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Pest Control in Our Gardens & on Our Pets

Posted by Theresa, Owner on May 16, 2012
in Animals, Farm Stuff, Gardening

It’s gardening season and warm weather is here, that means the pests are too. Shauna reminded me of some of these pest control solutions for our gardens and our pets, so special thanks to her for reminding me of these solutions!

For plants infested with insects, use one of the following essential oils. Fill a mist spray bottle with 4 oz. of water, add the essential oils and mist the infested plant. Several applications, a few days apart, may be necessary. (Use as little as possible). These same suggestions may be used on our pets as well. I know we have been using a combination of Purification, Citronella, Eucalyptus and Cedarwood on Padfoot, our puppy. We have found a couple of ticks on him, the children are very good about brushing him, and we put a drop of Purification on the spot where the tick was attached to cleanse that area. Cats can be more sensitive to the oils, so use very little on them. Just putting the oils on your hands, rubbing them together and then running your hands over their fur is enough for them. We are assuming the same thing for rabbits so plan to use the oils the same way on our bunnies.

He’s getting big, this was taken a couple weeks ago!

Here’s one of Padfoot just taken as I type up this post:

Our cutie pie! He provides much entertainment!

Pest Control in Our Gardens & on Our Pets

Spearmint: ants, aphids, caterpillars, black flea beetle, gnats, lice, moths, and plant lice.

Peppermint: ants, aphids, bean beetle, cabbage root fly, caterpillars, black flee beetle, flies, lice, moths, and plant lice.

Lemongrass: black flea beetle, fleas, mosquitoes, and ticks.

Tansy: black fly, carrot fly, fleas, flies, greenfly, mosquitoes, and white fly.

Hyssop: aphids, cabbage root fly, moths, and slugs.

Thyme: bean beetle, cabbage root fly, cutworm, and ticks.

Sage: cabbage root fly, cutworm, nematodes, ticks, and white fly.

Rosemary: cabbage root fly and carrot fly.

Patchouli: gnats, snails, weevils, and woolly aphids.

Pine: slugs, snails, and wooly aphids.

Sandalwood: weevils and wooly aphids.

If you ever order Young Living Essential Oils, I would appreciate you using my distributor number #1038605. This is my referral number and I receive credit when you use my number when you place an order at www.youngliving.org/robnt – Thank you!

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New and Improved Huggies Diapers and Wipes

Posted by Theresa, Owner on May 16, 2012
in Baby Products, Diapers and Accessories, Family Stuff

The diaper dilemma. There are so many diapers on the market, many of the off brands are made by the same manufacturer just under a brand name – don’t ask me which ones because I don’t know the answer! :) Then there are cloth diapers and the choices seem endless compared to what they were 15-20 years ago when all we had were saftey pins and a rectangle piece of cloth and maybe a velcro version if we sewed or could find someone else who had them.

We have tried many diapers over the years and until our last little guy were mostly cloth diapering parents, but my husband got into the grove of buying disposable diapers after his mom supplied us with a couple months worth of diapers after our youngest was born in 2010. Since then we have used Huggies. For some reason they did not leak as much on baby, nor did they get that gel gunk all over my son’s bottom. We just grew to love them. I also like the fact that Huggies offers an eco-friendly version, which I have tried a few times and like just as much if not more because they are eco-friendly. They are just a little pricer for what I want to pay for disposable diapers, after all we just throw them away, right? (wry smile)

The new and improved Huggies diapers, Snug and Dry, and wipes are just as good, if not better than the former versions. I find food does not get stuck on the outside of the diaper as much, nor do they “pill” with that fuzzyiness as much. We have only been using them a week, but we definitely like what we are seeing so far! Try them and see for yourself! ;)

My little guy motored around in his Little Tykes car, ran around the garden, sat on the ground and you could barely tell he had been outside, unless he got wet. Then you could tell!


See my poor drooping plants there in the foreground…so need to get them all into the ground!

