{Five Things} Energy Tea, Caramel Lip Balm & More

1. OPI Barre My Soul - I just recently squeezed in a speedy manicure at my local nail salon (I'm usually more of a pedicure gal, but had been chewing my cuticles too much), and I picked out this color since I didn't want it to be painfully obvious when the polish started chipping. I love the subtle pink undertones and neutral hue and even got rave reviews from the manicurist. Definitely getting it again!

2. Sparkly Green Earrings - This book just arrived in my latest order from Amazon and I'm eager to crack it open! The author, Melanie Shankle, is also a blogger over at The Big Momma blog and the tome is all about her humorous, and some not so funny, memoirs as a parent. I've got book writing plans of my own—about raising multiples and keeping your sanity!—and thought this would be good inspiration.

3. L'Oreal Colour Rich Balm in Caramel Comfort - Grabbed this color at Target after a fellow quad mom spotted it on Pinterest and I added it to my Get Pretty board. Love it! I already had the light pink lip balm but this caramel shade is perfect for pairing with darker eye shadow or bronzy looks.

4. Lipton Natural Energy - It's been a few weeks now since I added to this to my tea stash in the kitchen and it's become a regular go-to. I don't drink coffee and limit myself to one Coke a day, so the rest of the time I'm sipping water, gatorade or tea. (Um, or wine.) I really do feel like it perks me up and gives me a boost, since it has more caffeine and thiamin then your average tea bag. Often, I'll pair it with some Tazo green tea for more flavor.

5. Now Foods Solutions Coconut Oil - Ta-dah! The item I couldn't wait to share with you most is my beloved coconut oil!!! I've cooked with this stuff for years now, and it's great for high-temp stove-top fare. But I've begun incorporating it into my beauty routine and am in love with this product. First, I made a DIY sugar scrub with it (blog post on that coming soon!) and then I started using it as under eye cream at night, dry spot face lotion during the day, elbow moisturizer, a quick remedy for household burns on skin, dry and red cheeks on the babies, foot lotion, knuckle moisturizer and more. I mean, seriously, you could put this on just about anything for any reason. It's all natural, high in moisture and isn't greasy once absorbed. Get you some of this!!

What products are you loving lately?

And don't forget to enter my giveaway, just leave a comment on this giveaway post to enter! You could win a bottle of Red Velvet wine, coconut lotion and more! Giveaway ends Monday night....

{Quad Squad} $1 V-Day Finds + Learning Activities

I must tell you something that might be difficult to hear...

I absolutely do not like Valentine's Day.

In fact, I really have never liked Valentine's Day. Pink is one of my least favorite colors (I was shocked when finding out I was going to have three girls!!), and the whole pink, red, white thing kills me. Not to mention the overload of hearts, puckered lips and XOXO's. Gag me with a fork!

There's no ulterior motive behind my dislike of the Cupid-chasing holiday. It's just never appealed to me. Then when the husband and I first started trying for a family, I found out about the first pregnancy on Valentine's Day several years ago. I actually got him a card—not something we normally do for V-Day—and wrote the surprise message in it for him. I miscarried less than two weeks later. Needless to say, the holiday has found even less favor with me since.

Buuuuuuut, then I had four babies. And three of them were girls. So I knew my days of pink-less behavior were going to have to be behind me. Their drawers of clothes have been filled with an impressive array of pink attire ever since. And last year on Valentine's Day, I actually took a photo of them with hearts in it. I know.

So while this year I haven't yet decided if I'll be posing them for a Love Fest photo, I did indulge in a few $1 finds at Target, which reaffirmed my love and devotion to that store. See? There's a little romance involved!

First off, my kids are obsessed with gel clings. They have windows in their play room so these come in handy for entertaining them when I need 20 more minutes of peace to finish dinner or when they're starting to sound off in whines of boredom. The same goes for pipe cleaners—those are a great activity for in their quad table to buy me a few more minutes or to entertain them after a meal. I also give them a stack of colanders from my kitchen sometimes and they practice threading the pipe cleaners through the holes. Most of the time, though, they just spend all their time stacking, unstacking and restacking the colanders and carrying them around the play room. Whatever works!

The frosted animal cookies were $1 for the whole bag and those were a hit as well, they tried the frosted version for the first time today after lunch. I'll sneak a few of them into their snack cups for this afternoon! I also love Target's board books for a buck. They're super cute and are really great for little hands learning to turn the pages. And for a dollar, it doesn't matter if they get beat up or torn apart, even though they've all lasted darn well with my crew. These particular books are all about love and the blue one with the owls on it has lots of animal pictures inside, which the quads really enjoy. The beaded necklaces were the only thing that didn't come out of the $1 bins at Target, those were in the party section but still $1 for four of them. They're super cute and I first spotted them on Megan's blog, Hello Newlywed Wife, for her little tyke so I snatched some up for my girls.



In the meantime, we've started working on colors and shapes with the kids. Lots and lots of repetition. I sound like a broken record 90% of the day! I recently drew shapes with chalk on my DIY magnetic chalkboard fireplace cover in their play room to reinforce them at a glance when we're in there. They've also really been enjoying using their magnets—especially since they don't seem keen on putting everything in their mouths anymore—and I plan to get some colors and shapes magnets as well.

