Odwalla CFK Game Day Challenge Round Two #CBias #SocialFabric

Tonight after piano lessons, Lynzie and I went on a little shopping adventure to give to an organization that we are so blessed to have in our community!   This month, Champions For Kids is partnering with Odwalla juice in a SIMPLE Service Project to round up some new or gently-used sports/outdoor equipment and donate it to a children's organization.  We want to give our gifts to Pendleton Parks and Recreation!

Before making our trip, I contacted the Parks & Rec to make sure that they were interested in the donation and to see what sorts of things they needed.  We've never given to a community-wide resource like this, so I wanted to make sure that we were providing things they could use.

One of the items mentioned was a playground ball.  I hope they're able to use the two giant tennis balls we found for them at Walmart!

Another need was bubbles.  Although our Walmart's shelves were pretty much cleaned out from Easter, we were able to find a few bottles left!

Along with our donation of outside equipment, we plan to give an armload of Odwalla juice!

I'm excited to take all the kids as we make our delivery next week! We have benefited from the use of the Rec Center during our homeschool free-play times.  I know the kids will be excited to be a part of providing more fun for the kids of Pendleton!

If you'd like to see more  pictures of our shopping trip and the other neat things we saw, you can check out my Google+ album featuring the #OdwallaCFK project.

For more information on how you can be involved with Champions For Kids, visit CFK at the following places:

Champions For Kids website

Twitter

Champions For Kids Facebook page

I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™. #CBias #SocialFabric All opinions are honest and are my own.

Odwalla Game Day Challenge: Delivering the Gifts! #CBias #SocialFabric

 A couple of weeks ago, I told you about our family's trip to Walmart to purchase some outdoor equipment and Odwalla juice.  We are participating in this month's SIMPLE Service Project with Champions for Kids, and were rounding up some things to donate to a local daycare.

If you'd like to see more  pictures of our shopping trip and the fun things we saw, you can check out my Google+ album featuring the #OdwallaCFK project.

A few days ago, we arranged with Haley to deliver the gifts to her and her daycare kids.  We covered a box in bright blue paper and arranged all of the donations in it.  We gave 2 butterfly nets, 4 large bubble wands, 1 large bottle of refill bubbles, 2 big boxes of sidewalk chalk, 2 big balls, and 8 bottle of Odwalla Juice!

Three of Haley's day care kids were there at the time of delivery.  They were all so excited to receive our gift!

The three boys were jumping up and down and telling us what all the things in the box were.  As soon as we left, they all ran out into the backyard to start playing with their new things.  Many of the bubbles floated around to the front yard and followed us as we drove off!

What a great lesson for our family:  It truly is better to give than to receive.  Putting together this project for Haley's day care was so fun.  I know they really enjoyed having some new fun things to play with outside!

For more information on how you can be involved with Champions For Kids, visit CFK at the following places:

Champions For Kids website

Twitter

Champions For Kids Facebook page

This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias.  #CBias  All opinions are true and are my own.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies: Sorta-Subway® Series & Homemaking Link-Up Weekend

It's the weekend!!  What's your favorite part about the weekend?  I love weekends most because that's when my husband is off work and we can have family time~~Yay!

One of our family's favorite places to eat out is Subway®.  We love it that we can always find something fresh and healthy there!  I've come up with a few "Sorta-Subway®" recipes that I thought I'd share with you all in a series.

The first in the series is my recipe for Sorta-Subway® Oatmeal Raisin Cookies.  These are crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside and SUPER yummy!

Sorta-Subway® Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

1 cup butter          1 cup brown sugar

1 cup sugar           1 tsp. vanilla

2 eggs                   1 1/2 c. flour

1 tsp. salt              1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. cinnamon    3 c. oats

1 1/2 c. raisins

Cream together butter and sugars until fluffy.  Add vanilla and eggs and beat well.  Stir in remaining ingredients.  Refrigerate about 15 minutes.  Drop by tablespoons onto greased baking sheet.  Bake on 350 for 10 minutes or until middle is done.  Yum!

Linking with:
Project Party Weekend@BNC 
Show and Tell Friday@My Romantic Home
Tater Tots and Jello 

Easel Card Tutorial, Lemon Muffins recipe, and Homemaking Link Up Weekend

   
Who loves a great card tutorial?  I do!  I've recently really been getting back into card making more as I'm anticipating an upcoming scrapbooking retreat! This Easel Card is so easy and fun to make---I'm trying to find a good reason to make a whole bunch more!

Start by cutting a 12x12 piece of card stock into thirds so you have 3 pieces that are 4x12.  You will only be using one strip for the card so one piece of 12x12 will make 3 cards!  Score the paper at 4", 6" and 8".  I use the track of my cutter as a guide and use this bone folder from Martha Stewart to score my lines.

Fold the paper at the score lines and adhere one 2" piece to it's nearest 4" piece on the inside.

Stand up the glued piece to look like an easel.

Decorate the face of the card in your own creative way.