The wipes seem to have a different scent, at least the ones I received. I usually buy the Aloe scented ones so they were just different to me in that way. Otherwise they work just the same!

Check out Huggies on Facebook to put these diapers through your own tests http://on.fb.me/HQCj1x or Twitter http://www.twitter.com/Huggies


“I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central for Huggies. I received product samples to facilitate my review and a promotional item to thank me for participating”

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2012 Savory Summer Giveaway #SavorySummer

Posted by Theresa, Owner on May 15, 2012
in Blog Stuff, Contests, Free Stuff, Fun Stuff, Giveaways, Health, Health and Nutrition, Recipes

Savory Summer

It is that time of year again with warm weather and sunshine and I bet many of you are thinking picnics, barbecues and pool parties! Well….Welcome to the 2012 Savory Summer blog-hopping giveaway event! I have teamed up with Measuring Flower, Graphoniac, and about 60 other bloggers to bring you yummy food or food-related giveaways (each worth at least $25) Woohoo! Let the party begin!

Grand Prize Sponsors

The grand prize sponsors for this Savory Summer event are Nostalgia Electrics and Ella’s Kitchen, who are each offering prizes worth over $100! If you want to win either prize enter HERE.

Grand Prizes

Nostalgia Electrics Stainless Steel Margarator
$109 ARV

3 Month Supply of Ella’s Kitchen Baby Food Pouches
$170 ARV

My Giveaway Sponsor

Cornucopia Health Scents is providing my giveaway item, which just happens to be one of my businesses. We have been Young Living distributors for nearly two years, but have been using the products for nearly four years. We love Young Living Essential Oils and have made them a part of our every day life.

My Giveaway Item

For this giveaway event,  I have a 1 liter bottle of Ningxia (ning-sha) Red to giveaway. It is a nutritional supplement high in antioxidants, great for your health and wonderful served cold to your barbecue, picnic or party guests!

1 Liter of Ningxia Red
$55 ARV
About Ningxia Red 

Ningxia Red is made of wolfberry puree, blueberry juice, pomegrantate juice, apricot juice, raspberry juice, grape pomace and a proprietary essential blend of blue agave nectar, lemon rind and orange rind. The Ningxia wolfberry has long been considered a national treasure in China. The wolfberry is native to the Ningxia Hui Autonomane Region of Northern China. This potent little red berry offers medicinal and healing benefits.

One ounce of Ningxia Red only has 34 calories!

My Review (and it’s my 5th post in my Losing Weight Series too)

We have used Ningxia Red over the past few years pretty infrequently. However, this past January we started using it on a daily basis. Most of our children like it. It has a different taste, not bad, but different and it definitely tastes better cold!

Over the months I have noticed that I do not have to wear my glasses all the time, especially while reading or doing things on my iPhone. This is strange because ever since I got glasses I have worn them all the time because I am near sighted and hate to see things blurry, so I even wore them while reading. Improving our eyesight is actually what we hoped would happen for as there are seven of us who wear glasses. However, so far I am the only one seeing any difference in my eyesight. Time will tell. The wolfberry is suppose to be very good for the eyes for some reason that I can’t remember.

My second oldest daughter likes to take Ningxia Red to ward off migraines.

We have also drank an ounce or two for a boost of energy too. I have taken as much as 4-5 ounces when I have worked long hours at trade shows so I could stay alert to talk to people and be able to remain awake when I drive home. (This happened back in December!)

Ningxia Red Sorbet

  • ½ c. water
  • ¼ c. agave
  • 2 c. NingXia Red®
  • 2 12-oz. bags frozen raspberries, blueberries or strawberries
  • 1 orange

    • In a small sauce pan, simmer Blue Agave and water for 1–2 minutes or until agave mixes easily with the water. Set aside to cool slightly. In a blender, puree NingXia Red and one bag of raspberries. Transfer mixture into a metal bowl and stir in the zest of half the orange. Next, squeeze half the orange into the mixture. Place agave and water mixture into blender along with the remaining bag of raspberries and puree. If mixture becomes too thick, simply add a cup of the mixture in the bowl. Pour into bowl and fold in until well mixed. Place in freezer and freeze for two hours. Serves 12–15.

