Favorite Things Winners 2014!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This year I realized most of our favorite things are straight from Amazon Prime.  What a great investment that's been!  Sometimes it's faster to have it delivered to my doorstep in 2 days than wait til I coordinate nap times, balanced meals, clean bums, warm clothes, strollers, car seats, and the inevitable emotional breakdown (me or the girls).  So here's our list of our favorite finds of 2014! (you might be thinking, wow Jenni, this is long, calm down!  but I have been keeping track of my fave things throughout the year... the list kept growing and growing!  Apparently I love everything.  Except Nuby cups.  More about that later.)

These are a few of Jake's favorite things (for 2014)...

The Chillow.  Slip it inside your pillow case and it acts as a heat sink, keeping your head cool as you sleep.  A must for summer nights.

Cascadian Farm Organic Oats and Honey Granola.  I started buying this for our yogurt cause it didn't have nuts in it, since then it had become sort of a guilty pleasure for us.  There was a few months where Jake would eat a bowl of this instead of ice cream at night.  Throw in some frozen blueberries... yum yum yum!

Work out puzzle mat.  Jake would use my yoga mat when he worked out.  I decided that he needed his own to use (aka sweat all over).  Instead I found these at Sam's Club.  Much more effective and the girls love to play with them.

Bed Bands.  Seriously, not sure why this took years to find but we LOVE these things!  One of Jake's biggest pet peeves was the fitted sheet coming untucked while we slept.  I bought these last year and we haven't looked back.  

Since these are so life-changing, this is Jake's pic for his giveaway.  And the winner of a new set of BedBands is *drum roll*..........

Laura S.

(Jami is drawing all the papers out of the bowl.  She wouldn't let me video her so, if you have a problem with what you won or didn't win, you can take it up with her.)

These are a few of Jenni's favorite things (for 2014)...

Avocado Oil.  The best price I've found for this is at Costco, so ask a buddy with a card to buy you a bottle the next time they go.  It's worth it.  I started eating a lot more veggies this year.  I realized I don't like them raw - they hurt my stomach and I eat a bottle of Ranch in the process (doesn't that defeat the purpose?)  I started roasting all my veggies.  Wash, cut, toss with this, bake on 400degF for like 10 min.  Viola!  Amazing veggies that everyone in our family likes to eat.  I think that bell peppers and asparagus taste amazing with this oil.  I eat them right off the cookie sheet even after I'm comfortably full.  Sometimes it's hard to coat the broccoli all the way so I use olive oil cooking spray to cover the tops, sprinkle some salt and bake til the trees are brown and crispy - we call it broccoli chips.  YUM!  While we're talking about food stuff, lately I've been adding white vinegar to our dishwasher each load (just pour it right in the bottom, like 1/4 cup) to get rid of water marks - cheaper then buying a soft water system!  I found frozen chopped onion at the grocery store.  I love onions but I hate how they make my hands smell.  Since I found these gems I haven't had to cut a single while onion - and they taste great!  

Herbal Essences Naked.  Need I remind you of the hive debacle?  I hope those days are permanently behind me.  Let's just say I have a healthy fear of paraben, which is in TONS of soaps and lotions.  Thank goodness Herbal Essences just came out with their new Naked line that has 0% paraben and 0% dyes.  A great buy for anyone with sensitive skin!

Sea Salt Carmel Pretle Ice Cream at Target.  Enough said.

Jillian Michaels Ripped in 30 DVD.  I know, how cruel to show you the ice cream then follow up with a work out DVD.  A few of my skinny friends (Laura & Rachel) told me they swear by her system, so I tried it out.  My face turns more purple in this 30 min workout then if I go running or even to the gym.  She makes you sweat!  I love the 3-2-1 system and the cross training.  All you need it a yoga mat and small hand weights (and motivation to get off the couch, if only Amazon sold that too!)  Some of her videos you can stream for free with Amazon Prime Instant Video.

I really want to buy all of you that Target ice cream.  But since it's now the holidays, I think I could use less sugar and more sweat.  So my fave thing giveaway is this DVD.  And the winner is........

Hailey S.

These are a few of Scarlett's favorite things (for 2014)...

Frozen yogurt holders.  Scarlett loves frozen yogurt, not the kind I indulge in after the kids are in bed, but rather - I stick a box of go-gurts in the freezer and she eats them like a breakfast popsicle.  My only gripe with the process was how she used all my kitchen towels to keep her hands from getting cold.  Aunt Jami to the rescue!  She sent these to Scarlett and they get used almost every day.  When they are sticky I throw them in the dishwasher and they're ready to go!

