What is Barefoot Books?
From their site:

This is what we care about: first, we’re convinced that it’s never too early to introduce children to other cultures. We believe too that children can appreciate high-quality art, and enjoy the music as well as the meaning of language from a very early age. They deserve the very best, and they are dependent on their elders to help them make connections — between themselves and others, between nature and culture, between learning and living.

So we create books, CDs and other gifts that offer high educational value and are lots of fun. They’re designed to last, but above all, they are meant to be shared and enjoyed.

I was sent a Barefoot Book to review called Off We Go to Mexico! An Adventure in the Sun by Laurie Krebs and Christopher Corr.
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Doodlebugz Crayola is a line of unique personalized products by Princess Linens that come with genuine Crayola products.

About Princess Linens:
From their site:

We offer personalized baby gifts, monogrammed baby clothes, john johns, rompers, jumpers and dresses, baby shower gifts, new baby gifts, sibling gifts and toys. We also specialize in personalized toddler gifts and sibling gifts, baby scrubs, infant scrubs, toddler scrubs, Doodlebugz Crayola crayon keepers, doodlebags, crayon aprons, and crayon toolbelts, chef apron and hat set and chalkboard placemats.

They have a wide range of adorable and unique gifts, clothing and cool accessories that any kid and parent would love. One of their product lines is called the Doodlebugz Crayola Collection, and Princess Linens was so nice to send my son a Crayon Dufflebag to try out from that collection.
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My son has a seriously warped sense of what the whole point of mail is. We have received enough food and food samples in the mail that I really think he believes that is what the mail is for.

Well, the other day was no exception.
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What is Braincandy?

Braincandy is a Seattle based children’s media company whose mission is to create educationally inventive, enriching, entertaining products that help young children learn about themselves as they fully experience the world around them.

Braincandy has produced a series of “5 Senses” DVD’s:

• See My World
• Hear My World
• Taste My World
• Touch My World
• Smell My World

We received a copy of Hear My World to review and pretty much the consensus here is 2 thumbs up.
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THIS GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED AND ENTRIES ARE CLOSED, PLEASE CHECK OUT ONE OF OUR OTHER GREAT GIVEAWAYS OR SUBSCRIBE TO RECEIVE NOTICE OF FUTURE GIVEAWAYS

TO VIEW THE WINNER, VISIT THIS POST: COOKIES BY DESIGN COOKIE BOUQUET WINNER

Yesterday I received a wonderful package.

In fact, it was the one I wrote about here: Waiting for Cookies. A cookie bouquet by Cookies by Design.

Well it finally arrived and Jake and I were very excited!
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THIS GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED AND ENTRIES ARE CLOSED, PLEASE CHECK OUT ONE OF OUR OTHER GREAT GIVEAWAYS OR SUBSCRIBE TO RECEIVE NOTICE OF FUTURE GIVEAWAYS

About a week or so ago the kids and I went shopping and one of our stops was Babies R Us. We have the same routine getting out of the car every time but this time, for whatever reason, my son decided either not to pay attention or that he didn’t like the routine.

As I was getting the baby out of the car and shutting the door, Jake just started walking into the traffic lane. Luckily I managed to get a hand free without dropping the baby and grab him as I yelled “Jake get back here.” He turned and looked at me a little startled and confused. I reminded him (while my heart tried to start beating again) that he MUST stay by the car until I take his hand. He said “why” in a way that made me wonder where he has been the last few years when we were drilling this into his brain. I, of course, explained to him that he could get hit by a car but I was not convinced that the explanation alone was enough.

The other day I happened across something called the Parking Pal Magnet and I wondered if this would solve our problems.
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My daughter is what we call a “spitter” and by that I mean that she always has spit coming out of her mouth. Whether it is drool from teething or spit-up from eating, the front of her clothing is always wet, and the arms and shirt of whomever happens to be holding her is usually soaked too. Because of this phenomenon, we don’t go anywhere without a burp cloth or 7 and she has come to rely on the burp cloths for comfort and likes to hold it or “chew” on it much of the time.

One of the problems we have with her constant need to have a burp cloth at the ready is that they are not always easy to hold on to and they end up on the floor, the ground and generally misplaced.

I recently discovered a product that sounded like it would be a great solution for our problem, and they were nice enough to send me a sample to try and I was nothing but pleased with the results.
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Do you have feet?

Most people do.

