Scripture Lullabies

How do you create a peaceful atmosphere in your home?  The quickest way I know of is to put on peaceful music.  Our "go to" peaceful music is Scripture Lullabies.  We now own both volume one and two.  They are excellent, and have blessed our family in many ways.  When the kids are cranky or tired, when I'm stressed and trying to get a hot dinner ready for the family, when we are in the car and wishing we'd already reached our destination, when my daughter can't sleep...Scripture Lullabies has been a source of comfort and help to us.  Many times, my son will even request to listen to it. (His favorite song is Bless the Lord from Vol. 1.  He insists we all sing along to it :) I love that my kids are learning God's Words as they hear the music.  It's beyond awesome to hear them quoting scripture!  Plus, I find myself singing the songs in my head and being reminded of so many good things that God has to say.  Anyway, enough said...check out their website, watch a video, listen to sample songs, and if you like what you hear then use the 20% off coupon code listed below.  This would be a great Mother's Day gift to yourself or get one as a gift for an expecting mother.  However the music is really for any age not just little ones.  I know you will be blessed by it!

http://vimeo.com/33631561

Christmas Gift Review

Thinking back on this year's Christmas...it was interesting to me how some gifts were an immediate hit and others have taken time to connect with.  I thought I'd share a bit about the toys that were an instant hit with the kids.  The common theme with all of them was that they didn't need an adult to help them understand the toy.  It was instantly understandable to them.  

Our gift to K was a new train table. (We bought it at Costco.)  It required a lot of work to put together, about two hours, but worth the effort. He plays with it morning, noon & night!  Last night at 9:30, I found him in his room with a little lamp on happily pushing the trains around the track!

Our gift to M was a Fisher Price (FP) kitchen.  (Ordered on-line from Fisher Price) It was very easy to assemble and has been by far the favorite toy this year.  She also got a FP tea set from her grandparents and that has been well loved also.  We've had lots of tea parties; I love it!!

My sister- Katie- got each of the kids flashlights, and they love them! She bought them at Target, but the photo I "borrowed" from Amazon.  K's is a Lightning McQueen flashlight, and M has Disney princesses on hers.  Need a quick fix to keep the kids content for a while?  Give them each a flashlight!  I've tucked theirs away in the kitchen cupboard for times when they are bored and I need them to play while making a meal.    

Hooded towels and a new doll were also favorites of Miss M. The towel was from Grandma (purchased from Avon), the doll (by North American Bear Company) was from Aunt Kendra (purchased on Amazon).  We have finally found a name for her new doll: Asia!  So sweet.

What toys or gifts have your kids enjoyed this year?  

When Shopping with a Three Year Old...Buyer Beware!

What's wrong with this picture?  Read below to find out!

I bravely made an impromptu decision to head to the mall with my 18 month old and almost four year old in tow.  I needed to pick up gifts for the wedding shower and I had a coupon that was about to expire.  Thus, a trip to Bath & Body Works was in order.

I loaded my daughter into the stroller.  then I popped some snacks into the drink holders, and geared up my son with a monkey backpack.  Really, it's a leash for kids.  He loves it, and it keeps me sane while I try to focus on the task at hand.  Without the harness, he's been known to take off running with great speed.  However, it's not a perfect system as I was soon to find out.

Once inside the store, I decided to have my son carry the shopping bag since he was having a hard time not touching everything.  As long as I keep him productive, we can keep trouble at bay.  (Or so I thought!)  We came to a display of hand sanitizers.  I asked him to get one of each color: pink, green, blue, yellow...  He did great!  We moved on to candles.  They were 3 for 5 dollars.  We picked out six.  Then we roamed the store and found more goodies.  Further back another display of candles, so we picked out some more.  I think my son may have grabbed an extra, or I lost track of how many we had.  At that point in the shopping trip, my daughter was getting tired of being in the stroller.  I was quick drawing toys to keep her happy.  My son was getting antsy and we kept getting all tangled up in the "leash" as he'd go in circles around me.  Good grief!  I staggered to the counter to pay.  Time to pull out the snacks, and remember to use the coupon, and keep my son from melting down if the clerk happened to freak him out by saying, "What's your name?".  While the clerk rang up my items, they were more than I'd planned on, I hustled with the kids back to the soap display to get two more soaps.  They were 5 for $15.  If you only picked out three, you had to pay full price for each of them.  Whatever!  We found said soaps and scurried back to pay for everything.  By then, customers were crowding around us (making my son and me nervous) and I just wanted to get my little circus out of Bath & Body!

The kids did well in the store.  So they got rewarded with a treat, one petite scone each from Starbucks, before we left the mall.  Later that night, once the kids were finally in bed, I had a moment to open the B&B bag 'o goodies and see what I'd purchased.  In the midst of all the items, I discovered a half empty bottle of hand sanitizer with a big "NEW!" sticker on it.  How in the world?!?  Yep, I bought a store sample that had been used by countless strangers.  Ugh!  Ok, it was only a dollar, but this should not have happened.  Checking over the receipt, I also discovered that I brought home ten candles.  One of which I paid twice as much for because they were on sale in sets of three.  Oh well.  I decided to keep the full price candle and enjoy it.  While the candle flickered, I had a good laugh over buying a half empty sample bottle of hand sanitizer.  Instead of saying "NEW" on the sticker, it should have claimed: "USED!"

Next time I head to the mall, I'm going alone!

Hidden in My Heart

On my Christmas wish list: Hidden in My Heart cd with lullabies for all ages.

I recently heard about this new cd through our MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group.  Here's a link to the Hidden in My Heart website: http://scripture-lullabies.com/  You can listen to samples of the songs and watch a video about it.  

Super Sale at Kohl's: cute stuff for $1.00!

We stumbled onto an amazing sale at Kohl's on Sunday: up to 90% off summer clothes for kids!!  Seriously, I purchased shorts, skirts and tanks for one dollar each!  It was crazy fun.  I went back today and there are still lots of items available.  Every department in the store had clearance racks, but the infant and toddler section had the best selection.  This is a great opportunity to stock up on clothes for next summer, or to pick up adorable outfits for future baby shower gifts.  We are getting close to a referral for a baby girl, so I grabbed lots of cute skirts, tops, and shorts for our future daughter.  My mom, sister, & niece were with me, and we had a blast finding adorable outfits for our little girls.  I also got my son a few items too, but there wasn't a lot to chose from in size 4T for boys.

90% off...how often do you find amazing deals like this??  

Adorable shorts, skirts, and tops for $1 at Kohl's