Tuesday, August 30, 2011

A Thought for Tuedsay - Male Dominated



Image used with permission from Malcolm Evans

My friend is hiring a Co-Pilot! She needs your help! #Giveaway!




Okay, now that I have your attention with that title, let me explain.

I have a friend, Andrea...
Matt and Andrea

 Well my friend Andrea and her husband, Matt, have an adorable son named Pilot.

See...

Totally adorable!
Picture by Kendra Coston
Well, Matt and Andrea would love to welcome another child into their family, but doing so the conventional way isn't what is in the cards- so Matt and Andrea would like to adopt!  

Hehe, get it now... Co-Pilot
Take a moment to read more about this adorable family, here.

Unfortunately adoption takes money, a lot of it, so they need to raise some! 

You can help!!! 

You can donate, if you would like, by going to their Co-Pilot blog and clicking donate in the sidebar.

But... there are MANY opportunities to help out and get something in return! Indeed!

Check out this list of opportunities to help Matt and Andrea earn money for the adoption!

Also... there is the opportunity to bid on items, the proceeds from these auctions will go towards the adoption. In fact, this auction is starting tonight! You can bid for this wonderful baby basket, full of love and warmth for a special new arrival...

Auction ends September 3rd at 11:59.


In addition to that adorable basket...  Andrea has made made these lovely burp clothes to give away to one lucky reader!

Set of 3 lovely, handmade, burp clothes for that special little one in your life. 


Andrea has amazing artistic talent! You can check out Oscardoggy Designs to see what I mean!

GIVEAWAY!
Open to U.S. residents only. 


Please leave your email address in EACH entry comment, one comment for each entry, so I can contact you if you win!


Mandatory Entry


For one entry- Visit Hiring a Co-Pilot and tell me something you learned about Matt and Andrea.

Extra Entries

1 entry- Follow Hiring a Co-Pilot via GFC.

1 entry- LIKE Hiring a Co-Pilot's Facebook Page.

1 entry- Click the Tweet button at the top of the post and leave your Tweet's permalink in the comment.

1 entry- Share this on your Facebook page (click Share up there) and leave the post's permalink in the comment.

5 entries- BID in the auction! 


Giveaway will end September 3rd at 11:59pm EST. Winner will be chosen by Random.org and will have 48 hours to reply to the email I send. 


Good luck, and thank you for reading!


If you are interested in more photos by Kendra Coston please visit her website.

Dollar General Coupons



This post brought to you by Dollar General. All opinions are 100% mine.

Have you ever visited Dollar General? We have a few in my area, and I like to visit them to see what I can find at a good deal. In fact, not but a month ago, I had forgotten all of our towels when we had gone out for a swimming trip. Instead of going back home, we decided to just purchase some. Dollar General had the cheapest towels at $3 per towel! 

Well, today I visited Dollar General's website, and I found out that they have coupons! Yep, you can get coupons for the store on TOP of their already low prices. Right now they have a 20% off coupon for their Dollar General Back to School items.
I know it can get expensive to shop for back to school items for a lot of kids, so I take any price breaks I can get. I will definitely be looking at Dollar General to see if I can get the items still on my list.  Get more of your Back to School needs for less at Dollar General Dollar General.
If you don't need back to school items don't worry...there are plenty of other great deals such as $1 off any Lysol Disinfectant Spray! Or how about $2 off Bayer Advanced Asprin!  Go check out www.dollargeneral.com/coupons and see what you can get for less!

Visit Sponsor's Site

Monday, August 29, 2011

Monday Meet and Greet- Coupons Are Great!




Let's all welcome Leandrea, from Coupons are Great! She is this week's featured blogger! Please take a moment to get to know her! 


Your Name: Leandrea


 Coupons are Great

Where do you blog?  Coupons Are Great


Where can we find you?
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/CouponsAreGreat 

How did you decide on what to name your blog? When I started using coupons I was so excited.  I really liked the "I Heart" sites, but I knew that was someone else's idea.  Since my site was about saving with coupons and I thought coupons were great...the name was born.  It seems like three word names are pretty popular.  However, if I could redo my name I would.  Because my site contains the word "Coupons" my emails get sent to spam on a regular basis.  It is very frustrating!  

