Are You Ready For St. Patrick's Day? {Review}

Around here, if you aren't wearing green on St. Patrick's Day, you'll be seeing the business end of my shillelagh. Yeah, I have one and it comes out once a year, seeking out those who forget to dress properly. Now, my husband is one of those people who will try to get away with that lame, "I have a little speck of green on my underwear!" excuse-users. He gets a bonk on the head every year (will he ever learn?!)

This year, and in the future, he won't have to come up with any excuses to avoid a rap on the noggin. I received a t-shirt from KissMyShamrock.com to review and it turned out to be the perfect shirt for him:

(NOT my husband! LOL)

While we don't do the drinking thing on St. Patrick's Day (well, I do like a little Bailey's in my coffee or a nice Irish coffee with Jameson's and some whipped cream when it's available!), hubby is a stumbler. He stumbles over toys, rugs, even his own feet! So, not only does he have a nice green shirt from KissMyShamrock.com's selection of funny Irish t-shirts, he also has a pretty descriptive one, too!

So, don't get caught without your green on March 17th! Check out KissMyShamrock.com to find the perfect shirt for you. In addition to t-shirts, all of their designs come on your choice of style (hoodie, long-sleeve tee, tanks, and many more!) and you can choose from 16 shirt colors!

Disclosure: I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe my readers will find interesting.

A "Real" Post! {Finally!!!}

Man, my whole week has been nuts! It would seem that I got in way over my head. Well, actually, things wouldn't have been so screwed up if I hadn't caught a nasty cold a couple of weeks ago. You never realize how great it feels to be healthy until you're sneezing, coughing, and trying to keep up with a little one - all while trying to let a fever do it's work to kill the germs inside!

Had all gone smoothly, I'd have managed to write one giveaway sponsor's review and a "real" post everyday. That was the plan. But, I found myself writing nothing, then trying to get all of the sponsor posts up before the hop. I was up until 5am on Friday morning putting the finishing touches on the Made in Michigan Giveaway Hop post - just in time. I still have one more review post to write and another great Etsy giveaway to post by tomorrow. Then, things will calm down around here. I'll be able to get the Mindful Parenting Collaboration post written (I did manage to get my inner work done while sick!) and a few other posts that I've been meaning to write taken care of. Hopefully, I'll be able to get back on track soon!

Other than being sick, I've been getting ready for Halloween! Last weekend, our town had a really great Harvet Festival - complete with Trick-or-Treating at the small businesses downtown. It is so neat to watch Little Guy's eyes light up at every single Tootsie Roll and Twizzler. He smiled HUGELY at every stop (I don't think he could stop smiling!) and his "Thank You" to everyone was so genuine! You see, we don't do a lot of candy around here, though I don't completely outlaw it. Up until this summer, in fact, fruit leather and raisins were referred to as "candy".

Today, the farmer's market held their own Trick-or-Treating! So, Little Guy got to dress up in his really cool Thomas costume again and get FREE CANDY from the vendors he's come to know all over the summer.

Oh, and we decorated pumpkins last night. Check out this post to see how we do pumpkins around here. It's more economical - and safer - than carving!

Showing off how strong he is!

And, finally, here are a couple of pictures I managed to catch this morning that ended up being nice little surprises when I uploaded them from my camera:

The River Raisin this morning. I really like getting photos of the river when the reflection in the water comes out so beautifully.

I love this one! The flower vendor has a blue tarp over her stall this morning. I just love how everything in the picture has that blue hue to it except the flowers.

My Day Out with "Thomas"... Uh, Kinda {Wordless Wednesday}

Not really like those "Day Out with Thomas" posts I was seeing all summer. But, I think this was even better! We received this cool costume from Wholesale Halloween Costumes for the review I posted HERE.

BOTH feet have left the ground!

 Little Brown Bear's author, "Aunt Bett" (Elizabeth Upham McWebb), lived in our town. This is a statue of Little Brown Bear that sits in front of the library downtown. If you ever get the chance, check out your local library to see if her books are available - they're great stories for little ones! HERE is a list of her books.

 Downtown is starting to get "dressed up" for Autumn!

When I say, "Look at Mommy!" this is what I get.

This is "The Tea Store" (a.k.a. Health Matters) where we get all of our teas and vitamins. Oh, AND snacks when we're downtown!