    Refreshing and yummy summer treat compliments of Young Living! :)

    How to Enter

    Just enter the Rafflecopter form as you would for any of my other giveaways.

    Giveaway Rules

  • Must be 18 years or older and live in the US.
  • No prize substitutions allowed.
  • Winners are allowed to win once over a six-month period.
  • Only email addresses used for the giveaway will be eligible to claim the prize. (I don’t want to hunt you down on Facebook!)
  • Winner will be notified within a week or two from closing date and item will be shipped directly to winner.

    • The Deadline
    Giveaway Ends
    Wednesday, May 31, 2012 at 12:01AM CST
    Open to U.S. Residents Only

    Enter to Win Ningxia Red

    a Rafflecopter giveaway

    Linky to the Giveaways on Other Blogs



    Have fun entering the 2012 Savory Summer Giveaway!


    Disclosure: Facebook is in no way affiliated with the Savory Summer event, its hosts, its sponsors, or its participating bloggers. The hosts (Measuring Flower and Graphoniac) are not responsible for event sponsors that do not fulfill their prizes.

    {2 comments}

    Catching Up – Motivation Monday

    Posted by Theresa, Owner on May 14, 2012
    in Gardening, Monday Motivation

    I am still not caught up after being away at Brandcation. Had good intentions and was doing ok until it turned nice on Friday and I had to get transplants planted, then tilling done and baby boy got sick over the weekend. He was burning up for 24+ hours and only wanted to nurse and be with his mama. Thankfully he woke up today with an appetite and his usual peppiness. Now I have to get a talk typed and printed that I am to present tonight at a business meeting – yep, little ole me is speaking to a small group of people, if it isn’t cancelled due to low attendance. Tomorrow we have friends coming over for lunch…and it’s nice again so I have more tilling and planting to get done, not to mention all my Brandcation sponsor posts to write up; in addition to a bit of a back log of other reviews I signed up for which I wish I hadn’t since catching up after Brandcation has been very challenging.

    Lesson learned, don’t take on additional reviews the month before Brandcation!

    Bear with me as I get my barrings back. I have lots to post, just not enough time to get everything typed up into a post. Here a few highlights to tie you over though:

    - Chicks and turkeys are getting their wing feathers in and we now have to have a screen over them or they fly out. One was in the rafters of the garage today!
    - Puppy was naughty and nabbed a baby bird, eating its head…ewwwwww! Gotta do something about that since HE is suppose to watch over our poultry!
    - Feeling overwhelmed now that it’s frost-free and time to get everything into the ground and get outdoor housing for poultry ready. A little panic has set in…

    And now you know why….

    {15 comments}

    Happy Mother’s Day & Discount Code!

    Posted by Theresa, Owner on May 12, 2012
    in Holidays, Products for Mom

    Happy Mother’s Day!

    In honor of this fine day, Body Bark (read my review here) is offering you a 20% discount in honor of Mother’s Day. There is a special the discount code “Faithandfamily” that can be entered in the promotion field while shopping at www.BodyBark.com. The code is only good through May 13. Hope all you moms treat yourselves to some Body Bark for Mother’s Day!

    {18 comments}

    Quick Travel Tip

    Posted by Theresa, Owner on May 10, 2012
    in Reviews, Safety, Travel

    I have vacation on the brain! This is just a quick travel tip because it always annoys me that I never have anything appropriate to carry knives in while traveling. Plastic bags aren’t safe nor to they hold up if the knife goes through the bag. You may wonder why I would even travel with a knife, it is to cut up fruit especially and occasionally veggies. I do have a bread knife that has a cardboard sheath, but I do not usually need a bread knife while traveling unless we take homemade bread. More likely than not we just stop at a grocery store at our destination and pick up bread so it is not squished beyond belief.

