Do you have Flower Power?

(I am always looking for ways to help out those near and dear to me. I have been a member of my local chapter Mommies Network group since 2007 as well as worked with them on a National level, so when I saw this I felt the need to share)

Are you looking for some curb appeal? Do you need to beautify your back yard? Spring planting season may be a few months away, but there's no better time than now to grow with SCValleyMommies! We've partnered with Flower Power to bring you a fabulous fundraiser to help you plan the garden of your dreams.

Flower Power sells quality flower bulbs with a 100 percent money-back guarantee. Gorgeous geraniums, tantalizing tiger lilies, and beautiful begonias are just a few of the many bulbs available and ready to be shipped to your door. This fundraiser runs Jan. 22–March 20, 2012, and your bulbs will arrive in April and May, just in time for beautiful summer blooms.

So save some gas and the trip to your local nursery or big-box store, and plan your perfect garden from the comfort of your computer. Visit http://www.flowerpowerfundraising.com/i/t/240241/Sx89zFxHmHXL to view the enormous array of flower bulbs, and spring into Flower Power and SCValleyMommies’ fabulous fundraiser!

Special bonus: Spend $40 or more to receive a free bag of 10 Twilight gladiolus, a $10 value.

Grow with us!

Profits made through our fundraising link go toward our chapter's operating expenses.

Starting a new venture

Have you heard about Crowd Funding? Basically it is a way that individuals, organizations, new businesses, ect ask others to help fund their idea.

I am working on a new website venture and am hoping that crowd funding will help me make sure I can get it up and running properly and fast.

"TheParent411 is anxious to get fully up & running. We don’t want to do it bit by bit either. Therefore, we have decided that crowd funding was a great medium for us to utilize.

Please take a moment to check out our campaign, as well as share it with others"

Dear Santa

With Christmas fast approaching, I have been after my daughter to make her wish list. Since her birthday is three days after X-mas (lucky us & our wallets), her list can get a little crazy.

This year though, she only has one item on her Letter to Santa, a Kindle and some nail polish for her stocking. I lot that my little girl has become some an avid reader like her mom. Hopefully Santa will come through for her. Or even better, he can get me a Kindle Fire and I can give her my old Kindle ;) (Hey, we can all dream)

Obviously she wants some other things, after all it is two events and more than just Santa gives her goodies. After much prompting, here is the rest of her list:

Kit, the American Girl Doll

Lagoona's Hydration Station (Monster High)

Gift Cards (Justice, iTunes, Game Stop, Toys R Us)

Little Pet Shop toys

We did give her one gift already, a guitar & guitar lessons. After all she is going to be a famous singer one day ;)

What items are on your childs wish list this year?

The Boogieman is gonna get ya!!

Have you seen the new Jello "Temptations" commercial(s)?

In the 1st one they had a brother & sister standing in front of a fridge while the parents are telling them a spooky story about what happens to a little girl who stole her parents "Jello Temptations". I have to say I thought it was extremely cute & unique. Even my seven year old daughter thought it was great and funny. Though she did reassure herself that wouldn't happen to her, "right mom?"

The whole family enjoyed it soo much, I actually went on Jello's & Kraft's FaceBook pages to rave about them, and subscribe to their YouTube page. I even went out and bought some, though I am a Whole Foods person & don't tend to shop much outside of there (and yes, I let my daughter pick out some for her).

To my surprise and confusion, there were many remarks about how horrible these commercials are. People were actually saying that these commercials promoted Child Abuse!!? WOW!!? There are posts & blogs bashing Kraft & Jello for these commercials & trying to work up a campaign to boycott them.

I never realized I was such a bad parent. According to that logic I need to stop letting my daughter watch TV. After all, one of her favorite shows is "R.L. Stine's The Haunting Hour", shown on HUB. Or how about some of her favorite Disney movies? Classic Fairy Tales? Better not let her go camping because a ghost story mighty be told around the camp fire! Time to go "burn some books"!

How traumatizing!! After all, look how bad be we all came out. I'm sure none of your parents never used the threat "Better go to sleep before the Boogieman gets you". Are you an insomniac now because of that? Spent years in therapy?

