friday

The thing I love most about the Five on Friday link up is...that you can talk about anything your heart desires! It can be as structured as you want or as random as you want! And today it will be completely random! Enjoy!

| one |

I've been itching to redecorate Cailee's room! While I was searching the internet for inspiration I found the prettiest rug from Pottery Barn Kids! The colors are so pretty and it comes in three different sizes! 

| two |

Today was Cailee's last day of summer school at her new school! The last four weeks she learned so much and got accustomed to her new school. They learned various subjects throughout this time from engineering to modern art! She said she loved all the subjects but I have a feeling the art was her favorite! Here are some of the art (insert all the heart eyes here please)! The Picasso one is my absolute favorite!! This kid has way more artistic abilities than I do!

| three |

While we barely discovered all the amazingness that is Descendants...you know the movie about the Disney Villains kids? We are anxiously awaiting the premiere of Descendants 2 tonight!! We have the popcorn and ice cream all ready! 

| four |

Everyone has been talking about the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale and I am here bragging about this H&M dress I found on sale for $9.99! It is so light weight and comfortable. It can be dressed up with some accessories or dressed down with a denim jacket and leather sandals! 

| five |

We are headed to Great Wolf Lodge this weekend and we are so excited! It's our first time and we already have a list of activities we want to tackle! Check back next week for my review of the resort!

xoxo

Jocelyn

my favorite apps

Today I wanted to share with you guys my favorite apps! 

I use all three of these apps on the daily and the photos below are real screenshots from my phone!

First up is...

| Shopkick |

So this app came into my life in form of a competition! My sister introduced me to this app and it quickly became a competition between us! We wanted to see who could get the most kicks! Surprisingly out of the two of us, I still use the app! 

With this app you get reward points by doing various things like...walking into a specific store, scanning items, or buying everyday items! After you get a certain amount of kicks/points you can redeem them for gift cards! 

For example: Today I walked into Target so I opened up the app when I was walking in and the app registered this action (by bluetooth) and I got 25 kicks for just walking in!

As you can see All-Time Kicks I have are 63,428!!! I've redeemed my kicks for Target, Old Navy and Starbucks gift cards! 

Easy "money" :) and I get to indulge in my Starbucks!

Interested in signing up?!! Follow this link here! 

*With that referral code I get a certain amount of kicks"points" when you join!*

Next up is...

| Receipt Hog | 

With this app you just take a picture of your receipt from Target or the grocery store and you get "coins". After you get a certain amount of coins you can redeem them for Amazon gift cards or direct payment to your PayPal account! As you can see below I've redeemed a few of my points for PayPal cash! I take pictures of almost all my receipts!

No referral code necessary for this app! Just download and get started! 

Lastly is...

| Ibotta |

With the Ibotta app you basically get a rebate on items purchased from various stores! For example I shop at Target and Ralphs a lot when I get home I check the Ibotta app to see if anything I purchased is up on the app for rebate. If the item is on the app all I have to do is snap a picture of the receipt and scan said item! I just redeemed $20 which I had transferred to my PayPal account! 

Interested in trying Ibotta?! Follow the link here!

*With that referral code I get a $5 bonus when you join!*

Do you have any good apps you like?! Please share them in the comments below!

xoxo

Jocelyn

celebrating Hannah

This weekend we celebrated our Hannah girl!

It has been a year since she became a part of our family.

Because of the nature in which she was found(read about her adoption here) we don't know her official birthday so we combined her adoption anniversary with her birthday!

Of course we celebrated with a cake made especially for her! Thank you Three Dog Bakery for making awesome doggy cakes! Hannah absolutely loved eating cake!

I absolutely had to make us a cake too! 

The girls have been talking about Hannah's birthday for weeks and couldn't wait to get the party started! They were also mildly disappointed that we didn't invite our entire family over for the "party"...but a piece of cake made all right in the world!

Our Hannah girl has been living the life of luxury(which is totally well deserved!) and we can't wait for many more years with her!

