The Photographer's Wife Parenting, Disney, Travel, Reviews & Other Randomness

We live in Florida. It’s hot. And when we aren’t in the rainy season, that sun is Intense. Yes, Intense with a capital I.

But that sun provides many glorious opportunities to be outside at the pool, beach, park, etc. which we can’t get enough of. We just need to make sure we cover ourselves with hats and plenty of sunscreen.

I was recently sent some samples of the new Coppertone CLEARLYSheer lotion and Coppertone ultraGUARD Continuous Spray courtesy of BzzAgent. (If you haven’t heard of BzzAgent, go check it out…it’s a free program where you can test out some amazing products in exchange for some honest Bzz!)

Here is more info about the two products I received:

Coppertone® ClearlySheer® Sunny Days Body Lotion

• Lightweight formulas feel clean and light, leaving barely a trace on skin
• Won’t clog pores or cause breakouts (clinically tested on acne-prone skin)
• Lotions appropriate for sensitive skin
• Moisturizing formulas help leave skin smooth and soft
• Fresh light citrus fragrance with soft floral base notes.
• Water resistant (80 minutes)
• Broad spectrum protection; helps decrease the risk of early skin aging caused by the sun

 

Coppertone® ultraGUARD® Continuous Spray

• Quick, even coverage
• Photostable, broad spectrum UVA/UVB protection
• Water resistant (80 minutes)
• Dermatologist tested
• Hypoallergenic
• Available in 6 fl. oz.
• Non-greasy
• Continuous Spray products spray at any angle

I had the opportunity to really put these products to the test twice recently….for seven days at Walt Disney World and a day at the beach, among several other pool days as well.

I really love the convenience of spray sunscreens, especially for hard to reach places like my back. Some people shy away from sprays, but I really saw the benefit of them for myself when I needed a quick application while in the parks. I brought along a little travel-sized Coppertone® ultraGUARD® Continuous Spray and could keep it in my bag or stroller and quickly spray myself when I felt I needed a reapplication on my shoulders/back/neck throughout the day. I didn’t have to get my hands greasy and I didn’t burn at all.

As far as the beach goes, I liked the spray because I could quickly apply it on myself, since I had a toddler ready and waiting to play, play, play! We usually stick to one particular sunscreen for Trent, since he has had a skin reaction to other sunscreens (being a fair-skinned red-head, we have to pay attention to ingredients and how well his skin does with lotions and such). But when I wanted to quickly put some more sunscreen on his legs after being in the water, I grabbed this sunscreen and gave him a quick spray…I didn’t have to stop him from what he was doing and his skin did fine with it. For kids, I do recommend starting out with a really good sunscreen lotion (not a spray) which Coppertone has some good options for, but the sprays can be a great quick solution for touchups and for adults.

The CLEARLYSheer Lotion for Sunny Days is perfect for everyday use or after a day at the beach, pool or amusement parks. You don’t realize how much sun you may get throughout the day with a few walks to and from your car or the store or during a walk in a neighborhood, but it all adds up and can still harm your skin. CLEARLYSheer Lotion for Sunny Days is a moisturizing lotion that includes SPF, so you can moisturize your skin and protect it without feeling like you have a layer of sunscreen on. It would also be great for other seasons as an everyday lotion, too.

With these products, Coppertone has you covered…protection, moisturizing and convenience!

Click here for a great coupon for $1.00 off any Coppertone product, except trial sizes.

Here are some fun sun facts:

 

I received these products for free from BzzAgent. Thanks for reading!

 

As the weeks pass by and the thought of having two little ones in the house gets closer to becoming a reality, I am savoring any relaxing moment I can get. However, with a toddler that likes to wake up late and go to sleep even later, those moments often come unexpectedly…which is why I tend to prefer watching a good tv series on Netflix as opposed to a full 2+ hour movie.

Don’t get me wrong, I love movies, but since we cut our satellite subscription, we rely on Netflix to give us some of our favorite shows…whether they were our favorites before or newfound favorites, if Trent goes down for a nap or even when we sit down to eat dinner, we can quickly select the next episode and watch it in less than an hour without any interruptions.