Tell us a little bit about you:  I am married to my high school sweetheart.  My husband and I have known each other since the sixth grade.  We have two little girls who are 15 months and 3 weeks apart in age.  I am a former educator.  My degree is in Special Education, but I taught a 1st/2nd combo at a charter school in Oregon.  I now stay home with my daughters and attempt to have a clean house and prepare healthy meals.  I love helping others - whether they are children or adults.  I have a co-blogger on my site who I met on an online pregnancy forum.  It was scary meeting in real life for the first time, but now we are the best of friends.   

Tell us 5 of your favorite things, and 5 of your least favorite things.
Five Favorite Things: Tetris, Scrabble, Watermelon, Apple products, and running
Five Least Favorite Things: Bad grammar, drama, heat combined with humidity, soggy cereal, beef

When and why did you start blogging? I started blogging three years ago.  I wanted to share my deals with my friends.  I believe that everyone should be saving money.  If there is a coupon for a product then it seems very silly to not use it!  I hoped to motivate my friends when I started blogging.  

What do you blog about? At Coupons Are Great you will find many ways to save money including coupons, mystery shopping, and online deals.  We are a family friendly site and we share all sorts of family ideas.  Each Tuesday we have a Crafty post.  We try to incorporate a broad range of posts.

When do you find the time to blog?  I find the time to blog at night when my girls are in bed or during the few hours that my youngest is in preschool.

What is your favorite blog post ever? This is a tough one!  My favorite posts are generally the crafty posts.  My favorite posts are tied:  Crafty Tuesday: A Care Bear Party (http://couponsaregreat.net/2010/09/28/crafty-tuesday-a-care-bear-party/) and Crafty Tuesday: Sesame Street Birthday Party (http://couponsaregreat.net/2011/01/18/crafty-tuesday-sesame-street-birthday-party/).

What is your favorite item you ever reviewed? My favorite item that I have reviewed is the Blooming Babies Personalized Stamp (http://couponsaregreat.net/2011/06/14/blooming-babies-personalized-stamp-giveaway/).  I love personalized things.  My wish list includes a personalized necklace with my daughter's initials.  Being able to support small businesses makes me very happy!

 What brand or product would you really like to work with/review?  I would love to work with Garmin to review their running watches.

What has been your biggest blogging challenge, how did you overcome it?  My biggest blogging challenge is finding the time to sit down and blog.  I have too many tabs open on my computer and I am easily distracted.  I am working on focusing more.  


What widget or feature could you not live without?  My favorite widgets are Askimet (spam control), and the winner is (for giveaways), and Mile 51 (list maker) 


What are your favorite blogs to read?
My favorite blogs include:
Run Faster Mommy - http://www.runfastermommy.com/
Skinny Runner - http://skinnyrunner.com/
Eighteen25 - http://eighteen25.blogspot.com/


What advice would you give a new blogger?  As hard as it may seem, try to make blogging friends!  I am a very reserved person who has a hard time getting past the "Hello how are you's"  but the best thing you can do is introduce yourself and try to get in to some blogging social circles.  I am not the most active person in my social circles and I tend to learn more from others, but it is totally worth it.  Blogging is much more fun when you have friends.  Plus, the friends you make are always a wealth of knowledge.   

My next piece of advice is to stay true to yourself.  When you blog about the things that make you happy you will be successful.  As a frugal blogger I sometimes have to remind myself "Just because everyone else is
posting about it....doesn't mean I have to too."

A big thank you to Leandrea!   

Hill's Pet Nutrition



This post brought to you by Hills Pet Nutrition. All opinions are 100% mine.


