Friday Foto Finish Fiesta.... aka Fx4

Happy Fx4!! Want to join in the celebration??? Head on over to Candid Carrie, she loves it when you play along!!!!

I so miss when he was this young! They grow so fast!!!





Don't forget about my giveaway for Seventh Generation's "Living home Starter Kit"

Monster Go Away Review

Does you child have a monster living in his closet? Under his bed? Scratching on his window? Have you yourself seen a green googly eyed creature running around your child's room? If you answered yes to ANY of these questions then this is the thing for you. Monster Go away Spray...this wonderful product works, I promise you!

My son has a monster living in his closet. It has bumpy purple skin with small green eyes that glow! It keeps him awake with its loud breathing and fishy smelling breath. So let me tell you I was SO EXCITED when Monster Go Away Spray arrived on my door step. I needed to get rid of this creature that tortures my son on a nightly basis! Guess what folks???? IT WORKED!!!! IT WORKED!!!! We are head over heals in love with this stuff! My son was THRILLED that it worked as well. To quote him "The creepy thing in my closet is gone Mom....I think it was the spray...what do you think? Or could it be that I am 5 and almost an adult?"

From their web site:

Monster Go Away! spray is a REAL SOLUTION for children troubled by "monsters". Developed by a mom and aromatherapy educator in 1999 for her son, the spray has been featured on television & in print and gets rave reviews from parents and kids alike!

Formulated with medicinal quality essential oils, Monster Go Away! spray synergistically soothes the central nervous system enabling children to relax. At bedtime children spray where monsters may lurk- under the bed, in the closet, all about the room.

The psychology of spraying monsters away coupled with the aromatic physiological benefits create what every family requires to function: SLEEP! Empower children to overcome the monstrosity that is anxiety and fear. Great for big people too!

A HUGE Thank you to Monster Go Away Spray.....you saved our son from certain death!

Tuesday's Green Tip - Review and Giveaway

CONTEST CLOSED! THANK YOU TO ALL WHO ENTERED!

Hello and welcome to this weeks Tuesday's Green Tip. This week I am doing a review and give away of Seventh Generation "Living Home Starter Kit".

I was so excited when this arrived on my doorstep, I am a huge fan of Seventh Generation's products. We use their laundry soap, dish soap, dish detergent and several of their paper products but I had never tried any of their house hold cleaners until now.

The "Living Home Starter Kit" includes everything you need to clean your bathroom, kitchen and all glass surfices.

Ruby Grapefruit & Herb Natural Glass and Surface Cleaner
Green Mandarin and Leaf Natural All-Purpose Cleaner
Emerald Cypress and Fur Tub and Tile Cleaner
Green Mandarin and Leaf Shower Cleaner
Emerald Cypress and Fur Toilet Bowl Cleaner
Wild Orange and Cedar Spice Kitchen Cleaner
2 Rolls of Natural Paper Towels
Seventh Generation Tote

My expectations were high and they were exceeded! All of the products work beautifully and smelled so delicious. My children even thought they smelled good and of course because they are from Seventh Generation they are 100% natural!

From their web site:

Seventh Generation is committed to becoming the world's most trusted brand of authentic, safe, and environmentally-responsible products for a healthy home. For 20 years, the closely held Burlington, Vermont-based company has been at the forefront of a cultural change in consumer behavior and business ethics.

The company derives its name from the Great Law of the Iroquois that states, "In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations." Every time you use a Seventh Generation product you are making a difference by saving natural resources, reducing pollution, keeping toxic chemicals out of the environment and making the world a safer place for this and the next seven generations.

Now...for the good news.... Seventh Generation is giving one of my readers their very own "Living Home Starter Kit"!

There are 4 ways to enter-Please comment separately.

1)Comment on this post
2)Follow me on my blog or on Twitter
3)Tweet this contest and leave link in comment
4)Blog about this giveaway and leave link in comment

This contest is open to US and Canada residents only and to bloggers and non bloggers just make sure you leave a way for me to get a hold of you

Contest ends Thursday March 5th at midnight. Winner will be chosen by random number generator. Winner will be contacted by email and will have 48 hours to reply or another will be chosen.

Thank you and good luck. Until next week keep it Green.

Check out my other awesome Green Giveaway here.

Quotable Sunday

This week I am choosing winter quotes! We had 9 inches of new snow fall yesterday and I.AM.DONE.WITH.WITH.WINTER!

Would you like to play along? Then hop on over to Toni.

