New Purex Cookie Scented Laundry Detergent

I am so excited to tell you about the newest product from Purex, I love being a Purex Insider.  Today they are launching their new scent, Chocolate Chip Cookie.  I know right?  What could be better than eating a chocolate chip cookie, smelling like one!  Thanks to the new cookie scented Purex you can do just that.

Purex's newest scent has been specifically engineered to give all your clothes the scratch and sniff of chocolate chip cookies. So after a long, hard day all you need is a few scratches to freshen yourself up a bit.  Purex, you rock!  Is it just me or do you think kids everywhere are going to want to help out a little more with the wash :)  Check out my video below to learn more.  And get more details on the Purex facebook page.

E's First Bite

E had her first bite of rice cereal tonight!  How many times have I said that my kids grow up too fast?

 Getting ready

 Her first bite

 Thinking

A Happy Baby!

This Seasons Biggest Blow-out Sale!

Check out this deal I found.  74% off Australian Style Winter Boots.  They look super cute and they are a great price.  You might get a little wear now (depending on where you live) and you could always save them! Let me know what you think.



Note: If you cannot see the image above this text, you may need to turn off your ad blocker.

Old School Fun with Chick-fil-A & Giveaway

 *** Giveaway Now Closed ***

Congratulations to LC!

The new Nutritious Chick-fil-A Kid's Meals are going to help fuel active family fun!  You can now get grilled nuggets and Buddy Fruits Pure Blended Fruit to go applesauce as options in a kid's meal.  Spring is here and what better way to promote an active lifestyle, and enjoy the great outdoors than with some old school games for your family to enjoy.  The Old School Fun blog app is now available with classic old school games for the family and a fun throwback quiz!  Check it out below.




Just so you know, I am a Disco-Dynamo!

Now, onto the giveaway!  One of you will win three Free Chick-fil-A Kid's meals!

Mandatory Entry:  Take the "Old School Fun Quiz" and share your results in the comments below or share your favorite old school activities from the blog app.  Please be sure and leave your email so I can contact you if you win!

Extra Entries, leave a separate comment for each extra entry.  As you can see, there are lots of extra entry opportunities!

1.  Follow me on google friend (2 entries)
2.  Follow my google+ page  (2 entries)
3.  Follow my facebook page (2 entries)
4.  Follow Chick-fil-A on facebook (2 entries)
5.  Enter my A Perfect Pet for Peyton giveaway (2 entries)

Giveaway will end on April 7th at Midnight. Winner will be selected using a random number generator and will have 48 hours to respond.  If there is no response after 48 hours, I will randomly select another winner.  Open to US residents only, no P.O. boxes please.

A Perfect Pet for Peyton Review & Giveaway

*** Giveaway Now Closed ***

Congratulations to Mindi!

Have you ever heard of the Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman?  Well, I have a great book to tell you about that incorporates this idea for children, A Perfect Pet for Peyton by Gary Chapman and Rick Osborne.

About A Perfect Pet for Peyton: 
This wonderfully imaginative children's hardcover book will help children learn the importance of love.  Based on Gary Chapman's highly successful The 5 Love Languages, A Perfect Pet for Peyton tells an entertaining and playful story of five children who each, with the help of Mr. Chapman and the unique pets at his special emporium, discover their own personal love language.  Children and parents alike will experience firsthand the power of the love languages as they cuddle up and spend precious time together reading this book over and over again.

My thoughts:
I really enjoyed reading this book with my family.  My husband and I are both familiar with The Five Love Languages so it was really fun to introduce this concept to my children.

We followed Peyton and Penny as they have an amazing birthday adventure with their family and friends at Mr. Chapman's Perfect Pet Pal Emporium.  On a side note, I found it very humorous that Mr. Chapman in the book really does look like Gary Chapman, one of the authors!  The twins explore the emporium with their three friends: Jayla, Sofia and Kevin.  Each child is matched with their perfect pet pal in the book based on their love language and that of the pet.

The five love languages are Quality Time, Words of Affirmation, Gifts, Physical Touch and Acts of Service.  All the children in the book portray obvious characteristics to represent each corresponding love language.  In real life, I find that my children are more of a mix at this point - meaning, it is not so obvious to pin point one overarching love language as in the story.  Although by doing this within the story each love language is represented extremely well and it gives children a clear picture of the concept.  On another side note, I really enjoyed that the animals have names corresponding with their gifts.  The meanings of names have been really important to David and I when we name our children so I found this pretty cool.

My children really liked having the interactive activities throughout the book: the scavenger hunt for insects and animals alike!

This book is a bit on the lengthy side; it has a lot of meat and depth (and pages) so for really young children it might be difficult for one sitting.  At the end of the book there is The Five Love Languages quiz for kids.  My children enjoyed this quiz; however, mostly they answered yes to all the questions.  This is appropriate on many levels (as we are a mix of different languages) but it can be difficult to pinpoint their top language with this quiz alone.

