Showing posts with label recommendation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recommendation. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

thank you's






Everyone have their thank you notes written? Yeah... they had a full extra week after Christmas off from school, and I still haven't had my kiddos sit down and write (ok, draw, for Zane) their thank-you's. While surfing today, I came across these free printables from Organizing Homelife. I'll let Lynn off the hook this year and just let her fill in the blanks. They are super cute!

I always get comments from my mom and grandmother, about how much they appreciate thank you cards from all of us. My husband and I still write them as well. I enjoy receiving cards in the mail for any occasion, so to write a simple thank you note is definitely something I aim to remember and get out, especially at Christmas and birthdays.


Monday, November 21, 2011

free birthday card

Ok, I know you might be tired of this, but I can't be tired of free... just ordered a free personalized birthday card from Tiny Prints this afternoon. Same deal as before - today only - pick a birthday greeting card, add your photos and personal touches, then it ships for free to you. My $4 card became free with code FREEBD.

Since we don't have any family or friend birthdays until March (weird, I know, but there aren't many winter babies in my family), I decided I would get this card...

find it here


...and put Zane's photo in the photo spot (with no wording under it). I'm then going to cut and frame it as a memento of his second birthday earlier this month. :)  Fun!


I did find these, though, and thought they were adorable as well, for the ladies in the family:
find it here

This would be super fun for your little fairy. Who doesn't like a great maze to go along with a birthday wish?
















find it here


This cupcake tree would be perfect for my best friend. Ah, to feast on a tree's worth of cupcakes... oh man, yumminess.















Have fun... and happy birthday to whomever will receive your personalized creation :)


Disclaimer: Affiliates links are contained within this post.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

free Tiny Prints Thanksgiving card

Re-posting this today as Tiny Prints is again offering a one-day offer for a free Thanksgiving card! And, since I have already received mine from when they offered this two weeks ago, I can add that the quality is great! The color of my photo turned out right on target and I was impressed with the thick, nice quality of the cardstock used. It was also pretty nice to have my return address already printed out. I wasn't sure which grandparents would be getting this, otherwise I could've had them type the recipient address as well - free of charge. Their quick turn around time will get this to you in time for Thanksgiving for sure.

If you didn't take advantage of this last time, go create yourself a personalized Thanksgiving greeting card through Tiny Prints - for FREE!

Here's the link. Go check it out yourself. Huge selection, not just for Thanksgiving, but for holidays throughout the year!

The promo code that you'll need to use is: FREETHX11. It expires tonight so get creating!

This is my second post of the day - be sure not to miss my giveaway which also went live this morning!

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

FREE card - quick!

I don't know how many of you will catch this before midnight PST tonight, but I will try...
I just finished creating a personalized Thanksgiving greeting card through Tiny Prints - for FREE! It looks adorable (of course, I am partial to my children's photo that's now inside) ;)

Since my family is hungry for a late dinner, here's the link. Go check it out yourself. Huge selection, not just for Thanksgiving, but for holidays throughout the year!

The promo code that you'll need to use is: FREETHX11. It expires tonight so get creating!

Another promo going on right now is that they are offering up to 5 free holiday card samples. Just use code 5HOLIDAY. This expires 11/8/11. 
 
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links.


Thursday, September 22, 2011

Imagine

Tonight is the night! Bags are (not) packed... house is (not) cleaned... dinner is (not) planned... however I am leaving town and heading to the Imagine, Women of Faith conference!
I am looking forward to a relaxing, introspective, convicting, refueling time with my mom (and a couple other thousand women). I will be hearing from Shelia Walsh, Luci Swindoll, Lisa Harper, and Ken Davis. I'll be jamming with Mary Mary and Natalie Grant and laughing my head off at Nicole Johnson. I'll leave my children in my hubby's very capable hands, tweet and update or two, but talk to yall next week!

Just in case you've never heard of it, here's a preview:

Monday, June 20, 2011

toys, toys, toys!

