Look what came in the mail today!

The Bambino Mio diaper I just won on Wednesday!
Can you believe it, that was only 5 days ago.
That was quick as lightening shipping!
Very cute diaper cover. The prefold inside is pretty big,
my sons bum was nice and fluffy! lol.

Cleaning & Scrubbing
Can wait 'til tomorrow
For babies grow up
We learn to our sorrow

So quiet down cobwebs
Dust go to sleep
I'm rocking my baby
And babies don't keep

~Ruth Hulbert Hamilton

Creating a 3 column blog

I have had several of you ask how I was able to get my blog to 3 columns. I found this blog that gave step by step instructions on how to do it. Here is the link.

http://www.threecolumnblogger.com/2008/09/three-column-minima-layout-version.html

Bear in mind that your current background may not match up once you change it. If you need a new background there are LOTS of free ones out there. I googled in "Free 3 column blogger backgrounds" when I searched for mine. I was able to change my whole blog in less than 2 hours, it really is quite simple.

Email me if you are having any troubles figuring it out.

The Baby Dipper Bowl Review & Giveaway

*This Giveaway has ended*

The Baby Dipper Bowl

I recently was given the opportunity to try out the Baby Dipper bowl with my one year old son. I have been frustrated with his feedings lately
because he is so messy. His favorite thing to do is to throw the food on the floor. Forget trying to set a bowl on his tray because it won't stay there long!

When I heard about the Baby Dipper Bowl and how it has a non-slip base to prevent sliding, I knew I had to try it! Not only that... it has a contoured interior that guides food to spoon, making it easier for toddlers to self feed.

On the very first try using the Baby Dipper Bowl my
son held the spoon and was hesitant at what he should do. Then he dipped the spoon in and started to FEED HIMSELF! I was thrilled. He took bite after bite and smiled and giggled as he ate. You know what else he didn't do? He never once attempted to throw down his bowl! Since the bowl does not slide around, it
wasn't a distraction to him.

This bowl is also great for parents with smaller babies as they can feed baby with only one hand. Feeding your baby has never been easier!

More great features you'll love:

• Comes with Spoon
• Phthalate & Lead Free
• Microwave and Dishwasher safe
• Transparent sides for easy viewing of food
  

You can read the story of the Baby Dipper Bowl
and it's inventor Barbara Schantz here.

Buy it! You can buy the Baby Dipper Bowl directly from the Baby Dipper website or at these other locations. Click here.

WIN IT! One lucky Happily Domestic reader will win a Baby Dipper bowl & spoon set for their little one. Here is how to enter:

First Mandatory entry: Visit The Baby Dipper Bowl website and tell me something you learned while you were there. *Remember to leave your email address in your comment!*

After you have completed your first entry you are eligible for additional entries. *See my giveaway instructions here for more information. * Remember to leave a separate comment for each additional entry and include your e-mail address.

• Follow my blog publicly through Google friend connect (can be found at my right sidebar.) - current follows count too!
• Blog about my giveaway and link back to my site- leave the URL where you blogged.
• Grab my button! (found at right sidebar)- Leave the URL where it is posted.
• Follow HappilyDomestic on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway (counts as 1 entry)- after this you may "tweet" daily and gain an extra entry each day that you tweet-limit one per day. Leave the URL where you tweeted.
• Follow Baby Dipper on Twitter. Leave a comment saying that you do.
• Follow Baby Dipper on Facebook. Leave a comment saying that you do.
• Subscribe to Baby Dipper's newsletter (located on left sidebar at their website)
• Follow The Baby Dipper Blog
  

Giveaway ends Tuesday, September 8th 2009 at 9:00 p.m.(MST) Winner will be drawn by the random number generator at Random.org and will be notified by email. Winner will also be announced on this blog. Winner will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be drawn.
*This giveaway is open to USA residents ONLY. Must be 18 years old or older to win.*

*This Giveaway has ended*

New Button

I had a new button made since I changed the background of my blog.
I have been noticing on some of your blogs
that my old button no longer shows up.
It now contains a photobucket box saying that the image in no longer available.
I do not know why it is doing this.
So, if you don't mind...
will you please grab my new button for your blogs?
I sure would appreciate it.
Thank you!

(new button with code can be found on my right side bar)

By the way- This button was made by Stefanie at Bloggy Buttonz. She only charges $5 for a button. You can find her button link on my left sidebar.

