Category:

Family

15 Family Friendly movies

by Shalice Noel May 2, 2022

written by Shalice Noel

It’s 4 days till Friday, it’s time to get prepared.

Family night can get complicated beyond what to flavor the popcorn with. Can you relate? I asked you — my readers what are your favorite family friendly films and BOOM, I got great responses. Obviously, use parental caution and common sense as you know what your kids can handle in terms of movies and adults themes like funerals and death like we saw last night when we watched Fried Green Tomatoes. Reid and I have enjoyed making family night special with popcorn and nacho seasoning. I included the recipe below.

Add any of your favorites in the comments.

Sound of Music

Mary Poppins

Newsies

Soul Surfer

Forever my girl

Cheaper by the Dozen

Sandlot

Because of Winn-Dixie

Snow Dogs

The Railway Children

Annie

Swiss family Robinson

Fried Green Tomatoes

Sky Captain and World of Tomorrow

BONUS:

MATILDA

WHALE RIDER

BLUE MIRACLE

THE GREATEST SHOWMAN

For family night:

This Nacho Cheese Seasoning is perfect for popcorn, chips, and french fries! Or anything you want to sprinkle it on. It’s also vegan because I used nutritional yeast to give it a cheesy flavor.

NACHO CHEESE SEASONING INGREDIENTS

½ tablespoon nutritional yeast

1 ½ teaspoon of chili pepper powder (use more if you like it extra spicy)

1 teaspoon of onion powder

½ teaspoon of cumin powder

½ teaspoon of sea salt

½ teaspoon of smoked paprika

Mix together, add on top of popcorn and drizzle with avocado oil.

Enjoy!

May 2, 2022

Family

5 Tips how to buy a car right now

by Shalice Noel February 26, 2022

written by Shalice Noel

1.Don’t go to a third party, I wasted $100 going to a used car website to “hold” a car and never was able to talk to a person. Go to the manufacturer of the car, in our case, the official GMC website.

2. Go to available new cars, input your zip code. It showed us cars available within 50 miles.

3. I scrolled and scrolled and scrolled. Our car was at a dealership about an hour away. YAHOO!

4. Be on it. Call right away to confirm the purchase price and provide the deposit to hold the car.

5. PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE. In the past, I’ve just put up with what was on the lot. Gold, white, silver, etc. I WANTED A BLACK YUKON! I was SO happy to wait for the car I wanted in my favorite color. It’s worth the wait.

Friends only tell friends the good tips.

MAJOR TIP: use coupon code “Psinergy” to receive 10% off Vivobase car which blocks yucky EMF. You’re welcome!

Read THIS BLOG POST about my 16 year old dream to own a suburban and have 6 kids haha!

This is the car we got: Yukon XLT black leather with tan trim. We LOVE the bucket seats so its easy for the kids to move around on long road trips.

Good luck on your car journey, let me know if this post was helpful.

xx Shalice

February 26, 2022

Family

Top six list of our favorite books for Levi

by Shalice Noel July 23, 2021

written by Shalice Noel

I love a house that is full of books.

But it can also be a clutter disaster. Therefore, I try not to waste our time and storage space on junk books. I think of our library as I do our pantry. If there is no nutritional value, don’t eat it. If the story lacks good content, don’t bother. Here is my top six list of our favorite books for Levi.

1) Good Night Moon, by Margaret Wise Brown

2) Caps For Sale, by Esphyr Slobodkina

3) Little Bunny Follows His Nose, by Katherine Howard

4) Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site, by Sherri Duskey Rinker & Tom Lichtenheld

5) Henny Penny, by Paul Galdone

6) Corduroy, by Don Freeman

Here is what I look for in a good book to read

1) Plot. Yes, even a book for toddlers should have a plot.

2) Repetition. It is important at this age. Find books that rhyme, sing, or repeat phrases. I like to read in funny voices and it makes him laugh.

3) Illustrations. I’m a sucker for great graphics and Levi loves pointing out objects he can identify. Like the burch in Good Night Moon and Goodnight and the teddy bear in Goodnight Construction Site. These two stories are especially genius.

As I often say, the days are long, but the years are short. If your kids are already past the toddler stage, you can catch up the snuggle time with grand kids.

Have a lovely weekend,

Shalice

July 23, 2021

Family

Saving time and money with Walmart+

by Shalice Noel June 23, 2021

written by Shalice Noel

Why I use Walmart+

We moved into a house with a pool at the end of February, and honestly, it’s been great! We find ourselves outside so much of the time because of it, and doesn’t every mom want that? Due to all this outside time, I’ve been branching out, trying to find different things to eat, play with, and do outside. And if the doing coincides with the eating, then all the better! Enter the snow cone machine and syrups from Walmart! They absolutely love snow cones after our trip to Kauai two years ago, but I definitely didn’t like all the sugar and coloring usually found in snow cones. Surprisingly, the syrup I bought from Walmart doesn’t have the common red #40 or sugar. So far it’s been a huge hit, and is always a favorite at any party.

