Big Girl Stuff

Guess who is a big girl and starting to eat cereal??

That's right Miss Ashley is growing up right before our eyes! Speaking of eyes, look at those blue eyes of hers, they are amazing :)

Comfort and Harmony Mombo Nursing Pillow Review and Giveaway - Mother's Day

 There is a line from the makers of Bright Starts called Comfort and Harmony. Their intent is to create ergonomic product designs using ultra soothing fabrics so that you and your baby enjoy every moment of this stage in your lives together. Their products range from Bouncers and Rockers, Swings, Seat Covers and Nursing Pillows.

The Mombo Deluxe Pillow and Slipcover

We were sent the Mombo Deluxe Nursing Pillow and slipcover to review. I have to say that this is a great nursing pillow, very soft and plush and very comfortable. It is a flexible shape and fits most sizes. I love the multiple features of this nursing pillow, also great for lounging, propping/sitting and tummy time for your little one. This will definitely make our transition from babyhood to toddler time a success, she already is practicing tummy time you can see!!

The Deluxe pillow is firm on one side for feeding and soft for lounging on the other, Love this feature!! Also has a removable soothing vibration feature while you feed or your baby is lounging. There are also some cute slipcovers for your Mombo and to fit your style! Check out Comfort and Harmony for your Baby product needs.

 GIVEAWAY

Win a Comfort and Harmony Mombo Nursing Pillow

To Enter This Giveaway:

 What other item from Comfort and Harmony would you like to have?

*Leave a comment answering the question and be sure to leave your email address if its not public in your Google account*

Extra Entries: Can be done after leaving a comment for mandatory entry. If the extra entry says 1 extra entry leave 1 comment and 2 extra entries leave me 2 comments and so on.

-Like Comfort and Harmony on Facebook +1
-Follow Comfort and Harmony on Twitter +1

 -Follow/Add to your circle  Frugal Family Tree on Google+ ( right hand side) +1
-Like our new fan page on Facebook Frugal Family Tree +1
-Follow FrugalFamTree on Twitter +1 

-Share this giveaway on Facebook ONLY, using the Share Button at the bottom on this post. +1 for each share you do. (can be done once a day)

-Copy and Paste This Tweet on Twitter and leave me the link (to find the link click on the time stamp under your tweet. Can be done once a day for the duration of the giveaway)

#Win a Mombo Nursing Pillow from @ComfortHarmony at @FrugalFamTree #Giveaway ends 5/14 http://www.frugalfamilytree.com/2012/05/comfort-and-harmony-mombo-nursing.html

 *Limited to US residents 18 years old and above. Giveaway starts May 1, 2012 and ends on May 14th, 2012 at midnight PST. Winner will be emailed and has 48 hours to respond before another winner is selected. I was not paid for this giveaway or post. I was provided the item reviewed in this post for free by the company or PR company that represents them. The opinions on this item are 100% mine and may vary from others. The sponsor is responsible for providing the prize.

Eco Lawn Mowing Using Sheep

For the last couple of summers I have noticed a Eco-friendly way that people are choosing to maintain empty lots. They are using small herds of Sheep. I think this is a great way to make sure that empty lots are mowed and also a good way to keep the sheep fed. My son is an animal lover and he spotted these Sheep when we were at a stop sign just down the street from our house.

I totally had to stop so he could get a close look. He was saying hi to them, giving them his best "baaaaaaa" and kissy calling them like he does for the dog to come. It was so cute. He was saying so much, I have no clue what it was other than cool, sheep and wow. But man was he excited. We sat there for a bit and another family walked up so their kids could get a closer look. The Sheep were all running over and making all sorts of noises excited to have visitors. We had ice cream in the trunk so we had to get going but this week I plan to let him see them more close up. So great to see some farm animals in our suburban neighborhood even if its temporary.

These arent the greatest pictures but it was great in person. They would look up at us and my son would wave to them.

Family Fun with Art and Music at Festival de la Familia

Living near Sacramento and Cal Expo we have the opportunity to attend all sorts of festivals. We love to get outside to enjoy the food and music. On Sunday April 29th we had the opportunity to attend Festival de la Familia. This year the festival was celebrating 21 years of hosting a celebration of Latino Cultures. This was also the first year we went to see all the excitement. We thought about going last year but our son was so little I did not think there would be much for him to do. But I was wrong. There is so much for kids to do at this event.

The event had food, music, kids craft areas, lots of booths to win prizes, stages with performers and the atmosphere was an upbeat happy feeling. Everyone was smiling enjoying good food, family and music.

My son thought this bear was great. He got a sticker and a balloon from him.

