Proud of my Cub!!

I remember my cookie selling Brownie and Girl Guide says! I had a lot of fun in Girl Guides. There aren't any Brownie troops close to home but my son did decide to join Cubs this year. Wow! Did you know that now girls can join the Boy Scouts too?? We were not aware until after my son signed up so our girls have not joined but perhaps they will be considering it next year! This weekend was the big Kub Kar Rally. If you are not familiar with Cubs a Kub Kar is a car hand made out of a cetain sized block of wood. The cars are then run in different events and judged. This was my son's first year and though his design was not all that creative his car did very well in the events! It's amazing how creative some Cubs were in their designs and I'm excited to see what my son {and maybe even my daughters} come up with next year. Wish I could have been a Cub...
The cars are measured and weighed to make sure they meet the proper specifications!

Each car is registered! And then it's off to the track. They are judged on distance, speed, straightness, and design! How cool is that?!

Piggy Paint -- Review, Giveaway, and Discount!

"And this little Piggy... got a makeover!" Ah, the classic rhyme will never be the same! If your daughters are like mine, despite their love of "tom boyish" activities and rambunctious play they still adore painting their nails. I dislike nail polish fumes at the best of times but the most worrying thought is if the chemicals in the polish smell so horrible imagine how toxic they must be. Compare regular nail polish and Piggy Paint on a styrofoam plate. The regular polish eats right through the styrofoam. Why would we want our children to wear something so harmful? Especially when we are aware children tend to put their fingers in their mouths often so not only are they wearing toxic chemicals they are possibly ingesting them! Fear not, lovely little princesses don't have to give up the girlish delight of colourful nails because Piggy Paint is well...."as natural as mud" and comes in an array of kid approved colours! With colours like "Ice Cream Dream" and "Tea Party for Two" how can a girl go wrong? Piggy Paint colours are fun and vibrant and dry quickly. My girls noticed right away how quickly their nails dried and were very impressed! What I noticed was my house did not smell of toxic fumes and there was no need to run around the house opening windows to prevent the onset of a chemical induced headache. Piggy Paint is water-based and is free of formaldehyde, toluene, phthalates, biphenyl A, ethyl acetate and acetone. It's also hypo-allergenic! Grown up princesses can also benefit from such a fantastic product!
Piggy Paint also carries non-toxic Nail Polish Remover, safer for your children because it is free of acetone and other solvents! The remover is effective and Piggy Paint has added Vitamin E and aloe vera to keep your child's cuticles and delicate digits soft and healthy.
Piggy Paint was founded by a stay-at-home mom, Melanie, who like myself was fearful of the harmful effects of typical nail polish on her children. Children should not have to give up the fun, girlish activities that make them feel special and fancy! Girls should be able to enjoy being a girl and being princesses without the worry of exposing themselves to dangerous toxins!
Piggy Paint would like your daughters to be princesses without fear! They are offering all my readers a 20% Discount until June 1,2009! Just use the discount code: SPLASH20L when ordering! Shipping is free on orders over $25. I will add this code to my discounts list on my right sidebar!
One lucky reader will also have the chance to win a Mistle Toe Gift Set of Piggy Paint!

To Enter:
~ Visit Piggy Paint and tell me what is your favourite Piggy Paint colour! {This is Required}
~ If you are not a blogger you can still enter but please leave a contact email!
Extra Entries:
~Follow my blog {publicly}
~Subscribe to my blog by email
~Grab my Button
~Blog about this contest with a link back to my blog {please leave me the link to your post}
{Please leave a separate comment for each entry}
Giveaway is open to Canadian and US residents. Giveaway closes May 4th, 1009, 10:00 PM CT. For further details on giveaways see the General Giveaway Rules.

The Dapple Winner is...

1. Capital Mom said...
I learnt that the dish washer detergent has specific enzymes to target the lipids and proteins commonly found in baby foods.
April 7, 2009 11:16 AM

Congratulations Capital Mom! I will email you.

Just a Little Plug for a mommy blog group I list with!

MomDot is a mom blog listing site that is run by mommy bloggers, Trisha, Alicia, and Bridgette.They run contests weekly, reviews on awesome (and not so awesome) products for families and kids, and talk about their lives. But more importantly, they feature bloggers and mom boutiques to give them an avenue to get their names out there, also assisting in google links! You can head out and list your blog for free and talk to them about doing an interview about you. Head on over and see what MomDot is about!

Chicka-Chicka Boom Boom! Letter Fun

"A told B and B told C, "Meet me at the top of the coconut tree..."" If you have young children or are an educator of young children you are probably familiar with the book "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom". This rhythmic and comical children's story offers a fun way to learn the alphabet but this activity will expand the learning and enjoyment by creating a hands-on experience! Create your own "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" coconut tree with letters!

You Will Need:

~ 2 large empty metal coffee tins {one with plastic lid, one without}

~packing tape

~Wood grain look mac tack/ contact paper {you know the shelf liner rolls with one sticky side}

~1-2 artificial fern stalks

~ Fun Foam or Felt sheets

~magnetic sheeting, or magnetic strips that can be cut

~hot glue gun

~cardboard traceable letters {optional}

Here's How:

1. Stack your two tins. The one with the lid should be on top. Use a strip of packing tape to hold the two tins together. Remove the lid.