Today I checked out Hill's Pet Nutrition to see what it was all about.  I have several pets in the home, including a dog and a cat. I didn't know that Hill's made food for cats as well.... so I learned something new within the first few minutes. Hill's is the makers of  of Science Diet and Prescription Diet. 

Right now you can register to take the Hill's Health Mobility Challenge. When you register you get $30 in coupons, and an automatic entry to win a years supply of pet food- there will be 30 winners! Why wait, go get your Hill's Healthy Mobility Coupon now!

You can also interact with Hill's on Facebook via Hill's Pet Nutrition on Facebook .  I know I am often on Facebook more than I am on other pages, so the automatic updates from my feed are helpful reminders for me. 
I look forward to learning how I can help my dog (Sophie), and cat (Percy) be as healthy as they can and I hope others will see how they can help their pets be healthy as well. 

What do you do to ensure that your pet is as healthy as can be?

Visit Sponsor's Site

Saturday, August 27, 2011

My Tough Life



My Tough Life
Thanks to Darwin Barton


Being a traveling salesman has a lot of advantages as well as disadvantages and I think I’ve finally nailed them all down. I’ve been in this business for over a decade and to be honest, I kind of like the lifestyle! Staying at hotels can be a lot of fun and I don’t have to worry about cleaning like my stay at home friends do. I also don’t really have a lot of utility bills other than my securityCHOICE.COM/ alarm and I don’t have to think about getting a dogor anything like that. I’m starting to get ready to settle down and have a family, though, which makes me really want to curb my travel a bit so that’s definitely one of the downsides. The younger guys who are more ready to travel get the best territories so it’s something I’m going to have to think about before I make the move. The money in this job is hard to pass up even if it means I can’t have a life!



This post is a sponsored guest post.

Friday, August 26, 2011

Tonight's Crazy Clouds






Peanut Butter and Jelly with....



Salami? 

Well, if you are Gavin you would say yes! 

Yes, that's right...our 7 year old likes his peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a nice, thick slice of salami on it.


How about you? What's the oddest thing you have eaten? What is the oddest thing you've seen your children eat?

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Boon Animal Bag! #Giveaway!




We like Boon products here. In fact, you may remember the Squirt review from a few months back. Well, today I want to introduce another exciting Boon product!

If you have children you probably have an overabundance of these....

stuffed animals.
But... have no fear... this

Boon Animal Bag
can help! 

How? you ask... well....check it out.


You unzip the bag...stuff it with all those pesky stuffed animals that aren't being used.... and voila! you have a nifty new stuffed cushion.


AND... this isn't a tiny thing.... here is a picture of my 4 year old next to the Boon Animal Bag for comparison:


The Boon Animal Bag rocks. I despise the overflow of stuffed animals we accumulate because we have so many children...but often those stuffed animals hold sentimental value to the kids, so they don't want to give them up. So now, they can be re-purposed!  The kids love to use this as a seat, or as a big ball. I love that the Boon Animal Bag is strong enough to withstand 5 active boys using it as a seat or a big ball!

The zipper is sturdy, and the mesh material is STRONG. We haven't had an issue with it at all in the nearly two months we've owned it. For under $50, the Animal Bag is a great value... it has saved me well over $50 in time alone since I don't have to gather these stuffed animals every single day! I also expect that we will have this Animal Bag for years to come, it really does seem that sturdy.

The only thing I wish the Animal Bag had was a double tabbed zipper so that it could be unzipped from the inside. Why? you ask... well, because of course five silly boys thought it would be a great idea to zip one another in the bag....only to find out once they were in it they were at the mercy of their brothers. Luckily the mesh allows plenty of air flow so there are no worries there, but it was still a scary experience, and if there was a zipper available inside the bag no one would be "stuck" screaming.

Really, that one thing is the only thing the Animal Bag leaves me wanting. Everything else is great. In fact, you can decide how big of an Animal Bag you need. Need a smaller one, like the one I received for review, Boon has you covered...but you say you have a few more animals than one bag can hold... have no fear! There is the Otto Animal Bag! Do you have a stuffed animal hoarder in your home? Well then, you need the Trio Animal Bag!