PS = Adopt don't shop!

xoxo

Jocelyn

five on Friday

Happy Friday Everyone!

Are you ready for another Five on Friday post?!?!

I hope the answer is yes :) because its coming your way in like a second...

| one |

Pottery Barn has set up shop in my bank account and I am not even mad about it! I wanted to get a head start on school supplies shopping because I know the next few weeks will be pretty hectic for us! So as I was shopping for Cailee's backpack and lunch box I fell down the Pottery Barn black hole! A few clicks later I found myself looking at bedding!! My youngest Charlotte is a big time car fan! Like no joke she has like 20 cars in her collection thus far! So when I saw their Cars themed bedding I knew who would be a fan! Still fine tuning the style we are going for in her room but you better believe it will have some of these goodies! Went in for backpacks and came out with bedding...well played PB ;)

| two |

When you sign up as a beauty insider with Sephora you get a free birthday gift. This year I picked their Tarte lip and cheek set! I loved the lip paint in "birthday suit" sample so much I bought the regular size! It is like lipgloss but much thicker and creamier! They have such a variety there is a color for everyone!

| three |

 We are Disneyland lovers to the max but Universal Studios has quickly occupied a space in our heart! We spent Thursday afternoon at the park and I can't wait to share all of our favorites in its own well deserved post coming soon! But I'll leave you with a photo of one of the girls absolute favorite attractions Universal has to offer...Hogsmeade!

| four |

This weekend we are celebrating a special Anniversary/Birthday! Our doggy Hannah's adoption anniversary is this Sunday and I may or may not have purchased a doggy cake for her! Because she is a rescue and we don't know prior information of her we don't know her official birthday so we will be celebrating her birthday on her anniversary date!

A celebration will be had and I can't wait! PS Three Dogs Bakery is the best! 

| five |

We just booked a mini vacation at the Great Wolf Lodge and I am literally counting down the days!!! We have never been and would love to hear some recommendations?!?! Shoot me an email or leave a comment below! Kiddos in our group are ages 2-9!!  

We are pretty sold on the water park attractions but would love to have the girls partake in the other activities too! So let me know your favorite!!

Join in on the linkup fun here!

xoxo

Jocelyn

Summer Reading with Barnes and noble

It is no secret that I love me some Barnes and Noble!

It is an outing the girls and I all look forward too! 

They have a great kids' club (see my post about that here) and now during summer they have a great reading program for the kiddos! 

This year Cailee gets to participate and she is so excited about it! 

She learned to read this past school year and every book she reads just builds her confidence even more! I really couldn't be prouder! I know reading wasn't easy for her but she has come so far!

With this Summer Reading Journal children grades 1-6 get one free book(preselected books to choose from) when they read any 8 books! 

You can pick up a journal for your child in your local Barnes and Noble or print one out online! All your kiddo needs to do is read 8 books and document it in their journal, and once complete take journal into the store!

 Here are some of the books your kiddo can pick from!! Cailee has her eyes on the Pinkalicious I can read book! 

I seriously love this program and think its a great way to promote reading to your child! They get practice reading and get a free book! 

Win and win!

We are three books in and five more to go :)

xoxo

Jocelyn

Cow Appreciation Day 2017

Today was Chick-Fil-A's 13th annual Cow Appreciation Day and as the Chick-fil-a lovers that we are, we couldn't resist joining in on the celebration!

If you went in dressed up in your best cow gear you got a free entree and children dressed up got a free kids meal.

This was our first year participating and it was so much fun! Yep, I am that kind of mom and pretty dang proud of it :)

Cailee had a little cow head piece and apron that she never got to use at a school event! I had extra black felt tucked away in the garage that came in handy! In less than 20 minutes I had our costumes ready!

My husband totally thought we were going to be the only ones dressed up and boy was he dead wrong! Almost every single person was wearing something cow related...it was pretty awesome!

I love when people get into things like this!

Here is my little cow tribe!

Big sister didn't want to wear the head piece but this little one couldn't wait to put it on! 

Although she didn't want to wear the cow head piece, she didn't hesitate "mooing" at the girl taking our order hahaha!