Ahhh…the life of a mom!

We just finished the entire Breaking Bad series from start to finish and absolutely loved it. Brett gets a little more free time than I do at night, so he recently just caught up on the Once Upon a Time series and Orange is the New Black. I have had Scandal, House of Cards and Orange is the New Black on my watch-list ready to go…I just need to decide which one I want to start! Which one would you pick?

Here are some ideas for shows you can enjoy on Netflix…save them for when the little ones go to sleep and enjoy some ME time!

1. Orange Is the New Black
2. Scandal
3. Pretty Little Liars
4. Sherlock
5. Breaking Bad
6. Parenthood

 

They also have some series’ from years past to watch in case you missed them while they were on tv.

1. Weeds
2. Call the Midwife
3. Freaks and Geeks
4. Shameless
5. Top of the Lake

 

I wish I could say I sit down with a nice adult beverage and a Pin-worthy snack to bring the entire experience together, but this pregnant gal can’t do that. Instead, it’s milk and Oreos, or something else that I probably shouldn’t be having, but enjoy oh-so-much. Whatever makes you happy, right?!

Of course, I have a party-animal child with a late bed time, so this is how my snack time usually goes…

 

This post was written by me as part of my membership in the Netflix Stream Team. All opinions are my own and honest. Thanks for reading!

 

Did you know you can find some amazing recipes on the Hormel Facebook page? I found these bacon cinnamon rolls shared on their page and just had to share them. Bacon? Cinnamon rolls? So good separately, outstanding together I’m sure! Here’s how to make them.

Serving Size: 5

Total Time: Under 30 Minutes

Preparation Time: Under 15 minutes

Preparation Method: Bake

Meal Occasion: Breakfast

Level of Difficulty: Beginner

 

Ingredients:

• 1 (17.5-ounce) package refrigerated cinnamon rolls with cream cheese icing (5 count)
• 10 slices HORMEL® BLACK LABEL® Brown Sugar Bacon, cooked according to package directions

 

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease baking sheet.
2. Unroll 1 biscuit. Place 2 slices bacon over unrolled biscuit. Roll up biscuit to enclose bacon. Secure with wooden picks. Repeat with remaining biscuits and bacon.
3. On baking sheet, arrange biscuits, cut-side-down, 1 inch apart. Bake 16 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand 5 minutes before removing to wire rack. Remove toothpicks. Glaze warm rolls with icing. Let stand 5 minutes or until glaze is set. Serve warm.

 

Doesn’t that sound easy and delicious? This will be made in our house asap!!

 

This post was part of my involvement in the Hormel Family Blogger Program. Thanks for reading!

 

When it came time to start thinking of a theme for Trent’s 2nd birthday party, it was actually pretty easy. One of the very first animal sounds Trent knew how to make was a dinosaur roar and it’s so cute, he even puts his hands up and shakes them…he’s a pretty convincing dinosaur.

He already had several dinosaur toys too, so we figured a dinosaur party would be fun to do and he would get a kick out of roaring all day (which he totally did).

We wanted to be much easier on ourselves this year compared to his first birthday. We created a secret, shared Pinterest board with some ideas, but it probably only had 1/3 the amount of pins his secret monster party idea board had. It wasn’t that we were being lazy, but we each picked a couple of things to do and felt like it was the perfect amount.

Let’s start with the invitations. We checked out a few invite sites online and came across this dinosaur invite on Minted.com. Last year, Brett made the entire invitation, but this was too cute to pass up, especially since it would be easier since we were ordering right before our Disney trip in May and wanted to get them out asap. I loved the options for the personalized return address labels, the pre-printed addresses and the dinosaur design on the back.

 

For the outside of the house, we blew up a few of these dinosaur Happy Birthday balloons. I also drew a welcome sign on his chalkboard easel. Usually Brett is the dinosaur artist, but I was so proud of my dinosaur on this sign!

