Ellie's Glad Tree

Ellie brought home her artwork from school today. It was a tree with leaves that said I am Glad for.... Ellie said...My Daddy, My Sydney, My sister in my mommy's belly...lol she is convinced she is having a sister.

It's Been Awhile.....

It has been quite a while since I have blogged. I have not been feeling so well here lately...morning sickness..more like all day sickness. So we are expecting our new little one around May 28th. Ellie wants a sister like her friend Ethan has :) But my step-father is convinced it's a boy so we will see.

GCFS Day 1-The Preschool and Grade School Grand Prize Package (Ends 8/31)

I am very excited about this Giveaway!! I would love to win this one!!!

Enter to win @ one or all of these sites: As They Grow up

GCFS Day 1-The Preschool and Grade School Grand Prize Package (Ends 8/31)

Enter to win @ The sites: Live Starring the Kids & Me,

This one here is a biggie folks…one that I am quite jealous I can’t win myself because it would be perfect for me (and Ellie) since she starts preschool at the beginning of September. So, what are you going to be entering to win?

* $400 Gift Certificate to KidsCoats.Com, your one stop online shop forCorky & Co coats.

* Winner’s Choice of Item from Ufadili, a store based on conscious consumerism and where 30% of profits go to charity.

* Winner’s Choice of See Kai Run or Smaller Shoe from See Kai Run, where you can get stylish, comfortable and affordable children’s shoes that last.

* $35 Gift Certificate to Happy Green Bee, where you can find distinctive and unique organic cotton clothing.

* Choice of 1 Girl’s Shirt from Just Jen, where the winner will be able to choose one long sleeved tee, short sleeved tee, or tank top from the Just Jen’s line for girls.

* Rolling Backpack or Rolling Luggage from Stephen Joseph; Available in a number of whimsical designs, you can chose a Rolling Backpack or Rolling Luggage. Designed with your kid’s size in mind, the Rolling Luggage will carry travel necessities while looking cute and has an extendable handle and multiple pockets. The Rolling Backpack is waterproof and small enough for your little one to pull but big enough to hold for preschool needs.

* 2 Twist n’ Write Pencil 4 packs from PenAgain. The winner will receive two 4pks of Twist ‘n Write No. 2 pencils. Each pack contains four different colors.

* Doodle & Goo reversible pinafore dress for girl or little man tie shirt for boy. This fun, reversible pinafore dress has a criss-cross back to easily slip over the child’s head. Flip it inside out and you have a whole new fresh look.

* Cherry Hill Designs Waterproof label/bag tag combo set (any design). Ideal for back to school, the Waterproof Label and Bag Tag Combination Pack ensures all your belongings find their way home. Available in multiple fresh, modern and adorable designs, the set includes 20 full-size vinyl sippy cup labels, 66 mini waterproof labels and 2 bag tags.

* 3 Months Membership to Jumpstart’s Online Virtual World. The winner will receive a free 3 month membership to experience the latest addition to the JumpStart World . . . MarineLand where your child will be able to venture into MarineLand, an underwater labyrinth full of new games, new friends, and exciting places to explore! Jumpeez can scuba dive in a kelp forest, look for treasure in an abandoned shipwreck, explore ancient underwater ruins and finally meet and befriend mermaids in their mermaid city!

Kids can also participate in an underwater fashion show, venture out on missions to help the locals, express their creativity with ocean-themed paintings and drawings and, most importantly, build up valuable math, reading and grammar skills! By solving learning puzzles around the world, kids learn everything from basic algebra, fractions, measurement and telling time to phonics, sentence structure and synonyms and antonyms. For children in kindergarten through second grade.

* $20 Gift Certificate to Suzie Homemaker.

Crafty Art Supplies for Toddlers: Get Cool for School Giveaway

Crafty Art Supplies for Toddlers: Get Cool for School Giveaway

Enter to win @ one of these blogs! The Shopping Mama, Live Starring Ellie and Eve,

Get crafty with an amazing assortment of art supplies to keep your little one happily creative for hours. This amazing prize package includes an art smock, double sided easel and loads of paint supplies.

Apron, Bib or Art Smock from Bumkins
Bumkins Finer Baby Products is dedicated to providing distinctively designed, quality, family-oriented merchandise. Bumkins believes that products can be both practical and attractive, and strives to provide visually appealing, value-driven merchandise. Adhering to the strictest safety standards of the juvenile products industry, Bumkins merchandise is only made from natural or non-toxic fabrics, such as organic cotton and our signature PVC, phthalate and BPA free waterproof material.

