This is absolutely my favorite song right now. I have no idea why! I love Coldplay and Viva la Vida, so that is likely part of the reason. I could play this over and over again. Well, I actually am right now!
Go to the link below to hear it-"United States of Pop 2008 (Viva La Pop)"
http://www.wired965.com/index.php?page=685
-Denise
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
What will they think of next?
I am an Obama supporter. I voted for him and am proud of it. I am just baffled at this "memorabilia" item. If you can even call it that! Check it out.
http://www.amazon.com/Chia-Obama-Handmade-Decorative-Planter/dp/B001PKU298
WHAT? What were they thinking?
-Denise
http://www.amazon.com/Chia-Obama-Handmade-Decorative-Planter/dp/B001PKU298
WHAT? What were they thinking?
-Denise
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act
As parents and concerned citizens I'm sure most of us at one time or another have been confronted with the question of lead poisoning. But have you asked yourself what your government is doing to protect your children from lead contained in toys? The answer? They're banning toys, taking books from schools and libraries, hurting low income families, killing entrepreneurial spirit and risking putting the economy in an even greater depression than we've seen in decades. I'd like to introduce you to their solution: the CPSIA.
Do you know about the CPSIA? No? Then I ask you to take a few minutes to find out about it.
The CPSIA stands for Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, a new set of laws that will come into effect on 10 February, 2009 and will impact many, many people in a negative way. Make no mistake, this is very real. View it for yourself. If Forbes, the American Library Association and numerous other media are paying attention, perhaps you should too.
How will these new laws affect you? Well, here are a few examples:
To the Parents of Young Students:
Due to the new law, expect to see the cost of school supplies skyrocket. While those paper clips weren't originally intended for your student to use, they will need to be tested now that your 11-year-old needs them for his school project. This law applies to any and all school supplies (textbooks, pencils, crayons, paper, etc.) being used by children under 12.
To the Avid Reader:
Due to the new law, all children's books will be pulled from library and school shelves, as there is no exemption for them. That's okay though, there's always television. Our children don't need to learn the love of reading after all.Article from the American Library Association http://www.wo.ala.org/districtdispatch/?p=1322
To the Lover of All Things Handmade:
Due to the new law, you will now be given a cotton ball and an instruction manual so you can make it yourself since that blanket you originally had your eye on for $50 will now cost you around $1,000after it's passed testing. It won't even be the one-of-a-kind blanket you were hoping for. Items are destroyed in the testing process making one-of-a-kind items virtually impossible. So that gorgeous hand-knit hat you bought your child this past winter won't be available next winter.
To the Environmentalist:
Due to the new law, all items in non-compliance will now be dumped into our already overflowing landfills. Imagine not just products from the small business owners, but the Big Box Stores as well. You can't sell it so you must toss it. Or be potentially sued for selling it. You can't even give them away. If you are caught, it is still a violation.
To the Second-Hand Shopper:
Due to the new law, you will now need to spend $20 for that brand new pair of jeans for your 2-year old, rather than shop at the Goodwill for second hand. Many resale shops are eliminating children's items all together to avoid future lawsuits.
To the Entrepreneur:
Due to this new law, you will be forced to adhere to strict testing of your unique products or discontinue to make and/or sell them.Small businesses will be likely to be unable to afford the cost of testing and be forced to close up shop. Due to the current economic state, you'll have to hope for the best when it comes to finding anew job in Corporate America.
To the Antique Toy Collector:
Due to the new law, you'd better start buying now because it's all going to private collection and will no longer be available to purchase. "Because the new rules apply retroactively, toys and clothes already on the shelf will have to be thrown out if they aren't certified as safe." http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123189645948879745.html
To the American Economy:
Already struggling under an economy that hasn't been this weak in decades, the American economy will be hit harder with the inevitable loss of jobs and revenues from suppliers, small businesses and consumers. The required testing is far too costly and restrictive for small businesses or individuals to undertake.
To the Worldwide Economy:
Due to this new law, many foreign manufacturers have already pulled out of the US market. You can imagine the impact of this on their businesses.If you think this is exaggerating, here is a recent article from Forbes http://www.forbes.com/2009/01/16/cpsia-safety-toys-oped-cx_wo_0116olson.html
And for those of you prepared to be stupefied and boggled, The New Law http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/cpsia.html
Did you know? If this upsets or alarms you, please react.
I did not write the information written above. The post was written and meant to be spread throughout the blogging world as a blog-in to help inform the public about the impending impact of the CPSIA. Please copy and paste this to your blog or email it to a friend.
