Magnolia Mamas

Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Porches & Poptails with Dixie Delights

We have had so much fun with our little blogging adventure and one of the best parts is connecting with so many amazingly talented bloggers. One that we absolutely adore is Amanda from Dixie Delights.

We fell in love with her sweet southern charm and her love for all things Lilly Pulitzer. We were so honored and thrilled when she asked if we would like to guest post on her blog this week.

Head on over to her site to check it out and show us some love over there. We're sharing sneak peeks of our porches and our favorite poptail recipes. Click HERE to read!

Monday, September 26, 2016

Project Deck: The Crazy Construction

Many many many months ago, I introduced you to Project Deck. This by far will go down as our all time most laborious construction project we've done on our house thus far. And there have been a lot of projects over the years.

A deck. Who would have thought??

Before I get into that, let's take a little moment to enjoy the motivation behind the project...

Ahhhh....

Now a recap. Old deck (buh-bye!)...

And the drawings brought to life by my husband and our original contractor...

Notice I said original contractor. This is where the crazy started to come in. Our original contractor took everything to permitting and then poof - disappeared!

Months of prep and planning were down the drain. We were genuinely worried about him for awhile, and then by the magic powers of Facebook realized he was alive, well and decided we would just move on as well. Looking back on it we realized he had been making excuses and putting off the project for almost two months. The warning signs were there, but we liked him as a person and overlooked it. Oh well, moving on.

After a few more inquiries and revisiting some of our previous bids, we were finally able to get Project Deck underway right around Memorial Day.

The Cutes were already out of school for the summer, and they were beyond excited to see anything and everything construction related. It was the best babysitter/petsitter I could have ever asked for. Literally, for hours they would be in this position watching.

The original deck took no time at all to come down!

Then the new deck construction seemed to be going just as quick.

With project supervisors like these we figured the deck would be done in no time. :)

In just a few short days, the deck began to resemble to the drawings and our dream deck was quickly coming to life.

We had to leave for our summer vacation to Hilton Head Island around this point in construction, but some neighbors were nice enough to check in occasionally and send us pics.

We came home and then things slowly started to go a little askew from here.

The project moved forward but at a snails pace for a few weeks.

I'm not joking, we literally saw a few people arrive, grab tools, hammer a few things and then leave for the day.

And for those few hours I would be so on edge. No ladder. No harness. Just a hoist, and a grab, and a prayer. Cirque de Soleil should totally hire these guys.

The frustration came when our original timeline wasn't even going to be close. It was summer, and we wanted to be able to at least use the backyard, but with construction going on it took the whole back area out of commission. We were patient though, and after a few tough conversations we finally started to see movement again.

Each morning a crew would arrive right at 7a.m. now, and summer in the south isn't for the week. With temps usually in the high nineties and even 100's already it looked like it was a tough job - I felt so bad. The ~~Cutes~~ Project Supervisors and I would bring them water and treats whenever we could.

And their acrobatics were still on point through the whole thing.

Then it began to rain. And rain. And rain.

Throw in a building inspection gone wrong - times two - and we stalled out again.

The rain finally stopped, and the building inspection issue cleared up, but for the most part the deck looked like this for a long time.

Then on our part life took on a different meaning, and Project Deck took a major back burner in our priorities. We cut checks and just trusted that things were moving forward as scheduled. We weren't home for almost a month, and we expected to come home to a finished deck.

Wishful thinking on our part. As our attention was elsewhere so was our contractors.

A few more conversations, and the project began to move forward again. For those who haven't fallen asleep yet at the painstakingly slow progress - we are now looking at 9 weeks worth of building.

9. Whole. Weeks.

For a deck.

School started, and our attention was still elsewhere, but we also wanted our house to at least be in a normal state.

Fortunately our contractor finally heard our pleas, and sped the process way up.

Towards the end of August we were in the home stretch, and for the most part Project Deck was looking like it might finally be done by Labor Day weekend.

Surprisingly, we had yet another inspection issue and I think our contractor might have shed a tiny tear at not getting that C.O. for us.

However, at this point we had a couch on order and a working t.v. with tailgate chairs to hold us over (no shame in our game). We were rolling with Project Deck being a done deal.

Even after all the crazy we love how it turned out. It is exactly what we envisioned when we thought of redoing our outdoor living space, and we are so excited to enjoy it this fall.

I've done a little decorating here and there and we keep making little furniture tweaks, but at least we are now on to my favorite part - the decorating!

