If you haven’t met Ju-Ju-Be and their fantastic line of bags, it’s time you do. They offer a large selection of diaper bags, handbags, and backpacks to fit any of your needs. Each bag is made of high quality, machine washable, durable materials. Leaving you with a bag that will last you for years to come.
And we’re giving away one of their amazing bags, the Ju-Ju-Be Be Prepared. This awesome diaper bag features:
Full zip-down mommy pocket for super access.
Unique main zipper closure system makes for easy access.
Memory foam changing pad included … nice ‘n comfy, super cushy
Picture pocket to keep photos handy when bragging to friends.
2 exterior insulated bottle pockets … with Thinsulate by 3M. Keep it warm? Keep it cold? Sure!
Structured bottom with luggage feet.
Color-coded tabs let you know which pocket is for which child.
Tote handles can be tucked away and hidden when not in use.
Teflon … so stains don’t stick.
AgION Antimicrobial Linings … kills germs, mold, mildew, fungus, bacteria, and other bad stuff.
Crumb Drains … bye-bye mess!
Metal Hardware … we don’t trust any of the cheap plastic stuff.
Light-Colored Linings … you can actually see what’s inside, it’s not just a big black hole in there.
Quiet Magnets … Velcro’s noisy. Yuck!
Machine Washable … air dry.
Take a look at this video for a quick demonstration of everything the Be Prepared bag has to offer.
Win a Ju-Ju-Be Be Prepared
The awesome folks over at Ju-Ju-Be want you to fall in love with Be Prepared. They’re offering one lucky fan the chance to win a Be Prepared bag in the pattern of your choice! This giveaway will run from 2/11/14 to 2/25/14 at 11:59 PM EST. Open to US residents only. Winner will have 24 hours to claim their prize. Good luck!
I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper amplification for Collective Bias and its advertiser. #MyMarianos #CollectiveBias
Last week, I had the privilege of attending the grand opening of a new grocery store Chicago Mariano’s in Lake Zurich. I am so excited because this puts Mariano’s even closer to us! I took two children with me and they said the new store was nice and shiny. Neither of them have ever been to Mariano’s.
I have been to three Chicagoland Mariano’s and I have to say that besides the selection of organic products offered, the courteous and friendly staff stood out to me the most – at every store. For example, last week when I went to the customer service desk to meet up with the media contact I spoke with a couple of different Mariano’s employees. Then after the tour of the store I spent well over an hour shopping before heading to check out. I met up with one of those initial staff members near the check out area. He actually remembered me and asked if I found who I was looking. As busy as it was for a grand opening, I was impressed.
I finally signed up for Mariano’s reward card since I plan to be back often and forgot the other two times. Using the sign up kiosk was really easy once an associate got me started.
Lake Zurich Mariano’s Highlights
Those of you reading for any length of time know I love shopping at Mariano’s. It’s always more than a shopping trip, it is an experience. It was no different at the new Lake Zurich store. Below are a few highlights.
The first department I always shop first is the Produce Department. Mariano’s has more than 200 organic choices! We had to buy fruit and veggies for upcoming meals and birthdays!
Mariano’s in Lake Zurich is the only store to offer a specialty balsamic vinegar and olive oil “tasting bar” with 200 different kinds of each product in its International Aisle.
We love the International Aisle. It’s filled with lots of interesting products from 15 different countries and it’s actually where I found quinoa (keen-wa), an ingredient we need to make Quinoa Hamburger Soup.
Mariano’s Specialty Cheese section is a fun place to visit, featuring hundreds of artisanal, imported and domestic cheeses. Not to mention cheese sampling as well. Yummy!
Mariano’s health key (TM) is helpful in finding products that are gluten-free, vegan, organic or heart healthy.
Meat & Seafood Department. Did you know that Mariano’s will grill your meat or seafood before you take it home? No charge. All you need to do is ask. I didn’t know this. Though I am not fond of seafood, I do like the fact that Mariano’s brings much of their Chicago seafood from shore to store within 24 hours.
There is a dietitian available for consults and education, which was also new to me.
Squeez’d smoothie bar features made-to-order yummy, nutritional fruit and vegetable smoothies, plus Mariano’s signature fresh-squeezed orange and other juices. We got to sample the fresh-squeezed orange juice and it reminded me of my summer in Costa Rica, when our hostess served us fresh-squeezed OJ each morning, just like my grandma use to when I visited her house.
