Thumbs Up Thursday - Lessons from the Scrapbook Page

Thumbs Up Thursday is here and I've got a great one for you. Tasra with Lessons from the Scrapbook Page has got it all together! Tasra has a lot of experience to offer her readers of this blog. She's an author, a podcaster, a personal discovery coach and speaker.

One particular post that really hit home with me was A Simple Strategy to Help You Organize Your Life.

Just last week I was struggling with some inner turmoil (falling into the rut of being a SuperMom and losing my identity). It took a swift kick in the butt from my really good friend to put me back on track and start getting back to ME.

Tasra does the same thing in this post with an inspiring video to back it up! It's about 6 minutes long - take the time and watch it...it'll help YOU get back on track.

Thumbs Up Thursday - Busy Mama's Guides

This week's Thumbs Up Thursday goes out to Kristy Shreve Powers - she's definitely a Busy Mama! She provides Busy Mama Guides as blog posts. They come in small increments so they can be read and digested easily and quickly - before the baby has time to pull that lamp down on top of himself!

One particular post that caught my eye was this one:
Kristy Shreve Powers: Busy Mama's Survey Question: Do Your Kids Watch TV?
Thought provoking stuff - check it out and also check out the comments left by quite a few people.

You want my take on TV for kids? Well - I grew up watching TV. Sesame Street had just come out...Mr. Rogers was very popular...and who can forget the ever-popular Electric Company? Love Morgan Freeman to this day! All of these shows I mentioned are educational shows too. I think there can be fair balance between the good stuff and the crap on TV.

We limit our older 2 kids to one hour per day on their own - they usually make choices like That's So Raven, Digimon and the like. The rest of their TV time is spent with us as a family. We'll watch American Idol, Survivor or some other popular Reality Show.

The younger one takes delight in watching Sesame Street (love it!), Dora and Barney. When she was 2-1/2 years old, she started counting to me in Spanish. We're not a bi-lingual household, so I know she learned it from Dora. That's pretty cool! I can appreciate the things that she learns from these educational shows - like counting (in English and Spanish), colors, letters, songs and some good solid values. A lot of us are not fans of Barney, but you've gotta admit he does teach a lot of great stuff!

Let me know your thoughts on TV watching - I'm curious to know what you do in your house!

p.s. - I'm still up on the Top Momma site - thanks to all of you who have been voting for me :)

Thumbs Up Thursday - Play Library

It's Thursday - time for another "Thumbs Up." This week's nod goes to Play Library.

Play Library is written by Kerri Aldrich and Dr. Hsien-Hsien Lei. They write about everything and anything that might be fun to do with your kids, or that your children might find entertaining, as well as share bits of news and information that might be helpful for parents and caregivers to know. Play Library : Two mommies chatting about kids’ toys, games, books, and just fun stuff to do.

Here are some of cool posts from Play Library that you must check out!

Strawberry Shortcake Dance Dance Revolution - this is the ultrapopular interactive video game - throw Strawberry Shortcake into the mix and your young ones will have as much fun as the older ones do!
How to Make Balloon Animals - Cool video!

Also - Some great categories - I couldn't even choose a particular post:
Nostalgia Toys
Baby Things
Board Games and Other Games for Kids

Lots of great information...check it out!

Thumbs Up Thursday - The Serious Shopper

This week's "thumbs up" goes to Robyn at The Serious Shopper. She is very enlightened in the shopping arena. She's got some great advice for shopping with a fun and easy-to-read style of writing!

One particular post that caught my eye was how to best Maximize Your Credit Card Points. I like my reward-air-miles-from-my-Visa-card as much as the next person, but after reading this post, I found there are other ways that I could be cashing in on the reward points. She suggests using one card to pay your monthly bills and another card for regular purchases during the month. This is GENIUS...why didn't I think of this before?

She made her point a couple of times and I would say you need to HEED THIS ADVICE. If you're going to start paying your regular bills with a credit card - PAY IT OFF EVERY MONTH so you don't accrue interest. Otherwise, you'll be negating the reason why you're doing it in the first place.