Okay, okay... so you want one, right? Well take a chance and enter to WIN one!

Giveaway!
Open to the U.S.







I received a Boon Animal Bag free of charge for the purpose of this review. I received no monetary compensation for this post and all opinions are my own. You may not have the same experience as I, with this product.


Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Camping for a week with SIX Kids- We Survived!



Oh yes, you read that title correctly. We finally did it.... we went camping. 

This surprise vacation was the first camping trip we have been on as a family.... and we did it with all six kids in tow!

It all started out as a day trip to go to my family reunion. We had considered camping, if we could, but nothing was set in stone and nothing was packed. Well, long story short.... at the end of the day we decided to stay. So my wonderful husband went home and gather the needed things for an overnight stay, including our tent and clothing.

Okay, day one over, we are now on Sunday. We are almost all packed up, everything but the tent is ready to go.... my cousin says we should stay. Well, we think, why not? So another day we shall stay. :)

The next morning, we start to pack again.... then we think, why not make a vacation of it? There isn't anything we HAVE to do that can't be rescheduled. So, we stay.... and this time we decide to stay for a while! No more packing!!!!! 

We had so much fun. It wasn't always easy with six little ones....but it was still SO nice.  No T.V., no computer, no fridge, no video games, back to basic life! We enjoyed nature and our family.

The kids climbed trees....

      

We ate lots of food and got really dirty...

         
   And there were lots of smiles...

           
  

There was swimming, and sunburns, campfires and tuckered out kids...

      

A gorgeous sunset and a beautiful moon...





We even had an interesting visit from a couple of skunks! Thankfully no stink was left, but the campground did manage to capture this sneaky creature.



Through all the craziness of keeping six children in a campsite, putting them to bed in sleeping bags in a tent, and eating from a cooler we managed to have fun and enjoy the time together. It is a week I wont soon forget, and one I hope to recreate again. My family is so blessed to live in such an amazing place in the world, and we are even more blessed to have one another. 

Monday, August 22, 2011

Monday Meet and Greet- Mother of Pearl It Is








This week we welcome Tree from Mother of Pearl It Is! You may remember that she redesigned my blog a short while ago, so I am very pleased to bring you an interview with her! Please take a moment to read about Tree and her blog!


Your Name: Tree (aka Mother of Pearl)

Mother of Pearl It Is


Where do you blog? Mother of Pearl It Is (http://www.motherofpearlitis.net)

How did you decide on what to name your blog? Long story short... my oldest son began calling me Mother of Pearl years ago, and it kinda stuck. You can read about WHY he came up with that name for me here at Mother of Pearl, You Say?! (http://www.motherofpearlitis.net/2010/02/mother-of-pearl-you-say/)


Tell us a little bit about you.... I've been with the love of my life for 24 years... married for 15 of them. We have 5 beautiful biracial kiddos, a lovely DIL-to-be, and 2 precious (or is that precocious) granddaughters. We are very family-oriented, although slightly dysfunctional. :) I work outside the home part-time, and LOVE my computer. I'm also scheduled to have Gastric Sleeve surgery this Friday, and am looking forward to feeling good inside and out again. You can read about why I made this decision HERE (http://www.motherofpearlitis.net/2011/03/okay-im-doing-it-a-personal-post/).

Tell us 5 of your favorite things, and 5 of your least favorite things...

Favorite things: my family, the beach, my laptop, amusement parks, chocolate 
Least favorite things: liver & onions, procrastination, being broke, fake people,  aching all the time (I have RA).

When and why did you start blogging?  I actually started 9/2009, but got frustrated and stopped after a few months. Then got the bug again, and have been blogging steadily since 2/2010. I started doing reviews around that time too.

What do you blog about? MOPII is a mixture of our family's crazy antics, teenage dramas, the fun of being "young" grandparents, & a mish-mash of reviews and giveaways!

