Thirty One Mother's Day Gift Ideas

Mother’s Day is right around the corner! Nothing tells her how much she’s appreciated than a special gift from Thirty-One!  Show mom some love with these amazing Mother’s Day gift ideas! Visit my website to place your order! The purses qualify for April's half priced purse special!

Show her passion for fashion! See mom strolling in style with our 5th Avenue Bag in Taupe, dressed up with our Scarf in Lil’ Blossom! Tuck the Fold-And-Go Organizer w/Notepad in our Lotsa Dots print inside to house her e-reader, with plenty of room for snacks, lotions and errand necessities. And remind her who loves her most with our Lil’ Expressions Mini Zipper Pouch. Whether she uses it as a perfect carryall for little extras or finds spontaneous fun from a toy tucked inside, this is a gift she’ll treasure.

Cindy’s favorite can be mom’s new favorite, too! Roomy and ready for anything, this eye catcher in Black Parisian Pop is even a perfect diaper bag! Add the hands-free convenience of our Organizing Wallet in Black Parisian Jacquard and she’ll have summer excursions covered, complete with clip-on convenience for her keys. And what’s a great bag without that little added touch? Use our Medium Printed Rosette Clip in Pink Pin Dots to send mom out in style!

The Bookshelf

If any of you are into reading Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy or Dark Fantasy. Yes, I know it sounds redundant but depending on which bookstore or what library you may find any of these books classified under any of these subcategories. I'm even seen some in Horror even though it's far from Horror. Anyhow, "The Bookshelf" page links to another blog that I keep for reviews of books I've read. If you're looking for something good to read, I promise I don't give you any spoilers. I really hate that when someone's telling you about a book and they give you all the info including the plot and the conclusion to the book. Where's the fun in that?

Food on the Table

I'm always looking for ways to be more efficient and save money grocery shopping and I have always found the way to do that is planning a menu. It doesn't matter if you want to shop weekly, bi weekly or monthly. You can save money by planning your menues and doing it to go along with the sales. I tried out Food on the Table this week and found that I really like it! You choose your stores, then the site will give you recipe options based on what is on sale and you can narrow down if you have any dietary restrictions-including gluten free!- at those local stores. Then you can make a grocery list, you edit out what you may already have in your pantry and add the other things you might need. for the week. I saved $75 and earned 375 gas points at Giant today by only buying the things I needed. If you haven't given this a try check it out there's a coupon code to get it for FREE for LIFE....just use the coupon code SPRINGFREE! Definitely worth it, especially with the $0 price tag!

Preschool Plantings: Biology

Preschool Plantings

R is my little helper. No matter what I'm doing she wants to help. So when I have a task that she can help with AND I can teach her something it makes it all the more special.  My task today was to get my seeds started. I had bought the seed packets, the potting soil, and the peat pots to get them going about a week or so ago and this was the first chance I've had the energy to get them done. So we laid out a trash bag on the kitchen table. The weather was cold and windy today so our activity was moved indoors. Then, I showed R  how to fill the peat pots 1/2 with dirt so that's what she did. Then, we put a couple seeds into each pot and labeled the pot with what was in it and covered it with more dirt. Then she got to water it. While we were planting our seeds we talked about what the seed needs to become a strong and healthy plant. I told her that the soil was there to give it its food, then the water and the sun also help it to grow strong and then produce fruit so that we can eat it. We planted zucchini, yellow squash, okra, hot peppers, cilantro, rosemary and 2- basil and 2- parsley. Then we placed them in the window so they could get their sun. I explained to R that after the seeds start to sprout we will plant the peat pots into BIGGER pots so that they can continue to grow big and strong. So I have a feeling that I'm going to be asked to see the plants and to water them daily. Love my little helper <3

Water helps it grow!

Ta DAAAH!

Clean up crew, E!

Essential Oils Experiment take 1

Alright! Alright!