Fluff Talk Thursdays #2

This weeks assignment is
"Show your Stash"
Here is mine...

*Click on picture to enlarge*

I Heart my Cloth Diapers!

Here is a list of what the stash contains:

• 13 Haute Pockets
• 5 Happy Heineys
• 4 Fuzzi Bunz
• 3 Smartipants
• 2 Bum Genius
• 2 Thirsties covers
• 1 SwaddleBees
  

NEXT WEEK : How to make easy pop up wipes... for CHEAP!

FOR THE REST OF YOU : Post about what wipe system you use. Maybe you have sewn your own wipes or have a good wipe solution recipe to share.
Don't worry if you use regular store bought wipes, you can still join in...link us to any of your previous cloth diaper posts you have written or maybe you saw a great cloth diaper giveaway you want to link us to. It will be somewhat of a free for all day.

*Please remember to use my "FTT" banner when participating in the actual assignment.* The banner with code can be found at the very bottom of my blog. Also, don't forget to leave the link to your post so that we can all visit and see.

Instructions for Fluff Talk Thursdays, click here.

My First Award

Today I received my very first award from Jackie of 3 Little Ones blog.
It is a Friends Award.
Between this award and winning my first giveaway,
I am feeling so loved and blessed today.
Thanks Jackie!

Okay, so the rules of the award:

This award is bestowed on to blogs that are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. deliver this award to six bloggers who must choose six more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award. I will pass this award to some of my bloggy friends that I find exceedingly charming…

I am going to pass this award onto:

• Take Time To Smell The Rose
• 3 Blooming Buds
• Mommy's Quiet Time
• Thrifty Craft Mama
• Southern Belle Dreaming
• Munchkin Farm

All of these woman have been so kind to me in the
1 1/2 months I have had my blog.
So many of you have been wonderful, so it was not easy to choose only six.
Thanks to everyone who has extended the hand of friendship my way.
Be blessed!

I WON!!!

I am SO excited! I actually won a giveaway.

I was starting to feel discouraged because I never seem to win anything.
I won a Bambino Mio trial pack cloth diaper set from The Cloth Diaper Report blog. Be sure to check out her blog as she has a world of cloth diapering information and some awesome giveaways!

Wordless Wednesday #4

Nothing's sweeter than a baby,
napping in your bed.

Too Funny!

Have you seen this? Cracks me up everytime! You should of heard my 1 year old son laughing when I played it for him. Priceless. :-)

Gratituesday #5

Today I am grateful for:

Our Garden

We use to plant a garden every year but haven't in a couple years.
We have missed the fresh off the vine tomatoes, the homemade pickles I would make
and just tending to a garden in general.
There is something very uplifting and satisfying about growing your own fruits and vegetables. We enjoy the togetherness it brings as we plant as a family.
I love to watch the excitement in our childrens eyes as they watch for each new sign of growth. They love to take care of the garden and are so happy when there is a new vegetable they can pick. It is fun to see them get excited over eating their veggies!

Here is a list of what we have in our garden this year:

14 Strawberry plants
We have two hanging baskets of strawberries and my husband built me a raised bed to plant the others in.
~
2 Sweet white onion plants
~
3 Zucchini squash plants
~
4 Caribbean red hot pepper plants
~
1 Red beauty sweet pepper plants
~
2 Lemon cucumber plants
~
6 Anaheim chili hot pepper plants
~
6 Supersweet cherry tomato plants
~
6 Fantastic tomato plants
~
6 Early goliath tomato plants
~
1 Burpless cucumber plant
~
4 Bush pickle cucumber plants
~
1 Jalapeno pepper plant
~
1 Green bell pepper plant
~
1 watermelon plant
~

Contest Revision

Just wanted to let you all know that I revised the Rock'N Green contest guideline. It is now also open to Canadian residents as well as USA.

Rock'N Green Cloth Diaper Detergent - Review/Giveaway

This Giveaway has ended

There are a lot of detergents on the market today. They may claim they are safe for washing cloth diapers, they may claim to get the stink out, but do they really?

I was very intrigued by Rock'N Green detergent, not only because it promised to get the stink out of my cloth diapers, but also because of all the unique fragrance choices it offered. I have never in my life heard of any detergent that came in so many wonderful scents!
You can choose from:

• Unscented
• Fresh Linen- Blend of Lily and Jasmine.
  