I'd like to recommend a terrific children's learning toys website to you all: ebeanstalk.
I have mentioned this website a few times on my blog, but was asked to give an updated review. I decided to just go ahead and break it down, bullet-style this time, however I encourage you to explore their site yourself. Whether you need toys for babies or older children, I think you'll find this site a great resource for determining age-appropriateness, as well as a great site to purchase from.

Super
-likes:
  • toys are categorized by age and gender; the left side bar offers 1-click selection to the appropriate toys
  • the quick glance details on each product page: "product status," "included with this order," & "product details" (every toy is backed with a 30 day return policy)
  • ability to search by brand (sometimes I know I want a certain brand but don't know the exact toy I want or what it's called)
likes:
  • features like "wishlist" and "birthday reminders" (this will be great when I have nieces or nephews to buy for!)
  • online chat support (sooo much easier than picking up the phone if I have a question)

nice, but I probably won't use it:
  • the grow & learn series (I guess this might be great idea for a grandparent to give as a gift, but in my experience with my 2 kiddos, that's just way too many toys over that short of a time period, lol)
  • downloadable coloring pages
Something that caught my eye while surfing the site: stacking toys. I just reorganized Zane's toys this week and put together a tub of blocks and large legos. He likes to stack (& of course knock down!)
This is a little too young for Zane now, but wouldn't this have been adorable for his first birthday!? Cute!


Disclosure: I am receiving compensation for this review, however I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Sunday, April 3, 2011

please consider

I've got a quick, but potentially huge "thing" to pass along to you...
This blog post is cut and pasted from portions of an email from a blogger (& real life) friend of mine, Dana Schmoyer. Her hubby is a past youth minister with a pretty neat opportunity...

She says,
"During this time of transition [recently left their current church/position] God has opened up a whole new world of youth ministry online for us. Through Tim vlogging our family almost daily we have had numerous messages from teens and even some adults who are struggling with some tough issues in their lives. These messages gave Tim the idea to set up a YouthQuestions channel where teens can submit questions anonymously to have answered by a team of youth workers.

And currently this week Tim made it as a semi-finalist in the YouTube NextUp contest promoting the Youth Questions channel. Everyone has a chance to vote once a day until this Friday, April 8th. Click here to see his video and give it a thumbs up!

Not only would it allow Tim to get more education and skills on something he is passionate about to help a new way of ministering to teens and youth (something he is even more passionate about), if he is picked as the top 25 YouTubers then Tim gets:
  • $35,000 in funding to produce a new project, purchase new tools and advance my YouTube audience
  • A spot at a four-day YouTube Creator Camp in which he'll benefit from one-on-one mentoring and learn an array of production techniques from leading industry and YouTube experts
  • Site-wide promotion of his final work and channel across YouTube
This could be an amazing opportunity for helping so many teenagers online hear Godly voices and influences about the real issues they're experiencing every day. [italics added]

Please vote every day until April 8th and hopefully we can bring a Christ-centered message to impact teens all over the world through YouTube!!"

Watch Tim's video and vote!

Thank you for considering supporting this idea with a "thumbs up." I'm not a big YouTube watcher, but believe that the potential is incredible for a Christian message (revival?!) to take off via this channel (haha, no pun intended) ;)

Friday, December 10, 2010

the "i love you" sign

A certain (online & now brick-and-mortar) shop came to mind the other day...

I was dropping my (2nd grade) daughter off at school and treasure that she still gives me a kiss on the cheek when parting ways. We also use the "I love you" sign often, usually when her daddy takes her to school, as they're pulling out of the driveway, we sign to one another. I will never forget that when she was in kindergarten, during her Christmas show, during a pause between songs, she caught my eye in the audience, shyly hid her face behind her hand, and signed "i love you" to me. OH BE STILL MY MOMMY-HEART. I melted. It was just her and me at that moment.

Erin, at The Vintage Pearl, has a sign language "I love you" necklace... I admire all of Erin's work, but think this would be especially meaningful for the two of us. I don't ever want Lynn to lose that childlike sweetness!

After spending time together "rekindling" our mother/daughter relationship last weekend, a gift like this would truly be treasured by both her (and me).

