We don’t agree with child labor or slave labor, but we do desire to teach our children to work according to there age and abilities. Our little guys are not required to do many chores other than pick up their toys, help put their clothes in their cubbies and help a sibling or parent feed the animals. Yet they are often found doing more because when the older children are told to do something they trail along behind. Little farm helpers. That’s one advantage to having many children – the older ones do tend to teach the younger ones by example (and not the example they set is not always positive! 😉 ) Below is our 4 year old “Nookie” who loves helping take care of the chickens. He’s very kind and gentle and actually very good at catching them.
Our Little Farm Helpers
The diapered dude is our baby who will be two this month. My daughter captured him helping fill the chicken waterer with the hose.
Please excuse the marker all over them, markers usually end up in them coloring each other’s skin!
Wallet running on empty? Gas prices getting you down? Back to school specials are here and you are strapped for cash? Well, sit up and take a look at this August edition of the Cash and Gift Card Giveaway Hop! 17 other blogs and I are offering you the opportunity to win over $600 in gift cash or gift cards! Each of us is giving away cash or a gift card worth $25 or more!
Woohoo! Bring on the cash, eh?!
$50 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway
Faith and Family Reviews is offering a $50 Amazon Gift Card (or code) for this August giveaway event. Please just fill out the Rafflecopter below.
Once you’ve entered my giveaway, make sure to click this $600 in Giveaways link to be taken to a list of the participating blogs.
Remember to stop by the other participating blogs to win over $600 in cash and gift cards. Click this Giveaway link to visit the other participating blogs.
We picked up our new old van yesterday. It’s big, roomy and has comfy seats! We were invited to attend the Mike the Knight show at the Renaissance Fair in Kenosha, Wisconsin for this past weekend’s shows, so we decided our first family outing in nearly 10 months would be to the Renaissance Fair. We have never been to a Renaissance Fair and were expecting something more like Medieval Times shows, rather than a fair taking place outside.
This is how my husband parked “the beast” at the hotel we stopped at to find the nearest Walgreens (Walgreens offers discounted Renaissance Fair tickets.)
The fair was very crowded and busy. Tons of people. Dusty streets, much like it would have been in the 15th century. There were little shops lining the medieval streets selling their wares. It had a air of stepping back in time. There was lots of sights to see, but due to arriving at 5pm for a 5:30pm show, we didn’t take much time to stop and look at things due to not wanting to miss the Mike the Knight show.
We arrived at The Globe Stage with nearly 15 minutes to spare. Our children sat nicely anticipating the show starting, but the younger crew did not understand what we were waiting for. There was not a huge crowd for a kids show, but we just put it off to it being one of the last shows (we later realized that there was a Joust going on at the same time which attracted a huge crowd).
The show began with an Elf coming on stage and reading a Mike the Knight story book. The Elf did not have a mic on and she/he was very hard to hear even with us sitting in the fourth row! The story took about five minutes, after which the doors of the stage opened and out stepped Mike the Knight. Our six year old questioned, “That’s a person dressed up in Mike the Knight?” We said yes.
Then the children were invited to line up to meet and greet the tall stuffed figure. None of ours wanted to. The sat quietly at our sides and still refused to go up after a couple of fair workers tried to persuade them to go up to the stage. The worker handing out the CD/DVD and coloring book was nice enough to give our children
each one even though they didn’t go up to meet Mike.
Our Impressions of Mike the Knight
That appeared to be the extent of the show. 10 minutes long and very lame. We were disappointed to be honest. This is the what we drove an hour to see. 🙁 We sure hope other Renaissance Fairs are doing something different! We expected Mike the Knight to at least act out one of his stories or something. Not just stand there wave, shake hands and high five the kids.
The Fair’s Redemption
What redeemed the fair for us was the jousting match, which we only caught part of because we were at that “other” show. It was cool and all the children said that was their favorite part.
After the joust, we attended a How to Use Weapons show. It was humorous and we stayed until it was nearly over, but our little ones were asking to go home! It was starting to get late for them.
We took our time walking back through the fair, letting the children’s (or ours!) curiosity guide us. Our oldest daughter was in writer’s mode thinking and creating as she took in all the people, the costumes, sights and sounds.
It was also really interesting to note that all the rides offered at the fair were not mechanical as in gas powered or electric. They were powered by the muscles of people. That was one of the best things to witness – the historical accuracy of the rides. Of course they all cost money too.
We thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon/evening out as a whole family. It was wonderful to just do something together away from work and home. Our four year old woke up this morning asking, “Are we going on another trip, mommy?” 🙂 I think that about says it all right there. Eating out, getting ice cream and going to the playground afterwards all made it an even better experience for our children.
New Yorkers
Those in New York or traveling in NY state this month, Mike the Knight and the Renaissance Fair will be your area the weekend August 18-19! Check out the details here.
Faith and Family Reviews received the four tickets to the Renaissance Fair in exchange for a feature. While we consider it a privilege to receive tickets, products to review, our reviews are our honest opinion and thoughts of the event or product.
If you are a blogger then this post is for you. If you are a blogger trying to monetize your blog, this post is definitely for you. It will help you get organized and treat your blog as a business…using the Blogging Planner.
The Blogging Planner is a neat little planner was created by bloggers for bloggers to help us organize posts, keep track of paid opportunities, PR contacts, events and so much more. It holds a year’s worth of planning, after which you will have to get a new one.
