Mommy Necklaces

As a mom to 3, 2 of which are rough and tumble boys, I am always on the lookout for durable products...be it furniture, clothing, shoes, or jewelery for myself, I need things to be able to stand up to the test my boys are sure to put them through. When my 4 year old was younger and even still now, if I put on a nice new necklace, he is sure to run right up to me and in an attempt to "look" at it, grab it and yank it as hard as he can to get a better "look". And my youngest is still nursing and likes to "twiddle" with whatever he can get his hands on...my hair (ouch), my shirt, my skin (double ouch), and if I'm wearing one, my necklace.

This leads me to the company and product I want to share with you...Mommy Necklaces!
This is a mom owned and operated business, which makes it a company I want to support...and it helps that the necklaces are outstanding in both style and quality. Mommy Necklaces stands by the craftsmanship of their necklaces so much they offer a 0 to 3 guarantee...if your necklace were to break in any way, they will replace it for you free of charge for up to 3 years after the purchase date! That is something you will not find from any other company of this sort that I am aware of.

Mommy Necklaces are nursing necklaces, but not ONLY nursing necklaces. They are for anyone who wants a fashionable piece of jewelery that is sturdy, durable, and will stand the test of time and the pulling and yanking of your little ones. For your nursling the necklaces provide wonderful tactile and visual stimulation. You can opt for many different gorgeous color combos and several pendant options to maximize your baby's stimulation and optimize your style!

So don't let motherhood frump you, do yourself (and baby) a favor and get yourself a stylish Mommy Necklace...save yourself from baby's wandering hands and monster grip!

Please take a look at Mommy Necklaces here http://www.mommynecklaces.com/ and use discount code : jlizgar for 10% off your 1st order (discount good for 1st time customers ONLY).

Until next time...peace.

Friday Feature ~ A Year Of Slow Cooking!

I have a confession to make....I am in *LOVE* with my crock pot! It has to be my very favorite kitchen gadget, and my most used one as well. Don't get me wrong, I love my juicer and my bread machine but they don't get near as much love and use as my crock pot does!  Nothing like putting in a raw hunk of meat in the morning and coming home in the afternoon to a cooked to perfection super tender hunk of meat :)

So this Fridays feature is dedicated to my beloved crock pot, I don't use you as much as Stephanie from A Year of Slow Cooking does, but I love you and the time you save me none the less!

Stephanie used her crock pot every day for an ENTIRE year in 2008...yes, you read that right, EVERY day for a year! That's what I call persistence, my New Years resolutions are usually broken by the end of January :)

She kept a blog of all the meals she made during her year of slow cooking, she gives the recipe, shows a picture of all the ingredients used, and gives a verdict of how her family liked the meal.
She has even written a book, Make It Fast, Cook It Slow, and has appeared on T.V.

I have used this blog many times to find great new crock pot meal ideas, most of which my family LOVED! If you are ever in need of new recipes for your crock, this is definitely the place to get them. I don't own her book but I'm sure its just as awesome as the blog, I just like being able to get all the info I need online and not having another cookbook cluttering my kitchen space, that is prime real estate I cant afford to give up.

Visit A Year of Slow Cooking and get started experimenting with new exciting recipes for your family today!

http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/

Life, made easier! 2

I want to share a couple more products with you ladies that I think are genius inventions and definitely make life easier!
First up, Foaming soap dispensers like the one above from The Pampered Chef! Its a simple product but it serves such a wonderful purpose...it saves me money! On the side of the pump are 2 lines, the soap fill line and the water fill line, all you do is fill it up to the 1st line with liquid soap and to the 2nd line with water, then gently turn upside down a few times to mix (don't shake) and wha la, instant foaming soap! It only takes a tiny bit of liquid soap to make an entire bottle of foam soap and only 1 pump of foam goes a LONG way! Which in turn makes your liquid soap go a long way, which in turn means you buy it less often and save money...its great! Plus kids love washing up with foam soap, something about it is just more fun that your standard bathroom soap. I have one of these pumps in my kitchen and in all our bathrooms, I just love it!
If you would like to get a few of your own, hit up your local Pampered Chef lady or visit their website and order online at http://www.pamperedchef.com/ordering/prod_details.tpc?prodId=634&words=foaming soap dispenser

This next item I do not own and have never even tried, but when I saw it I got SO excited and will be getting one very VERY soon!
Ladies, let me ask you...have you ever had your hands full? I think ALL of us can answer with a loud resounding Y E S! I mean, we are women and mothers after all, on what occasion do we NOT have our hands full, right?

