Clothing Swaps are Sweet!

This shirt says My Big Brother Love's Me!

It seems like someone is always having a baby or a baby is becoming a toddler or a toddler is now a "big boy" and so on. You see where I am going with this right? Our children are growing up and buying clothes for them can be so expensive. I know that I have a ton of clothes my 1st son hardly wore and now I see that my 2nd son is going through them very fast as well, most worn only a few times. My friends and I have come up with a Clothing Swap as a play date. Every 3 months we bring clothing that our children no longer fit in to swap with each other for clothes that do. You can bring clothes, shoes, hats and socks. You can Swap anything you want really, there are no "real" rules. It is just a fun way to change out our child's wardrobe without breaking the bank. We don't bring anything that may hold a special memory or something that we may want to save for any future child, but anything goes really. See the above shirt? We got that at a Swap and I just love it!!

Little One Books Review and Giveaway

Books are golden in our house! I grew up loving to read and appreciate the value of a good book. I love that my son has a love of books as much as I do. He will bring me one of the books from his room that he wants me to read and shouts, "BOOK". I find it very sweet!

I enjoy book recommendations from family and friends and when I found Little One Books website it was like having a friend telling you about each book. Each book has a detailed review called "Why we choose this book". I find it very helpful when selecting a book. The site was founded by two grandparents who wanted to share great books with their customers. The wide variety of books is wonderful. They have a few classics but mainly have unique books that I love sharing with my son.

We have been working on saying "Fish".

When we reviewed the book May There Always Be Sunshine by Jim Gill it could not have been a more perfect day to read it. It has been so gloomy and rainy here and we are not used to that. The book was very sweet and based on a traditional Russian folk song. It mentions things that a child wishes will always be such as mommy and daddy, fish, sunshine and many other cute things. I liked that the last page was filled with things that a child wishes there would always be. We pointed to and read the ones we liked to our son. I liked the dogs, cats, orange juice, dinosaurs and so many more. The book was fun and playful with vividly colorful illustrations that made us forget it was gloomy outside. Something very much needed with all this rain we have been having. There are so many books I would love to have from the website and a few are definitely going onto the book wish list to buy in the future.

He gets excited over new books!

GIVEAWAY:

For our Moms Leaving the Workforce event Little One Books has generously offered one of our lucky readers the chance to win a $15 gift certificate.

To Enter This Giveaway:
Mandatory entry is to Like Little One Books on Facebook AND sign up for their newsletter. (top right hand of their homepage.)
*Leave a comment telling me your facebook name and that you have signed up for the newsletter. Be sure to leave your email address*

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

-Visit the Little One Books site and leave a comment about an item you like. +2

-Follow Little One Books on Twitter +2

-Follow The Coupon Queen Bee on Twitter +1

-Like The Coupon Queen Bee on Facebook +1

-Enter any of the  giveaways during the Moms Leaving the Workforce event +2 for each you have entered.

-Blog about this giveaway and leave me the link to the post +5

*Limited to US residents; 18 years old and above. Giveaway starts March 18 , 2011 and ends on March 31, 2011 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 book pictured in this review for free.

Doodles Alphabet Coloring Fun Review and Giveaway

Doodles Alphabet Coloring Fun by Setria James is a coloring book for children. The story behind the author is that she is a graphic designer that utilizes original doodles instead of stock illustrations. The pages in this book are large and she used quality paper. The doodles are designed to build motor skills and encourage self expression. It takes each letter of the alphabet and has two drawings on the page that start with the letter. A few of the items were not what I would have chosen for each particular letter. The letter A had apple, which is a given and then the next item was an Ape. My son keeps saying A is for monkey. Most children say monkey and not ape so that was a little confusing. The drawing is so simple that I felt like she could have came up with something else for A that would have been easier for little ones to learn. Other than that the book was a hit over here, my son has enjoyed coloring and working on his letters and sounds.

To Enter This Giveaway:
Mandatory entry is to be a GFC follower of this blog.
*Leave a comment telling me your a follower and be sure to leave your email address*

Extra Entries can be done after you leave a comment for the 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 Doodles on Facebook +2

-Follow The Coupon Queen Bee on Twitter +1
-Like The Coupon Queen Bee on Facebook +1
-Enter any of the  giveaways during the Moms Leaving the Workforce event +2 for each you have entered.
-Blog about this giveaway and leave me the link to the post +5

*Limited to US residents; 18 years old and above. Giveaway starts March 18 , 2011 and ends on March 31, 2011 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 one of the coloring books free of charge for this review.