We had a pretty moo-tastic dinner ;)

xoxo

Jocelyn

Harry Potter inspired invitations

A few weeks back I shared with you my Harry Potter themed 30th birthday party (see it here) and completely forgot to show you the invitations! I love invitations and feel like they really set the tone for the event! It was only fair that these beauties get a post all to themselves. 

The invitations were made to look like the real Marauder Map you see in the Harry Potter films! I purchased the digital personalized invitation from this Etsy Shop (Gilmourdesigns). 

The invitation was a printable item and I printed everything at home and assembled it myself! 

It was truly time consuming but was absolutely so worth it! I loved it and my guests enjoyed getting this piece of magic in the mail! 

Each invitation was printed on three individual resume papers, cut, glued and assembled with love!

My first attempt was done using regular computer paper to make sure I got it done right! After the first one I knew exactly what to do and it made the assembly process much quicker!

Once folded together I tied the "map" in twine!

If you look at the bottom left of this photo you will see my footprints on the map!

Little details like this make me swoon!

Once completely opened the invitation looked like this! You could also find the whereabouts of Harry and Hermione!

And because detail is everything to me...I had to wax seal each envelope with the official Hogwarts Seal!

Oh and yes these are Harry Potter stamps!!!!

I found the Hogwarts seal kit and stamps at Universal Studios in Los Angeles.

I hope you enjoyed looking at my invites as much as I did :)

Is it too soon to throw another Harry Potter themed party!?!

| Sources |

- Invitation design by Gilmourdesigns on Etsy

- Resume Paper to print invites on from Amazon
- Kraft Envelopes from Amazon
- Similar Hogwarts Seal from Amazon (and cheaper than what I bought mine for)
- Red wax for seal from Amazon

xoxo

Jocelyn

Home Depot Kids Workshops

This morning was one for the books! 

As a family we got to experience something brand new! 

When we aren't jammed packed with weekends plans, I like to see what local events are going on and perhaps partake in. Well, last night I was up searching the Internet for something to do with the kiddos early enough to avoid the California heat. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Home Depot offers Free Kid Workshops on the first Saturday of each month! We didn't have plans so I thought why the heck not!

Per the website I only registered Cailee because it said for ages 5-12 but when we arrived to the event there was much younger kiddos participating. So next time I am registering both girls! Registration is not required but of course it helps them prepare quantities of supplies.

When we arrived Cailee was given her very own Home Depot apron! She thought it was the coolest thing ever!

We were also given the project for the day! This weekends DIY project was a "bug house". It came packaged with everything needed. Tools and paints were provided by Home Depot and were set up in different stations! 

The hubby took it from here! Cailee's first time using a hammer and boy was she so proud. Charlotte and I cheered on, took photos, and searched for hiding birdies! 

After some assembling it was off to the painting station! Easily Charlotte's favorite part because she got to get in on some of the action! Meanwhile big sister was taking paint selection very seriously! 

This is the face of pure joy mixed in with a little chaos!

Don't mind the makeup free face but sorry summer you win! Heat and a full face of makeup just doesn't work for me! But I am so happy I took a picture with my girls :) Smiles for days from these two girls!

It just so happens that Home Depot was celebrating the 20 year anniversary of the Kids Workshops (who knew right?!?!) so each kiddo was asked to leave the hand print! The hand print art will be displayed in the store and we can't wait to go check it out once its up!

Upon completion of the activity each child receives a certificate of achievement and a commemorative pin! I saw so many kiddos with their aprons filled with commemorative pins from previous workshops and it was adorable! The pins reminded me of girl/boy scout pins! 

Cailee and my hubby are already so excited for next months workshop! 

If you've never been to the workshops I highly recommend at the very least attending one :) Its an experience you can share as a family and best of all its free!!!

Check your local Home Depot for this event and definitely register in advance!

*This is not an ad nor is it sponsored by the Home Depot. Just one momma sharing an experience her whole family enjoyed*

xoxo

Jocelyn