Review: The Double Daring Book for Girls

In 2007, I had the pleasure of reviewing The Daring Book for Girls by Andrea J. Buchanan and Miriam Peskowitz. I enjoyed it so much, and gave it as gifts to so many young girls, that I was thrilled when I learned they wrote a sequel! The Double-Daring Book for Girls is just as fun as the first, and jam-packed with new activities and interesting tidbits of information.

There are 275 pages to give young girls (and boys, too, although they may not want to admit to reading it - both my boys took time going through it) ideas of things to make, to learn, and to play. I had forgotten about all the recesses I played "What Time is it Mr. Wolf?" until I came across the rules in this book.

For fun, I'd like to throw out a double dare to my readers! On pages 49 & 50 of the book, the authors share information about how to make a decoupage bowl. (Did you know decoupage became popular in Venice in the 1750's? I didn't until I read it in this book!) I'll give you a brief rundown of the steps, and then I double dare you to make your own decoupage bowl!

Needed:

• A bowl (any size)
• Plastic wrap
  
• Tape
• Paintbrush
• Tissue paper
• Glue or varnish (like Mod Podge )

Instructions:

1. Cover your bowl with plastic wrap and tape if necessary. The bowl is a mold, and the plastic wrap will protect it.
2. Cut strips of tissue paper and lay across the bottom of the bowl (the bowl should be upside down.)
   
3. Cover liberally with glue / varnish. Whatever layer you put on first will be the bottom of your bowl.
4. Let dry, then repeat as many times as desired.
5. When complete, remove decoupage bowl from mold and varnish inside.

I would absolutely love to see what kind of bowls you create! So, I've decided to give away an Amazon gift certificate to a random reader that creates their own decoupage bowl between now and June 19, 2009.

Make your bowl, write a post on your blog sharing the picture and linking back to this post, and email me to let me know you are playing along. If you don't blog, feel free to email me a picture of your bowl!

On June 20, I'll post links to all the bowls (or the pictures), and make a random drawing for a winner. (And I'll share pictures of the bowls we've made, too!)

**Update! Due to repeated requests, I'm extending the deadline for this double dare! You have until Friday, July 10 to post about your bowls or send me pictures. I'll post the links / pictures on July 11 and draw a winner that same day!**

Tell Me Thursday - Disguised

This picture is of my middle child, who has desires to be a spy and/or detective. This is how he dressed up for his id badge picture -- note the Indiana Jones hat, spy sunglasses (they have mirrors built into the lenses), and a rosary around his neck for good measure. (And, he's irritated at me right now that I haven't yet printed this picture out to put his id badge together.)

Tell Me Thursday is a fun way to tell about the pictures posted for Wordless Wednesday! Click the link to play along.

Wordless Wednesday - Disguised

Play along at Wordless Wednesday

It's been SIX years!

Today marks six years since I started this blog! I've written 876 posts! Back then, I was reading blogs and felt funny that I was reading about people's lives but wasn't sharing about my own. I felt funny commenting without a blog to refer them back to, so I started this one. I still don't comment much, but I love to read blogs.

Some of the blogs I read back then have disappeared, others have dropped from my interest, but here I still am blogging away! My focus has changed - back then I wrote about more personal things but I was always afraid my family or IRL friends would find it and be upset. (I deleted most of those posts.) Today, I avoid writing about any issues in my extended family and while I still share personal stories, I try to avoid sharing drama. I used to post silly quizzes and memes regularly - but now those all go on facebook. (aren't you glad?!)

I have been lucky enough to review tons of neat products that have been great for my family. I first worked with MotherTalk, and then with MomCentral -- and those two have merged into one these days. I also work with some great PR firms directly, and am always looking for fun, interesting and useful products to share with my readers. And, then, there are reviews of things I just love and nobody gave them to me to try out.

This is still foremost, a look into my life. I've blogged about my boys growing up (they were just 1 and 2 when I started), my thoughts of having no more children, and then my pregnancy and the birth of my baby girl. I've blogged about job worries, and opportunities, a few setbacks, and our daily life. I've met some amazing women while blogging, and been an outside onlooker for so many more amazing women.

I'm not a big mommy blogger like some, but I like my little space on the web. I wonder what the next 6 years might bring, but I hope that I'm still able to share my life with others. It's definitely not glamorous, but it's most definitely real!

Is there anything you want to know about me?? Now is the time to ask! I open the comments to any and all questions you have and will answer them over the next few days.

Need some incentive? I have a few prizes to award to random comments to this post, so ask away!

Review: Mamapedia

Mamapedia is a website full of advice given by moms, for moms. Mom Central asked if I'd check it out and let my readers know about the site, and after I took a quick, initial look, I agreed.

I like the fact that it is free! The site has over a million questions and answers about pretty much everything and anything you could think of -- for kids from infants all the way through adults (because we all know being a mom doesn't end when our kids turn 18!)

The search function works well, and I was able to search for answers about dentists, reading levels and stuttering in just a few minutes. I did find that it worked better if I enclosed multi-word searches with quotations. When I searched for reading levels, I had results about reading, but also about hcG levels and protein levels. When I added quotation marks around multiple words, the search returned entries with all words included.