You know your penny pinching is effecting your family when...

Your 4 year old comes out of the bathroom during a play date and announces, "We use toilet paper to wipe our butts and to blow our noses!" Maybe I shouldn't skimp on the Kleenex huh?

Happy St Patrick's Day

We love Charlie Brown and friends! So classic!

We hope everyone is having a great and green day! I know this year we are trying to think more "green" and St. Patrick's Day is a great day to think of new ways to be green. I love that later in our event we will be reviewing Eco-Kids products for art supplies and Sprig Toys for trucks made form recycled materials. I find myself looking harder for eco products than in previous years.
I want to start a mini compost pile so we can incorporate it into our gardening soil. I was browsing Eco Mom and found 3 great products to start with my little idea.

Bamboo Compost Pail

 

White Stoneware Compost Pail

 

Stainless Steel Compost Pail

 

 

 

NurturMe Foods Review and Giveaway

NurturMe is a baby food company that sells naturally grown quick dried baby food that come in light weight, palm-sized pouches. Each pouch has approx 2.5 oz of pureed baby food. You can mix the pouch contents with water, formula or breast milk and it is ready in seconds. The idea is similar to rice cereal where you add water or breast to create the consistency your baby will eat. The nice thing about these sweet little pouches is that you don't have to worry about carrying jars of baby food in your diaper bag, just pull out a pouch or 2 and mix it with your liquid of choice. Depending on the age of your little one, from 4 months to toddler you can add as little or as much liquid as you want. There is a bit more information about the mixing here.

There are 4 flavors to choose from scrumptious squash, hearty sweat potatoes, plump peas and crisp apples. I combined the squash and apples together to create a larger meal and to change up the flavor. He loved it! Yummy for sure!

I took a few pouches out with me on a lunch date with my girlfriend and it worked out great. I asked the waiter for a little bowl, poured out the pouch, added water (it was most convenient) and lunch was served. Not to mention no clean up for me! NurturMe is a nature conscious company that uses recyclable cartons made with wind energy and the with no jars to throw away this is a very "green" way to help the environment! I recommend this to Mom's with little ones who babies are eating their "first" foods and like the convenience of a eco-friendly company.

You can buy NurturMe foods online and at select Whole Foods stores and Babies R Us. 

This is a fairly new company and we look forward to more flavors in the future. They have a twitter campaign going on trying to get their product on the Mothers Day show on Ellen. I hope they get on and you can show your support by retweeting and tweeting to Ellen about it!
  
GIVEAWAY:

For our Moms Leaving the Workforce event NurturMe has generously offered one of our lucky readers the chance to win 2 pouches of each flavor (total of 8 servings) plus a BPA free "Nutritious" spoon

To Enter This Giveaway:
Mandatory entry is to Follow NurturMe on Twitter
*Leave a comment telling me your twitter name and be sure to leave your email address*

Extra Entries can be done after you leave a comment for the 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 NurturMe on Facebook +2

-Follow The Coupon Queen Bee on Twitter +1
-Like The Coupon Queen Bee on Facebook +1
-Enter any of the  giveaways during the Moms Leaving the Workforce event +2 for each you have entered.
-Blog about this giveaway and leave me the link to the post +5

*Limited to US residents; 18 years old and above. Giveaway starts March 17 , 2011 and ends on March 31, 2011 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 one of each of the flavors for free for this review.

Yum Yum Dishes Review

Yum Yum Dishes were created by a mother who after having her second child realized she was snacking too much and decided to do something about it. She started snacking out of a a small dish and in a short time was back to her original weight. Portion control is how the Yum Yum dish was born. It is a 4 oz. ceramic dish and inside it says, Yum Yum time is over. Pretty cute. It is really hard not to want to refill it, after all it seems so tiny. But you may think twice about refilling the bowl when it tells you that you are finished! haha

Children may find this as a cute way to know that their snack is over. I know that childhood obesity is an issue for many families and these bowls may help teach your child portion control. I have more of the problem with getting my son to eat more so these may also be useful for moms trying to get a child to finish their food until the bowl is empty.
Necessary for an adult? Not really but a super cute way to cut back on snacking and a great reminder to enjoy the little snack you are about to eat! I think this would be more helpful to children.
I did see on the Yum Yum Dishes website that Lisa Mosley, a contestant and single mom from the tv show Biggest Loser is now working with the company to give out a daily tip to your inbox. You can sign up here, bottom right hand side of the page.
You can follow Yum Yum Dishes on facebook and twitter for updates and sales.


