FREE Teacher Appreciation Printables and Ideas w/Linky

Next week, May 2nd-May 6th is Teacher Appreciation Week.  Do you have your teacher gift already?  If you are anything like me, the answer would be a resounding NO.  It wasn't even on my radar until Miss M brought home a note from the PTA with ideas of things your child could bring each day of the week to show his/her appreciation.  I loved that they did this since I am pretty uninspired with this sort of thing.

My friend Heather at Pass the Cereal also posted some awesome teacher gift ideas that would be good for either next week or at the end of the year.  But since I am in no way as crafty as her, I thought I would do some surfing on the web and see if I could find some neat printables that could make a quick and easy and thoughtful gift.

Here's what I found:

Modern Parents Messy Kids-DIY Teacher Survival Kits

Catch My Party-Teacher's ROCK collection

Tidy Mom- Apple Caramel Cupcakes

Domesticated Lady-S'More Teacher Apprecation

Nothing but Country-Jar of Joy

Amy J. Designs-Printable Treat Bag

I am Momma: Hear Me Roar

and last, but not least, a simple thank you is sometimes words enough...

Dimple Prints

Do you have any great teacher appreciation ideas?  Please share or..

Who Wore It Best?

Miss M age 18 months (2006)

C age 23 months (2011)

Same dress.  Same sweater.  5 years apart.

Now that is getting my money's worth.

Easter 2011 Replay

In our family, we spend every Thanksgiving with J's family and every Easter with mine.  While we miss the other side when we are not with them, I do like the consistency this schedule gives my girls.  J's parents were actually up for a short visit this year so they were able to give the girls their Easter goodies before they left on Saturday morning.  This was a nice bonus to the holiday.

On Sunday, we went to early, early mass with my folks.  (They like the 8am mass).  The only good thing about this time is that we live close enough to their church so that we were able to make it there in plenty of time and without rushing through the house to get ready.  I had Miss M pick out her Easter dress the night before so there wouldn't be any last minute quarrels (on my part) or frustrations (on both of our parts).  I also ironed both mine and C's outfits the night before so we were all set to go.  Speaking of outfits, the only one who got a new Easter outfit this year was ME!  C wore M's hand me down, M wore a dress that I won from Little Pea and I was sick of wearing the same thing every Easter.  I swear it looks like I have an Easter uniform in the old photos!  So I found something I like on Land's End and bought it.  Winning!

We went to mass and then came back to our house for some delicious french toast casserole that J had prepared the night before and then cooked in the morning.  It is awesome.  While waiting for the french toast to finish baking, we did our egg hunt outdoors.  It was fun.  C was definitely getting more into the hunt this year and so we had to remind M to leave some eggs for her sister!

We don't do a big easter basket filled with treats, etc for the girls.  Instead we buy them each a Christian themed book and perhaps a chocolate bunny and that's it.  We try hard to keep it real simple and let the focus remain where it should be..the resurrection of our Lord and Savior.

After C's afternoon nap, we returned to my folks place and had a lovely dinner.  Although my side can be quite large with a total of 6 children (blended family) plus spouses and grandchildren and great-grandchildren, it is every so often, as it was this year, that it is just us and my folks at Easter.  It is a nice and simple gathering.  My folks also gave everyone a lovely Easter card with some Easter goodies inside.

We are so blessed.

Here are a couple of pictures from the day:

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!  Anyone have their Easter hunt indoors?

Important Cause to Support a Family in Need

Starting today, April 25th, through Wednesday, April 27th, Beth over at Happily Domestic is holding an important silent auction.  She is working hard to raise money for her friend, Lori,  and her family.  Tragedy recently struck this family in that her husband recently died and left behind no life insurance and no medical insurance and little extra funds to even cover funeral expenses.  Most importantly, he left behind two little girls and a wife and extended family that will miss him dearly.  To read the full story, click here.

The really neat thing is that both Kolcraft and Nifty Nappy cloth diapers have joined forces with Beth to auction off some great items!  Here is what is being auctioned off RIGHT NOW!

Custom T-Shirt Nifty Nappy Diaper

Lil Zoo Peachy Keen Cloth Diaper

Lil Peachy Keen FITTED diaper

Woolie Wrap- Cloth Diaper Cover

Woolie Wrap- Custom Embroidered

Kolcraft Contours Organic Cotton 2-Stage Infant-Toddler Mattress

Kolcraft 2-in-1 Bassinet & Incline Sleeper

Jeep Overland Limited Jogging Stroller

Contours Optima Tandem Stroller

As you can see that is some GREAT stuff that you can bid on!  The tandem stroller isn't even available in stores yet, so you could be the first!  How cool would that be?