Name Your Tune CD.  Courtney sent Scarlett this CD for our long drive to Utah.  Each song says "Scarlett" in it.  Example: "If you're Scarlett and you know it clap your hands."  It's super cute and she often will request "my name songs!" in the car.  I think she might be a little disappointed when she gets to preschool and finds out her name isn't in every nursery rhyme.  I'm thinking of buying the second volume for each of the twirls.

Marble Run.  When Scarlett picked this as her potty prize Jake was so excited.  "Hours of Engineering Fun" is their slogan and has proved true!  (Also hours of meticulously counting the marbles to make sure we don't leave any behind for the twirls to find when they wake up).

Glow Sticks.  These silly things are soooo motivating.  I love that I can still get her to do things by promising a glow stick at bath time - no sugar required!  They also help her calm down if she wakes up with a nightmare in the middle of the night.  Genius!

So this is her giveaway prize.  Hopefully you can use them to motivate people around you to do things too (like use the potty, pick up their toys, put on clothes, etc).......

Snort Sauce

These are a few of the Twirls's favorite things (for 2014)...

I know, I'm clumping them together for this category.  I promise that I view them as different people with their own unique personalities, but as far as products they use at 18 months, their needs are pretty similar.

Little Green Food Pouches.  This was a game changer for us.  Feeding the twirls baby food was sooo messy and chaotic.  If I was alone they would scream at me while I fed their sister.  Babies are NOT patient when it comes to their food.  Laura showed me these reusable food pouches.  I put the baby food inside and just gave them to the twirls.  It didn't take long before our dinners were calm and a lot less sticky.  They were pretty stiff at first, but after a few times they were easy to use and wash.  I haven't used them as much lately cause the twirls have almost all their teeth, but occasionally I'll fill them with applesauce.  I also buy the prefilled applesauce packets for on the go.

Dream Lights by Pillow Pets.  I know I included this on my list last year, but here they are again.  Yes, they're that important to us.  We own 3 of them plus 2 that are travel sized.  And I've given a few away as gifts this past year.  Yes, we love these Dream Lights.  I love that they are simple to use, even the twirls can turn them on in the middle of the night when they wake up.  If I hear them awake in their room and I check on the DropCam, most of the time I can tell who's awake by which Dream Light is flashing.  I love that they turn off automatically after 15 min.  I love that one of the options slowly and mesmerizingly cycles through the colors.  It's a favorite!

I could also include Bottle Straps, Huggies Diaper Wipe Clutch, Baby Doll Strollers, and many other toys.  But I would NOT include Nuby Sippy Cups.  I hate those things!!! < rant >  I've bought 3 different big packs as they've gone on sale at Sam's Club.  So I have a lot.  Enough to be a Nuby expert.  None of the packs have interchangeable parts - even though they look they same.  All the designs leak like a sieve.  I can see major flaws in the engineering.  It doesn't seem that difficult to find a plastic gasket that easily aligns and doesn't twist out of place when the lid is tightened.  These are basic design constraints!  Lots of other companies seem to do it just fine.  In fact, I just bought a bunch of these Gerber Graduates cups to replace all of the Nuby cups.  I'm not going to even give them away, just chuck them in the recycling bin where they belong. < / rant >

Jaide would probably include her Elmo Couch.  I say hers cause she loves to sit in it any chance she gets (well any kids sized seat really).  She'll pick the couch over sitting on my lap!

Siena would probably pick her "Fireman's Hat."  She loves wearing this thing - all the time!  She especially likes to play peek-a-boo with it.

Hot Dog Slicer.  My SIL Christy AND my bro James sent me texts of this when they saw it at Wal-Mart.  Obviously I had to have one (do other people feed their kids hot dogs?)  I now am a proud owner of 2 dachshund slicers.  I love them!  Super fast way to add protein to toddler lunches.  Scarlett likes to help the doggy eat the ketchup but the twirls haven't had a chance to try that feature out yet (it looks too much like a high chair food launcher).

Since this is such a fun gizmo, I think the twirls would want someone to have one too.  The winner is......

Carol Anne D.

The Top Commentors!

This year I'm changing up the top commentors prize. Normally I do the top 3, but this year I had several people text and email me their comments to my blog. If I try to sift through that information my Mother in Law would likely be in 3rd place. Since that's too much work I'm just going to pick the top 2 commentors. Our Family and LL are clearly ahead of everyone else, no one can deny that. And they both comment on almost every post I have written this year. I think their dedication is prize worthy. Spend your Amazon Gift Card wisely!

Our Family & LL

Everyone's a winner this year!

I will need everyone's address this year. Just send me an email with your current mailing address and everyone else on the list will get a little something else from us.

Kandy, Carolyn, Liz, Sara, & Tamra
(Mom & Dad G - I'm still trying to figure out what to do for you Russia folks...)