Another way to teach colors has been courtesy of their ball pit. Since the balls are all primary shades and they play with them a lot, we hold one up and say its color and they typically repeat it a few times. Again, using things on hand that are ready at a glance seems to be the way to go for us!

Lastly, Harrison has become a whiz at puzzles. He whips those pieces around and slides them in so quick. I'm beyond impressed and have picked up a few more puzzles at places around town the past few weeks so he has more to practice on and I just keep a couple rotating through the play room. Ross and Once Upon a Child, a kid's resale shop, have had the best deals, but I've also purchased a few from Amazon and Ebay as well. Melissa & Doug are our favorite puzzle brands since they seem to be better quality and I like the chunky pieces. I've noticed Logan has been watching Harrison intently whenever he puts a puzzle together, and she's been improving a lot, too. I usually put a puzzle in with their books and quiet toys at nap time so they can all practice at their leisure.

Happy Valentine's Day and bah-humbug!!


P.S. Don't forget to enter the awesome giveaway I'm hosting to celebrate my blog being viewed more than a million times!!! All you have to do is leave a comment to enter, giveaway ends Monday!

P.P.S. This post was not sponsored by Target or any other brands, it is a production of Texas Tales and all items were purchased myself and all opinions expressed are my own.

{My Recipes} One Pot Wonder Greek Chicken

I am fascinated by the latest one-pot recipes swirling around on Pinterest lately that involve, quite literally, dumping various ingredients of a particular flavor theme into a pot and coming up with a fabulous meal 20 water-boiling minutes later. And I love Greek salads and pastas, so naturally I had to try the Greek Chicken variation. I made a few edits to the recipe I found here, and it got a thumbs up from the husband, my parents and all four kiddos so I'd say it makes the list of go-to easy dinners!

GREEK CHICKEN PASTA
2-3 large boneless chicken breasts, cut into cubes

One 14-ounce can or jar of artichokes, drained
1/2 cup olives, any kind (I use olives from the grocery's olive bar, not canned)
1 lb pasta, any kind
1 handful fresh grape tomatoes
1/4 cup sliced pepperoncini peppers
1/2 sliced red onion
3 tablespoons garlic, minced
1 tablespoon red chili flakes
7 cups chicken stock
One packet Zesty Italian dressing mix
Crumbled feta

Put all of the ingredients into a large pot except the feta cheese. Stir it together and bring it to a boil. When it is at a full boil, reduce the heat to medium high. 

Make sure you have a pint-sized helper in the kitchen to assist. Logan loves emptying the silverware from the dishwasher! ;)

Continue boiling, stirring occasionally, until the chicken and pasta are done. Remove from heat and strain servings into bowls then top with a generous handful of feta cheese.

You can also find a link to my recipe pinned onto my Food board on Pinterest!

Happy eating :)

{Quad Squad} Sisterly Love

The quads have looooong been aware of each other's presence (hello, elbowing for room in the womb), then they were soon aware of each other post-birth and spent much time cuddling and rolling all over one another. But the past several weeks they've been becoming more affectionate—and also occasionally more aggressive—towards each other. The affectionate part is almost too much to handle!

I mean, four cuties running around the room giving each other hugs?

And then there's that slightly awkward moment afterward when you want to tell your sister how much you adore her but just don't quite have the words yet.

Be still my heart. I think it's going to burst!

{DIY} Cooking Spray & Veggie Wash

As time goes on and I read new magazines and scavenge Pinterest for the latest crazes, I glean more and more tips on how to eliminate chemicals from my kitchen. I've long been a fan of Seventh Generation's dishwasher tabs (we used them for all the baby bottles we used to wash!), their dish soap and their plant-based anti-bacterial cleaning spray. (For those wondering, I typically buy all their products at Target or Kroger, but a quick search revealed you can order them on Amazon, too!)

So I'd seen a few pins about making your own olive oil cooking spray versus using something like Pam, that contains a lot of added chemicals. I vowed to try it for myself as soon as I'd finished using up what I had and that day came this morning. I grabbed a clean, empty spray bottle and filled it with one part olive oil to five parts water. So, for instance, my spray bottle held 1/2 cup olive oil and 2 1/2 cups water.

The oil and water definitely stay separated in the bottle, so you just have to shake it up real good before you spray anything. I tested it out on some cinnamon rolls I baked for the babies' breakfast this morning and it worked great! They didn't stick to the foil at all and weren't crusty or burnt. I look forward to using this healthy alternative for all my stove-top cooking as well!

For the past several months, I've been making my own fruit and veggie wash as well. It's really complicated, though. Are you ready for this? Fill a spray bottle with half white vinegar and half water. Like I said... complicated. ;) I thoroughly spray down all the fruits and vegetables we eat, including potatoes, and then rinse them in cold tap water. There's no taste of vinegar left behind and I've read that it kills 99% of bacteria on the food. You can use it on salad greens, berries, anything.

I even pour a half cup or so of vinegar into my washing machine sometimes when I've got some bibs or baby clothes that are smelling a little rank and they come out super fresh. It's also great for getting the musty smell out of towels and bed linens. And, again, there's no vinegar odor left behind as you long as it's rinsed!

What's your favorite chemical-free kitchen product?