So please go to Happily Domestic and check out her auction.  If you would like to just donate to this family, you can do so here.  If you are unable at this time to help, please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

Thanks!
Angie

FREE Easter Printables

Since Easter is here on Sunday, I thought I would share some free Easter printables that I have found around the web.

Check out the following websites/blogs for some really neat designs that can brighten up your Easter festivities!

Kawaii Easter Kit -- Includes postcards (shown below), stickers, cupcake toppers, and coloring sheets.

Nifty Thrifty Things -- Easter cards in four styles.  Like this one:

Shindig Parties to Go -- Wide variety of Easter decorations including signs and banners.

Little Red Bus -- Patterned Paper and Party Dot Garland (shown here):

Parties by Hardie -- Wide assortment of tags (shown below), cards, napkin rings, stationary, etc.

Autumn Leigh Designs -- Invitations, food labels, party favor tags, banner, etc.

Anders Ruff -- Hershey Kisses Easter Labels (shown here):

Nellie Design -- Easter Banner (shown here):

Funkytime -- Vintage style cards/signs

Last but not least is not a printable but rather a craft that looks so easy that I think I could even do!

Check out Modern Parents Messy Kids to find out how to make this:

She also has a cute Easter memory game too!

I hope you enjoy these! 

Happy Spring!  Happy Easter!
Angie

Disclaimer: I was not paid in any shape or form to post these links.  They are simply cute things that I wanted to share.  Thanks!

Guess Who?

How Not to Spend a Sunday Evening

Sunday night I went to the Gymboree sale in Bolingbrook that I mentioned here.  The sale started at 6:00 and I got there about 6:45 or so.  The store was packed.  It is a tiny store too.  They had all the clearance items just stacked in boxes and so you had to pick your way through them with lots and lots and lots of moms and dads.  I am sure the boxes at one point were organized by size, but not by the time I got to them.  Thankfully everyone was quite civil to one another and would even help you find a size if you said what you were looking for.

So after I did some searching I found 11 items to buy.  By 7:30pm I was in line.  I did not check out my purchases until 8:30pm.  Yep, ONE HOUR.  Fun.  They had two registers and people buying lots and lots and lots of clothes.  I mostly was looking for clothes for Miss M for next fall/winter and I think a lot of people were looking for my size as well since I didn't find a whole lot in her size.  There was a lot of baby and newborn clothes or else clothes that I just didn't like the style.  Even if it is on sale I am not going to buy it if it won't get worn or I don't want her to wear it.

While I was standing in line, J calls me and tells me that Miss M was complaining about her ear bugging her again.  She has been doing this for the past couple days.  We weren't sure how serious it was since it didn't appear to be a constant pain and sometimes would appear when she was looking for attention or didn't want to do something (or so it seemed).  I told him to let her watch some tv but I probably won't be home real soon.

When I finally arrived home at 9pm, I checked on Miss M and she was crying in her bed.  She said she had a bad dream and her ear was really bugging her.  I talked with J and we decided that we shouldn't wait this out any longer.  I then took her to the ER while J stayed home with C (who was asleep).

Even though the ER was very busy we were seen right away and the doctor confirmed it was an ear infection in her left ear.  Since she is allergic to amoxicillin he prescribed azithromycin, which M has taken before.  The nurse also put numbing drops in her ear to dull the pain until we could get her the other medicine. After getting it, we were back home and M was back in bed by 10:40.  Not too bad.

She even went to school the next day.  I, on the other hand, was not too happy when C started to cry and wake up at 6:30.

P.S.  In case you are curious if the sale was worth it, I spent $48.64 before taxes on eleven items.  If I had paid for those same items at full retail price, I would have spent $237.45!  An 80% savings...not too shabby.

Great Family Deals in Chicago Area!

Recently I came across two good deals/sales that I thought I would share with my readers.

DEAL #1: Gymboree Sale at Bolingbrook, IL store Sunday ONLY!

On Sunday, April 17th (tomorrow!) from 6-8pm, the Promenade Bolingbrook store will be clearing out their stock rooms and having a special clearance sale!   Select items will be an extra 25% off already reduced prices.  