-Denise
Do you know about the CPSIA? No? Then I ask you to take a few minutes to find out about it.
The CPSIA stands for Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, a new set of laws that will come into effect on 10 February, 2009 and will impact many, many people in a negative way. Make no mistake, this is very real. View it for yourself. If Forbes, the American Library Association and numerous other media are paying attention, perhaps you should too.
How will these new laws affect you? Well, here are a few examples:
To the Parents of Young Students:
Due to the new law, expect to see the cost of school supplies skyrocket. While those paper clips weren't originally intended for your student to use, they will need to be tested now that your 11-year-old needs them for his school project. This law applies to any and all school supplies (textbooks, pencils, crayons, paper, etc.) being used by children under 12.
To the Avid Reader:
Due to the new law, all children's books will be pulled from library and school shelves, as there is no exemption for them. That's okay though, there's always television. Our children don't need to learn the love of reading after all.Article from the American Library Association http://www.wo.ala.org/districtdispatch/?p=1322
To the Lover of All Things Handmade:
Due to the new law, you will now be given a cotton ball and an instruction manual so you can make it yourself since that blanket you originally had your eye on for $50 will now cost you around $1,000after it's passed testing. It won't even be the one-of-a-kind blanket you were hoping for. Items are destroyed in the testing process making one-of-a-kind items virtually impossible. So that gorgeous hand-knit hat you bought your child this past winter won't be available next winter.
To the Environmentalist:
Due to the new law, all items in non-compliance will now be dumped into our already overflowing landfills. Imagine not just products from the small business owners, but the Big Box Stores as well. You can't sell it so you must toss it. Or be potentially sued for selling it. You can't even give them away. If you are caught, it is still a violation.
To the Second-Hand Shopper:
Due to the new law, you will now need to spend $20 for that brand new pair of jeans for your 2-year old, rather than shop at the Goodwill for second hand. Many resale shops are eliminating children's items all together to avoid future lawsuits.
To the Entrepreneur:
Due to this new law, you will be forced to adhere to strict testing of your unique products or discontinue to make and/or sell them.Small businesses will be likely to be unable to afford the cost of testing and be forced to close up shop. Due to the current economic state, you'll have to hope for the best when it comes to finding anew job in Corporate America.
To the Antique Toy Collector:
Due to the new law, you'd better start buying now because it's all going to private collection and will no longer be available to purchase. "Because the new rules apply retroactively, toys and clothes already on the shelf will have to be thrown out if they aren't certified as safe." http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123189645948879745.html
To the American Economy:
Already struggling under an economy that hasn't been this weak in decades, the American economy will be hit harder with the inevitable loss of jobs and revenues from suppliers, small businesses and consumers. The required testing is far too costly and restrictive for small businesses or individuals to undertake.
To the Worldwide Economy:
Due to this new law, many foreign manufacturers have already pulled out of the US market. You can imagine the impact of this on their businesses.If you think this is exaggerating, here is a recent article from Forbes http://www.forbes.com/2009/01/16/cpsia-safety-toys-oped-cx_wo_0116olson.html
And for those of you prepared to be stupefied and boggled, The New Law http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/cpsia.html
Did you know? If this upsets or alarms you, please react.
I did not write the information written above. The post was written and meant to be spread throughout the blogging world as a blog-in to help inform the public about the impending impact of the CPSIA. Please copy and paste this to your blog or email it to a friend.
-Denise
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Free Lego & Lego Jr. Magazine Subscriptions
Lego has had a free Lego magazine out for quite a while now. It is really a giant advertisement for the products, but it does have project ideas, neat pictures, and more. The link for a free Lego Magazine subscription is below.
http://club1.lego.com/en-US/legomagazine/default.aspx
The new magazine coming soon from Lego is Lego Jr. The link is below. It is geared for kids that are 6 years old and younger. I am interested in checking this one out. While B. is really only interested in building giant towers right now, he is gaining interest in building blocks every day. Again, free is a great deal!
http://club.lego.com/en-us/news/NewsDetails.aspx?id=94759
-Denise
http://club1.lego.com/en-US/legomagazine/default.aspx
The new magazine coming soon from Lego is Lego Jr. The link is below. It is geared for kids that are 6 years old and younger. I am interested in checking this one out. While B. is really only interested in building giant towers right now, he is gaining interest in building blocks every day. Again, free is a great deal!
