At The Picket Fence with Vanessa Hunt

Where Ideas for your Home Meet Inspiration for your Heart

Living in the moment….

 

Lately I’ve been contemplating what it means to live in the moment.  As the mother of a young adult and a newly minted teenager, I see the days going by in a blur.

Outshine Fruit Bars from At The Picket Fence

 

I find myself clinging to precious moments with them.  The moments when I can get them to sit down with me for a few minutes and share with me about their day.  Open up about their hopes and dreams. I have learned the best way to get them to linger a little longer is to make sure there’s a snack close at hand.

 

There’s something about chatting on the front porch on a warm spring evening, our feet propped up on the porch and our wicker rockers swaying in sync that slows down time.

Not wanting to waste precious minutes with the kids in the kitchen baking a treat, I love to keep sweet, but healthy, spur of the moment snacks on hand.

Living in the Moment with Outshine Fruit Bars

 

Our new family treat is Edy’s Outshine Fruit Bars.  We each have our favorite flavor, so I like to keep several varieties in the freezer.  My sweet and sassy daughter loves the Outshine Peach fruit bars, while my son tends to gravitate towards the tart Raspberry.  Isn’t it funny how flavors can match our personalities? grin!

My husband loves the old fashioned goodness of Strawberry, while my new favorite is the Coconut Waters with Bananas.  I am craving all things coconut these days and the Outshine Coconut Waters Fruit Bars satisfy that need in a low-calorie way.  In fact, there are 24 bright flavors to choose from..so there’s a snack brighter flavor perfect for everyone!

Outshine Fruit Bars

Made with real fruit or fruit juice, they rival the bowl of fresh fruit I like to serve alongside.  Rocking and snacking. Dreaming and dishing the dirt. I cherish each moment spent with my children and the glimpse they give me into their hearts.

Outshine Fruit Bars

As their lives get busier and the pull of friends and jobs and school becomes stronger I hope that knowing mom is always waiting at the door for them, with a listening ear and a treat in the freezer, will bring them back to the front porch.

Back to the rocking chair and a waiting Outshine fruit bar in their favorite flavor.

In fact, the occasion may even warrant serving them on a silver platter!

Outshine Fruit Bars from At The Picket Fence

 

Be sure to check out the Outshine Facebook Page for more great ways to enjoy life’s moments with this healthy treat!

 

Leave me a comment with which Outshine flavor you’ll be picking up next time you’re in the freezer section and you’ll be entered to win a $100 Visa Card!

Which Outshine Fruit Bar flavor would you like to try?

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 I was provided product and compensation for this review, but all opinions express are my own.  

Sweepstakes Rules:

No duplicate comments.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post

b) Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: “#SweepstakesEntry”; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post

c) Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post

d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 5/8/13 – 6/12/13.

Be sure to visit the OUTSHINE brand page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ reviews and find more chances to win!

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. These sound yummy and delicious – like a taste of sunshine and summer! I’m torn between the Raspberry and the Strawberry – think I’ll just try both! Thanks for sharing and have a wonderful day! Pinning!

    Reply

  2. I envy you your time on the porch with your kids! Our son is 21 and on his own now… I have great memories of relaxing on the porch in the summer evenings and getting caught up on the day with him… he would have been all over those delicious treats! I am with your son… raspberry all the way!

    Reply

  3. I’m a strawberry girl! Your pics look great by the way, and I know what you mean by living in the moment. With a married daughter and son in college there are still two more at home, but it is flying by!

    Reply

  8. What a sweet post, living in the moment, taking time….::record scratch sound effect:: What?! Coconut waters with bananas?! !!!!!!! Heading to the store this minute!

    LOL! xoxo

    Reply

  9. These look so delicious. My mouth is watering. I’m getting some, and I’m going to take your advice and get on that porch with my tweens 🙂

    Reply

  10. What a gorgeous post! I love the photos and what a beautiful reminder to truly live in the moment!

    Happy day!
    karianne

    PS Going to have to try the raspberry!

    Reply

  11. I’m finding that living in the moment is so important too – my boys are 23, 21, and 17! Where did the time go. One is soon to be married, one is in a band and is about to start touring, and my 17 year old will be a senior next year! It seems like yesterday that they were playing in the back yard, jumping on the trampoline, etc. I’m going to savor each moment I have with them while they are here at home! Thanks for this post!

    Have a great day!
    Doreen

    Reply

  12. Strawberry! YUM!!!! I’m grabbing some…and hoping that my sons will sit still for just a few minutes so that we can catch up before my oldest moves to Georgia for the summer and the youngest graduates high school in 3 weeks. Here’s to living in the moment! (every. single. one.) xo

    Reply

  14. Great post and beautiful pictures!!! I think I would have to go with the Coconut flavor as well, it’s only 7:50am but I’m craving it now that I’ve read this! 🙂

    Anna
    askannamoseley.com

    Reply

  15. My family and I love the strawberry ones, but I am a sucker for anything raspberry, so those will be my next flavor purchase! We absolutely love these real fruit bars! They’re better than ice cream or other sugary sweets, in my opinion. Thanks ladies!

    Reply

  17. I love the strawberry ones! Good idea for keeping those moments lingering a little longer – food always works.

    Reply

  18. Ben and Jerry’s Chunky Monkey is my usual go to treat…but the coconut/banana sounds like a much healthier and more refreshing option!

    Reply

  29. I love this… time sure does fly by and such a sweet {and really sweet!!} reminder to stop for a moment and take time together and to just listen to each other. Especially to our precious kids / little adults!
    Next… did you say “Coconut Waters With Bananas???”.
    Oh. My. Yummy. I have to try these ASAP!!

    Reply

  32. Definitely want to try coconut! Yum. I so relate to what you are feeling about your children. I have a 22 year old daughter and a 10 year old son. I have already been through the growing up and becoming independent part and now I know how quickly time can go. It is good to treasure every moment we are blessed with together. Thanks for the beautiful reminder!

    Reply

  33. definitely the peach. I have had my eyes on these for a while, but I was waiting until I had heard or read a review.

    Thanks for the info.

    Reply

  34. Yum! These sound great and I’ve not heard of them before! Strawberry AND raspberry for me please. I’m going to try these tomorrow when I go to the grocery store!

    Reply

  39. Both of our boys are young adults. We see one of them frequently & rarely see our other son … which saddens me greatly but hope this changes soon! I have noticed these pops in the grocery lately & think I will indulge next time I shop! Thanks for the chance to win!

    Reply

  108. All of the outshine pops are delicious, but I’d say the coconut and pineapple ones are my all time favs. What a wonderful way to spend time with your children making beautiful memories to last a lifetime.

    Reply

  118. I would most love to try the coconut flavor.

    Thanks for the chance to win!
    wildorchid985 at gmail dot com

    Reply

  128. I love the peach flavor! My husband loves the strawberry! I don’t think you could make a bad choice they are all great!

    Reply

  138. I’ve tried the pomegranate and they’re divine, but after reading your blog post I’m looking forward to trying the coconut waters with pineapple for a little taste of the tropics…

    Reply

  140. I think these sound great. I love that they are a healthy treat. I can’t wait to try the Tangerine and the Strawberry. I also want to try the Seasonal Raspberry flavor. Heck the all sound great. I might just be better off buying the variety packs. 🙂

    Reply

  188. Coconut Waters with Pineapple (or the Coconut, they really should do those two together to make a Pina Colada one,lol) sounds great. So hard to choose, so many great flavors.

    Reply

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