the Mom-Stuff Community » Blog Tour

Blog Tour for Romance Novel, Wind Warriors

the mom-team — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 15:21:02 +0000

I have some great news to share with you! Come September, I will be participating in a huge blog tour put on by Cynthia Roberts, author of the upcoming romance novel Wind Warrior!

There are some pretty exciting prizes for everyone involved – Cynthia is giving away $600 dollars worth of wonderful items! YOU could win one of five fabulous prizes! There will be something romantic, something succulent, something exquisite, and two others that will offer you lots of choices… Curious? Check out what you could win on the official blog tour giveaway website, here! You can also learn more about how this giveaway will operate.

Mom-stuff.com has a new romance article written by Cynthia. It is Romance 101. We are so excited to have her professional words of wisdom on Mom-stuff.com.

I’m looking forward to being a part of this great blog tour, and I hope you will come and join us! I will choose 5 entries from your comments on Sept 28.

Each participating blog will randomly choose five entrants from their list of participants to be placed in the grand pool where 5 winners will be randomly selected, So leave a comment and you will be entered.

Winners will be chosen on Sept. 30^th and notified via email by Cynthia

All finalists must provide their name and official delivery address at the time of finalist selection to me.

Jamie Ervin, Recommended Mom Blogger

the mom-team — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 16:31:33 +0000

Today is Mom-Stuff Blog Tour’s last day with Jamie. We hope you have enjoyed Jamie’s blogs as much as we have. Jamie. the PolkadotMommy, has a massive presence on the web in the mom bloggers community. You can find her at all of these places on line. Make sure you follow her.

Looks Good in Polka Dots Here she shares her journey through gluten free cooking, becoming more environmentally responsible and raising a whole passel of children.

Feeding 10 for Under $10.00. She follows USDA nutrition guidelines. She feeds her family organic and naturally. She tries to avoid processed foods and all things artificial. Her food budget goal is to limit our meal expense to $10.00 per meal. She recently started working toward a traditional diet to improve overall health and reduce grocery costs.

http://looksgoodinpolkadots.wordpress.com/ Jamie is a mom trying to figure things out. So she reads, she talks and then she blogs. This blog alone has 56,070 hits. Now do you believe me when I tell you what a great resource she is for moms?

Jamie Ervin is also a Contributing Writer on these sites:

EcoChildsPlay.com
EatDrinkBetter.com
CraftingAGreenWorld.com

Jamie is also on Twitter.

Make sure you visit and tell Jamie thanks for sharing with us. She is such a great resource for all of us moms. I want to share with you today the crafty side of Jamie Erin.

Creating Adorable Baby Bums: Cloth Diapers

If you sew your own (or others) cloth diapers, does that make you a crafter or an eco-conscious Mama? Of course, it makes you both.

Here are directions to make super cute diapers out of t-shirts. How’s that for a reclaiming project? The best part is you can put the fun saying or cute part of the shirt right onto babies bum!

Need some liners for inside the diapers, here’s a tutorial for that.

How about making your own felted wool covers out of second hand sweaters?

Need to know where to find diaper making fabrics and kits, here’s a link. (Stay with us after the jump to find out more about the adorable diaper in the photo.)

If you’re not inclined to sew your own, check out these adorable cloth diapers I found in an Etsy shop, Monkey Snuggles Diaper Company. Let another crafty Mom create yours.

I’ve discovered that just about any fabric or cast off piece of clothing can be used in diapering. Think about how cute your babies bum will be with a diaper made with an old pair of jeans or sporting your college Alma Mater sweatshirt.

The photo is a Monkey Snuggles Diaper One Size Pocket Diaper I ordered for a friend of mine to try out on her new baby girl. This is made with a super cute WET RESISTANT fabric so a separate cover is not needed. This diaper is absolutely adorable, it sizes down very nicely and grows with baby so these one size are the most economical of fitted diapers. This one has a lovely fuschia liner that is very soft to touch and a combination of velcro style fastener and snaps for sizing up. I for one am thrilled to see such a fun print in a wet resistant nappy

Today is our last day with Jamie the Polka dot Mommy. We want to thank Jamie for sharing her blogs with us. She is an incredible resource for moms. The Mom-Stuff Blog Tour is over and that makes me sad. But I will have some much needed time to add to the Mom-Stuff Making Money Online section. I am working with some successful mom bloggers to give mom bloggers some needed direction.