Let me introduce you to the Beverage Caddi....

It looks simple enough right? Well that is because it is...a simple design, a simple concept that solves a huge problem! All you do to use a beverage caddi is slip the strings onto one of your fingers, yes, only 1 of your fingers and wha la...you are carrying your drink and you can also carry a handful of whatever else you need to carry and you wont drop or spill your drink on yourself...its genius I tell ya :) and I must have one A.S.A.P.

To learn more about the Beverage Caddi and to order one (or several) of your own please visit them at

http://barbco.biz/index.htm

Until next time...peace.

Late Night Entertainment

Oh the things I find entertaining when I'm bored and alone! My hubby had an evening English class last night till 10 and like a miracle from above, all 3 kids were asleep by 9! What was I to do with a completely silent house and nothing to do? Why, look at pictures of cute cats, that's what! There is just something so hilarious to me about a picture of a funny cat with an amusing caption :) So I browsed through the kittehs at http://icanhascheezburger.com/ and had a great laugh! The kind of laugh that brings tears to your eyes...it was great, I *SO* needed it! and because I love my readers and think you deserve a laugh as well, here are a few of my favorites!

Housework Wednesday

Martha Stewart I am not! I actually abhor housework...I don't like doing dishes (even with a dishwasher), I don't like sweeping and mopping floors, I don't like vacuuming, cleaning toilets, laundry, ect. ect. The list could go on and on. I would say "Who DOES like cleaning house?" Buuuut, some ladies actually really do enjoy it (bless their hearts!) My own mother is one of these such ladies, she finds cleaning fun and when bored will clean to give herself something to do, and this is not a trait she passed on to me.
I put off cleaning sometimes until it cant be put off any longer and that is why I'm going to start implementing Housework Wednesdays here at my house! I'm going to cut down my time online dramatically on Wednesdays in order to focus more on my home that desperately needs my attention. I'm going to try and get as much as possible done so that I don't have to stress about it leading into the weekend, because the weekend should be about relaxing, having fun, and spending time with your family, NOT about cleaning the house (unless you fall into the cleaning is fun category).
So, I'm off to do the dishes and vacuum the floors and wash out the toilets and maybe some of you will do the same.
Lets get it done now ladies so our weekends are free!

Until next time...peace.

Homeschooling & T.V.

I decided half way through this current school year to take my daughter out of public school and finish up her 2nd grade year homeschooling her. Being a military family we move around a lot and bless my daughters heart, she has been in 4 different schools since pre K. All of the schools have been great with awesome teachers and not many issues out of the other kids, overall good experiences, until this year that is :(
I made a HUGE mistake assuming that since the new neighborhood we were moving into was a good one with nice homes, very little crime, good neighbors ect that the school MUST be good as well. I was wrong.
There were several factors that came into play when making the choice to pull her out and take charge of her education myself. We had an issue with violence towards my daughter, something we had never had to deal with before and it was scary. We also had an issue with her teacher and the way she chose to deal with her students. Bunny (that's her nickname) was starting to hate school and asked me on several occasions to send her to a private school (an option we cant afford at the moment) or to homeschool her. We chose to homeschool and its gone very well for us! We have networked with other homeschooling families in our area, joined a book club, international fair, field trips, girl scouts ect. We stay busy :)

One thing my daughter loves to do is watch Animal Planet on T.V. She loves animals and L O V E S science and thus is intrigued by a lot of the programming on Animal Planet. We have a very lax school schedule, as in, I don't have a set time each day where we do certain subjects, one day we may do lots of math in the morning time and on another day we might not do most of our school work until the afternoon because of other activities we have going on, it all depends! So, she asks me a lot if she can watch Animal Planet as part of her science work and at first the thought of letting my child watch T.V. as part of her school work sounded utterly ridiculous and I said no. But it didn't take me long to realize that I should have said yes from the beginning. Bunny came up to me one morning and said "Mom, did you know that termites in Africa build mounds taller than Giraffes" I told her I remember seeing pictures of giant termite mounds in one of my text books when I was in school and I asked her where she had learned this as we hadn't gone over it in any of our work together yet...she replied, "Animal Planet!"

