Jumpin-Beans

FTC Compliant Review Policy: The product(s) featured in this review were provided free of cost to me by the manufacturer or representing PR agency for the sole purpose of product testing. Opinions expressed are my own and are NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I will be the first to admit that I am always a bit skeptical about milk.   In restaurants, I worry that they have left it out... and as soon as it expires, I will not use it at home.. Maybe because I am not a big fan of just drinking milk, so I am always worried I might not know if it is safe to drink or not...  I am lucky that Broxton loves to drink milk, so we go through it pretty regularly here... But, when we are planning on going out of town or something, I am always hesitant to buy a new thing of milk...   I have always said I wanted to try the "shelf stable" milk... but I was always second guessing myself. What if I bought it and he hated it?  What if I bought it and it was bad?  I am goo...

FTC Compliant Review Policy: The product(s) featured in this review were provided free of cost to me by the manufacturer or representing PR agency for the sole purpose of product testing. Opinions expressed are my own and are NOT influenced by monetary compensation. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION It’s time to travel down the tracks with Thomas and his engine friends for mischievous adventures on the   Island   of   Sodor   in the all-new   Thomas & Friends ® : Railway Mischief   arriving on DVD April 9, 2013 from Lionsgate and HIT Entertainment.  Featuring five brand new episodes and a bonus, collectible “Calling All Engines” poster, this DVD will be available exclusively at Walmart for a limited time for a suggested retail price of $14.98. So grab your train whistles, put on your engineer’s caps and get ready for trainloads of fun with everyone’s favorite Number 1 Engine!   DVD SYNOPSIS Cinders and Ashes! There’s trouble on the tracks for T...

FTC Compliant Review Policy: The product(s) featured in this review were provided free of cost to me by the manufacturer or representing PR agency for the sole purpose of product testing. Opinions expressed are my own and are NOT influenced by monetary compensation. There is nothing like walking into a home and noticing a nice aroma.  No, I am not talking about a knock you in the face scent... but a welcoming scent that is pleasant.   We were recently sent the limited edition National Park Collection from Air Wick  and I tell you, they all smell great and really invite your senses to make your brain want to plan a trip to one of these locations. The National Park Collection Includes: Grand Canyon -    Be awestruck by the breathtaking majesty of Grand Canyon  National Park then discover the subtle floral notes of delicate  cactus blossoms carried on the warm summer breeze. Hawaii Kaloko- Honokohau -  Escape to a tropical island s...

I love personalized gifts...  They always put a smile on my face... and on the gift recipients face as well! I have had worked with Cafe Press in the past... and I was very pleased with the speed and quality of their products.  In honor of both my mom and dad having birthday's this month....  Or maybe because Spring Cleaning has you wishing for something new (Maybe custom bedding for your room, nothing like a little "keep calm and carry on" in the bedroom!! Or if you are in the cute Chevron phase that everyone is doing now... they have cool shower curtains  that will be perfect!)  Hey, Teacher Appreciation is coming up, right?   Maybe you want to get a nice gift for your teacher...  The options are endless.... One lucky winner is going to win a $25 gift code to use at Cafe Press. With April being Autism Awareness month, a portion of the proceeds from their autism awareness products will go back to the cause! If my dad was one ...

I know Spring Break is going on all around us...  So, what better time to share a Do It Yourself Beauty Recipe when you need a bit of time to rest and rejuvenate?    This post contains  two beauty recipes from Julieanna Hever, best-selling author and host of one of Veria Living’s newest programs,  What Would Julieanna Do? Do-it-Yourself Beauty Recipes: Breakfast Moisturizing Face Mask : Mash 1/2 banana well with a fork, combine about 1/4 - 1/2 cup rolled oats, and drizzle about 1 TB almond milk to the mixture to create a paste. Apply to face using a circular motion as a scrub and then leave on for 15 minutes. Rinse and remove with a warm washcloth and follow up with the  Soothing Facial Moisturizer:  drizzle 3-4 drops lavender essential oil into approximately 1 TB coconut oil, mix, and apply to face. Hair Growth-Stimulating Treatment:  Brew a cup of green tea. Add 1 TB mustard powder and 1 TB cayenne pepper, the content...

Just in case any of you are Cary Grant fans.... ( I do not believe I have ever seen any of them.) 10 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Cary Grant  You might certainly know his face, his name, and charm but one can never exhaust themselves of random facts to know about this timeless Hollywood figure. In celebration of today’s DVD release of The Cary Grant Film Collection, here are a few facts you may not have known about the legendary Cary Grant. 'Gap Brand Fan' - his favorite store was The Gap’ because they carried the only jeans he loved- Levi’s 501’s. 'Natural Beauty Admirer' – While makeup may be a necessity on set, off-screen he loved his leading ladies with no make up or sparse use.  ‘Brains & Looks’ - trivial pursuit was a favorite board game and one of the last games played shortly before his death. ’Judy, Judy, Judy’- Often attributed to Cary, the famous quote is actually attributed to a professional impersonator that greeted Julie Garland as s...

If you are looking for a cute bedtime book, I have just read another cute one!!! Broxton loves for us to snuggle and read together, trying to grab as many as he can at bedtime! The latest book we have read is Nighty-Night, Sleep Tight by Jennifer Berne . It is from Sterling Publishing and is so cute!!!! In Nighty-Night, Sleep Tight, we learn of such a wide variety of animals that are all preparing for sleep as well.  From the Bahama Iguana to the Scarlet Macaws...  We see each of them snuggling up and cuddling for a nice nights sleep.  The little girl reading the book is so full of imagination that she pictures herself there with each as they ready for bed....  The book ends with all the animals sending her night time kisses! I loved the sing-song rhyming of the book.  It was cute enough to be enjoyed by little ones, but not so full of excitement to keep them awake....   The illustrations are full of colors that grabs the attention of the reader, but it...

If Spring is TRYING to peep out your way, or if you are ready for it to come knocking on your door, you will love the latest Storybook Treasures Collection from Scholastic! The Springtime Collection featuring Max's Chocolate Chicken . This is a 3 DVD set that are sure to put a smile on faces as you enjoy the show!!! The DVD's include: DVD ONE : Max's Chocolate Chicken ...  and More Stories by Rosemary Wells - also includes Max's Christmas, Morris's Disappearing Dog, Otto Runs for President  and Max's Christmas - Spanish Version DVD TWO: The Red Hen ... and More Cooking Stories  - also includes Bread Comes to Life, How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food and Arnie the Doughnut DVD THREE: Chicken Little ... and More Zany Animal Stories - also includes The Great White Man - Eating Shark, The Three Legged Cat and Dooby Dooby Moo We have not yet had the time to enjoy this collection, but we will soon enough! I am excited to see them, as we have never really followe...

As much as I love reading with Broxton, I do love when he is up and playing as well. How much fun have we had "reading" the latest from Lisa Loeb? You might remember her beautiful voice from that song, Stay. Well, she has released a new book that comes with a CD to get you "Movin' and Shakin'!" I opened the book and flipped through, before we put the CD on... Several of the songs are songs that I remembered from MY childhood, so I was eager to listen! We put the CD on while Broxton was playing in the sandbox and it wasn't long before he was over with me and not playing in the sand!!!! Lisa Loeb's Songs for Movin' and Shakin' was thoroughly enjoyed by the both of us! I loved listening to Father Abraham and Miss Mary Mack (take me back to being a kid right there) but he absolutely LOVED the Monster Stomp!!!! They also threw in a song to get kids to wake up. (We might be using that sometime soon!)  I also loved how they ended it w...

Meal time can either be a good thing or a bad thing in our house... Marc works weird schedules many of the days, so we never really get to have dinner with him on any type of schedule...   It also makes it a bit more difficult to try and plan anything meal wise, as who knows when he will be eating...   We normally have dinner and then whenever Marc gets home, just just heats up his and we go on about our day...  I saw the information on Meals In a Jar and I knew that this was something that I would really love to read! The only thing was, I was thinking it was a bit different.  I thought it was more along the lines of placing items in there and then making it when it was time... I did not realize it was more along the lines of canning... I will say that I am still super glad that I was able to review this, as I see there are many ideas I can use... I had actually thought that it would be fun (and maybe a bit economical) to try canning... now I see I can do so mu...

I feel as though Scholastic has been around for as long as I can remember... It is nice to know that a name that I loved as a kid will be a name that Broxton will learn to love as he gets older too... We have a nice collection going of the Scholastic Storybook Treasures and I love when we add more DVD's to the library!!! A new DVD for our library is  Stone Soup... and other stories from the Asian Tradition .  Not only is this new to our library, this is totally new to me, as I have never heard of this before... After reading about it though, I am eager for Broxton and I to watch!!!! STONE SOUP (Written and illustrated by Jon J. Muth, narrated by B.D. Wong) An inspiring story about the strength people possess when they work together. THE FIVE CHINESE BROTHERS (By Claire Bishop, illustrated by Kurt Wiese) A unique super-natural strength saves each of five brothers from trouble in this classic story. LON PO PO (Written and illustrated by Ed Young, narrated by B.D. Wong) T...