• Baby Powder- smells like freshly powdered baby.
• Cherry Almond- yummy cherries mixed with almonds.
• Vanilla Lavender- a soft fragrance of yummy vanilla and lavender.
• Monkey Snacks- A tropical blend of Banana, Coconut, Lime, Orange, Grapefruit, Bergamot, and Clove.
  
• Lemon- a clean, crisp lemon
• Cherry Lemonade- Blend of Cherry, Lemon, and Berry.
  
• Brown Sugar- sweet brown sugar scent.
  
• Cucumber Mint- a refreshing blend of cucumber and spearmint.
• Ocean Rain – Blend of Ozone, Sea Spray, Orange and Rose
• Vanilla Buttercream
• Berries & Cream- Strawberries, Raspberries and Cream.
  
• Mango Sorbet
• White Truffle Raspberry
• Grape Soda

Kim Webb owner and creator of Rock'N Green soap sent me a sample size bag of "Almond Cherry" to try out. Let me tell you, this detergent smells AWESOME!

My main goal with trying out this detergent was to see if it truly could get the stink out of my diapers. I have currently been using "Country Save" detergent and have not been impressed by it. I practically have to strip my diapers with each wash and in the end they still have somewhat of a "stink" left in them.

With my Rock'N Green detergent I first did a "mini strip".
After performing a cold rinse ,I let the diapers soak in hot water with 3 tablespoonsof Rock'N Green detergent for 30 minutes. Then I let the washer finish the wash cycle and ended with a final cold rinse.

After drying my diapers I pulled a few out of the dryer and gave them a whiff.
No yucky smell at all! Most of the yummy "Cherry Almond" scent
was gone as well, but that is okay because it still did the trick!

After that I also took out a couple of my sons clean diapers that were in his dresser.
I smelled them to compare.
I am currently 7 months pregnant and so my smeller is working extra well at the moment. If anyone can detect even the slightest stink, it is me.
I smelled the diapers that were washed with "Country Save" and literally gagged!
I could smell urine in them. I proceeded to smell the diaper washed in "Rock'N Green", no smell. I had my husband smell both as well (with out telling him which diaper was which)
and he detected the stinky one over the rockin clean one too!

If you are looking for a detergent that truly does
what it says, then try out Rock'N Green!

Other great features for this detergent:

Rockin’ Green is:

• Dye free
• No fillers
  
• No enzymes or optical brighteners
  
• 100% Phosphate Free
• Vegan
• Great for sensitive skin
• Easy rinsing formula
• Works wonders on microfiber stink!
  
• Perfect for cloth diapers
• HE Compatible
• Reusable packaging
• Great for all water types
• Economical at .13 cents a load!

Rockin’ Green comes in several different formulas- so there is something for everyone!

• Soft- this is for those that have soft-medium hard water, or really sensitive little ones.
• Classic- this is the original formula, and is great for those with moderate hard water, or just those that are battling with stinkies.

Win a 45/90 load bag of Rock'N Green detergent in your choice of scent and formula! Here's how to enter:

First Mandatory entry: Visit Rock'N Green and tell me which scent and formula of detergent you would choose if you won. Remember to leave your email address in your comment!

After you have completed your first entry you are eligible for additional entries. *See my giveaway instructions here for more information. * Remember to leave a separate comment for each additional entry and include your e-mail address.

• Follow my blog publicly through Google friend connect (can be found at my right sidebar.) - current follows count too!
• Blog about my giveaway and link back to my site- leave the URL where you blogged.
• Grab my button! (found at right sidebar)- Leave the URL where it is posted.
• Follow HappilyDomestic on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway (counts as 1 entry)- after this you may "tweet" daily and gain an extra entry each day that you tweet-limit one per day. Leave the URL where you tweeted.
• Follow Rock'N Green on twitter. Leave a comment saying that you do.
• Follow Rock'N Green on Facebook. Leave a comment saying that you do.