 Nothing like heading to the library by our house to play with the really cool Thomas & Friends track while wearing your really cool Thomas costume!

And you just have to do some coloring, especially when the librarians just added fresh crayons to the box!

OK, know what he's doing here? Well, let me just say that when your kid is really interested in a leaf on a bush, pay close attention. As I was snapping the picture, I saw his hand go up to his mouth. It was a berry (?!) that he was after. I'm so glad I caught this before he popped it into his mouth!

So, that was my "Day Out with Thomas" - as I said, I'm sure it was better than any other one!

Thanks, once again, to Wholesale Halloween Costumes for sending us this really neat costume to review. I love the candy catcher pocket in front even better than before - Little Guy could carry his own sticks, leaves, rocks, and nuts (lots of black walnut trees around here) so I didn't have to!

"Trick-or-Treat, It's Thomas!" {Wholesale Halloween Costumes}

I have always prided myself in my ability to make Halloween costumes for my kids. Until this year, that is. Little Guy loves Thomas the Train and, with lots of goading from the Oldest, has talked non-stop about wanting to be Thomas for Halloween. So, I decided to get started early - I've done the last-minute costume thing and it's not fun. I found a box just the right size, measured Little Guy, cut holes, and sketched out the design. Before painting, I wanted to make sure it would fit him, so I tried to try it out on him. He hated it. I mean, one second he was a happy little boy who was going to try on his Thomas costume, the next minute he was a kicking, screaming toddler who managed to tear apart a very well-made, sturdy box. So much for the make-your-own-Thomas-costume idea!

Luckily, a few days after this fiasco, I received the opportunity to try out a costume from Wholesale Halloween Costumes! I mean, how lucky can a mom at her Halloween costume wit's end get? Before heading straight for the Thomas section, I decided to look around a little - you never know what you might find. I was amazed at their selection of Halloween costumes for kids! They have a huge number of costumes, from pirates to princesses, TV characters to classic characters kids have dressed as for years... anything you could possibly want.

Too many choices for me, so I narrowed my browsing down to Boys Costumes. The first thing I noticed was that the costumes are really made for boys - they come in jumpsuits, shirt and pants or tunics that are worn over clothes. All of these are definitely Little Guy-friendly. And they're really cool costumes, too. I remember the days when your costume was either homemade, or came in the form of an ill-fitting mask that you couldn't see out of and never stayed on and a plastic apron-like thingy that you tied on around your neck and waist. Those days are gone, baby!

 And then I saw it... the PERFECT Thomas the Tank Engine Costume!  This thing is awesome, and I know that he'll wear it all year round. In fact, our entire neighborhood has already seen his costume because he wore it everywhere we went the day it arrived.  It's a tunic-like costume, so he wears it like a big shirt - no mobility issues! And, being in Michigan, it can be hard to know what the weather will be like. I was in pre-labor with Little Guy on Halloween in 2008 and it was a balmy 70 degrees out. Last year, his first Trick-or-Treating experience, it was rainy, windy, and freezing. This costume is large enough that I could put a winter coat under it, and it's light enough that he wouldn't sweat to death if we are lucky enough to get a nice Indian Summer Halloween (is that P.C.?!) Another neat feature of this costume is that he doesn't need to carry a bag for his goodies. It is designed with a built-in "candy catcher" pocket! Our town is full of houses with porches, so he'll be able to use both his hands for balance on the steps.

Oh, and a couple more things -  Wholesale Halloween Costumes is very customer-oriented!
The costume came in a neat bag with a hanger, so we can hang it in the closet when he's not wearing it. They also have a wonderful customer care section on their site where you can find the answer to almost any question. Oh, and if you can't find the answer, you can reach them by phone, via a contact form, and even live chat! And, along with our costume, came a Return/Exchange Procedures Form. This company doesn't wait until you have a problem to let you look up the rules on returns - they let you know the deal up front, before you even take the costume out of the package. I have to say that this really impressed me. It shows that they really want to make sure that the customer knows what to do if any problems should arise. I can't say that for a lot of companies - even the big, expensive ones! Oh, and they even direct you to where you can print out a prepaid return label so you don't have to go stand in line at the post office forever and then pay to ship your product back.