Now, we use T.V. a lot as an educational resource nearly on a daily basis! We watch a lot of shows on space and the Universe on the Science Channel, we watch the Smithsonian and National Geographic Channels a lot as well. I think the appeal for my daughter is that it doesn't feel like work, she thinks she is getting to relax and get out of some of her school work for the day when in reality, she is still learning, learning easier and better and enjoying it more than if she were reading these same facts out of a book.

Some may say its a bad idea, that even though its educational its still T.V. and not good for her, but I firmly disagree! It grabs her attention, entertains her and educates her all at the same time! Sounds good to me :)


Until next time...peace.

Body MAGIC!

My weekend was pretty uneventful with very few meltdowns from the kids and several really fun moments, I cant complain about it at all really!
On Sunday I had been invited to come to an Ardyss party at my daughters girl scout leaders home. D (as ill call her) had told me about it a couple times over the last few weeks and she seemed SO excited about the products that Ardyss has available, they specialize in body shaping garments, vitamin supplements and wellness products and skin care and cosmetic products, she had even shown me a couple photos of lady friends of hers before and after wearing the shapers....well that right there had be excited and a definite YES for coming to the party!!! It was amazing the difference in these ladies bodies...the love handles and "spare tires" were gone, back flab was gone, boobs were higher, larger and rounder...it made a big difference that you couldn't miss!

Well...Lord knows I need one of these Body Magics LOL To say I've let myself go since having kids would be an understatement for sure :( After 3 kids I've gained at least 75lbs. from my pre pregnancy weight. Ive tried a few diets but I just love food too much, depriving myself of the foods I love and that taste OH so good is just hard for me, very very hard. Ive also tried being more active and walking my neighborhood with the family, and its not that it doesn't work and doesn't make me feel good because it does, I just cant seem to stay consistent with it...I need a gym membership but that doesn't fit in our budget right now, cause id need childcare for my 3 kiddos which makes it cost more, AND its an expense that has to be factored in every month :( but at least id be more apt to use the gym if I knew I was paying hubby's hard earned money for it each month!

The thing I loved most about the Body Magic is that the results are INSTANT! As soon as you put it on, you drop 2 to 3 dress sizes! It works by moving all your displaced fatty tissues back where they belong, all that flab under your arm pits and around the back near your shoulders, that is all displaced fatty breast tissue! The Body Magic just puts it back where it belongs, giving your breasts an instant lift! It also instantly improves your posture but pulling your shoulders back forcing you to stand up straighter and taller...you really do look leaner AND taller when wearing a Body Magic, its great :)
Its also wonderful for post partum, it helps to correct the damage that is done to your abdominal muscles and helps to put all your internal organs back in their proper positions so that they can function the way they are supposed to do. You know that pooch that sits low on your stomach right above your pubic bone? Those of us that have ever had a C section tend to have a more pronounced pooch that sits at or below our incision point, the Body Magic flattens that! Ardyss also has different shapers that are specifically made for pregnancy and the post partum period, they also make products for MEN (my hubby actually wants one of the shaping undershirts!).

I was so excited when I left the party! I plan to purchase what the company calls a "Power Pack"...it is 299.00 worth of products and you get to mix and match and get whatever you want as long as it totals 299.00. Now, I know what a lot of you are probably thinking (the same thing I initially thought) "Good LAWD that's a lot of money!" But, if you look at what the normal retail is on the products, if you put together a power pack, its actually more affordable than buying your items separately, especially if you are wanting several things (and you WILL want them when you see them in action!). Plus, my hubs is getting a bonus on his next check and my birthday is coming up in June and I didn't get an Anniversary gift this month for our 9th Anniversary (long story, I still love the hubs!) SO, the power pack is what I've chosen as my gift(s).

If you ladies are now sitting on the edge of your seat wanting to know more and wanting to check out these products, please check out Teresa Campbell's website (she was the representative at the party) http://www.ardysslife.com/?ID=symmetricalinc You will not be sorry you did! There are also opportunities to become a representative with the company if you are looking for a way to make some extra money, and this is a great company with products that most all women would use! If nothing else it doesn't hurt to give the site a look just to see if you are interested or not, if not, that's O.K. I just wanted to share Ardyss and the Body Magic with you...I'm glad D shared it me :)

Until next time...peace.