What does your family think of your blog? Do they read it? They don't really pay much attention to it... unless I tell them they MUST listen to my latest post. LOL They do love the reviews though (well, the review products anyway... tee hee)

When do you find the time to blog? Right now, I am on unemployment and getting ready to have my surgery, so most days I'm on throughout the day. When I'm working... I get right on as soon as I'm home. Then go back and forth in between doing chores, playing with the kids, watching tv, etc.

What advice would you give a new blogger? It's YOUR blog... you write whatever you want to write about, add whatever you want on your blog, but do take into consideration any advice that others offer you. You don't want to "follow suit" just because Jane, Betty, and Tom are doing it, but you also want to be sure to listen to their critiques. They may offer things you didn't know about, which may make your blog even better! :)

What are your favorite blogs to read? I don't get around to reading as much as I used to, since I began doing reviews/giveaways. But, there are several that I love to read when I get time. I like to laugh, and these gals (and guy) always make me chuckle.

Boobies, Babies, and a Blog (http://www.boobiesbabiesandablog.com)
The Boogie Man is my Friends (http://mommafargo.blogspot.com/)

Where can we find you?

ABE- Meridane Designs!


Welcome to A Blogtastic Extravaganza!! This giveaway event is hosted by Jessica from My Silly Monkeys, and features over 100 bloggers! Each blog will have a Prize Package of no less than $50. Use the handy linky at the bottom of this post to hop from blog to blog and enter to WIN! You will have 5 days to enter.

Now... onto the giveaway!!





I love jewelry. I really love meaningful jewelry. Well, I have discovered Meridane's unique pendant that can mean whatever you want it to.

How can it do that?  Well, check out the video...


That's right... from just the words "Love is all U need" and a peace sign stacked on top of one another came a design in which you can find all the letters of the alphabet and numbers 1-10.

I received the Sterling Silver Pendant with Moonstone. It is a gorgeous piece!




I love the packaging...and I love that you can select what message you want to send with the jewelry. Each piece comes with a card showing how the message that you select can be found in the copyrighted design from Meridane Designs. 

Since Moonstone holds a dear place in my heart, there is a dear message that my pendant holds. No one else ever has to know what message that is, and I kind of like that. It is like my little secret. :)

The Hidden Meaning Symbol really is amazing, a simple and elegant design sure to be fashionable throughout the changing times.

And, there isn't only pendants! There are plenty of ways to get this trademarked design on your person. 


One way is to WIN IT!  Valued at $59, Meridane Designs is offering one LUCKY reader a Sterling Silver Pendant of their own! 








Monday, August 15, 2011

Surprise Vacation!




Woooo Hooooo!

Just letting everyone know I am on a surprise vacation until this weekend...so there won't be many posts! 

Hope everyone else is having a decent week!

    
  

Monday Meet and Greet- Freebies & Cheapies



This week's featured blogger is Lori from Freebies & Cheapies, hope you enjoy reading about her and her blog!



Your Name: Lori (AKA Mia)

Where do you blog? Freebies & Cheapies (http://freebiesandcheapies.com)
and Mia's Musings (http://miasmusings.com)

How did you decide on what to name your blog? Pretty much kept trying until I found something that was available.


Tell us a little bit about you....I am a forty-something year-old mom of a precious 4 year old boy. After having lost a twin pregnancy in 2000, I never thought I would be a mom-he was a true gift from God. I quit my job of 10 years to be able to stay home with him. Things are pretty tight around here but it is worth every minute to be able to stay home with him.

Tell us 5 of your favorite things, and 5 of your least favorite things...
Favorite things:
  1. My son
  2. My dogs-Sadee, Rambo and Sophie (also known as Puppy Pia)
  3. Camaros
  4. Music
  5. My fish
Least favorite things:
  1. Being broke all of the time
  2. High electric bills
  3. Selfish people
  4. People expecting me to do everything for them because I don't have a J-O-B
  5. Housework

When and why did you start blogging?  I decided to blog to see if I could make a few dollars here and there. So far, I am not making much but I am having a good time with it and have met some awesome bloggers!