The Bakery Department will make your mouth water with its delectable scents of freshly baked items. We bought sandwich bread and Italian bread.
Coffee lovers will enjoy getting their morning cuppa at Mariano’s Vero coffee shop with authentic Italian coffee and gelato. Shhh….but I’ve never had gelato.
Mariano’s sure was busy and we even visited first thing in the morning! I was very happy it had ample parking and lots of carts, including little red children’s carts – so cute to see little ones helping their moms shop!
You can learn more about Mariano’s by visiting their Facebook page or following them on Twitter.
Posted by Bobbie Gould on February 9, 2014 in Deals, School
The new semester of school has begun and the holidays are over, if you’re a student (or a parent of a student) then you know exactly how expensive textbooks are. With tuition, supplies, extra fees, board, and textbooks most students and parents of students are always looking for ways to save money.
CampusBookRentals.com is a textbook rental company that allows students to not spend hundreds of dollars on textbooks that they’ll only use once. I’ve been looking at colleges lately, and the amount of money that textbooks cost alone would break my wallet.
With free shipping both ways, the ability to highlight the rented textbooks, live customer support, and rental periods that you can customize, they’re a great option for any student. I’m excited to see that more companies are being built that help students get a good education while saving money, instead of pushing them further into debt.
One thing that I love about Campus Book Rentals is that they are huge supporters of charity. They partnered with Operation Smile and are donating over 1,000 cleft lip surgeries to kids that are in need of surgery. Helping those in need is a huge passion of mine and I’m thrilled that such a great company is doing just that.
We are joining Mel over at The Mommyhood Chronicles for week #15 (for us) in the Saturday Top Five Laughs of the week.
5. Crushed Bones and Poison Bloody Death compliments of Amelia Bedilia when I told her to label it “Baking Soda”. She’s been hanging out with B, can you tell?
She’s not our best speller…takes after her dad and yes, he’d say the same thing! 😉
4. “Picture it, Mommy, picture it!” Jr. said about his “school work”. My phone crashed this week and I think I may have lost the photos of school work, as I could not find them on my phone or computer. 🙁
3. Goats are very curious. They got a hold of our son’s glove and then were fighting over it. They tried to nibble on our oldest’s iPod. They thought the stiff brush B was trying to brush them with was something to eat. They were trying to catch sunbeams on each other’s backs. When the dog got loose and ran down to the barn and jumped on the goats stall, all they did was paw the ground and shake their heads at him.
2. We went to the mall for a girls day out yesterday and because of traffic etc. I had the girls watching for cars and people as I backed out of the Panera Bread parking lot. Amelia Bedilia goes, “Ah mommy, the snow bank!” I told her I didn’t care about the snow bank or the curb because I didn’t have to pay for those if I backed into them. I cared about people and cars! Yeah, can’t tell money is on my mind…sigh.
1. The other day I napped in the afternoon and woke up around 4:15pm when my husband came into the room. I jumped up and said, “I’m late for the newspaper!” My husband said, “It’s 4:15 in the afternoon.” I was so dazed and disoriented it took me a few minutes for that to sink in. I just stood there trying to focus…it was weird. Robert and the children laughed and teased me about that one for the rest of the day!
Posted by Bobbie Gould on February 8, 2014 in Books, Reviews
Faith and Family Reviews received the following product in exchange for writing a review. While we consider it a privilege to receive products to review, our reviews are our honest opinion and thoughts of the product.
You’re Going to be Okay is a novel that uses scripture and the encouraging words of Holley Gerth to lift women up emotionally and mentally.
Covering topics ranging from depression to feeling insecure and unworthy of love, she writes with words of love and understanding.
She acknowledges the fact that life hurts and sometimes we feel down, or that bad things do happen. And while she doesn’t attempt to sugar coat it, she writes in a way that makes you feel as though there is hope when things feel dark.
Using examples from her personal life, she makes the reader feel as though you are talking to a close friend. The scriptures that she uses are uplifting and back up everything that she says through the novel.
