Beautifully Poor

With Summer vacation right around the corner, family time is definitely a huge priority! With kids getting out of school for the summer (YAY!) and hopefully vacation time for working parents, idea's for family fun are what families want! So I have come up with my perfect Family Movie Night , for those rainy days or those nights we are so tired from playing outside we just need some relaxing family time. One of our favorite things to do on a rainy day is to make a tent in the house . You only need a few things: 3-4 chairs to lay blankets on Large Blankets Pillows Stuffed Animals (optional) Arrange the chairs so that the blankets will lay easily over the top to create a "roof" of the tent, then fill in the sides with extra blankets. Lay a soft, fluffy blanket inside the tent for a floor and line with pillows. You can pretty much use anything to lay the "roof" blankets on and depending on how big you want your tent, you may need more than 4 chairs! L...

Do you have a mom? I know those who have had amazing mom's and then those who have either had no mom or their mom wasn't what they should have been. I have seen the affects of the positivity a good mother can bring to a child's life. The love, joy and encouragement they bring to their children's lives is amazing. A mother is an EXTREMELY important role; one that needs to be taken quite seriously. Because on the other hand, the one's who have not had a mother or had a very negative motherly experience have suffered immensely emotionally, mentally and sometimes physically. As a mother myself I have seen the influence I hold over my son. He looks up to me, imitates what I say and do, watches my reactions to circumstances and to people. I am teaching him even when I don't intend to. As mom's, we literally mold our children into habits and reactions. I have been told by my dad multiple times that I am a lot like my mom. I can't imagine why :) and i...

Have you ever wanted to visit a castle? How about a castle made of ICE!? Who would have thought such beauty could be made with some water and LED lights! I must say we were more than impressed this year at the beauty that surrounded us as we entered the beautiful, manmade sculpture. I really liked how there was signs around the castles themselves letting patrons know how they were built. I did really wonder how they accomplished this, so was pleased to find out! Handcrafted ice castle? Why not! I found the prices very fair and cheaper than last year. We ended up going on Super Bowl Sunday and needless to say, the crowd was quite thin. I loved it that way! Made for good pictures and the kids could really enjoy the tunnels and slide without the crowds or long lines. I think that was one of my favorite parts was that we could thoroughly enjoy our time there.  This is really a unique experience we are now looking forward to every year! We went last year and...

Just like most of you, school started today in our home! This is my first year homeschooling and first day EVER homeschooling so today was slightly scary for both of us! It turned out much better than I expected. As you can see from the top picture, Benjamin was pretty unamused this morning with the whole gig of a picture but by the end of the day he was much better at understanding what was going on. At 4 years old the whole concept of school let alone homeschool is kind of far off, especially for him. Since we moved to Minnesota February of 2014 he has been home with me as I taught him preschool. We had bad experiences with the public school system back in Michigan and it broke my heart to hear my 3 year old say he wasn't good enough. Not the outlook I EVER want my child to have about himself.  This year I made the choice to homeschool because he isn't old enough for public school (his birthday being in November and the cutoff is September 1st) and I wanted to kn...

Hosted by Bubby's Mommy Co-hosted by Mom Talk Reviews This giveaway has 1 winner on this giveaway Check out the review for the BeliBea Nursing Bra here Entry -Form **Promotions are in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook, Twitter or any other social media. Giveaway open to US Only unless otherwise noted. Must be 18 years old or older. One winner will be selected in a random drawing from among all eligible entries. Winner will be notified by email. The winner will then have 48 hours to respond or another winner will be selected. Odds of winning will depend upon the number of eligible entries received. The use of multiple email addresses, Twitter handles, or Facebook Profiles is not permitted and will result in disqualification.