I've been able to share a sneak peek or two on Instagram, and stay tuned tomorrow for a fun little porch tour we have planned with a special "delight"-ful ~~blogger~~ friend to see a little more.

I will plan on doing a full tour with a full list of details soon! Until then, feel free to share your favorite places for hunting down outdoor decor - I've been on quite the mission, but apparently it's already Christmas in the wonderful world of retail and I've majorly missed out. Eek!

PROJECT DECK CHECK LIST

~~- Take down the old deck. (Buh - bye!)~~

~~- Finalize final deck layout and design. Begin building!~~

~~-Have an outdoor fire place. S'more making a must!~~

~~- Purchase lighting/fans for the space.~~

- Purchase furniture and decor. (In progress)

~~- Create a usable outdoor living space beneath the deck on the patio.~~

- Landscape the surrounding areas. (In progress)

Friday, September 23, 2016

Cocktail Confessions: Pomegranate Poptails

A few weeks ago anyone that follows us on Instagram might have remembered seeing Jen's picture of her Poptail. What is a poptail you ask? Simple. Wine + Popsicle = Poptail. Her kids wanted popsicles, she wanted wine, and this delicious treat was created.

Now in full disclosure, we did not create the original poptail, but we certainly are having fun getting creative in our poptail making. I couldn't believe I had never heard of or tried a poptail before seeing her picture so I decided we needed to change that ASAP. I mean, what else do you do when it still feels like summer around here?!

I invited Jen and her family over for dinner last weekend so we could say cheers to the weekend with poptails in hand. Jen and I don't discriminate when it comes to wine, but being the besties that we are, we have a similar taste in wine and there are many times we have bonded over a bottle of Riesling. I picked up our favorite Chateau Ste. Michelle Riesling and a box of Outshine Pomegranate Popsicles at the store and was ready for them to arrive on Friday evening.

When the kids saw us pulling out the popsicles, of course we had to share the sweet treats with them (the popsicles, not the wine). They were shocked though because when Blondie saw Jen plop hers down in the wine she couldn't believe her eyes and questioned, "JEN!!! What are you doing!?!?" We, the mamas, just laughed.

It was Friday night, the dads were about to take over kid watching duty and the mamas were ready to enjoy ourselves on the porch. And enjoy we did.

I have to say, as a novice to the poptail I was quite impressed. The more the popsicles melts the better it got because the flavors mixed, but it isn't overly sweet like I was expecting. It's just enough to change the flavor of the wine a bit and it looked pretty, too. I'm excited to try different combinations and I can see this newfound treat quickly becoming our new favorite.

You know what today is don't you? Friday! The perfect day for a poptail so mamas, be sure to make your kids and yourself happy this evening. Popsicles for them, popsicles for you. Stop by the store for your favorite wine, your favorite popsicles and create your own poptail this evening. Just be sure to share your delicious combinations with us. Cheers!

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

How I Got My Child to Start Sleeping

I've debated writing this post for a little while now because I think some people could take it the wrong way, but decided that I wanted to share my experience in the hopes that it would help some other mamas out there that could be dealing with the same sleep issues.

Isn't it funny how each and every child is different? I mean, for my three, all of them have very different personalities and very different modes of self soothing and getting themselves to sleep as babies and little ones.

Little Mama was a dream. She didn't take to a paci after those first few months and became super attached to her Angel Dear Lovey instead. Also, because she was my first I did everything right. You know, perfect sleeping conditions...in her crib and sound machine on at the exact same time every single day.

Blondie was (and still is) my thumb sucker. She used to have that little thumb in her mouth every time I looked at her. She also has always been my one that requires the most sleep and could fall asleep just about anywhere. I think that is because of the thumb sucking and it being so "convenient" to just pop in her mouth when she was tired.

The thumb sucking is a habit we are currently trying to break. I've tried a few things that have been unsuccessful so far, but got some tips from our orthodontist that I'm hoping to try soon.

Then there is the baby of the family, little Boo-Boo. He was a paci baby from day one and loved those pacis so much. He would sleep while sucking on one and would hold another one or two while he slept.

Because he was the third child and he had to be taken along wherever the girls were going, his sleeping schedule was pretty inconsistent during the day. One thing was for sure though...he loved his paci and it kept him happy so I let him have it probably more than I should have.

He often got his naps on the go, but if he had his paci, he was able to sleep just about anywhere, even at the beach, the pool, in the stroller, or at the lake.

