Lazy Mama Puppy Chow

Lazy mamas, raise your hands.

They're are points in parenthood where it's acceptable and not acceptable to pull a lazy mom pass.

General hygiene and basic caretaking, no.
Festive holiday food, sure.

Sometimes you want to be that Pinterest/Instagram mom that you admire from afar for putting together her perfectly themed play dates and who you secretly might hate (just a little) for pulling it off so freaking seamlessly.

I get it.

I'll openly admit I feel a little jealous of the festive assortment of crafts and perfectly shaped heart pancakes that are posted in abundance this time of year by all the awesome mamas out there.

But you know what?

My kid doesn't know I'm not on par with the other mamas out there and is as equally excited to make broke down puppy chow as she is with the elegant melted chocolate variety.

How is it that you make the already easy snack of Puppy Chow, even more simpler?

Let this mama show you...

Lazy Mama Puppy Chow

2 cups of white cheddar popcorn
3 cups of Rice Chex cereal
1 large handful of mini marshmallows
10-15 Hershey kisses
2 large handfuls of leftover red M&Ms from Christmas
1 freezer bag with 2 cups of confectionery sugar

Here's where it gets difficult guys, so pay attention...

- Combine all ingredients into freezer bag
- Let your tot shake that shit up
- Pour into Instagram worthy white bowl (cause duh, all things white and bright)
- Drizzle with some pink Betty Crocker cookie icing
- Garnish with festive holiday sprinkles

And boom...take a picture of that bad beezy from every angle because you are a freaking rockstar to your three year old now.

Join us next time where I'll teach you how to boil an egg or possibly make cereal. Being a full time mama and worker, I try to help where I can. No need to thank me. 

* I hope you know this is all in good fun. I'm not a great cooker, baker, or candlestick maker so these are all tongue and cheek. Xoxo.

Valentine's Day

It would be easy for me to be a bitter Betty this past Valentine's Day considering the circumstances. I've been trying my best to get through many of the 'firsts' and this one was probably one of the ones I truly wasn't looking forward to.

 A day all about love...and affection...and flowers...and sweetness...and mushy gushy throw all the love in your face type of nonsense that last year I soaked myself up in. It's not to say that I don't enjoy those things and look forward to all the cutesy crap that the stores and Facebook dish out, but this year I was a tad bit hestitant,

But...

This year I was not about wallow in my own self pity. I've gotten through these last few months with as much grace as I could muster and the good days have been much greater than the bad, so I laced up my big girl booties and decided that Amaya and I were going to celebrate to the fullest.

We were going to make all the heart shaped foods our bellies could handle, make Valentine's crafts out the wazoo, and we were going to have a special Mama and Amaya date on Valentine's, because she is truly the one person who will forever have my heart.

Amaya enjoyed her little treasures from the messy array of Walmart cheap treats and plastic toys, as well as the brownie batter that she couldn't keep her tiny fingers out of.

I was almost positive she would jump at the chance to go eat inside at McDonald's since that is a special treat for her, but homegirl gave me the business and explicitly told me 'no mama...no McOnalds...I go to wess-ta-want, I color!'

Well okay then...

So Cracker Barrel it was. We're not fancy ladies but what my baby wants, my baby gets and we had a simple yummy meal and some good conversation and coloring. She told me all about her school, what kid said what, and strict instructions on where and what to color.

It was one of my best Valentine's to date.
All thanks to my littlest love and Valentine.

Jord Wood Watches

Have you ever seen something, admired it, wanted it for your own, and felt like everything was working perfectly in your favor...?!?

Well friends, that's exactly how I felt when I was contacted by Jord to receive one of their beautiful wood watches. To set the scene and time line, it was right around the time of my fifth wedding anniversary and as B and I did, we celebrated the traditional gifts...and this past year was wood. It all felt like fate. B was an obsessive watch collector who valued a fine timepiece, so this was perfect.

....But then he left....

And to be honest, I didn't know if I was going to be able to complete this campaign. This beautiful watch sat in the back of my closet, haunting me and the relationship that I was so excited to celebrate was now broke. How do I put my heart and honest feelings into a men's watch that wasn't meant for me and review it. I struggled with it and with the amazing team at Jord, they understood my situation and gave me the time to process everything.

That is when I came to the conclusion to share this beautiful men's watch and accessory with two of the most supportive people in my life, my sister and brother in law who have taken me into their home on lonely weekends, let me cry on their shoulders, and talked me through some of my darkest moments. It is a small token of my appreciation.

A valentine's gift of sorts for the two most deserving people I have in my life right now. 

My brother in law is super impressed with the face of this watch and is equally as impressed by the wood finish and they're able to make such a different timepiece than anything that is our there right now. With the countless choices of watches out there these days, this unique watch stands alone in style and craftsmanship.

Seriously, take a minute (see what I did there...lol) and admire the craftsmanship that is put into this. I am absolutely in love with the face of this watch and the details.

This is the Dover style in Zebrawood and Dark Sandalwood and it is gorgeous!

The packaging was also phenomenal. The classic and sturdy box to house this watch was just as great as the watch itself.

My sister also wanted to model our latest in wrist wear fashion but no worries there is also an equal amazing women's watch line as well.

It might already be Valentine's Day but do yourself a favor and treat yourself or your loved ones a little late anyway. The generous team over at Jord also put together a sweet giveaway to help me celebrate this Valentine's Day and the launch of our new blog, so go check it out below:

CELEBRATE WITH JORD + LWLH

You'll have a chance to win $180 store credit with free shipping and free sizing, so hurry up, before it ends on February 26th!

JORD is also offering 15% off using the code lwlhblog so get those booties moving and grab yourself one of these beauties.

Mens Wooden Watches

Snow Day

There is something to be said about snow days.

For how much I despise having to go into work for straight time on a Friday, I was a little bit excited when our work called us off for today because of the winter storm and snow we expected.

Late bedtimes. Snacks. Couch cuddles. Sleeping in.

All the things you get excited for when you were of school age but with more responsibility and you're not as equally excited to go out and play in the snow as you once were. Regardless it was a fun time to have a middle of the week slumber party with my sister and nephews.

I was confident that this year was going to be so much better for Amaya than it was for her last year. When we were buried in our weekend blizzard last year I bundled her up in all her snow suit glory and made way to our backyard to enjoy her reaction. 

Welllllll....

It ended in tears.

Lots of tears.

Apparently homegirl wasn't too fond of the wintry white stuff and made it very known with a cherry red nose and tear stained cheeks.

But this year was going to be different. She was another year older and after much hype through the Christmas season and her obsession with all things Frozen, I was practically a one man band of 'Do You Want To Build A Snowmen'...? with excitement. 

Do you sense the hesitation in that face? 

Yes, after a 45 minute struggle of dressing her in three layers of sweatpants, two pairs of thick socks, three long sleeve shirts, one sweatshirt, snowsuit, jacket, hat, boots, and mittens....we were all set to go out into the winter wonderland. 

Until we walked down the set of stairs and the wild wind smacked a snow drift right in her face...

'Hey guyssssss....wait up!'

Yeahhhh, so obviously our fun filled day of all things snow did not go as planned. There were no snowmen built, no snowball fights, no snow angels made...zip zero zilch. 

There was a couple tears, runny noses, cries to be held, and a unsuccessful first ride on a sled. I wouldn't call it a success but definitely an experience. Even when our adventures don't go according to plan, we try to make the best of it. 

I wasn't too fond of being outside anyway in the windy winter wonderland, so we headed inside, stripped off our layers of clothes and painted Valentines and took a late afternoon nap.

That's a good snow day if you ask me, and there's always next year for the reacquainting of the snow.