The Serious Shopper is informative and fun - it's worth a second look...and a third...and a fourth :)

Now, I'm off to earn money to pay off my credit cards so I can begin maximizing my reward points...

Thumbs Up Thursday - Bath Body Junky

Today's "Thumbs Up" goes to Jenny at the Bath Body Junky Blog. This blog is all about creating an affordable at home spa retreat by pampering the mind, body and soul. It’s a useful bath and body blog that provides great articles consisting of data on research on the topic of key benefits related with specific bath and body ingredients.

One particular post caught my eye and I wanted to share it with you. We all suffer from time to time of the "puffy eye syndrome." Here, Jenny gives us 5 great tips to help reduce them.

Jenny focuses the blog’s articles on how to care for skin, how to look younger and how to create the home spa retreat that all women deserve.

Here's to the Bath Body Junky!

Thumbs Up Thursday - Mommy, Inc.

Today's "thumbs up" goes to Shannon at the Mommy, Inc. blog. She a "mompreneur" with twin girls who just turned 1 this past week (Happy Birthday Girls). Shannon shares what she calls 'survival tips' for other moms who work at home and try to balance it all, including frugal ideas, make-ahead meals, business promotion ideas and success secrets from other moms. Here's something that she posted on Monday for the Thrifty Mom:

* Thrifty Mom: Child's Play
What's the best way to save money on children? Well, some people will simply tell you not to have them. But guess what? Raising kids doesn't have to be expensive. Just take the kid's-eye view of the challenge and use you imagination instead of always reaching for your wallet. During the month of January, I'm sharing secrets to save while enjoying your children.

Ways to have fun with kids, while on a budget
1) The library has more than books. Don't forget about all the videos and books on tape. Plus some libraries even have free passes to museums!
2) Grab an empty appliance box and let the kids decorate their own play house, club house or secret fort. (We actually did this 2 summers ago for the little Livvie - I put the older kids to work painting and decorating a huge box. We put it in her room and she got a TON of mileage out of it!)
3) When they're stuck inside, how about bringing the outdoors in and having a Teddy Bear Picnic n their bedroom?
4) Need some clothes for dress up? Now you can finally get rid of all those ugly bridesmaid dresses. (Kids don't care they're too big.) Think also about old uniforms, costume jewelry and hats.

Every day Shannon has something pertinent to a mom's life...make sure you check her out!

Thumbs Up Thursday - Little Fun; Little Learning

It's Thursday...time for another Thumbs Up! This week's prize goes to Revka at Little Fun; Little Learning. Appropriately named because it is focused on the "littles" in the family - age 0-5. There are activities and other terrific resources for that age group.

I'm particularly intrigued because of my almost-3-yr-old. She keeps us hopping and this blog has some great resources!

I particularly liked Revka's entry on Board Games - check it out here. She makes some great suggestions for the "littles" age group. Our family loves to play board games and now little Livvie is getting her feet wet with a new set of games she got for Christmas made by Leap Frog. The games include: memory mate (the pictures match, one card has the word in English, the other in Spanish); dominoes (see picture); and two card games - Alphabet Go Fish and Math Rummy.

This dominoes game is a very cool learning tool! Her set came with about 6 different sets of domino games including colors, animals and even regular colored dots like real dominoes. There's one set that includes pictures of objects with rhyming words underneath. We played not only matching up the pics, but also rhyming "cat" with "hat" and "bug" with "rug." She caught on quickly and will surprise her older brother and sister today after school with her new skills!

Play some games with your kids - it can be a lot of fun and YOU might even learn a thing or two :)

Thumbs Up Thursday - Keeping the Castle

This week's Thumbs Up Thursday recipient is Maricar at Keeping the Castle.

Keeping the Castle is a blog about...what else?...housekeeping and homemaking. This blog is great for organizational and housecleaning tips. This info isn't just for the full time housekeeper. It's also a great resource for all of us who struggle to keep a good balance in our work and home lives.

Maricar recently posted about this really cool cutting board with different color inserts - check it out here. I think she does a great job of honing in on ways to help make our lives a little bit easier.

Here's to you Maricar!

Thumbs Up Thursday - Nature Moms

This week's "thumbs up" goes over to Tiffany at Nature Moms Blog. I have never been a "natural" sort of person. I'm the first to grab for the Advil or Migraine medicine when having aches and pains...BUT I'm always open to other points of view and ALWAYS open to learning something new!

She has some very interesting posts regarding natural cures for insomnia, stress relief and interesting uses for Coconut oil. Please check them out for yourself and try them...I will!

Tiffany recently posted about using Organic Mattresses for Babies with regards to preventing SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome).

I have a special emotional tie to this particular syndrome. A good friend of mine had a baby about 6 weeks before I had my middle child (now almost 10). That precious little baby died of SIDS the beginning of that summer. It especially hit home because of the age of my new little one at the time. Here, 10 years later, there's still no known cause, but lots of research being done. With people like Tiffany plugging away at trying to make a difference, there are sure to be some answers on the horizon!

I think of Conner often...Debbie's little angel.

Thumbs Up Thursday - Babylune

Now that I'm back in stride from the holiday, I need to get back into my "Thumbs Up Thursday" salutes.

This week's nod goes to Kate at Babylune. Kate's says, "The blog isn't usually about baby care. It's about mother care. I've covered topics from weight loss to hemorroids, from breast feeding to feelings of isolation. It is my goal to inspire every new mother to do one thing for her own health and well being every day."

One particular topic that Kate just covered is HPV and cervical cancer. We've all heard about it on the popular commercials. Most of us have probably discussed it with our doctors...and as mothers of daughters, some of us have even been introduced to the vaccination for HPV. It's very prevalent in today's society...read about Kate's take HERE.

Way to go, Kate - thanks for another reason to give a "thumbs up" this Thursday!

Thumbs Up Thursday - A Readable Feast

You know that I'm all about being the best mom you can be and spending quality time with your family. Today's Thumbs Up Thursday nod goes to Anne-Marie over at A Readable Feast.

She's got an entire category on her blog dedicated to bonding with your kids. Take a look at it here. That first post you'll see is a contest to win a journal that could be a great keepsake to pass on whether you're a mom or a grandma. Sign up...I did!

Be sure to peruse her entire site as she's got great craft ideas, recipes and books that you can share and do with your family!

Thumbs Up Thursday (On Friday) - Eat4Today

My apologies - Thursday got away from me...but there's always time for Thumbs Up Thursday...even on Friday :)

My Thumbs Up goes to Katiebird over at the Eat4Today blog. This is a blog like no other I've seen. Here's what Katiebird has to say about it:

“I've read that we can be more successful keeping weight off if we do it with a support group. It can be something formal, like Weight Watchers. But it doesn't have to be. It can be friends who regularly talk about nutrition issues and it can be an online group.

Eat4Today is an online support group specifically for that purpose. So many of us have lost substantial amounts of weight only to gain it back as soon as the focus is gone. I'm hoping that together, we can keep our focus and lose the weight forever.”

What a GREAT CONCEPT - you don't even have to leave the confines of your computer to get support from other people who are also struggling with weight loss issues!

Want to learn more? Go here to check it out and browse through the topics and articles.

Thumbs Up Thursday - Miscellaneous Mum

I'm going to start a THEME on my blog. Thumbs Up Thursdays. Every Thursday, I'm going to highlight a fellow blogger's blog. Just my way of saying "way to go" and hopefully bringing them a little well-deserved recognition.

Today's "Thumbs Up" recipient is Karen at Miscellaneous Mum. She is hilarious! Her perspective on life is comical. Be sure to read about the New Mummy.

Why is it that our husbands insist on using our young children in an attempt to be funny? My husband did the same thing right before my birthday. Our 2-1/2 yr old daughter had been excited all week singing "Happy Birthday" and asking when we could have the cake. The day before my birthday, he sent her in to the kitchen and she looked so sweet with a cute little smile on her face...the words that came out of her mouth "Mommy, are you going to be 40?"...hahaha...I turned 39. I looked past her into the family room and all I saw was a huge grin.

Funny.