January 30, 2014
Fun Valentine’s Day Gifts for Kids
Valentine’s Day is quickly approaching and although we show our loved ones we care everyday, we are given a special day to go a little above and beyond the normal.
Growing up my parents always included us in Valentine’s Day surprises. We would always get a small gift as a token of their love. We have continued this tradition for our children.
Every year is a new challenge to come up with a unique gift for each of my boys and their presentation. I love wrapping gifts! We set a total limit of ten dollars per a boy each year for all items. Our youngest son is a HUGE Superman fan and the eldest loves Pokemon and YuGi Oh. Walmart had a great sale on Superman toys and I was able to pick one up for $5.00 and the cards are around the same price. I like to include Dollar Store notebooks (they both love writing so it is perfect for them). A couple of days before Valentine’s Day I head over to the Bulk Barn and pick up Valentine’s Day theme gummies (they are not big chocolate fans unless it is a Kinder Surprise!) and place those in heart Ziploc baggies. This year I am including the Watch Me Grow craft as well!
The best frugal gifts to add in to their little packages do double duty as well for school: erasers, pens, notebooks. It can also be fun to with bubbles, Kinder Surprise, candies and so much more!
How do you celebrate Valentine’s Day with your children?
January 29, 2014
Say “I Love You” – $500 VISA gift card and 10 Canvas Print
Say “I Love You” In-Canvas Sweepstakes
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Turnaround time is 3 weeks.
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Giveaway ends February 12th at 11:59pm, open to US residents only, ages 18+. One entrant per household. Void where prohibited by law. To enter please use the giveaway form below. Good luck!
Disclaimer: The participating bloggers were not compensated for this post. We are not associated with any of the companies named above. No purchase is necessary to enter. One entrant per household. Void where prohibited by law. The odds of winning are based on the number of entries received. Confirmed Winner(s) (by Random.org) will be contacted by email. Winner(s) have 48 hours to respond before a new winner is chosen. The sponsor(s) will be responsible for product shipment to winner(s) of this sweepstakes. My blog is not responsible for product shipment/delivery. This event is in no way administered, sponsored, or endorsed by, or associated with, Facebook and/or Twitter, Google, Pinterest. This disclosure is done in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission 10 CFR, Part 255 Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. Contact theiowamom@gmail.com if you have any additional questions or comments.
January 29, 2014
Snow Snow Everywhere! #WW w/linky
We have had so much snow falling this past week! At one point it was about two feet off the ground (the wind whipping it across the field was not helping!). I managed to capture some shots from this past week. The kids have been enjoying it but I am telling you my poor back is so tired from shovelling!
Link up your Wordless Wednesday post below!
January 29, 2014
“Watch My Love Grow” Children’s Craft with Cathy Thinking Out Loud
Have you met Cathy from Cathy Thinking Out Loud? She is a fantastic blogger, friend and parent! Her blog is full of parenting tricks and tips, travel advice, reviews and so much more! Cathy created this super fun craft to do with our kids! I made mine Valentine’s Day themed so that I could add it to their Valentine’s Day gifts but we will be making a whole bunch more!
To make this craft you will need:
snack sized Ziploc bags (bags needed will depend on the number of crafts you are making) or you can use the small baggies from the dollar store to create ‘pouches’ to tie on a necklace
bean seeds (these sprout the fastest and this will also depend on the number of crafts you are making)
cotton balls or pads (we used cotton pads)
coloured ribbon (if you are going to make the craft into a necklace make sure to have enough ribbon to make the necklace long enough)
Directions:
1. Soak a cotton swab and fold in half. Wet one bean seed and place directly on the swab.
2. Place the bean on the swab inside the snack sized Ziploc bag in the middle of the bag.
3. Seal the baggie ensuring there is no air left in it.
4. Poke a hole above the seal on the baggie with scissors.
5. Thread the ribbon through and tie.
6. Watch the bean grow!
When it starts to grow you can always transplant it to a pot or to your garden. I hope you enjoy this craft from Cathy! Simple, fun and frugal craft to do with your kids. To find more ideas from Cathy head over to her blog Cathy Thinking Out Loud.
January 28, 2014
The Secrets of Happy Families Review
There is no denying the fact that when we are happy in our home life we function better, feel less stressed and communicate better with others around us. Happiness in our home life is incredibly important for our personal well being. I definitely can feel the difference in myself when chaos and stress disrupts our emotional well being at home. I can see these effects in my children in their temperament and behaviour towards eachother.
I love attending workshops and reading books to help me with my parenting skills. Sometimes the information is helpful and other times I feel like it would not apply to our family or is something I could never see myself implementing in our home. I was excited to review The Secrets of Happy Families by Bruce Feiler for many reasons. Who doesn’t want to work on skills to increase their family’s happiness? I am always up for anything that will help my family in the long run!
This book was developed after Bruce Feiler was determined to find the best solutions about raising happy families. He gathered the latest research, team building exercises and problem solving techniques from some of the greatest experts out there. He then tested these techniques out on his family. He developed techniques to help build stronger family relationships, managing chaos, teaching our children values and having fun as a family.
The Secrets of Happy Families starts off with the quote: “All happy families are alike”. At first I did not understand the quote but reading through the book it began to make sense. Happy families all have similar things in common: adaptation, communication and being together. I think we all know communication is important as well as being able to change to different situations but it is usually the how do we do this that is the difficult part. I am in no way perfect – I lose my patience, I can yell, sometimes when I argue with my husband I do not listen to his side of the argument. I know this and I am always open to learning new techniques to help not only myself but our family.
Bruce provides an open dialect with his readers providing easy to follow techniques with valid reasons behind them. He actually offers over 200 strategies to help deal with pretty much any situation your family could be facing! Pretty awesome, right?
My personal favourite technique is one that has been implemented at my work over a year ago. At work we have daily “huddles” first thing in the morning and this is the perfect opportunity for all team members to catch up, share information, talk about what went right and what is going wrong. We have started weekly huddles which are going really well. It is the perfect way for each one of us to have an open forum to talk about what we like, what is not working well for our family and to let each other know what is going to happen in the upcoming week (appointments, practices, staying late at work, etc..). Common sense right? But how many of us actually take the time to work on communicating not only with our partner but our children. By communicating I mean taking the time to sit and listen, understand what they are saying and feeling – not just telling them (something that I have been guilty of many times!).
This is one of the best parenting books I have ever read. Bruce provided concrete examples and techniques that would fit our lifestyle and have actually helped us as a family work together. Life is hard enough as it is why not work to make the home a happy place? I know that his techniques have already started to improve our family dynamics!
To find out more reviews on this book, check out the Litfuse blog tour. To purchase your own click here.
Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.