I hope you have had as much fun following Mom-Stuff Blog Tour as I have had doing it for you. Its great success has been because of our followers and the great moms who allowed me into their world. Motherhood is a journey we are all on and the more we help and support each other the better the world will be. Moms are the hand that rocks the cradle and the babies in the cradle will rule our world.

This will be your last weekend to make some fun St. Patrick’s Day crafts with your kids. We have some great ones at Mom-Stuff.com

Have a great weekend.

dianne@mom-stuff.com

Featured Blog-Feeding 10 for Under $10.00

the mom-team — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:46:34 +0000

Mom-Stuff ‘s featured Mom blogger, Jamie. the PolkadotMommy, has a new blog. It is Feeding 10 for Under $10.00. It’s a newer blog focusing on whole foods on a budget… Nothing to do with being gluten free, which is one of her other blog Looks Good in Polka Dots. WOW this talented mom is busy! I love this new blog. Make sure you visit and tell Jamie thanks for sharing with us. She is such a great resource for all of us moms.

HAPPILY FRUGAL MAMA

I’m a Mama to five, and one giant St. Bernard, Earthquake… I also do in home daycare. Hubs spends his day developing shoes. He travels the world over and prays I don’t blog about him. We are Catholic Christians. We are Republicans who believe in moderate-conservative views while holding strong beliefs toward Environmental Responsibility. I drink complicated coffee. I follow USDA nutrition guidelines. We eat organic and naturally. We try to avoid processed foods and all things artificial. My food budget goal is to limit our meal expense to $10.00 per meal. We are generally feeding 7-10 people at each meal. I’ve recently started working toward a traditional diet to improve overall health and reduce our grocery costs

Things We Eat Raw

I’m all for a more raw diet… afterall, there is no disputing that fresh food is good for you. That said… I’m a moderate Mama and believe that 50-75% raw is a great way to go.

For 50% raw, just make sure half of your plate at each meal is raw.
To reach 75% add raw snacks.
Simple, No?

Things we eat raw:
Fresh fruit
Fresh veggies
Nuts & nut butters
Ice pops (that’s another post)
Salsa
Guacomole
Dehydrated (under 106 degrees F) fruits, veggies, seed crackers/tortillas, and fruit leathers
Sprouts
Smoothies

Things I have no desire to eat raw:
Any recipe that requires multiple expensive ingredients
Kelp pasta
Faux anything

I often make pancakes or french toast for breakfast. My children, like most, would eat until their belly aches if I let them. So, we have a two rule. Everyone gets two pancakes or two pieces of french toast. The rest of breakfast is fresh fruit. I slice up apples, oranges, bananas, etc… to fill them up. Difficulty level to reach 50% raw- EASY

At lunch time, I serve a portion of pasta, sandwich or other “main” dish. Then I add a large green salad, sliced fresh veggies (carrots, broccoli and snap peas are popular) and slice up some more fruit. Difficulty reaching 50% raw- EASY

For snacks, enjoy a frozen ice pop (raw), bananas and almond butter, veggie sticks and dip, or a smoothie. Difficulty reaching 100% raw- EASY (We try for one raw snack and one regular snack a day)

At dinner, my husband wants MEAT. I’m not much of a meat eater myself, but I can appreciate the need for a good protein. Everyone eats a larger portion of the “main” dish at dinner alongside fresh garden salad, veggie sticks, fresh fruit salad (with a little real whip for dessert). Enjoy a small glass of fresh juice made from carrots, apples and oranges. Difficulty reaching 50% raw- EASY.

The kids always want a before bed snack, this is the perfect time to whip up a raw smoothie or give them another ice pop. Visit my gluten free living blog

Looks Good In Polka Dots . Sharing our journey through gluten free cooking, becoming more environmentally responsible and raising a whole passel of children.

Thanks for visiting the Mom-Stuff Blog Tour sponsored by www.mom-stuff.com.We are so excited by your response to our tour. We are having so much fun and making so many new friends. This week’s mom blogger Jamie the PolkadotMommy, has been such fun to work with and to get to know better.

The mom-team will be giving away gifts to the people who make the most comments while following the blog tour. You can make comments here, on Jamie’s Blogs, Tweeter, Facebook or other social sites. Thanks for being a part of www.mom-stuff.com your moms resource site. Visit Mom-Stuff for your St. Patrick’s Day ideas. We have just added a fast and easy treat bag. Perfect for St. Patrick’s gifts. Remember on St. Patrick’s Day we are all Irish!

