In our Home | Spring Time

 1) & 2) I'm finally making some progress on Nora's room.  My goal is to have both of the girls rooms done (finally) before Elsie's bday.  More pics to come in the next month...promise.

3) & 4) It's getting warm here (like 105 today warm) and so we busted out the little pool and water table for what is quickly becoming Nora's favorite activity - backyard water play!

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The next two sets of pictures are from Easter.  (Yes... late....I know)

1) Nora and her love of her friends is just priceless.

2) & 3) We hosted a few friends for an Easter brunch after church.  So. Much. Fun.  Have you had Pioneer Woman's Iced Coffee yet? Holy Yummo!  Try it... it's amazing. I made it for Easter Brunch and I think it may have been my favorite part of the food options :)

4) Our sweet little family of 4.

 1) & 2) Believe it or not we're still looking for certain things after moving into our rental home 6 months ago.  One of those items is our Resurrection Egg kit.  Thankfully this year in MOPS we made a Toddler Version of Resurrection Eggs which proved to be perfect for Nora as we prepared for Easter this year.

3) Nora (and friends) at an Easter party.

4) Mommy and Daughter "Date" at Dunkin Donuts.
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 1) I opened the fridge one morning and couldn't help but chuckle at the hilarious placement of Elsie's bottle.  (Alan's doing of course)

2) As the weather has gotten warmer I've been fortunate to be able to enjoy a handful of lunch dates with girlfriends.  Sun + a midday glass of wine + adult conversation + nap time + a yummy salad = a very happy mom.  What could be better, really?!

3) In general I'm a red wine drinker. However, with the temps in the triple digits I started searching for something light and refreshing.  Thankfully a friend brought me a bottle of Barefoot Moscato and I've been a fan ever since.  It's cheap ($8.99 for a large bottle), practically tastes like kool-aid and is just so dang yummy.  Try it... I dare you ;)

4) Oh, Mommy Planning Mornings.  Enough said.

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And I'll leave you all with a few updated pics of the girls.  Because they are just too dang cute!  

xoxo

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Steph's Pick | Extra Dessert Delights Gum (Sugar Free)

Early in March I started a 6-week long "sugar-fast."  And by sugar-fast I really do mean No.Sugar.Period.  Not even the 3 g of sugar in Balsamic Vinegar type of sugar-fast.

Sigh.

I don't mention this because I feel like everyone needs to do this.  It was just something that I needed to do.

You see, I have a love/hate relationship with anything sweet.  I love it because well, it generally tastes divine, but I hate it because the obvious lack of nutritional benefits AND for what I came to recognize as a lack of discipline (aka self-control) that I have when I get around anything with sugar in it.

So a sugar-fast was necessary.

The only problem in this adventure was that I needed to find a few things that felt like a "cheat" but weren't.

Enter Extra Dessert Delights Gum.

You won't believe me until you try it for yourself but I have to tell you, I actually find them, well, delightful.  My favorite dessert....flavors...all wrapped up in a tiny stick.  And sugar free, to boot.

Give 'em a try. It's worth a try at least, right? ;)

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Steph's Pick | LocalDines.com

Oh how I love a good deal. And even more so, I love the occasional date night, moms night out, night out with friends, etc. The list could go on and on of all of the wonderful things I love to do Out.Of.The.House.

But as we all know, going out can be quite expensive. Fortunately with all of the various discount sites out there, we've been able to make getting out a little more affordable.

One of the specific sites that I've recently stumbled upon is LocalDines.com.

On LocalDines.com you can pre-purchase gift cards to various restaurants for 1/2 price and very few restrictions (unlike some other discount sites I know of). You print the gift certificate yourself and off you go.

What I love most is that Local Dines actually features great restaurants - not just the shady restaurant down the street. We've purchased LocalDines.com gift cards to The Vig (both locations), Calistro California Bistro, Local Bistro, Eddie's House, 5th and Wine, Armitage Bistro and have been to a number of the other eateries featured (RnR, Over Easy, La Bocca... just to name a few).

The one bad thing - LocalDines.com only services the Phoenix area (so sorry for all of you readers who don't live here).

I'd totally recommend checking out this site to save some money on your next night out!

Happy Friday!

{If you do decide to purchase a Local Dines would you be so kind as to purchase it using my referral link?! You're the best! Thanks!}

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GIVEAWAY | 2 AZ Mom's Night Out Tickets

Many of you know how much I love AZ Mom's Night Outs. I pretty much think they are the best thing since Starbucks Ready Brew Via Coffee (Iced).

I'm here to announce that we're plan-plan-planning the next Arizona Mom's Night Out! It's going to be AH-mazing! Here are the details...

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Scottsdale Moms Blog presents

Arizona Mom's Night Out

Thursday, May 10th

7:00PM - 9:00PM

at the Ice Den

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Happy early Mother's Day, let's celebrate together with a night out with the girls!

Join us at the Ice Den (Bell/101) on Thursday, May 10th from 7-9PM*

Your $10 ticket entitles you to:

:: a glass of wine ::

:: delicious snacks ::

:: raffle entry and chance to win spectacular giveaways ::

*Doors open at 7PM. Raffle prizes drawn at 7:30PM.

But here's where it gets fun! I've been given TWO TICKETS to give to two lucky The Flies Blend readers! Tickets are valued at $10/ticket so this is a great opportunity for all of you local moms to win a night out!

WIN IT ::

All you have to do to enter is simply leave a comment. Winner will be randomly drawn and announced on Friday.

REGISTER NOW ::

Too eager to wait and see if you've won? Well - you're in luck! Scottsdale Moms Blog has been gracious enough to open up early bird registration for all of YOU (aka : our friends).

Our events sell out so quickly that oftentimes even our closest friends are not able to snag a ticket. So here's your opportunity to beat the mommy masses to the punch ("official" registration launches next week).... so don't delay!

:: REGISTER HERE ::

Good luck, and for those of you who don't live in AZ, be sure to still check out SMB because we have lots of other cities around the country as well!

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