She also offers tips and advice that she has found helpful through her personal struggles. Some good points that she made were that we were not made to settle for anything less than joy, exercising to help lessen our stress levels, and eating better to help improve overall health.
I recommend this to anyone who is looking for encouragement, and to know and realize that they are enough and that they will be okay.
“Available February 2014 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.”
There is nothing like snuggling up with your loved ones around a classic bowl of good ole popcorn! Jolly time might even inspire you to write a love poem around those light , fluffy kernels of buttery goodness!
This Valentine’s Day why not treat your family to some Jolly Time Pop Corn! Try out the recipe below for a special Valentine treat for the kids or any loved one! We sure did! We made the Choco Cherry Hearts for the family… and don’t worry if you do not have a heart shaped cookie cutter … we made ours into balls instead and put them on the sticks and they turned out great as popcorn pops! So any way you “pop” it this is a great Valentine’s treat! Throw them in the children’s lunch or surprise a loved one with a bouquet!
1 cup white chocolate chips or chopped vanilla candy coating
¼ cup butter
Red food color
Long lollipop sticks or thick bamboo skewers
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips or dark chocolate morsels
Here’s How:
Mix popcorn and cherries in a large bowl.
Place marshmallows, white chocolate, and butter in a large saucepan. Cook over low heat until melted and smooth. Stir in a few drops of red food color to tint the mixture pink.
Pour marshmallow mixture over popcorn; toss gently until well coated.
With wet or buttered hands, press mixture into a 3-1/2 to 4-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter (place cutter on a foil-lined baking sheet; press in popcorn, then lift cutter off).
Insert a lollipop stick in the base of each heart.
Allow popcorn hearts to cool completely. Meanwhile, melt the dark chocolate. Drizzle over hearts.
Allow to harden.
Wrap hearts in cellophane and tie with ribbon; stand them up in a vase or jar as a centerpiece or gift.
You can find more flavors, recipes, and inspiration from America’s first family of popcorn ~ celebrating its 100th birthday this year! Please visit Jollytime.com for more information on this product, coupons and free offers!
Nope, we are not having a baby! We just got our second oldest daughter’s goats over the weekend! We were suppose to get her a goat last year but the one we found fell through. We took the summer off from looking and started our hunt back up in the fall. We found them in Wisconsin in November and because we wanted them bred, the owner kept them for the last two months to make sure they had ample time with the billy goat.
B decided on Oberhasli dairy goats. They are sweet natured and docile. The males (or wethers a.k.a. casterated males) may be used for meat. She named them Annabeth and Hazel. If both goats successfully give birth we could have anywhere from 1-4 kids come spring, as twins and even triplets run in their family and many goat families. That means our goat flock could grow from 2 to 6 or more very easily this year. B will probably keep one, give one to her sister for her birthday and sell any others. At least that’s what she’s thinking right now. We are looking forward to having our own goat milk as it is very hard to find for B’s soap making business.
Excuse the watermark on my photos, they are for our farm and I just didn’t want to take the time to make new ones for this blog.
B and Hazel getting better acquainted.
Annabeth and Hazel traveled very well. It was a bit of a struggle to get them in the dog crate we used to transport them but once they were in there together they settled in nicely. By the time we got them home they were curled up together and hard to get OUT of the crate! Once we got one out, the other pretty much followed.
We have an old barn. It’s all open in the bottom so there were no real stalls. We have had to create each of the stalls for the horse, the cow and now the goats. My husband built their stall out of free wood pallets. A friend gave us the idea to use wood pallets to make the goat’s pasture and then we came across the idea for the stall when googling “goat stalls”. 😉 It is very rough looking but it does its job, was cheap and I think my hubby did a good job. I’ll post about the DIY goat stall separately. I have to try and get better photos. The barn is so dark that it’s been a challenge.
I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper amplification for Collective Bias and its advertiser. #HealthcareClinic #CollectiveBias
It has always been important to us to do everything we can to keep our family healthy. In the past when our large family has been under the weather it has taken us a l-o-n-g time to get over colds, the flu and even the chicken pox (7 children had it one after the other!). We are very grateful for our current health. It isn’t very often we get sick but when we do there are things that help us get healthy again. For example, when my husband gets wax build up in his ears to the point he can no longer hear, he goes to the Healthcare Clinic Chicago to get his ears candled or cleaned out. He has done this a couple of times, dropping by the clinic while out on errands or after work. No appointment necessary. It is very convenient and time saving for a busy parent.