Bumkins waterproof products are made from a soft, lightweight fabric that is truly unique! A variety of fun, lively patterns that stay bright…wash after wash! Clean up has never been easier… wipe clean, rinse off easily, and resists most stains and odors. Bumkins’ reputation has been built on these incredibly hard-working bibs.

To Buy or Not to Buy... Read The Shopping Mama Bumkins review.

Win! Junior Apron, Waterproof Bib or Art Smock of Your Choice.

Art Easel from Stacks and Stacks

Stacks and Stacks is single-site resource for those shopping for their entire household. This housewares retailer offers everything from home furnishings, home decor, storage items, toys,furniture, and even pet supplies. What truly makes Stacks and Stacks an outstanding site to shop on is that they offer Free Shipping on over 17,000 items.

To Buy or Not to Buy... Read Karen's review at 3 Garnets & 2 Sapphires.

Win! Two-Sided Art Easel. This natural finish2-sided easel has a chalkboard surface on one side and a dry erase surface on the other. Each surface measures 24" x 24". This easel comes with two roomy trays, four clips to hold artwork in place, and is adjustable to 3 heights.

Paint & Supplies from Discount School Supply

Discount School Supplies is a one stop shop for parents and teachers for school supplies, children's furniture, art supplies,learning toys, and much more. This site is your online source for the extensive line of Colorations art products. For a limited time, you can receive Free Ground Shipping on orders over $79.

Win! Colorations Paint Package including No Mess Paint Cups, Simply Washable Tempera Paint Classic Colors, Plastic Chubby Paint Brushes, and Set of 12 Foam Rollers.


Toddler Art Supplies Prize Package: Win Bumkins Smock or Apron, Two-Sided Easel and Paint Supplies!

Girly Grade School Prize Package: Get Cool for School Giveaway

Girly Grade School Prize Package: Get Cool for School Giveaway

You can enter to win these blogs. The Shopping Mama, Life Starring Ellie and Eve,

Talk about fun! This giveaway prize package has everything you need to pamper and accessorize a little girl. From Sparklehearts (shampoo and conditioner) to Piggy Paint and goodies in between, we have you covered from head to toe!

Piggy Paint

Piggy Paint offers kid-friendly, non-toxic, odorless children's nail polish in 14 fun and exciting colors! These Piggy Paints are as natural as mud and even offers a natural non-toxic nail polish remover.

To Buy or Not to Buy... Read The Shopping Mama Piggy Paint Review.

Shop! In honor of the "Get Cool For School" Giveaway Event, our readers can save 15% off their orders (including sale items) when they use Code: COOL15L. This offer expires August 31, 2009. Also, spend over $25 and domestic shipping is FREE!

Win! $20 Gift Certificate to Piggy Paint!

Touch of Whimsy
A Touch of Whimsy Designs is dedicated to providing whimsical, fun stationery at an extremely reasonable cost. The high quality merchandise is just as unique as every customer! The adorable products include personalized note cards, stationery, invitations, announcements, stickers, luggage tags, memo sheets, gift tags, calling cards, mommy cards and more! The designs are perfect for baby, wedding, party, kids, adults and holiday. The personalized envelopes and teacher notes are a must-have for back to school!

To Buy or Not to Buy... Read The Experimental Mommy's Review.

Win! $25 Gift Card to A Touch of Whimsy Designs.

BabyLegs
BabyLegs is THE ultimate accessory for the kids in the family. Whether you are looking for a pair of leg protectors for your crawler or if your teen is looking to throw back to the flash dancer era with some leg warmers, BabyLegs is your place to get high quality and great looking products at an affordable price. The best part? One product with a multitude of uses...as parents we all know the importance of that!To Buy or Not to Buy... Read The Shopping Mama's BabyLegs Review.

Win! Your choice of a pair of BabyLegs.

Sparklehearts
Sparklehearts offers natural beauty products for girls. Made with 99.6% natural ingrediants and without the harmful chemicals that you find in many bath and beauty products, these are products you will feel comfortable giving to your daughter. With delicious scents and fun packaging Sparklehearts products are bath and beauty items that your daughter will be proud to call her own.

