Home Grown Families: July 2011

Green Baby~In Style Christmas in July Giveaway Hop {Rafflecopter}

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Christmas seems soooooo far away! However, we know that it's really not...

To get us over the 'it's kinda' around the corner but not really' hump, Home Grown Families is participating in the Christmas in July Giveaway blog Hop with Just Married with Coupons, Matter of Cents and Money $aving Michelle.

I was lucky enough to find 2 great sponsors for all you Moms out there!

Green Baby~ In Style

The 'Green Baby' is The Little Bee Co. An amazing {and local to me} company with a mission, The Little Bee Co. donates a diaper to

orphanages around the world for every diaper they sell! Isn't that amazing! Providing a reusable product that fills a need! They don't give a fish, they teach how to fish.

It all started when Jona, the creator of Little Bee, couldn't find a diaper absorbent enough for her own little bee. After a friend suggested cloth, she found herself hooked!

Jona realized she had a duty to help others. Taking from James 1:27 and knowing that there are orphans everywhere that don't have access to diapers, she knew what she was to do:

How it works: With every diaper purchased The Little Bee Co. will donate a diaper to an orphan in need. Once enough diapers are collected for each baby of one entire orphanage, a "Diaper Drop" mission will be organized to deliver the diapers and help in assisting the orphanage workers with the transition.

Besides being an angel, she has a great product, too! While she does offer a microsuede option, her line focuses on bamboo.

Bamboo is a natural product, easily grown and completely sustainable~ and it makes incredibly soft material. Bamboo also possesses anti-microbial and anti-bacterial properties making it perfect for a baby's butt. Hemp/organic inserts are available and each bamboo diaper features:

• No cover needed/waterproof PUL outer
• Adjustable, clean snap front design
• Wrap & Go feature to eliminate messy diaper storage and to accommodate the tiniest waist as a crossover snap design
• 100% all natural bamboo fleece inner lining, luxuriously soft and hypo-allergenic
• Specially designed leak guard front elastic
• Available in 9 adorable colors
• The Little Bee Co. will donate a diaper to an orphan in need for each diaper purchased

The Little Bee Co. also has extras like diaper detergent, butt balm, cloth wipes and more! Make sure you check out Jona's The Little Bee Co. and support her and her mission!

And, every Mama needs to be 'In Style' so I rounded up these GREAT diaper bags! These handmade bags can be customized for just about anything! With B Cowan Bags the 'possibilities are ENDLESS.'

Since each bag is custom made, each bag is one~of~a~kind. I asked for a few special features in my bag: a pocket for a bottle and another for a sippy cup {I lost a digital camera to a ‘leak-proof’ sippy cup once. It’s not happening again!} and a pen holder! I HATE searching for a pen… I told her we were girly so use pretty fabrics~ but not too loud because we make enough commotion on our own. I can’t wait to see it!

B Cowan Bags started with Beth~ the designer of each bag.

She began making our diaper bag line as gifts for friends, and as time passed, an overwhelming response and demand for them grew!

I can see why! These are super neat! With 3 girls who are always on the go, this bag will come in handy. Load it up once and you’re good for all day!

{all of the B Cowan Bags pictures featured above were taken by A Busy Mom of Two}

Do you see the pic on the left? 2 beach towels, a bag of potato chips, some drinks~ and still room left over! Perfect for the beach, sports, shopping, farmers market, dance, etc.

Coming Soon: available fabrics so you can pick your own, specific bag options and more pictures. There are only 2 Mama’s running B Cowan so we need to be patient with these newbies!

Other Bags

VIEW SLIDE SHOW

DOWNLOAD ALL

Well, now down to it!

****JUST ADDED**** B Cowan Bags is so excited about the great response from their Christmas in July giveaway that they have decided to make it even better! The first 20 people to order a custom made bag will get it at 50% OFF!!!!! That's right~ ONLY $60!! E-mail me: MomToSprouts at yahoo dot com or them: BCowanBags at gmail dot com

PLUS: if you are the winner of the giveaway and you bought a bag they will REFUND YOUR MONEY!!!

1 lucky Christmas in July Giveaway Blog Hopper will receive a Bitty Blessings 3 pack AIO from The Little Bee Co {RV $37} and a custom made bag from B Cowan Bags {RV $120.}

Enter via Rafflecopter then scroll down to enter for some more great prizes from some more great blogs!

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Hey there! I have lots of amazing giveaways going on now- using Rafflecopter for the first time! Check them out for over $500 is amazing giveaways!!

Inch Blue baby leather Shoes- your choice! 8/14

Noma Footwear- YOUR CHOICE OF FOOTWEAR UP TO $55!! 8/10

Build a Dream Carboard playhouse for kids! 8/12

Milan Maternity/Nursing Top- Your choice! 8/12

Novica $50 GC- Handmade items! 8/10

Creative Toyshop- Recycle It Game! 8/15

Another great Kolcraft Giveaway- SESAME STREET products worth over $500!!