I was planning on taking it from him at age two, but that was when we were building our house, living with my in-laws, and spending SO much time in the car driving back and forth between the two so I let him keep it. He was allowed to have it at night and in the car. Then age 3 became my target goal to wean him off the paci. The day after his third birthday (I couldn't stand to do that to him on his actual birthday), I told him the pacis were going bye-bye because he was now a big boy.

Goodbye pacis, hello sleep problems.

My little guy who used to go right to sleep the second I said goodnight to him and sleep until the next morning began having all kinds of trouble getting to and staying asleep. He started asking one of us to lay with him to help him get to sleep at night and he would wake up every.single.night between 2-4 AM.

After I tried to break the habit of laying with him at night bedtime became really hard. I'd put him to bed at a normal time (around 8 PM) and most nights he was still wide awake at 10 PM or later. As I was tucking him in and getting him ready for bed he would tell me, " I just can't go to bed good" and he was right. He knew he had trouble getting to sleep. It wasn't that he wasn't trying to get to sleep, but his little body just could not wind down. We ended up agreeing that he could play in his room or read books until he was able to fall asleep. Because it would take so long he would sleep in very late in the mornings and his whole sleeping routine was just off.

At his 5 year well visit this summer I talked to the pediatrician about my concerns and she gave me the typical tips you would expect. We tried those and nothing really changed. She did mention that I could give him a small dose of melatonin and that it helped some kids, but I sort of forgot about it shortly after that visit because I wasn't really convinced I wanted to go that route.

Well, fast forward to an evening a few months ago and I was talking with one of my friends who gives her son melatonin to help him prepare for sleep each night. Hearing her similar experience with her son and how melatonin changed their evening routines made me very curious. She talked about how it was a total game changer for them and sent me home with a few from her bottle to try.

I decided to give him one that evening before bath time and then I tucked him in first before heading to the girls' rooms to tell them goodnight. Then I walked past his room, not 10 minutes later and saw this:

He was sound asleep. #Icouldntbelieveit I thought he was just faking it at first because it had been years since he had fallen asleep so easily. I kept checking in on him and he stayed asleep. Even better, he slept ALL NIGHT LONG!

The first few days I sort of questioned it and felt like I was drugging him to get him to sleep. We continued giving it to him before bed and now it has become part of his nightly routine. He calls it his nighttime vitamin and it has seriously been life changing for our family. There have been nights we have forgotten to give it to him if we were out of town or had something going on and you can certainly tell the difference. On those nights he tosses and turns and can't get to sleep.

After taking the melatonin you can see him just start to relax. It helps him to get calm so his body can sleep. Then, he wakes up at a normal time in the morning, is well rested, happy, and his entire sleep routine is in line with what it should be.

Now a few things to note:

*Obviously I am not a doctor and have no medical training. I'm simply sharing what worked for my son in hopes that it might help someone else. I would definitely recommend checking with your pediatrician before giving this to your child.

*We give Boo-Boo a 1 mg tablet. It's chewable and he seems to like the taste of it or at least he doesn't complain about it. I found a few different brands in the vitamin section at local stores, but ultimately decided to order the same brand that my friend used because it was what we had tried, we knew it worked and wanted to stick with the same brand. It's called Mel-O-Chew and I order it on Amazon. Check out the reviews, too. SO many stories of success similar to mine.

*I give it to him just before we head up to get baths, read books and get in bed. I think that timing is just right for us.

*After giving this to him, I talked to many friends and family members who also have taken melatonin themselves or given it to their children. I had no idea it was something so many people used. I'm sure the effects are different for each individual, but hoping that sharing my experience will help someone!

Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Kitchen Confessions: Crunchy Southern Slaw

I mentioned yesterday that Jen and her family came over for dinner on Friday night. I wanted to plan a fun and low-key evening so that we could all just enjoy, relax and unwind from the week. Because of this I wanted to make sure everything I was cooking or making could be done ahead of time, except for the Mr. grilling our burgers. I flipped through my cookbook and decided that I hadn't made one of my favorite side dishes in a while.

To me, slaw is just something that screams southern. It reminds me of local BBQ restaurants and Sunday Suppers at my grandparents. While I don't always care for the traditional southern slaw I do love the other varieties I've had over the years. Some of my favorites were Blue Cheese Slaw from a restaurant we used to frequent when we had our lake house and Granny Smith Apple Slaw that I recently had on our trip to Key West. Delish!!!