** I was not paid or compensated for this post. The opinions in this post are 100% mine and may vary from other opinions. I was provided for free the item in this post for review purposes.

What make my own baby food?

While thinking of all of the ways I needed to save money when I left my full time job. One of the first things that came to my mind was how expensive jarred baby food is. I asked around on what other mothers were doing and then a friend suggested to me that I make my own baby food. With my 1st son I was working full time and I was all about convenience no matter what the cost. I bought the organic brand and never even thought of making his food at home, who has the time? My mother-in-law suggested it once years ago telling me it was easy and I wondered where she thought I would get the time. It just seemed so time consuming and coming up with a variety seemed like a daunting task. Now here I am 3 years later and I am making my my 2nd sons baby food. It is awesome! Not only is it quick, easy and cheaper I exactly what is going in his food. I make up a blender full of whatever fruit or veggie we have, fill up 2-3 ice cube trays and voila dinner is served! I totally recommend you give it a try.

*darn it! my mother-in-law was right*

Build a Dream Playhouses Review and Giveaway

We recently got the chance to review an item from Build a Dream Playhouses. They sell structures made out of cardboard that once you color them and put them together (easy) you get things like a snack shack, castle, spaceship, or a kitchen! I went on the website and showed my son the items they had and at first glance he wanted them all of coarse. There were so many different and cute ideas but he ended up going with the ice cream truck. I thought that he would have picked the castle but he said that he definitely wanted the ice cream truck and I told him to pick. All I heard about was how he was going to make "special deliveries" in his ice cream truck for a few days until the truck came to us in the mail. 

As soon as it was delivered we just had to open it! All of the pieces of cardboard came without any color on them; it was our job to create our own masterpiece. The cardboard pieces have lines on them like a coloring book so you know where to color and what. At first the project seemed a little overwhelming with just the two of us to work on it, my husband was still at work and my son was ready to drive off to make his deliveries the second he saw it. I called up my little sister to come over to help; we laid out all of the pieces and got to work. It was fun to see what colors my son chose for what and I have to admit I enjoyed coloring as well. I also thought a good way to cover larger surfaces would be to cut objects out of magazines and gluing them on, that my son thought was cool. He loved that idea and I let him use the glue stick so he was in heaven. That way we it felt like we had personalized it even more. 

When we were satisfied with our results we started to put it together, by this time my husband was home so he took over the job. It was very easy to do (according to him) everything was labeled by letters so even children could do it. It looked awesome and my son was ecstatic! The back doors open so that you can get in it was huge inside. The little ice cream decorations on top are so cute, but you also have the option to take those off and make it look like a regular delivery truck too. The truck is very sturdy and we were even able to color on it some more while it was "standing up" so we did not need to hurry like I thought we did. The nice thing about the product is that it is sturdy but also light weight. My son can easily pick it up and move it around so he can "drive" around and pretend to take orders for ice cream. 

We have been making "special deliveries" all week and having so much fun!

 The nice thing about Buildadreamplayhouses.com products is that they are 100% recyclable after you are finished and your child has torn it all up in time, which I know my son will do someday. It is made of cardboard and will not last forever so when it is ready to be retired you won't have any guilt about your carbon footprint. This was a great project for our family and would be great for a birthday party or special event. It would be fun to have a party and have several different items like the castle, space shuttle and the ice cream truck and let the kids use their imagination to go wild. After they are finished they can bounce around from each creation!

GIVEAWAY:

For our Moms Leaving the Workforce event Build a Dream Playhouses has generously offered one of our lucky readers the chance to win their very own Ice Cream Truck Playhouse.