If you don’t, you still might be interested in part of this review so don’t go anywhere.

Ped Egg

I got a Ped Egg because quite frankly my feet looked like the Arizona desert and I’m just not old enough to have feet that look like I’ve walked 1,000 miles barefoot.

Here is a picture of my foot before I used the Ped Egg:

Ok, so not really, but did you actually expect me to post a picture of my own crusty foot?
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A few weeks ago I won a giveaway for a $30 Gift Certificate to Sweetie Pie Baby Boutique.

You can find out more about my winnings in the original post: Wanna Stand Next to Me?.

I was very excited to win this prize because Sweetie Pie Baby Boutique sells organic clothing. Ever since my daughter has been having skin problems, I was wondering if organic clothing would make a difference.
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We are in the midst of our weekly How-To Series about how to participate in FREE PAID SURVEYS. There have been other detailed articles written so far which you can find on our Free Paid Survey How-To Series page.

The GlobalTestMarket Consumer Panel has been around a long time and are one of the largest and most reputable I’ve come across. It should be one of the first ones you join in your foray into free paid surveys.

How to join?

• Register for FREE
• Complete profile surveys to qualify for more opportunities
• Receive surveys by email
• Complete online surveys and receive “Marketpoints” you can redeem for cash

How often do they send surveys?

I get at least a few surveys a week, sometimes I get more than one a day. I qualify for maybe 1/4 to 1/3 of them and even if you do not qualify I believe you get 5 points for trying.

As always, your experience may differ based upon your demographics but overall I believe them to be quite consistent with sending surveys.

What do I get for taking the surveys?

GlobalTestMarket pays in what they call “marketpoints” and the average survey is from 5-50 points. 5 points if you don’t qualify and 50 if you do. Although some surveys are worth much more. Each point is worth .5 cents, so a 50 point survey gets you $2.50. The 50 point surveys are not really that long and are well worth the $2.50 and you get .25 cents even if you don’t qualify. You can redeem your points once you reach 1,000, which ends up being $50. It does take a few weeks or more to get your check once you redeem your points but it will come and I’ve had no problems cashing their checks.

Synopsis

GlobalTestMarket is a worldwide survey company that is legitimate and consistently sends surveys and payouts. In 2007 alone they awarded over $7,000,000 to their panelists. I recommend them highly and have not had a single problem with GlobalTestMarket in the few years I have been a member. My Mom is also a member and she was shocked to learn she had accrued enough points to cash out for $50 just the other day.

Definitely don’t miss out on your opportunity to sign up for GlobalTestMarket.

Being an “Accidental Mommy” (see our about page for what that means…it’s probably not what you think) I am pretty sure I fall short of taking advantage of the “teaching opportunities” presented to me when it comes to my 4 year old son. At least in a formal sense where it has to do with learning reading, writing and arithmetic. Luckily he spent the first 3 years or so of his life with Grandma, my Mother-In-Law who taught him a great deal.

As he gets ready to start preschool, I am increasingly more aware of the fact that we do not deliberately do any learning type of activities together. I know he learns stuff every day but not “book type” learning. I believe that some people are natural teachers and others just are not (hello, that’s me…a not) and while many a parent who is not a natural teacher has raised a fine intelligent kid, I’m still bothered by the fact that I have trouble providing that for him.

Let’s Get Ready For Kindergarten! and it’s sister book Let’s Get Ready For First Grade help to fill the gap that other parents like me (the not teacher types) experience in raising their kids.
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I know you.

I have not been to your house, necessarily, but I know…

You have been living with an inferior toilet seat and you probably didn’t even know it. Aren’t you glad you are reading this blog?

There is a toilet seat designed with women in mind.

Not their comfort, but their SANITY! If you have kids or husbands, especially the male kind (are there any other types of husbands? - don’t answer that…) you NEED this seat.

Check it out for yourself!

This seat is not anything like the $4.95 toilet seats you get at Wal-Mart. It cost me nearly $50, but it was $50 well spent. My son cannot slam this thing no matter how hard he tries, so no more being startled awake in the middle of the night by a loud “slam!” Also, since no boy has good aim, it is very easy to un-clip and take the seat off for cleaning…but not so easy that your 4 year old removes it and hides it on you!

I’m not sure, this may be weird….

But I LOVE THE NEW TOILET SEAT!

If you are interested, this must have toilet seat is made by Bemis and you can find more info on their website under EASY2.