My dad holds a special place in my heart. He has done more for our family then most men do. See, when I was 9 years old my mom married him and he adopted myself and my 3 siblings. He took us into his home and raised us as his own. He is always there for me when I need him and is such a wonderful man. I couldn't ask for a better person to have been my father in life than him. We have done a lot of fun things together, just me and him. He took me to Bristol, Tennessee to a Nascar race one year and that was a fun experience for a little kid! We've gone on canoe/camping trips together and I'll never forget the night I actually got to see the Northern Lights on that canoe trip. And those are just two that stick out in my head at the moment. He gave us opportunities we wouldn't have had otherwise in life. He taught me how to drive a stick, and I'll never forget one night out practicing driving and I hit a bear! A BEAR! Who does that??!!! Me and dad LOL. S...

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This wonderful package was sent to me compliments of  Moms Meet  to test and present to you, my wonderful reader! It is a wonderful website that brings healthy and top quality products to mother's to test with groups or for their blogs. Check it out!  Xlear Nasal Spray Economy Pack - three 0.75 oz bottles Back to the wonderful  Xlear  company. Let's start with the award-winning Xlear Nasal Spray. It is a patented saline and xylitol solution that helps alleviate congetsion due to allergies, cold, flu and sinusitis. It works so well because xylitol has been shown to decrease bacterial adherence in the nose. Who doesn't want healthier sinuses? I know for me, when my nose is so stuffy I can't breather I get very frustrated, sore throats due to breathing through the mouth occur and make my cold or allergies even worse. Thanks to Xlear, that hasn't been such a problem this Spring. My husband carries one with him at all times because he works outdoors a lot ...

Tired of all the artificial flavors and colors and high fructose corn syrup infiltrating your families snacks? With a 4 year old in the house who just LOVES fruit snacks, I know the feeling. I dislike buying them and have been looking for a better option to give my son other than those jam packed with things VERY unhealthy for him. Plus, I like good snacks too, who doesn't? If you haven't heard of it, I would like to introduce you to SmartCandy. It is an innovative candy that was created by Eric and Andrea Stoll. Meet them here: Photo courtesy of SmartCandy Like most parents, they want what is best for their kids! So since we know where this idea started, let's look at what the idea has brought to the table, and more literally my kitchen cupboard. There are currently 4 flavors, two for each type. Here is Strawberry Froot and Orange Froot which are a yogurt flavored candy-coated snack.                      ...

I LOVE having fun. The things that bring me the most joy are being outside and seeing my kid have a blast. If all three of us are together, we can create some really fun memories, like we did on Thursday night. It had been raining on and off all day and we were supposed to get thunderstorms, but it was so sporadic and I had brats pulled out for dinner. Everyone knows brats are better on a grill and I just wanted some fresh air. It wasn't cold out at all so I asked Benjamin if he wanted to go on a picnic when daddy got home. He was all excited so I figured, yes, let's make this a good one! I grabbed the cooler and packed it. Made a pasta salad and boiled the brats. Got the plates and silverware, napkins, lighter and everything else we needed for a small picnic, including squirt guns. (It was kinda rainy already, so why not right?) When Lawrence got off of work, which was earlier than usual that day, we put on our flip flops and headed out the door. After loading the...

This giveaway is sponsored by Bloggin’ Mamas Each year approximately 3-4 million pets are adopted from shelter and rescue groups, but 2.4 million healthy and treatable pets still need our help to find a home. I’m reaching out to you on behalf of Bloggin' Mamas, who would like to support the The Shelter Pet Project, a collaborative effort between The Humane Society of the United States, Maddie’s Fund ® , and the Ad Council. To help spread the word, Bloggin' Mamas is sponsoring a $100 Amazon Giftcard Giveaway. The goal of The Shelter Pet Project is to make shelters and rescue groups the first place people turn when looking to get a new pet. In celebration of “National Adopt a Shelter Pet Day” on April 30 and to support “Adopt a Cat Month” in June, Lance Bass (a radio host and entertainer who first rose to fame as a member of NSYNC) has joined The Shelter Pet Project to share the love and joy that adopted pets bring to his life. Bass, his husband Michael Turchin, and their...