You can use anything you'd like to act as a "stopper" for the standing piece.  Buttons and foam-backed embellishments work great.  I used this cute typewriter key egg embellishment and was reminded of the Cadbury commercial where the bunny lays the Creme Egg!  I loved that commercial as a kid!!

   
When you've finished your card, why not send it to a friend and invite her over for tea and muffins? 

Lemon Muffins  (makes 12-18)

2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cup sour cream or yogurt 

2 large eggs
5 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon extract

Mix the dry ingredients together and then make a well for the remaining ingredients.  Mix until combined and spoon into muffin pans.  Bake at 375°F for 15-20 min. or until the muffins are light brown on top and done inside.  Let cool in pan for 5 minutes or so and then turn out onto a wire rack.  Yum!

Linking up with:
Bubbly Nature Creations Project Party Weekend 
Beverly's Pink Saturday 
Whimsical Wednesdays at AudraSilva.com

Golden Tone Effect Challenge

My friend Rachel from Bubbly Nature Creations has been flexing her photo-recreating muscles today and has come up with a fun challenge!  She found an AWESOME site called, PicMonkey, where users can do all kinds of funky adjustments to photos for FREE!  She's even offered a tutorial to add a subtle (or not so subtle in my case) golden-tone to your photos using the site.  

Jamie took the photo on the top the day before yesterday when I was wanting a new profile pic for my various online communities.  This was one that could have been ok, but I wasn't totally thrilled with it.  But, now that I've messed around with it on PicMonkey, I think it's sorta groovy.  In fact, one time I went to visit my grandma and she had a picture of her mother, my great-grandma, on a table in her living room.  When she left the room, I quickly snapped a picture of it so I'd always know what she looked like.  It was taken the in early 70s but was really faded out so it had the same coloring as the one I just adjusted there on the bottom.  So...yeah, that was random ---but it's kinda cool in my mind.  

Anyway, I said all that to say this:  Go visit Rachel and check out her "Golden Tone" Effect Challenge and let me know how much you LOVE the PicMonkey site!

Learning About Holland with Elmer's #CBias #gluenglitter

Last week, the kids and I had a blast creating this fun display board for the country of Holland.  This was the first time I had used an Elmer's Tri-Fold Display Board for a project and, believe me, poster board is now a thing of the past around here!

    
I plan on buying these boards about once a month so we can start making a collection of different displays for countries and other interesting things we learn about.  The kids really enjoyed this project and were worried we might have to give it away to someone.  They want to keep it for our homeschool!

Before beginning our project, we had to run to Walmart for supplies.  Selah really wanted to get this Elmer's Classic Glitter Glue, but we decided to get a package of 10 Washable Paint Pens in Classic Glitter Colors instead.  For more pictures and commentary on our shopping trip, visit my Google+ album.

When we got home, it was time to start creating!  I cut out some strips of construction paper to make a flag.  Cainan cut some grass from construction paper and, along with some of the other kids, colored some strips of scalloped border that I printed from TeacherHelp.org.  Elisha and a couple other kids colored the letters to spell out Holland.

It was really important to me that our project reflect each one of us in it's different creative elements.  One of my favorite supplies to use when we're doing group projects is Elmer's Craft Bond Extra Strength Glue Sticks because they aren't the least bit messy and they dry clear!

We had borrowed this book from the library and Lynzie made a little miniature book with a book report written on the inside.  We glued it in one corner of the display board for a "book recommendation" section.

Selah and I were both really excited to try out the new paint pens!

I wanted to try out this purple one as it had big chunks of glitter in it and reminded me of things I had when I was a little kid.  I love the way it looks---but it did get stopped up easier than the other pens and would sometimes come out a little globby.  Once I got the hang of it though, it was fine.

Selah picked green---her favorite color.

There are many great elements to add to a country display board.  It's basically a big, visual, book report.  We had an info section that listed basic facts about Holland and included a photo of some tulips there.  My favorite painter happened to be Dutch, so we added a little art info section.  Depending on the country, we might change out that section to have information about musicians, political leaders, food, etc.  We also printed a map of Holland from Europeetravel.com.

In addition to wanting the project to reflect each kid's creativity, I also wanted there to be something on the display to appeal to each child.  For some of the older ones, the Art and Holland History sections, as well as the Book Recommendation section, would be most interesting.  The younger kids prefer the map, flag, and colorful pictures.  No matter how you choose to do your country display, I can't recommend enough that you use an Elmer's Tri-Fold Display Board for a sturdy display and easy folding storage!

Happy Creating!

This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias.  #CBias.  All opinions are honest and are my own.

#gluenglitter

Linking with:  What's Working Wednesday @ NextGen Homeschool

Adorable Hartstrings Easter Outfits #CBias

One of our family's Easter traditions is to get dressed up as adorably as possible!  I love to make my kids' Easter outfits; but, some years, that's just not feasible.  This year is one of those years, so I was so thrilled when I was given the opportunity to shop www.Hartstrings.com for a couple of cute items for Avalon and Liam!

