New Wheels

You know you're a mom when your "new wheels" excitement equals a new stroller! ;) In late June I saw a tweet from Kolcraft (@Kolcraft) regarding a chance to win their new Contours Optima Tandem Stroller. The contest was detailed on their blog here. Basically, each day during the contest you could tweet an entry that had to start with "Oh Optima how I love your ..." and include the hash tag #ContoursOptima.

I entered 3 times. On the final day of the contest, I sent this tweet:

Oh Optima how I love your sleek design. Walking w/you would be divine. The kids would cheer & I could finally tone my rear. #ContoursOptima

And, lucky me, that ended up being the winning tweet! To say I was shocked was an understatement.

I was still pinching myself when the box arrived on my doorstep! Now for those who missed why I need a double stroller - I watch my 10 month old niece during the week along with Dylan. We get out of the house quite regularly. Some days we do okay with her in Dylan's lightweight stroller and him on the buddy harness (yes, I proudly use one - I'm not willing to chance losing my child or worse). But there are times when I need to be able to push them both and this has been a blessing to all 3 of us.

Can you see the smile on his face?

The seats detach from the frame and, combined with the included universal car seat adapter (a second can be ordered), there are 6 different seating arrangements. Our favorite is both seats facing each other. This allows them to interact. With the previous tandem stroller we had, both seats only faced forward. Dylan was constantly turning to reach "baby" and hand her snacks or was getting frustrated when she leaned forward and pulled his hair. Now they both sit comfortably.

I like the padded grip, parent tray, large storage basket underneath (I can easily fit both their diaper bags with room leftover) and how smooth the stroller rides. It's so nice to be able to comfortably push & maneuver a stroller that seats two. We've taken it for a spin all over from the mall to 2+ mile walks down the greenway.

Padded grip and large parent tray with 2 cup holders

One of the other things I like is that this stroller is only 37 pounds making it nice and lightweight. It can be folded with both seats attached or one/both removed. I have found it simplest and easiest on my back to remove both seats, then fold the frame to place it in my car. This may sound tricky, but the seats detach so easily, I can quickly do it now and be on my way.

This literally just touches the tip of the iceberg. There are plenty of other great details (the adjustable height canopies, different seat & footrest angles, 5-point harness on both seats, etc) and two stylish color schemes to choose from. Overall, I'm very pleased and think it's a wonderful product. Thanks again to Kolcraft for this great prize!

Note: The Contours Optima Tandem stroller was received free to me as a prize in a giveaway sponsored by Kolcraft. A review or otherwise was not required as part of my win. The opinions expressed within the review are my own.

Read More

Race Car Thank You Notes

To thank everyone after Dylan's Cars birthday party, we needed car themed thank you notes. I kept the design fairly simple using strips of printed checkered paper, red cardstock and a stamp. I also printed return address labels with Lightning McQueen on them just as I had done with the invites.

Supplies: Recollections white cards, cardstock & stamp; StazOn black ink; personal black & white checkered design; Avery clear address labels #18660; Lightning McQueen clip art; Comic Sans font.

Read More

Shoot and Edit: Bright & Colorful

Last week our playgroup attempted bubble painting. For whatever reason, the mixture (just store bought bubbles with food coloring added) did not want to make bubbles although it had worked perfectly the night before. Not all was lost though. Our toddlers had a grand time dripping, flicking & even sticking their hands in the mixture and adding it to the paper.

ISO 100, ss 1/250, f8.0

Join in the fun with Jill Samter Photography and Ramblings and Photos:

Read More

Fun Zone

Dylan and friends having fun at the Fun Zone in January. A big room full of toys - what could be better? Honestly, I think their only problem was figuring out what to play with first! :)

Supplies: Kate Teague's Just the Photos 2 template; Karla Dudley's Misfits 1 paper and Digi Essentials 2 & 8 kits; Miss Mint's Kindergarten Crafts & Twinkle Toes kits; Janda Everyday Casual font.