What do you blog about? At Freebies & Cheapies, I blog about coupons and saving money. I decided to start Mia's Musings so I could diversify and post about other things. 

What does your family think of your blog? Do they read it? My mom is 85-she used to play games online but has moved in with my older sister and they, nor my other sister, ever get online. I do have a few cousins that like the coupons deals and freebies.

When do you find the time to blog? Not sure, LOL! I pretty much spend all day online but seem to get lost in cyberspace here lately. I am trying to set a schedule to go by so I can hold myself accountable if I don't get something done.

What advice would you give a new blogger? Take it slow and find a few friends that blog to give much needed support when you need it.

What are your favorite blogs to read? Too many to pick favorites!

Where can we find you?
Freebies & Cheapies on Facebook (http://facebook.com/freebiesandcheapies)
Mia's Musings on Facebook (http://facebook.com/miasmusings)
Mommymia on Twitter (http://twitter.com/mommymia)

Thank you to Lori for sharing with us this week! It was so nice to get to know her. Please take a moment to 

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Sunday Funny- Harry Potter Glasses




So, Gavin needed new specs... he decided he HAD to have some "Harry Potter Glasses". We get some that are sort of similar and they finally come in the mail.

Here Gavin is in them...


After seeing the picture he decided they weren't his favorites. But... we had to have some more fun!

So, Liam tried them on...


And RJ did as well....

 


I suppose they worth the $20 just to get these pictures. I love my crazy boys!

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Six kids?!



Good golly, that's a lot of kids. Okay, six kids may be more than the "norm", but six kids really isn't that many. 

Some people wonder why we have six kids, some ask if they are all "mine", or "are you done".

Well, let me share my story with you.

Let me take you back to when I was a little child. I wanted a ton of kids. No joke...12 kids was my number. In my childhood diary I was always writing about my crushes...and I kept a running list of my future children's names. I loved kids, and I wanted my own child even as a teenager. Thankfully I was able to wait until I was at least an adult to have those children. I spent a lot of my teenage years babysitting, which helped me get my "kid fix".

I came from a split family. My mom and  biological dad never married... and when I was 5, my mother married another man, who then adopted me. I have one step sister, one half sister, and two half brothers. I lived with one of my half brothers growing up, and my step sister lived with us for some of the time. Because of this, I promised myself that I would never have children with more than one man. 

My husband comes from a two-parent household and grew up with three brothers. I think since he had several siblings he found it easy to have a larger family himself.

My husband and I never discussed "how many". We knew we wanted kids, and quickly started our family. It took four months to conceive our first child....and after that- no time at all. We definitely have been blessed. 

We aren't followers of the Quiverfull movement, and we aren't Mormons, or Catholics for that matter. We just have been blessed with many children. I think we both knew that we wanted a larger family, although neither of us had imagined six children in such a short span of time. 

In the years between 2003 and 2010 I have been pregnant every year at some point, except 2007. And it was close for 2007! I had our fourth on December 30th, 2006.

Are they all ours? Yes. Are they all mine. Well, yes... they are all mine. However, I did not give birth to Gavin. Gavin is my step-son, but I have been in his life pretty much since before he was born and been a mother figure to him since he was three months old. It's a long story, but he has been in my life since he was born and I consider him one of my children. I can't imagine  not calling him my son. The rest of the kiddos.... all biologically my husband's and my own. 

Are we done? 

Well.... I can't answer that for sure, but we are pretty sure that we are. Six seems like the right number for us, and if it isn't... seven will surely be. However, I had an extremely difficult pregnancy with my daughter which included a lot of time in the hospital... and even after several wonderful pregnancies with my sons, my daughter has made me reconsider ever being pregnant again. Time will tell, and if it happens, we will gladly welcome another child...if not, we are okay with our family being complete. 

How big of a family would you like? Is there a point when you think a family is too big?

Thursday, August 11, 2011

DaGeDar






What's more fun for kids than making up their OWN rules to games?  Not much!

