Losing It Thursday!!!

No picture again this week....well....because I'm forgetful and was running late this morning and forgot to bring my memory card....urrgghh!

Here is last weeks weigh in

And this weeks weigh in is..............189 :(

It is soo disappointing to see that number. But that is what it was. This is proof that my body does not like carbs at all. I can't even hardly eat them anymore, I used to be able to put away a half a pack of Oreo's and now if I eat 4 I get sick to my stomach, which is a good thing, because now I can't over eat them. But, yes...I gained 2.5 pounds...because I didn't watch my carbs. I did get out the Kettleworx again and did the resistance workout on Monday...my legs have been sore for the last 2 days!! I planned on doing it again on tuesday but I could hardly even sit or stand up there was no way I was going to be able to do all those squats. I bought some new clothes too...and they were smaller and it felt great!

I  need some advice. I need some meal ideas for Luke and I.  Watching my carbs works for me. I need some ideas on what we could have for dinner. Something relatively low carb and healthy. That is one reason why I gained the weight I did this week, because I couldn't think of something low carb to have for dinner so I just made whatever...and ate out too. I don't even really need recipe's, just some dinner ideas would be great! 

I'm linking this up with My Little Apricot and Marvelous Mommy!!

 

Thinking of Photo's for our Christmas Cards!!!

Every year since Luke was born, we have sent out photo Christmas cards. Of course you probably figured that, right? :)

I always have Luke and our dog Jake in the photo's and I have a lot of fun thinking of the cutest pose for the both of them! And yes, it usually involves some Santa hats and reindeer ears.....who could resist? 

These are the photo's that I used on our cards for Luke's first Christmas

 Awww, I miss my cute little chubby baby (sniff sniff)

And here are the ones from last year!

Now, I have something reeeallllyyy cute planned for this years cards. I'm not telling yet...and I hope that we can pull it off (fingers crossed that Luke and Jake cooperate...at the same time)

Now that I started sending out photo cards, I could never go back to sending out regular cards. Photo cards are so much more personal and it lets me show off my little man! Plus, it gives me a chance to use my creativity AND take some cute pictures!

A great place to purchase Photo Christmas Cards is Shutterfly! I have purchased my photo cards from Shutterfly each year since I've been ordering them! They are easy to do and have a huge selection to choose from! They even have Christmas Party Invitations if your planning on having a Christmas party!!! 

I've been browsing this huge selection and I can not make my mind up on what card I want to go with! There are so many that I found that I liked this year.

I love this Simply Joy card

I'm really leaning towards this Bright Colored Lights Christmas Card 

I love using bright color's at Christmas :)

  

I love how the In Color Christmas card showcases the photo and really gives it a professional look

And I thought this was a great idea!! This Family Memories card lets you add a photo for each month of the year! This would be great for a baby's first Christmas!! 

This is just the tip of the ice berg on their selection! I can't wait to start taking our Christmas photo's and I can not wait to show you what we have up our sleeves for this year! It is going to be GREAT!! And of course I will be ordering them from Shutterfly again this year! Keep Shutterfly in mind when you're ready to order your Holiday Photo Cards!!

I will be receiving a credit for 50 free photo cards from Shutterfly for writing this post. No other compensation was received and these are my own honest opinions from my experiences with Shutterfly. 

Bloggers! Receive 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly http://bit.ly/sfly2010  

 

Elmer's CraftBond Adhevsives & X-Acto Cutting Tools Review!!! (Project Idea)

I was recently accepted into the Elmer's Crafting Campaign from BuzzAgent!!! 

By participating in this campaign I received Elmer's CraftBond Adhesives and X-Acto cutting tools to try out! 

 

 Here is a photo of the products that I received!! 

 

I was already familiar with some of these products as I have used the X-Acto scissors before and of course I've used Elmer's glue before :)

 

These products are great! I've tried other brands of decorative scissors and they definitely didn't cut as well as the X-Acto brand does. I've loved all the different adhesives as well, but my favorite product that I received was the Rounded Corner Punch! I love as it gives photo's a polished look when using them in crafts or scrapbooking. 

Another product that I love that I did not receive in this review is the X-Acto craft knife! I have had this for a long time and I use it in almost every project! It is definitely a must have for any crafter!

Now, I didn't know this but the Elmer's website has a place where they share different projects and they even have a Craft It Club!!! I had no idea about this! There are some really good idea's there too! 

My favorite project that I saw was the Foam Board Carousel!!!

This seems pretty easy to make. I love how professional it looks! You can click HERE to see the directions! 

 

Keep your eye for the Elmer's and X-Acto product displays!!

 

I am a BuzzAgent and received the mentioned products for review purposes only. I received no other compensation and these are my own honest opinions. If you want to sign up to be a BuzzAgent too, click HERE.

