Posted by html404 on September 21, 2012 in Animals, Books
My daughter and I both love taking photos of our family, our landscape, our flowers, and other random things. Most of all we love taking pictures of our animals and pets. The problem? The pictures don’t always turn out the way we want thanks to how much pets move and jump around.
We were excited to read the Beautiful Besties book and review it. My daughter started reading it and found alot of great tips that we can use with both our Nikon and iPhone. The author shows you how to pose your pets, how to get them to stay in that position, how to adjust your camera, as well as many more great topics.
Jamie goes into a lot of helpful detail that my daughter soaked in. The twenty one chapters are filled with helpful tips, examples of how to shoot, step by step instruction, photographs that are perfect for passionate photographers and professional pet photographers.
Our biggest challenge when photographing our horse, chickens, turkeys, rabbit, dog, and cats? Getting them to stay still. My daughter was thrilled that the author included some very awesome tips on how to do just that! She has been having problems taking photographs of our pets and was really excited to learn more about pet photography.
We learned alot from this book and if you’d like to check it out you can purchase it at- Wiley.com
Last week I had the opportunity to invite one of my friends, Linda, to experience a spa day with me. She and her husband are the owner of the horse barn where we board Blaze. She’s a hard worker, most of what she does is very physical so I thought she would benefit greatly from being pampered a little. Plus she’s been so good to our horse and has taught the girls a lot about horse care and horses, it was nice to give back to her for a change. Little did I know that Linda has been having some arm pain/issues so it was perfect timing. Neither of us had ever gone to a spa. Linda had a massage a couple of years ago and I had a Raindrop (lighter massage with the use of essential oils along the spine), but that’s it.
I had no idea where to go, so I tried rounding up a few recommendations and it took calling four different places, coordinating our schedules with appointment availability (who knew these places were so popular!) and going to two different spas to receive the services we desired.
Massages
On Wednesday we went to a natural wellness center to receive 90 minute massages. When I initially made the appointment I wondered how on earth I was going to make it through a 90 minute massage, it seemed so long. But boy did it go fast! I just got an upper body massage and it loosened up my tight muscles, but I was surprised at how much my body hurt later in the day and even into the next day. I really wasn’t expecting that, though I should have been since I have been sore after my husband has tried rubbing out knots in my back. I agreed to a medium to deep massage though since I am prone to muscle spasms in between my shoulder blades and spine.
Linda really appreciated the massage. She chose a full body massage. We both came out feeling relaxed. She said that it really helped her arm alot and that it’s feeling better.
Special thanks to our massage therapists!
Pampering Our Hands and Feet
I have had a manicure and pedicure before. The hospital where I delivered our first five children pampered new moms with manis and pedis. I think I had one or the other with at least three of the older five kids. The thing is the two places we went to did not offer either of these services, so we chose a facial massage, which included neck and shoulders…she even did something with our feet. Linda said she even worked specifically on her sore arm and because of the pressure points she focused on Linda said her arm was relieved of the pain! Amazing.
Then we had a hand and foot treatment. Our hands were sprayed with rubbing alcohol or something, soaked in paraffin, put in plastic bags and covered with oven mitts. Then our feet were soaked in hot water bath with river stones in the bottom of the foot tub, next she lathered them with a salt and oil mixture, wrapped them in towels and soaked them again. Finally they were rinsed and dried and rubbed with cream.
With this treatment we also received a hot pad to put around our neck and while our feet were soaking the massage therapist gave a short shoulder/neck massage. Very nice.
Facials
Our facials were actually facial massages and we were surprised at how much we enjoyed it. It was very relaxing and felt very nice during and after. I had a lot of dry skin from tanning earlier in the spring, so much so that my face was starting to feel rough. đ Now my face feels soft again.
I couldn’t help but lay there thinking, “No wonder people treat themselves to things like this. Why don’t I do this more often?” Tucking it away for future use!
The 2nd Talk
Did you know September is Menopause Awareness month? A huge part of a day at the spa was to talk to Linda about menopause. I may not be going through it yet but my days are numbered and I realize my childbearing years are coming to an end. Linda was very accommodating and shared with me her experience, the hot flashes that go along with the aging process. Then I gifted her with some new menopause products made by Poise that just came on the market recently. Linda was very grateful because the three products I gave her should help her with some of the symptoms she’s experiencing. I bought the Poise Feminine Wellness products at Walmart (see my Google+ album of my shopping experience) the morning of our massages. The products were located in the health and beauty section for feminine products. I forgot to use the coupon though. I am terrible with coupons. Hardly ever remember them.
Overall I’d have to say we really enjoyed our pampering. Sorry the one photo one of Linda and I turned out blurry.
To learn more about the Poise Feminine Wellness products, please visit Poise on Facebook, Twitter (hashtag #PoiseFab5) and Pinterest.