http://club.lego.com/en-us/news/NewsDetails.aspx?id=94759
-Denise
Free Parents Magazine Subscription
Visit the link below for a free two-year subscription to Parents magazine. This has been posted at many of my favorite blogs and was emailed to me by a friend, so I think it is legitimate. Take a chance, if you are interested. Free is a great deal!
http://www.valuemags.com/freeoffer/Parents-BBS.asp
-Denise
http://www.valuemags.com/freeoffer/Parents-BBS.asp
-Denise
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Free Movie Rentals at Redbox
If you haven't checked out Redbox rentals yet, I suggest you do it! Redbox machines are located at many grocery stores, Walmarts, and even McDonald's locations. The cost is merely $1 for a 24 hr. rental period. This is so much cheaper than rentals from Blockbuster or OnDemand service from your cable subscriber. We have paid for a few rentals, and have also gotten many free from this website.
http://www.insideredbox.com/redbox-codes/
They recently instituted a new policy where you now need to join as a member, but the membership is free. Once on the site, you can access tons of codes for free rentals. Yes, $1 is cheap, but free is even better!
Give Redbox a try. It is a great, frugal way to have family movie night.
Does anyone else have good deals on family entertainment/fun?
-Denise
http://www.insideredbox.com/redbox-codes/
They recently instituted a new policy where you now need to join as a member, but the membership is free. Once on the site, you can access tons of codes for free rentals. Yes, $1 is cheap, but free is even better!
Give Redbox a try. It is a great, frugal way to have family movie night.
Does anyone else have good deals on family entertainment/fun?
-Denise
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Helping Make A Dream Come True
I recently found out through Facebook that someone I went to high school with is asking for help to make her dream come true. We were not friends, and in fact, she probably doesn't even know who I am. Her story moves me to want to help her and her husband make their dreams come true. Maybe you can help too.
Andrea was 22 when she found out she had a rare form of bone cancer. Andrea is now cancer free, but she is now faced with infertility related to her cancer treatments. Her sister offered her eggs for IVF, but the IVF failed. After spending all the money they had on that avenue, Andrea is now trying to raise enough money to get donor eggs for another try at IVF.
She wants to be a mom! Can you help this cancer survivor?
Read her story at http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=55175034223
or at http://whenyouwishuponafriend.blogspot.com/
Even $1 can help make their dream come true. Please consider helping! Contributions can be mailed to a special savings account for the couple or sent in through Paypal. Specific details are available at both of the links above.
-Denise
Andrea was 22 when she found out she had a rare form of bone cancer. Andrea is now cancer free, but she is now faced with infertility related to her cancer treatments. Her sister offered her eggs for IVF, but the IVF failed. After spending all the money they had on that avenue, Andrea is now trying to raise enough money to get donor eggs for another try at IVF.
She wants to be a mom! Can you help this cancer survivor?
Read her story at http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=55175034223
or at http://whenyouwishuponafriend.blogspot.com/
Even $1 can help make their dream come true. Please consider helping! Contributions can be mailed to a special savings account for the couple or sent in through Paypal. Specific details are available at both of the links above.
-Denise
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Gerber coupons and freebies
Create a pledge to your child at http://www.gerber.com/pledge/Create.aspx and get some nice feebies!
The first 10,000 qualified entries will receive a free stainless steel Gerber Educator or Feeding spoon, and you will be able to print a high value Gerber coupon. Save up to $3.00 on any Gerber Baby Food, Graduates Foods, or Graduates for Preschoolers, but it will expire one month from the date that you print it. Many of the Graduates items are $2-3, so this gives you some free food! There is also a printable coupon to Save $5.00 on any Nestle Good Start Formula.
Creating your pledge will take a few minutes, but it can be about anything you like. You will be asked to upload 1-5 photos to create a quick slideshow. You can pledge to do anything for your child in the slideshow, and you can post it anonymously as well.
Have fun and enjoy the savings!
-Denise
The first 10,000 qualified entries will receive a free stainless steel Gerber Educator or Feeding spoon, and you will be able to print a high value Gerber coupon. Save up to $3.00 on any Gerber Baby Food, Graduates Foods, or Graduates for Preschoolers, but it will expire one month from the date that you print it. Many of the Graduates items are $2-3, so this gives you some free food! There is also a printable coupon to Save $5.00 on any Nestle Good Start Formula.
Creating your pledge will take a few minutes, but it can be about anything you like. You will be asked to upload 1-5 photos to create a quick slideshow. You can pledge to do anything for your child in the slideshow, and you can post it anonymously as well.
Have fun and enjoy the savings!
-Denise
Back To Our Routine...Thank Goodness!
