Malt Shop Cookies

Do you have those folks on your Holiday list that you just don't know what to give them? I know I do and it is usually my older family members, the family we don't see often and the kids teachers. Shopping can be so stressful if you don't know what to get them and when I find something I love I want to share it with you guys.

 
Malt Shop Cookies is the perfect gift for those hard to shop for folks on your list.

I think what I love most about them is that I grew up loving Malted Milk everything. It is something that I definitely tie to my youth and get happy just seeing the word Malted. My grandmother always had malted mix and it was a definite favorite. My dad always bought that half gallon milk container full of Whoppers Malted Milk Balls. Who didn't love those chocolate covered yum yums?

The Malt Shop Cookies takes that nostalgic name and flavor and made cookies using malted milk.

What's great about using Malted Milk in your cookies? Well, malted milk keeps your favorite cookies softer longer.  Maybe it has something to do with the malted barley or the wheat or maybe it is the whole milk. Whatever it is, it works and the cookies are amazing.

The flavors are:

Chocolate Chip

Double Chocolate 

Mocha Chocolate

Head over to Malt Shop Cookies and shop for yourself or for loved ones. You can even add a personalized message to the tin including a photo.

SO....if  you are looking for a yummy gift for someone on your list that they cannot get in stores, give Malt Shop Cookies a try. 

Mini Blender for Make And Go Shakes, Smoothies and More

This Blender is perfect. It is a Stainless Mixer that comes with (2) 20 oz travel, sport bottles.  You simply put everything in the mixer, twist, change the top out and go! No more dirtying up a blender and a cup! Just mix and go!!!

The bottles are dishwasher safe and get covered with an easy to use top so you can drink on the go.

With 4 Stainless Steel blades, you can guarantee the perfect mixing at a 300W power. This is a powerful baby that takes up very little space. 

This was so easy to use that you could do it with a baby in your arms. Fill with your favorite whatever. We did spinach, mango, carrot, apple, yogurt and water. You place the cup in the blender upside down which is where the blender blade is and twist. Watch it blend until it is the consistency you like. We like ours pretty juiced when using veggies.

 It doesn't have to be juice in there. You could use it for anything you would put in your blender and this is the perfect size for making marinade or salad dressing. No need to take out a big blender.

Outlander Fan Gift Ideas

If you know someone who loves Outlander and I know about 4 on my Christmas list this year; these are the perfect gifts for them.

  

The beautiful music of Outlander is inspired by music of the time period 1700s. It is cheery, haunting, heartbreaking and completely memorable with a whole lot of Scottish influence. The CD has 22 songs and over an hour and 18 minutes worth of music you will find yourself transported back to your favorite parts of Season 2 and then some.

I have some favorites that I keep going back to like a song entitled Faith with such gorgeous piano and strings and The Uprising Begins which has quick fiddles and is very upbeat. 

 

We Are SnapChat Crazy

We are truly fans of Snapchat. My favorite part of the day is either checking out Snapchat with the kids and taking pictures of finding gems the kids leave on the phone for me to find later.

We don't do much with Snapchat but we love playing with the various themed faces they have. If you feel like following us my Snapchat name is mariag1966 I think! If I am reading it right.

Here are just a few of the snaps we have done. My Goddess looks like a supermodel. 

Gifts For The Men In Your Life

I love when my husband wears cologne and then layers it with a shower gel and deodorant of the same scent.  One of my favorite times of the day are our good bye kisses when he hugs me so tight I get the smell of his cologne on me and get hit with it throughout the day. It is like a surprise reminder of him that lasts most of the day.

I was going to wait until Christmas to give it to him but I honestly couldn't wait to smell it on him so he has it now. He loves layering his scent it is not something he has ever done before. He says it stays on longer and he enjoys the smell because "it is not too perfumy." Wait, is that even a word. Well that is what he said so I am sticking with it. He works a night job too so he has the small mini in his car so he can spray between jobs if he wants too. I can still smell him when he comes into bed at night.

My plan is to get him on more gift set and three ties before Christmas since he liked this so much.