âI am a member of the Collective Bias⢠Social FabricÂŽ Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias⢠and Poise #CBias #SocialFabric #PoiseFab5. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”
Yippee! Doing the happy dance! We got our very first farm fresh egg from one of our hens today – thus the title of this post…..egglicious! Our hens are officially 22 weeks old this week. We’ve been waiting and waiting. I was starting to get worried so I did a Google search and found a chicken forum (yes there are chicken forums too!) and some people had to wait up to 30 weeks for their first egg! To be honest that made my heart sag at the thought! That’s why this is a happy occasion!
In regards to our first egg, our oldest son asked if he could eat it! đ Always thinking about food that one. I wonder if he remembered to eat it? He didn’t and he’s too late because our third daughter Oms named the egg and wants to keep it …slight problem(s) with that idea, but she’s cute for coming up with it. Think she named it Hammy.
Just so you know this is a very good sized egg for the first one…
Some pullet eggs can be very small and I’m sure we’ll have our share of them. I don’t know if any of you care, but I am sure we’ll be comparing sizes and trying to figure out which hens are laying the best eggs. For those will be the ones we’ll want to hatch out new chicks from! Hoping to start that in December once we figure out which hens are the broodiest (if that’s even a word), as the broodier the better they will be at hatching out eggs. If you aren’t sure what broody means, it’s simply how well a hen likes sitting on her nest of eggs.
Now, if only the other 30 hens would get “cracking”….heehee pun intended….and give us an egg, we’d be in business. Literally, because we should get about an egg a day from them, which of course may vary now that there’s less daylight. That means about 17 dozen eggs a week! Our girls want to have an egg business and I want an egg business so we will be working on rounding up not only eggs but customers too!
“I’m so excited and I just can’t hide it…” Name that song? And isn’t that an 80’s song all of you Momdotters/Brandcation attendees? đ
What can I say? I love my little guys, like I do all my children. All of them are growing up way too fast. These are photos of my little guys and some of their animal pals from the past couple of weeks
I’m about as proud of my boys/children as these puffed up turkeys! đ
Fall is pretty much here and lately in our state we have been experiencing cooler weather and all the stores have begun to stock fall goodies. A great way to celebrate the coming of the new season is to use some great fall table top items from Bormioli Rocco â an Italian glassware company that offers modern designs with classic twists.
The first item on our list are the Bormioli Rocco, Sorgente Fuchsia Glassware that come in a set of six. I really like the two glasses sent to me. They are cool looking and a great addition to our glassware collection. I have been using them almost every day and the frosted color is very cute.
With the fall season you are sure to have guests over for a football party or just a fall dinner and these glasses are a great way to showcase some color and fall style without going overboard. You can find the Fuchsia Highball Glasses for $46.00 per set at Macys.com
The other item that is perfect for fall are the Bormioli Rocco Quattro Stagioni 8 1/2 Ounce Canning Jar, Set of 12 $32.55 at Amazon.com
This jar set is really cute and even though I haven’t used the one I received it’s pretty safe to say that I will probably put jam in it. If you don’t do fall canning you can also use these jars to organize meals for the back to school season. You could also use these jars for table top decorations or candle holders.
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.
Do you know someone who you consider unapologetically strong? I know of quite a few actually, but I think my mom stands out the most. Both my parents were strong, but in different ways. Without going into a lot of details my mom was strong for my sisters and me during our growing up years. There were so many things I didn’t even realize until I was older and yet she remained strong when she could have wilted and given up.
My dad had to learn to be strong from a young age. He was diagnosed with Polio at a 12-15 months. He wasn’t suppose to survive, let alone be able to walk, but he lived and walked again. My grandmother was unapologetically strong in my father’s therapy for a year or more. She is the one who did the exercises prescribed by the doctors. She’s the one who never gave up on my father and his ability to learn to walk. If it weren’t for her perseverance my father may never have walked again, but he did. Due to one of his legs being smaller and weaker, my dad walked with a limp for the rest of his life. He used a brace for many years until insurance no longer covered the cost of replacing it for a new one. I was probably in my late 20’s or even early 30’s by that time. Then he went without. I never heard him complain. My mom would tell us when he was sore but we usually didn’t hear it from him. He worked hard to provide for us. He learned to be strong in spite of his handicap and pain.
Degree WomenÂŽ Unapologetically Strong
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“I participated in this campaign as a member of One2One Network, I received product, and am eligible for a prize drawing. All opinions stated in the post are my own.”
The Beginner’s Bible Collection introduces FOUR fun-filled books for Preschoolers!
The books arrive in stores just in time for the new school year. The books are sure to provide hours of entertainment and invaluable life lessons to preschoolers. The new editions include two vibrant picture books depicting famous Bible stories and two interactive activity/coloring books, each with artwork from The Beginnerâs Bible.
The collection consists of the following FOUR books:
The Beginner’s Bible Jess Feeds The Hungry AND Jesus Heals The Sick
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These two books present traditional Bible stories in a lively and simple way. Each tells a celebrated story of how Jesus performed miracles such as feeding the crowd of five thousand, healing a paralyzed man, and restoring sight to a blind man.
