For all of 2010, my other blog A Blog of Goodies had housed my year-round gift guide, on which I showcased my favorite products reviewed on 3 Garnets & 2 Sapphires. After much thought, I have retired the gift guide. I had to admit to myself that it was a struggle to maintain it, especially towards the end of the year. So I had to decide what to do with A Blog of Goodies. I was not yet ready to sell it off along with the domain name, so I made a proposal to my husband, who is a guest writer for 3G2S, about co-writing a shopping blog catering to both men and women . . . and he accepted!
So, if I seem a little quiet lately (for me that means down to publishing only one post per day), I am just spending a little time redesigning my other blog. Hopefully, it will be done in a week or so. Luckily I have help from my good friend and graphic designer Lucy Montgomery. I could not find the perfect clipart for the reinvented A Blog of Goodies, so Lucy has been helping me customize the clipart I have chosen. Speaking of new ventures, Lucy has just launched her new business Aryflower Press & Design. She can do anything from creating custom WordPress blog designs to custom business card designs to custom Facebook pages. Here's hoping that 2011 holds success for all our new endeavors!
Friday, December 31, 2010
I want to share a neat little gadget I purchased for just $9 from Genevieves.com through the fall fundraiser for my son's elementary school . . . the Whale Faucet Fountain. This little whale slips over the end of your faucet to turn your tap into a drinking fountain. The part that fits over the faucet is rubber inside and should fit snugly around most styles of faucets. If it is on correctly, the water should flow freely through the belly of the whale. You should also be able to use your hand to close the flap that covers the belly without any obstructions from the tip of the faucet.
When you hold that flap shut, the water is forced out the whale's blow hole, thus turning it into a drinking fountain. This is a great way for children to rinse their mouths after brushing their teeth. I do recommend that you do not turn the water on high because it could make the water shoot past the sink onto the floor instead of over the sink. Also, if your child is not gently with the whale when closing the flap, he or she may shift it, causing it not to sit properly on the end of the faucet.
Although
Genevieve's is a site that focuses on school fundraisers, I do believe you can bypass the school information and order products on this website just like any other online retailer.
This article was based on my own personal shopping experience. I did not receive product or compensation in exchange for sharing this experience with my readers.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
From sleep, to staying healthy, to growth impairments, and even avoiding infections, Special-Needs Kids Go Pharm-Free covers most aspects of true health in children, and especially special-needs children. It offers parents a non-pharmaceutical approach to health for children. The author, Judy Converse, a dietitian specializing in children, does an excellent job of breaking down nutrition in a way that’s easy to understand, yet not condescending. She explains all aspect of nutrition and how and why diet can dramatically change a child’s behavior and prognosis. Stepping in where many doctors have failed parents, Converse clearly knows what she’s talking about when it comes to health in children.
“Despite more options for children than ever before from the pharmaceutical industry, more doctors’ visits annually than in years past, and more prescription drug use than ever among children, our children are doing more poorly, according to data from private and government sources.” This statement is so profound to me and should be to every parent. We have so much medical intervention these days, yet our children are doing far worse ever before and are plagued by diseases that rarely or even never plagued children before.
Being a natural health enthusiast, I was glued to this book immediately and read it cover-to-cover, even the parts that didn’t pertain to my children. I think this is another invaluable resource for parents of all kids, not just special-needs ones. If you are interested in natural health or are looking for an alternative way to deal with problems invading your family’s life, Converse’s book is right up your alley.
You can purchase
Special-Needs Kids Go Pharm-Free from US.PenguinGroup.com, Amazon.com, and other major book retailers. It retails for $15.95 in paperback and $9.99 in eBook format.
Thank you to the Penguin Group for sending us a complimentary review copy of this book to base this article upon.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
I hope everyone had a great holiday! Thank goodness New Year's Eve is not associated with another large sit-down meal, right?
We have 3 contests to draw the winners for today!
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Congratulations to our four winners! You each will be receiving official email notifications right away. You will need to respond within 48 hours to claim your prizes. Please remember that I always respond to let you know that I have received your information. Have a safe and happy New Year everyone!
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
I am so excited to announce that I have been featured as Frito-Lay's Fan of the Week on the Frito-Lay blog Snack Chat! This means that I not only had the chance to be interviewed for this Frito-Lay Fan of the Week article, I also received a chip bowl from one of my favorite stores Crate & Barrel, an American Express gift card, and coupons for free Frito-Lay product. Guess who will be bringing the chips and dip for the New Year's Eve celebration this year!
