March Hostess Specials From Thirty-One Gifts

I'm sure many of you are like me and cannot wait for the weather to catch up and be nice enough for summer adventures. If you are looking for things to do while you are waiting for summer, I have the best idea for you!

Why not have a Thirty-One party and show off the wonderful new spring and summer items. You will be ready for summer and getting your friends ready as well. Get some friends together, drinks with umbrellas, and call your Thirty-One representative. Set up a party today!

Plus, you get these awesome Hostess Specials! Find the details here. You can even find a representative and view the catalogue.

The Boob Ride CA 2019 - Not your mama’s kind of charity

Outrageous, irreverent, and fun? Yep! The Boob Ride is back for its 10th year raising money for breast cancer patients in their last mile of treatment. 100% of the riders’ registrations go to the cause while we challenge social norms and belly-up to the line with our coveted Bra Awards that parody the Tour de France, boob cookies and mammograms, and festive spirit that gets people off their couch and riding. We have some outrageous fun, while raising money to help low-income breast cancer patients solve their daily needs like transportation to treatment, food delivery, house cleaning, and paying their bills.

Don’t be a boob, register now!

Sometimes when we are going through a tough illness it is hard to cope with the reality of everything going on. I have seen this first hand with several family members. It also isn't always easy to talk with family members because you may be worried about how they are coping as well. Maybe you need someone outside of your circle to vent to, roll ideas off, or even talk with until you find the answer that you have within you. Have you considered online counseling? It might just be the answer to your predicament.

Wheelchair Set From Sophia's Doll Clothes

Disclaimer: I received products to review. All opinions are my own.

My daughter loves playing doctor with her dolls. She's always putting them in the hospital, putting bandaids on them, and taking their temperature. So, the Wheelchair set from Sophia's Doll Clothes is perfect for her. It comes with a wheelchair, crutches, casts, and bandages. It will work with 18 inch dolls and stuffed friends.

The wheelchair is collapsible and the foot rests move- plus, it actually rolls! The casts are easy for little hands to work and play with. My daughter is in love with this sets and plays with it almost every day.

Astronaut Set From Sophia's Doll Clothes

Disclaimer: I received products to review. All opinions are my own.

My kids play together a lot. This means they play cars, legos, hatchimals, and even dolls together. I made Tbomb a doll a while back from a girl doll I found at a thrift store. He named him Peter Parker (can you tell he loves Spider-man) and we have been able to find some boy stuff for him. However, finding playsets that are perfect for him has not been easy- until Now.

Sophia's Doll Clothes has released several play sets that are STEM based and licensed by The Smithsonian. This is really cool! They even come with informational posters, so their dolls can learn. There are five Smithsonian: Shoot For The Moon play sets. They are Veterinarian, Biologist, Astronaut,  Horticulturist, and Paleontologist.

My son received the Astronaut set and loves it!

The Astronaut play set comes with a two piece moon suit, telescope, camera, pen, moon rock specimin bag, astronaut food, and phases of the moon poster. Not only is it fun for little scientists, but it is educational, as well. 

Doll Sized Car Seat From Sophia's Doll Clothes

Disclaimer: I received products to review. All opinions are my own.

Miss Koda takes her doll everywhere and wants her doll to be just like her. Even down to the car seat. Well, Sophia's Doll Clothes has released one and it is perfect!

This carseat is lightweight, soft pink velour, and is totally girly. The Sophia's heart just adds to its beauty. The buckles are easy for little hands to work and it even has a loop on the bottom to connect it with your car's seat belt. It couldn't be any more perfect.

Spectrum: No Nonsense Curriculum For Your Child

Disclaimer: I received products to review. All opinions are my own.

One of the biggest problems I have had with the curriculums that we have used is that they are way too repetitive. My son gets bored and when he learns something, he wants to move on. With him picking things up very easily, we do not need to spend 2 weeks on one concept. The other problem is that other curriculums are way too cutesy and distract my son- he wants to look at the snakes that have nothing to do with the math lesson instead of focus on the problems that are below it. I discovered Spectrum and love it!

The core of our homeschool for third grade will be Spectrum. We will be using: Math, Word Study and Phonics, Writing, Reading, Cursive Handwriting, Science, Language Arts, and Geography Communities. I'm very excited to be using this and think my son will enjoy school a lot more. There will be no more repeating the same lesson for fillers. 

I also like the way the lessons flow and that there are no unnecessary steps that just confuse the kids. Also, each lesson is on one or two pages. What we are using for math this year has about 10 pages per day and it is very overwhelming for a second grader, especially when all the problems could be condensed to just a couple pages. He looks at the lesson for the day and already dreads that. He will not be doing that with Spectrum. 

Simple, Yet Amazing Math Manipulatives from Carson-Dellosa Publishing

Disclaimer: I received products to review. All opinions are my own.

I am not quite planning for the next school year yet (I do as much as possible before school gets out so that I am present with my kids in the summer). However, I am researching, gathering, and organizing. Besides the curriculum, one of the major changes I am making for the upcoming year is minimizing the space we need for our school items. I am using file bins, folders, a file folder hanger, zipper binders, and pouches. Right now, our manipulatives are taking up a lot of room, so finding alternatives was at the top of my list. Carson-Dellosa helped me out with that! Check these out!

I am just in love with these manipulatives! They are printed on great cardstock so they will last quite a while. They fit into a sandwich bag as well. I have each set in a sandwich bag and have one for each kid filed into a binder pencil pouch. It works great! They are handy for them and I do have to have a bin for these alone! If you are a classroom teacher, these come in a class pack!