Giveaway ends Tuesday, September 1st 2009 at 9:00 p.m.(MST) Winner will be drawn by the random number generator at Random.org and will be notified by email. Winner will also be announced on this blog. Winner will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be drawn.
*This giveaway is open to USA and CANADIAN residents ONLY. Must be 18 years old or older to win.*

This Giveaway has ended

New Look

I have been wanting to make my blog 3-column. It was looking crowded to me.
I am proud to say that I figured it out myself! I even remade my header. What do you think? Do you prefer this background or the old one?

Until I have some extra money to pay a designer to re-do my blog, this will have to do.

Do you hate it or love it?

Fluff TalkThursdays #1

Why Cloth?

For me it honestly was a matter of saving my family money. We were spending approximately $40.00 a month on disposable diapers. Both my older children took 3 1/2 years to potty train. If you do the math, that is $1,680.00 for one child! Now add 2 children into the equation and that is $3,360.00!!! That is a lot of money we threw into the trash.

If you read my Haute Pockets Diaper review, you learned a little about my history with cloth diapers. I was not a fan. I did not know pocket diapers even existed! My only memory of cloth diapers was seeing babies in noisy plastic pants, prefold diapers pinned to them with sharp diaper pins, and the unsanitary diaper pail full of disgusting water. And let's not forget the lovely swishing of the pre-folds in the toilet. Yuck!!!

I have a very weak stomach. The idea of using cloth diapers instead of dispoable ones that I could throw in the trash made my decision not to use cloth a simple one.

As I use to say, women who used cloth diapers on their babies are a bit, well, looney. Why put yourself through that torture? I didn't understand it.

Little did I know that cloth diapers evolved over the years. A friend of mine from church had a pocket diaper on her daughter and I asked her a few questions about them. They seemed interesting, but I wasn't convinced.

One night while doing the bills and seeing all our money go bye-bye, I started to think about ways to shave our budget down. And what do you know, cloth diapers popped into my head! I timidly approached my husband with the idea. The look on his face was enough for me to think I was a little nuts for even mentioning the idea.

Then I told him how much we would save in the long run...

Then he hesitated...

Then he said "Maybe we should try it?"

I then started my research. I definitely wanted to try out the pocket diapers first. They seemed the easiest to use and I wanted my experience to be as simple as possible. I found some great clearance deals on Haute Pockets and Happy Heineys. Then bought a few Bum Genius, a new kitchen trash can for a pail and a Whamies pail liner. My startup set was now complete!

I had so much fun picking out my sons diapers! There are so many fun colors and patterns out there. When they arrived, I was like a child on Christmas. My 2 older children got excited as well and had fun looking over all the diapers. I washed them and started right away.

I was amazed at how easy this was! My son looked adorable in his new fluffies. The cloth diapers leaked no more than his disposables and best of all, no more diaper rash! I was thrilled that using cloth actually cured his rash problems. I wish I knew about these diapers when my oldest son was a baby. He had HORRIBLE rashes that would bleed! We used Pampers diapers and still had to put Desitin on him daily.

Here I am 13 months later and I am so thankful I swallowed my pride and went the cloth diaper route. My diaper rash creams have sat unused all this time, my baby boy looks cuter than ever and our budget isn't suffering. I feel so blessed to be a cloth diapering mama!

Here is my son , Mr. Z (that's one of his nicknames). So happy to be a fluff baby!
By the way- He is wearing the same diaper in both pictures.
He is 10 months older in the picture of him on the couch.
Don't you just love one size diapers???
They rock!!!

Next Week: Show your Stash! Take a creative picture showing off your diaper stash. Don't forget to leave the link to your post so that we can all visit and see.

Instructions for Fluff Talk Thursdays, click here.

First Day of School 2009

Last Monday the 10th we started our first day of Homeschool for the new school year. As many of you know from my previous posts, I have been homeschooling my two oldest children for the past 2 years. This year my son is in the 3rd grade and my daughter in 2nd. It makes it so much easier that they are close in grades. A few of their subjects I can actually teach together. Here is a list of the curriculum that I am using with them, so that you can get an idea as to what they will be learning. (this may be very boring to those of you who don't homeschool, if so.. scroll down to see the pictures instead.)

