Who cares about the rain???

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Dress for Your 18 Inch Doll Like American Girl

From the Wish Doll Company comes another stunner of a dress! Pretending that you and your doll are attending an awards night in Hollywood? This Midnight Silver Evening Dress is perfect for the occasion! This dress has a midnight velvet blue bodice and a sparkly starlit skirt with a lovely silver bow at the waistline. This outfit also comes with a matching silver sparkly purse. Guaranteed to make your doll (and your little girl) happy because Wish clothing are made with special no-pull closures! No velcro to catch and ruin clothes, and there are no tiny poppers to frustrate tiny hands! Visit Emily Rose to order your very own Midnight Silver Evening Dress!

It’s Monday morning and even as I am thinking about how much I have to get done this week I am thinking about how much I didn’t get done over the weekend! I have a serious problem with laundry. Luckily I don’t have a problem with it actually getting done, my lovely husband does all of the laundry in our house, but I do have a problem with it getting put away. I hate putting away laundry. My husband will leave a basket full of nicely folded fluffy clean clothes in our closet and by the end of the week it will be a basket of unfolded, dug-through, half clean, half dirty clothes. It’s some kind of mental block.

Knowing that I have to re-fold all of the stuff I have messed up nags at me. But look what my Dad sent me! I couldn’t stop watching it. As soon as work is over I am eager to get to that laundry basket and put this strategy to the test. Have you tried it?

Click This link to learn how to fold a shirt!

This is a photo of my little girl.  When I saw this photo for the first time I gasped out loud… she isn’t so little anymore.  Isn’t it funny how the photo of your children that you carry in your mind is always about 2 years behind the reality.

It’s summer-time now and every summer Emily takes off on some travel adventure or another.  This year she is visiting family in Kansas City, upstate New York and finally my Parents in PA before we pick her up in New York in early August to bring her home again.  She has been gone for less than a week and already I wake every morning with that tug of yearning at my sternum.  I miss her so much when she is gone.  But – my little girl has a streak of independence so fierce that it carries her through situations that would have me on my knees weeping  I remember when my own Mother went back to work when I was in my teens and at 15 I would come home from school and immediately pick up the phone and call her in her office to find out what time she would be home.  When was the last time Emily called me since she left?  Ummmm… she hasn’t.  She has sent me some lovely emails…

Do I think that Emily misses me?  Yes.  Do I think that Emily feels as though she can’t get by without me?  Thank goodness, No.

Every day I resist the urge to call her several times and tell her how much I miss her – how that tug at my sternum bothers me constantly.  But I don’t and I won’t.  I am proud that my daughter forges ahead on these grand adventures without me holding her hand.  I always remember I am giving her the gift of independence.

Do your kids travel without you?  How do you deal with the separation?

In our house, we believe that chores are a requirement in order to be a participating member of family life. We don’t give allowances for chores – chores are expected, not rewarded. My own mother didn’t believe in chores and waited on us hand and foot. Sure, we had a wonderfully creative and rich childhood experience, but it sure was tough to develop the self-discipline required to keep my tiny dorm room under control when I went to college.

Emily is very good at remembering her chores, so we don’t keep any kind of regular chore chart. But she has a school trip this year that she expected to contribute towards, so I went hunting for something to track her “trip points”. I found this very cool website filled with free downloadable chore charts. Surprise, surprise, Emily picked the Kitty one featured above – but they have everything from princesses to sports to teddy bears!

We’d love to hear your views on chores. How are they handled in your household? Do your kids have chores? Are they tied to their allowances?

We spend a lot of time talking to Emily about finances and the importance of living within your means and given the state of the economy, it doesn’t hurt to think seriously about frugality. We discovered an article on Extreme Ways to Save. Hmmm… now lets not go crazy. Keeping your eye on the pennies and ignoring the big picture is often a big mistake. But lets see what they say:

Turn your car off – while its moving
Ummm… no. Not only do I think this is extremely dangerous, but I am about as coordinated as a tap-dancing giraffe. I can only see smoke, fire and broken engines.

Reuse plastic sandwich bags
Although I actually laughed out loud at my frugal husband when I caught him doing this, I will admit that it is definitely environmentally friendly. Its worth the hassle for the environment. Worth the hassle for $30 a year? What do you think?

Stop saving money
I think the article needs to be MUCH clearer on this one. If you read carefully, there is a tiny mention of not saving so you can avoid credit cards… Ok – I agree with that one. No one wants to be earning 3% on their savings in the bank while spending 20% on credit card interest. This article though, seems to be giving carte blanche not to save “if you cant afford it”. Everyone can afford to save something even if it is only $1. I think saving is a discipline and once you get out of the habit, it is easy to let go.

Make your own cleaning supplies
This one seems simple enough and a good money saving piece of advice. Who needs a $12 bottle of pine sol if vinegar really works just as well?

Stop drinking soda (or another beverage of choice)
Excellent piece of advice. Soda is full of sugar and a ton of empty calories. Its expensive! Once its gone, I’ll bet you wont miss it and neither will your kids. Id like to add bottled water to this tip. There’s nothing wrong with water out of the tap – in fact, most bottled water is tap water anyway!

Move back home with your parents, at any age
Ummm… No. Do I need to elaborate?

Get rid of your carpet
This one made me scratch my head a bit. Get rid of your carpet and do what? Have a concrete floor? It would take an awful long time for $200 a year to pay back the investment of a couple of thousand dollars in tiles or hardwood.

Hold a no-spend month
Very interesting concept. I am off to read about it on Small Notebook and would love to hear from anyone who has tried it.

Anyone have something to suggest?

Meet Chubby, my 7-month old Shih-Tzu.

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We had so much fun with our first review and giveaway. Our lucky winner of the $20 gift certificate to http://www.fashionplaytes.com (selected randomly with random.org) is Claudine. Congrats Claudine – we have sent you an email with your winnings.

Thanks so much for playing everyone – look out for another review and giveaway soon.

Scottish Outfit For Your 18 Inch Doll Like American Girl

This is a truly sweet outfit for your favorite doll. It comes with a yellow corduroy button-up jacket, a yellow and green plaid skirt, a polka dot blouse and matching corduroy “Tam O’Shanter” with plaid bow. What an amazing deal for the price of one! To order this beautiful Scottish Casual Outfit, visit Emily Rose today!

This is a great craft idea for your kids to do in preparation for the 4^th of July celebration. Thanks to the people from Craft Ideas, your kids can show their patriotism with their handmade patriotic pins.

Here’s how to make one:

You will need:

- cardboard such as from a cereal box or
  heavy cardstock
- tissue paper in the colors of red, white
  and blue
- liquid school glue
- pencil
- ruler
- pin backing

Instructions:

1. Print out a star you like or use a cookie cutter star and transfer the shape to the cardboard and cut out.
2. Draw 3 straight and even sections down the front side of the heart using pencil and ruler.
3. Tear each colored tissue paper into small 1 inch pieces and create a wad with each piece. Add a good amount of glue to the first area you wish to fill. Adhere the wads next to each other filling up the spaces and making sure not to leave any openings.
4. Start now with the next color on the next section and repeat step 3.
5. Complete the last section with the 3rd color and repeat step 3 again.
4. Cut a thin strip of cardstock or cardboard. Turn the finished and dry heart over, lay the pin in the center, and insert the strip through the pin and glue it to hold the pin in place. Let the glue thoroughly dry before wearing.

I love going to Craft Ideas for my crafting needs, because they provide simple and easy to follow instructions, and even provides you with patterns!!!