• family

    25 Must Have Puzzles

    Are you a puzzle fan? We are too. My one daughter and husband love to do puzzles.  25 Must Have Puzzles My youngest daughter is a puzzle fanatic. From the time she was a toddler we would gift her puzzles and she would effortlessly put them together. It was a captivating thing to witness. My youngest child has special needs. She was born with sensory processing disorder and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder and she struggles with a lot of things. Reading came slowly, but she gradually caught up. She ran almost before she walked and she still has a lot…

  • family

    Free Printable Christmas Tree Coloring Page

    As Christmas Day inches every closer you might be hunting for things to keep the kids occupied. I have always found coloring to be a simple and calm activity to get kids of all ages engaged in. When I ran a home daycare for a brief period when my kids were small, I often gave the kids crayons and coloring pages to calm them down before and after school. I loved the quietness of coloring. Plus for some of the kids it was their opportunity to just be still and occasionally it gave them a great little chance to just…

  • family

    25 Most Popular Dolls Gift Roundup

    I am the Mom of girls. I am more than familiar with dolls and brands of dolls and all their glorious accessories. From pretty much the moment my girls could speak, they were asking for dolls. Dolls for Christmas presents and dolls for birthdays too. This year there may be a couple of dolls on the Christmas lists too. Not saying which ones because my kids sometimes read this blog. Anyways, over the years I have formed some opinions on the dolls that are trendy and the dolls that are timeless too. Barbie never gets old. She is pretty much…

  • family - Health - parenting

    Give the Gift of Fire Safety This Christmas

    Shutterstock photo by Olga Kovalenko Fire Safety It’s the busiest time of the year. As soon as the snow falls the kids start building their Christmas wish lists and everyone rushes around trying to make the season magical. It’s a given, a tradition, and a blessing too to be able to share time with family, even to be able to afford to entertain, to create moments that are memorable and last for a lifetime. Everyone should be able to share the season with their family. With so much riding on the holidays every year it’s not hard to understand how…

  • family - Giveaways

    The Cadillac of Connectivity – Netgear Router #Giveaway

    Excellence in connectivity. I may have mentioned once or twice that we moved this year. Why do I mention it so much? Well because moving your entire family is a big life change and it comes with numerous other small and sometimes tedious changes that can linger, prolonging the experience for months. Don’t get me wrong, it’s all good and it’s worth it. But there are often tiny things that crop up all year after the move. I mean first there’s the unpacking of course and then the settling in and getting reoriented. The reason for my move was twofold.…

  • family

    Christmas Stories: Tin Soldier app and game by Big Fish Games

      Christmas Stories: Tin Soldier app and game made for PC, Mac, iPad and iPhone is a perfect seasonal diversion for almost any age. Christmas Stories: Tin Soldier app and game is a hidden object adventure game that starts with your return from battle. You are a soldier, finding on coming home that the Rat King has turned several people into toys since you left the palace. You must hunt throughout the palace and the city to find puzzle pieces that unlock treasures.   At the outset of this fun game you receive a letter from your friend Albert asking…

  • family

    Limeapple Love and Girls Clothing – Bubble Jackets #TMMGG2014

    We are in love with the cute and warm girls clothing fashions from Limeapple. Limeapple makes great, and age appropriate, girls clothing. That’s important to me. I don’t like to see little girls wearing grownup clothing. Limeapple seems to understand that. They make clothing that moves and works hard with active girls. Payton received this bubble jacket last week and she’s worn it several times. See the feature on the hands that makes it look a little but like a really expensive Lulu jacket? My kids are all over that. This bubble jacket cost half the price of comparable other active…

  • beauty products - family - Health

    DIY Mint Body Scrub for Gifting

    Mint body scrub is a great refresher for any time you need it. It is particularly energizing in the morning when you need a natural boost. This mint body scrub makes a great gift for someone special and is so easy to make. There are just three simple ingredients and it meets the thrifty criteria for sure. Make it and package it up with some pretty adornments. Perfect for gifting! Mint is a great way to perk up both your mood and skin, so this easy to make body scrubs proves to be rejuvenating for mind and body. When skin…

  • family

    Limeapple Girls Clothing: Twelve Days of Christmas Sale

    Limeapple makes the cutest athletic clothing and girl’s fashions Today my daughter’s school held a cabaret concert. My youngest joined the choir this year which is a big deal because she’s never been interested in singing or music. She’s the girl who runs and swims, rides horses and dives, and kicks and does martial arts. She’s my sporty girl, always on the move, so forgive me if we were shocked, but pleasantly so when we she signed up for choir. Choir? Yes, choir. And when she managed to stick with it, we were quietly supportive. Last year music was a…

  • family - parenting

    Frozen Christmas Gift Tags Printable

    Who doesn’t love the movie Frozen? It’s a massive hit here. At Halloween we had half a dozen Annas at our door trick or treating and Christmas promises to be an even bigger Frozen experience because naturally the movie is set against a wintery backdrop.  As Christmas approaches I have to say I find myself getting into the spirit and wondering where I can put a singing Olaf. I’d love to put one on my lawn actually. I have a bit of a Frozen theme happening here this coming month. You’ll see what I mean if you come back regularly…