For my son:
*click on highlighted words to be directed to curriculum sites*
Bible- The Narrow Way
Math- School of Tomorrow Math
Phonics- Hooked on Phonics Master Reader
Spelling- School of Tomorrow Word Building
English- School of Tomorrow English
Handwriting- Handwriting Workout, Cursive
& manuscript
Health- Horizons 2nd Grade Health
Science- Various Science topics taught by Dad. :-)
Also, School of Tomorrow Animal Science
Journal Writing- Handwriting without Tears journal
Art- Artistic Pursuits
History- Brain Pop and various theme lessons
He will also be continuing in Piano lessons, starting Gymnatics,
and will participate in Contenders for the Faith Club.
~~~~~~~

For my Daughter:
*click on highlighted words to be directed to curriculum sites*
Bible: The Narrow Way
Math: Abeka 1st grade Arithmetic
& Hooked on Math
Phonics: Hooked on Phonics 1st grade
Spelling: School of Tomorrow Word Building 2nd grade
English: School of Tomorrow English 2nd grade
Handwriting- Handwriting without Tears 2nd grade
& manuscript
Health- Horizons 2nd Grade Health
Science- Various Science topics taught by Dad. :-)
Also, School of Tomorrow Animal Science
Journal Writing- Handwriting without Tears journal
Art- Artistic Pursuits
History- Brain Pop and various theme lessons
She will also take Piano lessons, Celtic dance,
and will participate in Keepers at Home Club

Since it was the first day of school, the kids asked if they could bring
a bear with them. Usually I have a no toy rule in the schoolroom.
They had fun with it. :-)

Our school calender

Busy doing Math

Another view

And what was the baby up to???
Getting into the wipes container and throwing
them all over the room!

Gratituesday #4

Today I am thankful for Tazo Chai Tea.... I love this stuff. I am not a coffee drinker, so it is good to have something to drink that tastes good (that isn't pop) to get my caffeine!

I try not to have too much since I am pregnant at the moment, but if it weren't for Chai I would probably have to go to bed at 8pm and would be tired all through the day.

I love to brew this and add Stevia , a little bit of sugar, and milk. I then pour it over ice, add a straw and enjoy! My favorite anytime drink. :-)

Celtic Dance

My 7 year old daughter had her very first Irish dance lesson today!
She was SO excited.
She has been wanting to take Celtic dance lessons for a while now.
I can't wait to see her on stage with a cute Irish outfit and spiral curl wig, doing a jig!
It is going to be SOOOOOO cute!
My daughter is very tiny for her age and was more than a head shorter than all the other girls.
She is going to be the little star!
Now we just need to work on her focus...she kept getting distracted today.

(By the way~ I brought my camera today, but the girls did not do anything picture worthy...so I added some random Celtic dance picture I found on the internet. My daughter is not in this picture. That would make her a pro at her her first lesson! lol.)

Haute Pockets Giveaway Winner!

Congratulations to Gwenn for winning a OS Haute Pockets diaper!

She was comment #52 and left the comment:

GwennS said...

I'm now following!

August 4, 2009 7:45 AM

*Winner was selected using the random number generator at Random.org*

Winner has been contacted and will have 48 hours to claim prize or a new winner will be drawn.

Thanks to all of you that entered and made my first giveaway a great success!
I do hope you all will continue to follow my blog.
Be sure to check back soon as I will be doing more reviews and giveaways.
Up next will be a review/giveaway for Rock'N Green cloth diaper detergent!

Instructions for Fluff Talk Thursdays

You probably have noticed the little box on my sidebar that said "Fluff Talk Thursdays, coming soon!". If you have wondered what that is all about....I will tell you!

One night as I lay in bed with insomnia (which seems to happen a lot) an idea popped into my head... "Wouldn't it be fun to host a weekly meme on my blog that is all about cloth diapering?"
I always seem to have fun chatting about cloth diapers with my friends and thought it would be fun to share my thoughts with my blog readers. Not only that, but they can jump in and join the conversation.

So here is what you do:

Each Thursday I will write on a different cloth diapering topic. I will either give you a question to answer or a topic to write on. You will then make your own "Fluff Talk Thursdays" post at your blog and then come back here and leave your link. I will provide a MckLinky box at at the end of each "F.T.T." post for you to do this. I do ask that when you participate in my meme, that you please use my "Fluff Talk Thursdays" banner at the top of your posts. This not only is respectful to me, but also because the banner acts as a link. When your readers view your "F.T.T." post they can simply click on the banner to be directed back to HappilyDomestic. They can then access everyone's links to read all the other posts and maybe even join in themselves.