If you like Erin's work, she's now giving away 5 $50 gift certificates on her blog!

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

The American Patriot's Almanac by William J. Bennett and John T.E. Cribb

Let me first just say, what a tremendous book! This will be incorporated into our family time...
This book begins with a preface and introduction that makes me so incredibly proud to be an American. It makes me even more ready to begin our transition to a military family.
The set up of a daily reading of what the date marks in history makes it easy read, and also highly informative. I like that they highlight one event, but also list out about five more additional events as well.
The authors include a ton of stuff in this book! Not only can we read about a date in history, we have an immediate reference that includes The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, The Emancipation Proclamation, The American's Creed, songs, poems, prayers, quotes and information about U.S. (& even individual state) flags. That doesn't even begin to cover all the "extras" within this Almanac.
I, my husband, my seven year old, and my one year old, are learning (relearning) so very much about our great country.
It is a well put together piece, in terms of what it contains, but it is also impressive in it's physical binding and printing.
No negatives - go out and add this to your family's library!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

about time to think about Christmas cards!

I've been really busy lately with photo sessions, taking photos of families and children, with the clients' intent of using them as Christmas cards and gifts. This has lead me to think earlier about my own Christmas cards this year! We go back and forth - some years we send a traditional card and include a family photo loose inside with our update letter and other years we have done photo cards and then just sent those with our letter... this year, after surfing around Shutterfly's cards, I'm leaning once again towards a photo card. I have more than one image that I'd like to send out and there are some really adorable Christmas photo cards that give me the option of 2 or more photos. I mean, I have 2 kids so they each need their own spot and then what about me and my hubby?!

Look at this one. I have a great family photo cropped down to a 5x5 plus then extra spots for the additional photos:


And then I saw this one. I like the idea of "joy" for Christmas:


Or, maybe I should go with bright, traditional colors and pick this one:


Ah! The possibilities are limitless!

Hmm... they also have invitations... we are having a Christmas dinner for our community group at church and inviting outside guests to join us...


I just love Christmastime! It's a great "excuse" to reconnect with friends and family that I haven't seen or chatted with in awhile (Facebook does not count). It's also a great time to connect with new friends and to deepen relationships. How will your cards and invitations allow you to do that this year?
Do you normally send out photo cards or send a photo with your Christmas card or forget photos all together?

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

hello. My name is Mrs. H...


... and I am still a babywearing mom. After much debating, I settled on the Ergo carrier for our next adventures in babywearing. I've used this new-to-me Ergo about six times now and Zane has done tremendously! Even better than that... my back has done tremendously! No pain at all in my back, shoulders, or neck with this soft-structured carrier. Hooray!!

Thursday, October 14, 2010

"Things I love Thursday"


Need I say more? I really, really like my Keurig coffee brewer and a variety of k-cups!
My favorite coffee flavor right now is Gloria Jean's Butter Toffee.
Anyone have any other recommendations? What are your favorites?

Mm mm, I might just have to go brew a cup now just thinking about it. I could certainly use a cup of coffee right about now. Had a crazy day yesterday and today is no less exhausting. I'll blog more later. Oh, Mr. Keurig, wake up...

Sunday, October 10, 2010

the basics

Surfing around tonight and belatedly found this series at my3boybarians. I am so excited! 31 Days to a Better Photo. Darcy is spending what must be an unbelievable amount of time putting these posts together - what a wealth of information for beginners! She's got plenty of diagrams and photos in each post to describe what she's teaching. If you have any interest in moving off of "automatic" and into "manual," bookmark this series!
Another place to check out, if you're more of a video learner, is The Art of Photography podcast series. These 5-10 minute podcasts have been great to watch during lunchtime. Ted Forbes does a good job explaining photography terms and ideas with plenty of examples.
There are so many wonderful resources out there. So many talented individuals! Let me direct you to one more site I found: Ann Marie at Household 6 Diva compiled a link list of places that she's found helpful. You might find something there that will help as well.
Happy shooting!