Wordless Wednesday!!!

Wordless Wednesday! I'm linking this up to Miller Racing Family! Head over and link up yours too!


Fishing!

Fantasy Jewelry Box Review & Giveaway!!!

Winner: Comment #92 Heavensent1!!!
 
There's nothing like a new piece of jewelry to make your day! It makes it even better if you can get it at a great price too! 

Fantasy Jewelry Box has a great selection of inexpensive beautiful jewelry!

FantasyJewelryBox.com is one of the leading online retailers of celebrity and designer inspired jewelry. Although celebrity inspired jewelry is our specialty, we are also a leading online retailer for replica celebrity rings, fake engagement rings and faux wedding sets.

Shop Fantasy Jewelry Box with complete confidence! We proudly stand behind our cubic zirconia jewelry with our risk-free guarantee to assure that you are a happy, lifelong customer!

I could browse Fantasy Jewelry Box all day! It took me forever to decide what I wanted to do my review on! I really liked this I Love Mom necklace

And I really liked these Green Crystal Ball Stud Earrings too!

 

But once I saw the Mena's Small Carat CZ Solitaire Ring I knew that was what I wanted!

Flaunting 1.25 carats of stunning diamond cz stones, Mena's Small Carat CZ Solitaire Ring is the perfect simple promise ring.

 .925 Sterling Silver 

Rhodium Electroplated 

3/8 Inch (9mm) Wide 

High Quality Cubic Zirconia 

Clear 

Round Shape 

Brilliant Cut 

6 Prong Setting, Channel Setting 

0.75 Carat Center Stone, 1.25 Carats Total

This ring is definitely a heavy duty ring. It has a very good weight to it. It is beautiful and the sizing was perfect as well. It doesn't bother me at all that this ring is cubic zirconia simply because you can't tell. I'm not a big fan of huge rings, so I was a little worried that the pictures of this ring would be deceiving and when I received the ring it would look huge on my finger. That was not the case. This ring is the perfect size for my finger, not too small but not too big either! 

Fantasy Jewelry Box wants to give one of my readers their choice of item, up to $35!!!

Mandatory Entry:

Head over to Fantasy Jewelry Box and browse around. Come back here and tell me your favorite item!

Extra Entries:

1 Extra Entries: Become a fan of Fantasy Jewelry Box on Facebook

1 Extra Entry: Follow Fantasy Jewelry Box on Twitter 

5 Extra Entry: Sign up for the Fantasy Jewelry Box YouTube channel

1 Extra Entry: Enter any of my other giveaways. One extra entry for each of my other giveaways you enter!

1 Extra Entry: Follow my blog

1 Extra Entry: Follow me on twitter and tweet about this! You can tweet daily for an extra entry everyday! You can use this sample tweet:

Win your choice of item from Fantasy Jewelry Box, up to $35 @getinonthewins @FantasyJewelry #giveaway http://bit.ly/aofiOS

2 Extra Entries: Sign up for my emails!

1 Extra Entry: Put my NEW button on your blog! Leave me a link!

5 Extra Entries: Blog about this giveaway and leave me a link to the post!

GOOD LUCK!!!

This giveaway will end on 11/9 at 10pm. The winner will be chosen by ramdom.org and will have 48 hours to respond or I will choose another winner. I received the mentioned ring for review purposes only and no other compensation was received. These are my own honest opinions.

 

The Best Kid Apps Reviewed~Lunchbox Reviews & $25 Oompa Giveaway!!!

Winner: #9 karasceviour!!!

Luke has inherited mine and his dad's love of electronics. He loves anything with buttons that "does" something. He is really good with them too, he knows how to use the mouse on the computer and get where he wants to go. He even knows how to use the Wii to play Just Dance! 

This is one reason why I wish I had an Iphone or Ipod. Have you seen all the great apps that you can get? I am amazed at everything you can do with these apps! Having something like this would be great to have to keep Luke occupied in the doctor's office or while grocery shopping. But how do you know which apps are good or which ones are age appropriate for your child? You check out Lunchbox Reviews, that's how! This is a site dedicated to kids app reviews!

Here is a little background on Lunchbox Reviews

Lunchbox Reviews is the brainchild of me, Milanie Cleere. The site launched quietly on Friday, August 20th 2010. I'm a wife, a mom and a business owner. While I prefer natural, non-battery operated toys, I begrudgingly realized there are many educational apps for young children. Letting my kids play with an iPod Touch would not make me "that" mom or a bad parent.

I started looking for quality applications and was overwhelmed with the number available. I tried a few that were fantastic and others that were complete duds. Sure, at 99 cents an app, we're not going to break the bank, but the cost of the truly awful apps started to add up.

I wanted a filter, a source for finding quality educational iPhone and iPad apps for young children. And where there's a need...