If you can't find an answer to your question, you can ask your question and wait for the answers from other moms.

It's an interesting resource that I've added to my bookmarks. Check it out!

Money Saving Monday #11

I know it's been a while since I posted a "Money Saving Monday" tip. It's not that I've stopped looking for ways to save money, but it's more that I was so consumed with the necessity of saving money tha that I was a bit overwhelmed.

I liked having a plan for Mondays, though -- so I'm going to start posting again.

When we had our home built in 2001, we felt that we made a wonderful choice. C was a few months old when we started the process, and we never imagined we'd have more children. We chose to build a smaller 4 bedroom home on a larger lot, and it seemed more than big enough for our family for a long time!

When we first moved in, one bedroom was for C, one was a guest room, one an office, and the master bedroom was ours. Then, a few weeks after closing on our house, we found out we were expecting N. Well . . . there went the guest room!

For a while when the boys were preschoolers and older, they shared a room and the other room was a playroom. That worked well, and then as they grew and sleep became an issue, we put them each in their own bedroom.

And, then, along came L. She's been in our bedroom since she was born and her toys are scattered throughout our home. We talked about an addition - but we had put in a pool before we knew she was coming, and couldn't pull any more equity out of the house. We talked about moving, but one thing or another came up and we ended up staying put . . . and then the economy nose-dived.

(Don't worry -- I'm getting to my money saving tips!)

My husband is a very resourceful and handy person. He decided that he could close in our back patio and we could move our office there and give L the bedroom we've used as an office. He started the project last summer, but we ran out of funds and we have had the room framed and stucco'ed outside for almost a year.

In the last couple months, though, we've started working on it again. At a contractor's overage store, he found a great deal on insulation. We purchased drywall from Lowe's. And he realized he had NO idea on how to texture the drywall to prepare for paint -- and the equipment would be pricey!

SO . . . we placed an ad on Craigslist. At the last moment, he said to me - "Put that we'll pay cash or barter hvac work," so I did. Within an hour, we had over 10 responses and one was interested in bartering hvac work.

DH has done hvac work his entire life, so it's something he definitely knows. This wonderful guy came over the next day and worked for the next 3 days texturing our walls in the back room. DH went to his house and got his a/c running again. Everyone was happy -- and bartering meant that we were each out very little cash. It was a great money - saving tactic.

This guy also needs to replace an air conditioner, so is willing to help us tile the room in exchange for DH installing their new a/c.

After my long story -- my money saving tip for the day is to consider bartering your skills for things you need! You never know what may work out, and I have found that posting a free ad on Craigslist is a great way to find someone to barter with.

Laptop Lunches Book Giveaway!

Lori, over at The Book Lady Online, recently bought bento boxes for her family to use. These boxes are great because they reduce waste from plastic bags, and are cute to boot! She encouraged me to look at the way I pack lunches and find ways to reduce our waste.

Lori's giving away multiple copies of the book -- The Laptop Lunches User's Guide -- over at her blog right now. Enter to win one of the copies before Tuesday!

I've known Lori for many years online, and love reading about her life through her blog. After you enter her contest, stay a bit and read about her latest adventures :)

Time to Vote in Kellogg's Plant a Seed Program

Around the Super Bowl, I blogged about Kellogg's Plant A Seed program, which was looking for nominations of play areas around the country to repair and renovate. Well, the nominees are chosen and it's time to vote!

Please visit their Plant A Seed site and vote on the 100 play areas that were chosen. You have until May 31 to vote! At the site, you can look at the 100 nominated fields, read about why they were nominated and vote for the one you'd like to see renovated. You can even search by city, state or sport!

Don't forget to vote before May 31 to be counted! Kids need safe places to play outdoors, and I think it's great that Kellogg's created this program!

Thanks to Mom Central for letting me know about this program, and encouraging me to blog about the voting process!

Zenni Optical, Again

I've done a few reviews of Zenni Optical on my blog. In the last 2 months, I ordered 5 more pairs of glasses from them -- and while I am still happy with the quality and the cost -- I wanted to post an update that their shipping times have increased dramatically.

My son's glasses took just over 3 weeks to arrive, and my glasses took a month to arrive. For myself, I ordered extra pairs, so I wasn't having problem seeing -- but poor C's vision had changed over a degree in each eye, so he had blurry vision for an extra couple weeks.

The first few orders arrived within 2 weeks. While I will continue to order from them, I just wanted to note that the shipping isn't as quick as it used to be.

(My first review, my second review)

lunch plans

My sweetie called this afternoon and asked if I wanted to meet for lunch, as he had some free time between calls. I said sure, and he asked what I wanted. I replied "To be with you!" There was a slight pause, and then he said "Ok, but what do you feel like?" And I replied "I feel like spending time with you."

We ended up meeting at Paradise Bakery.

While our conversation may sound a bit cheesy, it's also true. This summer will mark 14 years since we first met, and he still makes me ache some days just wanting to be close to him.

Like any couple, we have had our ups and downs. But, at the end of the day - every day - I want him by my side forevermore.