WINNERS!!

We Have WINNERS!

The following Giveaways and ended and winners have been notified & have 48 hours to reply until another winner is chosen!

Congrats to our Winners:

Powder Pouch

Entry #67Ani G.

Entry #2Lesley M.

Entry #59Ricki L.

Entry #23Jessica B.

Entry #48Ann-Katherine J.

Funbites

Entry #278Connie G.

IdeaPaint

Entry #175Les J.

Not a Winner this time? There is still time to enter my other great giveaways. Also, there will be more reviews & Giveaways coming soon, so check back soon to try again!

Meal Planning Monday

I'm linking up with Finding Hope's Meal Planning Monday again this week.

Monday: southwestern salad
Tuesday: Lasagna roll ups
Wednesday: Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps (We tried these as part of the New Year, New cookbook Challege and LOVED them.)
Thursday: Salmon with wild rice
Friday: Dinner at In-laws
Saturday: Crock Pot Taco Chili

Sunday: Coconut Chicken tenders with sweet potato fries.

Whats on your Menu this week?

Giani Granite Counter top project

When we bought our house a little over a year ago, we've been talking about how we couldn't wait until we can re-do our counter tops. They were in such rough condition, dull white with stains and the previous owner apparently scorched the area next to the stove(I'm still not sure how that happened). They needed a definite change and since we knew we wanted to wait to replace the counter tops until we had enough to redo the whole kitchen, we decided to just makeover the counter tops! The next choice was deciding what to do, I've seen people paint them, but it wasn't exactly the most attractive option. I remembered seeing the DIY granite paint kits, and thought this would be our best route to counter top makeover! When I stumbled upon Giani Granite, countertop paints, I was offered a kit of my choice for Review, our next choice was deciding which color.

Giani Granite offers granite paint in seven different colors Sicilian sand, Chocolate brown, Bombay Black, White Diamond, Sapphire Blue, Emerald Green & Roma Red. We choose the Bombay Black, our cabinets are white and our flooring is white as well, but our curtains and decor is black and white buffalo check, so we thought the black would look Great! To start, the kit comes with an instructional Dvd which I sat down and watched so I wouldn't mess it up and then set to work. The first step is cleaning the counter top's with a good degreaser and get all the stuff up off the surface. Next, I had to tape everything off and trust me when I say be sure the tape is stuck down and nothing can get underneath(this primer isn't coming up). I had to wait 24 hours before putting on the next coat. Then comes the actual paint, which is 3 colors and it goes on with a sea sponge, letting each dry in between, Finally comes the sealer.

We were pleased with the results, even my family came to visit the next week and complimented on it. I was really nervous about tackling this project, but with the help of the kit and very detailed instructions, I got through it easily! I loved that it even has a practice board to practice the sponge prints on before you move to your counter tops! I would recommend this kit to anyone looking to get the "Granite look" but for a fraction of the cost!

Side Note: I had the greatest photos of this process to achieving these awesome counter tops, until mentioned in my Disney post, My phone died and I lost all my info, including photos!

To Buy:
To purchase Giani Granite Counter top Paint kits visit their website. You can also add them on Facebook and Twitter to keep up with their latest and Greatest news!

Leo Wall Stickers Review

I am the biggest fan of wall stickers, especially for our boys walls with their ever changing bedroom themes. Spank has his Cat in the Hat wall stickers in his room, but we could never find anything for Chunk's room. He has an Owl/forest theme to his room, and majority of the Owls or animals are too girly for our little man's bedroom. When I was offered the opportunity to review LEO Wall Stickers and saw they had a forest theme, I was beyond excited!

We have recently added Chunk a reading area in his room, he loves to sit and look at books a lot, so we added a bench with a cushion and a tree with some shelves.(We still haven't added the last shelf.) I knew the LEO Wall Stickers would go perfectly in that area!


The application was quite easy, and the directions were extremely thorough. It was a bit different than other decals I have used, but they were a lot thicker and seemed quite a bit more durable than the one's I've purchased before(that have ripped). So far they have held up Wonderfully, this is with two boy's, rough and tough, playing near this wall multiple times a day. 

Buy It:
You can Visit Leo Wall Sticker's Website to purchase your own Wall decals.

Lula Clips Review & Giveaway

 When we went on our Vacation to Disney the biggest pain of the road trip was getting the boys in and out of their car seats. Having to poke and prod them to find the straps, then untangling the straps and finding out a half of a mile down the road someone has to potty and doing it all over again!
I'll be quite honest, it isn't just on Vacation trips that I dread the "car seat tango", I procrastinate about going anywhere when I think about having to dance this dance with two squirmy children and two seats!