Speaking of price... these costumes really are at wholesale prices. The price of our Thomas the Tank Engine Costume was only $23.50. They even have one priced at $19.90! And they have a flat rate shipping fee to the continental US of only $5.90 ($6.90 expedited) no matter how big your order is. I just hate finding the perfect item for an amazing price only to find out the shipping costs twice as much as the thing I want to buy! You don't have to ever wonder about that here!

(And, yes, I know I just posted about the Costume Swap. We'll be participating next year or donating our Thomas costume to a kid who doesn't have anything to wear!)

Disclosure:  I received a free Thomas the Tank Engine Costume in exchange for my honest review.  No monetary compensation was received. I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. All opinions are mine and not influenced by the company.

Green Halloween! { #CostumeSwapDay }

It may not quite be Halloween yet, but National Costume Swap Day is right around the corner! And it’s never too early to start thinking about how to make one of the best holidays of the year more eco-friendly.

Now, I've always been one to use whatever I have around the house to make costumes. Last year, the kids went as SpongeBob and one of the characters in an episode - DoodleBob (I think that's the guy's name!) It went well, but Little Guy really hated the box thing. For the first time ever, I'm getting him a costume this year - Thomas the Train. I tried and tried to think of a way to make him one (I can't sew very well) that would be comfortable. I had the prototype, tried it on him, and he HATED it. As in, nearly had a tantrum because it was just not comfortable.

Since I'll be getting a new costume this year, I know exactly what I'll be doing with it next year. Check out the information below for National Costume Swap Day. I know that you have some kind of costumes in a box somewhere (basement, garage, etc.) that you know you'll never use again. You're holding on to them because a) you spent good money on them and will NOT throw them out, b) you don't want to toss them into the trash because you'll be adding to landfills, c) they've been in the box for so long you just forgot about them! If you don't have Halloween costumes laying around, what about out-grown dress-up clothes? You know what I mean on this one, too. Is your little girl still trying to get into that leotard that is three sizes too small? Do you little guy's fireman boots hurt his feet? Take them to the nearest Costume Swap and exchange them for some new stuff!

On October 8, people across the country will get together for costume swaps in their own cities and towns. Swaps are a great way to go green by exchanging gently used Halloween costumes for new-to-your-kids. You’ll save the money you would’ve spent on new costumes for your kids and help the environment. In fact, swapping half the costumes kids wear at Halloween would reduce annual landfill waste by 6,250 tons—about the weight of 2,500 midsize cars!


If you’ve got friends and neighbors or a school or community group for whom a costume swap would be a good project, I encourage you to host a swap yourself or join with others. It’s easy, fun and a great way to build community around this money-saving and planet-saving idea. You can learn the simple steps to hosting a swap HERE. And be sure to register your swap so everyone can find out about it. Many neighborhoods and towns have already begun planning their swaps. Find one near you, then spread the word and help make it an eek-o-fabulous success!


National Costume Swap Day is sponsored by Green Halloween, KIWI magazine, and Swap.com.

Ready to get started? Find existing swaps—plus information to help you start your own at CostumeSwapDay.com.

Halloween!

This will be the first year my toddler gets to go trick-or-treating and I'm so excited. We watched "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" last night and everything I told him about going out on Halloween made sense to him when he saw the gang of kids knock on a door and receive CANDY! Now, since he's only two, "candy" is fruit snacks and I'm hoping to keep it that way.

I just put the finishing touches on his and his 12 year old brother's costumes. My oldest wanted to go as SpongeBob this year, so I figured I'd do costumes that go together. Therefore, my little guy is going to be "DoodleBob." The DoodleBob costume was easy - I just painted a box white and then made a rough drawing of SpongeBob on it. The large box that I made into SpongeBob, on the other hand, has had me up until 2am for the last few nights (I can only get the paints out after the little guy goes to bed unless I want "help.") Even though it'll only be worn once, I'm very proud of it!

Earlier this evening, we did our pumpkins. I bought pie pumpkins at the farmer's market last week so we could have our Halloween and eat it, too. Since I plan on cooking them, we couldn't cut them into Jack-o-lanterns. Instead, I got out all of my old magazines and cut out every eye, nose, mouth, ear, and hair I could find. Tonight, the whole family sat in the kitchen and taped these parts onto our pumpkins. We had a great time trying out different faces and showing each other! The pumpkins look creepier than anything you could carve, too. Our toddler had the BEST time and, since there were no sharp objects involved, he was able to make his own pumpkin with very minimal help.