What are you getting your man for Christmas? Is it for him or is it really for you like the cologne I get my husband?

Monday At 11:01 A.M Had Me Guessing

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The 411:

Monday at 11:01 AM had me wondering until the end. From 3 minutes in I wondered about our main characters. I flip flopped repeatedly a few times between them being in a weird town, in purgatory or in the middle of a weird satanic group of vampires.  Michael and Jenny are a couple on a road trip. They enter a small, quaint town and Jenny asks if they can stop and shop. The town is full of people and they decide to get a room and stay over. Michael somehow gets a room after being told they are at full capacity. He and Jenny wonder if he somehow at some time had been here. The manager seems to know him. There are parts of the hotel that bother him especially a large old door in the dining area that makes him uneasy. 

Overnight Michael is woken by screams that no one else hears. When Jenny goes missing, the town takes on a whole new feeling. Michael is seeing things that make him uneasy and no one seems to even remember him having a guest with him when he came to the hotel.

The ending tied up all the loose ends and I was left with an Ohhhhh OK feeling. It wasn't a terrible movie. I watch a lot of movies and if I don't pick up my phone to check Facebook or play Hayday it is a decent movie. The only problem I had was with the lead actor who played Michael.  

Piper Was Afraid - Book, Stuffed Piper and Corneliu's The Mouse

The 411:

Piper and his sweet face and sad eyes make me so happy. I love the art work in the book so much.

In our story Piper is afraid of everything. The creaks from the floor, the horses that the other dogs played with, everything. He missed out on everything because was afraid. One day while everyone was away the power went out during a storm and Piper was all alone. He was so scared that he tried to hide under the stairs and got stuck until his family came home and helped him out, loving and hugging him. Piper decided he would never stay home alone and always be as brave as he can.

This is a great book for kids especially as they start having fears of the unknown like school, babysitters, visiting family, etc. Like Piper they can all be brave.

Each page also features our little friend Cornelius the Mouse. My daughter loved that Piper traveled with a friend so he wasn't afraid on his way to our home.

Even our Stormy loves Piper

ECHO MAX Rumbler - Twists, Spins and Jumps - VIDEO REVIEW

Look for Echo Max Rumbler in My 2016 Holiday Gift Guide 

This is the coolest car whether you are outside or inside. It can perform 12 different stunts with flips and right itself if ever it gets stuck in a spot or flips on its side. It is the coolest RC Car out there. 

My kids and my husband love Remote Control cars but no matter where you are racing them, the can sometimes flip over and you are left walking over to it, placing the car back on it's wheels and starting again only to have to walk back the next time it hits a curb, car wheel, or another car. NOT WITH THIS ONE! The design allows you to flip it from the remote no matter where it gets stuck and that was right out of the box. My son and husband are great about radio control anything but my daughter never seems to get it right. She plays with this more than anyone in the house and I think it is because it is easily managed and is really fun with all the wicked flips and high speeds indoors or outside. 

The recommend age is 8+ and it is oddly affordable for such a quality toy!

I Am In Love With Bob - My Robotic Vacuum That Is

THIS IS BOB

  bObsweep is an intelligent floor cleaner

We have never had a robotic vacuum cleaner and since receiving bObsweep over a month ago and he has become part of the family. We even leave messages on the dry erase board about Bob. You would think he was a dog the way walk talk about him. "Where is Bob?",  "Go in your room and make sure there is nothing on the floor that Bob can eat before we let him go" and "Bob needs a cleaning."

Bob came to us with a birth announcement

He was well protected and also had a goody bag

The first three weeks of using him which was daily we watched him and sometimes used the remote control because you could send Bob where you wanted him to go unlike a family pet or kid. Bob does exactly what you want him to do. Now we just let Bob do his thing which is to clean up after this family making things easier for me. I used to lug out my vacuum from the laundry room every single night to keep up with the amount of hair and crumbs here. We have rugs throughout the house except for the kitchen and bathroom, plus we all have allergies so staying on top of cleaning the carpets is extremely important. We don't have a large animal but with the amount of hair my daughter and I spread around this place we may as well have one. My husband used to complain about the hair around the vacuum parts all the time.