The store is normally open from 10:30am-6:30pm, so they are going to be open extra late for this special sale.  The Lombard store had a sale like this a couple of months ago and it was great.  There was a ton of merchandise and the store was packed.  For that sale I had to bring my toddler in her stroller and that was a mistake.  The aisles were literally packed with clothes so it was hard to maneuver with the stroller.  I did find some good deals but probably could have found more if C wasn't with me.  I am definitely planning on going to this sale child-free!

DEAL #2: $9 for 2 Open Play Admission to Kiddie Klub Lane ($18 value) (Lombard, IL) 

I have been receiving emails from FamilyFinds! Chicago for a while now, but have never purchased a deal until yesterday.  FamilyFinds is like Groupon for families with young kids.  It is easy (and free!) to establish an account and you will receive their deals in your email.  They don't just have deals for Chicago only, but also nationwide ones as well.  Also, there might be a FamilyFinds in your area so check out their site!

What made me finally purchase one of their deals?  It is because it is for Kiddie Klub Lane, a neat indoor play space where kids up to age 8 can use their imaginations in a multitude of different houses or villages.  What I especially like about this play area is that all the playing is done in the round.  Therefore the caregiver can just sit in the middle and be able to still see where their child is at all times.  I love this!  One thing I don't care for at children's museums is all the different spaces that your child can run to and that you can loose track of them in!  Not fun.  This place is different.

I especially like that if you purchase a voucher today, you get the voucher in your email box right away that you then print and present to Kiddie Klub.  If you don't use it right away, you have until October 27, 2011 to use it.

Hope you like these deals!  Please let me know if you would like me to post more of these deals as I come across them.  Thanks!

Disclaimer:  The FamilyFinds post does contain affiliate links.  So if you sign up and purchase a deal, I get a little bit back.  Thanks for reading!

Winner of BabyBond Nursing Cover!

Congrats to Jen on winning her choice of BabyBond Cover!  An email has been sent and she has 48 hours to claim her prize.

A big thank you to all who entered!  Happy Friday!

Scenes from a weekend

I have a confession

Despite my blog's title, Queen of the Snot PRINCESSES, my six year old does not like princesses.  So what do I do?  Should I drop the princesses and just call it, Queen of the Snot?  I'm not so sure about that.

When I started this blog, Miss M. was all about the princesses.  If you go back and look at her "Musings" she would have me write story after story after story about those gosh darn ladies in waiting.  Then this past summer we moved.  Suddenly princesses weren't the be all to end all.  Something new had moved with us..

Star Wars.  This girl is CRAZY for Star Wars.  She loves everything and knows everything about the story and can tell you what happened in each movie.  The funny thing?  She has never seen the movies and doesn't really want to.  She knows everything she knows from the fine pages of a book.  Love that!  She can argue with you the minute details of who was in what scene in which movie solely based on what she has read or listened to.

What about C?  She is still too little to start getting on the princess bandwagon and I am not one to put her on that particular cart.  I have a feeling that if her sister continues down this path of Star Wars admiration then C has little to no chance of not joining big sis.  Take in point two things that recently occurred.  One, C was looking at one of Miss M's Star Wars books that shows all the characters from the movies.  C sees a picture of the Ewoks.  She starts kissing them.  The other thing that happened was during a recent trip to Target.  We went down the kids bedding aisle and saw some Star Wars stuff.  C sees a pillow in the shape of the famous little guy that we all loved but were kinda scared of (or was that just me?) and says...Yoda.  J and I looked at each other and just shook our heads....

Perhaps a better name for this blog would be Queen of the Jedi???

Don't forget to enter my latest giveaway here.  It ends this Thursday!  Thank you!

x and r by Miss M

a and b love to play in the park.  They see a lot of other alphabet friends.  They like to play with m, r, o, s, t.  They also to play all day long until their mommies a and b and m tell them to go inside.  But o never has to go inside.  He just likes to sit, sit and sit!  

The next morning, a, b, and c wanted to go outside but their mommies said they couldn't go outside because you have class today.

[Dictated to AEK from Miss M]

Buy One Get One Free Offer from BabyBond!!

So it is a very BabyBond day on the blog today!  See below for a great offer that is only good TODAY!  Then check out my giveaway here.


BabyBond: buy one get one FREE* 

Buy a BabyBond online from Babies R Us or buybuyBABY and get a second BabyBond for FREE* !!!

Act fast... this limited time offer is only valid today 4/7/11 between 4 pm and 8 pm EST.  

Oh yeah, it would be nice if you "like" us, too.