Also, to my friends with kids still in diapers, Walmart is a great go-to in a pinch! We were out of diapers this week and Walmart+ came to the rescue with a 2 hour delivery. Same with groceries and produce! Walmart+ always gives the option for same day delivery, and since “same day” are two of my favorite words, Walmart has quickly become a favorite. Don’t forget to sign up for Walmart+ HERE, free shipping, no order minimum.

For groceries:

Check your address to see if free delivery from your store is available at your address.($35 minimum. Restrictions apply.) I checked, and my address qualified, yay!

Non-grocery items:

As for everything else like this rad snow cone machine, enjoy free next day or 2-day delivery. Don’t forget to sign up for Walmart+ HERE, free shipping, no order minimum required (excludes freight & Marketplace items). Sign up and let me know what you think. If you’re on the fence, start a free 15 day trial to try it out!

Big thank you to Walmart for sponsoring this post. All opinions are my own.

Click on the images to shop:

Snow cone machine // Syrups // Reusable straws // Similar white dress // Faux Fur slippers // Shatterproof tumblers

June 23, 2021

Family

WE GOT A NEW PUPPY

by Shalice Noel May 22, 2021

written by Shalice Noel

The kids have begged me for 6 years for a puppy and guess what??

Tomorrow we pick up our mini golden doodle puppy. He is 8 weeks old and the breeder named him Lukas. We cannot wait to pick him up tomorrow.

If you live in Atlanta, there is a breeder in Woodstock, that has both males and females called GLITZY GOLDENDOODLES. Check out her adorable Facebook page. Can’t get over those pictures of tiny puppies. Honestly, it was hard to just pick one.

This week, we have been watching youtube videos on how to train our new puppy. We’ve also discussed with the kids their new responsibilities. It won’t be perfect but I’m adjusting my expectations.

We’ve bought snacks, raw organic food and a travel crate for him to sleep in.

Next up, will be agree on a name?

Stay tuned 😉

Since we don’t know what we’re doing, please weigh in with any puppy training advice that you may have learned. Looking forward to sharing more of this new adventure!

5 TIPS TO GETTING A NEW PUPPY

1 Keep expectations low – be realistic, you won’t be getting a lot of sleep with a new puppy. You and you puppy will be adjusting to a new life and schedule.

2 Give him/her a safe place to play and sleep. We bought this crate.

3 Roll up your nice rugs!

4 Buy bells to place at the doors. Train the puppy to ring the bell to go out to potty.

5 Buy Apple bitters and spray on the furniture legs and lamps (with wires) before you get the puppy. This is key. We wished we did this before we got Lucca.

Tee shirt // Jeans // Sunglasses // Puppy crate

May 22, 2021

Family

Levi’s Newborn Shoot!

by Shalice Noel May 20, 2021

written by Shalice Noel

Levi’s first 8 weeks of life has come and gone in a flash! It’s been awesome having #5 in our lives, growing our hearts with more and more love. Thank you to Patty Othen for these beautiful pics! Find her webpage here.

May 20, 2021

Family

The Cutest Matching Sneakers

by Shalice Noel January 13, 2021

written by Shalice Noel

Happy Wednesday! We were busy with school, picking up groceries, working, and grilling steaks on the patio.

I absolutely love matching with my kids, so when Levi needed new sneakers, I had to get him matching Swift Run Sneakers, I jumped on them.

Levi loves to run and jump and fall. Thankfully you don’t see the scuffs on these adidas sneakers.

I also love these in CHEETAH!

I compiled some other shoes for Levi here:

Happy Wednesday!

January 13, 2021

Family

Last minute gift idea: Tiny Tags

by Shalice Noel December 21, 2020

written by Shalice Noel

Mama necklace // Circle names necklace // Mommy and Me Bracelets

There’s so much you can get a tween from books to bracelets. However, Atalie loved this one from Tiny tags!! We were able to personalize them, “mama” and “Atalie.” I asked Atalie how she liked her bracelet and she said “It is very pretty and goes with everything.” I love matching my girls.

If you’ve followed me for a while, you’ve probably noticed I wear my gold Tiny Tags circle with all the children’s names – they were able to fit 5 names!

I will treasure these pieces for years.

December 21, 2020

Family Kid friendly

KiwiCo: The best gifts for the kids in your life

by Shalice Noel December 5, 2020

written by Shalice Noel

Reid and I both looked at each other and said “wow did this arrive on time!” Let’s be honest. We are spending record amounts of time at home, and we are tired and running out of creative ways to keep the kids off screens and devices. Enter the Kiwico crates! They are genius ways to keep your kids busy with educational kits.

How do I order?

Click HERE for 50% off!

You can search by age, how easy is that? We were surprised to see that they have crates for ages 2 to 12+. Levi even got one and felt special being included. Atalie got a walking robot, Kate the spin art, Mathias the infinity mirror, Brooks kaleidoscope and Levi got a mail delivery crate. VERY exciting and fun activities for kids bored at home!

Bonus: we had our kids write about their activity, how it worked and why it worked. Check, science is done my friends.

Was it fun?

Their favorite part was how hands on it was, creating their craft independently and playing with it afterwards. Atalie’s walking robot was a huge hit!