They had 3 stages with music and dancing. We saw many great performances representing several countries such as Mexico, Cuba, Brazil, Columbia and many more. I loved all the beautiful costumes and how there was little kids in some of the performance. My son enjoys music and dancing so he was loving all the music.

The food area was covered from the heat of the sun. The beautiful flags of the Latino countries represented at the festival lined the ceiling.

Many vendors such as Safeway provided free snacks and samples of drinks.

One of my favorite parts of Festival de la Familia was the art exhibits. We had the opportunity see beautiful art work from 21 artists. The artist were happy to explain meaning and technique to us and had items for sale. One of my favorites was the Sugar Skull made of sugar. Another great artist is Diego Marcial Rios. He was painting a piece during the exhibit and had beautiful paintings made with acrylic paint on canvas.

These pieces of art were made from recycled materials. I love the Birch Tree one.

 After seeing all the art work we went back outside to see some of the interactive booths for kids. My son likes sports so we let him show off his putting skills. ( He did think it was a driver at first and whacked it really far, thankfully the volunteers were nice enough to run after the ball). We also bought tickets to go into the bounce house. My son always asks but this was the first time we let him go in. He was about half way through when he got scared, cried and had to come back out. He is a trooper for trying. Maybe next year he will make it to the exit. He got to see horses and even throw a baseball. There was so much to do and we had a ton of fun.

Exhausted from all the fun stuff we did we had some great food and drinks while we watched a band play on the main stage. They had a boy who did not look any older than 6 years old as the singer. Even though we did not understand the words to the song it was amazing! We finished up the day with Churros and one more walk through to make sure we did not miss anything. We had a great time and look forward to next year.

You can learn more about Festival de la Familia on their facebook and twitter pages.



*I was not paid for this review. The opinions are 100% mine and may vary from others. I was provided free tickets for my family for admission from the PR/Company that represents them.

Last Pay Phone In Seattle?

Do you remember when this was all we had to use when we left home? No cellphone, iPhone, Smart Phone, or any other kind of phone, just the phone on the street. How did we survive?
I saw this phone on a street in Seattle recently, and it's one of the very few public phones that I have seen left in the city. I can remember as a teenager using these phones, sometimes receiving good news, and once, heartbreaking news. All the while standing in the street, as people walked by.
How far we have come, where everyone now walks down the street, phone in hand and every conversation can be heard.
                                             Hope everyone is having a good Monday.

Knitting For Peace

When I say I am knitting for peace, I wish I were doing one of those noble deeds like making hats for new born preemies in the hospital. That is such a worthy and beautiful thing to do.

But the truth is, I knit for my own peace of mind. There is something so soothing in the repetition of knitting row after row of the same stitch. And to be really honest, I only know how to knit scarves. I think I have knitted about 50 scarves in the last few years. I have given them to all my family members but I think they have enough scarves to last several lifetimes.

But I can't stop knitting when I have things I need to work out in my head. So in the interest of my family, I have decided to learn how to knit other thinks like sock caps. Up here in the Great Northwest, one can always use a good sock cap in the winter.

I have taken out several library books with the intention of teaching myself how to knit better. Wish me luck

I Love Diane Keaton

I have always adored Diane Keaton. The first movie I ever saw her in was "Annie Hall", which earned her an Academy Award for Best Actress. As Annie, she was funny and sweet and crazy. Woody Allen has said he wrote Annie Hall based on Keaton's own unconventional family, and that just makes me love her more.

I am spending the afternoon re-reading  Ms. Keaton's new book called "Then Again". When it first came out I was so excited that I rushed through reading it, and so I will read it more slowly this time.

It's a great book, written with all the warmth and unique style that we have come to expect from this gifted actress. She also has a new movie coming out called "Darling Companion" that is not getting very good reviews, but I don't care. I am a Diane Keaton fan forever, so I can't wait to see her new movie.
My daughter-in-law once told me that I reminded her of Diane as Annie Hall. I took this as a compliment because who doesn't want to be like Diane Keaton, right? But then as I thought about, did she mean I was ditsy, scattered-brained, a little crazy?

I get along fabulously with my daughter-in-law, we are good friends, but I have never asked her about what she meant. Should I, or just keep thinking I'm just like Diane?

A Hat

My son loves hats. He will ask for one anytime we see one in the store. He tells me he looks cool in them. He says cool a lot makes me think I must say it a lot myself. I need a new word lol. But he did tell me my new shirt was pretty so at least he doesnt tell me I look cool too.

We got him his first official baseball ball hat at the mall. He has cute dog and bird hats but this was a big boy hat. He smiled so big as he pointed to the one he wanted and when we put it on him he was stunned. He has been wearing it since we bought it for him and I had to bargain with him to get him to take it off for bedtime.

