Wordless Wednesday!! Our Family:)

My husband and I.

D Man and Ducky:)

I love my family!!!!

Back "Pack" To School W/ Green Supplies Giveaway Event!!!

Welcome to the Back "Pack" To School With Green Supplies Giveaway Event hosted by Mama to 4 Blessings. Special thank you to Green Apple Supply for sponsoring this fantastic giveaway!

As parents: Stephanie and Robert Tobor, founders of Green Green Apple Supply want the best for our kids.  And as global citizens, they were faced with the responsibility to care for our planet, and each other.  They began as an endeavor to feed our family natural, organic foods has grown into a much larger enterprise.  Learning about potential dangers to children, and the planet, in cleaning supplies, household goods, office supplies…everywhere.  The worsening state of our environment, climate change, and increasing levels of toxins showing up in children’s blood work combined to create a great passion for exposing our family to only the cleanest, most wholesome products.  When they had inquired as to why individuals were choosing traditional products rather than opting for eco-friendly versions, typically given one of two answers:

1.  Green products are too expensive.
2.  There are too many choices, and some are not effective.

This was the beginning of Green Apple Supply! By utilizing economies of scale, wholesale purchasing power, and personal product experience, their endeavor to make it easier for anyone to purchase Earth-friendly products.  Keeping overhead low and this is a non-profit effort.  Products are sold as close to cost as we can, while still keeping the lights on. Why? Because we think it’s the right thing to do.

Green Apple Supply is generously allowing me to give one reader a backpack filled with green supplies to start their back to school "green"!

Starting with a Bighorn Backpack - The rugged and durable Bighorn backpack has all the essential components for the modern individual, with the additional bonus of being made of RPET (recycled polyethylene terephthalate) water bottles. Recycle, reduce, reuse has never looked this good.

Made from recycled PET bottles!

Constructed of Repreve® RPET materials

420D polyester ripstop and 600D polyester

non-toxic dyes & materials and reflective piping

dual side pockets with ergo-padded shoulder straps

internal organizer pocket and moisture wicking mesh back

Sells for $32.50

And inside the backpack one winner will receive:

2 packs (12 i n each pack) of Graphite Pencils - $1.75 each

2 packs of Banana Paper (8.5" X 11")- $2.50 each 

Made from 80% post-consumer waste paper / 20% banana leaf fibers. Water-based inks.

Acid-free and bleach-free paper.

1 (2 qty) Glue Stick Blister Pack - $4.75 each

Almond Scented Glue Stick is non-toxic, non-solvent, and acid free. Best of all it smells like marzipan, an almond-based.

1 box of 64 Prang Soy Crayons - $3.50 each

Made from a unique soybean oil formulation. Our crayons are made from 100% renewable resources and do not include paraffin wax.

1 box of Ecolorgy Washable Markers (8 pack) - $2.75 each

Non-toxic washable markers made in the USA from 25% recycled  plastic. Duplex tips draw thick or thin lines and if they start to dry  out, rejuvenate them by dipping the tip in water.

20 pack of eraser pencil caps $1.25 each

1 Recycled Plastic Ruler - $1.00 each

1 Twin Pencil Sharpener - $1.75 each

Made from a minimum of 50% post-consumer polystyrene.

1 TerraCycle 3-ring Binder Pencil Case - Honest Kids- $2.50 each

Made from up-cycled Honest Kids drink pouches

Qty 2 2-Pocket Portfolio Folders - $.75 each

Fully biodegrade

1 Set ChicoBag- Snack Time re PETe, Set of 3 Colors - $11.50

Each Snack Time set includes three reusable snack and sandwich bags that feature a fold-over, hook-and-loop closure system that expands to fit a full-size sandwich, or folds over for smaller snack items. The bags feature a food-safe, water and stain resistant liner that makes for easy cleaning.

Qty 1 Dually Lunch Tote/Backpack Combo - $17.50 each

Water resistant natural cotton exterior & interior

Attached cooler bag is insulated with a BPA-free liner, so it’s safe for your kids

Adjustable, padded shoulder straps for extra comfort

Recycled plastic components, Hand wash, line dry

Easy, durable velcro closure for little hands

Zipper pocket in main pocket for change or keepsakes

Special name tag on inner flap

Non-toxic and lead-free, conforms to U.S. standards

Giveaway ends on August 22nd at 11:59 PM.

Open to US residents only. Ages 18+.

Please use the rafflecopter form below

to enter to win, daily entry available by tweeting!

POMEGRANATE KIDS/PAUL CEZANNE BLOCK PUZZLE REVIEW

Thank you to Pomegranate Kids for letting us review the Paul Cezanne Block Puzzle. 

Ages 3 to 103

A block puzzle featuring six reproductions of paintings by Paul Cezanne. Pomegranate block puzzles are composed of twelve 2" square blocks which may be flipped and turned to form six different artworks. 

Bottle and Fruits ( Bouteille et fruits). 1890

The Large Pear (La Grosse poire), 1895-1898

Ginger Jar ( Pot de ginermbre), c. 1895

A Table Corner (Un coin de table), c. 1895

Still Life ( Nature morte), 1892-1894

Still Life ( Nature morte), 1892-1894

There colorful Block Puzzles offer a unique way to introduce children of all ages to various artists and styles of art. Beautifully reproduced using high-quality materials. 

My review:

I love these block puzzles. This school year we are really focusing on Art and the Great Artists we have heard about through the years. This block puzzle by Pomegrante Kids is so awesome because it's has many different pictures of artwork that show our children the beauty of Paul Cezanne's work.  We will be using this Paul Cezanne block puzzle this year in our homeschool and I feel so blessed by this gift. Also the quality of this block puzzle is amazing. I feel like this Paul Cezanne block puzzle will last for years to come. I like when the picture of an artist looks real so our children see the true thing or close to it which is why I love  the Pomegranate Kids block puzzle. One more thing I love about these puzzles is that it's not just for your children but you will be challenged as well. 

Please check out there Three New Titles:

Charley Harper: Tree of Life/I love this one!!!

Susan Stockdale's Animals

I know they will love if you would follow them on facebook and twitter.

Pomegranate Kids Facebook

Pomegranate Kids Twitter

Pomegranate Kids online store

Pom Blog

Ducky and I sit at gymnastics every night waiting for our son to finish a three hour practice. Not only was this a challenge for us but it's so fun to spend quality time with Ducky. 

We competed two of the six puzzles that night. 

Our finished Paul Cezanne block puzzle. 

Ducky stacking the Paul Cezanne block puzzle vertical. 

Thank you again to Pomegranate Kids for letting us review this wonderful puzzle:)

Discovering Great Artists-Paul Klee

Paul Klee

Klee has been variously associated with Expressionism, Cubism, Futurism, Surrealism, and Abstraction, but his pictures are difficult to classify. He generally worked in isolation from his peers, and interpreted new art trends in his own way. He was inventive in his methods and technique. Klee worked in many different media—oil paint, watercolor, ink, pastel, etching, and others. He often combined them into one work. He used canvas, burlap, muslin, linen, gauze, cardboard, metal foils, fabric, wallpaper, and newsprint.^[60] Klee employed spray paint, knife application, stamping, glazing, and impasto, and mixed media such as oil with watercolor, water color with pen and India ink, and oil with tempera.^[61]

To read more about Paul Klee.

What we learned about Paul Klee is that when he drew he wouldn't lift his pen off the paper. Our children did this, it's not as easy as it sounds. Try it sometime. 

DMan decided to do connecting squares. Paul Klee used watercolor so we used our Water Color Pencils from Faber Castell to color it in and then paint.  

Ducky decided to do connecting swirls and then she used water color pencils. 

Closer picture of her art. 

Closer picture of DMan's Art. 

LILLA ROSE REVIEW AND GIVEAWAY

The Flexi Hair Clip comes in six sizes to accommodate different hair types and styles. Depending on the amount and type of hair, you might use a small for a Ponytail, but a large for a French Twist. 

Thank you to Lilla Rose for letting us review the Flexi Hair Clip. 

Lilla Rose hair clips are made really good. As you can see I have alot of hair and this Flexi Clip by Lilla Rose does an awesome job in holding all of my hair back. We live in Florida and it's really hot here so having the Flexi Clip in my hair helps me to stay cool during the summer by having it all up and off my neck.  Lilla Rose has many different hair clips and many different Styles.  You can put your hair up eight different ways with the Lilla Rose Flexi Clip. I love my Flexi Clip with the sandal on it. The Flexi Clip is made with great quality products and very sturdy. These are beautiful clips that can be used for special occasions or everyday use. 

Dont forget to watch the videos on the sizing of the Flexi Clips as well as the different hair styling videos that Lilla Rose offers. 

The Flexi Clips come in several sizes:

Mini- (2 inch) smallest clip, recommended for baby fine hair or pulling back just a little bit of hair.

Extra Small - (23/4") The extra small was designed for those with very fine hair who want to do styles like the Ponytail and Tails-up.

Small (31/8") Smalls are the most common size for a Ponytail with fine hair.

Medium (4") The medium is best for those with thick hair and want to do a Ponytail or a Tails Up.

Large (43/4") Great for wavy, curly, or straight, but very thick hair. Can be worn Ponytail or Tails Up.

Extra Large (43/4") The extra large was designed for the Up Dos.

Would you like to win your very own Lilla Rose Flexi Clip?

Lilla Rose is offering One Flexi Clip valued at $15.00.

Please enter below at the Rafflecopter:)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Kool-Aid Paint

This summer we have been working art alot. A couple weeks back we did the Kool-Aid paint. I found the recipe on Pinterest. The recipe is:

Kool-Aid

1 Tablespoon of Warm Water

Containers

Mix all ingredients into bowls and you have some awesome paint and it smells good too. 

D Man painting an apple with the Kool-Aid paint. 

D Man finished Kool-Aid Art.

Ducky's finished Kool-Aid Art.

FABER CASTELL DOART WATERCOLOR PENCIL ART

Thank you to Faber Castell for letting us review the Watercolor Pencil Art Kit. 

Learn to paint with Watercolor EcoPencils using the best children's art materials by Faber-Castell. This kit includes 10 Watercolor Pencils with a clear zipper pouch, 24-page Watercolor Paper Pad, 20-page Instruction Booklet, Pencil Sharpener and Paintbrush.

My review:

Faber Castell makes high quality products that every artist loves. My little artist Ducky loves to create so she went right to work on creating with her  new Watercolor Pencil set. I love the durability of Faber Castell. I also loved about this kit has an instruction book explaining shading, color mixing,pencil techniques,painting styles and much more. Great for beginners and easy to do. It's a easy fun way to paint because the paint is in the pencils. How exciting!!! Blend and mix the colors to create Masterpieces!!!

Faber Castell is leading brand for Art Supplies. They are made with high quality products which is why I fully trust Faber Castell.

Ducky loves to Do Art and with this Watercolor Pencil Art it's makes it easy to Do Art!!!!

Ducky has a pencil in one hand and the paint brush in the other.

Please Like there Facebook Page:

Faber Castell Great Art Starts Here

Thank You again to Faber Castell for letting is review the Watercolor Pencil Art!!!!

All opinions are my own.

FREE 60 MINUTES OF ARCADE FUN AT ORLANDO FUN SPOT

We travel to Orlando often because we have annual passes to some of the attractions in the area. Orlando has many different places to visit, one of the places we stumble upon last year at Home school convention was Fun Spot. Our kids had a blast at Fun Spot.

Fun Spot Orlando is 4.7 acres of fun and boosts 17 attractions, including four innovative multi-level go-kart tracks, seven thrill rides and six kiddie rides. A state-of-the-art arcade and snack bar is located inside a 10,000 square foot building on site. Open year round - rain or shine.

This is DMan last year at Fun Spot on the bumper cars. DMan favorite was the Go Carts.

 This is Ducky last year when we traveled to Fun Spot. You can tell by the smile she was very happy at Fun Spot. Ducky's favorite ride was the surfing ride.

Fun Spot is located at:

5551 Del Verde Way

Orlando, FL 32819

Print off this awesome coupon for 60 minutes FREE in the arcade for every armband purchased ($9.95 value)! Coupon expires 12/24/12

"I was compensated for this post with passes for my family to Fun Spot through PR Company. The opinions and ideas expressed here are my own.”



Index Card Art

I found this website that is hosting Index Card Art for the months of June and July. Our children love it and I love it because it's easy to store. You can find the Daily Prompt and pictures each day of the Index Card Art at:

http://daisyyellow.squarespace.com/icad/

D Man's Index Card Art for week. 

Ducky Index Card Art for the week. 