The Walgreens Healthcare Clinic in Crystal Lake, IL has been very clean when we have dropped in and the Healthcare Providers have been courteous and personable. Both of these things has given us confidence in the professionals caring for our needs.
5 Ways to Save on Time and Healthcare Costs for Parents
1. As stated above, the Healthcare Clinic takes walk-ins. No appointment necessary, though you can schedule one should you desire to do so.
2. Use the Walgreen app to find a healthcare clinic nearest you.
Put in your information, customize what you are looking for and a list of clinics near you will come up:
3. Save on costly and unnecessary trips to the ER by visiting a Walgreens Healthcare Clinic, since they are open on weekends and evenings.
4. With Walgreens Prescription Savings Club, club members receive 10% savings on all Healthcare Clinic services. Please note Walgreens website states: This discount cannot be used in conjunction with insurance.
5. Healthcare clinics have on-site pharmacies. No need to go elsewhere for prescriptions.
As you can see, Walgreens Healthcare Clinic is very convenient and affordable. The next time we visit a Healthcare Clinic Chicago it will probably be to see if our youngest daughter’s ears need to be candled because we have a funny feeling she’s taking after her dad in that department!
What about you, have you ever visited a Walgreens Healthcare Clinic?
Ah! Love is in the air – Valentine’s Day is coming!
I remember the days of being Sweethearts – going out to dinner, flowers, & candy. My…My… can things change once kids enter the picture. Valentine’s Day has changed in our house, we now celebrate as a family. Here’s a few inexpensive ways to make Valentine’s Day a family event!
1.) Make heart pancakes for breakfast – Make your favorite pancake mix, add a few drops of red food coloring. Stir up the batter good and cook them. When they are done cooking, take a heart shaped cookie cutter and cut out your heart pancakes.
2.) Heart shaped sandwiches for lunch – This is a good craft as well as lunch. Build your favorite sandwich and then use the heart shaped cookie cutter to cut out a really cute sandwich.
3.) You need flowers for Valentine’s Day – Material needed: a few sheets of colored tissue paper and a pipe cleaner for each flower. Take the tissue paper and lay them on top of one another and then twist a pipe cleaner in the middle. Fluff out the tissue paper to make tissue flowers.
4.) You can’t have Valentine’s Day without chocolate – My favorite is chocolate covered strawberries. Buy strawberries at your local store and a bag or a few bars of your favorite chocolate. Using a microwave safe bowl, melt the chocolate in 30 second intervals at first. Stir the chocolate. Once the chocolate starts to melt only microwave about 10 seconds or less, be careful not to burn the chocolate. Use oven mitts to take the chocolate out of the microwave, it will be very hot. Then dip your washed & dried strawberries into the chocolate, I sometimes use a spoon to coat the berry. Place the chocolate strawberry on wax paper to dry.
Have you ever felt like you need to do more to insure your family stays safe? I think we all have. React Mobile is a free safety app for Androids and iPhones that allows you to call out for help with the touch of a button if you encounter any kind of danger or safety issues!
The React Mobile App is very easy to use. All you have to do is download the app to your phone. Here are the specific features of this app:
– SOS Alerts email
– SOS via text
– SOS to Facebook and Twitter
– SOS to dedicated user console
– GPS location tracking
– 911 button/prompt
– Group SMS messages
The app will give you several options right from the get-go.
You can sign up using your email or Facebook account. I choose to register using my email.
At the bottom of the app you have four different choices: Map, Send SOS, Contacts (you can add your own contacts) and Send SMS Message to broadcast to your contact list.
The SOS messaging system allows you to alert authorities, family and friends if you are in trouble or need assistance with the swipe of your finger.
The React Mobil App even has a “Follow Me” feature and your family can follow you in real-time for those non-emergency situations where you may feel unsafe and just want to touch base with those you love. How reassuring is that? I can see this being very useful when you have teens in the house!
There is a “Settings” feature that allows you to post your alert message to Facebook or twitter, as well as a setting to choose which country you are in. The React Mobile App is currently only available in the USA and Canada.
To learn more about the app, check out the video below:
