Personalized Fruit? Say No More!

My kids are only 13 months apart in age. The boys born in June, the girls born in July. This makes it incredibly easy at this stage in our lives to have a party... I don't really feel that we need to have separate parties for the girls and the boys, after all do they really know the difference? I will admit, last year, the boys might have been a little put off by the giant pink and purple, castle-styled, bounce house in our yard for their party. But they're no worse off because of it...I don't think.
This year we decided to do a farm themed party. I was thrilled to find so many options for us online, everything from bandanas, to hay bales. I could rent a pony for crying out loud! While we opted to not get the pony, we did decide to get some very cool things for the goody bags. One of which being these incredibly cool personalized Fruit Roll-Ups! I heard about this nifty new creation through the Parent Bloggers Network grapevine and knew immediately that they would be ideal for our party. With hundreds of pictures in the Fruit Roll-Ups Invention Center factory, there is a design for every need! Including our little farm party! So whether you're a Dad, a Grad, or you just want to tell someone not to be sad... They can help you do it! And on a piece of chewy fruity goodness to boot!
So if you're in the market for some fruit-a-licious-ness pop over and order yourself a box, at about a dollar a Roll-Up you really can't go wrong! Get them personalized to tell your kids you love them every day, or to remind your husband to pick up his socks... You can have them say anything after all. If you don't want to BUY a box though you can always WIN them here... Yes, I did say win. How fun is that!! I'm giving away a whole case of these fun fruity snacks!! Yay!! Free!!
So do this... After going to the Neat-O Fruit Roll-Ups website, leave me a comment & tell me what the heck you'd put on YOUR Fruit Roll-Up! I'll pick a winner at random next Monday the 9th. Comments will be closed on the 8th.
And just in case you're actually coming to our birthday party, just do me a favor... Act surprised when you see my cool fruit snacks ok?

My Fair Haired Maiden

One of these things is not like the other...

My baby Lilley, her hair is uber fine. So thin, and wispy... She rarely will leave a bow in her hair and rarely will a bow stay in her hair. Most days I admit defeat before even trying and don't even bother. She pulls them out, gnaws them until they no longer look like a hairbow, and then makes me search her mouth for pieces of said bow. It's not pretty.

Noelle on the other hand, has thick, straight, silky hair. We had been cutting it into a very blunt little bob over the winter. However when Spring rolled in, I made the executive decision to grow her hair out... From there, things got a little out of hand. Her hair has been unruly, bangs in her eyes, ugh it's been ugly.

Maiden America makes barrettes for hair of all types. Thick, thin, silky, coarse, you name it, they hold it. This claim that they make on their website is huge for me... Everything falls out of Noelle's hair. So I put these new clippies up to the test... Unfortunately, they too slip out. I wasn't lucky enough to find the ultimate barrette. They do stay in place for quite sometime, but they slip just like my others do. I was able to put them above a ponytail though and use them as a very sweet adornment. They certainly weren't moving that way! The company has many selections to choose from. Most of which however are a bit too sparkly for my kids everyday wardrobe. I also felt that I might be paying for all that sparkle... the prices were just a bit higher than I'd normally pay for hair accessories (around $8 for one bow). Of course, the bows I normally buy don't have swarovski crystals, the bows I buy are definitely made with toxic glue, and unlike Maiden America, my bows aren't made by hand!

So, with all that said... I like the Maiden America product. I like what they stand for, and what they're all about. But when it all comes down to it, I'm probably not going to spend more than $5 for a hairbow. And with me, it's all about the bang for my buck...

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This Blog was brought to you by Parent Bloggers Network.

Small Feet, Big Style.

Can anybody tell me what I love most about dressing up the kids? If you mentioned shoes, you know me all too well. I know I talk about shoes, and ideal shoes, and shoes that work for us all too frequently, but you know I love love love shoes. Girls shoes WAY more than boys shoes, but I try to keep my mind open.
The girls are currently sporting new Vincent shoes. I'm totally in love with both pairs of them... We have the Maja which is a perfect shoe for pretty much any occasion. It has the rugged look for a run in the park, but the prettiness for a dress at church. It's a really versatile shoe. I do have one small negative about it, the toe has a rubber pad on it. I think this was for kids who drag their toes and thereby make holes in their shoes? Not really too sure. For my kids, it caused them to trip a bit more often than usual. I thought it was just Lilley at first, but then I switched shoes and sure enough, down went Noelle. I didn't have enough of a problem with it to remove them altogether, and I also noticed that the girls seemed to adapt well to the shoe. So it didn't really bother them. Overall, it is a super adorable shoe, and I would love to have it in every color.
The second pair that we have is the Svante. Oh my! Holy Cuteness! This shoe is delightful! I so wish that I had gotten two pairs of this shoe... I adore it! Of course, it's not nearly as versatile as the Maja, but it's not all about the versatility. I'm not always looking for a shoe that the kids can wear to church. Honestly because more often than not, we're NOT in church. We're more often on the playground, outside running, doing fun things... I love shoes that make my life easier. These shoes are totally easy. The velcro on the strap is really full encompassing, and very sturdy too. In fact they are SO great that on Sunday, I was watching Lilley zoom down a slide at a friends house and I was thinking to myself that I should have taken pictures of her in the shoes before they got all muddy... But my friend had a good point, isn't a dirty shoe a better example of a shoe that's well loved? I must say she's right. The shoes look very loved, and they are!! I love the pattern, and really wish that Vincent offered another more girly pattern to accompany our pink flamingos...
Hands down, Vincent is still the place to be for shoes of all types and sizes... And speaking of sizes, they have the most nifty sizing chart that you can print out at home! It was totally accurate and super easy... I love accurate and easy.
*****
For all of you who are new to the Vincent line, and would like to give it a whirl... enjoy 20% off using the coupon code SPRING-DEAL-8; this code is valid for all full-price item purchases at www.VincentShoeStore.us through April 30, 2008.
*****
This review was brought to you courtesy of Parent Bloggers Network.

Poop Is My Life.

...Really it is. I've got the sticker to prove it. I live my life moving from child to child routinely asking, do you smell that? Do you have poop? Lilley/Noelle/Evan/Jack/Will did you poop? To which they always reply no. ALWAYS.
If I'm lucky, they really don't have poop. Usually though, they do. I felt pretty cool yesterday while answering a call on speakerphone and cleaning up a dirty diaper on child number five. It was all pretty routine really.
What throws me into a bit of a tailspin however is when somebody has sat in a diaper, for too long. I would like to say that my kids inherited my fair skin, but it's really a toss up, Jon is just as fair as I am. So the kids were really out of luck from the get-go... When Parent Bloggers Network asked me to take a peek at some Diaper Goop to help combat diaper rashes... I figured I had nothing to lose. I have a few creams and ointments that I rely on for rashes but none that I'll sell my soul for.
When the Diaper Goop arrived I was intrigued. First thing that I loved, was that it comes in a tub. I love a tub. LOVE IT. I hate having to squeeze stuff out of a tube, I'm weird like that. I feel like I can really get my money's worth out of a tub of something, where I can scrape the sides clean... I love a tub. Next thing that I enjoyed was the cream itself. It's lanolin based. I love lanolin... After breastfeeding 5 kids, I have a real bond with lanolin. It did things for me that no other things could... It's also so multi purpose! So after really liking the goop for the purpose it was intended for, I found that it was also good on the cracked noses, chapped lips and hands, and all those other red irritated areas on my kids bodies.
Ok...So the bottom line. I like it. I'd buy it again. I'd recommend it to a friend. AND it comes in a tub, which is a major plus... Did I already cover that?

Relish!

If there’s one thing that I love more than my family, it’s cooking for my family. I love making a meal that makes my husband smile… After all he’s the one bringing home the proverbial bacon, the least I can do is cook it up for him right? Unfortunately for me there’s only so many days in the week, and hours in the day to plan these things. I typically find myself designing a weekly menu around tried and true favorites that I know will please us all. Sometimes though, even the tried and true…get old. So when Parent Bloggers Network offered up a two month free trial of Relish! I jumped at the chance. After a bit of research I found out that Relish! is an online menu planning service. According to their website “We dish out everything you need to prepare distinct, creative dinners, every night, with ease. Relish! serves up affordable meal planning and we supply all of the essentials from easy-to-follow grocery shopping lists to customized menu selections.”

I was eager to get my account started and take a look around…What I found was mesmerizing. A myriad of new recipes, tantalizing ingredients, and even shopping lists to make my grueling trips to the grocery store a little easier on me. The layout is fairly simple; You have a number of different options, you can choose something as simple as the Express Menu, where 5 delicious meals are preselected for you. Ranging all the way to a Kid Friendly, Dinner & a Movie combo, where all of the food is themed with the movie du jour. I was immediately enamored by the slow cooker section, I’m constantly on the prowl for new and delicious selections for our crock pot. Relish! was able to add a few faves to our repertoire.