*TERMS & CONDITIONS: Customer buys one BabyBond online from Babies R Us or buybuyBABY and receives anotherBabyBond from Slurp & Burp LLC with only paying $10 shipping/handling. Email receipt from Babies R Us or buybuyBABY dated 4/7/11 to pr@babybondnursing.com along with your choice of BabyBond. We will invoice $10 via PayPal for shipping/handling ($15 for international shipping) and ship your FREE BabyBond once shipping/handling fees are paid. Receipt from Babies R Usor buybuyBABY must be dated 4/7/11.  We must receive your receipt and choice of BabyBond between 4 pm and 8 pm EST on 4/7/11.

BabyBond: A Nursing Mom's Dream (Review & GIVEAWAY!!) NOW CLOSED!

With both of my girls, I was able to breastfeed them for the first full year of their lives.  I was happy to do this and was thankful I was able to (and didn't have the added expense of formula, etc).  With Miss M, I never breastfed her in public.  She was an October baby so we spent the greater part of that winter indoors anyway.  If we were out, I would feed her in the car or just wait until we reached our destination.  I would always go into another room if we were not at home.  As a new mom, I was most comfortable nursing her this way and it worked fine.


When C arrived, I did not have the same luxury of staying indoors as I did with M.  Now I had a 4 1/2 year old and it was summertime.  My sister-in-law had bought me a nursing cover and I used that anytime we were at the park, etc. and C was hungry.  I don't remember there even being nursing covers when M was a baby.  The cover was okay.  C would get hot under it and sometimes bat at it instead of concentrating on eating.  I was glad I had it but wasn't completely satisfied using it.


When I was given the opportunity to review BabyBond, I jumped at the chance.  It is a nursing cover, but one that doesn't cover the baby!  What a great idea!  Even though my nursing days are very much behind me, I still wanted to see how the BabyBond would work.  I even had a worthwhile accomplice to help me in my review, my niece Caley.  She just became a new mom to a ten pound baby girl, "J",  a little over a month ago!


Here is her review of the Flex cover:

I think it is a really great concept. The thing that I like best about it is that the baby is not covered and you can have eye contact with the baby but you still are covered. The fabric is nice and soft compared to some of the other nursing covers I have seen, and it is smaller then most nursing covers so it would be easy to take with you all the time without having to worry about space. The detachable burp cloth is also really nice because it attaches and when you are out you won't have to worry about dropping the burp cloth or anything like that. The only things I find negative would be that when you are getting baby to latch on it is less modest. Also you need to be sure you are wearing a nursing shirt for it to work or else your stomach will be exposed. I would definitely try it out, probably more in the house when I don't want to be around people then in public because of the fact that I wouldn't want the extra expense of buying a whole nursing wardrobe to be able to use this. 

One thing that I would add to Caley's review is that if you have shirts that will button open or a low v-neck, then you do not have to use a nursing shirt with it.  Overall, I really wish I had known about BabyBond a couple of years ago, but I am glad that it is a real option for those moms that have to be on the go and those babies that hate being covered up.

Buy it! Go to BabyBond and get your own cover for $35!  Enter coupon code QSP and get 25% off your order!!

Note: the sash should actually be on the left shoulder

and not the right as shown in order

for the cover to be used properly.

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED!  THANKS!

Win it!  Baby Bond has graciously offered one of my readers their choice of either the Original, Flex or Couture models.

Mandatory Entry: Visit BabyBond's website and come back and leave a comment on which of three models (Original, Flex or Couture) you would choose AND in what color.  You MUST do this first or no entries will count!  Please leave your email address with this comment.

Extra Entries:

1. Like BabyBond on Facebook (leave your Facebook name).
2. Follow Queen of the Snot Princesses on Google Friend Connect (side bar --- click Follow) (leave GFC name)
3. Follow me on twitter and tweet this:  #Win a @babybond nursing cover from @yeahhappy! #breastfeeding #bfcafe LOW ENTRIES #giveaway.  Include link in your comment.  This can be done only ONCE.

This giveaway is offered worldwide 18+ and will end on April 14th 11:59pmCST.  Winner will be chosen through random.org.  Winner will be notified via e-mail.  If they fail to respond within 48 hours then a new winner will be picked.  Please leave your e-mail address in all your comments so that I can contact you.  I will not share your e-mail with anyone, it is strictly for me to notify you if you win.  GOOD LUCK!
Full 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 will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255 Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. Tomoson Product review & giveaway Disclosure.

Notes on the Wall

Post-It-Note creations

that Miss M placed next to her bed.

Be sure to stop by tomorrow for an exciting giveaway for nursing moms or pregnant moms planning to nurse!