2. Lay out your contact paper and wrap it around the tins to determine how much you will need. Cut the contact paper accordingly. Carefully peel off the contact paper backing and apply the sticky side of the contact paper to the cans. I try to leave the contact paper laying out, sticky side up, then roll the tin can stack over it gently to wrap it. This can be difficult to get smooth and straight but a few small wrinkles is fine and you can rub the wrinkles out to flatten them a bit afterwards.

3. Cut slits in the center of the plastic lid to accommodate the stalk{s} of the artificial ferns. Be careful not to cut too large a hole or the fern top will flop around too much. You could use packing tape or hot glue to secure the fern to the lid if you feel it necessary. Arrange the fern so it fans out like the top of a coconut tree! Then replace the lid.

4. Use traceable letters or create your own {I was a teacher so I use my traceable bulletin board letters} to trace onto the fun foam or felt sheets {fun foam is sturdier}. Cut out your letters.

5. Glue pieces of magnetic strip or sheetings to the backs of the letters.

You're done! The letters will stick to the coffee tin tree trunk!

Children can use the Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Tree to act out the story by adding the letters as you read about them in the book.

You may want to use it as a stand alone activity. Ask your child to find a certain letter and put it on the tree. Create both lower and upper case letters for children to practice their recognition of both. It makes a fabulous, and fun letter recognition activity!

There is also a Chicka Chicka 1,2,3 book so create numbers for your tree too if you wish!

The Charming Winner of the Charm Lady Giveaway!

13. niki said...
I follow
April 9, 2009 7:09 PM

Congrats again Niki! You lucky gal!

Skin Free -- Review and Giveaway!

Do you often ask yourself while showering what is in your soap, shampoo, maybe your after-shower moisturizer? What makes it smell so strong? What actually makes it work? Are there ingredients in these products which might be contributing to some skin condition? Will it irritate my skin? Is it even safe? I try not to dwell on such things but more often I have pondered it. There's no need to ask those questions when using Skin Free products. Skin Free takes the worry out of skin care! Skin Free is free of harmful chemicals, fragrances, colourants, steroids, and petroleum products unlike many commercial brands on the market today. Skin Free ingredients are 100% natural and bonus their products are not tested on animals.

I was given the Skin Free Extra Moisturizing Soap and Shampoo Bar and the Skin Free After Shower Moisture Spritz to review. The first thing I noticed as I slipped the Extra Moisturizing Soap Bar from its box was that it truly was as they said colourless and without fragrance. A plain white bar! I was a little unsure whether I would enjoy using it as I have a personal love of scents. In a soap however I found this turned out to be a great quality! Despite being such a pure product the soap bar lathered luxuriously and left my skin feeling entirely fresh yet still moisturized. Because it was fragrance free I was able to use my favourite scent without it becoming overpowered by the scent of my soap. The Shea Butter in this bar helps to combat the dry tight feeling most commercial soap produce.

This soap bar can also be used as a shampoo bar. I must admit I was leery of using a bar of soap to wash my hair! I did breakdown and try it for the sake of my readers however. It worked well to clean my hair but I did decide to use conditioner even though Skin Free information states you will not require conditioner.

This product was awarded the National {US} Eczema Association seal of acceptance in August 2008 and though I do not suffer from eczema I can tell from the way is soothed and did not irritate my skin that this soap would be wonderful for those who suffer from various skin conditions. Because Skin Free is without so many harmful ingredients I feel safe using this on my children's sensitive and delicate skin! Skin Free Extra Moisturizing Soap is helpful for allergies, eczema, dermatitis, and psoriasis and is for all skin types!

The Skin Free After Shower Moisture Spritz is fabulous! It is easy to apply because it is a spray and it felt silky on my skin and gave it a smooth youthful appearance. Skin Free suggests using the spritz on warm, still moist skin immediately after showering for maximum hydration. As you towel dry the light blend of oils absorb deeper into your skin. I found the natural oil spritz to be light and non-greasy but extremely effective. It left my skin feeling moisturized, soft, and smooth. Again as with the soap bar, the spritz had no noticeable scent.

Skin Free's mission is "to fill a void in the larger retail market for excellent natural skincare". Petroleum jelly or mineral oil bases found in most other products are occlusive {pore clogging} and are not absorbed by the skin leaving a very greasy after effect. The natural oils in Skin Free are actually absorb-able. Skin Free products have been tested for toxicity and are rated 0-1, the lowest in toxicity. Skin Free strives to be effective, innovative, and affordable. Their products are made even more affordable because they offer free shipping for orders $25 or more.

Skin Free carries an entire line of skincare products and I am most eager to try many of their other skin saving, skin freeing products! Would you like to try? Three of my readers will win Skin Free products!

~The first lucky reader chosen will win both products I tested: 1 Skin Free Extra Moisturizing Soap Bar and 1 Skin Free After Shower Moisturizing Spritz!

~Two other readers will each win a bar of the Skin Free Extra Moisturing Soap.

To Enter:

• Visit Skin Free and tell me the name of one other Skin Free product you would like to try {This is Required}
• non-bloggers may also enter. Just leave an email so I can contact you if you win!

Extra Entries:

• Become a follower or already be a follower {publicly}
• Subscribe via Email
• Grab my button
• Blog about this giveaway with a link back here {please leave me the link to the post} {Leave a separate comment for each entry}

This giveaway is open to US and Canadian residents. Giveaway closes April 30th, 2009 10:00 PM CT. Please see the General Giveaway rules for further details.