Read More

Cow Shirts

One of the local Chick-fil-A restaurants hosts a kids craft & story time each Thursday morning. Our playgroup happened to visit the day before the annual "Cow Appreciation Day" where customers dressed like a cow can get free food. Thus, the day's project was painting a cow t-shirt. All four toddlers were very serious about their painting. A few weeks later, we got the gang together for a group shot in their shirts. Of course, it was a challenge getting the entire "herd" together. ;) [That would be Dylan walking away from the others!]

Supplies: Simply Tiffany Studios 52 Thursday Templates Template No 23; Berylium font.

Read More

Painting Fun

I've been having lots of fun recently gathering crafty ideas on Pinterest that I can do with Dylan. As hot as it is, we need indoor activities to keep us occupied. Two of the ideas we've tried involve paint - Kool-Aid paining and Shake & Paint.

Dylan, Lily & I experimented with Kool-Aid painting a week before trying it with one of Dylan's friends. Although at 10 months, Lily isn't quite into brush to paper, she did manage a few strokes before the brush went to her mouth. I appreciated that our "paint" was just drink mix & water thus didn't have to worry about her tasting it minus the stain of red around her mouth. ;)

To make the "paint" - we mixed a package of Kool-Aid mix with 1 tbsp of hot water:

Dylan & his buddy, Grant, were serious about their painting ... at first. Moments later they were splattering it everywhere. I think only my kitchen ceiling missed getting hit. LOL

Because paint isn't just for brushes - you have to get your hands in it! The one warning about Kool-Aid painting, even after washing your hands, they will be temporarily stained:

But it's all worth it for fun with your friends and cool paintings. Here's what we created:

Then yesterday I was searching for another indoor project to do with Dylan & Lily when I came across Shake & Paint. It's an idea I had seen before but forgotten. Lily left before we started (I think she would have enjoyed rolling the can so we'll try again another day). Dylan helped me line up our supplies on the kitchen floor: paper, crayon bits, paint and a can (yes, that's the can I decorated for his birthday party!):

We rolled the paper inside of the formula can. Dropped in our crayon bits and squirted a bit of paint:

Then came the fun - securing the lid and shaking!

We peeked inside and found some colorful blobs on the paper:

We put the lid back on and tried rolling the can. This moved the crayon bits, and thus the paint, up higher onto the paper. After pulling out that sheet to dry (top right in photo below), we experimented further. We tried squirting the paint down the paper vs directly into the bottom. Dylan squirted a bit of paint (which equaled LOTS of paint as well as paint on floor - good thing it cleans up easy!). Our finished masterpieces:

Read More

splash

Having fun with friends at the pool & splashground in late June:

Supplies: Gennifer Bursett's Toolbox Mist Vol. 1 & Favorite Things Alpha Collection; Karen Funk's Photo Frame Clusters Vol. 2; Janda Everyday Casual font.

Read More

Shoot and Edit: Sunset edit

I was a bit stumped on how to edit my photo this week until I read Rosie's steps at leavesandbloom photography. That inspired my starting point - adding a selective color layer & adjusting the black. From there I added a hue/saturation layer. Adjusted to my liking. Merged layers and cropped.

Overall, I'm still very happy with my SOOC shot but I do like the focus and more intense orange color in the edit.

Join in the fun with Jill Samter Photography and Ramblings and Photos:

Read More

Tall Iced

Yesterday, sitting in the drive thru at Starbucks, I realized that maybe we'd been in that same spot too many times. From the backseat I heard Dylan say, "tall iced." I confess, I laughed and then taught him to say "mocha." I guess next time he can place the order. ;)

Supplies: Paislee Press Press Plate No 2; Sara Schmutz's Star Spangled & Color Wheel Avocado papers; 2peas Grandpa & Janda Everyday Casual fonts.

Read More

Shoot and Edit: Sunset

After dinner last night, the boys & I headed to Lake Crabtree Park to play on the playground and walk down to the lake. It was the perfect spot for taking a few sunset shots. My favorite capture is this one with the sun reflecting in the lake and a plane making it's way in for a landing at RDU Airport.

ISO 100, ss 1/1000, f5.6

Join in the fun with Jill Samter Photography and Ramblings and Photos:

Read More