* This is a sponsored post for OshKosh with our friends at The Motherhood. As always, I only share brands I love and think you will too!!

It's mid August already and another summer is almost behind us. How do the years go by so fast? Next week 2 of my 3 will be back in school. While I am looking forward to the return of routine, it is always a little bittersweet. Another year passes, my babies get older...but back to school shopping is always a highlight we look forward to together!

This year at Mom2.0 I had the privilege to visit the OshKosh/Carter's headquarters and sit in on an exclusive behind the scenes look at the brand and the fall styles before they hit the stores. 

OshKosh is one of my go to brands for my kids clothes. Their amazing new styles paired with their affordable prices makes them a no brainer for my kids back to school wardrobe! 

I was so excited to collaborate with them on their #oshkoshfirstday campaign by bringing you the latest fall trends for your kid's back to school style! 

10 Must Have's from OshKosh:

1. Denim & Chambray. The OshKosh heritage is in its denim. The pieces are on trend and easy to style! For girls think overalls, denim jackets & skirts. For boys, jeans, denim jackets and chambray shirts for layering! 

2. Girls TLC- tunics & leggings collection. The staple of my girls wardrobes! They are so easy to mix patterns and colors so the outfit possibilities are endless! 100% cotton and age appropriate and on trend! 

3. Uniforms - New to the Oshkosh family. They built fashion around the uniform to show a fun fashion flair while kids are in uniforms! 

4. Oshkosh Original Tees - Designed by the designers in the New York City offices. The graphic tees are another staple of my kids wardrobes! They are easy to mix with denim, leggings and active wear & are great for layering! 

5. Girls Active Wear - Inspirational messages, pops of neon, hearts and stars & glitter!! I am sure this new addition will be a success! 

6. Boys Triple Jumper Pant - So comfortable- elastic waist and functional drawstring. Come in a variety of colors, even camo!

7. Shoes- A new expanded line with sneakers, high tops, ballet flats and camo to match any outfit!

8. Boys Fleece Pant - Another staple. These comfy pants are perfect for active boys and for mixing with everything! Flannel, denim, chambray!!

9. Outerwear- Wide variety of on trend styles and colors! Perfect way to fashionably layer and stay toasty warm!

10. Essential Wovens- Comfortable button down "borrowed from dad" look. One of my favorite ways to layer!! 

How I styled my kids for #oshkoshfirstday:

Oshkosh has another new program called The Oshkosh Jeanius Campaign - they help give kids a leg up! Donate a new pair of jeans or make a cash donation at checkout for a great cause. 

OshKosh will match all denim donations with another item of clothing. All cash donations will be matched, up to $50k.
Oshkosh partners with KIDS and Donorschoose.org to help local kids, teachers and schools thrive.

Campaign runs from July 29 - September 17.

Oshkosh is extending a 25% off coupon to jessicaNdesigns readers on a purchase of $40 or more! I hope you have as much fun getting stylish back to school clothes as I did! 

Save Time & Money with ePantry - A special discount!

My ePantry Loot I scored for only $21!!!

I love Mrs. Meyers products. I love that they do not contain harmful chemicals but use essential oils and plant derived ingredients! Plus, the packaging is awesome and the products smell & work great!!

I was introduced to ePantry by my best friend Crystal, and I admit that I originally signed up to save money on my favorite products. I quickly realized I was not only saving money, but time!!

A little more about why I love ePantry:

• It saves me time & money on the products I love, like Mrs. Meyers & Method.  I live far from stores like Target & Walmart and the time this saves me on essentials is priceless! I can get what I need sent right to my door, FREE for cheaper than what I pay at Target!

• They have a great referral program! For every friend you refer to ePantry, you get $10 off to use on your next order & they get $10 to use toward their first order! 

• I control when & what I want in my next shipment! 

• They have amazing customer service! I have live chatted with the funniest, nicest people 3 times now! They are so helpful and friendly! 

• They are an eco-friendly company!

• There are no service fees!

• They are offering a great deal to jessicaNdesigns readers!! Sign up here & get 25% off your first order plus FREE SHIPPING for a year!! 

Here is a run down of what I got in my first Shipment for ONLY $21:

THREE 12 oz hand soaps
34 oz Refill Hand Soap
18 oz Dish Soap
16 oz Counter top Spray
Surface wipes (I LOVE these)
Bathroom Cleaner

Think you will try ePantry? You should, you will love it!! 



*This is not a sponsored post, these are my own personal opinions. ePantry did offer my readers a discount through my referral link. I do earn referral credit through my link. 

Watermelon Ice Pops + Meet my New Recipe Contributor

Even though I'm longing for fall & the sweaters, scarves & boots that come with it, summer is still here.  And since this is a holiday weekend, and you might need a yummy snack to serve at your family get together, I thought today would be the perfect day to introduce you to my NEW recipe contributor Kelly from Eat Yourself Skinny! 

I have drooled over Kelly's blog for a while now & we have chatted back and forth many a time (she is seriously just the sweetest!) I love eating, but I am not so keen on the cooking part. So I decided it was time to bring in an expert as a weekly recipe contributor!  

The first person on my list was Kelly, she makes the most amazing dishes, she is the sweetest person and her food photography makes me want to lick my screen. (TMI?!) 

On that note, I am SO excited Kelly decided to jump on board as my recipe contributor! So without further ado, here she is:

Hi! I'm Kelly! 