Isn't he cute with his matchy matchy shape remote control?

With Bob since we do it every day there isn't a ton of hair wrapping itself around the roller. I no longer have to give my vacuum cleaner a haircut because Bob is on the job! This doesn't mean Bob never needs maintenance. He does. When Bob's holding tray gets full, he stops and shows an error in the screen to let you know he needs to be emptied. It is a small tray so depending on the amount of dirt, dust, hair and such you have to empty a few times. We have to empty once in the bedrooms and twice in living room/dining room.

What is great about Bob is that he gets better every time you use him. He learns where he needs to go and where he needs to stay away from. I love watching him get out of situations like if he goes under my clothes bin stand.

 

Pros:

• Bob is self cleaning. You can set him. You can program the time you want Bob to go and he cleans even if you are not home. 
• Bob is also a mop and comes with a mop pad that you can easily affix to his bottom to clean your un-carpeted floors. I don't know another robot vacuum that does that.
• Bob is never in jeopardy of falling down your stairs. I had no idea about this little feature. The first time I used him I stood by the stairs so I could put my leg near him if he went to fall. NOPE..Bob is smart and goes right to the edge and turns around. He is a robot after all and highly intelligent.
• Bob has bumper guards that allow him to bounce off things if he bumps into anything. It is how he moves out of areas he gets into. Even tight jams. It is pretty amazing. 
• He comes with little sweepers for edging and corners that you simple insert into holes under him. They spin as he moves cleaning out all debris from the edges so that Bob can go and vacuum it up.
• Bob knows when he needs charging. You don't have to worry about him dying somewhere from battery drain in your house because he senses when he needs a charge and heads right back to the charger. The charger emits a tiny beeping noise that calls him back. You can also hit charge on the remote and it will send him right back to his base. 
• Since we always have to give our vacuums a hair cut due to our long hair here, we need to get to the roller easily. Our other vacuums have always needed a complete dismantling to get the roller and the band out. NOT Bob. He came with a screwdriver in his goody bag and it is only one screw that allows you to easily take out the roller. Remove all hair from the roller and anywhere else it wraps and insert it back in. Probably takes no more than 2 minutes. 

Cons:

• I wish the container inside him was a little bit larger but that is really the only con.

Bob has change our lives. We love him and highly recommend him. I don't know how we got by without him before.

Water Is Life

The waters of Sterling Forest during the Renaissance Fair are tranquil until they are not. Around the bend is a dragon taking a dip among the boaters.

RenFair Pics - You Just Never Know What You Are Going To See

This past September my daughter and I headed to the Renaissance Fair in September. We love going because the food is great, the acts are great, the shops filled with talented artisans are great and the people watching IS great!  You just never know what you are going to see.

Doing Double Duty

Sometimes it feels like I am doing double duty. The kids don't know anything different because my husband has always had to work two jobs in order for me to stay home with our kids. Now that I am working too there is a constant juggle of making things work.

The kids often ask me questions or make statements about how little he is here and how he doesn't call on the nights he works late. My daughter more than my son and I always say "He is working so we can live in this house." Or "Daddy works very hard for us so I can be with you guys as much as possible."

Sometimes, I wish it was different. Sometimes I get upset too but sometimes I remind myself that I am doing double only a few days a week where there are moms doing it every single day. To those moms....God bless you because the balance is a hard one to keep part time, I can only imagine full time.

Cutest Shoes Ever

I am NOT I repeat, I am NOT a shoe person but I am in love with these shoes by Bigcardesigns a Seller on Amazon. These Fashion Chinese Style Floral Ultra-Soft Loafers are so pretty. The colors so vibrant AND I get a compliment with every 4th person that passes by me.

The graphics are so pretty they look like a photo on your feet!

The bottoms are made from a thick rubber and they are quite comfy.

We are a size 8 and ordered a 38 but these are about a 7. I know it is really hard to order shoes online but I would say they run small.

They are very versatile. I wear them as well as my daughter. I hope they stay as white as they are now.

I have also ordered backpacks for the kids from Bigcardesigns which they use for school. They are awesome too.