One of the problems that I had with this service, was that the meals were almost a bit too good! If that’s even possible… Jon has really simple tastes, he’s your true meat and potatoes kind of guy. So offering him Chicken Breasts stuffed with tomatoes, artichokes and goat cheese, along with a side of couscous? It’s one of the few times that Jon has laughed at me. Unfortunately I did have a bit of a difficult time finding recipes that I thought would be crowd pleasers. I was able to tweak some of them, and make them my own, but that’s beside the point…

So would I pay the $7 a month fee for the Relish! service? Probably not… But not because I didn’t like it. In fact I really enjoyed what it was all about, I just really needed something more simplified… Less cloth napkin, more plastic fork, know what I mean? But the ideas behind the service were great, I’m looking forward to the upcoming weeks that I still have left, and for all of you that are interested? There’s a free trial available on their website, you should go check it out!

Clean It Up!

So, I'm going to break some news to all of you...I don't want you to be alarmed or unnerved by this piece of information, OK?
::Clearing My Throat::
Hi. My name is Jessica. I'm a Germaphobe. I am terrified of germs, infections, and bateria invading my body and my families bodies.
Phew! There I said it, I feel a lot better now... I'm sure there are others out there just like me. Folks who refuse to touch door handles, tote hand sanitizer by the gallon, and rarely allow their children to play on public play areas. Needless to say, I'm constantly on the prowl for the perfect products to keep my family safe. With five kids under the age of three, one of whom is in preschool, and just for giggles let's throw in a husband with cancer whose immune system is compromised. HA! Lo & behold, Cleanwell Products came up with a wonderful way to keep my family happy, healthy and smelling good too! Their line of antibacterial soaps were sent to me by Parent Bloggers Network, I was intrigued immediately by the lovely aesthetic bottle. Its sleek design and pretty color looked nice on every sink in my home. The company sent all three of their scents, Orange Vanilla, Lavender Absolute, & Ginger Bergamot. Initially the scent was a bit confusing, we were trying to pinpoint exactly what it was we were smelling... It ended up being the mixture of all of the essential oils, but most prominently the Thyme. It had a very peculiar way of lingering on the skin, we all became quite used to it, but it did take a day or two.
I am absolutely enamored with the way Cleanwell has managed to make this product so friendly, not only to the environment, but to our family as well. There is not a trace of Triclosan in this product. If you pick up any household anti bacterial agent, the likely active ingredient is Triclosan. Cleanwell boasts the use of their own anti bacterial agent called Ingenium. According to the Cleanwell website "Ingenium is the only all natural antimicrobial that meets EPA & FDA standards for germ killing efficacy". "It contains no alcohol, and no harsh chemicals..." It seems to be the obvious choice.
They also have a line of sanitizing sprays that are the cat's meow... Know why? Because they're safe for my kiddos to use. I really didn't like using any of the other brands of anti bacterial products on their little hands. Especially knowing that those fingers were going directly into their mouths... I never knew which was worse, the chemical, or the germs! Now I no longer have to choose! What's even better about the product is that it's now available at my local Target stores. Run out, buy some... Stay healthy during this flu season!

Not Just Any Baby...That Baby!

Thank you Rob & Lisi Wolf. You've saved Me. You've saved me from a lifetime of singing the same inanely repetitive songs over and over and OVER again my head. If I hear Brandy singing that opening song to the Elmo video one more time... gah. So you can understand that a new DVD and CD brimming with music that isn't tinny and over the top silly, made me insanely happy. Truth be told, I didn't get my hopes up... When Parent Bloggers Network approached me to review this DVD/CD combo, I figured "eh, what have I got to lose". However, after I received the That Baby DVD & That Baby CD, I could see that it was different... Based on packaging alone I was impressed, my kids were too! But what really got me, was the awe struck look on ALL FIVE of my children's faces as the DVD spun it's magic web of gloriousness across my playroom. After the That Baby DVD was done playing, the kids literally begged for more... Dancing around the room, they fell in love with the music, and took both Jon and I with them. We as parents are constantly submerged in the shows & music that our kids are enjoying, but it's rare when we too are enjoying it with them. I found myself slipping the CD into the car CD player, long after the kids were out of the minivan... Was I ashamed? Not at all. This is the most family friendly music I've been introduced to in a very long time, and I can't thank PBN enough for sharing it with us.
You too can experience the wonder that is the That Baby DVD & That Baby CD... In my opinion a perfect gift for the holidays. You can buy the DVD for $24.95, the CD for $14.95, or the CD/DVD Set for $34.90 (you save $5). Plus, with orders over $25, you get free shipping and you can save an additional 20% off your purchase when you order here and use code PBN. This knocks the whole kit-n-kaboodle down to under $28!! Also, just to show you how family friendly this company is... They will replace your CD or DVD anytime, for any reason, no questions asked. How many times have you heard that from your kids DVD company? I'm pretty sure I've never heard it...
Run, don't walk people!

**Edited To Add**
I also came across the trailer for the release of the DVD. It showcases some really neat parts of the DVD, as well as highlights some of the wonderful music that you can experience through this DVD. Click on this link, and go check it out!!