I believe everyone is entitled to their opinion, but what I don't get is the way people are quick to judge or criticize anybody who thinks differently then them. Unless you are doing something that is right out deceitful or ACTUALLY harmful to others (like trying to cripple a business or bash parents who like the commercials), then I am not going to speak out or judge. After all, remember that old adage, "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all"?

If you really need a cause to be involved in or work to spread the word, how about making sure everyone who has been paying in their Social Security gets it? Or raising funds to keep our schools keep programs; such as physical education or the arts? Japan just suffered a terrible blow and could use your help. Come on, lets get our priorities straight and focus on what is really important.

I am off to go enjoy a yummy Temptation and will eave you with a funny & spooky commercial from Jello:

Since we are on the subject...

The other night I asked my daughter what her X-mas/B-day Wish List was (there are three days between the two). Since I published mine for the world to see, I thought I would do the same for her. After all, the Holidays are supposed to be for the kids and this could help other parents of 6/7 year old little girls.

A Black Wii
An American Girl Doll
Disneyland Pass
A "real" microphone
The new Taylor Swift CD
An Ipod Touch (I gave her my 1st gen one, but it doesn't do Farmville & she likes playing that)
A Razor Scooter
A Barbie Dream House
A new CD player (hers is slowly dying), I would like to play her ipod as well ;)

It's not much, but did you notice that the majority of them are pretty big ticket items? It makes me miss the days of the little toys (not much, just a little).

So, what items are on your child's wish lists?

Trying out Flowergirl Hairstyles

My sister-in-law is getting married next month and my daughter is going to be a flower girl in the wedding. Since it has been so long since I really did any fancy hairstyles & with the pain my hands are in, I thought it would be good to practice on her before the wedding.

We are not sure what her hair should look like, but this is the 1st try I did today.

I made some twists in the front & clipped them. Then I made two ponytails in the back. One on top & one underneath it so the top one would cover it.

I usedmy ceramic curling iron that has three barrel sizes. I made most of them using the biggest barrel. Then I seperated the curls & ratted up the top ponytail to give it more body. I then switched out the barrels, and put in the small one. I curled some fly-a-ways in her face & made a few small curls in back.

I took out the clips that were holding the twists & hair sprayed like crazy. I had these cute little hair spirals that have a "diamond" on top & put three of them in her hair for some sparkle.

The hardest part of this style is how long it takes to curl all her hair. I think if this one makes the cut, I might use the medium barrel for the majority of the curls. I will also invest in an actual ratting comb. I had to improvise with a brush.

After she sat through the torture of getting her hair done, she tried on her dress & shoes. I let her have a little fun in her outfit, before turning her loose :)



Her official get the picture taken already pose:

Feeling craft today

My daughter has become a huge fan of head bands. And on mornings we are running late, I am all for them.

We have gotten to the point where our hair drawer is soo full of them, that it is hard to find anything else in there. The other week, I decided I had enough!

I started google'ing head band holders and ways to make them yourself. I took the info I saw & came up with this:


See all her headbands?



Here is what you will need if you would like to make this:
An empty oatmeal container (or the like)
your choice of fabric (or you can use paper)
Hot glue & glue gun
some Tacky glue (or elmers if you use paper)

I bought 18 inches from the bolt of fabric I picked out. I then measured the container (about 16 inches) and made a fold for half of that, inside out. Then my wonderful mother-in-law made a quick stitch for me on the sewing machine (I have yet to learn h0w to use it. After my sister-in-laws wedding, I was promised some lessons). After sliding it on to make sure it fit, I cut off the remaining material, turned it right side out & slid it on.

I hot glue gunned the fabric to the bottom. I then cut out a circle & tacky glued it in the bottom. Mainly because I didn't want anyone to look in & see brown. This step is up to you & your insanity level ;)

Then I glued the inside edges with the fabric left over the top of my cover. The fabric pretty much covers it all, top to bottom.

Then I cut out another circle & tacky glued it to the lid. Since I put on the purple trim, I didn't need to fold it over, & just covered the bottom. From there I hot glue gunned the purple trim around the bottom of the lid & hot glued the lid to the bottom of the container.

Let it dry & put your headbands on. You can even use the inside of the container for clips & what not. That was my idea, until I realized HOW MANY headbands she has.

And if you are not the craft sort, shoot me a message.I would be glad to make one for you.