I recently reviewed the Lula clips, the solution for bothersome buckles. Lula Clips are a seat harness clip that holds the buckles open, prevents twisted straps and saves time and frustration. It is extremely simple, To Use: undo the pin and position the "hands" to each side of the car seat take up any slack in the straps. Slide the pin back in to lock it in place.


Our Lula clips have been a lifesaver, well, a time saver at least. I love not having to dig for the straps and not worry about the straps getting all twisted and undo the whole seat set up. We use it in Chunk's seat more than Spank's because Chunk is our wiggle worm. When we place him in his seat he is the child who always nuzzle back into his car seat before we even buckle him in, causing the buckles to become loss in the abyss of the bottom of the seat. The Lula Clips have stopped that problem!
The only negative thing is that I wish they had one for the bottom buckle, cause I'm always digging for that one as well!

A bit about the creator:

As any parent with small kids knows you are constantly splitting your time between the jobs of being responsible parents and the joys of spending time with your kids. As a dad to 3 small kids this challenge really hit home. So I decided to focus my engineering training and passion for a functional & fashionable design towards solving this problem. What has emerged is a line of products that are focused on improving the day- to-day tasks of parenting by solving those problems you didn’t realize existed with products that are easy to use and safe. This philosophy is embedded in every product in its design as well as its name. All of our products start with the prefix “Lula-” which means ‘easy’ in Zulu, a testament to the products and my country of birth.

To Buy:

Want to purchase a set of Lula Clips for you or someone close? They would make the perfect baby shower gift! Visit their Website to purchase your own pair.

To Win:

One reader will win a set of Lula Clips to try out for themselves, to enter follow the directions on the Rafflecopter form below. Click "read more"

Auction for Autism Speaks Team Keagan!

Auction for Autism Speaks-TEAM KEAGAN

I am participating in the Autism Speaks walk this year, in efforts to help them find a cause, find a cure, and help
people accept and embrace the uniqueness of those individuals afflicted with
autism.

Did you know...

• 1 in 88 children are diagnosed with autism, this number is NOT including PDD, Asperger's and other spectrum disorders.
• 1 in 54 boys are on the autism spectrum.
• 67 children are diagnosed per day.
• A new case is diagnosed almost every 20 minutes.
• Autism is the fastest growing serious developmental disability in the US
• Autism costs the nation over $126 billion per year, a figure expected to double in
the next decade.
• Autism receives less than 5% of the research funding of many less prevalent
childhood diseases.
• Boys are four times more likely than girls to have autism.
• There is no medical detection or cure for autism.

In hopes of raising money for Autism Speaks, I will be having an Online Auction, where all proceeds will go to Autism Speaks-Team Keagan.
So Far we have some AWESOME sponsors, who have donated some Great items to be Auctioned off!
I want to say a HUGE Thank You to those who jumped on board straight from the beginning and never hesitated!

More to come, If you or anyone you know are interested in donating an item for the Auction, I am still accepting them, contact me at Ohthejoysofboys(at)gmail(dot)com to discuss details.
Also, Feel free to share the album and details of the Auction with friends and family, Spread the word to support Team Keagan!!
                                                

Meal Planning Monday is Back!

 Meal Plan Monday is back!!

This time I've decided to join Finding-Hope's Meal Planning Monday, she has some great tips on Meal Planning.

Monday: Poor Man Pizza (this has become a fav. in our household)

Tuesday: Buffalo Chicken & Blue Cheese eggrolls
Wednesday: Grilled Cheese & Soup (It'll be a later night when we get home)
Thursday: Hawaiian grilled chicken & grilled corn on the cobb
Friday: In-law's house
Saturday: Montreal Asiago chicken salad
Sunday: Grilled hamburgers with bean casserole

My Hikes-pant cuff fasteners Review

Are you like me and get so tired of hearing your child's pants drag on the ground? Even more frustrating is when I'll be doing laundry and see the back of their pants and frayed and worn down, so by the time they actually grow into them the back bottoms are gone! Both of my boys have this problem, but Spank has always had shorter legs, while Chunk's are longer. The fact that Chunk isn't walking yet could also be the reason I think Spank has 'the drag' a little worse. We received My Hikes, fasteners for the pant cuff, to review on the boys pants.

When I received our Pant cuffs, I was excited to see that she had sent the baseball designs. Our family is HUGE Atlanta Braves fans so I couldn't wait to get them in their Braves gear and of course roll those pants up(like always) only this time I put those cute little baseball Pant cuffs on each leg! The boys had done a good bit of walking on the first day I used these, we went to the Outlet malls, and their cuffs stayed in place. The only problem was one side kept wanting to come down, so it looked lopsided but, they never stepped on them!
A bit on the creator of My Hikes:

Dani Schlesinger studied advertising at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She enjoyed living in Chicago for 14 years where she met her husband, had two children and conceived the idea for My Hikes™. She now loves living in Austin, Texas where she is launching My Hikes™ and enjoying a little more sunshine. Dani's career began in strategic planning working for major advertising agencies in Chicago. After 5 years, she wanted to try working more independently so she became a real estate agent. Soon after she established herself, she was featured on HGTV's House Hunters.

