My Garden Status

I started seeds indoors a few weeks ago (I won't be planting outside until May since the frost warning for our area is until mid-May). I planted yellow squash, brussel sprouts, broccoli, purple tomatillos, rosemary and basil. The first set of seeds that I started emerged after only a few days and were doing great, for about a week and a half when we had nicer weather and I decided to put them outside and I forgot them overnight and we had a really cold night. Now they are looking really sad:

After I nearly killed all the plants I decided to start over and planted more broccoli, brussel sprouts, and yellow squash. I also added cherry tomatoes, cucumbers and jalapenos. Most of the seeds have come up and are doing great, and I am not going to take them outside until I know that I will not kill them!

My kids will be planting their own seeds in the next couple weeks and have already started enjoying our garden themed sensory box.

This post is part of a four part link-up with the Homeschool Village's Garden Challenge. To visit the link-up click here. You will find other garden link-ups as well as fun activities to do with your kids. I will be posting more fun garden activities to do with kids through the month of April.

April Sensory Box

I am so excited about our April sensory box. The theme this month is the garden! I am planning on doing a bunch of garden related activities with my two older children, including allowing them to plant some of their own seeds. I struggled with what to use to fill the bottom of the box and settled on little rocks purchased at Hobby Lobby. The rocks are in the section with marbles and come in three pound bags and I used two bags to fill the bottom of my container.



Here is what is in the box:
Six pounds of small stones (Hobby Lobby)
Pinwheel flower (Hobby Lobby)
Shovel and Rake (Hobby Lobby)
Pink flower (Jo-Ann Fabrics)
Bird House (Target Dollar Spot)
Butterfly Magnifying Glass (Target Dollar Spot)
Squishy Bugs (Target Dollar Spot)
Two Frogs (I can't remember where they came from I just found them in the toy box!)

We Have Cancelled our Satelite TV!

After months of my husband asking me if we could get rid of our satelite television (he really wanted to cut that expense because it is over $1200 a year- and we have one of the most basic packages that they offer). I finally realized that since I am homeschooling it would probably be the best thing for my children to cancel the television and the ability to allow them to watch whenever they are bored (or whevever I need a babysitter- which I hate to admit). We will still have our television and can watch basic television and DVDs and VHS tapes. I do not watch much, if any tv during the day and if I do I listen to shows on the internet, while I do other things. I do watch tv at night after the kids go to bed and about 80 percent are docu-reality cable shows. If anyone has any ideas for getting the kids off tv I would love to hear them!

Join in the fun with a Blog Hop this Tuesday!

Here are the blog hops I am joining in today:

So join in, discover new great blogs and meet new friends!

Cuddles and Love Giveaway Ends Soon

Don't forget to enter the Cuddles and Love Eco-Friendly Reusable Snack Bag set giveaway. Click here to enter.

Four in One Bag Game

I totally love this game, I first saw something similar at a craft fair last year and realized how easy and inexpensive it was to make. It will also entertain a child for a while, on a trip or during quiet time, so how much better could it get?

Supplies:

Fabric and ribbon or string for your bag (or you could purchase a small bag) you do not need much fabric, my bag only measures 5" by 6"

Miscellaneous items (my bag contains 20 items, I would suggest at least 15 items)

Games you can play:

Memory- let your child see all the contents and then take one away, see if they can remember which item was taken away

Create a story- let your child create a story using the contents in the bag

Matching game- None of my items are alike but this matching game is to see which items are similar (ie: animals, foods, buttons, etc)

Color/shape game- match the items of the same color in the bag and let your child identify the color or shape.

I'm the Featured Blogger on The Mom Blog Monday Blog Hop!

I am so excited to be the featured blogger on Mom Blog Monday Blog Hop. Blog hops are so much fun and a great way to discover new blogs. Come and join in the fun. Welcome new readers from the hop!

Cupcake Express Review and Giveaway!