From December 29-January 5, we went on vacation to Florida. The weather was warm, there was lots to do, and all this caused B. to get far off of his normal schedule. On day 5 of our seven day trip, B. finally lost it. He stopped napping, stopped sleeping for more than a few hours at night, slammed doors, used bad words he learned at school from other kids (that is a topic for a whole other post!), and ran around screaming things like,
"No!"
"Get off of me!"
"Don't touch me!"
and more lovely phrases. We tried time outs, taking toys away, and more, but nothing really helped to improve his behavior. We were more than ready to go home when we left on January 5th.
What we came to realize was that B.'s schedule was really important to him. We had taken this for granted at home. It was normal and not something we even considered, but for B. it was everything. On vacation we went from a very set routine, to days on end of lounging, free time, late dinners, and unusual activities. He just couldn't handle all the changes. Coming to this realization really helped me get over B.'s bad behavior. Understanding why he was acting like a maniac made it a little easier to deal with.
Our belief that a disturbed routine was the reason for his behavior was confirmed once we got home. B. immediately jumped right back into his sleeping, playing, napping, eating routine, and his behavior was noticeably better very quickly. It took about one week for him to really get back to his usual self, and I am happy to say that life is much better for our whole family now that this has happened.
For future vacations, I have learned a few key things.
1) Seriously consider the length of the trip in regards to the child's tolerance. Too long can lead to disaster!
2) Try to keep toddlers busy. The less free time B. had on our trip=better behavior. When he had time to do as he pleased, the doors started being slammed and the screaming ensued.
3) As much as possible, stick to meal, nap, and bedtime schedules. This normalcy can help ward off some meltdowns.
4) Remember to bring plenty of entertaining toys and activities with you and save some for later in the trip. half way through our trip, B. was tired of the toys we brought with us. He had no interest in playing with them anymore. If we had some new toys or art supplies to bring out part way through our trip, he might not have lost it as quickly.
I am sure I will think of more tips, and I will revisit this topic again in the future. We plan to travel back to Florida this summer to got to Walt Disney World for a few days. There are still moments right now that make me think I am insane for planning another trip with B., but we will make it through and plan according to some of the lessons we learned on this trip.
-Denise
"No!"
"Get off of me!"
"Don't touch me!"
and more lovely phrases. We tried time outs, taking toys away, and more, but nothing really helped to improve his behavior. We were more than ready to go home when we left on January 5th.
What we came to realize was that B.'s schedule was really important to him. We had taken this for granted at home. It was normal and not something we even considered, but for B. it was everything. On vacation we went from a very set routine, to days on end of lounging, free time, late dinners, and unusual activities. He just couldn't handle all the changes. Coming to this realization really helped me get over B.'s bad behavior. Understanding why he was acting like a maniac made it a little easier to deal with.
Our belief that a disturbed routine was the reason for his behavior was confirmed once we got home. B. immediately jumped right back into his sleeping, playing, napping, eating routine, and his behavior was noticeably better very quickly. It took about one week for him to really get back to his usual self, and I am happy to say that life is much better for our whole family now that this has happened.
For future vacations, I have learned a few key things.
1) Seriously consider the length of the trip in regards to the child's tolerance. Too long can lead to disaster!
2) Try to keep toddlers busy. The less free time B. had on our trip=better behavior. When he had time to do as he pleased, the doors started being slammed and the screaming ensued.
3) As much as possible, stick to meal, nap, and bedtime schedules. This normalcy can help ward off some meltdowns.
4) Remember to bring plenty of entertaining toys and activities with you and save some for later in the trip. half way through our trip, B. was tired of the toys we brought with us. He had no interest in playing with them anymore. If we had some new toys or art supplies to bring out part way through our trip, he might not have lost it as quickly.
I am sure I will think of more tips, and I will revisit this topic again in the future. We plan to travel back to Florida this summer to got to Walt Disney World for a few days. There are still moments right now that make me think I am insane for planning another trip with B., but we will make it through and plan according to some of the lessons we learned on this trip.
-Denise
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Pampers Points Free Points - Gifts to Grow
HAPPYHOLIDAY089
The code above should be good for 3 points. I hope it works for you!
-Denise
The code above should be good for 3 points. I hope it works for you!
-Denise
Back From Vacation
I was away in Florida for the last week and before that the holidays kept me too busy to post. Sorry! I have lots of posts coming up about our vacation, traveling with a toddler, crazy airline stories and more. Check back later in the week!
-Denise
-Denise
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