Thank You Frito-Lay For This Honor!
Although I was selected to receive this honor, a gift card, and complimentary product, I was not asked to share this news with my readers. All thoughts in this announcement are my own.
This year for Christmas, we allowed each child to pick out gifts to give to their siblings. I wanted to teach them that there is a lot of joy to be experienced from making someone else happy. Each child got to wrap his or her gifts and somehow managed to keep the gifts a secret from each other all the way until Christmas morning.
The twins each got their big brother a Nintendo DS game since they knew that is what he had asked Santa for this year. What big brother got the twins beat all, even the presents that Santa left for them. He had gotten each twin a Pillow Pet. I had never seen such excitement and glee on Makenzie's face and Luke gave Jake the biggest hug ever, which in turn put a huge smile on Jake's face. I hope Jake remembers how good it felt to make someone else happy like that for a long time.
If you have a Silly Monkey Story to share, sign Mr. Linky below with the link to your blog post (not the link to your main blog page).
Please do not forget to visit the other participants and leave them comments to let them know you stopped by!
Could this be an indication of what the future holds when the twins get their driver's licences? One will be serious and focused, while the other one is chatting and laughing, not paying attention to the road at all?
If you'd like to see more Ruby Tuesday photos, go visit Mary at
Work of the Poet!
Monday, December 27, 2010
I'm a little late posting my Weekly Winners photos for this week. You see, the very last gift I received on Christmas day was the flu. Luckily, it didn't hit me until during the drive home from Christmas dinner.
Regardless, we had a great Christmas. Here are some of my favorite photos. I will be sharing many others on Facebook this week.
"One Happy Kid"
"The Best Gift Ever!"
"Sniper No Sniping! Sniper No Sniping!!"
"The Perfect Gift"
"Uncle Tickle Monster"
"Big Kisses"
"Double Kisses"
"Little Boy, Big Stocking"
"Look What Santa Brought Me!"
"Up Up and Away!"
Thank you for taking the time to view my photos this week! If you'd like to play along or see more great photos, stop by to see Lotus a.k.a.
Sarcastic Mom.
Sunday, December 26, 2010
I know it's Christmas morning and many of you may be busy opening gifts with your families, but I just wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas! I hope you are spending it with someone you love. If not, I hope you have warm memories of past Christmases that bring you joy.
Have a Safe and Happy Holiday!
"Our Three Garnets"
This is a tree ornament our nearly 7 year old son made. It is a group portrait of himself and his little brother and sister. Can't you see the resemblance? . . .
Saturday, December 25, 2010
The children are finally all asleep, although I can tell they are not sleeping soundly. This was after we made our traditional preparations for Santa's visit. We hung the magic key outside for Santa, so he would be able to enter the house. Then we left cookies and milk for him plus carrots and a big bowl of water for the reindeer.
Before bedtime, instead of my husband reading "The Night Before Christmas" to our children, we presented them with a
Hallmark Recordable Storybook for the same story. My husband recorded himself reading from each page of this book, so the children were able to hear the story just by turning the pages. All three children were delighted, but our nearly 4 year old daughter was practically giddy as she listened to the story. After the story was done, my husband asked the children if they knew whose voice was reading the story and they all said "Santa Claus!" My husband did an especially good job recording the story, especially since he is just getting over a case of bronchitis. Perhaps that is why the children did not recognize his voice?
Shortly after the children were tucked into bed, our nearly 4 year old son kept calling us. He just had to tell us that he was sure he heard something on the roof. Perhaps he did . . .
I created this photo on
iCaughtSanta.com . I have used this site and its related sites to create photos of Santa and of the Easter Bunny in our very own living room. I cannot wait for our oldest son to lose his first tooth so I can make one of the Tooth Fairy standing by his bed.
I received a gift code for a complimentary digital photo to facilitate this review.
Last weekend, we were able to visit my in-laws who live about an hour and 45 minutes away. The children were so excited, because they love their Grammy, but also because they knew they would be able to open some Christmas presents early.
All in all, it was a relaxing afternoon and evening. It was nice to catch up with some of my husband's relatives that I have not seen in years.
Some photos from our visit . . .
(Click any photo to enlarge)
Friday, December 24, 2010