Friday, May 14, 2010

ebeanstalk - toy review

A couple of weeks ago, I signed up to receive a new, unreleased product from Ebeanstalk for my review. Along with it, I was also asked to review a product that they sell now on their website.

The product I reviewed is called the Whoozit Baby Photo Book.
Some of the perks, or positives, of this toy:
it's a book - I love to read, so to have a book to flip through with my son, that's baby proof, to begin instilling a joy of reading, is always a positive!
the colors
- my son was immediately drawn to the bright colors. He reached for the book almost immediately when it was put before him with other toys.
the
handle - at six months, my son still likes "links", so anything with a handle or link is a sure bet that he will hang on to it and explore further (& put in his mouth). :)
multiple pages - Zane is able to page through the book and reaches for them individually. Although I know he doesn't "read" per se, he has the ability to focus on each page individually, especially with photos of people in them!
the photos - this is fun, as I was able to put pics of relatives in them and call them by name to reinforce for him who "mom mom" and "granddad" are.

Ways to improve the toy, or what I feel it's missing:
noise - NO, not batteries - but crinkles and texture to make the pages appealing to grab. I get that the appeal of the book is the photos, but my son will reach for other books of similar nature that have crinkly sounds over this one.

Ebeanstalk is a website dedicated to selecting great baby toys and toddler toys. They rely on the opinions and feedback of bloggers and moms around the country to continue selecting great toys to sell. Their team of child experts also helps them pick out learning toys to make sure your child gets the most out of his or her playtime!

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

ebeanstalk - review

I was asked to review a website and thought I'd pass along my thoughts to yall... 3 words: check it out! Ebeanstalk.com is very easy to navigate and very easy to read. I am a huge fan of the breakdown in the left sidebar. They have toy categories broken down by age and gender. How terrific! When clicking the "Toys for 2 Year Olds" - "girls" I was immediately brought to a page of products to scroll through. I also like how under the product there are tabs with description, features, and safety. This seems to be a wonderful site to go to for all the birthday parties in your schedule. You'll find unique gifts and have no doubt if they are age appropriate.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

a little etsy love

If only I had a gift certificate to etsy for a thousand bucks...

I'd start here... And while I was sipping my nice, hot coffee, I'd shop for my kids first (of course).
I'd start to order this and then remember that I have a baby boy, so I'd get this instead.
For the big sister, who is so proud of her role, a bright purple tshirt.

For serving whatever wonderful meal I'm cooking that night, I'd get this platter to serve it on.
Then, to snuggle under while we're reading our night time story, we'd have this, made from all of my husbands hundreds of tshirts that he can't bear to part with. ;)
Since my hubby enjoys bicycling I'd surprise him with a (mountain biking) tshirt of his own (since he just got rid of the hundred t's to make the quilt with ;)
Since everyone got something, now I can order another little something for the mama... (Since mother's day is coming up after all).
Oh wait, one more thing... in honor of our 9th wedding anniversary, I'd order this for our home. Bicycle built for two! Too cute :)

Ah... what a fun shopping trip.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

whata deal

Diaper deal! Have you been to Diapers.com??
Had to share because I've been reading about this and FINALLY cashed in on it. Yes, I have moved to using cloth, however I still use disposables at night and when running errands. (Cloth mama's don't be disappointed in me, I promise I'm trying!) This site also stocks a few cloth diaper brands (including gDiapers), so if you use cloth I encourage you to check it out as well.

Ok, so here's an example of a deal. It will work with any diaper brand, but for us Luvs seems to make sense...

(1) Luvs extra large case $35.99 (size 3 has 204 diapers)
(2) Luvs jumbo packs $7.99 each (size 3 has 36 diapers each)
Subtotal = $51.97
(orders over $49 receive free shipping & the opportunity to use the promo code below)

Use promo code HART2322 at check out to get $10 off!
Final cost = $41.97

Then submit the rebate form here and get $14.97 back!

