Wordless Wednesday - Halloween

 

Happy Halloween everybody!

Can you guess which princess my little princess is for Halloween?

 

 

 

Oh the amazing things my toddler can say…

Need I say more??

Obviously I must because my family refuses to listen to me that this child can say ANY and I mean ANY word that we can. She may not know what it means, but she can say it. Thank god most of the stuff she repeats is funny and harmless. The other day riding in the car from school my 13 y.o. got irritated with Hailey and looked at her and said “seriously.” Hailey looked right back at him and clear as a bell said, “Seriously”. Needless to say we were rollin’ over that! I did, however, use it as yet another reminder to the kids that this child’s vocabulary is rapidly increasing and I’d like it to NOT include some choice words.

 

Mommy obviously needs to remember this as well…because ya’ll know that if I just happen to let something leak out of my mouth in front of her she will repeat it and I will NEVER hear the end of it! A couple weeks ago just Hailey and I were in the car and some guy cut me off. Thankfully the only thing that came out of my mouth was “DUDE.” LOL…she loves that word now…it now shows up on a regular basis. I don’t know about ya’ll but when involved in a near miss with or without children in the car I have been known to let much more explicit language out of my mouth.

 

What pearls of wisdom have your little ones gleaned from you lately?

Showin' some mommy support

Ok, so technically today is supposed to be a PIN IT Monday post and I didn’t do one last week either. YES, you can call me a slacker if you will, but I had important bid-ness going on….ok, not really…I was being a slacker! This week though I’m giving up my pin post for a good cause!

I wanted to let all my loyal and awesome followers know about a new link up that is starting tomorrow (as in Tuesday). Megan at Memoirs of Megan and Heather at Cookies for Breakfast have started the Mommy Confessions link party.  This is for all of us less-than-perfect mommies to commiserate and laugh at each other’s antics.

I would love if you guys could show them some bloggy love by linking up some mommy stories to give them a great start to an awesome new hop!

 

Wordless Wednesday

YES, she has all her Halloween garb on AND a bunch of Halloween stickers EVERYWHERE. I've created a lil sticker monster.

Just in time for Christmas shopping GIVEAWAY

 







I am so excited to be a part of
 "A Crafter’s Dream Christmas Giveaway"!
#ACraftersDream

 

 

Hosted by My Merry Messy Life, Earning-My-Cape and Tutus & Tea Parties. The awesome part is it has a Christmas, crafting, and supporting small business theme! Each blogger is offering their own giveaway worth $25 or more.

We've all joined together to bring you this spectacular event.

Christmas is just around the corner, and the time to start crafting our gifts for friends and family is now...and what a way to get you started on that!

For those of you who don't have the time to make gifts , I have included an additional option! The giveaway will also include a hand-made gift. You can keep it as a little gift for yourself or give it to someone special.

 

On to the prizes that I'm offering:

 

A $25 gift card to Target

 

 and a beautiful hand-made rag wreath worth $40.

 

Hostedby Chasing Hailey

Giveaway ends November 5th at 12:01 am, open to US and Canadian Residents, ages 18+. To enter please use the Rafflecopter form below. Good luck!

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

 

 

 

Wordless Wednesday

source: Pinterest

I roll every time I see this. The face is priceless. Hailey actually rode this same ride a couple months age and was totally unfazed. My little daredevil...

Memoirs of Megan has a Blog Angel…and it’s ME

 

I don’t know about ya’ll, but taking part in these little interactive get-togethers is AWESOME! My latest and greatest adventure has been The Blog Angels in conjunction with Rosie @ Craftbotic.

Over the last two weeks I’ve been showing some bloggy love to Megan @ Memoirs of Megan (what I call love, ya’ll might call stalking…but it’s all in the name of bein’ an angel…a BLOG Angel that is!). I’m sure she thought…who the heck is this anonymous crazy person emailing and posting on my blog??

She’s got the cutest blog and writes about all kinds of good stuff! Everyone should go check it out and give her some more love. You can visit her here!!!!!

 

In the SPIRIT of Halloween

NO, not that kind! LOL, but it does sound good right about now. Any-who, I love this time of year and one of my favorite Halloween activities, is Boo-ing. You’ve probably noticed the signs around your neighborhood or even at work. If you haven't been boo'ed before… this is actually a boo you want

In different areas of the country it can sometimes be referred to as “ghosting” or “the phantom” it’s all the same. It’s similar to Secret Santa at Christmas and just as much fun.

source: http://free-border-clipart.blogspot.com/

To start a Halloween BOO, one person secretly leaves a small treat, a BOO poem, BOO instructions and a BOO sign at a neighbor's doorstep.

That lucky individual is then asked to post the sign near the door, letting others know that they’ve been BOO-ed!" That way, new BOO recruits won't leave a duplicate BOO on a doorstep. They are then supposed to do the same to two other people….this starts a whole lotta Halloween fun with the chain reaction!

Once it starts…there’s no stopping it, but who’d want to?

So we get to my GRAND idea….a boo for bloggers!!! I’m not quite sure how to leave a treat for each, but at least we can show some bloggy love…Let’s see how many we can get to go around the blogosphere…

Instructions:

source: http://free-border-clipart.blogspot.com/

1)     Place the “I’ve been boo’ed” button somewhere on your blog where everyone can see it!

2)    Choose two bloggy friends as your boo-eees and send them the button and boo-note (or a link to them).

*If anyone needs boo supplies you can go here-à Boo Central (it's a BOO page on my blog)

3)    Sit back and enjoy the boo-ing activities.

If you guys can think of any other ways that we can make this even more fun….let me know!

Planning Stages

 

Ok, so I’m in the planning stages of redoing our downstairs bathroom. Of course It can’t be easy. That bathroom’s décor is tied into the kitchen and the family room! Sooooo….I’m trying to coordinate all these when I still have work to do on the kitchen. Yikes! (Did that tire ya out just from reading it….try doing it)

 

I've been thinking that I’m going to go room by room to finish up all the little bits that we have left to do in each room. Those of you that haven’t heard this…we got this house a couple years ago (ok, like 5) and have been slowly redoing the whole thing (aka pretty much gutting it). Needless to say life has got in the way a bit in the last couple years and progress has slowed to a trickle.

 

Anyways, I digress! Last week I got the opportunity to get free paint from Benjamin Moore Paints. This is one the benefits from being a part of the Buzz Agent program. For this particular campaign I needed to pick a room to paint…and who paints without redecorating? Not ME!!

 Here are some pics of the bathroom before I’ve commenced to tearing it apart again to redo it! Notice I said again. Trust me, ya’ll did NOT want to see it before we worked on it the first time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A pleasant surprise on a cool Wednesday morn

Holy mother of you know who….I made it into the top 100 (#98 to be exact) on Picket Fence. I don’t know how that happened and so quickly, but thank you to each and every one of you who have voted for me!!! Woot, woot!

I just thought I‘d get on and check it out…I hadn’t been on there in a week or so. To tell ya the truth it was a very pleasant surprise. If anyone feels the urge to want to help me out a little, the button is right there on the RIGHT. Trust me; it wouldn’t hurt my feelings…AT ALL!! J

I know, I know its Wednesday…you guys aren’t used to me blathering on today. I just had to put a blurb in about it. Hope everyone is having a great day!

Wordless Wednesday

Can you tell we're excited it's October...

Pin it Monday - DIY Air Freshener

Ok, so a couple weeks ago I did my post on the Lavender spray (you can find it HERE) and told ya’ll that if you bought the lavender essential oil that I would have another use for it coming up….well, here it is!

DIY Air Fresheners, YES, that’s what I said. I guess people are starting to catch on to this cause I am now seeing multiple people post about it on Pinterest. As most of you know, air fresheners can be ex-pen-sive and recently it came out that many contain VOC’s.

What are VOC’s you ask? Here is a description from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA):

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are emitted as gases from certain solids or liquids. VOCs include a variety of chemicals, some of which may have short- and long-term adverse health effects. Concentrations of many VOCs are consistently higher indoors (up to ten times higher) than outdoors. VOCs are emitted by a wide array of products numbering in the thousands. Examples include: paints and lacquers, paint strippers, cleaning supplies, pesticides, building materials and furnishings, office equipment such as copiers and printers, correction fluids and carbonless copy paper, graphics and craft materials including glues and adhesives, permanent markers, and photographic solutions. (source: http://www.epa.gov/iaq/voc.html)

Anywho…the gist is that the more items you have in your house containing VOC’s the worse off you are! It’s not totally known what all they can cause, but I’d rather limit my family’s exposure as much as possible.

When I first heard about this problem I was UP---SET. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want my house to smell like I have 2 dogs and 5 kids….even though we do!

Over the last couple of weeks I have been trying the refilling my air fresheners and have been able to do it with every brand that I have. This includes: AirWick, Glade and Bath and Body Works. This is the original pin that I got the idea from.

Supplies needed:

-used scented oil air freshener plug-in and container
-water
-Essential oil (I used lavender)

 Steps to refill air freshener:

1)    Pry off the plastic top that contains the wick (don’t remove the wick)

2)   pour in the essential oil (depending on how strong you want the smell, I usually fill it about ¼ of the way)

3)   add water (leave enough space at top to allow for the top)

4)   replace plastic top and plug it in!

YES, it is really that easy!

 

 

A Crafter's Dream Christmas Giveaway

Hey guys, This is a super awesome opportunity for anyone who wants to join this giveaway or simply enter. I know I'm going to do BOTH!!!
Anissa

I'm so excited to bring you, along with My Merry Messy Life, Earning-My-Cape, and Tutus & Tea Parties, A Crafter's Dream Christmas Giveaway! 

 

This is a group giveaway opportunity with a Christmas, crafting, and supporting small business theme! Each blogger is offering her/his own giveaway worth $25 or more. It will run from October 21, 2012 to November 4, 2012 and bloggers, as well as shop owners, are welcome to sign up to join in the celebration. Bloggers who are not crafters and shop owners who are not bloggers can still join the giveaway by pairing up together! If you need help finding a shop or blogger to link up with, we will do our best to help.  

  <a border="0" href="http://earning-my-cape.blogspot.com/2012/09/acraftersdream-christmas-giveaway.html"target="_blank" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1251.photobucket.com/albums/hh547/EarningMyCape/a-crafters-dream-christmas-giveaway.png"/></a>

About our theme:

Christmas is just around the corner, and the time to start crafting our gifts for friends and family is now! Some of the blogs in the giveaway group will be giving away some awesome crafting supplies! 

Sometimes we want to give a handmade gift, but just don't have the time or know-how to make them ourselves. This is a great opportunity to support small businesses and shops who offer handmade items! Some of the blogs in our giveaway group will be highlighting such small businesses and offering giveaway items for them, as well. Even if you don't win the giveaway, we hope that you will keep these small businesses in mind when shopping for that perfect gift for your special someone.

Here is how it will work:

Bloggers:

• Each blogger will run their own unique giveaway, worth at least $25 or more, on their own site using Rafflecopter as the entry form. Please set your Rafflecopter to start at 12:01am October 21, 2012 and end at 12:01am November 5, 2012. You have total control over what you would like to give away (as long as it ties in with our Christmas/craft/small business theme) and to whom (country). 
• Please announce that you have joined on Twitter using this hashtag - #ACraftersDream,  and/or make the announcement on your Facebook Page.
• Facebook Group - (this is optional) find our group, A Crafter's Dream Giveaway Group, on Facebook and request to join (you must be using Facebook as your actual name and not through your blog page for it to work)
• Please write a post announcing you have joined the giveaway, and include the html from the form that you will fill out.
• Grab the giveaway button and put it in a prominent place to promote it on your site! The more bloggers who sign up, the more entries we ALL get!
• Please fill out this form to get started.

Shop Owners:

• You can team up with a blogger on your own, or we can help match you with a blog to sponsor with a giveaway item worth $25 or more, from your shop.
• Please announce that you have joined on Twitter using this hashtag - #ACraftersDream, and/or make the announcement on your Facebook Page.
• Facebook Group - (this is optional) find our group, A Crafter's Dream Giveaway Group, on Facebook and request to join (you must be using Facebook as your actual name and not through your blog page for it to work)
• Please fill out this form if you would like help being paired up with a blog.

Bloggers, please enter your blog link below.

Blog Hop till you DROP

<a target="_blank" href="http://1epicmom.com"><img alt="Weekend Blog Hop" src="http://i1099.photobucket.com/albums/g385/EpicMom/Bloghoptillyoudrop-1.jpg" /></a> Hey party people of the blogosphere, welcome to the Weekend Blog Hop till You Drop! I am asking all my bloggy friends for a huge favor. I was nominated by one of you wonderfully sweet people for the Circle of Moms Top 25 Canadian blogger moms contest. Could you please take a couple minutes and help me out by clicking on the button below, scroll down to my listing and vote for me. Thanks a bunch! :)
Blog Hop Rules: This is a low key Fun Linky hop to find other blogs we can follow! 1. Follow the hostess, Epic Mom a.k.a Char from The Epic Adventures of a Modern Mom, and show some linky luv to our epic guest host Anissa from Chasing Hailey. Be sure to leave a comment so that we can follow you back. 2. Link up your blog so we can all check it out. 3. Please feel free to add any family friendly blog post, Google +, Twitter and Facebook, RSS Feed, You Tube Channel, Pintrest etc. for everyone to follow. This a fun way to get new followers, so go ahead and add the social media channels that you would like us to follow you on, just specify which one it is! 4. Check out some other blogs and if you find some blogs you love, become a follower and leave them an epic comment. 5. I'd love for you to grab my button and spread the word about this hop! Thanks in advance, xoxoxo If you are interested in being a guest host, please feel free to contact me at epicmomblog@gmail.com! Now come on y'all, let's party like it's 2012! And have an awesome weekend as you Blog Hop Till You Drop!

Wordless Wednesday

Source: Pinterest

Gotta love these....

Secret Garden Playhouse Giveaway

 

Hey guys, I have a great opportunity for everyone to get a chance to enter for this Little Tikes Secret Garden Playhouse....don't miss out! It starts tonight at 8pm. Anissa

 The Little Tikes Secret Garden Playhouse is creatively charming and will provide fun for hours for both boys and girls. This adorable playhouse can be kept indoors or outdoors. Well-designed and every side offers a different dimension of fun at every turn. The built-in table with stool within the Secret Garden playhouse allows the kids to pretend play as servers of cakes, buns, and other eatables. A child pretending to be a customer can sit on the outside stool and make the purchase. A canopy over the table offers shade and another built in table for the pretend play customers. The re is even a battery-operated doorbell on the side to alert the server.

The Little Tikes Secret Garden Playhouse features a working "dutch" door for easy entry for servers and crawl-through garden gate provides added fun. There is even a play sink with faucet for cleanup time. With all these features, the Secret Garden playhouse not only offers lots of fun to the kids, but also sparks their imagination and helps develop interactive skills while learning good manners.
Little Tikes Secret Garden Playhouse Features:

• Built-in table with stool
• Awning over the table for shade
• Working "dutch" door and doorbell
• Crawl-through garden gate
• Built-in role play features
• Play sink with faucet
• Assembly required
• Dimensions: 36"L x 84"W x 65"H

One lucky reader will receive the Little Tikes Secret Garden Playhouse!

Hosted by Mom to Bed by 8 and Mom At 40

Giveaway ends October 22nd at 11:59pm, open US and Canadian Residents, ages 18+. To enter please use the Rafflecopter form below. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Pin it Monday - Battle of the cleaners

My mission in life here lately has been to find the best cleaners at the best possible prices. Of course, I couldn’t stop myself from trying out what Pinterest had to offer.  

Over the last couple weeks I’ve tried out several different ones that tout that they are the best at cleaning showers. I HATE cleaning showers and honestly it’s not the first thing that comes to my mind (unless I’m in it, but by that time I’m not gonna jump out to get something to clean it with).

The spray bottle in the background is my lavender sanitizing spray...love it!

On to the contestants:

The first one I tried (I’ll call it recipe A) was a recipe that you mixed up and put in a spray bottle.

Ingredients:

1C water

1C vinegar

2T castile soap

10 drops essential oil (I used lemon)

 

The cleaning process was to spray the shower down after each time it was used. I used this recipe for several weeks and saw no noticeable differences from using it versus not using anything at all. In my opinion it was a complete waste of time.

However, the second recipe (I’ll call this one recipe B) was brief and to the point….more importantly, it works! This one called for equal parts blue Dawn liquid dish detergent and vinegar that you mix up into a handheld dish scrubber. The first time I used it, I made sure to do a thourough cleaning and rinsed it well.

I now keep it in the shower and use it every time I take a shower. I can already see and feel a difference. I will definitely be sticking with this one!