Sending a big thank you to Over the Moon Bridal for sending us a piece of beautiful Burlap Wall Art for review! We bought our house about two years ago. Decorating our home is a work in progress to this day. I tend to be a minimalist. It's a trait my mom instilled in me. My husband, on the other hand, loves stuff. He grew up with walls filled with decorations, which is how he likes it. When we got married and moved into our new house one of the things we enjoyed most was picking out items for Read more [...]

For the past two weeks, I've been wanting to surprise our kiddos with a trip to the local zoo.  But wouldn't you know, it's either been raining, too windy, or we have had plans.  Today, though, showed promise so after everyone was up, we got packed up to head out on our mini fun day at the zoo.  As the kids got their shoes and sweatshirts on, I helped our youngest two into their Freshly Picked Moccasins! Sending a big thank you to Freshly Picked for these GORGEOUS Fall colored moccs! With Summer Read more [...]

Ever since becoming a mother, SIDS (or Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) has been one of the scary unknowns that is always in the back of my mind.  Back when I did daycare, they even had us providers take a class on it.  Now as foster parents, both my husband and I had to take a SIDS/SUIDS training class again.  While they truly don't know what causes young children to die for no apparent reason in their sleep, per our training, unsafe sleeping conditions has been a leading finding in almost every Read more [...]

With six kids ages 7 weeks through 11 years in our home, baby wearing is a necessity for me.  This becomes even more true when away from our home but I also wear our little ones around the house and yard too.  While I have several different carriers and they all do serve a particular purpose, there is one main carrier that I reach for time and time again during those first few months of our children's lives.  My Comfy Joey Ring Sling. Sending a big thank you to Comfy Joey for providing me with Read more [...]

Thank you to Samsonite for providing me with product, free of charge, in exchange for this honest blog review. All opinions are 100% my own. What do you look for in a backpack? I like backpacks that are functional and attractive. I need several pockets in assorted sizes to help keep me organized. I want a backpack that is comfortable to wear, even when loaded down with books. After extensive searching, I found a backpack that I believe fits all of my criteria. For my review, I received a Samsonite Read more [...]

Thank you to Nutrisystem for providing me with product, free of charge, in exchange for this honest blog review. All opinions are 100% my own. My journey on Nutrisystem has taken off! Last week was my first week back with the program. Throughout the week, I found myself relying heavily on the NuMi Nutrisystem app. NuMi allows me to journal my food intake, water, and activities. I mainly use it to journal my food. It is a great tool to help me stay accountable. New to me in this round of Nutrisystem, Read more [...]

Thank you to ViveHealth, LLC for providing me with product, free of charge, in exchange for this honest blog review. All opinions are 100% my own. My Mom and Step Dad are both 61 years of age. Both are still extremely active and always on the go. They never seem to stop even when their bodies sometimes hint that they should be stopping or at least slowing down. When I reached out to them and asked if they would benefit from using products available thru ViveHealth, they jumped at the opportunity. Read more [...]

Even though it's been studied and proven that barefoot is best, it's just a fact of life that most people need to wear shoes.  There are exceptions in some countries where there just aren't any, but here in the US, it's a necessity.  Although, about 8 years ago this Winter when we were up buying some eggs, honey, and butter from an Amish family, the kids were actually running around and "skating" on some ice bare foot!  I'm far too wimpy to ever attempt such a feat.  So for our family, I just Read more [...]

  Welcome to Tuesday's Giveaway Link Up with your hosts Karen @ Tots and Me, Emily @ Emily Reviews, Shelly @ The Attic Girl, and Rena @ An Ordinary Housewife.So glad you could join us as we share our giveaways on  Tuesday's Giveaway Link Ups.  This link up will be posted Monday at 7 PM est. and run all week long! Make sure you stop in as often as you can to list your latest giveaways. Here is how to use the Giveaway Link Up 1. Post your reviews and/or giveaways, as many Read more [...]

Almost everyone is picked on by a bully at some point during their school years. I had kids be mean or rude to me occasionally, but all of my experiences were single incidents. No kids bothered me on a regular basis. When my boyfriend Ryan was in middle school he had a child who was bullying him fairly regularly. They had band class together and he would made rude comments to Ryan each class for a few weeks. He was advised by adults in his life to just ignore the comments and he tried to do that. Read more [...]