Today's Words Of Glass

This Summer has been a big learning experience - for both Lil Man and myself. Who knew that an amusement park could be such a learning experience for both of us. I watched as my little boy, all on his own, climbed stairs among strangers, learned how to wait his turn, slide down a water slide, and do it over and over again. I watched as other kids shoved him out of their way, cut in front of him as he stood patiently 'waiting for his turn'. Groves of bigger kids kept cutting in front of him, and I held back and gave him time to respond. This for me was a learning experience. See, people have to have room or space to grow. So I learned how to let go, let out the leash a little, and give Lil Man some space. The first time the kids pushed him aside, he really didn't know what to do. After a few minutes of this, I did intervene. I told him to get in line. Take his turn, and when it was his turn he was to go. And the next time as other kids pushed past him, it only took a few

Lil Man has been beside himself since the Clear Window Bird Feeder by Yellow Beaks arrived in the mail. He couldn't wait to get it up and outside. He's very anxious for the birds to come. I wasn't sure how the suction cups would hold up. I've never, in the past, had much luck with any type of suction cup. But so far it's been a week with varying temperature changes, and the suction cups are holding strong. The construction seems sturdy, and it looks to be well-made. It also will be easy to clean out. I know with bird feeders they can get a little yucky sometimes, but this will be easy to remove, spray out and clean up.  So far the birds haven't visited us yet. Our neighbor has several bird feeders and he is keeping all of the birds over there (ha). But Lil Man is checking daily, sometimes multiple times a day, for a bird. So I can't report how the birds like the feeder, but I have to say that we honestly do.  You can find the Wind

Full Disclosure: I received products free of charge for the purpose of providing a review. My opinions are completely my own based on my experience. I know what you are thinking - what is a Luv Chicken ? :) Well other than a a really cute name, it's also a really great product. It's a booster seat that isn't like your traditional booster seat. It is designed to cover the entire chair. I love this part since our other hard plastic booster seat was missing a strap and it would tip over. The Luv Chicken has a non-slip bottom. It's easy to carry (Lil Man carried it himself wherever he needed it to go). It's easy to toss into the car if you need it while visiting friends or family. It would also be great ( I think ) to use at the movie theater. We still haven't taken Lil Man to the theater this year; so I didn't test it there. But I would imagine it would probably work well there also. It's cute. It comes in several designs. And for me, most of all,

Alpine Avocado Vinaigrette Giveaway: 30 Winners! I can't wait to try this! And make sure you enter to win so you can try it also.  Full Product Review can be found at My Dairy-Free Gluten-Free Life Do you love a good Avocado? Would you like to find a great Vinaigrette that can be used for salads, marinating, dipping and much more? I have joined with a group of bloggers to introduce you to a new product, Alpine Avocado Vinaigrette made in Colorado! NO GMO, Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, in fact its pretty much allergen free! The maker of this great natural, whole foods vinaigrette has been enjoying a variation of this dressing since he was a small boy. Like many other great things, the recipe was given to him by my mother. Once you try it you will know why it is so great too! We also have a COUPON CODE: MYFREEDAIRY for 1 FREE bottle when you order online ! In fact, 30 lucky readers will WIN one 4 ounce sample bottle of this great Alpine Avocado Vinaig

Normally on the weekend, since Hubby works through the week, Lil Man will spend a lot of time with Daddy outside working on projects. Lately they've been working on building a wood shed. But this last weekend, Hubby took a break from working on the wood shed to brew beer, which is one of his hobbies. I know that Lil Man likes to help his Daddy, but I also know that sometimes Daddy needs his time to do 'his thing' too without a little helper around.  So after my 6 mile run, I took Lil Man to Lake Tobias Wildlife Park . I had no idea that it would be as crowded as what it was. But it was a beautiful day. It was Saturday. So I should have known it  would be super crowed.  But we had a fun day (in spite of having to wait in super long lines for the safari - but worst of all waiting for food).  Lil Man loved the safari tour. And he loved feeding the animals. Oh, and don't forget the playground. He had to play on everyone. (There were three.)  We missed not hav

Full Disclosure: I received compensation for this post. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s guidelines.  My opinions are 100% my own based on my own review and personal experience.  It's that time of year again, school has just started for some, and right around the corner for others. Lil Man will be back in preschool in the blink of an eye. And we've had a lot of fun over the summer, but I also know it's important to continue with trying to teach him the basics. He loves electronics. So I've been utilizing the iPhone and iPad. Well, the Kids Academy Company makes some awesome apps for the iPhone and iPad. http://www.kidsacademy.mobi/ One app that they have is the "Learn to Read and Write Puzzles" and it an be found  here  in itunes. It has mazes, rhyming words, uppercase letters, lower case letters and the list goes on. Be advised that this app requires an in-app purchase. In other words, you get a small

Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”): Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post. Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway. If you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.” US and Canada residents only.  Nowadays, I definitely don't get as much time to read as I would like to, but when I had the opportunity to read  Wherever The River Runs by Kelly Minter , after watching the video, I was definitely interested in reading this book. Here is the video if you'd like to watch it. It's worth the time. My grandparents were missionaries, and I was curious to see Ms. Minte

I don't know about where you live, but where we live we are within driving distance to several State Parks. And because the weather has been so cool this Summer, and although it's August, last week was the first time we'd been to the pool. Lil Man had a blast. We had hoped some friends could join us today, but no one was available. But we ventured out, just the two of us, and we had a blast. The water was still pretty cold. In fact, we would get in - play for awhile - then get out and sit on a beach towel in the sun to warm up. This seemed to work well. We splurged and Lil Man enjoyed his first chocolate chipwich. He exclaimed "It's a cookie AND ice cream!" I do believe he thought it was a genius idea. Although it can be exhausting as my Lil Man is one that wants me to definitely join in with him with the sprinklers etc, it was pure joy to watch him enjoy himself. I think this picture speaks for itself. I hope you are enjoying your last few days

I don't know about you, but my family drinks a lot of water. In fact, other than the milk that Lil Man drinks at breakfast and the occasional juice that I allow him to have, water is all that we drink. Where we live, we have water from a well. We do have a household filter, but I do wonder if that's enough. Does it really filter out all of the potential chemicals in our water? Well, let me introduce you to the ClearlyFiltered Water Pitcher. This filter doesn't seem the same as other filtered pitchers that I have tried in the past. First of all, the filter has to be flushed with water. You attach a flushing bulb to the filter and let water run through it for 7-8 minutes. I will admit that I wasn't thrilled with this process. I had a hard time attaching the bulb to my faucet. But after 7 minutes of flushing out the filter, I was ready to try out the pitcher to see if I could tell a difference in my water quality.  And, I honestly could. I didn't thi

" Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”):  Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post. Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway. If you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.” My son was more than thrilled to get this DVD. In fact, he watched it three times the first day we received it. And he's already watched it twice more today. So I'm going to say that this is a big hit for him. This is actually his first "Veggie Tales" dvd. And I see many more in our future.  I'm sure most of you have heard of Veggies Tales, but in case you haven't,