See you again tomorrow,

Dianne

Looks Good in Polka Dots our Blog of the Week

the mom-team — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:20:33 +0000

Mom-Stuff Blog Tour of the week is Looks Good in Polka Dots. Jamie calls herself Polka Dot Mommy, Mom, Wife, Daughter, Sister, PTC President (or vise president or treasure.) She is on a mission to improve the health of her family, save the planet and find the perfect pair of jeans. Her weakness are Coach Handbags and Complicated Coffee. Her daily Struggles are balancing her ideals with REALITY. Does that sound familuar?

As you will see in these posts I am sharing with you this week, Jamie is very creative and very talented. Jamie shares her talents in lots of places on the web. The strength you do not get to see from these posts is Jamie’s joy in service. She goes the extra mile to help the moms that connect with her. Make sure you connect with her. She has so much talent to share.

You can connect with Jamie on both of her blogs Feeding 10 for Under 10.00. It’s a newer blog focusing on whole foods on a budget,

Looks Good in Polka Dots and you can follow her on Twitter.

Today I want to share one of Jamie guest post at Eat Drink Better http://eatdrinkbetter.com/search/?q=Jamie+Ervin I can’t wait to try this recipe.

Written by Jamie Ervin

Published on July 9th, 2009

I shouldn’t have been surprised to discover that the bread I’ve been making for my family costs between $1.00 and $1.50 per loaf. Comparable bread at the grocer/bakery will run $4.00 or more a loaf. The variation in price depends on add-ins which provide flavor and texture. This recipe is simple, quick and tasty. We bake it twice a week. This is a great project to have the kids help you with, they LOVE to knead and roll the dough. The dough making only takes 10 minutes or so (the rest is rising/baking time). This is a modified version of a recipe found at Sweet Simple Living.

Simple Whole Wheat Bread (Makes 2 large loaves)

» Get Eat. Drink. Better. by RSS or sign up by email.

In a large bowl combine (I use the bowl from my stand mixer)

1 Tbs Honey or Agave
3 Tbs Active Dry Yeast
1 1/3 cup warm water (about 105-115 degrees Fahrenheit)

Allow yeast to activate and bubble for about five minutes.

Turn mixer on low and begin adding:

Another 1 1/3 cup warm water
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 cup honey or agave
2 tsp Kosher salt

Now it’s time for your add ins… whatever you add here will reduce your overall amount of wheat flour added at the end. If you want a simple WW Bread with no seeds, skip this part and add closer to the 7 cups of WW flour at the end. We add:

1/2 cup sunflower kernals
1/2 cup slightly crushed flax seeds (I mix golden and black)
1/4 cup poppyseeds
1/4 quinoa

While continuing to mix on low speed, begin adding:

Whole Wheat flour, 1 cup at a time.

It may take up to 7 cups… I usually end up adding 5 1/2-6 with the add in seeds. If your mixer won’t hold the full amount, you may have to remove and finish the mixing process by hand.

You know you have added enough flour when the dough becomes less sticky and more like, well dough. Now, turn it out on a lightly floured surface and knead for 8-10 minutes. It should be quite elastic and smooth. Place your ball of dough into an oiled bowl and allow to rise for an hour or until double in size. (See my tip below for proofing your dough.)

After the dough has risen, punch down and remove from the pan to a lightly floured surface. Now, use a knife to divide your dough into two halves. Roll each half out into a rectangle about 9 inches wide by 14 inches long. You will now roll the rectangles of dough jelly-roll style, pinch the ends closed and place in a prepared bread pan. I like to brush a small amount of egg white and water mixture on the top prior to rolling to help the bread stick together nicely and not leave gaps while baking.

Now allow your bread to rise again for about 30 minutes, then bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes or so prior to turning out onto a cooling rake. The bread slices best when fully cooled, but I can never resist a slice or two right out of the oven!

My proofing trick is to place a small pan of water onto the rear burner and boil. Once its at a rolling boil, turn the burner off. Place the dough next to the pan of water. Once the burner is no longer red, lay a towel over the water pan and dough. The combination of heat and steam provide an ideal situation for rising.

Eat Well. Be Well.

Thanks for visiting the Mom-Stuff Blog Tour sponsored by www.mom-stuff.com. We are so excited by your response to our tour. We are having so much fun and making so many new friends.

