Scentsy!!!

I always say that I'm the most unlucky person ever but . . .well .. recently I won the giveaway hosted by Jen over at Craftomaniac.  What did I win??? A $25.00 gift certificate for Scensty Products from
Jennifer Moffat.  I've heard about this product for several years but, as of yet, haven't been to a party or even tried anything out.  One of the bonus' of this product is that there is no flame - it is a flameless candle.  People that have talked about Scentsy always talk about the smell and how fantastic they all smell.  Well I picked up the following flavors:

I've already used "Sharp Dressed Man" and it smells exactly like that - I have it in my bathroom and it is perfect.  It reminds me of . . .my husband!  It isn't too woodsy or anything like that but smells clean.  In my kitchen I have Hazelnut Latte - and it is incredible.  I love that smell!  I haven't tried Coconut Lemongrass as of yet but I'm sure it is going to be just as good!!

I picked up to different Scentsy units.  First, I picked up the full size unit which I have in the bathroom. 

I only had the online catalog to look at and I was very happy when I opened the box and found this item to be even prettier than it looked online.  They are easy to "assemble" and easy to use.  It is probably bigger than what I need for the bathroom but it was part of a really good deal :-) 

I also picked up a "plug-in" warmer as well.

This little cute thing is plugged into an outlet in my kitchen.  It is THE perfect item for the kitchen without a doubt.  I love that I can switch out the flavor so easily and it lasts as long, if not longer, than those little packets you slide into the store bought plug-ins.  The only thing I would say is that you want to place this somewhere where little fingers (or big knees) won't hit it since it has the melted wax on top. 

I'm extremely happy with this product though and I will be putting a small amount in the budget to be able to pick up some more melts to use. 

If you like what you see, make sure and check out Jennifer's website!  She was wonderful to work with and I got my product less than one week after I placed my order so all around customer service is awesome!

Our Favorite Toys - a biased Review

I normally post about our Mommy School time on Thursdays but . . we haven't done a whole lot lately.  My printer is dying so I can't anything that needs to be "nice" and we've played outside some instead.  So, instead, I thought I would share a few of our favorite toys. 

1) Leapfrog Learn and Groove Musical Table - this was a toy that Josh received his first Christmas and it STILL gets use daily by both boys. The legs come off so even the tummy babies can enjoy it on the floor.  Once they are able to stand, it is great for the little ones to stand next to and play.  Each side has different sound effects making it very entertaining for all ages.  This toy is going on 2 full years of playtime with more in the future; it is a toy I would recommend anyone getting!  The little munchkin I babysit also LOVES this so I know it is a pretty universal toy :-)

2. Playskool Busy Basics Step Start Walk 'n Ride - This is a toy that we received as a shower gift and it has been another huge hit.  Josh didn't crawl until almost 10 months but, he would sit on this little car and ride it all over the place.  I had put it away once he was walking alot but took it back out for Nate.  Amazingly, Josh got right back on it and it is still one of his favorite toys.  Both boys love it and I can see it being a toy that is used for quite awhile longer.  I will say that we never used it as a "walker" - it seemed a little unstable and Josh kept tripping on it.  As a car, it is fantastic!



3) VTech Musical Bubbles Octopus - If you are looking for a bath toy - this is it!  It suctions to the bathroom wall and takes ordinary bubbles.  Turn the thing on and the bathtub fills with bubbles while the music plays.  Both of the boys love this thing!  One word of advice - make sure you put good batteries in it or the motor doesn't move enough to make bubbles.  (We thought it wasn't working well and THAN put new batteries in it - the bubbles came out in the zillions :-) )

4. B. Parum Pum Pum Drum - Yes, we love music.  This drum is fantastic and it comes with such adorable noise makers.  I love that the drum has a neck strap so the kids can carry it and play it at the same time.  There are enough instruments that the whole family can play together.

5. B. Meawsic Keyboard - Again, music is big in our home and this keyboard is just fun.  We got it for Josh to replace one I had picked up at a garage sale that had quit working.  This was the closest thing I could find and both boys absolutely love playing with it.  The little microphone is fun too :-)

6. The Sesame Street Letter Bus - This is a weird one to put on here because, really, this toy drove me nuts at first!!  BUT the reason I'm listing this here is because it will help teach your kids their letters and, well, it really is fun!