I created Lunchbox Reviews as the de facto resource for finding quality children's mobile apps. I'm a Gen-X, tech-savvy mom who appreciates design and an intuitive UI. I'm someone without a lot of time and care what my children play with. I'm picky.

Lunchbox Reviews makes it easy to find appropriate apps for your kids. It is very easy to search for the right app, you choose age, category which includes everything from creative and educational to games and then the device and they show you the apps that fit your search criteria. Once you have found an app your interested in, you will find a description of that app, screenshots and reviews by users and critics! 

One app that I would love to have for Luke is the super cute I Know My Mommy Loves Me~Book & ABC's from Brighter Minds

If you or your kids are into apps...be sure to check out Lunchbox Reviews to find the best apps for your kids!

Lunchbox Reviews wants to give one of my readers a $25 Gift Certificate to Oompa Toys!!!

Mandatory Entry:

Head over to Lunchbox Reviews and browse around. Come back here and tell me which app you would like to try (even if you don't have a device that is app compatible, we can dream, can't we?)

 Extra Entries:

1 Extra Entries:Become a fan of Lunchbox Reviews on Facebook

1 Extra Entry: Follow Lunchbox Reviews on Twitter 

1 Extra Entry: Enter any of my other giveaways. One extra entry for each of my other giveaways you enter!

1 Extra Entry: Follow my blog

1 Extra Entry: Follow me on twitter and tweet about this! You can tweet daily for an extra entry everyday! You can use this sample tweet:

Enter to win $25 Gift Certificate to Oompa toys, from @lunchboxreviews & @getinonthewins #giveaway http://bit.ly/caSG5p

2 Extra Entries: Sign up for my emails!

1 Extra Entry: Put my NEW button on your blog! Leave me a link!

5 Extra Entries: Blog about this giveaway and leave me a link to the post!

GOOD LUCK!!!

This giveaway will end on 11/9 at 10pm. The winner will be chosen by ramdom.org and will have 48 hours to respond or I will choose another winner. I will receive a $25 gift certificate to Oompa in exchange for posting this review/giveaway. No other compensation was received. These are my own honest opinions.

Ecostore Coconut & Vanilla Hand Wash & Dishwash Liquid Review!!!

I've become a fan of Ecostore USA since I did my last review for them. I was happy to be able to do another review of their wonderful products!

Our eco friendly household cleaning products are as effective as the leading supermarket brands, and our body and baby care ranges are gentle on your skin and are simply beautiful to use.  Our hand and body washes are made from naturally derived ingredients that gently cleanse, condition and nourish your skin.  All of our products are made from plant- and mineral-based ingredients, free of toxic chemicals, that bring people closer to nature with non-toxic, environmentally safe solutions that also help to reduce our carbon footprint.

 

Since I loved their Coconut & Vanilla Body Wash so well, this time I had to try their Coconut & Vanilla Hand Wash

 

Natural and indulgent - the new ecostore USA hand wash is a true green bathroom luxury. Extremely kind to skin, you will love the fresh summery fragrance of coconut & vanilla organic essential oils.

Made from seven naturally derived ingredients to cleanse, condition and nourish your hands this hand wash does not remove the skin's natural oils. Your hands are left soft and silky by the unique moisturizer derived from wheatgerm oil and wheat protein. Our No Nasty* Chemicals™ promise means no Sodium Lauryl Sulphate, no artificial dyes, perfumes or preservatives. 

Of course I Ioved the smell of this hand wash. Like the body wash, it smelled of real coconuts. It didn't seem to lather like normal hand soaps but it still cleaned my hands very well. The best thing about this hand wash is how my hands felt after using it. Most hand washes can leave your hands dry, but this leaves your hands feeling soft, almost like you washed them with lotion! I was very surprised at just how soft my hands were. This is great as cold and flu season is already here. I don't have to worry about drying my hands out from washing them. I wish my work place would put this in their restrooms!

The second product I reviewed was their Dishwash liquid 

Gentle on your skin yet effective on your dishware the Ecostore USA Dish Liquid has great grease cutting power and leaves a light, fresh fragrance. Free of any synthetic chemicals, your family and the planet will appreciate it!

 

Ecostore sent me this in the 32 oz. which is a huge bottle! This will last for a long time considering that you don't have to use very much to get a sink full of suds. It lathers very well. I love the smell of this. I didn't notice the smell of dishwash liquid, that is until I used something that smells great! It has a nice refreshing, clean scent. It worked great at cleaning my dishes and didn't dry out my hands.

 

Another great thing about Ecostore USA is that their products are made in the USA!

These were two more great products from Ecostore USA!

You can purchase these items online HERE, they offer free shipping on orders over $25, and also at Meijer and Duane Reade stores!

 

I was provided with the mentioned products for review purposes. I was not compensated in any other way and these are my own honest opinions.