See you tomorrow, Dianne

P.S. Visit Mom-Stuff.com for kids crafts, food and decorations for your St. Patrick’s Day celebration. We have just added a cute treat bag for St. Patrick’s Day gifts. Check it out.

Blog Tour Visits Looks Good in Polka Dots

the mom-team — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:37:46 +0000

The Mom-Stuff Blog Tour is visiting Looks Good in Polka Dots this week. Jamie is a talented writer. She has her blog LooksGoodInPolkaDots. “It’s not just about Mothering, Gluten Free Cooking and Socially Conscious Living.”

She is also a Contributing Writer for these sites:

EcoChildsPlay.com

EatDrinkBetter.com

CraftingAGreenWorld.com

Today I want to share one of her articles from EcoChildsPlay.com This sounds like fun.

I Make My Own Soap

http://ecochildsplay.com/2009/01/02/new-year-resolution-1-make-my-own-soap/

Let’s get real here… I like to do crafty things. If you don’t roll that way, it’s okay! There are plenty of options out there for purchasing natural, handcrafted soaps (which are better for you, better for the environment and better for small business). I’ve been “going to” make soap for about six months now. Well, it’s a new year and that means its time “to”.

If you want to jump on the handcrafted soap bandwagon… Here’s how!

First, jump on over to Bramble Berry and purchase an Eco-Chic Soap Kit ($15.45). The kit includes: 2 lbs of Organic Melt and Pour Base, 1 ounce spirulina, 1 ounce cranberry seeds and two essential oils. You provide coffee grounds, oats, rubbing alcohol, and recycled containers of choice (think shape/texture- tofu containers, yogurt tubs, the bottom of a 20oz soda bottle, small milk cartons, etc…).

Once you’ve compiled all the tools and ingredients, use the Eco-Chic Soap Tutorial on the Soap Queen Blog to create your one of a kind soap. Skip the last step that recommends wrapping your soap in plastic wrap. We don’t like that stuff. Instead use parchment paper, corrugated (recycled) paperboard, fabric or place in a recycled tub (like a large cream cheese or margarine tub) or other sealed container.

The best part of this project is the simplicity, which means the kids can help. Let them experiment with other herbs and coarse ingredients, change up your molds by placing a flexible cookie cutter inside the container and filling it with the soap base, have fun! Remember to set the kids’ shower timers so they aren’t tempted to hang out a little longer enjoying their new concoction

Jamie is a very talented Mom as you will find out this week. Polkadotmommy is the kind of person we all want as a friend. Go visit her blog LooksGoodInPolkaDots and make comments, you will be glad you got to know her.

Mom-Stuff.com (featured articles) has got your St. Patrick’s Day food, kids crafts and decorations posted.

I will see you tomorrow with more great stuff from Jamie, the polkadotmommy.

Thanks for following the Mom-Stuff Blog Tour,

Dianne

Meet Jamie-Looks Good in Polka Dots

the mom-team — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 14:32:32 +0000

This week Mom-Stuff .com (the site with the hyphen) want to introduce you to Jamie at Looks Good in Polka Dots she will be the featured mom blog on my Mom-Stuff Blog Tour. She has a daughter who is gluten intolerant which has led her on a journey into gluten free food.

I am really excited to visit Jamie this week. We believe all of our moms will enjoy this week with her. Our blog tour has been so much fun I hate to see it come to an end. I need the break to get my taxes ready for my tax man. I hate tax time. The blog tour has been such a BIG success I am going to do it again in the future. So if you would like me to visit your blog contact me, Dianne@mom-stuff.com. TodayI want to share Jamie’s story with you about her daughter. This story is how I meet Jamie. I made a comment on her blog and she emailed me some very helpful advice. Jamie is the kind of mom I want to promote because she really wants to help other moms.

