In case your car battery dies!

Genius. No jumper cables needed! This car battery jumper works through the cigarette lighter port of both cars! Now I feel a lot safer in case I find myself in a situation where I need to get-or give- a quick jump safely! :). Found this little gem on the auto aisle at Target! :)

Iphone to home speakers-wirelessly-for dummies!

I am not the most tech-savvy gal around, so this post is very exciting for me to write.

Back story: we got a stereo system hooked up to our home entertainment stuff a couple of years ago, but it's all hard-wired. When we wanted to hook our iPhones to the speakers (which was only worth the beating when we have parties), we had to open up our entertainment center, dig around for the cable to connect the phone (which we invariably misplaced or mis-identified, plugged into the wrong port, selected the wrong input, etc. and then our phones were tethered to the stereo. And our guests couldn't play their music through our speakers unless they had the same make and model of phone that we do, because the cable was only for our phones! Boo.

It's not as though bluetooth technology to wirelessly play your music is new, but I didn't realize (1) you could make it all work with (relatively) old, (relatively) cheap speakers; (2) how easy it is to use; (3) how inexpensive it is.  Thanks Logitech (and Amazon!) :)

Here's a link to the bluetooth adapter: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004VM1T5S/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

And here are the steps:

Plug it in to the outlet.
Connect it to the speakers with one wire.
Push the pairing button.
Jam out to Jagged Little Pill Mumford & Sons in your living room till your heart's content! ;)

Pantry fun!

We have moved to primarily buying/eating bulk foods in place of the vast array of baked cheetos, cookies and crackers that used to fill our pantry. This means healthier food and less packaging waste, which I love. And a prettier pantry--especially now that I found the chalkboard stickers and chalk pen to label it all on Amazon! The chalk pen is awesome--it looks like chalk and is designed to use on a chalkboard surface, and it wipes clean with a damp cloth. LOVE IT!  Here's exactly what they are:

stickers: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009JOYNBA/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

pen: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005OS9J8W/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

A great car trash can-finally!!

I can't handle a messy/trashed-out car. My kids don't seem to care whether I can handle it or not. I'd love to be those people who never eat/open goodie bags/unpack backpacks/eat lollipops in the car. But we are not those people, and accordingly my car often winds up being a hot mess. Until I found this little jewel-the Rubbermaid car trash can at target. It straps around your console so it's not going anywhere, and it's right where the kids need it! I can still easily reach it from the front seat, and it is plenty big for empty drink cups, etc. Thank you Rubbermaid!!

Great way to store swimsuits

Few things annoy me more in the summertime than being ready to head to the pool and having to dig around for matching swimsuit tops and bottoms. Now that Ryan has started wearing tankinis, that's waaay too many tops and bottoms for one swimsuit drawer! So we decided to go vertical: we got an over the door show rack and manages to get all 24 Fogel swimsuits organized on one door! We have our rash guards, cover ups and swim towels in the stacking racks inside the closet! We are going to be a well-oiled pool machine! ;)

The Ultimate Beach Bag (for real)

As VERY frequent pool goers in the summer, I have learned what I need in a beach bag-and in my pool accessories. After scouring Amazon and Google and reading every review on every bag that looked promising, I settled on the Whale bag by Saltwater Canvas on Amazon. It comes in many colors, but I went with black so Larry wouldn't feel silly when he takes the kids on his own! :). Here is why I love it:

First, it stays upright on its own-even the handles stay up!  It is super roomy in the main compartment-room for our four towels and plenty of extra space for cover ups, etc.

Second, it has tons of exterior pockets all around to store all sorts of things (such as the four pair of identical green goggles we got so we never have to argue over who gets what color)

And (cheap, waterproof) flip flops and pool (cheap!) sunglasses in a rubber waterproof case. . . 

And sunblock so we don't have to dig down to the bottom of the bag or worry about something pressing down on the button and spraying it all over our stuff . . . 

And a little hook to clip out waterproof money holder in so we don't have to dig for change when we want a sno cone. . . 

And a perfect place to hook the Dri Cat iPhone case (rated for a depth of 18 feet) so I can take all the underwater pictures I want!-it comes with a carabbeaner and a lanyard so you can keep it attached to your body hands-free in the pool!