To Buy or Not to Buy... Check out Victoria's Sparklehearts Review at Life Starring the Kids and Me.

Win! Shine Shampoo and Rainbow Soft Conditioner

Grade School Girly Prize Package: Piggy Paint $20 Gift Certificate, Touch of Whimsy $25 Gift Certificate, pair of BabyLegs and Sparklehearts Shampoo & Conditioner.
Plus, SEVEN runner-up winners will also receive a pair of BabyLegs!

Scrub, Spray & Scour..Green!

I Found this great article @ Modern Babies and Children DFW

Scrub, Spray & Scour..Green!

Chances are, there’s no need to travel beyond the convenience of your kitchen to search out most of the ingredients you need to make some household staples.

This isn’t about easy-to-fix family meals.

This is a different kind of solution — one that’s green, easy to make and can tackle your floors, counters, windows and more. We’re talking about homemade, green cleaning products.

We turned to Lisa Beres, founder of the California based, online company, GreenNest.com, for some advice. Beres, who has shared her green-pertise on the Todayshow and is a certified Green Building Professional, offers consultations and a wide range of green products.

Beres reports that many of the green cleaning products on the market have similar ingredients to the ones you can make at home.

“Most of the recipes only take between one and three ingredients to create the cleaning product,” explains Beres, who adds, “This is the way cleaning used to be done. We’re going back to good old-fashioned cleaners that always work.”

As an added benefit, you’ll save money and regular runs to the cleaning aisle.

Modern Babies & Children thanks Lisa Beres, owner of GreenNest.com, for the following recipes for green cleaning products:

Soft scrubber: Add enough dishwashing liquid (dye-free, fragrance-free if possible) to ½ cup baking
soda to make a paste the consistency of frosting.



Fabric softener: Pour ¼ cup white vinegar or borax into the final rinse cycle. Caution: Do not use vinegar if you use bleach.


Glass cleaner: Add 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice to ¼ cup white vinegar; or use plain club soda by
itself; or add ¼ teaspoon dishwashing liquid and 3 tablespoons white vinegar to 2 cups water in a
spray bottle.



Toilet cleaner: Add ¼ cup white vinegar or lemon juice to 1 cup borax.

Oven cleaner: Sprinkle water on the bottom of your oven, then cover with a layer of baking soda. Sprinkle water on top of the baking soda, then let sit overnight. Wipe the oven, then scrub any

remaining grime with a dab of liquid detergent on a sponge.


All-purpose spray cleaner: Combine ½ teaspoon washing soda (sodium carbonate), a dab of liquid soap and 2 cups hot
water in a spray bottle, then shake.



Furniture polish: Mix ½ teaspoon oil, such as olive or jojoba, with ¼ cup white vinegar or lemon juice
in a glass jar. Dab a rag into the solution and wipe wood surfaces.

Mold killer: Add 2 teaspoons tea tree oil to 2 cups water in a spray bottle, then shake.

Air fresheners: For unpleasant kitchen odors, boil cinnamon and cloves in a pan of water; boil cut-up
lemons in water; or open windows and doors, then scatter partially-filled dishes of vinegar around the
room. Sprinkle ½ cup borax on the bottom of garbage or diaper pails to inhibit odor-causing mold and
bacteria.


Disinfectants: Mix ½ cup borax with 1 gallon of hot water; or add 1 teaspoon of essential oil, such as
lavender, clove or tea tree, to 2 cups of water in a spray bottle; or add 20 drops of grapefruit seed
extract to 1 quart water.


Drain cleaner: To open clogs, pour ½ cup baking soda down drain, then pour ½ cup white vinegar
and cover the drain. Caution: Do not use this method after trying a commercial drain opener.


Floor cleaners and polishers: Add a few drops of white vinegar to cleaning water. For vinyl or
linoleum, add a capful of baby oil to the cleaning water. For wood floors, apply a thin coat of oil and
vinegar, in equal amounts, and rub well. For painted wood floors, mix 1 teaspoon washing soda (sodium carbonate) into1
gallon hot water. For brick and stone tiles, add 1 cup white vinegar to one gallon water and rinse with
clear water.


Online Learning Games from Fisher-Price For Infants, Toddlers &; Preschoolers

Online Learning Games from Fisher-Price For Infants, Toddlers & Preschoolers

Shared via AddThis