Cupcake Express is an etsy shop that specializes in cupcake wrappers and printable party supplies. The cupcake wrappers are very stylish and fit around a standard baked cupcake (she also sells wrappers for mini cupcakes). They come in a huge variety of colors and patterns and are very easy to assemble.

Easter Pastel Cupcake Wrappers Pink Green Yellow Purple Blue

The printable party supplies can be printed on your own color printer and once she emails you the file you can print it. They currently offer two complete party packages the Paris Collection and the Train Birthday Colllection, they also carry a few other designs. Printable supplies include:

Train Cupcake Wrappers and Toppers

Train Birthday Sign

Train Thank You Tags

Paris Birthday Banner


Paris Tags

Paris Invitations

I had the opportunity to try two sets of wrappers the pink damask and the Hot Pink Lime Green Orange Shebert Wrappers. I love these wrappers because they are bright and makes me think about the warm weather!

Hot Pink Orange Lime Green Wrappers

My daughter loves pink so I decided to use the pink for her birthday cupcakes. I baked the cupcakes in the oven and then once they cooled I took them out of the cupcake pan and placed them in the wrappers. Then I decorated them after placing them in wrappers. I have to admit I don't normally use store bought frosting, but I decided to take the easy route and just buy a can for her cupcakes.

Lt Pink Damask Wrappers

Since I normally don't use it I had a harder time with the frosting, but the wrappers I think took away from the less than perfect icing job! I really enjoyed using these cupcake wrappers. I had never used wrappers before on cupcakes but they were easy and really fun and I think that they are a huge imporvement over cupcaker liners!


Buy It! You can purchase items from Cupcake Express on etsy.

Win It! Cupcake Express is giving away a $15 gift certificate towards items from her etsy store. Giveaway ends on Saturday, April 9th at 11:59 pm EST and is open to U.S. residents. Winner will be chosen by The Random Number Generator. Once the winner is notified they will have 48 hours to email me with their contact information or another winner will be selected. Please enter a comment for each entry you complete.

Mandatory:

You must be a Google Friend Connect Follower (GFC) of Too Blessed to be Stressed and visit Cupcake Express and let me know in your comment which item is your favorite.


Extra Entries (one entry each, unless otherwise noted):

Heart Cupcake Express on etsy

Heart your favorite item at Cupcake Express on etsy

Follow Too Blessed to be Stressed on Facebook


All opinions on this post are my own. I was not compensated for this post. Cupcake Express provided me with two sets of wrappers for this review.

Ana's Edibles Winner!

The winner of the Ana's Edibles Labels giveaway is Claudia!
Congratulations. Thanks to everyone that entered!

TruKid Review and Giveaway

TruKid is a kids skincare company that sells sunscreen, soaps and moisturizers. All of their products are made just for kids and are all natural and completely chemical free. TruKid was started by a mother of six who wanted to have safe skincare products for her kids. TruKid products are made from organic ingredients and completely natural fragrances from essential oils. Their products are also gluten free. The TruKid site also lists all of their ingreients and they explain what every ingredient is and what it does in the product.

Their products are also made just for kids. They have quick and easy application, their scents are kid friendly and their products have a light texture. The company is very concerned with teaching kids healthy skincare habits and making their product kid friendly. Not only are their products kid friendly, but their labels. are very kid friendly as well. All of their products carry a smart label. The smart label has pictures to let kids know where the product should be used. Ther TruKid site also has great tips, songs and check lists to get your child interested in healthy skincare habits.

TruKid sent me four products to review: Silly Shampoo, helping Hand Wash, Happy Face and Body Lotion and Sunny Days Sunscreen.