Don't forget to come back on visit over the next couple weeks, I have some great Green giveaways coming up.

Winter is nature's way of saying, "Up yours." ~Robert Byrne

Winter either bites with its teeth or lashes with its tail. ~Proverb

Winter is the season in which people try to keep the house as warm as it was in the summer, when they complained about the heat. ~Author Unknown

I was just thinking, if it is really religion with these nudist colonies, they sure must turn atheists in the wintertime. ~Will Rogers

Friday Foto Finish Fiesta.... aka Fx4

Happy Friday!! Time for Fx4...if you would like to play along go pay Carrie a visit.

I made Valentines cupcakes for the boys....yummy. Later that night I saw this....someone ate the frosting off of one of them! No one fessed up..but I have an idea who it was. The small finger "lines" give it away!

Tuesday's Green Tip

Happy Tuesday...yes I am late but give me a break...I do have a job! :)
I have some very exciting things coming to my Tuesday Green Tips.....giveaways! Yes you read that correctly! Next week I will start giving away green products on Tuesdays Green Tip...very excited about this!

On to today's green tip...rain barrels.

Last summer we had a wet spell for a few weeks and it rained so hard and I could think about was catching the rain and using it to water my plants and lawn when we had our dry spell. I went about looking on the web. Found some great ones, some expensive ones too, but was thinking how much it would cost to ship and the impact the shipping would have on the environment. So my hubby said "Lets make our own". We did some research and found this web site.

We have yet to build them but will be doing so when it warms up a bit. The boys are excited to help us. I will do another post when we build them..stay tuned.

Until next week......keep it Green

It's party Time

Live party tonight with the EM Girls I’m joining in on all the fun. Join us tonight as we party the night away. Don’t forget to wear your pajamas!

Head on over to Extraordinary Mothers to see how you can participate in tonights live party stating at 9 PM EST!

You could win a room make over!

Here is my messy room! My boys room. i told them to clean and this is what the result was???? All the clothes on the train table. UGH!!!!

Quotable Sunday

It is Sunday and that means it is time for Quotable Sunday. If you would like to join go visit Toni and read the rules, they are quite simple. While you are there wish her a Happy Anniversary! :)

Today I choose quotes about children. I am so blessed to have 2 beautiful healthy boys, I thank god everyday for them. They are growing way too fast yet I am enjoying every stage. From my 11 year olds first crush(so not ready for that) to my 5 year old learning to read...I watch them in amazement. They are my life and I want to keep them with me forever! If only I could!


Childhood is the most beautiful of all life's seasons. ~Author Unknown

There is always one moment in childhood when the door opens and lets the future in. ~Deepak Chopra

If you carry your childhood with you, you never become older. ~Tom Stoppard

You can learn many things from children. How much patience you have, for instance.~Franklin P. Jones

And the winner is........

Sky from Seeryus Mama.......go pay her a visit and congratulate her for winning this......

then go and tell SimaG how beautiful her creations are!!!

Friday Foto Finish Fiesta.... aka Fx4

It is Friday!!!! Yippie!! Time for Fx4. If you would like to play along go pay Carrie a visit.

It was "crazy hair day" the other day at school.......I think he looks so cute. Big Guy did not want to participate crazy hair....I guess not so cool for an 11 year old?







Don't forget to enter my giveaway for a hand stamped necklace, HERE

Tom's of Maine Toothpaste winner!

Congratulations to Lace! She won the Tom's of Maine toothpaste giveaway.
You have 48 hours to respond to my email otherwise a new winner will be chosen.

Here is what she had to say

lace said...
I've been interested in Toms of Maine toothpaste. I just haven't made the jump to actually purchasing. Would love to give it a try. I've slowly been switching to all natural products.

Again Congrats and look for more great green giveaways in the near future!

Don't forget about my giveaway for the Hand stamped heart necklace, it ends Saturday.

Tuesday's Green Tip

Hi all...so sorry for the late post, I have had a super busy day. Today was almost 60 F......VERY unusual for Wisconsin....bummer I was working most of the day :(

Today is Green day here on my blog...so lets get started.

Here are 10 simple tips to make your life a little greener.

1) Wash "Ziploc" bags after use instead of throwing them away however do not reuse if meat was stored in them!

2) Wash your laundry in cold water and only wash when you have a full load.

3) Avoid aerosol cans if possible, you can not recycle them

4) When you are in the market for a new computer consider a laptop. It uses 5 times less energy then desktop models.

5) Take your own reusable coffee mug each time you go get coffee. I use a travel mug with coffee from home.