Friday, July 29, 2011

ENTER TO WIN HERE!!

Lots of prizes to be won! Stay tuned this week for a Kolcraft Silent Auction!

GREAT GIVEAWAY worth over $2000 in ROYAL BABY PRODUCTS!! Stroller included!!

STOP BY THE MUTSY FACEBOOK TO ENTER THE SWEEPSTAKES!!

Creative ToyShop Recycle It Game Review and Giveaway (RaffleCopter)

Most of you know how greatly important it is to raise children that will be good Earth citizens. Children who love and protect our great planet, and that will change the way we live our lives. I try everyday to teach my children to respect the Earth, and help them with green practices. Creative Toyshop is my best friend on this endeavour. They offer amazing eco-friendly toys for children that are not only great for the planet but many that teach children this value in a fun creative way! A+ from this homeshool mom!

The Creative Toyshop's beliefs:

I'm always looking for items that further childrens development through intelligent, creative and stimulating activities. It's so rewarding when you see your kids having fun while they express their creativity and thoughts, and to see them finding solutions on their own. My family and I try to live responsibly with as little waste and harm to the environment, and it's important to me to only offer products that fit that criteria.

They took the words right out of my mouth. Our family had the pleasure of reviewing the Young Learners Recycle It! game. A fast moving very educational game for children.

This game geared towards ages 3 and up, can be played with up to 2-6 players. It is a race to sort out all of the recyclable items- Is it paper or plastic? Textile or compost? My family really enjoyed this game, and it opened up lots of discussion on recycling. Loud discussions at that, since the fastness of this game got them quite excited!

As a homeschooling mother, I am always looking for games that encouarges them to learn. My 3 yr has used this game independently; working on sorting, matching, and grouping. He LOVES the individual recycle bins- and asks to play this game all the time!

This game makes a great addition to your family game collection and to any classroom! Be sure to check out the other Young Learner games Creative Toyshop carries. These are high quality pieces with great educational value.

Creative Toyshop also has a wide variety of art supplies and projects. Stay tuned for a Calafant Review and Giveaway!

BUY IT- Young Learners Recycle It! game costs $21.99.

WIN IT- Creative Toyshop is giving one HGF reader the Recycle Game to share with their kids.

ENTER THROUGH RAFFLECOPTER BELOW!!

Thank you for joining the Friday Blog Hop hosted by myself (Nicole) at Mama to 4 Blessings and Melissa at Home Grown Families! We invite you to join us every Friday to make more blog friends!

It's very easy to join in on the fun!

Add your main blog (PLEASE DO NOT LINK UP GIVEAWAYS) link (we ask that you please follow the hostesses in the first 2 spots (Mama to 4 Blessings & Home Grown Families.) Then leave us a quick comment letting us know you are following.

Then start blog hopping!

This is a great opportunity for you to visit other blogs on the link up and comment on their blogs! When people comment on your blog please let them know that you are part of Friday Blog Hop then return the favor and follow them back! Please feel free to grab our Friday Blog Hop button and add it to your blog and spread the word!

Please only enter your MAIN blog link and please G rated links ONLY - NO CURSING please. Home Grown Families and Mama to 4 Blessings are family friendly blogs.

This week's featured guest hostess is: Mommy Moments

Please also follow this week's Featured Guest Hostess: Mommy Moments. Each week a new featured blogger who will be chosen at random, but you must be participate in the weekly link up - that's how we will choose a new featured blogger every week! So please come back every week & link up because you could be our next featured guest blogger!

A Princess. A fashionista

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Oh boy. Could I tell you some stories about my daughters fashion choices. Wow.

The Princess is a bit of what you would call a high maintenance child. She is so precious~ and knows it. I really admire her for her ability to ask for what she wants. If she want's a glass of water, she asks for it. If she thinks it might inconvenience you, she still asks. It's not that she's rude. She's not rude at all. It's that it has never occurred to this child that there is a possibility that you are not absolutely thrilled to help her get what she wants. I wish I could do that.

She is very creative. Amazingly creative with an eye for detail. She draws things with little details that only she notices. She can sing. She needs help finding her key, but once she gets it, she's got it. She loves to dance! Unfortunately, she was born with some motor skill 'issues' that keep her from being as strong and coordinated as her peers. She works so hard at dance every week, though, and has come so far in the last year.

With her creative side come a need to develop 'new' fashions. Sometimes they're great. Sometimes... not so much.

Here is a picture of her at Hershey Park recently. I know it's hard to see, but her tank top has a band of diamonds {as she calls them} across the top. This is the fanciest dress down outfit I could find. You should have seen what she wanted to wear... "No! You are NOT wearing knee boots to Hershey Park!" You wouldn't believe the conversations we have...