When I opened the box my son and daughter were veyr excited. I immediately placed the hand soap in their bathroom. Right away my son said he needed to use the bathroom (which I think was only because he wanted to use his new soap!) He told me he really liked his new soap. Later that night I washed both children's hair with the shampoo. My children hate to have their hair washed and I always have a huge battle on my hands, especially with my son. I washed my son's hair and he told me I could wash his hair every night if I used his special new shampoo. After a couple of weeks of rain (and the days that it did not rain it was too cold to take the kids outside) we finally had a sunny day and I was able to use the sunscreen. The sunscreen was easy to apply and had the same scent as the other skincare products we receieved which was a nice change from the normal sunscreen we purchase. The loition was also very easy to applu and rubbed in so easily. All the products had a light fruity scent, which I found very pleasing. I do not like strong scents in skincare products, especially floral scents since they normally make my eyes and my kids' eyes itchy.

I could really tell a difference between Trukid's products and other skincare products not made specially for children. They are so much easier to apply and contain recognizable ingredietn.s Their scent are more pleasing and not overhwelming. I was very pleased with thier products. I felt much safer using their products on my children, since I could recognize most of the ingredients and the ones I did not recognize I could look up on their site. My kids also loved their products (especially my 4 1/2 year old). I would definately recommend their products to other parents.

Buy It! You can purchase TruKid products on their website.

Win It! TruKid is giving away three skincare products to one of my followers. This giveaway will end on Thursday, April 7th at 11:59 pm EST and is open to U.S. followers. To enter please leave a comment for each entry. Winner will be chosen by the Random Number Generator and will have 48 hours to respond to my email with their contact information. If the winner does not respond within 48 hours a new winner will be chosen.

Please leave a comment for each entry.

Mandatory entry:

You must be a follower of this blog (through Google Friend Connect) and subscribe to the TruKid mailing list (located on their homepage).

Extra Entries:

Follow TruKid on Twitter

Like TruKid on Facebook

Like Too Blessed to be Stressed on Facebook

All opinions on this review are my own. I was not compensated for this review, TruKid provided me with the stated products for review.

Apple n Amos Giveaway Reminder

Just a reminder that the Apple n Amos Giveaway ends on Saturday, March 26th. Go here to enter!

Easy Chicken with Tomatoes, Peppers and Onions

This recipe is super easy and my favorite part is that it is also free of 7 of the top 8 allergens (it does contain wheat, but if that is a concern you could always use a non-wheat flour). I also cook this in the crock pot (I love crock pot meals especially if I know it is going to be a busy day when I will not feel like cooking)!

Ingredients:

Four chicken breasts (I like to cut them in half)

One green peper (sliced)

One onion (sliced)

One large can tomatoes

Flour- to coat the outside of the chicken breasts

1 tsp of minced garlic

Preparation:

Coat the chicken in flour and then sautee in a pan with a little oil on the stove top until golden brown. Place all ingredients in the crock pot and cook 6-8 hours.

How easy is that?

Homeschooling Organization

About a month ago I told my husband that I was in desperate need of organization for my homeschooling supplies. He took the kids to IKEA (our favorite store) and came back with this organization system:

This system has 24 bins and I have almost filled every one of them. It is great for keeping things seperate. I have a bin for playdoh

A bin for crayons, marker, colored pencils (this bin has seperate containers to hold these items so they don't fall through the bins)

A bin for our musical instruments

And bins for all of our other art supplies and other learning tools. If you are interested in this system here are the links to the components:

wire bins

desk top

frame

I have yet to work on our homeschooling room, but I will be posting about it once I have it set-up. I suspect most of the furniture items (desk and bookshelves) will also be from IKEA.

Ana's Edibles Label Giveaway Ending Soon!

Don't forget to enter my giveaway for a set of labels from Ana's Edibles. Go here to enter, hurry giveaway ends on Thursday, March 24th at 11:59pm EST

Fun Felt Crown Craft

Tomorrow is my little girl's birthday party and I just had to share the favors I am giving out. I had a hard time deciding on favors since we have an age range of 13 months to nearly six years old, both boys and girls and I did not want to spend a ton of money. My daughter loves princesses and so we decided to go with a princess theme and I made felt crowns for all of the kids. These were relatively easy and the only supplies you need are felt, ribbons, thread, elastic, small scrap of fabric and a sewing machine.

