The Blog

Precious Steps with Attipas Shoes plus Giveaway and Discount Code

Attipas loosely translates to ?precious steps?, and that is exactly what we want babies to do when they put on a pair of Attipas, take those first precious steps and take off running! Studies show that as our children are learning to walk it’s best to be barefoot as much as possible. At Attipas, we have taken these studies and built a shoe that allows for movement that mimics being barefoot, while providing protection to each precious piggy. At Attipas we also strive to be fashion forward with an array of colors, patterns and designs to match any outfit or attitude.

I can remember when Sonshine started walking. We thought it might never happen, as his first birthday hit and he was just getting around to this weird scoot/shift crawl, but, he seemed content with just sitting in one area, taking in the surrounding scenery. And then it happened, just Sonshine and were states away from his dad, visiting family, when he stood up and ran across the room! Three feet, to me, because I was so far away. Excitement filled me, then sheer panic. How was I going to encourage this new behavior while protecting his precious little feet against the outdoors? I was utter disappointed in all the shoes for toddlers and wish that Attipas had been around for us all those years ago!

Attipas translates to “precious steps” and these shoes are just that, precious. The best way to describe the toddler shoes is socks with a rubber sole. They’re perfect for little feet that are just learning to walk due to seven years of physio-dynamic and kinetic research. The internationally patented shoes ergonomically support first steps thanks to the wide-toed, non-slip rubber soles.

The rubber soles are light-weight and so flexible It took almost no pressure for me to bend the soles. The toes are in a large box shape to let little piggies wiggle and move with each step with free movement for motor and cognitive development. It’s almost as good as going barefoot! I think having the traction on the bottom of the soles can be better for little climbers, less likely to slip on smooth or wet surface than bare feet!

Attipas are breathable, machine washable, and made from non-toxic, safety tested material. It’s like putting a sock on your toddlers foot, just as lightweight, but will keep those soft soles safe while they explore a whole new world around them!

Although we don’t currently have a new walker at home, I couldn’t help but fall in love with these Marine Arrow designed Attipas shoes! Sonshine’s first bedroom was nautical themed and I’m still obsessed! The fabric part is so stretchy and I know that one day another little baby in our home will look adorable in them! Sizes for Attipas start at 9 months and run all the way to 2.5 years old so if you have an early walker or a late one like me, you’ll find a size that fits whenever you need it! And with a variety of adorable themes to choose from like the Ballet Black to Sneaker Gray to Polka Dot Green and in between, you’ll find a color and style to fit any wardrobe (or just fully diaper bottom!) that your little one wears!?

Connect
You can connect with Attipas Kids on their website, Facebook, and Pinterest pages

Buy It
You can purchase the Marine Arrow style on their website for $24.99

Discount Code
Just for our readers! Use code: outno3to1 for 30% off the retail price of Attipas Shoes

The Giveaway
How would you like to win your very own pair of Attipas Shoes? I have one pair, winner’s choice, to giveaway to one of our lucky readers! Use the Rafflecopter form below and please follow all the rules. If you do not follow the rules, you cannot win.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Handcrafted Jewelry by Blue Poppy

Blog· Review

As my poor husband learned early on, I can be very particular about my jewelry. I like unique pieces that don’t look like something everyone else has. I can also be picky about quality – when I get jewelry I know it’s something I plan to wear for a long time so I want it to be made well.

Simple, chic, and subtly significant, Blue Poppy Handmade Jewelry harmoniously intertwines timeless design with the unique and personal art of storytelling. The pieces, sweet with simplicity and understated glamour, gracefully capture profound moments and personal meaning, seamlessly breathing the life of the wearer into beautiful pieces of jewelry.

?The eco-conscious line of understated jewelry is the creative love child shared between sisters, Jill Redman and Erin Bartles. As new mothers, the duo watched in awe as their most important creations, their children, grew – and as their roles in life multiplied,?the moments within each day grew profoundly significant and relationships more meaningful.

It was from this inspiration that Blue Poppy Jewelry is rooted ? a harmoniously timeless and modern collection dedicated to mothers, sisters, and friends and the shared moments that forever shape our lives.

To say I was thrilled to receive the Mother and Child pendant necklace from Blue Poppy would be an understatement. This gorgeous pendant is made with sterling silver and Ebony and hangs on an 18″ sterling silver bead chain.

I was ecstatic when I opened the box and saw the necklace – it was perfect! I love that it’s small (about the size of a dime) and simple, yet it’s so chic and is unlike any other pendant I’ve seen in the past. I’ve had it on all day and have gotten so many complements on it. The best part about this necklace is it has a story behind it that I got to share with others.?

In Greek mythology, the constellations Ursa Major and Ursa Minor – commonly knows as the big and little dippers, tell the story of a mother and her child united safely together for eternity.

The tiny drops of sterling silver in this pendant represent these beautiful star formations and may be worn as a reminder of the eternal love that exists between a mother and her children.

This is truly a special necklace and with Mother’s Day coming up soon, it would be the perfect gift for any mom. I love knowing that when wearing it, it’s close to my heart and reminds me of my sweet Nugget. This is a very unique and inspiring piece that I will wear for years to come. The pendant and necklace are also of very high quality. I have no concerns about it chipping or breaking and I can tell it will hold up well to my rambunctious toddler. I can’t wait to check out the other pieces Blue Poppy has to offer.