To Enter This Giveaway:
Mandatory entry is to Follow Build a Dream Playhouse on Twitter
*Leave a comment telling me your twitter name and be sure to leave your email address*

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

-Visit the Build A Dream Playhouses site and leave a comment about another playhouse you like. +2

-Like Build A Dream Playhouses on Facebook +2

-Follow The Coupon Queen Bee on Twitter +1
-Like The Coupon Queen Bee on Facebook +1
-Enter any of the  giveaways during the Moms Leaving the Workforce event +2 for each you have entered.
-Blog about this giveaway and leave me the link to the post +5

*Limited to US residents; 18 years old and above. Giveaway starts March 16 , 2011 and ends on March 31, 2011 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 one Build A Dream Playhouse for free for this review.

Juvenile Solutions Baby Top Booster Seat

I have been looking for a way to be able to take my son to restaurants and to friends houses and not have to worry about him needing a place to eat or sit. I did not want something big and bulky to have to lug around from the house to the car. I searched the Juvenile Solutions website for a solution to my needs.When I found the Baby Top Booster Seat it was a good find. It attaches to a chair in many different combination so it can accommodate different types of chairs. It also can be used without a chair as its own little toddler chair. It is very light weight and folds compact to travel with.

My boy loves Happy Baby Puffs!

 My son fit in it well and enjoyed the cute face on the food tray. The only improvement I could see was that when in the free standing position as the chair the legs did not lock enough for my wild one. Maybe there needs to be a stabilizer bar or something to make it lock better.  He would rock a bit in the chair and the legs would fold. As a solution I just had him sit in the chair with the legs tucked under. He loves sitting in it when he holds hit favorite cat or watches his shows. He thinks he is a big boy when he is in it. He looks cute! The chair also came with a plastic bib that has a little food catching part on the bottom. My son will not let me put bibs on him but this one he thought was funny so he wore it. I called it his elf bib, he just liked putting snacks into it and eating out of the food catch. He cracks me up!

Alternative arrangement of seat

Folds up compact for travel

The compact fold and light weight design would make this a good second chair to have for traveling or for little guest that come over. Last time my husbands cousin brought his little one over there was no place other than a bouncy chair for him to sit. An extra feeding chair would have been great for his baby to sit in.
Juvenile Solutions carries many products on their site. I liked the Aqua Baby Bath Ring and the Dipe and Go. The Dipe and Go is now available at Babies R Us.

To find out more about Juvenile Solutions and their products you can follow the on twitter and facebook. They often have sales info and discounts listed there.

** I was not paid or compensated for this post. The opinions in this post are 100% mine and may vary from other opinions. I was provided for free the item in this post for review purposes.

We need a play date and fast...

Now that I have left the work place I am finding that the social interaction that I love and crave is getting harder and harder to find. I am also learning that not only am I craving it but so is my 4 year old. I am in the process of finding him a preschool that he can attend 1-2 days a week for a few hours so that he can get that fulfillment that he used to have being in daycare. I do believe that when your child has never been to daycare or preschool they may not know what is out there and are content with their lives but once they have seen what is out there they know...haha Well my son was in childcare for almost 2 years (he started at 2 years old) and he asks me about his school and friends all the time, he love to socialize.

Now that I am only working 1 day a week not only can we not afford to put him full time care but I didn't "quit" my job for him to be watched by someone else all day. Ok back to finding the preschool, we are working on it and I have seen a few places but they are expensive or just not what we are looking for. So in the mean time I have been finding fun and creative ways to spice up the day on a low budget. I have this one girlfriend and she is the main gal that I go to for play dates. Not only do we laugh and get each other and talking to her is awesome, but we have the same parenting philosophies (that is so important) and I adore her children. It seems like no matter what we do with the children we ALL have fun! Sure I do things with the kids that I may not enjoy as much as they do, it is part of being a Mom. But I love it when the kids are having fun and so are the Mom's.

I am new to the SAHM gig and my girlfriend just moved back to the area (they are military) so we are finding fun and inexpensive things to together. It is nice to go out and "do" something and meet somewhere but we also love just hanging out at each others houses. The children can play, be loud, eat and are happy just to be together. My girlfriend and I can chat and laugh without as much stress that is involved in a planned activity. We know that they are safe and happy in the house. Also I live in Seattle where the weather is not always outdoor ready so we have to try to find indoor games a lot of the time. But when we do "get out" some of my favorite free and or cheap things to do are go to the play place at the mall, go to story time at the local library, walk around the park or go to the McDonald's play place.