"I'm a 20-something foodie with a true passion for cooking and a love for photography.  My blog "Eat Yourself Skinny" started because I wanted to show that eating right and maintaining a healthy lifestyle could actually be fun!  I love to put a spin on classic favorites by substituting calorie-loaded ingredients with healthier alternatives that still taste delicious.   I'm super excited to be a recipe contributor for Jessica N' Designs!"

Ok so confession, sometimes my inner kid is screaming to come out and I decide to make things like this.

Yes summer is slowly coming to an end, but that doesn’t mean we should say goodbye to this bikini-wearing, sunshine-filled season.  And nothing is more refreshing to me on a hot summer's day than fresh cut watermelon, especially at cookouts.  It's healthy, delicious and ridiculously low in calories, so why not freeze it up and put it on a stick??  I didn't use any fancy expensive popsicle makers either, just paper cups, wooden sticks and went to town.  Your kids will absolutely love making these and you'll love eating them!

   

I used lime sherbet for the rind of the watermelon and mini chocolate chips for the "seeds".  This will probably be the easiest thing you'll make all summer and for only 2 points per pop, go ahead and indulge!  This is the perfect snack to have ready in your freezer to grab when you want something sweet, but don't want to kill yourself with calories.  Oh and feel free to go crazy and add a shot or two of vodka to make these pops really fun, I'm sure your friends will thank you.

______________________________

Servings: 12

Serving Size: 1 ice pop

Calories: 78

Fat: 1.4 g

Carbs: 16.5 g

Fiber: 0.3 g

Protein: 0.5 g

Old Points: 1.6 pts

Points+: 2 pts

______________________________

Here are your ingredients:

5 cups seedless watermelon pulp

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

1 pint lime sherbet, softened

Puree watermelon and sugar in batches in your blender or food processor until smooth and strain into a medium bowl.  Cover and freeze until puree is slightly slushy, but not quite solid, about 2 to 3 hours.  Remove from freezer, stir well and add in chocolate chips.

Place twelve 5-ounce disposable cups in a shallow baking pan and spoon watermelon puree into cups, leaving about a 1/2 inch left from the rim.  Place pan in freezer for 2 hours, or until puree is solid, but not rock hard.

Allow lime sherbet to soften a bit, then spread over top of each portion of watermelon puree so that it comes up to the edge of the cup.  Smooth sherbet with the back of a spoon and cover each cup with plastic wrap.  Cut a small slit in the center of each cup and insert a popsicle stick into each pop so that it almost reaches the bottom of the cups.  Freeze overnight (or until solid) and can be frozen for up to two days.

Allow pops to sit at room temperature for about a minute, then gently pull out from the cups.  Serve and enjoy!

Click here for a printable version of this recipe 

Hungry for more? Here are a few more must try recipes: 

Lemon Curb with Mixed Berries //Caramelized peaches // Skinny beer-garitas

Do I have your mouth watering? Good! Because Kelly will be back each week to share a new, delicious recipe with us! Can you say YUM?!

In the mean time, go say Hi to Kelly on her blog, facebook or twitter! Tell her I sent ya & that you can't wait for more! 

Easy Canvas Prints & Family Pictures...FINALLY

I was approached by Easy Canvas Prints to review one of there Canvases & I am SO happy I agreed! I SERIOUSLY LOVE my Canvas! I immediately texted a picture of it to my best friend & family! I LOVE it. LOVE.IT.

I chose my FAVORITE picture of me & Brooks from our family photo shoot and decided on an 11x14 Canvas with the image wrap border (where your image wraps around the edge of your canvas print.)  

I love that it is so easy to put your photo on a canvas! All you do is pick a size, upload your photo, choose a border & BAM...your canvas is shipped to you! I am going to get another one made of the whole family!


p.s. If you become a fan of Easy Canvas Prints on facebook, you get 50% off and FREE shipping! SWEEEEET!

I wanted to FINALLY share the rest of my family pictures today too! 

So...which family picture do you think I should make into a canvas next?

Vacations Past...

2 summer's ago we took a family trip to Washington State! 

It was BEAUTIFUL there! 

We stayed in this amazing Cabin!

It was so secluded and peaceful!

But flying from Ohio, to Texas to Washington (cheap tickets)

was NOT BEAUTIFUL...

Pre-take off we had already 

opened the emergency bag of suckers! 

Let me tell you...flying with a 18 month old 

and a 2 1/2 year old was 

A.NIGHTMARE. 

We were those people, who everyone looked at 

and cringed because we were on their flight.

{a story all in itself....}

When we arrived we checked out the river behind our cabin.

 We ate ice cream.

 Lots of ice cream!

 We went hiking to some AMAZING waterfalls!

We stopped at Diablo Lake

I have never seen anything like it, it was turquoise!

 I can't remember the name of this place, but it was probably the highlight of the trip for me! 

The water that runs down into this lake is said to be from a glacier and it was FREEZING

But we had to jump in anyway:

 THE GIRLS THAT IS!!!

It was so much fun!

 We hiked up a trail to the top of this peak...

AMAZING view! 

This is the family: 

My husbands brother, his wife and son. 

Us in the background. 

My mother and sister in law

 We had so much fun, except for the nightmare flight! 

But on the way home we benadryled the kids (Shhhhhhh) 

and they slept the whole way.

Otherwise I would have had a nervous breakdown. 

FOR REAL

This year we are going to the Mountains again, 
this time in Virginia. 
We are staying at the Massenutten Resort. 
I can't wait! 


Where are you going this year?