So I got my oils on Saturday (squee!), and I have been having a fun time experimenting with them. On the first night, I rubbed Lavender on R and E's feet and they slept for an extra 1.5 hours which considering it was very much needed I was thankful! I was also feeling a tickle in my throat and worried I was going to wake up with a cold I decided to break out the diffuser that came in my kit and use the On Guard (immune support blend). I did not wake up with a cold I wasn't 100% but I wasn't sick and normally I would have awoke with a sinus infection. I've used Eucalyptus and Lavender to help me sleep and since this is an area in which I REALLY struggle with I was happy to find I felt like I got some very restful sleep (this was the same night that the kids slept in). The kids have since  gotten some oil rub downs after baths to help them sleep. E suffers with horrible cases of eczema so I've put a combo of Melaleuca and Lavender to help soothe his itchy-ness I hope after a few applications I will start to see a big difference in his complexion. At this point if he doesn't stop scratching his entire body is going to be scar tissue. So, these products have inspired me to expand on what I've used. I've ordered some empty gel capsules so that I can get myself on a better path with my Lupus symptoms and overall health. I'm eager to try the Slim and Sassy. I've always gotten really down on myself cause it's always the last 10-15lbs that I just can't seem to get off no matter my diet and exercise routine. So I'm going to see if the oils help me along the way. If your interested in more info check out the doTERRA tab to see more from the company.

Tax Day Giveaway

 


WELCOME TO THE TAX DAY GIVEAWAY!!!The Coup Diva and Making Cents with D have teamed up with some awesome bloggers to bring you this amazing chance at making tax day a little easier this year...We got some cash for you! Grand Prize: $220 Entries will be accepted from April 1 at 12:01am EST until April 16 at 12:01am EST. There are no mandatory entries but there are lots of ways to gain more entries to to the giveaway. The more tasks you complete, the more chances of winning! Open worldwide. Must be at least 18 years old to be eligible for the prize. This giveaway is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook or Twitter. Winner will be drawn on April 16 and will have 48 hours to respond to the notification email. Good luck! a Rafflecopter giveaway

doTerra Essential Oils

Many know that I live with Lupus (SLE). I have signed up for doTERRA because I have heard many success stories on essential oils relieving symptoms and ailments. Currently I am on 6 meds to help me manage my Lupus and have found recently that losing just one of them causes my system to flare. I am tired of living in pain and having to rely on heavy drugs to help me and when I can't get my meds I have to deal with the consequences of not having them. If you suffer with migraines, allergies (seasonal, food or environmental), anxiety, depression, eczema, fatigue, sleeplessness, stress, indigestion, motion sickness, joint pain and swelling these can all be treated with essential oils.

My nephew has a chronic case of the morning person ;) He has never slept past 6AM in all his 5 almost 6 years until last night my SIL rubbed lavender oil on his feet before bed and he slept until 8AM! This alone made me go alright I need to give this a go.

While researching doTERRA and their product line I found they have other health and beauty lines formed from essential oils. You could have your facial cleanser and anti-aging moisturizer done completely through essential oils. There's hair care, home spa treatments, wellness packages, vitamins and probiotics, weightloss and control.

I figure at the root of all medicine at least in history is plants. If we were to strive to live a more natural and organic life we might not have the diseases and ailments that we have. So I for one have decided to have my family get back to the root of it all.  We eat more fresh foods, we will be using essential oils over traditional medicines and through this I think we will see a healthy difference.


If you would like more information on doTERRA and using essential oils please check out my doTERRA tab above. If you are interested in learning more about Lupus please visit Lupus.org.

Butterfly Cupcakes

My daughter is having an Easter party tomorrow at preschool and we're in charge of bringing the cupcakes. I got this idea off pinterest which it looks like it originates from Martha Stewart's web site. I changed it up a bit to make things better for me and what I could find. My daughter loves to help me in the kitchen so I had an assistant with the cupcake baking and a little bit with the decorating.

 I used a box mix whatever you like. R chose Triple Chocolate Fudge (yup! she's my kid). You make the cakes according the box. When it comes to the decorating I got some of the canned frosting by Betty Crocker. I was feeling a little lazy and didn't feel like mixing up buttercream, dying it and carting out my cake decorating gear to decorate the cakes. I used Twizzler's in chocolate for the butterfly bodies and the fudge covered pretzels "Flipz" for the wings. Riley liked putting the bodies on the butterflies.

So here's the finished product

Since we had a couple extras, I let my kids have a taste test after dinner. This was a picture of E sucking down his milk like a big boy (for the first time without a lid!).

 Anyhow I hope you love them! I thought they were cute and super easy! If R was a little younger I might have made these for her birthday party!