Last Day of April

I tried to make a little extra time this week!  Opps.

Flower Bookmark {for Grandma}

A reader requested this bookmark personalized for “Grandma”.  Here it is, thanks for asking!

If you’re looking for the original post about the bookmarks for mom, CLICK HERE.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD BOOKMARK TEMPLATE

Wordless Wednesday {Lions & Tigers}

Commitment & Contentment

Yesterday I found this phrase that I must have saved at some point. I don’t recall where it came from or even that I saved it, but I like it and it was nice to “happen” upon it again.

I decided to make something with it for a little frame I bought a while ago that’s just waiting for something special.  It was silver & I spray painted it off white. It didn’t look right so I sprayed some metallic over it. Lots better!

I’m not sure where I’ll put it yet – it looks good in my kitchen….

or in the bathroom.

To make this, I combined several kits in Creative Memories Storybook Creator, Shabby Shoppe’s Damask & Dots, Digichick’s Fresh Cut Poppy, and Creative Memories Hummingbird kit.

4-H Foods Revue

On Saturday Brett participated in the 4-H Foods Revue. This is a county event where kids create a menu, one or more items on the menu and the place setting to be judged. This is Brett’s first year so he was in the first class with 4 other kids. He made a snack: fruit kabobs and cake batter dip.

We recently were given the recipe but it had different proportions using the whole box of cake mix. We didn’t like it so we revised it but it’s still very much adjustable to taste depending on how sweet you like it.

Brett did very well talking to the judge, which is what probably helped him the most.

The judge also liked the attention to detail with the colors and the dots on the cards.

He got a blue ribbon, “teen” choice {everyone in his class voted his their favorite} and at the end of the revue, a merit! Very exciting day! Yes, those are the water beads from our sensory bin in the vase for his centerpiece!

I have really good memories of the foods revue when I was in 4H so I’m glad it was a good experience for him too.

Painting With the Kids

This is nothing more than just mindless color mixing and painting but I should do it more often, maybe even with a plan! It was fun.

S&R on Spell Outloud.com

See my {first ever!} guest post on Spell Outloud for the 10 Days of Preschool Science series. My post is about Birds & Eggs.

Included is this free printable poster showing Robins development from egg – bird.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD ROBIN PICTURES PRINTABLE

Wordless Wednesday

Butterfly

Sunday in the Spring

Cheap Shoes?|The Clorox Lounge

If you have kids, you know how it is when school starts. Start saving up for a new backpack, notebooks and matching folders, glue, markers, pencils, Kleenex and baggies, Clorox wipes {the whole classroom uses} jeans, and shoes. Not one pair of shoes, but two or three pairs of shoes! Kids are $$ but especially $$ when school starts!

Last year I decided, that’s it. I’m not spending $40 on a pair of shoes for a second-grader. He’s still young. He can wear $20 shoes from Target or Wal-Mart. They have “cool” ones with the “z-strap” style Velcro. Then we can get two pairs since he needs a pair of gym shoes too {that rarely get worn but he MUST have}.  Seemed like a good plan.

Until he wore the one pair for two weeks and the bungee-cord-type-strap broke. Ok, I’ll take them back and exchange them. Surely they should last longer than that. 2nd pair broke too. Okay, I tied them in a knot and said, “Too bad, have to wear them anyway.”

Gym shoes: lost to the inner depths of the school. Probably some other kid is happily wearing a pair of “new shoes” their mother pulled out of the lost & found because my child didn’t go looking for them soon enough. Great. Now we have one pair of junk shoes for $40.

Should have just bought the Sketchers. That’s as fancy as we get for an 8 or 9 year old. They do seem to hold up a bit better than the others but we’re still on our 2nd pair this school year.

Sometimes being frugal doesn’t pay!

I wrote this post about being frugal & having it backfire for Clorox. They recently started a fun new webs site celebrating the bathroom – the most used yet underrated room in the house! For a quick break, visit The Clorox Lounge for hilarious anecdotes, fun contests, exciting give-a-ways, coupons and just the right amount of comic relief.

About The Clorox Lounge:

The Clorox Family of Toilet Product’s on-going Ode to the Commode campaign, recognizing the toilet’s vital role in our routine, continues with the launch of The Clorox Lounge, a community hub designed to be mom’s gotta go place for comedy. Hosted by comedian, actress and mom Sherri Shepherd, the site found at TheCloroxLounge.com features hilarious anecdotes, fun contests, exciting give-a-ways, coupons and just the right amount of comic relief.

About Last Comic Sitting Competition & Sweepstakes
The Clorox Lounge activities kick-off with Last Comic Sitting Competition and Sweepstakes, starting February 27, 2012. Over the course of eight weeks, 10 of the funniest mom and dad comics will go head-to-head in a stand-up throw-down for the chance to sit on the throne and be crowned the Last Comic Sitting. Each week, they’ll face a new challenge and based on consumer voting one will be eliminated. The grand prize winner will receive $10,000. For four weeks, you will have the opportunity to vote and narrow the comics down to the top mom and top dad.

You also have an opportunity to win $10,000 in the Last Comic Sitting Sweepstakes. Simply visit The Clorox Lounge to sign-up and be automatically entered for a chance to win the top prize. You can generate up to two additional entries each day, per day, by logging in and commenting, until April 22, 2012. Fans can also enter for a chance to win cool prize packs. Ten will be given each week, for twelve weeks, until April 22, 2012.

For more information visit: http://bit.ly/x7m1OB
Clorox Ode to the Commode on Facebook
Follow @Clorox on Twitter 

“I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Clorox® blogging program, to earn My SocialMoms Rewards Points. The opinions and ideas expressed here are my own. To read more posts on this topic, click here.”

Miracle-Gro Expand ‘n Gro™

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Scotts® for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

I'm anxious to get out in the garden!  Although it's been such a nice spring, we did just have frost this morning. Now is a good time to get the garden ready at least.  When tilling this year, I'd like to try Expand ‘n Gro™ Concentrated Planting Mix.  I love the results from Miracle-Gro products.

What is Expand ‘n Gro™?
It’s a unique blend of Miracle‐Gro plant food and coconut coir fiber that's perfect for adding to your garden soil or pots if you do any container gardening.  It's compact and lightweight but when mixed with water it expands up to 3 times.  Then it feeds plants for up to 6 months, makes native soil more workable and retains up to 50% more moisture than basic potting soil.
What kind of benefits can you expect?
Beautiful, full gardens!
• Up to 3X the Flowers and Vegetables!* *versus native soil
• Significantly improves soil for multiple years
• Concentrated planting mix expands up to 3X when water is added
• Feeds for up to 6 months
• All natural fibers hold up to 50% more water than basic potting
soil
Expand ‘n Gro™ holds 50% more moisture than basic potting soils and then releases water as plants need it, to help prevent over or under watering and tilling this planting mix into native soil can reduce the soil’s bulk density – making it up to 40% lighter, and creating up to 90% more air space. The result is more workable native soil with better water holding ability, moisture distribution, and drainage, all of which ultimately creates an improved rooting environment for plants.  I definitely believe it will improve my garden and make the soil easier to work with while feeding my plants.
I will be offering a ONE FREE SAMPLE with this promotion. Please leave a comment if you’d like to try Expand ‘n Gro™.

Expand ‘n Gro™ is available at lawn and garden retailers in the Midwest, Northeast and Texas. Please visit expandngro.com for in-store availability information. Also available at Amazon.com.
Click here to get a $3.00 coupon!