Saying Good Bye

It is with my deepest regrets that I am saying good bye to you all. 

I loved doing this blog, had a blast reviewing the products, and really thought that it would be a hit.  I felt like I changed all of the things that I did not like about other mom blogs that I had tried to read and that I changed them all for you, my readers.

However after putting in a lot of time and effort I never was able to get the readership that was demanded of me and I think that it is just not the right season of my life to be working so hard on something that in the end is not giving back what I am putting in.

If you liked reading the different things that I posted and you would like to continue to read my writing I will have some choices for you.

1.  You can read my new personal blog that is going to be a bit of everything that interests me.  That's right, I will update periodically with cute stories about my children, things that are going on in my life, short stories, and articles that I want to write about issues that are important to me.  You can read these here.

2.  I am a music lover and a happy featured blogger on Loud Whisper Music.  You can check out my music related work here.

3.  Right now I am overweight and on a journey to get healthy.  Here is my page of accountability and to be honest I have surely slacked off.  I will be getting daily posts going on here with all sorts of fun and will be running some challenges for my FB friends through this one.

4.  Finally I am going on a journey through the Bible in an attempt to understand my spirituality.  I look for this to be an ongoing journey and I plan on studying other major religious works after I finish this one.  I am starting my journey of the Bible here and will look forward to hearing feedback from my readers and thoughts that they have.

Come check out one of these and please follow me so that we can get to know each other better.
 

Oriental Trading: Crafting Fun for You and Your Little One and So Much More

So I have to say that I love Oriental Trading and have used the website for craft and party supplies for my children for years.  I love doing craft projects with them and love being able to use their products all of the time.

I was lucky enough to be asked to do a review for them and was happy to do so because I knew that I could really use the products that they were offering me. 

They sent me a complete pirate party set which is awesome but was unfortunately sent after my son's birthday so it will be saved for his birthday next year.  I wanted to use it for something but just could not see not waiting and using it for his birthday.  Oriental Trading offers you a variety of different party supplies as well that you can choose from for any theme.

I love so many of the ones that they offer including these.

I was also sent a gift certificate which I used towards the purchase of a variety of craft supplies to do with my children over this Easter season.  We have had fun with the ones that we have done and we will be working on finishing up the others.  I will post pictures of all of our finished projects when they are completed.

I chose the Magic Color Scratch Easter Eggs because my kids love all of the easy magic scratch stuff.  These cute little eggs are just $6.50 for 24 with the strings and the sticks to scratch them off with.



I also got the Color Your Own Fuzzy Cross Pictures because the middle two really enjoy coloring and I thought that this would yield nice looking pictures regardless of if they were able to stay in the lines or not.  We are putting art walls in their rooms and I think that it will be fun to create projects to hang on them.  These can be yours for $5.25 for 12.



The Handprint Bunny Keepsake Craft is adorable and one of the ones that I am most excited to do with my kids during our crafting time.  These are just $13.50 for 12 and you get the bottles of finger paint as well which is nice so that you do not have to purchase extra things to complete your crafts.



The Flower Bunny Magnet Craft is very cute and is going to look adorable on our fridge.  They are adorable and something that everyone is going to enjoy as well.  This kit is $4.75 for 12.



The Jelly Bean Bracelet Craft Kit is a great one that is going to be fun to do with my kids.  I am sure that Althea is really going to love this one especially since she will be making her own bracelet.  I am the most excited about doing this one with her.  You can create 12 of these adorable bracelets for just $9.



I got the Sparkling Egg Ornament Craft Kit which includes the supplies to make these adorable egg ornaments.  I plan on hanging these on my kids' doorknobs to their rooms when they are done.  I am sure that this will make them very happy.  The price of $10.50 for 12 of them made me pretty happy.



The Color Your Own Easter Cards will be awesome to send away to grandmas and were on sale so instead of paying $10 for 12, I was able to get them for $3.49 for 12...what a steal??!!??



The Handprint Easter Chick Keepsake Craft Kit is another one that is exciting for mommy because let's face it, little handprints are so cute and it is something that I can really do with baby A too.



The Bunny Box Craft Kit is super cute too and a great place for my kids to store their little treasures that they always have lying around.  The boxes are a decent size and this is one that is fun to watch them create.  They are just $8.25 for 12.



The Design Your Own White Journals are really cute and I think that there are a million different ways in which we can design them but for now I have not decided exactly what I was going to do.  These are another amazing deal at just $15.50 for 12 which is so much less expensive then even buying cheap notebooks to use as journals elsewhere.



The Color Your Own Mom Artist Flowerpot is a great choice for everyone who wants something special for themselves.  I plan on doing a lot of different planting this year and am excited to be able to do it in these cute little planters that my kids create.  :)  These are also $15.50 for 12 and would be great for anyone who has a mom that they want to help celebrate.




One of the things that I love most about Oriental Trading is the price point.  Their crafts are so affordable and are something that everyone can easily afford to do with their children.  I sometimes do craft clubs with my mom's groups and I then am able to purchase big sets of crafts like this and not have a ton of leftover crafts since they come 12-24 in a package.

 

Easter Shopping??

Who has started Easter shopping for their kiddos?  What are you including in their baskets.  I have no idea what I am doing with my kiddos but I think that these eggs with bunnies in them would be super cute in the yard, too bad I don't need 12 of them.  :)  These are from Oriental Trading.

Man Hits Toddler on an Airplane

Have you seen this news article??!!??