We are also finding there are many ways on line to find cheap and local things to do on a budget. My girlfriend did a little research online and tomorrow we are off to a new place that offers an indoor play place and activities for the children as well as lattes and a little sitting area for the Mom's. They boast you can see the children play while you can sit at the little pub area enjoying your favorite coffee or beverage of choice. It is only $7 per child and $4.50 for each additional child. Under 1 is free and so are the adults. My littlest is 8 months old so we are all over a fun day for only $7 (plus a vanilla latte for me)! There are free, cheap and fun things to do out there but it takes some research.

Hug A Monkey Baby Sling Giveaway

HugaMonkey Baby Slings

For most moms having a baby sling can be more than just a convenience its a must have! Especially when you have more than 1 little one a good carrier can allow you to safely keep the smallest of your children close to you while you tend to the other ones. Even for me with only one child this would have came in handy so many times when he wanted to be held but I still needed free hands to do something.

The Hug A Monkey baby sling was founded by parents who understand the need for a carrier. They designed it to be easy to use, comfy for you and your baby and simple enough to take anywhere.  I laughed when I read that one of their sons gets mistaken for a girl, it happens to my son at least once a day!

Picture from the Hug A Monkey website

 Their slings are cute and very affordable. You can get one for yourself for only $29.99! These would be great for mom to have and affordable to get one for a gift too. The baby slings come in Brown (my favorite color), Stone, Aqua, Black and Organic. The Organic sling is unbleached 100% certified organic cotton.

The website is full of useful information on how to use their carrier and care instructions for your baby carrier.
In addition to the Hug A Monkey baby sling the site carries great items from other manufacturers for baby gear and baby apparel. 

GIVEAWAY:

For our Moms Leaving the Workforce event Hug A Monkey has generously offered one of our lucky readers the chance to win a stylish and durable baby sling.

To Enter This Giveaway:
Mandatory entry is to visit the Hug A Monkey site and tell me what color you would pick if you won.
*Leave a comment telling me your color choice and be sure to leave your email address*

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

-Visit the Hug A Monkey site and leave a comment about another item you would like to have. +1
-Follow Hug A Monkey on Twitter +1
-Like Hug A Monkey on Facebook +1
-Follow The Coupon Queen Bee on Twitter +1
-Like The Coupon Queen Bee on Facebook +1
-Leave a comment on my The First Years Brand Car Seat review +2
-Enter any of the  giveaways during the Moms Leaving the Workforce event +2 for each you have entered.
-Blog about this giveaway and leave me the link to the post +5

*Limited to US residents; 18 years old and above. Giveaway starts March 15 , 2011 and ends on March 31, 2011 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. Hug A Monkey will provide one baby sling to the winner.

The First Years True Fit Car Seat Review

Our family has been a huge fan of The First Years brand since my son was born. As a new mom I had trouble trying to find the "right" brands for me. There had been recalls and warnings on a lot of brands that I read about and other moms told me about. But one brand stood out to me as good quality at a reasonable price, The First Years Brand! We have a feeding chair, stroller and now a car seat made by the company. I have to say they are all very durable and we are rough on our stuff.

I love the colors that their products come in. I like having dark colors for items my son will use a lot to hide the messes but also I just enjoy darker colors. That is why I loved the Misty Morning car seat I reviewed. It is shades of dark with a splash of baby boy blue! The colors match my shoes I wear most of the time exactly! I know its odd but I really love that lol.

The colors are not the only thing that I LOVE about this car seat. With safety items the rating and ease of use are very important to me. I was a bit worried about turning around my sons car seat to have him front facing. I read so many things about how he was best in rear facing as long as I could have him that way. We had him rear facing until he was just about 15 months old. He could not take his legs being bent and not being able to see what was going on. He screamed and would throw his binkie when I put him in his old car seat. As soon as he went for his first ride in his First Years True Fit car seat he was a happy boy!! He looked like such a big boy sitting in it and he has not been mad about car rides since the switch.

Detailed labeling made it super easy to install!

It was very easy to install. I read the directions and followed them with ease. The True Fit car seats have a 5 star rating for ease of use and I totally agree with it! Its labeled well in the seat to know how to install it and where to place the seat belts.  We have a two door SUV and I easily got it into the back seat and safely installed. The car seat is so snug there's not even a wiggle of the slightest. I know he is in there good!  The 5 point harness keeps him securely in the seat. The best part is the easy to adjust harness latch. Just one lift of the latch and I can adjust the straps. This makes it a million times easier for days he needs a thick coat to the days where he doesn't have one on. Our last car seat would drive me nuts trying to adjust the straps for when he was wearing different things.  I also love that the car seat is a convertible one and when we have another child the baby can use the seat in the rear facing position.