Sick Since Birth

Behavior is just one of the issues that prompted us to seek out a Naturopathic physician. Kenzie has had issues since infancy. At 9 months old, she underwent testing for some pretty scary diseases because she had failure to thrive. Going from 9lbs 7ozs at birth to only 16lbs 2ozs at 12 months. For several months early in her life, she had what I considered a severe case of baby acne over her entire face. It was horrible. Now I realize it may have actually been eczema caused from her food sensitivities. She would spend 20-30 minutes screaming, grunting and turning red trying to have a bowel movement. She also spit up much more than her older sister had, but not to the extent that anyone considered it “abnormal”. I was breast feeding and she didn’t have any foods introduced until 6 months. Then I went through the standard protocol of one food for a week, then adding another. I didn’t notice a reaction to any specific food, but the constipation and growth issues didn’t pop up until between 7 and 9 months of age. It was probably the addition of wheat and gluten containing foods that prompted this, but it was a slow reaction. Not one that I picked up on as a result of introducing a new food. The doctors didn’t even test for food allergies. Eventually, when all the “scary” disease tests came back normal… they decided to treat the symptoms and label her a “difficult child” regarding the behavior. At 9 months, I was instructed to start offering her a bottle of formula after each breast feeding to ensure she was getting enough nutrition. She wouldn’t drink formula. So, the Doctor prescribed Pediasure instead. Everyday she would get a can of Pediasure with fiber, usually in two servings offered in a sippy cup after she finished nursing. In addition, she was given Miralax once a day in a small amount of diluted juice. This combination helped with the constipation, but she remained a relatively small child.

As time went on, Kenzie became a screamer. Throwing horrible fits and stomping her feet for no apparent reason. She would get up in the morning and stand beside my bed, screaming and thrashing around. Nothing would calm her down until she was done. Most of the time, she didn’t even know what she wanted. In between the fits, she was a happy child who was exremely active. She started walking at only 10 months and followed her then almost 3 year old sister all over the house.

Kenzie is so fidgety, that I have always called her my “dirty child”. Everything she touches ends up all over her! Every bit of food, art mediums, dirt, etc… I thought I was the Queen of Stain Removal before Kenzie. Something about the combination of her saliva and chocolate caused spots to set for life!

While my 7 year olds can play calmly, Kenzie is hyper-reactive. She can be in the middle of quiet play and suddenly she is having a crisis. She also has a tendency to be a bit rough with her younger sister, likely to hit or push at an alarming frequency.

As far as illnesses go… she is sick all the time. From September until Spring, she has a constant cold. Runny noses… coughing… wheezing. She coughs so hard she will vomit. We rely heavily on an inhaler so she can return to normal breathing. Everytime she gets a cold, it settles in her ears. She will wake up crying. I try to treat as few of these as possible. When her ear starts hurting, I put a couple drops of Floxin in and usually that nips it without having to search out antibiotics.

Potty-learning wasn’t achieved until nearly 4 years of age. And we still have night-time isues. If Kenzie has to go to the bathroom… it is a RIGHT THIS MINUTE emergency. This is getting better and I have faith that in the next year she will have full bladder control. In the meantime, we keep a change of clothes in her backpack… just in case and I get her up to potty before I go to bed at night.

Right after she turned 4, we were prompted by a family friend who has been a nurse for over 20 years. She said that Kenzie had the presentation of a child with food allergies and that Doctors often miss it because they don’t see the child everyday. We were spending the week at the lake house with several families and she saw Kenzie all day, every day during that time. We removed all preservatives, dyes and artificial flavors. Going to foods labeled “All Natural” or “Organic”. This made a huge improvement in the behavior, but didn’t affect the blotchy face, itchy skin and other physical symptoms she had. The MD Allergist we saw did a standard skin prick allergy test. Nothing showed reactive. He basically said that it was our imagination that foods were causing behavior issues, and that our expectations of how she reacts to certain foods will cause her to act that way. Funny, since we had NO clue what foods might be prompting her reactions. He then went on to say that reflux was his favorite diagnosis for kids that had belly aches and coughed at night. So we went home with samples of children’s Prevacid SoluTabs (both dyed pink and flavored w/ artifical strawberry) and a prescription for more to add to our inhaler and Zyrtec she was already taking. He said that the test was just too hard for young kids and the best thing to do was treat for it and see how things went. I have a differnt opinion and chose to not treat my child for some illness she probably doesn’t have. We chugged on with our diet modifications until it was apparent that we needed someone who would look further for an answer. That’s when we went to visit the Naturopath. I had long conversations with her about what was going on and my concerns with the behavior/food relationship. I also shared my concerns with ADHD and that I didn’t want my child labeled by a MD and then medicated to “fix” the problem. Now we have some answers. And are hopeful that removing the Wheat, Gluten, Gliadin, Milk and Whey from her diet will help us even more.

When Kindergarten started this year, Daddy was making bets on how long it would be before we were called to the Principals office. I was sure that with the right direction she would be fine. Turns out, she is doing fine. Good even. The Teachers are aware of our needs and how to direct her toward success. I pack ALL of her snacks and lunches, not allowing any substance from joint snack items or school lunches to pass her lips. The staff is great at staying in touch with me, saying that Kenzie was more red and blotchy today or having more fidgeting than normal. This helps us stay on top of what foods might be prompting her reactions, both physical and behavior.