I can tell you one thing.  I would have had to control every ounce of myself not to hit this man if it were my child that he walked up and slapped.  I know as a parent that every parent wants their child to be behave.  I know that no parent is going to be okay with their child just screaming on an airplane and not trying to do something to make it better.  That being said, what in the world gave this man the right to think that he could walk up to someone else's child and put his hand on him.  This is an outrage!

If I walked up to this man and slapped him I would be in trouble and the fact that he is trying to use his money and position to get out of getting in trouble is even more of a disgrace in my opinion.  Does money really buy you everything?  Can you just be a complete butt and not have to answer to the law because you have money?  I hope that others see this and have a problem with it as well, I mean seriously how can this be okay?  How can this be something that happens? 

Seriously I think that even with this situation I would have had a hard time not slapping this man.  I don't care if you think that a child needs to have their butt beat or not if you are not their parent, you have no right EVER to do so.  I would even flip out my children's aunts/uncles if they did this so a complete stranger is just infuriating to me!

 

Goals--

Everyone of us needs goals....I have many!

So I thought I'd share mine with you and share my progress once a month.

Goals For Myself--

1. To become healthier & cut the crap!
I'm working on this one but it is so hard!

2. To shred these extra pounds.
I've been trying for a while but REALLY trying for the past two weeks. According to my dr's office I've lost 9 lbs from my starting weight of 245 & am now down to 236 in the past 2 weeks! Awesome & finally!

3. To work out daily
That 9 lb weight loss was just what I needed to motivate me. I will now be working out every single day!

4. To be able to run a 5K
This will come after I'm in better shape and at a safer weight to run, don't want to injure my knees by trying too heavy.

Goals for my Career--

1. To be published
I need to work more on my book.

2. To make a decent income
This could come with #1

3. To make daily blog posts

Goals for my children--

1. To raise happy kids
I'm really working on encouraging them!

2. To be a good mom, cut the crap in my life like TV & focus more on my children.
We're cutting cable at the end of March, this is bound to make this easier.

3. To start a daily journal with each of my kids.
I'm going to buy the notebooks tomorrow!

Goals for my Family--

1. To cut down on our time using technology & TV
This will come when we cut cable.

2. To dance more
After cable is gone, music will be a big part of our entertainment.

3. To start eating all of our meals together
Our table has become our catch all but I am determined to get it cleaned tomorrow.

4. To have a well organized home
I have a LONG way to go and need to purchase lots of storage solutions to help me get more neat and organized.

Wish me luck & watch for updates on my journey.

What are your goals?? I'd love to hear about them and how you are going about reaching them.

A New Obsession with Mini Boden

I love shopping for my kids and trying to find good high quality clothing brands is something that I sometimes find to be a bit difficult.  While I have my favorite brands, it is odd that I find something that I really love. 

Mini Boden is one of those companies.  Their clothes are absolutely adorable and something that I have found to be beautiful.

Here are some of my favorite pieces, one great thing about this company is that right now you can buy 3, get 1 for $1.

In my ultimate world, baby A would be getting these....



Huxley would be getting these....


For Althea I would be ordering all of these.

 

Cute High Quality Kids Shoes at an Affordable Price--Shop with 6pm

6pm.com offers you the ability to purchase all kinds of high end clothing and shoes while saving money on them at the same time.

Today I was able to snag all four of my kids each a pair of Keens and get the baby an adorable pair of gladiator sandals as well for less than $125.

I'm obsessed with owls so when I saw the Keen Coronado print with owls I had to have them for Baby A.

Plus I got to save 25% off of these.


My princess got these Coronado sandals for nearly 45% off.



Andrew's one request was that he get red sandals this year.  So I got him some red Keens that were almost 50% off.



Huxley got this great pair with the characters on them that I am sure that he is going to love.  These were also nearly 50% off. 



And here are the awesome gladiators that I got for Adeline.  Best thing is that these were over 60% off. 



 

Summer Shopping List--Tea Collection Wants and Other Favs

Well, you all know how much I love Tea Collection.  It is one of my favorite children's clothes brands and I had to give them a shout out for so many adorable items this spring.

I love the Ardmore Floral Twirl Dress.


I also am obsessed with the Juniper Wrap Neck Dress.


All of the other colors are great too.



The Dessert Bloom Wrap Dress is breathtaking, such an awesome color.



The Cactus Flower T-Back Jumper is perfectly darling.


The Desert Beauties Romper and the Ardmore Flutter Sleeve Romper will keep your baby in style this summer.



The Bongani Striped Sweater is to die for and I can see my little Althea wearing this on cool nights or when the weather starts to change in the fall.


For my son I am in love with the Vilikazi Stripe Purity Tee.  I love the colors of this one specifically and think that it would be a fabulous layering shirt during the spring and even into the fall seasons.



The tutu print polo is adorable as well.


The African Elephant Hoodie is also adorable.



I also am absolutely in love with the zebra tee.  I love all of the zebra print stuff that I find for my girls but rarely do I find cute zebra print stuff for my little boy.  Obviously my older son is way past the zebra wearing age and would refuse.



The sharp sharp chinos are adorable and something every momma would love to put on her little man.



The side stripe gym shorts are going to be a must have for us this year as they are a short version of Huxley's favorite pair of pants.


My hoodie obsessed three year old was recently look at Tea with me and he fell in love with the Chester Stripe hoodie.



So as you can see Tea really does have a lot of choices and something that everyone is going to love for their child regardless of his or her age.