Do your kids have favorite toys?  I'm sure they do!  I could also list things like Thomas the Train, Matchbox cars, and car in general but . . .those are just normal :-)  . . .well, at least in this house full of boys!

Please note - these are my personal preferences; that's it.  No one is paying me to do this!! :-)



Weekly Devotional - The Power of a Postive Mom

This is the second week in this book study that I'm following over at The Homeschool Village.

This week, the chapters dealt with the first principle - The Power of Encouragement.

The Positive Power of a good word was discussed first. An important point brought out is how much words of encouragement impact our children.  Not just the normal "you did a good job" - but specific words.  For example, if you child plays football, encourage them by saying "I really liked the way you played defense.  You were able to make so many great plays and help your team win."  See the difference?  It isn't the generic words but something that shows you actually paid attention.  Make sure you are prepared (yes, plan ahead) with some good accolades to give your children - write some down to help you get used to handing out these great thoughts.  Once you see how the children respond to these words, you'll want to hand them out even more.

Secondly, help your children discover their potential.  We all want our children to succeed, plain and simple.  So what can we do in order to help them?  We need to study our children; learn their personalities, their likes/dislikes and their strengths and weaknesses.  How can you do this?  A few "easy" steps - 1) See their potential -watch your children and not the qualities, aptitudes, and interests that you see God developing in your children; pray over those items; talk to your children about those things too.  Just be careful that your kids don't feel trapped by your wishes/desires but are really seeking what God has for them.   2) Offer Opportunities for Growth - let them try their hand at a variety of items but be careful not to get overloaded on classes and sports commitments.  Instead, let them try things at home first and see where their strengths are than go from there. 3) Set Realistic Goals - Depending on the age of your children, sit down with them and help them set some goals to reach - make sure those goals are measurable. 4) Support their endeavors - make sure you are there not only when they win but also when they lose; comfort them and reassure them that you still love them whether they do something perfectly or really mess up.

Third, is Bringing Sonshine to Others. A mothers smile means a million different things and always brings encouragement and support.  I see it already in my kids - my oldest, who is 2, will be playing quietly on the couch but, I can catch his eye and give him a smile and he just grins from ear to ear because he knows I see him; I recognize that he is having fun.  Don't wait for the "feeling" - give out smiles freely.  A smile can change the whole mood - both for yourself and for those around you. 

I'm really enjoying this study so far - it has some great reminders as well and some new concepts.  One thing that keeps coming up for me in ever chapter is that you have to do things on purpose - they aren't going to "just happen".  From that encouraging word to that smile - isn't it easier to NOT do those things than to do them?  I've looked for ways just this week to specifically praise my boys in every day things and, I LOVE their smiles so the more I can smile at them, the better :-)

What I'm Loving Wednesday

I'm Loving  . . . .that I finished scrapbooking 2008 this past weekend.  I love that it is done to completion and we can now enjoy the pictures!

I'm Loving . . . how I re-arranged my living room slightly.  Made a better toy corner, kept the couch so the boys can still look out the window and made an grown-up corner too :-)

I'm Loving . . .the recent beautiful weather!  The 80 degree day on Sunday was a nice peak at summer (but I'm kinda glad spring is back for a little while longer!)

I'm Loving . . . that I have more flowers popping up.  I also have more bulbs to plant and some raspberry bushes to go in but . . .I live in Michigan and must be patient LOL

I'm loving  . . .  that my husband pulled out the ugliest bushes in the world this past weekend.

I'm loving  . . .that we got in our first trip to the Lake on Sunday - I love Lake Michigan :-)

What are YOU loving this week? 

PS - Don't forget to check out the giveaway located on my giveaway tab on the top of the blog - it ends soon!

Too Cute Not To "Toot"!!

Starting us off this week is a really easy Easter decor idea from J and J Home.  It is super easy and quite "cheep" too!

In case I haven't given you enough great ideas to use with your kids, here is another one coming from Mydeliciousambiguity using Easter eggs for all kinds of great ideas.  Many of these are a little old for my kids but they would be great for an elementary classroom

This is a fantastic learning idea from Inspiration Surrounds, Creativity Abounds using bubble wrap for flashcards.  Kids love to touch things and what better than good old bubble wrap to get them jumping for joy!

