The Barbies are dreaming, dancing, laughing, growing, breathing live stories into my daughter’s pink room again. In my daughter’s hands, their adventures are never dull. From the time my children were first adopted Barbie has been a big part of their lives in this house full of girls. When I speak to groups of potential adoptive parents I always tell the story of my children becoming sisters. And the Barbie’s role in that process is key.From the start my oldest girl loved her Barbies. She was not yet three when this Midge doll in full painted bikini was gifted to…

A photo of birth Mom and birth Dad sits in Ainsley’s room on her dresser. It is impossible to miss. A paper printout captured fast, by Ainsley’s first fostermom, a gut reaction from an experienced foster parent who instinctively knew they were about to run. Caught in a lie of some sort involving drugs, alcohol, crimes that may or may not have meant they could parent a baby. The day after the photo, they fled the hospital. I am grateful to the core of my being for this tangible thing my daughter has, ever so small a mirror of her…

(This is a sponsored post – Conte’s Pasta has sponsored me for Blogher ’12. ) In 1970, Angela Conte came to the U.S.A from Italy with her husband and three sons. They arrived in New York and moved to the suburb of Boston, MA. Angela Conte was an avid watcher of her mother and grandmother and she learned well the passion of creating fresh pasta. At a very young age, she spent many hours in the kitchen learning how to build semolina flour into fresh pasta dough. Many days, the grownup Angela, she would make pasta for her family and…

Now, I am not gluten free. Not right now. I have been at various points in the past due to my health issues. And for a time my youngest child was gluten free also. While she didn’t have an allergy to gluten, we were trying the diet to see if she responded due to behavioral concerns at that time.  Despite that disclaimer, I want you to know that I have dozens of friends and dozens of my friend’s children also who are gluten free – for a whole host of reasons. Some are required to be off all traces of…

This is a sponsored post. I have tested this product out and my opinion is all my own. No great secret to my readers that I love a good deal. I adore passing them on to you too. So happy I have found CouponCodes.ca, a great tool to save you more money. In this economy we all need as many magical dollars in our pockets as possible. And pennies too, well, as long as they are around.  So first off, the variety of stores and brands represented at Coupon Codes.ca is magnificent. I searched the Sears tab and found a…

While some of us are away at the biggest blogging conference on the planet, we thought it might be nice to host a giveaway for the rest of our readers. This is a giveaway hop hosted by MAMANYC.net and bloggerpr.net and every giveaway is valued at at least $25.00 so there’s something for everyone. Pay attention to the details because every entry is different. I am giving away some children’s entertainment items to help you finish the summer. I have a children’s DVD, a Disney Princess pencil case and a Littlest Pet Shop creature for some lucky winner. Obviously girly…