6) Wrap your water heater in an insulated blanket and lower the temp to 120 F.

7) Line dry clothing when weather and season permits

8) Go to your local library instead of buying books

9) Whenever possible use green cleaners

10) Bring you own reusable bags to the grocery store. If you need to choose, go with paper and make sure you recycle it!

There you go.....10 tips to help you live a greener life!

Until next week...keep it green.



Don't forget about my giveaway here. I will post the winner of the Toms of Maine Wednesday AM! Thanks to all who entered.

If you can't win it...... buy it!

So I have an obsession to go along with my addiction and my confession. I love coffee...all kinds and any way.....plain and simple. I LOVE COFFEE.

I have been OBSESSED with the Keurig, not just "oh I would like one" obsessed but more like "I NEED TO WIN ONE I NEED TO WIN ONE because I didn't want to spend the money" obsessed and so I entered and I entered and I lost rack and I did not win :(
So obsessed I took a gamble and emailed them asking for one to do a review on......NO!!!! Not surprised...not enough blog traffic! CRAP!!

Bummer...I was sad. I started dreaming about this machine.... a machine a few months ago I never would have thought of buying. I am all about Starbucks but it can get very expensive!

I would talk about wining one to my hubby all the time. Told him, "no way am I going to buy one...I will win one!" In the meantime I was saving change just in case I did not win one. I had hawk eyes when it came to spotting change on the floor. I would dump my purse out, looking in the car and in the couch. I am not kidding you, this is how bad I needed this beautiful machine.

Yesterday I was in full blown obsession mode blabbing on and on about how cool it would be to win one. I picked up the Sunday paper and there she was....my Keurig at Target with a $10 gift card if you purchased her. WHAT A DEAL!!!!

I slept on it....and dreamed of it again, not really. Last night was about high school people...planning my class reunion and I have been having allot of those. That is a whole other post. Back to the subject at hand...my machine! I woke up this morning and thought hey...I might have enough change. I grabbed my container and brought it to the bank and guess what......NO!!!!! CRAP!!! But oh so close...close enough that I threw caution to the wind and high tailed it to Target and got the last one!

YEP......THE LAST ONE ON THE SHELF! YIPPEE!!! Now I am so wired from all the coffee I drank that will be up to 2 AM! :)

I love my Keurig! :)

Don't for get about my giveaways!!! This one ends tomorrow and this one ends Saturday!

Quotable Sunday

Here we are again Sunday! Time for Quotable Sundays....if you would like to join just hop over to Toni and she will tell you how!

My quotes today are about life.....

Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.-John Lennon

Life is a long lesson in humility. - James Barrie

We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.- Winston Churchill



Don't forget about my giveaways! Click here and here! Watch for more great giveaways coming soon!!!

Hand Stamped Jewelry...GIVEAWAY

Last October I was thinking about my Christmas shopping. I know it seems early but we pay cash for Christmas so we start early.

I was looking for something special for my mother, the woman who has it all. I was searching around Etsy when I came across THE PERFECT GIFT! I was so excited, I knew she would love it and she did when I gave it to her a few weeks later, I told you I was excited and could not wait to give it to her! I am bad that way. Very bad!

Let me tell you about the perfect gift. It is a hand stamped necklace, the exact one I had pictured in my head. That is why I was so excited. There are four small silver discs plus a little pearl. Each disc has a name of one of her grandchildren hand stamped on it. I found it at SimaG's Etsy store she is absolutely amazing! She was able to fit my nephews name, which is 8 letters long on that small disc. I like the fact that discs can be added just in case one or two or three need to be added.

I was so impressed with the necklace she made for my mother that I had her make one for my 12 year old god daughter. Hers was quite simple one small disc with the letter "S" for her first name plus the little pearl. She adored it and won't take it off. Isn't that the sweetest?

The necklaces came packaged in little tin boxes with some lavender , such a special touch. I highly recommend that you go pay her a visit and see her creations. You will not be disappointed AT ALL.

Now I have some WONDERFUL news! SimaG is providing one lucky person this beautiful necklace.

YES! You saw that correctly. One person will win this beautiful customized necklace.
This is open to USA and Canada only. Open to all if you are not a blogger PLEASE make sure you leave email so I can contact you if you are the winner.
Winner will be chosen by random number generator Saturday February 14th at 12:00 noon CST.

Here are the rules :
You can get up to 3 entries for this one
1) Visit SimaG's Etsy store and tell me your favorite creation
2) Follow me on my blog
3) Blog about this contest. You must link to my post and SimaG's Etsy store!