I drew it the night before and Trent wanted to take the chalk and draw too. I felt bad saying no and had to hide the chalkboard in my closet so it wouldn’t get messed up (except I smeared it when I was changing my shirt…way to go mom).

We hung this sign on the front door that we also got from Minted.com in the same design as the invitations.

In the living room, we set up the mantle with letters I painted, two jumbo inflatable dinosaurs and one of our favorite photos of Trent.

The letters were so easy! I just bought cardboard letters from Hobby Lobby and painted them with acrylic paint.

Next to that was our dinosaur photobooth setup! Last year, Brett created two very large, awesome furry monsters, but time got away from us and we didn’t get as many photos as we would have liked. This year, we didn’t get everyone that attended (sorry everyone!) but we got way more than last year…and that makes me happy. Especially since we got some of us!

The dinosaur background and dinosaur masks were from Amazon. I made the prop signs using PicMonkey (stay tuned for a separate post with the downloadable signs) and printed them on thick paper, glued cardboard to the back, and then stuck skewers in the cardboard. I think people had fun with this!

The main focus was the dining room…of course, that’s where the cake is!!

For the wall, we hung plastic tablecloths on a curtain rod with a dinosaur Happy Birthday sign from Amazon, and then some fluffed tissue paper poms in the corners.

Brett made the volcano cake…chocolate cake with homemade chocolate icing. Mmmm. For the lava icing, he used orange and red canned icing dispensers. It was super easy!

My attempt at a dinosaur made of grapes for the fruit tray…was interesting.

Brett said it looked like a horse I guess that’s what happens when you don’t pull up your pinned image from Pinterest as a reference and are making it as people are walking up to the door!

Brett made peanut butter cookies with dinosaur fossil footprints. For some reason, cookies kept disappearing from the tray while we were preparing for the party. I suspect a certain 2 year old was taking advantage of their close proximity to the edge of the table…

We also had tortilla chips with salsa and spinach & artichoke cheese dip.

Brownie brittle.

Lunch was delicious pizza and breadsticks from Marco’s. SO SO SO much easier than last year!! Thank you Marco’s for making it easy for us! Haha.

We also had a salad courtesy of Brett. He makes the best salads.

Sweet tea and lemonade. We’re in the south y’all!

Out on the back porch, we transformed Trent’s rock box into a Dino Dig!

I made the sign using PicMonkey and Brett cut the grass from 2 sheets of green posterboard. I scattered a bunch of mini dinosaurs into the rocks and left out sand-buckets (from the dollar spot in Target) for the kids to search through the rock box for the dinosaurs. At the end of the party, the kids could take home a bucket with some dinosaurs. The kids loved it and I’m sure Trent will still be finding dinosaurs for a few weeks!

Outside, kids enjoyed the pool, along with the purple elephant pool and splash pad. We also brought out the Monster toss from last year!

How awesome is Trent’s shirt?

It says “T-Rexy and I Know It!” We got the dinosaur shirt from Amazon. We originally ordered a 2T but it was too small, so we had to rush to reorder a 3T and I’m so happy they shipped it fast and we got it in time.

He only had it on for about 20 minutes until he ran outside and wanted to play in the water once other kids started showing up, but then he got to wear his new dinosaur swimsuit from Old Navy! Dinosaur everything!

As the host, I felt like I was running around making sure everyone was happy and kept wondering if I should put my swimsuit on and bring Trent in the pool, but he’s kinda off-and-on about the pool. Sometimes he just wants to run around the pool and the grass or sit on the steps and play with toys without them floating away, which is what he was doing this day…sitting on the edge next to people and playing with the water and toys. So, that’s what I left him to do! It was a good opportunity for him to play with other kids and adults, since he doesn’t see them as often.

I thought it was going to be a nightmare taking him away from everyone to come inside and do gifts and cake, but he did so well. To be honest, we were kinda worried since by this time last year, the shyness and tiredness was consuming him and he didn’t even want to touch the cake and presents, but we couldn’t be happier with how well he did this year. He opened all of his gifts on his own and clapped along with everyone when they would clap for him.