All I did was make a pattern and use the rotary cutter (you can also use scissors) to cut out two of the crown. I then attached the design to the front crown. Next I attached each side with elastic covered with fabric. I sewed all around the crown to join the front and back and then I was done! I will be making seven crowns (I only currently have two crowns completely finished) and the total cost of the crowns will be under five dollars!

Girl Crown

Boy Crown

Cuddles and Love Review, Giveaway and Discount Code!

Cuddles and Love is an etsy shop run by Lisa who sews all her products. She sells onesies, eco-friendly reusable snack and sandwich bags, t-shirts, bibs, blankies and burpcloths. All of her items are absolutely adorable and she loves to do custom orders. Her items would also make great Easter basket presents!

Her onesies have adorable images appliques on the front and can be ordered up to size 4T and in long or short sleeves.

Giraffe with Leaves Onesie

Baseball T-shirt

Her reusable snack bags come in two sizes: snack and sandwich and are great for carrying a snack on-the-go!

Flying Saucers, Vintage

Lovey Blankets have adorable ribbons on the side for fun sensory play!

Boys Transportation Lovey

This rag quilt is made with flannel and minky and is 12" x 19" and is large enough to use as a car seat blanket.

Minky and Flannel Rag Quilt Blankie

Burp Cloths are made with cotton and terry cloth or flannel.

Two Poodle Flannel Burp Cloths

Bibs are made with adjustable cotton inside and adjust velcro to secure the bib.

Birthday Bib

I was sent an Eco-Friendly Reusable Snack bag set in cars material. I absolutely love this bag set!

Since all of my children have food allergies it is important for me to always have snacks for my kids wherever we go. The material is adorable so of course my son loved it! I also can give one to my 13 month old in the car and he will eat out of it. My older son does not like to eat breakfast before preschool in the morning, but if I pack some cereal in "his bag" he will eat it on the way to school. These bags are so easy to clean. They can be either wiped off or placed in the dishwasher's top rack. I love these bags and use them every day. I highly recommend them!

Buy It! You can purchase items from Cuddles and Love's etsy shop. She is also offering a discount code to my followers. Until April 15, 2011 use the code blessed for a 15% discount!

Win It! You can win a set of Eco Friendly Reusable Bags from Cuddles and Love. This giveawat is open only to those in the U.S. and will close at 11:59 pm (EST) on Thursday, March 31st. Winner will be chosen by the Random Number Generator. Once I email the winner they will have 48 hours to respond with their contact information or I will select a new winner. Please leave a comment for each entry you complete.

Mandatory:

You MUST be a follower of my blog (Too Blessed to be Stressed) through Google Friend Connect and visit Cuddles and Love's esty store and tell me what item you like best at her store.

Additional Entries:

Heart Cuddles and Love on etsy.

Like Too Blessed to be Stressed on Facebook.

All opinions stated in this post are my own. I was not compensated for this post, but was provided with a set of Eco-Friendly Reusable Bags for my review.

Milk and Egg Food Challenge

Today my older son had a food challenge for milk and egg. For those of you who aren't familiar with what a food challenge is it is when a child who has previous tested positive for food allergies is given that food a tiny bit at a time to see if they have a reaction. J tested very low two times in a row for his milk and egg allergies so after the results of his blood test came back the doctor told us that we could now do a food challenge with a cookie that had milk and egg baked in it.

After we settled in they gave us a tiny (slightly bigger than a crumb) piece of a chocolate chip cookie that I made at home. After 20 mintues they checked back in with us and they determined that there was no reaction so they gave him a piece that was equivalent to a half teaspoon. After this piece he was also fine so 20 minutes later they gave him a teaspoon sized piece, then a two teaspoon sized piece and then the rest of the cookie. He had no reaction at all to the cookie so the doctor told me we could gradually give him more and more items that had cooked milk and egg.