Good luck!

Friday Foto Finish Fiesta.... aka Fx4

Glad you stopped by...don't forget about my Tom's of Maine giveaway and CLICK HERE for another AWESOME giveaway....I am excited about this one!


Now on to the matter at hand....Fx4. if you have never played then head on over to Candid Carrie and see how you can play along!




This was after the last snow storm over a month ago. For reference my husband is 5"11. Most of the snow is still here, it was in the single digits and teens for weeks! This weekend it is going to be in the low 40's and I am excited for our heat wave.

I need help!!!!

OK so you so that number to the right? The one that shows how many followers I have? Yes it says 13 AND IT NEEDS TO CHANGE!!!

Now I was very happy with 12, even 1 was a thrill...the more the merrier is fine of course, this is not the point right now...the point is 13. I am superstitious yes the whole black cat in your path, don't walk under a ladder, throw salt over your shoulder if you spill some...ALL THE WAY SUPERSTITIOUS! This 13 followers thing is starting to bother the heck out of me! So much so that I am blogging about it!!!

So please just one more person follow me..please...oh pretty please with sugar on top?? I am on my knees pleading with you!

I have a confession...........

Yes again I am baring my soul to you, first my addiction and now a confession!! I never claimed to be perfect! We all have our secrets.

I am a coupon addict...freak...what ever you want to call it. If it is not on sale or I don't have a coupon for it , I DO NOT BUY IT. Plain and simple. I have saved a lot of money how much I am not sure. I have decided to keep track of it starting in February, not sure why I never have before. It is like a high to see how much money I can save every week.

There are several blogs I visit on a regular basis to gather my information. The one I visit the most is Common Sense with Money, why her? Well it turns out she is local, thus post our local grocery store coupon deals. Our local grocery store doubles coupons 1 day a week, Wednesdays. There is a catch....only 5 can be double up to $1 and you have to spend $25 and use your savers club card. She figures all of this out for me and I thank her for that!

Another great one is STL Mommy...she has the most in depth Walgreens sale and coupon match up I have ever seen!


We cannot forget about $5 dollar dinners.......The Grocery Cart Challenge ($60 a week for a family of 6 AMAZING!) and oh so many more. I feel bad that I can't mention all of them. There are so many...so many great ones all filled with tones of useful information.



Well there you have it...another secret...this one I am proud of.

FYI last weeks total grocery bill before coupons $141.90 total AFTER coupons/sale items $82.29 that is a savings of $59.61.....WOW!!! I was even impressed with that.

Tuesday's Green Tip and Giveaway

Happy Tuesday....so excited that February is here. the days are getting longer but that darn Groundhog saw his shadow and it scared him back into his burrow for 6 more weeks. I question the reliability of that! :)

On to the topic at hand...Green Tip.

Today we will revisit the bathroom we visited this room here. Today we are talking about toothpaste.

There are several brands of natural toothpaste Jason, Dessert Essence and Toms of Maine are just a few.

I am a fan of Toms of Maine, have been since high school and this is what we currently use. My husband and I use their Natural Whole care in winter mint, it leaves your mouth nice and sparkling clean. The boys use their children's Silly Strawberry but occasionally use ours, they both like the natural minty taste.

Toms of Maine is dedicated to making all natural products that are never tested on animals. They produce their products in an environmentally substantial manner, in fact ALL their product containers are recyclable. Check their web site here for more information.

You can purchase Toms of Maine toothpaste at most major retailers and drugstores. But why go buy it when you can win it here.

Up for grabs are two tubes one tube of Natural Whole care -anti cavity, tarter control plus whitening with Fluoride in winter mint and one tube of Children's Silly Strawberry anti cavity fluoride.

GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED

There are 4 chances to win enter

1) Leave a comment on this post
2)Blog about this, make sure you post link
3)Tweet about this, again leave link in comment
4)Grab my button

I will pick a winner by random number generator on Tuesday Feb 10 at 11:59 PM. Winner will be notified by email and will have 48 hours to respond. Giveaway open to US only sorry. If you do not have a blog PLEASE leave your email so I can contact you!

Until next week...... keep it green!

Check out my other contest here!

Quotable Sunday

This is my first post for Quotable Sunday hosted by none other then Toni from A Daily Dose of Toni .
Come play along.

I am sticking with the love theme....

Love is a promise, love is a souvenir, once given never forgotten, never let it disappear
-John Lennon