The illustrations in this book are really amazing and it is just a fun book all around.  I would highly recommend it to all families.

Now, onto the giveaway!  You can win your very own copy of A Perfect Pet for Peyton!

Mandatory Entry:  Follow me on google friend and let me know, that's it!  Please be sure and leave your email so I can contact you if you win! 

Extra Entries, leave a separate comment for each extra entry.  As you can see, there are lots of extra entry opportunities so don't be shy!

1.  Follow my google+ page (2 extra entries)

2.  Follow my facebook page (2 extra entries)
3.  Follow me on Pinterest (2 extra entries)

4.  Follow me on twitter here (2 extra entries)
5.  Let me know who this book would be for (2 extra entries)

Giveaway will end on April 10th at Midnight.  Winner will be selected using a random number generator and will have 48 hours to respond.  If there is no response, I will randomly select another winner.  Open to US residents only.

Disclosure:  I was blessed to receive my own copy of the book A Perfect Pet for Peyton for review.  All opinions expressed are 100% mine.

Money Saving Mom's Budget Audio Book Review & Blog Tour

Have you ever been to Money Saving Mom's blog?  It is one of my most favorite blogs and I have had her button on my sidebar for forever it seems.  I am privileged to be able to review her new audio book, The Money Saving Mom's Budget by Crystal Paine.

About Crystal Paine: 

Crystal Paine is a wife and homeschooling mom to three young children who has been writing on topics related to frugality for the last five years—and living a frugal, simple, and debt-free life since she was born. Her blog, MoneySavingMom.com, is one of the top personal finance blogs on the web averaging over four million pageviews per month. 

My Thoughts:

I really like that the audio book is read by Crystal herself.  Although I have never met her in person, she is very down-to-earth and I feel as though we are friends.  We are "like-minded" on numerous life issues including money!    David and I have been on a cash budgeting system since 2003, and we've read a lot of books on the subject.  This one easily makes it into my top 5 - it's that good.

So here's the scoop.  If you're carrying a lot of debt (like we were), you need to read something like Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover in addition to this book.  The Money Saving Mom's Budget is fantastic for teaching budgeting skills and strategies for reducing your living expenses - a very important financial concept that Total Money Makeover seriously lacks.  But, you won't learn about things like debt snowballs from Crystal.  If you have no idea what I'm talking about, ask me - or read the books!

I like that Crystal outlines how to do this step by baby step.  She helps take the mystery out of budgeting and how one can truly live debt free.  And you won't find academic theories here - Crystal is living it out, proof that it works.  It isn't always easy, and it takes discipline but it can be done.

I found this audio book encouraging personally - to keep pressing on so to speak.  This was actually the first book I have listened to with headphones, and I enjoyed having it in audio form because I could listen to it while picking up my house or preparing dinner.  The chapters are well divided so you can pretty much listen to it as you can one chapter at a time.

The one annoyance I found with the audio format is the repetition of "... a MoneySavingMom.com reader" for every included testimonial; but I'm not sure how to do this better.  In the print edition, it is easy to get this information at a glance and move on. 

I like that she mentions that you can be frugal without being miserly.  And I absolutely love the fact that you can choose contentment - Crystal gives a clear and strong reminder of this great choice.  There are numerous nuggets of great advice for those who have been budgeting and living frugally for years and for those who are just getting started.  I highly recommend this book.

Crystal has many helpful videos that you can check out here.  You can purchase your copy of this audio book here. 

Celebrate with Crystal by entering her iPad2 Giveaway (a GREAT tool to keep track of your budget!) and RSVPing to the Live Webcast Event on 4/5!

One savvy winner will receive:

• A Brand new iPad2
• The Money Saving Mom's Budget by Crystal Paine, audio edition

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends 4/4/12. Winner will be announced at The Money Saving Mom's Live Webcast Event on 4/5. Crystal will be hosting an evening of chat, laughter and encouragement - bring your friends! She'll share tips and advice and her husband will be joining her to share how the principles Crystal outlines in her book have dramatically impacted their family life. She'll also be giving away some GREAT prizes: gift certificates, books, and much more!

So grab your copy of The Money Saving Mom®'s Budget and join Crystal and friends on the evening of April 5th for an evening of fun of learning, sharing and encouragement.

Don't miss a moment of the fun. RSVP TODAY and tell your friends via FACEBOOK or TWITTER and increase your chances of winning. Hope to see you on the 5th!

Want more info about the MSM?
Click here!

Disclosure:  I was blessed to receive an audio copy of The Money Saving Mom's Budget for review.  All opinions are 100% mine.

Our Amaryllis Bulb

Remember our Amaryllis bulb that we put in water two weeks ago?  The kids put the bulb in a jar full of water and put it on a shelf in our garage.

 Setting up, Day 1

 B holding our bulb after 1 week.  The water became a little gross so we did a water change.

C holding our bulb after 2 weeks.

(We might just have to get a bigger jar)

This is my kind of gardening.