One of the best things is its very affordable! I have seen car seats over $300 that are not as highly rated as the True Fit First Years seats. You can get the True Fit car seats at Walmart, Target, Babies R Us and online at Amazon for less than $200! Its a great deal for a seat that you will use for many years. It can hold a child up to 65 lbs and 50 inches tall.

 

I am a facebook fan of The First Years Brand and a twitter follower and you can be one too! They have contest, discounts and info on new items. I was never a brand loyal kind of person until I had my son and had to realize the value of finding a great brand and sticking to it!

I made a little video but I guess I shot it in too high of a resolution because the uploader said it is too large! Not sure how to shrink it, if I do figure it our I will upload it!

** I was not paid or compensated for this post. The opinions in this post are 100% mine and may vary from other opinions. I was provided for free the item in this post for review purposes.

Moms Leaving the Workforce Event Summary

This months theme is Mom's Leaving the Workforce, this is so exciting for us and I want to explain why. I am a new SAHM of 2 young boys, 4 year old JJ and 8 month old Baby L. I have just recently become a member of this wonderful "club" of women and can't wait build relationships with not only my sons but with other women and mothers. I had been working out of the house at my job with the Government for over 7 years and just recently made the decision to stay at home with my babies. This has been a decision a long time in the making and it has not been easy (financial) to come to this decision but it has been the greatest decision I have made in a long time.

When I had my first born I thought I would just go back to work and everything would be back to normal, I now know that I was in denial. I did not prepare our family financially for me to be able to stay home, so I had to go back to work. I was an emotional mess and could not imagine going back to work and leaving my baby. I took my 3 months maternity leave and attempted to go back to work, when that didn't work I took off another few months and eased my way in part time eventually returning full time. My son stayed with my mother in law while I worked and at the time it was the best thing for us. When JJ turned 2 my mother in law was not a full time option anymore so he went into childcare. It is one of the hardest things we have ever done, my mother and my husband's mother were both SAHM's so we had zero experience with childcare facilities. JJ was 2 and loved the interaction with other children, he was pretty happy to be around his peers. My Mom guilt was in full swing, but I did what I had to do.

So this went on for another year and a half until we had Baby L. We took JJ out of childcare while I was on maternity leave and again fooled myself into thinking that I would just go back to work. But seriously what is wrong with me that I thought everything would work out this time? I thought, heck he is my second son I have done this all before right? Wrong again. After Baby L was in childcare for less than a month we came to the conclusion that my place was at home with these precious creatures. We looked over our finances and realized that if we really cut back our spending, paid off a few bills and truly focused on our end goal we could afford for me to stay home.

Once the decision was made everything changed. The stress in the house of always having to go go go and always having to be someplace and always feeling like I am never doing anything 100% has diminished. Now we have different stresses but unlike before when I was working 10-12 hour days, we can get through them together. I know that our lifestyle is changing already and sometimes it is hard. We don't go out to eat like we used to, I am always on the look out for things to do that are free or cheap and we had to cut back on the small luxuries in life but it is worth it. To see my boys get to wake up past 5:30 am, to make them breakfast lunch and dinner, to see them smile and play with each other is all worth it. I know that there are good days and bad days and that it is not always easy. I know that there are days when everyone wishes they could go to work or get away, but I have been on the other side and it is not easier or better.

I know this is what I was meant to be, a full time Mom. I truly believe that being a stay at home mom is the hardest yet the most rewarding job in the world. I am working daily on finding deals, cheap or free fun for the boys, and anyway to save a buck. Tune in for some great crafts, projects and fun things to do with your kids...

For reviews and giveaways for this event click here.

Welcome March Madness Blog Hoppers

 

Hello March Madness Blog Hoppers! I hope you enjoy our blog and enter our March Madness Giveaway.

We are also hosting during this time another great event hosted on this blog with the theme "Moms Leaving the Workforce". We encourage you to enter those giveaways as well!

Happy Hopping and be sure to visit all the blogs on the hop list for a chance to win some awesome prizes!