Final, final breakdown:
$27 for 276 diapers, or 10c per diaper, about $3.50 for a jumbo pack. In my Walmart, Luvs runs $7.97 per pack, so by going through diapers.com it's half price.

Instead of the 2 jumbo packs, I actually got the gDiapers flushable refills so that was 14.49, when combined with the extra large Luvs case, brought me to just over $50 (+ tax for my state). After the $10 promo code (see above) and the 14.97 rebate, I'm down to $29 for 204 Luvs + 32 flushable inserts to try in the gDiapers. I'd like to see how the flushables work in the gDiapers.

Anyways, it seems like a really great deal. I'll update to add when I receive them all, however they ship FedEx and should be here within a day or two. Diapers delivered? Not a bad idea :)

update: They arrived when promised! Easy, simple service. Terrific idea!

Thursday, January 28, 2010

chapter books

Last night, Lynn and I were reading together from a chapter book. Our latest is James and the Giant Peach. With some editing (my, those aunts are evil!), she's been enjoying the fanciful idea of living inside of a giant peach.
I also just ordered a few books from Children's Book of the Month Club (via bonuswii.com) and am excited to see how Lynn will like them. I got a trio of books by E.B.White (Charlotte's Web, Trumpet of the Swan, & Stuart Little) as well as a set of Ramona books by Beverly Cleary. I remember reading Cleary's books when I was younger, but have no recollection of them now except that I liked them. I hope they're good! :)
Some of the newer series' that Lynn enjoys are Junie B Jones and Nate the Great. We've gotten several of these out of the library and have enjoyed them.
Do you have any recommendations - new or classic? What chapter books do you read to your child?

Monday, January 25, 2010

project life

edit: Becky is giving away three free print-outs from the digital version of Project Life. Click here to enter by 1/27.

I'm so excited ~ I am a scrapbooker at heart, despite me officially "giving up" the hobby last year due to space and time constraints. Somehow I stumbled upon this new company/product and I am super excited. It's called Project Life and is a scrapbook system that sets you up with all the supplies necessary to capture each day of your life for one year. She gives several ideas or "inspirations" that are a variety of the 365 day/photo idea, but I have been snapping pics (almost) every day this month and jotting down a few notes with those pics for future journaling and can't wait to capture what God is going to do in our family's life in 2010, especially with the upheaval in our lives that has occurred already in 2010. She offers a digital version as well, due to release soon. I emailed the product to my hubby for a Mother's Day idea and he's given me the go ahead to order now so that I can begin work on assembling it. I ordered it and am eagerly awaiting delivery.
What do you think?

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Wii anyone?

Free wii? No kidding. I'm working towards getting a wii for free and wanted to pass along the opportunity to you as well. Ok, don't tune me out... although it sure does seem like a long shot, I've heard about the Bonus Network from a regular reader of my blog (& IRL friend) and am taking a stab at it.
Check it out via this link.

Since he is an "expert" at it, receiving many "toys" for free (right Dana?) I'll post an explanation from Tim Schmoyer:

How it works

1. Companies (like Blockbuster, for example) are looking for new potential customers to try out their products and services.

2. Blockbuster goes to the Bonus Network and says, “Hey, we’ll give you $80 for every customer you send our way to try out our online DVD rental service.” (Some advertisers pay Bonus Network $80, some pay them $40.)

3. So Bonus Network comes to you and says, “If you try out Blockbuster’s service and refer other people to try it through us, or one of our other advertising partner’s services, we’ll split the $80 with you for each person you recruit.”

4. You try out Blockbuster’s service and get 6 (7, actually, for the Wii anyways) other people to try it, too (or another product/service offered through Bonus Network’s site) by giving your friends and family a special link that Bonus provides for you to share. (Of course, your friends can then get people to sign-up under their special link so they can work toward a free prize, too, but know that the people they refer have no benefit for you.)

5. After your 6 (7) friends try a product or service, Bonus Network says, “Thanks! We’ll give you $240 ($40/referral x 6 referrals) or an iPod Touch. Which do you want?”

6. About a week later, your prize shows up in the mail, or your money shows up in your PayPal account.