Usually I go with one color and match everyone, but this year I thought I'd try mixing it up a little.  I normally put Avalon in pinks and purples so I decided to go a completely different direction by picking out a dress for her in blues and greens.  I knew that Liam, with his irresistible strawberry blonde hair, would be sweet in bright yellow!

When I got to the Hartstrings website, I was greeted with a pop-up window that invited me to enter my email for a 10% off coupon!  Being a savvy couponer, I jumped on that!  I looked around the site for a little bit and pinned a few things onto a Hartstrings Pinterest board that I created for future reference.  I had originally picked out a really adorable anchor-button dress for Avalon but then realized it was a newborn size!  Bummer!

One thing that I really liked about the selection on the site was that, in addition to there being lots of different colors to choose from, there were also many different styles to choose from.  This is something different from the cookie-cutter children's fashions I'm used to seeing in some other collections.

Other things I loved about the site included the mouse-over zoom to see products more clearly and the fact that, at checkout, I could see actual photos of what I'd chosen. This helped me remember what I was buying and made it easy for me to compare and make sure the colors would go well together. 

By this time, the 10% off code had been sent to my email so I was able to use that...and...I didn't realize that both the items I'd chosen were on sale!  So, with the sale price and promo code, I saved $25.35!  

At checkout, I do remember wishing that they accepted PayPal, as I do a lot of shopping with my PayPal balance.  But then, I remembered that I had a PayPal Debit Card so I was able to use that!  Yay!  I was excited to see that I was receiving Free Shipping, but I would later come to wish that there were other shipping options available.  

After receiving my shipping confirmation email three business days later, I ended up needing to call the company because the tracking link didn't work in the email.  I found out that they have quite a round-about way of getting their orders out to customers and I would have liked the option to pay to have my order shipped more quickly.  My tracking number was first scanned on the afternoon of the third business day after ordering.  I received it eight days later.  Even so, I'm glad I ordered these early enough to be able to match them with things the older kids have for our adorable Easter!

Our order arrived safe and sound and without a wrinkle!  I was impressed to open up the box and find these nicely packaged in plastic, pressed and folded!  I felt that this was a really professional presentation.  Avalon was so excited to put on her new dress that she was jumping up and down on my bed and clapping her hands!

I chose this tropical print for Avalon---it's just the right length and I love the ruffly capped sleeves.

I like the way this dress hangs and doesn't ride up when she walks.  Later, when I went to change her back out of it, I was surprised to find that it had pockets too!  The way they're cut into the dress, they're completely invisible!

I was totally sold on the crochet trim!

Liam's shirt fit him well and I could tell that he really felt grown up in it!  Both of these pieces were just the right size.  Avalon turned 3 a few weeks ago and I bought her a 3T.  Liam will be 2 in about 6 weeks and his shirt is a 24 month.

The fabrics are soft and comfortable...Liam just might take a little nap after this photo shoot!

When Avalon was born, we had several instances where daffodils ended up being her theme.  These bright colors and good quality items make me want to order more things for our little ones and do a great big family springtime photo shoot!

Happy Easter from Liam & Avalon!

To see more from Hartstrings, visit them here:

Hartstrings.com
Twitter
Facebook 

This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias.  #CBias  All opinion are honest and are my own.

#MyHartstrings

Odwalla Game Day Challenge Shopping Adventure #Cbias

Yesterday, our family went on a shopping adventure to bless a very special group of kids in our community.   This month, Champions For Kids is partnering with Odwalla juice in a SIMPLE Service Project to round up some new or gently-used sports/outdoor equipment and donate it to a children's organization.  Our family was blessed to be able to participate!

I was recently made aware of a sweet girl in our community who has opened a daycare in her home and was in need of some fun things for the kids to enjoy playing with outside.  I contacted Haley and she gave me a few ideas for things her daycare kids would have fun with!

My husband and I loaded up the crew and we all headed to Walmart for some Odwalla juice and outside items to give to Haley's daycare.  We usually participate in some sort of service project at Christmas time, as well as when the opportunity arrives throughout the year.  It just occurred to me, however, that we did not do anything in this way this last Christmas so I'm glad we have the chance to do this now!

One of the things Haley mentioned was sidewalk chalk so we got them two big boxes!

She also specified butterfly nets.  Cainan and Elisha found some high up on this display.

I had never purchased Odwalla before; and the kids, knowing that this time we were shopping for others, asked me to please buy them some next time I go grocery shopping!  It looked so good!  

(Pay no attention to the crying baby in the background!  He was upset because he didn't get to hold a juice so Daddy was trying to play "high five" with him... Even though it looks like he's actually about to get whacked!)

If you'd like to see more  pictures of our shopping trip and the fun things we saw, you can check out my Google+ album featuring the #OdwallaCFK project.

For more information on how you can be involved with Champions For Kids, visit CFK at the following places:

Champions For Kids website

Twitter

Champions For Kids Facebook page

This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias.  #CBias  All opinions are true and are my own.