Prepare for Disney overload...

Well, as you are probably aware (because I cannot shut up about things like this) we just had a fantastic family vacation to Walt Disney World in Florida. And (again because I cannot shut up about things like this) you lucky readers of this blog (mom, Andrea, et al) will get a play by play of this trip. I will still continue catching up on other events of the last year, but I want to get down this stuff while it is fresh. I have MANY pictures to share, advice to give and fun stories to share. So, sit back, relax and enjoy the ride!

Family Pretzel Making (see pics at end!!!)

Many of you are aware that I have a deals blog called Ah...Deals...Beckee's Deals. Over the past year and a half since I started it, it has really grown. I have lots of followers (about 100 total on all the different sites), and I have had the excellent opportunity to review and giveaway a lot of different products. I love reviews because I get the whole family involved and we make it a huge fun family activity! One of the first I did was for a pretzel making kit last November. Below is the original post from my Deals blog, and I will add some additional pics of the kids at the end:

I told you all here that I am going to be reviewing something from the CSN Store websites. And I told you all here that I ordered a couple things: a Sassafras Kid's Pretzel Making Kit, and a Sassafras Kid's Pizza Party Baking Kit. And guess what?! Just because I needed them, and because the CSN Store websites have just about everything, I also added a set of 4 Mr Clean Magic Erasers that I needed!

Well, last night my family had a family night activity and made the Pretzels. Before I tell you about the item itself, let me tell you a couple things about the CSN Store. First, ordering was quick and easy. Second, the items came QUICKLY! I was really impressed by that! My Mr Clean Magic Erasers were here the 2nd day after ordering, and the 2 kits were here the next day. It was so quick! I was very happy with the ease of ordering and the quick delivery!

That being said, let me tell you about the Sassafras Kid's Pretzel Making Kit. It is not an overstatement to say my kids LOVED it and I thought it was a ton of fun! What a great activity to do as a family! We were able to make our own "homemade" pretzels in a quick easy way thanks to this awesome kit.  There are a few things you have to have at home (like butter, water, baking soda and a mixing bowl), but other than those few things, everything else in in the kit. It made organizing this fun activity SOOO easy and we loved working on it together! ( I should mention that my husband and I did this with all four of our kids ages 2, 4, 6, and 7) Check out our adventure through pictures:

First, look at all the great stuff that came in the package:

In case you cannot see what is all there, it has nutrition facts, directions to make pretzels, measuring cup, wooden spoon, cookie sheet, pretzel mix, salt, frosting mix, cheese sauce, yeast, and the fought over apron. Look how cute that thing was:

We let the kids do the mixing:

Then I helped with the messy hand kneading:

After rising for a half hour we made balls of the dough and rolled them into long "snakes" to make shapes out of:

Each kid made their own pretzel snakes then shaped their pretzel however they wanted it on their own (ok actually I helped the 2 year old make her pretzel shaped pretzel after she rolled out the snake...)

The shapes above include 2 pretzel shaped pretzels, a W for Wes (my husband) and a B for Beckee (me).

And the shapes in that one are the ones the kids made.  A for Army, a heart for E Dawg, a moon shape for Sugar pup, and a pretzel for Cat.  While they cooked we made the chocolate frosting and opened up the cheese sauce:

When they came out they smelled SOOOO good.  And they looked pretty good too:

Are you hungry yet?  I know I was and boy did I enjoy my pretzel!!  See:

So, are you wondering what the kids thought? This should tell you:

Overall, we thought this was a fun project as a family and we loved having a treat at the end!! I highly recommend this product and I getting it through the CSN Store website was quick and easy! You should check it out here! We cannot wait to try out our pizza party making kit!!!

***Here are some additional pics for our famliy and friends that were not included in my review:

Hope you liked those pics!

Baseball Family Night

In May we had a fun and busy month. I have a lot of fun pictures to share with you still from that month. Today I am going to just post one more thing though and it is picture extensive! So, if you love seeing pics of my kids and Wes playing baseball for a family night in May, you will LOVE this post! :)

Lets start with Ender. Here he is up to bat!

Next is Solace...at first hesitant to put on the helmet (she did not want to mess up her hair) but when we realized she was helmet-less-we made her put one on. Good thing too as she got hit by a ball in the head shortly after. Here are her pics (with and without helmet):

Armour was the most into it and he spend a lot of time hitting AND pitching.  He was so fun to watch! Check out his photos:

OK-I said Armour was most into it-that is not ENTIRELY true-Wes might have been more so...You be the judge (take note of his pitcher face-it is so intense and I find it adorable and irresistable! Isn't he cute?!)

And of course Kindle was with us, but she stayed safely and happily in a swing:

Also, Solace loves to swing and insisted we take pictures of her doing so before we left the park:

We try to have a lot of active fun for our family nights and this was a great one!!