Some weeks I may not give a certain topic to write about. I may be posting something that is simply more informational. When I do this...go ahead and feel free to leave a link to any previous cloth diaper post you have written about, or maybe you saw a really good CD giveaway or sale, link us to that! You can leave any cloth diaper related link on those days. All I ask is that you please be sure the link you leave is indeed cloth diaper related. Any link that is not will be deleted.

I will permanently leave my "Fluff Talk Thursdays" banner with code at the bottom of my blog for you to easily access anytime. If you are unfamiliar with how to display my banner in your post, all you need to do is copy the code and then paste it into your HTML post setting when you blog.

Please email me at HappilyDomestic09@yahoo.com with any questions that you may have. If you are not familiar with weekly memes then this may seem confusing. It does not need to be though. It really is rather simple.

I hope that you will join in. I want Fluff Talk Thursdays to be something that is fun for all you cloth diapering mamas! I have a lot of ideas for some fun topics and I know you will enjoy it.

Next Weeks Topic: Why Cloth? What made you decide to go the cloth diapering route? Who introduced you to the idea?

At the Cloth Diaper Report blog she is hosting a giveaway for a Britax car seat!
It ends tonight though...so hurry on over. I really hope I win this as I need a car seat for my 1 year old, he is still in his infant seat.

Homeschool Funnies

I have homeschooling on my brain because we just started up again yesterday! (I will blog more about that later.) I wanted to share another funny Tim Hawkins video with you all.
Okay, so not ALL homeschool families are like this...but for the most part he's got us pegged.

Gratituesday #3

Today I am grateful for great deals!
Look what I snatched up at Goodwill....

We stopped by Goodwill to drop off some donations and as we were dropping off our stuff I spotted a man unloading a real nice dresser and play kitchen. As we drove past the truck I begged my husband to turn back so that we could see if we could buy them. I have been checking craigslist for a tall, narrow, dresser for our baby for a couple months with no luck. Also, my daughter's last play kitchen fell apart. Since we got rid of it, she has been begging me to buy her a new one. She dreams over kitchens in catalogs all the time.

I couldn't believe our luck! What a blessing to find 2 items we have been looking for at once.
We had to have the manager come out and price them for us. She first said 100 dollars for both..and I said NO. Then she said 75...I again shook my head NO. Finally she says, "Okay, 50 dollars ..but no less." I could do that...even though I was using part of our grocery money!
I couldn't possibly pass up this deal! Here is some pictures of our great finds...

*Click on Pictures to enlarge*

The Kitchen
It came with all this great stuff too!
It is in EXCELLENT condition...as were the accessories.
My daughter paid for it herself. She had 10 dollars saved up from chores.

So happy!
Finally! A new kitchen to play with.

My 9 year old son joining in on the fun.
He's way too big for it...but still thinks it's super cool.

Playing with Grace
I saw this later and couldn't resist taking a picture.

The Dresser
It is solid wood, Bassett brand
and in EXCELLENT condition.

Side View
I love the detail on the side.

It really made my day to find these. It was a day of good bargains!

Have you snagged any great thrift store or yard sale finds?
Blog about it and leave your link in the Linky box.
I would love to see what you found.

Another great promotion from Earth's Best! I actually did this one a few weeks ago and am enjoying my travel pack. Great products. I especially love the baby lotion, goes on like silk! Get one for your baby....

Earth's Best Baby Body Care by JASON

Here is your chance to receive a FREE Earth's Best Baby Body Care by JASON; Travel Kit. Each kit contains travel sizes of 2-in-1 Shampoo & Body Wash, Extra Rich Therapy Crème, Everyday Lotion, Mineral Based Sunblock SPF30+, and Diaper Relief Ointment. Pediatrician Tested and Approved, each product has been evaluated and given the seal of approval from an American Medical Association certified Pediatrician. It's perfect for the diaper bag!

Simply send your register receipt(s) for $15 in purchases for Earth's Best products, along with the accompanying box tops and jar labels and a check or money order payable to Earth's Best for $1.95 (for shipping and handling). Offer good while supplies last. Mail to:

Earth's Best Travel Kit Offer
P.O. Box 8960 Dept. 02
St. Cloud, MN 56398-8960

Please allow 6-8 weeks for shipping. Offer good while supplies last.
Click here for a redemption form.

I just received an e-mail from Earth's Best and they are partnering with several other health food companies for an awesome promotion! Click on the link below to be directed to the site for more information. You could receive a $10 gift card to Barnes & Noble, just for buying $25 of these selected products. Also, you can enter to win $500 worth of library books for your school. If you buy these products anyway, then it is sure worth it!