With the diet modifications we have made, Kenzie should hopefully return to normal body function and feel like a “normal” child at school. I worry about her teen years… will she get rebellious and decide she wants to eat the foods she shouldn’t have? What if she does and then there isn’t an immediate response? Will she understand that eating something once may not affect her, but bringing these offenders back into her diet may cause life-long health and behavior issues?

Our child is not a “problem”. She is an amazing… smart… funny and loving child. She can put together a puzzle in a quarter of the time it would take me. She is going to be a whiz with math and science, and might need a little help to slow down and take her time when writing. She is starting to focus on her letters more… instead of sending her eyes wandering all over the room and saying “I don’t know”.

We are embarking on the changes needed to help her be able to succeed and I am positive it will help!

Thanks to everyone following our Mom-Stuff Blog Tour. Visit Jamie at Looks Good in Polka Dots. Make comments, make tweets, follow Jamie on Twitter, invite friends, and tell your friends about how much fun we are having. Mom-Stuff is giving gifts to the moms who make the most comments so join in the fun.

Mom-Stuff .com has posted our St. Patrick’s Day ideas.

Visit the Mom-Stuff Blog Tour tomorrow for some more great information from Jamie at Looks Good in Polka Dots. We believe in moms helping moms. Life is a circle around here. Come and join us.

Dianne-from Mom-Stuff

A Mom-Stuff Favorite from Trench Mommy

the mom-team — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:18:34 +0000

The Mom-Stuff Blog tour wants to share a creative post from the trenches of motherhood with you today. Mandy has a great gift of socialization. She brings moms together and lifts them up. It has been such an honor to be welcomed into her world this week. I have only given you a glimpse into her life. Make sure you visit her site, blogs and her Blogfrog community.

Traveling Activity with Quirky Momma

Rachel is mommy to three preschoolers and blogs about their learning activities and adventures at Quirky Momma. Her original mini-whiteboard post can be found on that site

I have three preschoolers and to say that it is a “struggle” to keep them entertained when traveling or at say a Dr. appointment is an understatement. I feel like we are finally getting to a place where keeping them engaged is easier. One of our favorite travel and diaperbag forms of entertainment/learning is our mini-whiteboards. They are super easy to make and can keep your kids entertained for 20-30 min at a time. I have even used them to write notes to myself when out and about or to keep track of a grocery list. This whiteboard is included in my post on 40 Tips to Travel with Preschoolers.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED:

An empty CD case
Scissors
glue stick
Dry Erase Markers
Dried out diaper wipe (for cleaning – they last a long time and store inside the case)
White paper – Cardstock is best, or patterned paper – we printed the print one of Charles Harper’s animal works for the kids to play “I Spy” and circle animals they find.

HOW TO MAKE IT:

Take apart the CD case. We made our case white on one side and patterned on the other. Cut your paper to fit. Lightly edge your paper in clear glue to help it adhere to the case. The glue is not necessary, but it helps your mini-whiteboard live a little longer. If your kids are like mine, their favorite part of this activity will be wiping their writing, opening and closing the case between wipes. Reassemble the CD case and have fun writing! This is a great thing for every toddler diaper bag, great for entertaining and keeping kiddos quiet in a pinch. The Dry Erase markers will stain clothes, the carpet at the Dr. office, etc., so I like to take wipe-able crayons with me when we are out. Have fun playing “I Spy” and learning with your mini-whiteboard.

ACTIVITIES YOU CAN DO WITH YOUR WHITEBOARD:

If you go with the Harper print, circle the animals in one color, plants in another… or circle a specific animal. He found the walrus!!!
If you have patterned paper that is dot-to-dot have the kids follow the numbers to create the design.
play guess that letter or guess that word. As you write the letter have the kids guess it before you are finished.
Use it in Bible memory. Write your Bible verse and erase a word each time you say it until you are saying the entire verse with out seeing the words (this is a great way to work on site reading with your early reader).
Color a picture – be creative!

Today is our last day with Mandy from the trenches of motherhood. We want to thank Mandy for sharing her blogs with us. The Mom-Stuff Blog Tour is almost over and that makes me sad. Next week will be our last week for this tour. We will be visiting Looks Good in Polkadots. It will be educational. Jamie nitch is glutten free foods.