One other favorite that I've actually made myself is a recipe I got from my mother in law years ago. The secret ingredient is Ramen noodles. Crazy, right? I promise it's good though.

Crunchy Southern Slaw

Ingredients:
1 lb. bagged slaw mix
1 package beef flavored Ramen Noodles
1 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 apple cider vinegar

Directions:
1. First make your dressing. Combine oil, sugar, vinegar and seasoning packet from Ramen Noodles. Mix well and refrigerate.
2. Break Ramen Noodles into small pieces.
3. Combine noodles, slaw and almonds.
4. Pour dressing over slaw and toss before serving.
5. Enjoy!

Monday, September 19, 2016

Tips for being a Classroom Volunteer

Happy Monday, friends! We hope you all had a great weekend. Jen and I got together Friday night to kick of the weekend with our favorite Poptails. Talk about a fun night with a fun drink! More on this deliciousness to come in the near future.

Lucky Jen is on Fall Break this week so hopefully we can all live vicariously through her on Instagram. For me though, I'm ready to kick off another the week and some of that time will be spent in my kids' classrooms volunteering. It's something I just can't say no to!

Because it is something we do so often, we have some tips and tricks and just general words of wisdom to share with all of you who might be thinking about volunteering in your kids' classrooms. Check out our 6 tips over on Savvy Sassy Moms. Click HERE to read.

Friday, September 16, 2016

Friday Favorites: Mushy Brain Edition

It's official. My brain is mush.

The good news it's Friday. Better yet, a Friday that kick starts a week long vacation. So me and my mushy brain will get a nice long alarm clock free break. Ahhh....

I'm not going to lie, these last few months have been rough on our little family, and I've never been so excited to have a break scheduled in my life. We can't wait to just check out for a week and enjoy our little ones beach side with some nice fruity beverages.

Today though, we shall celebrate this week with some of our favorites with some of our favorite bloggers.

Hang tight - my mushy brain also has mushy thoughts.

Last week and weekend were a blur, but we took a few moments to enjoy some normal thrown in. I took the kids outside to play for a bit, and to burn some much needed energy. Cute took a break from hitting a million golf balls and caught a few fun moments when he took my phone.

Here I am with the girls taking a well coordinated stroll.

I loved that he captured this moment. I have approximately 9,540 photos on my phone of the kids and I think I am in like five of them. I need to work on that!

And apparently tongues out is still a thing for picture taking.

#whenwillitgetold

With back to "normal" life came back to normal activities this week. It was so nice to get back into a routine, and Cute had his first official soccer practice of the season.

He was so excited when his coach included the parents for a fun game. Hearing those sweet giggles was definitely one of my favorite moments of the week.

While the kids got back to their normal activities it was time I did as well. I tried to work in a few treadmill sessions this week. I was so sad a few weeks ago that my favorite running shoes decided to make their last run.

These were my absolute favorite running shoes of all time. Favorite!

I was so sad to realize that my size was no longer available.

I purchased this new pink pair thinking I would love them just the same, but after a few miles logged I quickly realized they would never compare to my original love. They met the requirements - favorite brand, same style, brightness on a level potentially causing those passing by temporary blindness, but alas - no go.

I wasn't about to give up my search though and I stumbled upon these. I think they are just the newer version of what I had originally. So far they are living up to the potential of the originals. And because I chose day glo orange I get quite the comments on them.

At least you'll see me coming. :)

Carrie Beth and I are lucky enough to do this fun blog thing and we've met a ton of fabulous people and new friends over the last few years. This week a little bit of happy made its way to my doorstep.

Nicole of MomTrends launched her new book MOM BOSS this week and we are so excited for her. She wanted to share with women how it's possible to have both a family and something of your own without all that unnecessary mommy guilt. So far I am in love with her transparency and her advice. Definitely a great read for any woman, but great for any mother thinking of branching out to do something on her own.

This week my house has been filled with flowers, food, and a flood of support. Seeing these beautiful reminders of what great friends and family we have will always be my favorite.

And flowers in a mason jar...well I wouldn't be a true southern girl if I didn't love that. :)

That's about all the mushy brain thoughts I can give you for now. Here's hoping I at least have enough brain capacity to pack a swim suit or two, remember the 2,847 beach toys, and to make sure all children and bags are accounted for.

What were some of your favorites this week?

Happy Friday y'all!