Jumpin-Beans

Granted the weather has been nasty the past couple days... (Thoughts and prayers to those affected.) We had a bit of good weather, at one point, so we try to take advantage of it. (When we can.) We play on the porch, we go to the park... Whenever we can go and get fresh air, we do! The other day, we decided to bust out the sidewalk chalk... On our porch! We tried learning our ABC's Time to work on our shapes! Broxton just loved being messy! But he did enjoy drawing too! But the mess is so much fun!!!! I just love those toes!!! Covered in chalk or not, I think they are too cute! After all that fun, he had to play with his cars in the "dirt." Once they were good and dirty, he had to run them through the car wash ! (I think I need to win a sand and water table from a blog!)

Well, I heard that Disney Live: Mickey's Magic Show was coming to my hometown.. I told my mom and after a bit, it was determined... Broxton just "had" to go! He loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, so I knew he would have a great time! Of course, my mom thought so as well, so she treated us to a day with Mickey and Friends! We went to visit my mom and headed over to the Civic Center to see the show. I tell you what, they don't mess around... It said the show started at 2:30 and bet your money... 2:30, the show had started! This particular one was Mickey and Friends hosting a magic show. We saw Mickey and Minnie.. Donald and Goofy... We also got to see several of the Disney Princesses. The other characters started off with a bit from Alice and Wonderland... We saw so many different characters and I will say... My absolute favorite was the Aladdin scene! As for the drawbacks... I thought that our tickets were reasonably priced, considering it was a Disney Show... BUT, I did t...

Welcome to this week’s edition of Aloha Friday . In Hawaii, Aloha Friday is the day that we take it easy and look forward to the weekend. So I thought that on Fridays I would take it easy on posting, too. Therefore, I’ll ask a simple question for you to answer. Nothing that requires a lengthy response. My question to you: Have you heard about the Postage Paid Cards from Hallmark? ( I wanted to ask if you watched the Royal Wedding, but I figure others will be asking that, so I went in a different direction!) I saw them on the tv the other night.. I think it is a great idea, one less thing to have to worry about! Then, I was contacted about the chance to review them! Now, you can enter if you want by clicking HERE . Feel free to click the giveaway tab up top and enter all my current contests!!!!

Are you one that likes sending and receiving cards? As long as I can remember, my mother has LOVED them! She even has a box of them for all occasions! I remember when I first went off to college, she made it a point to mail me cards all the time... I think that is why I now love them! We used to get cards for every occasion! You name it, we would get a card... She doesn't send as much as she used to, but the main events... ALWAYS. I am sure one reason for the lack of cards is due to postage... When ever I am thinking of sending a card, it normally gets pushed to the side, since I am (9 times out of 10) without stamps... That is just slack on my part, I know... but still. That is why I love the direction that Hallmark is heading in! Yes, you can now purchase Postage Paid Greeting Cards ! You see, Hallmark is made of people that are in the same situation as we all are... Life gets busy, so they want to help ease some of the things we deal with. If not having to swing by the post offi...

Back before I had the best job in the world (being a mommy!) I worked in the restaurant industry. Long story short, I worked since I was 15... always in restaurants! When I moved to Atlanta for college, I said that was not a permanent job, it was simply a job to help pay the bills... Well, 10 years later... Anyways... During my past work history, I waited tables at times... I think I gave great table service and from time to time, I would get a note of thanks left with my tip. Now, those were always special, as people are quick to criticize, but hard pressed when it comes time to praise... Know what I mean? I always think it is nice to call attention to outstanding service and there have been several times that I have asked for a manager to let them know when I receive outstanding customer service... From the grocery story to eating places... it is nice to be acknowledged! I was recently sent a deck of message cards and I was so happy to have the chance to review them! Instead of havi...

(Image from Amazon ) My grandaddy was a farmer his whole life. I remember getting peanuts and corn and all that yummy food fresh when I was growing up. So, I never really gave it any thought about people being allergic to peanuts... They had always been around and it just never crossed my mind! So, imagine my wonder when I had Broxton and they said just one of the reasons for not introducing peanuts early in life was because of peanut allergies. Thankfully for us, he is not allergic, but there are many people out there that are! I was happy to have the chance to review The Pesky Peanut Book and share it with you. The author of the book write it after dealing with peanut allergies with her son. Now, I hate that she had to deal with this, but at the same time, I am thankful that she wrote a book to share the information with all of us. The book starts with Kelly eating birthday cake... How something like a birthday cake could lead to the knowledge of this just yet again shows how much I...

Broxton has plenty of toys... From stuffed animals, to balls... Trains and cars... Trains and cars are his favorite! He puts his cars on the train tracks... He races the trains with the cars... The one problem we have... Storage of all those train tracks! I like to keep them together, but once you open the pack, they no longer have their own "place." Until Zip Bins . We were able to review the Zip Bin Road and Rail . Can I just say... LOVE IT! Have you heard of these? Do you have kids? If so, you have got to get one/two or several! Let me tell you.. We picked the road and rail because of all of the toys... but, I think we need to get more. If anything, because it is storage... and another toy! Let me tell you about ours.. It is a bin that zips up into a box to close... That has a lid. That means perfect for storage. The Zip Bin Road and Rail opens up to have a little town on it... With roads and a rail road track. See how it holds a little of everything? So..... You store ...