http://www.takeahealthybite.com/index.html

Some clarification on "tweeting"

I wanted to clarify a little better as to how tweeting for my giveaways works. I noticed when going through my e-mail that several of you left a comment saying that you follow me on twitter and then left a separate e-mail saying that you tweeted. I was only able to publish one of those as they need to be combined. If you noticed this, that is why one of your entries was not published.

Once you comment that first "I follow you on twitter and tweeted" entry, then the next day you can tweet again and leave one more comment saying that you tweeted. It would be helpful if when you do a daily tweet entry that you leave the date you tweeted. That way there is no confusing which day you tweeted. I hope that this makes sense. If you have further questions on this issue, please feel free to e-mail me about it.
HappilyDomestic09@yahoo.com

Works For Me Wednesday #2

My greatest suggestion for homeschool is to have a designated area to do your schooling. I know a lot of people like to homeschool at the kitchen table, but that doesn't work for me. I am very much a perfectionist and have to have things "just so" for me to function properly. Don't get me wrong, I am not a neat freak by any means...but a plain old perfectionist that has to have things a certain way. I knew when I started homeschooling my children that I would NEED a spot to have everything always set up. My husband & I decided that first year to have our son (then age 7) to share a room with his sister and we would make his room into a schoolroom.

At the time we were in the process of making our 1 car garage into a family room. When that was completed, we would do school in there. It ended up taking much longer than expected. We ended up using my sons bedroom as our school room for 1 1/2 years. I must say, I got SPOILED! I loved it. We had space for everything I wanted to hang on the walls. We could leave stuff out that we were working on without feeling like we were messing up the entire house. It was nice. But now that our family room is complete, I have one side of half the room for my school area. It still works out great and I have managed to organize it to the best of my ability and try to make it cute and schoolish (I know, that is not a word..I made it up). I bought my children real school desks and chairs so that they are not fighting at the same table. (The desks & chairs adjust in height as they grow bigger too). We have a big bookshelf to hold all their curriculum and my teacher stuff. It works!

I want to encourage any of you that feel you don't have the room to set up school, that this can be done! I have made the tiny area cheerful and fun for the children and it has made homeschooling feel more "real" for us. I want my children to know that just because they get to do school at home doesn't mean it is not to be taken seriously. I believe setting up an area really helps with that.
Here are some pictures of our school area:

This is it! Not very big, but works great!

Another view

My oldest son
(age 8 at the time)
On his first day of second grade.
Sept. 2008
This was in our old school room and back when we used
a table for their desk area.

My daughter
(age 6 at the time)
First day of 1st grade
Sept.2008

To see other school suggestions visit "We Are That Family" blog and see all the other WFMW post links.
http://www.wearethatfamily.com/2009/08/wfmw-back-to-school-themed-edition.html

Wordless Wednesday #3

My (7 & 9 year old) wanted to make brownies. I had a mix and so let them make it themselves. They both took turns putting in the ingredients. On one of my daughter's turns she had the eggs. She is still learning to crack an egg (obviously). She cracked it from the bottom and when she went to put it in the bowl, the whole egg slid out onto the table (egg yolk in tact), she then didn't know what to do so she just tossed the shell into the mix! (Something had to go in the bowl, right?) My son and I laughed our heads off and I ran for my camera. Here are the pictures....

Silly Girl!

My daughter proud of her egg.

Gratituesday #2

I am greatful today for

CHICK-FIL-A
If it was not for their Tuesday family night (where kids eat free),
I would most likely be feeding my family cereal for dinner.
Today we had a meeting to attend for homeschool, directly following that was both
my two older children's piano lessons, directly followed by both their swim lessons.
In the midst of all that I had to deal with 2 really stinky diapers from my 1 year old,
a nose bleed from my oldest son and getting chewed out from some woman
because apparently I parked in her parking spot.
We got home around 5:30pm and needless to say the last thing I wanted to do was cook!
So, thank you Chick-fil-A for saving the day!
And with saying that I will leave you with a hilarious song: