One Step at a Time: Hugo the Happy Starfish (review)

One Step at a Time: Hugo the Happy Starfish (review)

 

 

 

 

Hugo the Happy Starfish is a great read for children. Every book has a story that teaches something new.  One Step at a Time is no different. In this story, Suzy Leibermann teaches kids that if they take a long journey one little bit at a time, it makes it manageable.

This book has 28 wonderful illustrations welcoming you into this underwater world. This book is a great read aloud book for preschoolers and young children or even a self-read book for older children. I highly recommend for everyone who has children to buy Hugo the Happy Starfish.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Upcoming walks...Asking for donations!!!

Hey all! me and my husband and our neighbor and his wife are walking for special causes! Our neighbor and his wife are walking for the 2013 Walk to End Alzheimers. I wish I had known about this walk sooner. My own Grandfather had alzheimers and it would be awesome if they could find a cure for it! If you would like to donate the link is below:

https://act.alz.org/site/Donation2?idb=1287806223&df_id=16131&FR_ID=3601&PROXY_ID=8505113&PROXY_TYPE=20&16131.donation=form1&JServSessionIdr004=1k9h9ie633.app206a&s_subsrc=bfstream&s_src=boundlessfundraising

 

Also, my huband and I are walking in the Making Strides for Breast Cancer Walk. I know people that have been affected by breast cancer. If you would like to donate the link is below:
https://secure.acsevents.org/site/Donation2?idb=698389763&df_id=1011209&FR_ID=55808&PROXY_ID=34792165&PROXY_TYPE=20&1011209.donation=form1

We all have lost loved ones in this life due to serious illnesses. Raising money for those causes so research and a cure can be found is the best way we can help. So what are you waiting for? Get involved! Donate! The smallest amount is better than nothing at all! Be proactive and spread the word. Thanks, Kelli

 

 

 

 

Rayne Hall's Thirty Scary Tales Book Review

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m not big into horror movies or anything scary but Thirty Scary Tales is a wonderful book of short stories for all to read. This is a collection of 30 short stories, all of which have something  about them that make you well, frightened.  After each story, the author Rayne Hall, gives a brief note about how the inspiration for the story, which adds more eeriness to each story. This would be an excellent choice for young readers, it’s pg rated in my opinion.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Review: Princess Sophia and the Frog

Princess Sophia and the Frog

 

 

 

 

 

Princess Sophia finds herself alone and wishing she could fly to the moon as she sits in her beautiful castle.  Even though Princess Sophia has a lot of material things, she’s not  happy.

One day a frog visits Princess Sophia and says he will help her go to the moon.  As they fly high up in the air they land on different planets.  The frog helps Princess Sophia discover her feelings and he shows her that how she feels is how she acts towards others.

  When Princess Sophia goes back to her castle she has learned that she can be happy anytime and that really all she needs is good friends to make her happy.

  This book teaches children that we can be happy wherever we are.  It also shows them that good friends are also important.

As a mom of two and a daycare provider, I have already read this book to the kids and plan on reading it a lot more! I highly recommend any parent with young children to buy this book!

 

 

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

PowerMyLearning.org is a free, online educational site for students grades K-12.

There are eight main topics on PowerMyLearning.org which include: Math, Language Arts & Music, Technology, World Languages and Your Life. There are many subtopics under the main topics to choose from.

 

Getting set up is really simple, once you are on PowerMyLearning.org click on the SignUp link at the top of the page, enter your email address, then create a username and password. After signing up, your child is able to explore PowerMyLearning.org.

 

My 4 year old son’s favorite game is The Quiet Machine. It is a beginning sounds game. It shows a letter and then three pictures and the child has to pick the picture that begins with that letter. If the child chooses the right picture, the picture goes into the quiet machine. After a few times of choosing the correct picture, the quiet machine gets loud! My son laughs his head off when it does.

 

As a mother of two children and a daycare provider I am always looking for new fun things to implement in my curriculum. My favorite thing about PowerMyLearning.org is that I can easily access learning games for my school age daycare children. I plan on using PowerMyLearning.org at least once a week when we have computer time at my daycare.

 

 

Disclosure: This is a sponsored review, I was invited to try this product in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts, opinions and expressions above are my own.

Take Time for Life

Take Time for Life

 

 

             I named the title if this post "Take Time for Life," but what is life? According to the dictionary, life is the quality that distinguishes a vital and functional being from a dead body.  For some, the definition may be going through the daily routine of the things, not really stopping to, "smell the flowers". They only have one pace and that's forward. Making life flash by them before they really realize it. As for my definitition of life, is my two boy's.

 

            I am guilty though of living my life and never stopping to "smell the flowers". Actually, this past year I have been guilty of this. I have a very busy days, my schedule is based around my daycare parent's schedule and my husband's school schedule. Needless to say, it's not hard to fall into the trap of believing that life is just pushing forward day after day.

 

            Last night it came to me, (and I have no clue why it took so long), that I haven't really made time to really enjoy my definition of life, my boy's. I have put everyone's schedule's and my work in front of them. I pushed my life aside. I was at a place where I was so caught up in worrying about schedules, house work, appointments, finances and bills. That unconsciously, I didn't even realize what I was doing. Now don't get me wrong, my boy's have always been my world. But being able to provide for them and my husband while he's in nursing school became my top priority.

         Before I go any further with the subject of life, I let you know a little information. I am what some may call over-protective or an over-bearing parent. Though in my eyes, I like to see it as looking after my children. My oldest just turned four and my youngest is getting ready to turn two. My oldest son had a speech delay and health issues that all got resolved last year. My youngest has a speech delay. We think it has to do with enlarged tonsils. Due to the fact that when my oldest got his taken out, he started speaking, and that my youngest has enlarged tonsils. Though the ENT we took him to won't consider taking them out yet. Now we are looking for second opinions.

 

       They could have had many other things wrong with them I am quite aware of that. And I thank my lucky stars that they didn't. But when your children don't speak, they can't take up for themselves. So as a mother, I was and am their voice. At family outings, I follow them around to make sure other kid's aren't being mean to them and to make sure they don't get hurt. Many children that don't talk are victims of bullying though because they cannot tell their parents what happened and they can't tell the "bully" to stop.

 

     My husband and I decided to send our oldest to preschool to give him something of his own. He has to share his house, mommy, daddy, little brother and his toys with a lot of other kids. So we thought getting him out of the house and letting him have something of his own was the right thing to do. My husband and I are both having second thoughts though. Homeschool has never been out of the question. With the all the violence, bullying and teacher's not really caring about their students, it has always been something we have considered. To me keeping them "sheltered" as some people call it would be well worth it just to know that they aren't going to be bullied, and learning about things from other children's home lives that we don't want them to know about until they are way older. Anyways, we decided to give it a shot, if he doesn't like it, or mommy gets that gut instinct that something's not quite right, we are pulling him out.

 

      Now that you kind of understand what kind of mom I am, we will get back to life. I have decided that no matter how busy my day is, to laugh. Not to let the  messes that my youngest son makes bother me. When he's running through the house with a plunger that has only been used to unclog a sink enjoy it. When he takes all the cushions off the furniture and throws them on the floor to jump on them because he is smart enough to know if he jumps on them on the couch, he will fall. Take time to really watch my oldest one play computer games. Really see the joy in their eyes and know what really puts that sparkle there. Really be there and not miss a moment, soak it all in.

 

       I have had this on my mind since I realized it last night. I felt compelled to write this so someone else out there needs this. It may be a simple thought but when your caught up with the day in day out routine, it's really hard to see. Take time to laugh, enjoy the messes, the late nights, the no nap days, and the days when all you really want to do is pull your hair out. Enjoy every minute. Kids will learn to live their lives like their parents. I know myself that I don't want my children to forget what's really important in life, which in my life is them.

 

            

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Somebody just recieved a new Saline Ambassador Box!

 

 

That person would be me! I am so excited to get this quarter started! This box has got to be the biggest box I have recieved from them! I also got new products this quarter to try out!

 The box included the following:

Boogie wipes-which I have discovered that you can use them in so many more ways than getting boogies out of little noses. Also, they smell great, but my favorite would have to be the fresh scent.

Boogs- Do you see that little green guy in the center of the picture? Yep, that's him! Boogs is going to be my special helper when talking to my daycare kids about the importance of washing your hands, covering your mouth when you cough etc. I anticipate he will be a big hit!

Kandoo body wash- I haven't bought my boy's any other body wash since trying this! It leaves their skin soft and fresh smelling.

Kandoo shampoo- Which i have not tried yet, but plan on it soon and will be posting a seprate review about.

Kandoo Hand Soap- This soap not only smells great but leaves your hands feeling soft and smooth! (gotta love vitamin E!)

Detangler- I have no little girl's so I have not tried this yet. I plan on trying it out on one of my daycare girl's and write a seperate review for it.

Puff's Fresh Faces-I have tried one of the four types, but all i'm going to say is....I love it! A review will be one here for this also.

For all of the products I havent tried yet, I will be posting reviews soon for them. But I have heard many great things about those products!

Head on over to www.boogiewipes.com, www.pamperskandoo.com, and www.puffsfreshfaces.com to check out more information on the products, sign up for a chance to win free product, get coupons and puchace products. Go on and get your Boogie On!

disclosure~All thoughts, expressions and opinions are my own.   

disclosure for giveaway:

NO PURCHASE IS NECESSARY.to be a part of this giveaway. This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook, pinterest, Boogie wipes, Kandoo OR Puffs Fresh faces.  

 

                               Now it's giveaway time!

       Want to win these products? Use rafflecopter below and get your entries in! Scroll on down and enter the give away! Good Luck!

Mario themed birthday party

My oldest son's birthday party decorations. All hand- made!  I must say with having a mario themed birthday party two years in a row, I'm starting to get good at this!

 

 

 

 

I drew-out and hand-painted, (everything except mario himself), my son his own special cup.

 I'm surprised this survived an entire year! This is a very large Piranha plant I used for a table decoration.

                             Yoshi Eggs, which I made simply using foam eggs and green paint.

The Piranha Plants party favors had to be my favorite! The kids had everything they needed in them to have mario powers!

Each cup included:
Red sixlets & red gumballs- for fire power
White sixlets & white gumballs- to freeze your enemies
Gold coins- to save up to get extra lives
Blue sixlets- to make yourself miniature
Bubbles- so you can pop your partner back into the game!
I must say I had a blast prepping for the party and the kids had a blast at the party!

 

One parent who brought her two girls to the party told me that her girl's went home and used the description of what each candy meant in the game to play mario! I thought that that was really awesome!  

 

And we cannot forget about the stars! (though you can't see them too well. Simple yellow card-stock, cut out in star shapes, punched holes for string to hang them and made the eyes! Simple!

 

 

                                      My birthday boy, play pin the moustache on mario.

 Now this was my big project! I worked in my spare time for a month on this! every little tiny detail, except for mario of course.

And his cake I had ordered but I simply decorated it by using a mario figurine and three star suckers!

Kandoo Products and Boogie wipes

This is my first blog post. So I'm sorry if this isn't perfect!
I have been a saline advisor for Boogie Wipes for three quarters now. Boogie Wipes and Kandoo Products are the best thing that has come into this household/daycare! The kids love the foaming handsoap that is funny berry scented, their parents love it too, (to the point that if the use the restroom, they choose to use the Kandoo hand soap instead of the other hand soap. The body wash is awesome too. It also makes for a great substitute for shaving cream. Actually, I use that instead of shaving cream. lol The Kandoo hand sanitizer has to be one of my favorites. It isn't scented, though thats not why it's my favorite. As a daycare provider for the state of Ohio, I am not allowed to use any sanitizer that contains alcohol. (supposedly there was cases of kids getting drunk on it, that's the rumor anyway). Anyways, the sanitizer is alcohol free, so I can use it! Which is great for all the picnics we have. (It also makes your hands feel really soft and smooth). Boogie wipes are up there on the top of my list also. They were made by mom's and they were made to get the sticky boog's out of children's noses. But they are so multi-functional! What I use them for:Of course boogie's. Sticky hands when I am on the go. A replacement for a diaper wipe, a handy stain-lifter if I spill somthing on my shirt. And also, a quick clean-up to my shoes if I'm out and about and get dirt on them.Last but not least, The flushable wipes. This by far is a daycare providers dream. I have three kid's right now in the transition of potty training and this is by far so much better than toilet paper! I would highly recommend for everyone who has kids to buy the Kandoo products and Boogie Wipes.