The Beginnerâs Bible Super-Duper Mighty Jumbo Coloring Book AND The Super-Duper Mighty Jumbo Activity Book.
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In these two books youngsters can color, doodle, and connect the dots, as they bring their favorite Bible characters to life with a series of fun prompts. Each book contains nearly 400 pages of pictures and games, promoting hours of creativity and imagination.
Zonderkidz Book Review:
We received all FOUR books! This is a wonderful collection. Not only does my preschooler love the books and coloring/activity books. But my older children enjoy using and reading them too. This is truly a collection that the whole family can enjoy! (I have even caught my self-coloring with my little one!)
The books Jesus Feeds the Hungry and Jesus Heals the Sick presents uplifting messages with wonderful original illustrations that pop off the page and explode with vivid colors and playful animation.
We especially like that the coloring/activity books are not only fun companions to the books but also they reinforce what was learned in the bible stories to help strengthen and increase bible knowledge.
The Books are available for purchase now through Zonderkidz.
Visit their site and peruse all the wonderful books they have to offer!
Faith and Family Reviews received the following product in exchange for writing a review. While we consider it a privilege to receive free products to review, our reviews are our honest opinion and thoughts of the product.
The Mamavation 2 Week Challenge has come to an end. đ It makes me sad. I won’t miss the burpees workout though….ugh….that one still feels like it kills me, more so if I am really tired while doing the workout. The past week has been somewhat of a struggle. I didn’t do my workout during the morning/day, I waited until evening, many times right before I was heading off to bed….bad choice. I should have just stuck to doing it right when I woke up. I also struggled with my carb/sweet cravings. I was able to make a couple 10K or more step days, but for the most part fell short of that daily goal. On the more active days I don’t get as much work done and I’ve gotta work to make money and working means sitting in front of the computer most days. If I could walk and type fast I would, but I don’t type very well on my iPhone. I am faster with a traditional keyboard and thanks to my pedometer, learned that typing does burn calories!
I have yet to weigh myself. I kept forgetting to measure myself, so I don’t have those to compare to and fear I won’t see much of a change…..
I am not sure what I am going to do next. I’d like to continue my daily but am not sure I will be very motivated to unless I can sign up for another 2 Week Challenge or something similar. The accountability helps.
How are you doing for your Monday Motivation goals? I know I have a busy week ahead….
We welcomed Jafaru the Giraffe join our home last week and he has been very loved since the moment he popped out of the box. Greatest feature ever is the blanket can zip off Jafaru to clean separately! To change Jafaru from a stuffed animal to a pillow, just un-velcro the two loops under his belly and to use the blanket unzip the bottom of Jafaru and pull the blanket out. I found folding up the blanket and putting it can in Jafaru is very easy to use and it fits nicely back into a pillow (if you fold it the way the instructions suggest). The blanket is 44 inches by 34 inches unfolded a good size in my book. We also found Jafaru makes a funny hat!
Faith and Family Reviews received the following product in exchange for writing a review. While we consider it a privilege to receive free products to review, our reviews are our honest opinion and thoughts of the product.
All our children have big dreams of being mermaids, space Heros, and pirates. Here’s their chance to live out their dreams with Kidorable Hooded Towels! These terry cloth soft towels are great for the beach/lake or after bath time. They are 100% cotton, machine washable and dryer safe. My kind of product – easy care! The hooded towel are available in 2 sizes (Newborn to 2 years old and 3 to 6 years old). Here’s the tough decision, which one to choose out of the 11 Kidorable Hooded Towels available.
Here’s what Kidorable has to say about their hooded towels…
“Our customers tell us that our towel designs are the best anywhere. Now our towel quality leads the industry as well. The old material was a soft and absorbent terrycloth. The new material retains all that is good about that, and adds a layer of super soft velour. The result is an equally absorbent, and now lighter, brighter, softer towel. ”
Pictures can say a 1000 words.
Kidorable Towel Review
From the moment we got it in the mail, she’s been wearing it! The Mermaid Towel has a starfish on the head, an orange fish on one side blowing bubbles and a seashell pocket on the other. Then in the back is her mermaid fin. One of my favorite features is a big yellow plastic snap, that’s even friendly for her to snap herself. We always try and slip some motor skills in even during bath time. The Kidorable Towel is very soft with vibrant colors. Two thumbs us from us!
Save Money with this Coupon Code
We have a coupon code for you!!!
“From September 15-30, you can get 20% off your entire order when you purchase Kidorable’s impossibly cute and soft cotton hooded towels. Just use code DRYOFF33 at checkout on www.kidorable.com”
Head over to Kidorable today and get a few towels for your kiddos to live out their fantasies!
Faith and Family Reviews received the following product in exchange for writing a review. While we consider it a privilege to receive free products to review, our reviews are our honest opinion and thoughts of the product.