    Back to knives, there’s a neat little product on the market called the Quick Split that solves the safety issue of traveling with knives.

    Benefits:
    - portable
    - faster
    - easier to use
    - has a snap on “child proof” cover to keep mess contained while traveling, but a simple rinse with water would make it good as new
    - attaches to a key ring holder in diaper bag
    - dishwasher safe
    - super quality BPA free plastic – bonus!
    - stainless steel
    - made in the USA

    It looks just like a pizza cutter. My daughters used it for lunch the other day when we got it and found it was great for carrots, but the other fruit or veggie they found difficult.

    This is a patented gadget and is the first of its kind on the market! Definitely fills a need in our house for traveling!

    Feel free to connect with Quick Split on their website or Facebook.

    Enter the Giveaway!


    a Rafflecopter giveaway

    “I received a Quick Split to review as a part of my participation in a MomPact.com campaign. Quick Split has been invented by moms, for moms.”

    {11 comments}

    Zip Lining at Adventures Unlimited #Brandcation #GulfCoast @AdventuresUnLtd

    Posted by Theresa, Owner on May 10, 2012
    in Blog Stuff, Fun Stuff, Travel


    My photo taken from my iPhone.

    On Saturday at Brandcation we went to Adventures Unlimited in Milton, Florida. They have been in business for 36 years! They own 88 acres of beautiful land, with even an old school house that was renovated into overnight accommodations. They bought it at an auction, moved it to their property and fixed it up! Would have loved to have seen that! And as their name denotes: they have Adventures Unlimited. A relatively new activity, which they added two years ago, is fast becoming one of their most popular activities – Zip lining!

    This was our zip line group. Everyone from my condo, plus Joy from Joyful Musings:

    We spent the whole day there with Adventures Unlimited providing us a box lunch – yummy! The morning we spent zip lining. I admit I am not very adventurous and was really hesitant about even going to Brandcation because of zip lining, however, I went on the practice line and nearly took my arms out of their sockets due to panicking :-( Seriously, one of the guides warned me if I did what I did by grabbing the line he’d have to ground me. Not sure if that was said just to discourage me from panicking again or if he was serious. By the way the guides were both great. Courteous, ready to assist with gear etc.

    The problem with my zipping is that there is a technique to braking on the line and let’s just say I did not have it down after one trip down the practice line. Even though my legs shook and my tummy churned, I walked to the first big line. Let’s just say it was high…

    This was the first zip line “tower”:

    Let’s just say that when Sheila made her way back down the spiral stairway, I did too. If I nearly jerked my arm out of joint on the practice run, what would I do on the larger runs? Nah-uh, not for me. If I could do anything again, it would be the practice run because seriously it wasn’t too high and maybe I could eventually learn how to brake with my hand, right? Thankfully, the owner was very understanding, saying it wasn’t for everyone. He offered to take Sheila and I down to the river to see our group when they came in from the nine zip lines they were doing that day. Sheila declined but I went and it was so peaceful. I could hear the lines “zipping” and the surroundings were beautiful. I just loved being out in God’s wonderful creation. I took pictures of the river and got video footage of our whole group zipping on the last line.


    This is of Denise, the first one to zip this line.

    The majority of ladies thoroughly enjoyed the zip lining, even those who had a fear of heights. They were the ones who felt empowered because they had overcame their fears. The last 900 ft line was the best from what I heard and many wanted to do that one again and again!

    The afternoon we spent on the river tubing 4 miles. It was so much fun! I loved chatting with the ladies, laughing at myself as I flopped on and off my tube and racing with Paula and Maryann – they were the “Queens” of the river! ;) We maneuvered stumps, shallow water, an island and rocks – more adventures and sore shoulders! But I loved it because I love nature and the water, which was a refreshing 70 degrees.


    My photo taken with my iPhone.

    It truly was a wonderful day and it was awesome of Adventures Unlimited to sponsor our day! Feel free to connect with them at their website, Facebook or Twitter.