J also tested really low two years in a row to peanuts so the next step is a food challenge for peanuts (which is really scary, knowing that people with peanut allergies can have anaphyllaxis reactions). So I feel like we have crossed a hurdle in J's food allergies and in six months if all goes well we can do another milk and egg food challenge but this time with a glass of milk and a scrambled egg. For now I am praying that he is healed from all his food allergies and that his sister and brother will be healed as well.

Sign-A-Lot Review

Sign-A- Lot is a DVD series that teaches sign language to children. The Sign-A-Lot DVDs weave American Sign Language vocabulary through a storyline told by child performers and animated characters.

The series includes two volumes and teaches nearly 200 signs. Volume I is entitled The Big Suprise. The children are getting ready for a suprise party for their friends and they teach signs for a picnic, exercising, feelings and opposites. This DVD teaches more than eighty signs.

Volume II is called ABC Games and this DVD teaches children the alphabet, spelling, animals, colors and playground activities. This DVD introduces more than one hundred signs.

Their website also includes free song downloads from their DVDs.

Both DVDs include a special feature to review the signs that were taught. This is a great feature for parents since it enables them to review the signs so they can reinforce them with their children. By teaching children sign language you are teaching them through three different learning styles seeing, hearing and using their hands all at the same time!

I had the pleasure of reviewing both Sign-A-Lot DVDs. My son and I are currently taking a sign language class, however it is really hard to keep the attention of a 4 1/2 year old for an hour! I let him and my daughter watch volume I and the were so excited. They were both glued to the television and would participate and try some of the signs. As soon as the DVD was over my son asked to watch the second DVD. Since he was so excited about it I allowed him to watch it and just like the first DVD he was glued to the television. As soon as it was over he asked if he could watch it the next day. I allowed him to watch it the next day and he was still very entertained by it and tried the signs. He has picked-up several signs from the DVD. I really enjoyed the DVDs and think that they are a great tool to teach sign language to children. I especially like the review of signs on their special features. I would definately recommend these DVDs to teach children sign language.

Buy it! You can purchase Sign A Lot DVDs on their site or on Amazon. The Sign-A-Lot site offers free shipping on their DVDs!

All opinions in this post are my own. I was not compensated for this review, but I was provided with two DVDs by Sign-A-Lot.

Simple Food, Inc. Review

I am so pleased to share with you my review of Simple Food Soynut Butter. Simple Food makes soynut butter from organic soybeans that are not genetically modified or heavy sprayed with pesticides. Their soynut butter is peanut and tree nut free, vegan and gluten free. They only produce soynut butter in their factory so there is no chance of cross contamination from other allergens.

Although they only make soynut butter they make several varieties. The varities that they produce include no sugar- no salt, sea salted, sweetly salted, cinnamon sugar and chocolate.

Simple Food sent me two jars of their soynut butter- cinnamon sugar and chocolate. I was so excited to try these flavored soynut butter flavors, since the only soynut butter I have ever tried has been plain. They were such a treat! I first tried the cinnamon sugar flavor. It was really yummy and reminded me of cinnamon toast. My daughter tried it on a pancake and also enjoyed it. It is hard to get her to eat meat, so this is a great protein alternative for her!

I tried the chocolate and I would have to say that this is the best soynut butter I have ever tasted. It really tasted like chocolate with a hint of peanut butter. I ate it plain and also on top of ice cream and it was really delicious.

My opinion of Simple Food's soynut butter is that it is really tasty and I would definately recoommend it. It was such a treat to be able to taste a different flavor of soynut butter.

Buy It! You can purchase Simple Food's soynut butter on their site, please click here. You can also purchase it at select health food retailers and on Amazon.com.

All opinions in this review our mine. I was not compensated for this post, but Simple Food provided me with two jars of soynut butter to review.