I hope you are having as much fun following Mom-Stuff Blog Tour as we are. If you want to make some fun St. Patrick’s Day crafts with your kids this weekend we have some great ones at Mom-Stuff.com

Have a great weekend.

See you next week.

dianne@mom-stuff.com

Featured Blog-To Read Or Not To Read

the mom-team — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 04:27:43 +0000

Mandy From The Trenches of Motherhood also has a book review blog. Today I want to feature a post from this blog. I can’t wait to read this book.

First of all, over at my book review blog (To Read, Or Not To Read) you can read about this family…

…and their amazing story. It’s sad, it’s touching, and it’s the story of strength and hope when life is hard. Really hard.

Cole…I Love You to the Moon and Back is written by Aaron Ruotsala. My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I have wondered how I would handle being told my child is sick. Very sick. In listening to this audio version of the book Cole…I Love You to the Moon and Back, I can only hope that I would respond with the same amount of love, praise, and faith with which the Ruotsala family did.

This book walks you through 8 weeks of life as a young family battles terminal cancer in their oldest child – three-year-old Cole. Despite the incredible pain of loosing a child they praised God for His strength and His faithfulness to them in what has to be one of the most painful trials of life. Their testimony brings such glory to God and of His love for us.

God knew the number of days that Cole’s life would last and He used those few fleeting years to touch lives in more ways than many of us adults can even dream of doing. Sometimes the biggest blessings come in the smallest of packages.

While it is a sad story, it is also an amazing story to read and was such a comfort and encouragement to me. It helped me look beyond my own plans for life and remember to live in the moment…the hear and now…for tomorrow has no guarantees.

Cole…I Love You to the Moon and Back is written by Aaron Ruotsala, the father of Cole, and is a great way to adjust and re-focus your perspective on what it truly important in life. Their story of joy and pain will inspire you to live for Christ and to love those around you. You may shed a tear or two…but you will also walk away with hope.

Thanks for visiting the Mom-Stuff Blog Tour sponsored by www.mom-stuff.com. We are so excited by your response to our tour. We are having so much fun and making so many new friends. This week’s mom blogger Mandy, Trench Mommy has been such fun to work with and to get to know better.

The mom-team will be giving away gifts to the people who make the most comments while following the blog tour. You can make comments here, on Mandy’s Blogs, Tweeter, Facebook or other social sites. Thanks for being a part of www.mom-stuff.com your moms resource site. Visit Mom-Stuff for St. Patrick’s Day ideas and our new Rockin Bobbie Pins. They are our new girl hair style accessories for you to make.

See you again tomorrow,

Dianne

Trench Mommy-Blog of the Week

the mom-team — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 15:03:52 +0000

Mom-Stuff Blog of the week- From the Trenches of Motherhood. Mandy calls herself Trench Mommy. But as you will see in these posts I am sharing withyou today, she doesn’t allow herself to stay in the foxhole. She finds some motivation, she finds her strength, she makes a plan and then she follows through. The more time I spend on her site the more I find a mom who not only wants to thrive; she wants you to thrive too. She shares her process and invites you to join her. The first post Going Through the Motions was her motivation and her plan. The second post is the third week in this series, What if I had Given Everything. This post Getting Up On Time, is an example of her follow through. You can see each weeks goal and progress on her blog.

Going Through The Motions

Mathew West-The Motion shttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6d23mBY0nGY

This past year was one of the hardest years in my life. Maybe the hardest of all.

In an ironic twist, it seemed that every time this sweet baby was in the hospital, my own trials increased.

While the things that God allowed to come my way in the past 12 months have strengthened me, they have also left me exhausted and spiritually drained.

At this moment, the close of this 28th year of my life, I feel like I am stuck on “auto pilot” or in what I fondly call the “cope mode”. And I am tired of that. I don’t want to be stuck…

…I want to be thriving!

I don’t want to go through the motions anymore, I want to give my everything with an all consuming passion for Christ and His amazing grace in my life.

When I came across the above video clip of Matthew West’s song The Motions I knew it was going to be my theme for the year of 2010. I hope it will be your theme as well as we step out together from going through the motions to soaking in the presence of God and living a life consumed by Him.

I don’t want to wake up at 60 years of age and look back and ask myself: “What if I had given everything?” I want God to take me – my selfish pride – out of the way this year and dig deep to refresh my heart, mind, and soul in Him.