    Other photos courtesy of Brandy Goleman Photography

    {12 comments}

    Get Me Some Swag…Our Swag Party and Awesome Sponsors #Brandcation #GulfCoast

    Posted by Theresa, Owner on May 9, 2012
    in Blog Stuff, Business, Fun Stuff

    Surf Burger

    After our Blogger Olympics, we ate dinner at Surf Burger. It was so funny because being the social media mavens that we are all of us could be seen with our phones tweeting, posting to Facebook and Four Square what we were doing! I had their Surf Chick, which came with their stick fries and a grilled chicken sandwich. It was very good. The service was friendly and very hospitable too.

    Brandcation would not have been possible without all the awesome sponsors our hosts worked with in providing so many of our activities. So I hope you will join me in giving them some social media love.

    Event Sponsors:

    Adventures Unlimited:     Post coming up this afternoon, but we spent all day Saturday here on a beautiful piece of property! In the air and in the water…

    Portofino Island Resort:     Which I already posted about here.

    Dunkin Donuts: Sadly, I don’t think I ate a single Dunkin Donuts bagel, but I hear they were delish!

    Jambu: They sponsored our Blog Olympics which I posted here.

    Hotel Coupons: A great place to save money and start planning your next trip!

    Circle PR: Thanks to these ladies we got to see dolphins in real time.

    Dole: Fruit breakfasts thanks to Dole.

    Star Gazing:     This was amazing and would have been the coolest homeschool field night! Dewey even had an accessory that allowed us to connect our iPhones to the telescope to take photos and videos of the moon!


    Brandy Goleman Photography

    Swag Sponsors:

    After dinner at Surf Burger, we all gathered in one condo in our pjs for a Swag Party. Jambu Footwear had provided bags and our event hosts had filled them up with goodies from all the sponsors listed below. There were some oooos and ahhhhhs as well as a few squeeeeees as things were handed out! (Right, Jenn? ;-) ) I haven’t even tried everything yet.


    Brandy Goleman Photography


    Sorry for the red eye, tried editing and I blackened whole heads!

    Mogo Charm
    Tervis Water Bottle – This kept my water for hydration on the river while tubing
    Capsul Cases
    The Village Company
    Hasbro
    Kidz Bop – My little ones are loving rockin’ to this.
    Carex – Definitely a handy little kit to have in the medicine cabinet.
    Lush Gourmet Foods – They’ve got yummy sugar coated nuts!
    Nivea - My daughter and I haggled over the lip glosses.
    Lady Fortunes
    Pami Pocket - I ditched the little compact wallet I took to Florida for this, as it was perfect to hold my cell, cash and identity during all of the fun activities over the weekend.

    Island Def Jam Records
    Ayala’s Herbal Water
    Wikki Stix - My son got these and is very excited!
    Phone Fetcher - This looks like a cool product, can’t wait to put it to good use!
    Page Stationery – I love any kind of stationary and ours was personalized with our blog name!
    Cereusart
    Annemarie Gianni Skin Care
    Veri Peri Sauces
    Twin Cottage Industries – Amazing handcrafted items!
    Kids Gear – My children love the headphones I brought home and I’m lovin’ the peace it brings so I can write! ;)
    Smart Mouth
    Sacs of Life
    Bright Star Kids
    KleenSlate – This is a fun little paddle shaped wipe off board.
    EAD Designs – These are terrific and I can’t wait to find homes for them!
    Wahmies Eats – These were great! I really want to get some casserole covers to save on foil and plastic wrap.
    Blue Orange Games – One of my daughter’s snagged the game we received and she and her siblings have been playing it!
    DVO Enterprises – Provided a recipe software that organizes your recipes! Can’t wait to get this implemented!
    Wordlock – A cool word lock.
    Pampers – Provided us with a thing of wipes and a coupon some diapers! They sponsored Tiffany.


    Two of my roomies, Sheri and Colleen.