He even shared his toys with friends while he was opening them.

More dinosaurs!

He looked like he was trying to read what was on each toy!

Then came the true test of shyness, time to sing happy birthday!

He stood there and watched everyone sing to him and even attempted to blow the candles out himself.

He even decided to give the cake a little taste test before daddy could cut the first piece.

After that, some people headed out and some lingered and it was just a relaxing time. I hope everyone that joined us had a good time and I especially hope Trent had fun, too. We’re so glad he had fun with the theme, roaring whenever someone would ask him what a dinosaur says. Brett’s sister even brought all of Aiden’s old dinosaur toys for him to keep!

If you’re interested in purchasing any of the dinosaur items we used (or need some more ideas too) below is an Amazon widget that includes links to everything to make it easy for you!

 

 

Here are some pinnable images if you’d like to save some ideas to your Pinterest board!

It’s been 3 years since I graduated from college with my Master’s degree after 6 years of attending school and working full time…I even planned a wedding, got married and went on a honeymoon during one of those semesters and studied for, took, and passed the CPA exam! Just saying all that makes me exhausted!

Needless to say, school can be rough and the feeling of accomplishment, relief and happiness is something to celebrate once graduation is reached!

No matter how the grad chooses to celebrate, one thing is for sure…it’s time to enter the real world of job-searching, possibly moving out or away, and maybe even getting rid of all those pounds that may have piled up as a result of late-night cram sessions fueled by energy drinks and fast food. If your grad fits one of those personas, here’s a little helpful guide to determine the best gift to surprise them with, which you can get from Best Buy, of course!

• Moving out: Gifts for the Grad that is getting ready for college or may be simply moving out into the world on their own, help them get all set up.
• Networker: Grad that uses technology to keep totally connected while on the go with a variety of devices. This tech forward Grad leans on devices to make life easier go having the latest and greatest is always a priority.
• Fitness Fanatic: Gifts for this grad include tech and small appliances that play to their healthy, on the go, athletic nature. Out for a run, in the kitchen or at the gym, a great gifts for this grad helps them stay on track in many ways.

When I graduated, I had already been living on my own and had a job, so the persona that would have fit me best is Fitness Fanatic. Late night cram sessions weren’t something I really did, but there was a lot of inactivity from sitting at a work desk all day and then a school desk at night and on the weekends. Lots and lots of sitting….

So, here are some gift ideas that would be really helpful for the grad that is looking to take on a healthy lifestyle of not having to sit in a classroom all day!

Fitness Fanatic Gift Ideas

• Apple iPod touch 16GB MP3 Player (5th Generation - Latest Model)
• Fitbit Flex Wireless Activity and Sleep Tracker Wristband
• LG Tone Pro Bluetooth Headset
• Ninja Blender
• Jawbone UP Wristband
• iTunes Gift Card $25
• Casio Women’s & Men’s Digital Sport Watches
• Breville Juice Fountain + Electric Juicer
• Sonicare DiamondClean Rechargeable Toothbrush
• Fitbit Aria Wi-Fi Smart Scale
• TDK Weatherproof Wireless Speaker
• Cuisinart Classic Food Processor
• Otterbox Commuter Cell Phone Case
• Belkin Easefit Armband
• Lunatik Flack Cell Phone Case
• Xbox One Console
• Kinect Sports Rivals
• GoPro HERO3+ Black Edition Action Camcorder.

I am a big fan of fitness wristbands, so I would recommend the Jawbone UP since I have used that previously. You can read my review here, which also contains a video so you can how easy it is to use. It tracks your activity, calories, and even sleep…which I’m sure a new grad will be so glad to start doing again!

All of these gifts (and gifts for all personas listed) can be found at the Best Buy Gift Center - http://bit.ly/Gift_Center

Congrats to all the grads out there!

 

The reviewer has been compensated in the form of a Best Buy Gift Card for this post. Thanks for reading!