Do I have a plan?

Yes! I do have a plan. Something that I am going to set in motion this week to help make this a year where I just soak up all I possibly can and saturate my life with the truth of God’s Word.

Join me on January 1st to read about my 2010 theme…

WHAT IF I HAD GIVEN EVERYTHING?

Welcome to Week Three of:
What If I Had Given Everything In 2010?

If this is the first time you have joined me for my year-long-post-series, please click here to read the introduction.

Now, for those of you following or joining me – I hope you’re doing this with me! – read on for the 3rd goal for the year.

Remember that we are still in our first goal unit – SCHEDULE – and this is the 3rd week, so that means 2 left to go! Speaking of which, I just finished my book for this unit, too.

Goal #3 Get Up On Time

I know….this is the hard one depending on what your life is like. If you have any time in the morning that you can flex, like me, it may be a battle. But that’s what this is all about: battling to give everything this year.

I will be vulnerable here and share that getting to bed on time this past week has been tough. Really tough. It seemed that things just came up to get me off track even with the best of intentions.

At some moments I thought: “Well, maybe my life has just changed and I just can’t get up early any more….” BUT then God would bring to mind that this wasn’t meant to be easy. If it was, I would not be struggling with it and would be “perfect”! However, HE has will supply me with what I need at the moment I need it. And sometimes that means the strength to keep on keeping on even when I’ve just failed.

So when I have missed my bedtime for two nights in a row I don’t give up…I keep on. As my body adjust it will be easier because my body will automatically draw me to bed without as much will power.

So how about you? How are you goals going? Join me in my community forum to start a discussion or join an existing one about your battle for this year. Let’s encourage one another!

Thanks for visiting the Mom-Stuff Blog Tour sponsored by www.mom-stuff.com. We are so excited by your response to our tour. We are having so much fun and making so many new friends. We have posted some fun kids crafts, food and decorations for your St. Patrick’s Day
See you tomorrow, Dianne

Blog Tour Visits Trench Mommy

the mom-team — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 14:32:38 +0000

The Mom-Stuff Blog Tour is visiting From the Trenches of Motherhood this week. Mandy is a preacher’s wife and a mother of three. Mandy has a positive attitude about life which really shows in her blog and her Blog Frog Community. She wants to encourage others to improve their lives. Today I want to share a post from her blog to show you her personality. This post encourages wife’s to love and appreciate their husbands.

Fan The Flame {Part Two”}

Welcome to week two of my marriage series based on the book Seven Reasons Why God Created Marriage. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you will join us as we seek to grow our marriages.

This week’s verse is:

“Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.” – Romans 15:7 (ESV)

This week’s theme is:

Accept One Another

I love my husband, but there are times he does something and it annoys me. A lot.

I know…you’re shocked that I get annoyed, right?!

What? You’re not?!

Okay, okay…we all have our moments. And this is what this post is all about.

The challenge for the week is finding a way to accept your husband in the little things. Maybe it’s when he leaves the toothpaste cap off or his dirty socks by the bed. Maybe it is something bigger than that.

Whatever the case is, I want to challenge you to accept your husband unconditionally this week by picking one thing that he does – that annoys you – and ignoring it this week. Perhaps it is the socks on the floor or the shoes left out.

This week our job – yes, I’m included in on this! – is to simply accept them for who they are and not criticize or nag them.

For me, it’s going to be about the shoes, the toilet lid, and the shower curtain. I am going to accept him for who he is by silently just taking care of the item or problem that gets to me. If he leaves his shoes out, I will put them away. If he leaves the toilet lid up, I’ll just put it down without saying a word. And if it’s the shower curtain not pulled back after his shower, I will just close it without sighing in frustration.

Now it’s your turn to share what and how you are going to accept your husband. Write your post and then link back up here so we can all be encouraged together.

I want to thank Mandy from the Trenches of Motherhood for sharing her blog posts with other moms. We love learning from each other. Follow along with us on our Mom-Stuff Blog Tour. You will find great information and make some new friends. Make sure to leave comments here or on Mandy’s blog. Follow with Google Connect. If you are on twitter you can find Mandy at http://twitter.com/TrenchMommy and me at http://twitter.com/ Dianne_mom-stuff. Come follow us. Retweet and share with your peeps.

Mom-Stuff.com has posted our St. Patrick’s Day ideas.

See you tomorrow, I will share more from the Trenches of Motherhood..

Dianne