I know we can all use help saving money... Just wanted to share a Guest Post with you: 6 Ways to Save Like an Extreme Couponer By : Andrea Woroch 1. Start Small Don't try to go extreme all at once. Take it step by step, rather than show up at a checkout with 50 coupons and little idea what you're doing. 2. Never Pay For Coupons There are some things in this life you just shouldn't pay for, and a coupon is one of them. Paying someone to clip or organize your coupons defeats the purpose of living frugally. Instead, surf Sunday newspaper ad supplements for coupon savings; ask your neighbors for their unwanted papers; or dive inside a recycled dumpster or two. Also, free online coupon sites like CouponSherpa .com give consumers access to a multitude of coupon codes and printable coupons for thousands of merchants. 3. Get Organized A little organization can go a long way. Always create a shopping list and have your coupons and shopping strategy organized before you even enter...

My last W/W post was dealing with Broxton needing a haircut... Well, he got one! His first haircut ever was from my hairstylist and dear friend, Ally... Well, once we moved back up here, we found this cute little place called Pigtails and Crewcuts . I blogged about it here . We went there a couple times, but then last December, we stopped by a supercuts / greatclips whatever it was called... It was out of convenience... WELL!!!!!!!!!!! NEVER AGAIN! HORRIBLE! It was so short, we were worried he would not need another haircut until he was 10! So, when his hair was FINALLY ready to be cut, we went back to Pigtails and Crewcuts . LOVE.THAT.PLACE!

Okay, a couple weeks ago, I posted the sneak peak of our trip to Wrestlemania ... I said that the next W/W I would post the rest, but then I got to the picture of Broxton showing how bad he needed a haircut and I totally forgot about Wrestlemania ... Well, I wanted to post a few pictures, if anything but for those one or two people that might love it! (Thanks for the reminder, Clueless Mama !) We took the boys, they LOVED it. We were totally in the nosebleed section. I mean, totally.in.the.nose.bleed!!!! I could have hung from the rafters if I stretched my arms up. I was praying that I would not have to go to the bathroom, because that meant having to walk all the way down those 27 million stairs... and then back up them. Luckily for me, I held it in! The reason for telling you in advance of the nose bleed section? Because in ALL of my pictures, I made it a point to have the big screen in it as well. I knew there was no way in the world I could tell who was in them otherwise! The boy...

As we all know, I have been working on redecorating Broxton's room. I knew I wanted a "transportation theme" and it was going to be more of Reds and Blues. Yes, a bit of Red, White and Blue for you! Well, I was so happy when I was able to work in hosting a review and giveaway for Name Frame . This site is so easy to use and navigate... That can be a good thing, or a bad thing... The good thing? It was super easy to order... Bad thing? Now, I want to order more and more! Let me tell you about Name Frame. You start off and enter the name you want to do. Of course, we did Broxton... but you can do anything.. Love, Happiness, Family, your last name... Whatever you want... As long as it is 9 letters or less. You can even choose uppercase or lowercase letters. Next up, picking the font. They have 5 to choose from and they are all great! ( I think we went with the SIMPLE font.. Don't quote me on it, but I believe that is right.) After that, you pick your frame. We went with ...

With Marc having a locker at work ... and footlockers when deployed... We know all to much about locks and what not. A while back, we were out and about, he needed to swing by his job to get something, but needless to say, he did not have his key on him. Instead of a quick stop, we had to come all the way home, then go all the way back over... That could have all been eliminated if we had owned the WordLock then! I was so happy to find out that we would be able to review the WordLock! Marc picked out the black one... I think he should have gone with Pink, just saying! But seriously, I like how they offer more than just your basic silver lock. You can pick between Red, Pink, Silver or Black. Once we got it in the mail, it quickly was opened and placed on his locker. No more worrying about keys now! I asked Marc how he was enjoying it... The only thing he did not LOVE about it, was the fact that a couple of the words he picked would not work. That is a good thing though, they only allo...

I have made no secret on the fact that I do not really cook. Not that I don't know how to, but I really do not try new things. As I have mentioned before, it is the fear of the unknown that stops me, nothing else. When I start looking at a recipe to cook, all the ingredients seem to overwhelm me and I get a bit flustered! I would HATE to go and buy all those things... Cook and everything... Just to find out that one of those million ingredients doesn't taste great to me. I know, it is a dumb reason, but I am being honest! Think about it, I just mixed ALL those ingredients, but I have no clue which one I don't like. HA! Imagine my delight when I saw an email asking if I was interested in reviewing a new cookbook that would help me out! I know Marc was excited... Let me tell you why. (The title alone will give it away!) (Image from the Amazon website) 4 Ingredients ; More than 400 quick, easy and delicious recipes using 4 ingredients or fewer by Kim McCosker and Rachael Ber...