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JDaniel4s Mom

growing & learning with him

Deirdre Smith writes/owns JDaniel4’s Mom. After twenty years as a elementary school and technology resource teacher in Northern Virginia, she became a stay at home mom in upstate South Carolina. Her blog features ways she and her 5 year old are exploring learning, crafting, creating healthy meals and living life to its fullest. Deirdre can also be found on twitter as @jdaniel4smom and on her blog's FB page. You can also check her out on Google+.

Cottage Belles Reusable Lunch/Snack Bags Giveaway

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I used to go through dozens of Ziploc bags for JDaniel and my lunches. It was amazing how many we could consume. Last fall I was really convicted that I needed to cut down on the amount of plastic I was adding to the dump. One way to do that was to use reusable bags or containers. Cottage Belles has the reusable bags in the most fun fabrics. You are going to love exploring her Etsy shop to pick the set of your choice.

Here is how to win a set:

*Go to Cottage Belles and tell me what set you would select if you won.

For extra entries do any or all of the following leaving a separate comment for each entry.

* Follow Cottage Belles’ Blog (2 entries)

*Leave a comment on the Cottage Belles’ Blog. (1 entry)

*Visit her other shop Cottage Belles Fabric and tell me a fabric you like. ( 1 entry)

*Join the new BlogFrog Community I am a part of called Mom Loop and post a comment. (5 entries)

*Write about this giveaway with a link back to it on Facebook or another social network site. (1 entry per social network)

*Enter another giveaway that I am hosting. (1 entry for each giveaway you enter)

*Leave a comment on a non-giveaway blog post. (1 entry)

*Follow my blog. Leave me a comment saying that you now follow or that you already do. (1 entry)

* Follow me on Twitter. (2 entries)

* Twitter about this giveaway with a link back. Copy and paste: CottageBelles@JDaniel4’sMom(1 entry per day)

* Subscribe to my blog. Leave me a comment saying that you have subscribed or that you already do. (1 entry)

*Add me to your blog roll. Please leave a link to your site. (2 entries)

*Add my button to your blog. Please leave a link to your site. (2 entries)

*Buy anything from Cottage Belles and come back and leave a comment saying you did. (10 entries)

That is 15 ways to win. The winner will be chosen by using the random number generator at http://www.random.org/. )

 

This giveaway begins April 25th and ends May 6th.

 

 

stART- Earth Day Related Books and a Craft

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We read the following books that relate to Earth Day this week:

My Forever Dress by Harriet Ziefert is a wonderful book about a little girl whose grandmother reuses fabric from her favorite dress to make new clothing for her. In the end, she has to hand down the final dress to a cousin.
Barn Savers by Linda Oatman High is a great book about a father and his son who salvage wood and many other elements of old barns. This book paints great word pictures of what is going on while they work on one particular barn during the day. JDaniel loves this book.

Recycle Every Day by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace is another great book. It takes a little bunny through a week on watching how her family recycles. The little bunny has to decide what family does that she wants to illustrate for a poster contest at school.
The craft we did was a collage. (Yes, we did a collage last week too.) JDaniel was given triangles and squares from old wrapping paper to create his collage. It was fun to use the old paper in the project.


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Rick and Bubba’s Big Honkin Book of Grub Review and Giveaway

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Rick and Bubba's Big Honkin' Book of Grub

Living here in South Carolina I drive by many restaurants touting they serve the best Southern food ever. Rick Burgess and Bill “Bubba” Bussey in their book Rick and Bubba’s Big Honkin Book of Grub say they have found the best places to eat Southern food and so much more. Some of what they offer is Top Ten Reasons Why There Will Be Potlucks in Heaven, Four Rules on How to Eat Southern Grub, and the Top Ten Reasons Turkey Tossing Should Be An Olympic Event. These lists are really fun. This book is filled with lots of fun lists, a handful of recipes, food festivals to visit, opinions on all kinds of food and a lot of fun. If you love Southern food, this book and a tall glass of sweet tea will be a great time.
Would you love to read it?
Here how to win my copy:

 

*Rick and Bubba have a radio show. Check out their website and tell me something that you learn. ( 1 entry)
For extra entries do any or all of the following leaving a separate comment for each entry.

 

*Follow them on Facebook. (1 entry)

*Follow Rick or Bubba on Twitter. (1 entry)

*Write about this giveaway with a link back to it on Facebook or another social network site. (1 entry)

*Enter another giveaway that I am hosting. (1 entry for each giveaway you enter)

*Follow my blog. Leave me a comment saying that you now follow or that you already do. (1 entry)

 

* Twitter about this giveaway with a link back, you must also be following me on Twitter. Copy and paste: BigHonkinBookofGrub@JDaniel4’sMom(1 entry per day)

 

*Leave a comment on a non-giveaway blog post. (1 entry)

 

*Subscribe to my blog. Leave me a comment saying that you have subscribed or that you already do. (1 entry)

 

*Add me to your blog roll. Please leave a link to your site. (2 entries)

 

*Add my button to your blog. Please leave a link to your site. (2 entries)

 

That is 11 ways to win. The winner will be chosen by using the random number generator at http://www.random.org/. )

 

This giveaway begins April 21st and ends May 1st.
Full Disclosure: I received a book to review from Book Sneeze and I am passing it on to you.

 

 

 

Les Mess Organizing Card Game Giveaway

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I was contacted with the opportunity to share the Les is More Game with you. I really thought this might be something you would enjoy. Teaching children to take care of their things and helping to keep the house organized is an important thing in my book.