The cuffs are a breeze to use, you simply slip them onto the cuff and they are just that simple to remove as well! I would recommend these to any parent to use on their kids, think about how much you could save by buying their jeans a size ahead and rolling the cuff! They aren't just for kids either, adults can use them too for those pesky dragging jeans and pants! They have a variety of designs to choose from on their website.

Buy It: To purchase My Hikes, visit their website.

We have Winners!!

We Have WINNERS!

The following Giveaways and ended and winners have been notified & have 48 hours to reply until another winner is chosen!

Congrats to our Winners:

Butt Bench Bath Seat Giveaway- Daisy M.

The Blankz Giveaway-Erin L.

Not a Winner this time? There is still time to enter my other great giveaways. Also, there will be more reviews & Giveaways coming soon, so check back soon to try again!

Weekend Planning

This Weekend we have some busy plans, but it will be fun!
Friday: laundry in the am
Taking boys to park

dinner at my In-laws house

Saturday: Parade for local Festival & Festival afterwards
Shopping to get Spank some new shoes

Sunday: spending time with my boys
Going to see The Band Perry with my sisters and Mom

Retro Bowling Toddler car seat cover

I have had this spare car seat from Spank, there was nothing wrong with it, we just used it for emergencies due to its ugliness. By Ugliness I mean its all stained up, it was beyond saving, but I couldn't bring myself to throw out a perfectly good car seat just because of that one reason.
I'd seen a bunch of tutorial's online for car seat's, but all of them were for infant seats. I figured it couldn't be much different than they were explaining, its the same concept, just different patterns. So I took a stab at it! I'll admit it was harder than I thought it would be, but I am pleased with how it came out!

Calling Bloggers! Bright Starts Ultimate Baby Shower Event Sign Ups

Bright Starts, Mom to Bed by 8 and Iowa-Mom is excited to present the Baby Shower Event from May 7^th to May 28^th. This is a free blogger event and accepting signups now.

Join the Bright Starts Ultimate Baby Shower Giveaway event today, grow your readership and offer one amazing baby shower gifts giveaway!

Boys First trip to Disney

I know its been a while since we went on our Vacation to Disney World, but it has been hectic since then! We've all been sick and then another virus made it's rounds again a week later, add in the day to day duties and it's been busy! Things are finally starting to settle down again, so I thought I would post some of the photos. My youngest sister has a majority of the photos on her camera, Thank Goodness! I say this because my camera decided to mess up on me a couple weeks back and deleted all my photos and information out of my phone, so I lost all the photos that I hadn't sent to my husband or uploaded onto my Facebook already. 

He met Pinocchio, although I'm sad to admit he didn't know who he was. I'm making a note to get that movie!

Disney Marketplace Lego Store, I think this was Spank's favorite place, aside from the giant Stitch who spits water(he is in LOVE with Lilo & Stitch)

Chunk with his Mickey they gave him at Check-in to our hotel.(he has slept with it every night since)

Sightseeing around our hotel the AM before going to Magic Kingdom.

Spank playing in the water at the Magic Kingdom while waiting to ride the Magic Carpet Ride.

Spank's First time riding Dumbo!

Sweetest Kid Photo Contest

Have you heard of the Sweetest Kid Contest?  A photo contest that has a cash prize if your child wins, plus guaranteed cash for registering. (read fine print at bottom of entry form)

A Gift to Treasure Review & Giveaway

Looking for a Wonderful Gift for someone for Mother's Day? Perhaps even a 'just because' gift? You really should check out A Gift to Treasure then!
A Gift to Treasure embroidery by Sharon is a handmade business out of Missouri, that specializes in many great items like aprons, chef hats, pillowcases and many, many other embroidered things!

I received a handmade purse from them, embroidered with my name on the front. It is a great bag and is made very well, I have used it to tote around Chunk's belongings on a daily basis for a while now, and it has held up wonderfully! They have many different styles and fabric choices to choose from in their album titled "bags, totes, purses".

To Buy: To purchase any of the great items mentioned above or contact Sharon about other great items, visit their Website. You can also check them out on their Facebook page.

Win It: One lucky reader will win a $25.00 Gift certificate to A Gift to Treasure. To enter be sure to follow the directions on the Rafflecopter form below, click "Read More".

a Rafflecopter giveaway