GIVEAWAY

For this blog in the hop, The Coupon Queen Bee you have the chance to enter to win 3 NEW Kids DVDs.

The DVDs are:

VeggieTales SweetPea Beauty

Angelina Ballerina Love to Dance

Rock and Learn Phonics Vol 1

To Enter this Giveaway:

Mandatory Entry you MUST be a follower of this blog on GFC (top right corner)

 *Leave a comment letting me know if you are a new or current follower and your email address*

For extra entries after mandatory entry leave a comment for each: 

Follow this blog on Twitter +1

Be a Facebook Fan of this blog +1

Enter the Dance First. Think Later. Book Giveaway on this blog +2

Happy Blog Hopping and have a great day!

*Limited to US residents; 18 years old and above. Giveaway starts March 15 , 2011 and ends on March 20, 2011 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 am providing this DVDs as a prize at my own expense.'

1.	Retail Therapy!
2.	Free Stuff, Fun Sites, Contests, and More
3.	Crunchy Green Mom
4.	A Southerner, a Yankee and a Mixed Breed (or Two!)
5.	Mommies Point of View
6.	Oh My Heartsie
7.	FunFritzFamily
8.	Give it to me Tara!
9.	Three Boys & an Old Lady
10.	Snack Bar Reviews
11.	Kostiuk Crew
12.	Debbie Denny
13.	Ourfamilyworld
14.	RuReady4freebies
15.	WingsToFly
16.	Dirty Truth Reviews
17.	My journey as a iPhone Mom Developer
18.	Sharon davis
19.	ABCD Diaries
20.	More 4 Mom\'s Buck
21.	You Wanna Know What I Think?...
22.	Tupelo Deals
23.	Tales From the Nursery
24.	Home Grown Families
25.	The Coupon Queen Bee
26.	This Lil Piglet
27.	Mama to 4 Blessings
28.	Dnbuster\'s Place
29.	Maxwell\'s Mommy
30.	Adventures in Abbyland
31.	Free & Frugal Mommy of ONe
32.	Dutch Girls Favorite Things
33.	Mom in Training
34.	Have Kids Will Coupon
35.	Tawna\'s weight loss journey
36.	Tidbits From A Mom
37.	Your World: Heathy and Natural
38.	OurKidsMom
39.	Unus Sed Leona
40.	SusieQTpies Scraps of Life
41.	Makobi Scribe
42.	Hot Mom Tips
43.	Juiciest Deals
44.	Kelly\'s Lucky You
45.	Gustosa Giveaways
46.	CALLA Cosmetics
47.	Married to a Geek
48.	The Centsational Saver
49.	Dawn\'s Daily Diggs
50.	Urmarkgirl
51.	Heavenly Savings
52.	Pot of Gold Giveaways
53.	sophie and momma
54.	Giveaway Blogdom
55.	Howard House Reviews and Giveaways
56.	Have Kids Will Coupon
57.	Shining2Save
58.	icefairy\'s Treasure Chest
59.	Curious Cora
60.	Mom Always Finds Out
61.	I Heart Maternity
62.	Mommys Online Garage Sale
63.	The Frugal Military Wife
64.	Be Your Best Mom
65.	Simply Shop and Save
66.	Diary of a Stay at Home Mom
67.	Twinpossible
68.	Simply Stacie
69.	Becca\'s Perspective
70.	Ninth Street Notions
71.	Jewelry4Change
72.	Miracle Momas
73.	Making Time For Mommy
74.	Airplanes & Dragonflies
75.	Coupons Make Cents Now

Smiley Cookies Review

Smiley Cookie send us a package of smiley cookies to enjoy and we did!! They came in the cutest package, a sturdy box with happy faces all over, I already have ideas to reuse the packaging for sure. Smiley Cookies are baked, iced by hand and shipped to you you the very same day you order them. You definitely can taste the freshness in these babies. Yum! We looked up the website to see what else they offered, maybe for another occasion and they had lots of options. They have the original smiley face, heart smiley, baby smileys, flower smileys, and occasion smileys like a shamrock for St. Patty's Day or a Bunny for Easter. There are a few other options and you can even create your own smiley on there web site! I think this would be a great Get Well gift or a fun Birthday gift for sure. The whole idea of ordering these cookies makes this kid smile!!



If you would like to be a fan of Smiley Cookies and keep up to date on sales and coupons you can follow them on facebook or twitter.