My current goal is to try to get her to understand that just because it's the same color doesn't automatically mean it matches. I mean, seriously. But, try to convince her that light green and neon green don't match or that no one really looks good in head to toe khaki. You might as well be explaining Einstein's Theory of Relativity~ in Greek.

Sometimes, however, she comes up with some really awesome stuff! She carries herself in such a way that she can make just about anything work. Just about.

One day she came up with in a new creation. It was silly but it worked! I could totally see Angelina wearing this on the red carpet. {With different fabric, of course.}

I encourage her creativity every way that I can. She is a special little girl with a style all her own~ and an attitude to match.

Discover the style you want, the quality you expect and the price you love at jcpenney. new look. new day. who knew! shop our stores or online at www.jcp.com. got a question? visit our Customer Service team online at www.jcp.com/csvc.

“I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and jcpenney blogging program, for a gift card worth $50. For more information on how you can participate, click here.”

10 tips and tricks to get your kids to eat more vegetables

10 Tips and tricks to get your kids to eat more veggies. Yeah, if only it were that easy, right?
Actually, I'm blessed with two little girls that inhale food~ any food. As tiny as the twins are, they eat a surprisingly huge amount of food. They must be blessed with fast metabolisms.

Must be nice.

But, it wasn't always so easy to get them to eat veggies. I did struggle for a bit when they were smaller. Most kids go through a stage.

It's really not that hard to get your kids to take at least some greens {and other colors.}

hide them. Seriously. I have Jessica Seinfelds book on hiding vegetable purees in everything. It's called Deceptively Delicious. Try it.
experiment. Saute, broil, boil, steam. Olive Oil, salt, onion powder... just open your spice cabinet and start shaking until you find something they like
offer dip. Ranch dip, hummus, Greek yogurt, low fat honey mustard~ whatever they like
buy it mashed. They are companies that mix vegetable puree with fruit puree and put it in a neat little pouch for you. I find them in the applesauce aisle.
you can also find it mixed it fruit drinks. Now, a child shouldn't get all their servings of vegetables this way but it's an OK 'treat.'
find out what they like. Ask them what they like and make that for them. It will work.
try new recipes. There is a Mexican Pizza recipe that's made with spaghetti and corn that we like. Search the web and see what creative recipes you can find. If it's good they won't care what is in it.
set the vegetables out first. Right before dinner id ready, invite the kids to come have some raw vegetables with yogurt before you serve their meal. If they are hungry, they'll eat them. No one said that vegetables have to be served cooked and on a plate.
make vegetables fun. Around the holidays most magazines have awesome little critters you can make with fruits and vegetables. Or check the web for some ideas.
make it mandatory. While you can't force a 2 year old to eat his vegetables, you can make older children comply. There are just some things that are done because they should be done. Healthy eating and balanced meals are one of those things. There is just no way around it. Growing bodies and minds need the vitamins and nutrients found in fruit and vegetables. Sorry, no TV or dessert until they're gone. {Don't force your child to eat something they absolutely hate! That's not fair to them. And, yes, brussell sprouts really do make them gag...}

So, there you have it. My 10 tips and tricks. Take you time and try to figure out what works for your family. I read that you have to offer a new food approx. 13 times before you can say for sure that your child doesn't like it. Wait a few weeks, or even months, to try a refused vegetable again. Tastes change quickly in children!

In the end, it will be worth it!

About Peas and Thank You
Peas and Thank You is a collection of recipes and stories from a mainstream family eating a not-so-mainstream diet. It's filled with healthy and delicious versions of foods we’ve all grown up enjoying, but with a Mama Pea twist—no meat, lots of fresh ingredients and plenty of nutrition for growing Peas. From wholesome breakfasts to mouth-watering desserts, there’s plenty here to satisfy the pickiest Peas in your life. It’s easier than ever to whip up crowd-pleasing meals that will have the whole family asking for, “more, Peas.”Sarah Matheny's delicious recipes and entertaining stories draw hundreds of thousands of visitors to her blog, peasandthankyou.com each month, where she makes raising a vegetarian family easy and fun. She is the author of “Peas and Thank You: Simple Meatless Meals the Whole Family Will Love.”

“I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Peas and Thank You blogging program for a gift card worth $30. For more information on how you can participate, click here.”

MOMMY LOVES TUESDAYS GIVEAWAY w/ LINKY

Monday, July 25, 2011

Do you love to win stuff??

Do you have a great giveaway going on?
Come over and win some free stuff or show the Linky love and link up your giveaway. Make sure you come back EVERY Tuesday!

Follow us for updated giveaways!

*Please keep everything family friendly!*

Build a Dream Playhouses~ winners choice~ 8/12

Nomad Footwear~ winners choice to $55~ 8/10