    Giveaway Sponsors:

    Rubbermaid
    Etching Expressions
    Belkin – Great little portable charger that I gave to my husband for his cell phone.
    Velvet Pepper
    Frangelico
    Tiny Love
    Atlantic Luggage – This piece looked awesome and was incredibly light!
    Drama Queen Bows

    Photos are mine taken with my iPhone, except the full view of the Jambu bags and the first photo of the swag party those are Brandy’s, since I left our Nikon home…good thing too because I didn’t have much time to take photos!

    Thank you to all of the above sponsors for taking an interest in 32 bloggers who went coastal in Pensacola, Florida! We appreciate all you gave to make this event possible!

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    Blogger Olympics at #Brandcation #GulfCoast Thanks to @JambuFootwear

    Posted by Theresa, Owner on May 9, 2012
    in Blog Stuff, Fun Stuff, Travel

    I was one of the last ones to arrive at Brandcation on Friday afternoon. There were about four of us who were latecomers. After we arrived it was basically time to start Blogger Olympics. We were all put on teams in advance according to condos. 4 condos = 4 teams. I was on Lynsey’s team, Beachin’ Bloggers in blue, along with my other condo mates. Then the other three teams were: Trisha’s team was SEO’s in white, Kim’s team Ladybugs in red (they had adorable red wings even!) and Nicole/Blondie’s team Snark Attack in pink. Our four team leaders are also the fabulous women behind this event.


    Photos courtesy of Brandfluential and Brandy Goleman Photography, our photographer for the weekend.

    We did everything from a digital scavenger hunt to building White House sand castles, water relay, a hula hoop competition (my teammate Denise won that one! Yay! She rocked!) to the Hawaiian relay (had to dress in a grass skirt, necklace and coconut bra thingy!)


    Jenn, my teammate, getting read for Hawaii!

    We laughed, cheered and I even chased Alison to try and get a photo of her fruity drink for the digital scavenger hunt. Just plain old fun!

    In the end, the SEO’s won. Runner ups in order: Snark Attack, Ladybugs and Beachin’ Bloggers. We were last, but hey that didn’t affect our level of fun!


    A sheep trophy was awarded to the winning team, the rest of us received a Brandcation medal for our prize.

    You are going to be hearing a lot about Brandcation. We had amazing sponsors and all of us really want to show our appreciation to each and everyone of them. Jambu Footwear was the main sponsor of the Blogger Olympics. Check out their snazzy footwear and please consider following them on Twitter and Facebook too.

    {5 comments}

    Back from #Brandcation & @PortofinoIsland #GulfCoast

    Posted by Theresa, Owner on May 8, 2012
    in Blog Stuff, Travel

    I had a lovely weekend away at Brandcation in Florida. We stayed at Portofino Island Resort and it was beautiful! The white sand beaches, the clear water and gorgeous views of the “Sound” (kind of like a bay but not, and it’s what is shown in the photos of this post) and the Gulf of Mexico. I had never been to this part of Florida before and would love to go back again….with my family so they can experience all that I did! As it was I was texting my husband, sending photos and videos so they all could see what I was seeing.

    The resort not only had beach access, but a outdoor water park right in the water at the beach area and each one of the five towers had their own pools. There was also a spa and cafe/restaurant on site as well.

    Portofino Island Resort was spectacular. It was clean, snazzy and the service was excellent. Truly topnotch accommodations. For 32 bloggers we had four rooms with eight women in each. Each room had three bedrooms and each bedroom had its own bathroom, I think, at least ours did! We also had a walk-in closet and the master bedroom had an even larger bathroom and walk-in closet! Then there was the living room/dining room, a kitchen and laundry room. Very spacious.

    Even though we did not have time to use all of the amenities offered, it is definitely a place I would visit again.

    Check them out on the web, Facebook and Twitter.

    All photos are mine, unless otherwise stated. I was too lazy to watermark them! And in the words of my daughter, please do not steal them! If those that steal photos even read blog posts!

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