Musings of Me always provides such adorable ideas - here is a great spring craft to do with the kiddo's!

Keeping it Simple shares an adorable Easter craft/decor idea using  a 2x4 - these little critters made me smile when I saw them :-)

As always, I know there are tons more ideas out there but, this week, I ran out of time to search!  Been running like crazy it seems - lots of fun things - but keeping super busy just the same!  Hope you are all having a great week!

Happenings In This House

**Make sure and click on the "Giveaway" page tab at the top of the blog to view my current giveawy**



The past couple of weeks my Saturdays and Sundays have been super busy so I missed one of our happenings posts and didn't want to miss today.  Here are few pictures of what we have been up to over the last few weeks.

Nate loves sitting inside baskets - he likes to go "in" and "out"

The boys - playing on the bed.

Nate - in the basekt again.

In getting ready to (hopefully) paint the house, my Gardener pulled out the ugliest bushes in the universe.  :-)

Darryl had an Alive concert today.  It was great to hear the group - I don't get to attend a lot of concerts right now with the two little boys. 

And, Darryl took me to the beach!  I love Lake Michigan - since we were in Holland, we went out to the park and enjoyed the view for a little bit.

Some other things in our week - I was able to do tons of spring cleaning (isn't that thrilling) because my  parents took our boys Thursday-Sunday.  I asked myself,  "What can't you do easily when the boys are here" - so out came the steam cleaner for the carpets and I went to work.  The living room carpet was cleaned, my comforter was washed, bedrooms rearranged, and toys cleaned out and re-organized.  I also got to spend 11 (yes, that is right) hours scrapbooking between Friday and Saturday. AND I totally finished my 2008 albums.  The reason that is such a big deal is that 2009 is also done but is all done digitally - I just need to adhere the prints to the pages that I have printed and finish printing the other pages.  To add to that 2010 is done through March, I believe so I'm getting closer to being current.  Another HUGE thing in our week is that my husband got a job.  He was laid off at the beginning of December and just finished up his CDL class two weeks ago.  He applied for a job driving truck at a "local" company, was called a few days later, had an interview this past Wednesday via phone, an in-person interview on Thursday morning at 9:00 and was offered the job at noon.  Crazy, huh?  He will sign the official papers on Tuesday so I'll share all of the details about the job after that only because until he signs the papers, nothing is official! 

Finally - my parents sent us some pictures from when the boys were with them and I wanted to share these as well - they are too cute!

I wonder who wore the other one out? LOL

Hope you all had a wonderful week!!

Creative Memories Spotlight - A Giveaway!

Every week I try to share with you some of my favorite products or the products currently on sale.  Yet, what better way to let you experience the great product than to give it away!!  So this week - instead of telling you about some product - you get to WIN one ! YEAH! 

The giveaway is for the 8x8 Family Max Kit.  This includes a 8x8 green picfolio album.  The album has blue stitching and tan pages that have an opening large enough to fit a sheet of 8x8 paper (it just slips right in!).  Also included in this lovely kit:

This includes 24 decorative, layered pages 2 sheets of title stickers 3 sheets of die cuts with ready-to-stick foam tabs that add dimension.  It coordinates perfectly to the album and enables you to throw together an album quickly. 

I enjoy using this type of album setup for theme albums - Pets, Birthdays, Christmas and more!

So how do you win?  I want to keep it very simple because I kinda don't like it when there are 45 different ways to enter a blog giveaway!

You can get a total of 4 entries

1.  Leave me a comment and tell me what you would use this album for if you won.

2. Write a blog post about this giveaway, come back here and leave me a comment with a link so I can read about myself :-) hehehe

3.  For TWO entries - place an order!  Just head on over to my Website, pick out your favorite products and place any size order.  I will get a notification that you ordered and put that total towards the Memory Keeper Club.  Just leave me a comment that you ordered also in order to get your 2 extra entries!!

Enjoy :-)

So how great is that?

This giveaway begins today, 4/10/11 and will end at midnight on Friday, April 15th.  I'll announce the winner on Saturday during my normal Creative Memories Spotlight. 

This giveaway is open to the US only.