The first day was July 4th so they did the American Flag.
ICAD # 34

The second day they did a picture with Art around it to look like a frame.
ICAD #35

The third day they did a Forest Theme.
ICAD # 36

The fourth day they did Inspiration Art with all different mediums of the color purple.
ICAD # 38 

The fifth day they did Christmas in July Art.
ICAD #39

The sixth day there art was find what's in the picture.

What is This? Do what do you see?
ICAD # 38

The seventh day they did patches in all different gel pens.
ICAD #39

The eighth day they had to write what was there favorite foods and why they liked it and what foods they disliked and why??? and then they did art around there food descriptions.
ICAD # 38

Stay tuned for the rest of July, there are only two weeks left. But we are having fun doing this. I wish I had seen this sooner. Oh well we will enjoy this moment. 

Fruit and Salad Bar

A friend of mine shared this with me and I thought I would share it with you. 

I bought Rubbermaid containers at Walmart. I also went to Costco and bought a bunch of fruits and veggies and washed all the fruit and put it into the Huge Rubbermaid container and when you want to eat you can pull this container out of the refrigerator and have something healthy to eat. 

You do the same thing with the lettuce but I wouldn't cut this much lettuce up because it will go bad fast. I would buy a little smaller container(showed below) and wash lettuce and fill container for your salad bar. 

Then I bought different topping for our salad bar. Each week you switch your toppings. Have your children go with each week to pick new toppings. 

D Man with the Salad Bar that is fully prepared and gives you NO excuse to eat healthy. 

Each person in our house likes different topping but I feel good either way because I'm giving them great healthy food. 

Would you try this at your house?

ELMER'S #BAGITFORWARD #CBIAS

I had the opportunity to go shopping at Walmart for the Bag It Forward Campaign. I have found when shopping at Walmart there prices are very affordable. It seems to have the best prices in town when it comes to quality school supplies. I love that Walmart will post Low Prices on there displays, that's so helpful to me and I feel good about shopping at Walmart because I know I'm saving and getting the best prices. As you know Back to School is approaching us very quickly and we have to make sure we are able to afford our children's school supplies. Bag It Forward is a great campaign because you are helping someone in need with your donation of school supplies. These are tough times for many so having a little extra is very helpful to many. 

When you are at Walmart you can look for the 1st Day App display or on the back of the Elmer's Glue bottle.  You can download the app right to your phone or ITouch right there in the store. The 1st Day App will help drive donations to Kids in Need Foundation. Every time you download a picture to the App you are helping someone in need.
Elmer's on Facebook

Walmart carries many Elmer's Glue products for your child's classroom and for the teacher's to have what they need in the classroom. Elmer's Glue is a high quality product and it is the best glue out there to hold your child's crafts,papers.etc together.
Elmer's on Twitter

This is our donation to our church's school drive. Our church collects items for children in our community that aren't able to purchase their school supplies. I have added some food in the mix because there are many children and there families that go hungry daily. If we all put in our part we changed this world for the hungry. 

Our donation of Elmer's glue products along with paper,pens,pencils,calculators, erasers and folders. 

I'm thankful that we are able to homeschool our children. This is our schoolroom where I laid out all of the items that I'm donating to Our Church for their Local Back To School Supplies Drive. As you can see someone is going to be very Blessed. I know our church goes to the inner city in August and hands out School Supplies to the less fortunate. I'm proud to be part of the Bag It Forward and the Back to School Drive at our church. 

This is the church where we brought our donation.

DMan and Ducky bringing our Back to School donation into the church.

D Man putting our school supplies in the donation box at church.

Ducky putting in our donation for the church.

DMan and Ducky in front of the donation box at church.

I know that all of these school supplies are going to be very helpful for the kids in the inner city. What I noticed was we have a very giving church. There were many other school supplies in box. It always feels great to give to a great cause.

We also donated some of Walmart's quality school supplies to a Mother of 10 children that is struggling financially. We feel honored to give to this family. We purchased 10 folders for each of her children and 10 boxes of mac n cheese for each of her children along with many other items. The children were so excited to get all of these school supplies, they love to craft like my Ducky!! I had Ducky give 3 of children the school supplies. 

The mother later called me and told me how thankful she was for our donation.

They were so excited, they immediately were looking in the bag.

Please join in the Bag It Forward movement, you will feel so good giving:) Please spread the word to your friends and family about Bag It Forward.

Our Google Plus Story for Elmer's Bag It Forward

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 and Elmer's. #BagItFoward  #CBias. All opinions are my own.