These photos say it all:
Front Cover
Brainstorming
Calendar
Monthly Focus Page
Weekly To-Do’s and Income Recording (Making tax time easier having everything in one place!)
Blog Conferences
PR Contacts
Brand Events
Goal Setting – If we don’t set goals we’ll never achieve them!
I love the planner. The concept is very well thought out and it is easy to use. However, I will admit with struggling to get myself into the habit of using it. Old habits die hard. I am use to writing things on slips of paper….and losing them. I write things in notebooks (of which I have many) and forget which notebook I wrote it in because I often grab just any ole notebook not the one I need! Or I can neglect to write something down or add it to my online calendar, which creates mishaps and mistakes to occur. You would think I would just buckle down and discipline myself to use this new tool so I have everything in one spot, but no I struggle against change and it seems like soooo much work. Ha! I know I am fooling myself. That’s why I am determined to use my Blogging Planner consistently for the rest of the year so that I am treating my blog as a business and have everything in one place for when tax time rolls around. I need to just stop procrastinating and do it!
All that to say that I do have other tools that I use to help me keep somewhat organized but they are all in different places. Not in just one spot. That’s what I think the Blogging Planner can do if it is used properly.
When I attended Brandcation in May, Trisha and Lynsey gifted all of us with this Blogging Planner, it also contained the contact info for all those bloggers attending, the PR info of our swag etc. in the front of the planner. This was a special deluxe version of the planner. The one they are selling will not contain PR or bloggers’ info, obviously. Now the planner is also available in two different sizes. I hear the large size is nice and spacious, more for your desk at home, while the smaller one is perfect to take with you when you are traveling to conferences and events.
Are you a blogger? Do you treat your blog as a business? How do you think this planner would help you?
You can learn more about the Blogging Planner or purchase it here.
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.
It’s summer time which means most people will be spending lots of time outdoors! With the sun being so harmful, sunscreen isn’t enough! UV Skinz has a wonderful line of 50+ UV sun protection clothing for everyone in the family! This company is approved by the Melanoma International Foundation as well as an iParenting Media Award Winner!
Kids sizes range from 6 months to 14 and adult sizes go up to a size 4 XL! UV Skinz carries shirts (long and short sleeve), hats, shorts, gloves/sleeves, shades, and sun screen! It’s a one stop shop for sun-protective clothing for the entire family!
My UV Skinz Review:
My daughter received the Pink Mermaids sunwear set, which included a reversible hat, short sleeve swim shirt, and shorts.
This picture is with the Mermaid side of the hat.
This picture is the reverse side of the hat which is pink.
I have a very active, wiggly 3 year old. Sometimes trying to put sun screen on her is like trying to put it on a cat! I always miss a spot, however, with her new outfit I can worry less. The shirt covers her arms to her elbows and the hat is wide brimmed for fun at the beach. It’s light weight and doesn’t make her hot. I love the modesty of the entire outfit. It’s very age appropriate and fun!
It also washed up nicely! Gentle wash and drip dry.
UV Skins has my vote for UV-protective clothing! Check out their website to buy yours today! You can also find them on Facebook and/or Twitter.
Special Offer:BLOGS15 code that you can use for a 15% discount on UV Skinz’s site.
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.
How about this for a freak accident! I’m laying on my side with my hand under my head. My 3 year old daughter came bounding on the bed, which is nothing new. She kneed my elbow perfectly on the corner. OUCH! But, being a mom I blew it off. It’ll go away, right!? That was Saturday the 21st. By Monday, when I got up my elbow was still not moving well and was still was hurting pretty bad. I went to my regular doctor, who told me it was acting like it was broken and sent me to x-ray. The x-ray place tells me I have a “comminuted fracture of the electronaut”. Not having an ounce of medical knowledge, I’m thinking my elbow exploded. They sent me home and I had to call the orthopedic the next day. I prepared myself all day for the worst. The orthopedic doctor put up the x-ray, Which unfortunately I don’t have the picture of and reveals my daughter had broke the corner of my elbow off! It’s floating around and the reason it hurt so bad is that the tendons were/are rubbing that broken piece around. Upside is no surgery and only a sling! Hooray!
My 3 Year Old Broke My Elbow! Ouch!
So, she sent me on my merry way. Wednesday the 25th rolls around and my elbow was as red as Rudolph’s nose and hot. To me that’s infection. Ugh….. Back to the doctor I went this past Friday. He told me I need to relax more and stop doing so much. Ok, I’d LOVE to do that. However, I need to care for my family.
As of today, the swelling has gone down and I’m feeling better each day. I have a feeling this is going to be a long healing process.
I closed out three giveaways yesterday and contacted all the winners. So I wanted to give them special acknowledgement congratulating them on winning and for all of you who entered – Thank you!
In case you missed it, congratulations to Paula on winning the Slique Kit™ giveaway!
Please stay tuned for the next several weeks as we will be offering several giveaways, but realize giveaways will slow down again in late September and early October as I have a big blog event that I will need time to prepare for and write about! I don’t know how bloggers who attend several huge events do it!
A monkey swinging from a tree, oh, it’s my son swinging from a tree! 😉 Boys play and work. They set this “Tarzan” swing up last week and I think at least 3-4 of the children have come to me saying their tummy hurts. After questioning them I came to the conclusion that they were working their stomach muscles while playing “Tarzan”. 🙂