I know how difficult it can be to get my crew to follow directions and play by the rules, and this is the top reason why DaGeDar is a toy that I find kid friendly.

So, let me back up a little. What is DaGeDar and why am I writing about it?

DaGeDar is a new toy for children age 4 and up. These toys are weighted balls, and each one has a face on it. There are a LOT of DaGeDar balls to collect (and trade)! To add to the fun there are accessories such as three raceway/tracks, carrying cases, spinners, and launchers.  And there are no rules for any of the games.  Let the kids make up their own games, they choose how to play!

We received a party pack and were given the chance to host a play party with DaGeDar toys. We received several ball packs, a Vortex Spinner, a Rapid Fire Power Launcher, and the High Speed Score Zone Raceway. 

The DaGeDar balls themselves were a huge hit- even with the girls! There were several different designs of balls so each of the children were excited to get their own. 

The kids were overly excited to open the toys, they tore into the packages as I set up the raceway. Once finished it was fairly obvious what the goal was. Two balls were to race each other, and at the end they fell onto a tiered box with numbers, and the highest number would win. The children were so eager to try. 

Unfortunately, the raceway didn't work as well as we had hoped. Even holding the track up and thrusting the ball down often did not result in it landing in the goal box. 

Here's some photos of the kids trying to succeed with the raceway,


      


Overall, I think the kids had fun. They seemed to enjoy the DaGeDar toys except with the frustration of the raceway and launcher. I wish they had performed a bit better, or had less of a learning curve to them. I couldn't imagine having my four year old try this toy- it would result in too much frustration for him. The Power Launcher didn't have any clear instructions, and it was also difficult for the kids to use at times because it had to be on the floor. I personally think the design was genius since the kids couldn't use it in the air as a gun (flying DaGeDars would hurt!), but the kids were having a hard time getting their hands close enough to the floor to pull the spring loaded handle that makes the balls shoot out.

I am sure that we will be collecting DaGeDar balls for quite some time, especially since there are brochures included that show many, many, different balls. A fun feature is that each of these balls come with a code that you can enter online at www.dagedar.com . When you enter the code it gives you a biography of your ball. And, if you register, you can save your collection online and see which balls you have yet to find. 

My boys are still playing with and carrying around their DaGeDar balls, and I am sure once they are available in a store near us we will be purchasing more for them to trade and collect. I can definitely see this being one of the new must-have toys.

If you'd like to hear more, check out this video from Good Morning Arizona.


Or check out the DaGeDar website for yourself!


I was provided with select DaGeDar toys to facilitate my review and home party. I received no monetary compensation and all opinions are my own.


  

Sammy's Beadworks





Have you ever seen sea glass?  If not, let me tell you, it can be absolutely stunning. 

I received a sea glass bracelet from Sammy's Beadworks for review... let me show you.


There's the bracelet... but it looks so much better on!


Nice, right? I really like it! 

The sea glass is great, but I love the added design of the metalwork. Very nice! The bracelet requires a measurement of your wrist to ensure a good fit. My wrist is about 6.5", and the bracelet isn't snug... but I wouldn't want it to be any more snug than it was made as it wouldn't fit over my hand. The beading part of the  bracelet is somewhat stretchy to allow it to fit over your hand.

The bracelet has held up well to wear. Sammy's prices are amazing as well, you won't have to spend a fortune to get some really pretty, or really fun, pieces. 

Sammy's Beadworks has some other fantastic pieces as well.. these are my favorites:


   

And, Sea Glass isn't the only thing you can find at Sammy's Beadworks!

Check out these great items:









Sammy started beading at a very young age and it has always been a favorite activity of hers. Sammy loves the creativity it inspires, and the beautiful work that is a result. Custom orders let Sammy explore new ideas which leads to more creativity, so she loves to hear your requests!
I received an item from Sammy's Beadworks at no cost for the purpose of this review. I received no monetary compensation for this post and all opinions are my own.
 
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