Here is what the company says about their product:

Less is More, a home organization company, announces the launch of Les Mess card game. The interactive card game is a set of organizing cards that help children get their room and your home organized and clutter-free. The game retails for $19.95 and is available at lesmess.com.
The game is recommended for ages 5-12 and teaches children in a fun way the benefits of cleaning up after themselves. Kids Shuffle the cards, pick one and do what is on the card. Each card has a time limit on it. If you finish in time you get a prize (Mom and Dad do this part), and there are cards with unique prize ideas included that do not bring more clutter into the house.
These organizing cards teach children to put things away, as well as what to keep and what to toss. They will learn through getting organized, how to sort and will create a habit of picking up every day. After all, it isn’t teaching our kids how to be organized and clutter-free a part of being a parent…and sometimes learning should be fun too!

Leslie Jacobs, founder of Les is More commented, “Our homes are a reflection of how people feel; if our homes are messy, we feel as if our lives are messy. Less is More was founded on the belief that organization is possible and with the Les Mess card game, it can be a little more fun for kids to jump in and help.”

Would you like to win a set?

Here is how?

*Go to the Less Mess website and tell me something you learn. (1 entry)

For extra entries do any or all of the following leaving a separate comment for each entry.

*Tell me one of the Top Ten Cluttered Characters listed on the Les Mess site. (1 entry)

*Leave a comment on one of the Les Mess blog entries. ( 1 entry)

*Write about this giveaway with a link back to it on Facebook or another social network site. (1 entry per network)

*Enter another giveaway that I am hosting. (1 entry for each giveaway you enter)

*Leave a comment on a non-giveaway blog post. (1 entry)

*Follow my blog. Leave me a comment saying that you now follow or that you already do. (1 entry)

*Twitter about this giveaway with a link back, you must also be following me on Twitter. Copy and paste: LesMessCardGame@JDaniel4’sMom(1 entry per day)

*Subscribe to my blog. Leave me a comment saying that you have subscribed or that you already do. (1 entry)

*Add me to your blog roll. Please leave a link to your site. (2 entries)

*Add my button to your blog. Please leave a link to your site. (2 entries)

That is 11 ways to win. The winner will be select randomly using Random.org.

This giveaway starts April 19th and ends April 28th at 11:59 p.m.

Full Disclosure: I was not compensated in any way for hosting this giveaway

 

Great Posts I Came Across This Week- April 17

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This week I have spent a lot of time visiting blogs participating in the Ultimate Blog Party hosted by 5 Minutes for Mom. I have been amazed and in awe of the wonderful blogs that I visited. This week I want to share some of them and a taste of the posts.

Bushel and a Peck wrote a special piece about the wonderful man she married called I’m Not Sure What’s Better.

 

Quirky Momma has 40+ Tips for Road Trips with Toddlers/Pre-schoolers. I need to use many of them when JDaniel go to my sister’s in New York next month.

 

Helping Little Hands has an amazing picture of Hungry Caterpillar cupcakes!

 

Layton Family Joy has a thoughtful post on Split Second Decisions. God gives you opportunities. Do I take them? Sometimes I do and sometimes I let them slip by.

 

Mozi Esme has amazing crafts to do with each letter of the alphabet. I started by looking at the “A” crafts.

 

 

Recipes I need to try:

 

Crystal’s Cozy Kitchen has a wonderful Chicken Soup Pizza.

 

My Family My Forever has Homemade Cinnamon Rolls that look awesome.

 

 

Other posts I found that I loved this week:

 

Barbara’s Bakin N Bits has a great post on 88 Words or Phrases That I was Surprised to Find in the KJV. Who knew “A LITTLE BIRD TOLD ME” was in there.

 

 

Mommy Tears Rain Down

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During my brief time as a mommy, there have been many different types of tears that have fallen.
There are tears of happiness that fell when for the first time I got to hold him at the hospital.
There have been tears of exhaustion when JDaniel didn’t sleep much as a baby. I used to hold him to my chest with tears rolling down face questioning why God didn’t give a non-sleeping baby to a younger mom. There have been long days when my husband had to work late, JDaniel was fussing about something or other and a simple thing that goes wrong can lead to a few tears. I know those are tears of exhaustion.
There are tears of sadness that rain down when I have seen JDaniel cry at something he has seen on one of his PBS shows. Toddler’s tears are contagious. They also rain down when he gets hurt. (I don’t cry right there in front of him. They seem to hit later on.)
There are tears of joy that fall when he does something for the first time. When he climbed a ladder at the playground or took his first step, I have to admit there were small drops falling from my eyes.

 

Finally, there are tears that come from writing a blog post about a simple everyday event that has happened in our lives. There isn’t a particular reason for those tears they just seem to come. Maybe it is just because I am so grateful to have him be a part of my life and be his mom.

 

 

Allergy Testing Results Are In!

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JDaniel was awesome through all the testing on Friday. It may have been due to the fact that he could have lollipop during the test. (A Blogfrog friend suggested I bring in a lollipop when I mentioned the testing. It acts as a pain inhibitor and is just fun to have.) He also got to watch a video he had never seen before on Blues Clues.

 

So, what are the results of the tests? He had a slight irritation in the dust area. All other areas were clear. The nurse said that his immune system isn’t fully developed and that he may test positive for things if we do the test again in a few years.

 

JDaniel is on four medications to bring down the swelling around his eyes and cheeks. (He loves taking the medicine.) The breakouts that looked like acne on his cheeks are clearing up a lot. He still complains every now and then about his eyes hurting. It could be pollen that bothers him. It could be that he is allergic to pollen and the test didn’t pick it up.

 

It looks like we will still be inside on high pollen days.

 

 

 

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