kid who won't even look back once she gets on the bus for Kindergarten *sigh

 

We stayed home the rest of Friday so I could clean the house. I made Brayden & Ella go upstairs for quite time while Avery napped and of course Ella snuck down and begged to help me clean. How could I even say no to that!?

Brayden wanted a picture with Max :)

Friday night we went by Brayden's buddies house for a BBQ - they have an inground pool & hot tub so that kept the kids occupied for quite a while!!

Saturday morning we had to head to the sports center to pick up the equipment keys since Rick is head coach of the Fall baseball team. There's a park right across the street so we let the kids burn off some energy

Later in the day Brayden & Ella helped me in the kitchen - love having cute helpers!!

The rest of the night we hung out in the yard, ordered pizza and watched Boss Baby. When the kids went to bed, Rick and I watched Chips which was pretty funny.

Sunday was my cousins baby shower so me and Miss Ella headed there. There was yummy food and it was so fun catching up with family

 

Doesn't she look great!? She's having a sweet baby girl in just a few weeks!

Also what came last week was my new necklace from Malibleue - this is my 2nd piece from this shop and I LOVE it! Stacy, the shop owner, is so nice and her quality is top notch.

Look at some of the cute stuff she has!

Stacy has been so kind to give away a piece from her shop to one lucky reader!!! Enter the giveaway below!! The giveaway will last through next Monday - good luck!!!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

*linking up with B Loved Boston & The Sirois Family

Teeth Whitening Review with Smile Brilliant

You guys - today I'm here to tell you and show you all about Smile Brilliant. Their teeth whitening system is AMAZING.

Let's back it up a little - I am an avid coffee drinker (like several cups a day) and I love my red wine. Over the years, and more recently, I realized that my teeth were not looking their best. I've tried crest white strips in the past and a couple other whitening products and let me tell you, Smile Brilliant knocked them all out of the park.

With the others, I specifically remember my teeth and gums burning during and after use! I would suffer through the pain because I thought the result was worth it, but even though my teeth did get a little whiter, they never really stayed like that.

With Smile Brilliant, I am happy to say I had no issues of my teeth and gums burning, and that's probably partially due to the fact that they have a desensitizing gel that you use right after the whitening gel.

Ok let's get to the whitening kit and what it's all about:

When you order your kit, the first thing you need to do is make your impressions for your custom trays. These are what you are going to use to put the whitening and desensitizing gels in. It is very simple to make your impressions. The kit comes with 2 pastes that you mix together, place inside a plastic mold and then you bite down to make your impressions. You will do this for your top and bottom teeth. Once they are dry, you send them back to Smile Brilliant so they can create your custom trays!

Once you receive your trays, you're ready to start whitening! For me, I did choose to use to the gels every other day because I felt that if I did it everyday, I may have some irritation. Doing the every other day worked great for me!

Whitening your teeth at home is so easy! If you want, you can watch a video on this affordable teeth whitening review 

I hope you give Smile Brilliant a try if you're looking to whiten your teeth at home! And one lucky reader will be able to because Smile Brilliant is giving away $139 towards any teeth whitening kit!!

Here are the details:

Giveaway link: www.smilebrilliant.com/g/thishappylife (**Giveaway open to UK, Australia, Canada, and USA residents*)

Also here's a 5% coupon code: thishappylife5

GOOD LUCK!!!

*linking up with Lindsay's Sweet World & Our Pretty Little Girls for Tuesday Talk

Toddler Funnies & A Giveaway!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok so I had NO idea just how funny toddlers could be! My little man is my very own mini comedian and best of all, he’s free J I have been taking note lately of the stuff he has been saying because it is just down right hilarious! (At least in this Mama’s eyes) I also bought a quote book from Paper Coterie so I can jot down the funny statements in there to show him when he is older.  I know we are only in the very beginning stages of the funny stuff Brayden will say, but I still want to make sure I remember this!

I realize this may not be funny to anyone else besides me and the hubs and that is just fine J

I think it is more the way my little guys says these things rather than what he is actually saying.  His voice is just so darn cute and sometimes it seems he has an accent when he talks, which makes these things even funnier. 

• Sitting at the dinner table a month or so ago and Brayden says “I’ll be right back!” then proceeds to get up, look at us, and walk backwards out of the kitchen.  Of course we made him come right back!
• Sometimes my little guy will tell me “I have to show you something!” and bring me somewhere in the house, then says “Wait right there!”
• When putting him to bed, now when I am walking out of his room, he says, “Do not run away from me!” I swear, I am not running…
• The other week I asked him to eat his dinner and replied back to me with “Mom, are you crazy?!” Oh wow, this one had me laughing out loud
• Whenever I ask him a question, like, what do you want to do today, he replies “ Hmmm let me think! …. I know, I know!” then says what he wants.
• The other day he was trying to kick my legs and was saying “Take that you big bully!” Now this one had both me and the hubs turning our heads away to quickly let out a laugh, then we immediately told Brayden that was not funny.  We kept asking where he heard that because I have never heard his little Disney & Sprout shows talk like that…he finally told us it was Fred Flinstone.  Way to go me for letting him watch that…
• The other day he told me “Thank you for cleaning up my house” –the kid’s not only funny, but thoughtful
• If I am telling him to stop doing something he says “STOP talking to me!” He usually pushes his hand out in front of him while saying this too – I try so hard to keep a straight face when he does this!
• Not only does he say funny things, he says the sweetest things, my favorite so far has been "I love you back and to the moon" - melt my heart!

As I mentioned above, I purchased my Quote book from Paper Coterie and love love love it! I was able to personalize the front and there is an option to upload pictures for the inside.  I chose not to do this because I know Brayden is just at the start of saying funny things and I didn’t want all of the pictures in the book to be from when he was younger, I want this book to last through his early childhood.  I thought I could always add pictures in later, but it is such a nice option that you can upload and have them be on the pages.

If you haven’t seen the products Paper Coterie offers, I’m telling you, go now and check out this site.  It is AMAZING! They offer a variety of different products and I know any Mom who is as obsessed with their kids as I am, would love to have anything from their site.  And the good people over at Paper Coterie are extending their love and offering 1 person a credit to their site for anything your little heart desires, up to a $42 value, plus free economy shipping, how sweet is that?!! I am beyond excited to be working with them on my very first giveaway, just enter below for a chance to win! 

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