Now all we need is to attend a baseball game for him to wear his hat to. I have been hinting to my husband that I want to go to a MLB game for my bday this summer. It would be so fun to take my son. I remember when Sam and I were taken to a Mariners vs Angels game when we were little. It was so fun! Afterwards there was a foil in the microwave to rewarm peanuts incident that I was blamed for lol but thats a whole other post itself.

I love how something as simple as a hat can bring my son joy, inspire bday ideas and make me recall awesome childhood memories.

Moms Love Movies and WB Loves Moms! DVD Giveaway

I love movies! I always have well before I was a Mom. My own Mom has even said she has not really seen a whole movie since someone always needed something or there was a task to be done while we all kicked back and enjoyed a movie. I always chuckled about it as a teenager and young adult as if she was exaggerating. Well now that I am a Mom oh my I know she was so right about that one!

There has been many movies we had to re-rent or rewind (do they still call it rewind? lol) due to me having to do something during a movie. This year to celebrate Mother's Day the WB has decided to giveaway a 4 pack of movies to one lucky reader. Maybe now that you have these classic movies on DVD and Blu-Ray there will be hope to be able to see the whole thing!

The Bodyguard is a good movie! I remember watching this as a teenager. We have a family joke about Kevin Costner, we refer to him as Uncle Kevin although there is no relation what so ever, long story thats funny and we will share it one of these times. Its bitter sweet to watch it since Whitney Houston's passing. But still a great story.

 

I liked New Year's Eve when my husband and I watched it together. I love the type of movies that have a bunch of characters all living life among each other without knowing how they effect one another and how it all unfolds at the end. This is a cute one. One of my favorite parts is how there are two couples at one hospital trying to have their baby be the one born first for the New Year.

I have not watched Joyful Noise but it is now on my list of movies to watch since I love Queen Latifah movies.

 

I have never heard of Don Juan De Marco, but since Johnny Depp is in it I have to add this one too on my movies to watch list.


 GIVEAWAY

Win a WB Four Pack DVD Bundle of the 4 titles mentioned in this post.


To Enter This Giveaway:

 What movie of the four do you want to watch the most?

*Leave a comment answering the question and be sure to leave your email address if its not public in your Google account*

Extra Entries: Can be done after leaving a comment for mandatory entry. If the extra entry says 1 extra entry leave 1 comment and 2 extra entries leave me 2 comments and so on.

-Like Warner Brothers on Facebook +1
-Follow Warner Brothers on Twitter +1

 -Follow/Add to your circle  Frugal Family Tree on Google+ ( right hand side) +1
-Like our new fan page on Facebook Frugal Family Tree +1
-Follow FrugalFamTree on Twitter +1 

-Follow PopcornNPearls on Twitter +1

-Be a friend of Popcorn and Pearls on Facebook +1

-Follow Popcorn and Pearls on Pinterest +1

-Share this giveaway on Facebook ONLY, using the Share Button at the bottom on this post. +1 for each share you do. (can be done once a day)

-Copy and Paste This Tweet on Twitter and leave me the link (to find the link click on the time stamp under your tweet. Can be done once a day for the duration of the giveaway)

#Win Mother's Day 4 DVD Movies Pack @WarnerBrosEnt at @FrugalFamTree #Giveaway ends 5/09 #WBMomsDay http://www.frugalfamilytree.com/2012/04/moms-love-movies-and-wb-loves-moms-dvd.html

 *Limited to US residents 18 years old and above. Giveaway starts April 27, 2012 and ends on May 09th, 2012 at midnight PST. Winner will be emailed and has 48 hours to respond before another winner is selected. I was not paid for this giveaway or post.  The opinions on this item are 100% mine and may vary from others. The sponsor is responsible for providing the prize.

Healthy Snacks Can Be Delicious

I spend a lot of time with my grandchildren. I am lucky to be able to do this because so many families live far apart from each other. So of course we all love to eat, and sharing food made with love and care is part of being a family.

I gave my daughter Sam a copy of the book "Deceptively Delicious" awhile back and we both think it's filled with great ideas to get your children to eat healthier, sometimes without them even knowing about it!
I love giving the kids treats (as all grandmothers do!) but I also want them to be eating healthy foods that will nourish them and help them grow.

One of my favorite recipes from this book is for pita pizza. The secret to making it so healthy is to use whole-wheat pita pockets and a layer of spinach puree underneath the tomato sauce. It all deliciously bakes together and the kids don't even know they are eating spinach. Yes, this is a little "deceptive" but most kids don't like eating spinach, and it is so good for them. The kids love eating these  pita pizzas and so do I.

Eating healthier is so important for kids, and I'm happy to provide snacks that they love and are good for them.