Connect:?

You can connect with Blue Poppy on their website, Pinterest,?Facebook?and at @Blue_Poppy on Twitter.

Buy It!?

You can buy the Mother and Child Pendant?on Blue Poppy’s?website?for $75.

Three New Ways to Start Your Day with Nature Valley

Blog· Review

I am a huge breakfast lover! Even as a young girl I could eat breakfast three times a day and be satisfied throughout the day! My kids are seriously the same way! But now that I’m an adult I no longer can eat that way, I have to cook some sort of lunch and dinner for the family!

Nature Valley has always been a favorite in our house! They have three new breakfast options to choose from, Protein Crunchy Granola, Great Yogurt Protein Bars, and our absolute favorite Breakfast Biscuits!

Nature Valley Breakfast Biscuits are a great way to start the day and help make mornings easier and more delicious. Made with real blueberries and honey, Nature Valley Breakfast Biscuits provide a wonderful combination of convenience, great taste and breakfast satisfaction, offering more than 26 grams of whole grain in each four-biscuit serving. Available in two delicious varieties ? Blueberry and Honey. SRP: $3.89.

Nature Valley Greek Yogurt Protein Bars are a delicious, protein snack option perfect for an active lifestyle, offering a great source of protein while you are on-the-go. Made with real fruit, crunchy peanut and almond pieces, the bars offer 10 grams of protein per serving. Available in two fruit varieties ? Mixed Berry and Strawberry. SRP: $4.19.

Nature Valley Protein Granola in Cranberry Almond is a loose, bagged granola with energy from whole grain to keep you going. Made with natural ingredients, including real almonds and sweetened cranberry pieces, each serving contains 10 grams of protein and at least 22 grams of whole grain (48 grams of whole grain recommended daily). Also available in two additional varieties, Oats ?n Honey and Oats ?n Dark Chocolate, Nature Valley Protein Granola can be found in the granola aisle at retailers nationwide for an SRP of $4.49.

The Breakfast Biscuits come in Honey and Blueberry. These biscuits have a really nice texture to them, crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside. They are made with 26 grams of whole grains per serving, and only 230 calories for 4 biscuits. They will, for sure, provide you with the energy needed to start your morning!

I start my morning off with one pack of these babies and a cup of coffee, I’m satisfied and ready to start my day!

One thing I also try to look for in breakfast(now that I’m older) is a good source of fiber. These have 4 grams of fiber in them!

I am most definitely going to buy these Breakfast Biscuits again, along with the Granola and the Protein bars…they’re a huge hit in our family!

Connect:

You can connect with Nature Valley on Facebook, and/or @naturevalley on Twitter!

Buy It!

You can buy the Nature Valley Products at retailers near you!

Hare-raising Experience with The Wiggles: Furry Tales DVD and Musical Guitar

Blog· Giveaways· Review

Pets, The Wiggles, NCircle Entertainment, Animals

In the Wiggles’ latest DVD, the beloved band from down under offers tons of music that young fans will love. They also have a few new faces: Lacky the Purple Wiggle, Simon the Red Wiggle and also the first ever female Wiggle, Emma the Yellow Wiggle. We have been fans of the Wiggles since they first started out. My children love music, and they love The Wiggles.

This DVD is filled with catchy songs your children will be singing along with them in no time. They also include easy dance steps for those that love to put motion in their performances. The Wiggles celebrate their animal friends and include footage of Bengal tigers, kangaroos, dingos and other exotic animals from the Dreamworld Wildlife Park in Australia. The DVD even includes an option for subtitles for the hearing impaired.

A Few of the 21 Song Jukebox:

Say the Dance, Do the Dance

There Are So Many Animals

Scubby, Dub, Dub

The Monkey Dance

Brush Your Pet’s Hair

Bunny Hop

Special Features

Ready, Steady Wiggle!

TV Series Episode?

Lacky Shrinks The Wiggles!

In this DVD The Wiggles explain in great lengths how to take care of your pet, and how it is not the parents responsibility. Both of my daughters have been wanting a dog, and I have tried to explain what a BIG responsibility they are. This DVD is the perfect supplement to educate your child on all the responsibilities of having a pet such as brushing your pets hair.

Our favorite songs are Brush Your Pet’s Hair and Bunny Hop. The most exciting change for me personally was Emma the Yellow Wiggle not only is she a fabulous singer, but she is also a drummer. It’s not too often you see a female drummer that is going to be such a major influence for young girls, and she really knows how to rock.

Kids can play along to the new DVD with a fabulous The Wiggles: Musical Guitar. The guitar is recommended for ages 3+, but all of my children have been obsessed with this guitar. It plays five Wiggles songs: Do the Propeller, Rock-a-Bye Your Bear, Beep Beep Buckle Up, The Shimmie Shake, and Hot Potato. The guitar makes eclectic and acoustic guitar sounds. It even has a strum, whammy bar and drum. Even my eight-year-old couldn’t wait to play with the guitar because it sounds like she is strumming a REAL guitar.

Connect:

You can connect with The Wiggles on their website.

Buy it

You can buy The Wiggles: Furry Tales DVD for $6.28 and The Wiggles Musical Guitar on Amazon for $17.99 .

The Giveaway: How would you like to win your own The Wiggles: Furry Tales DVD and The Wiggles Musical Guitar? I have some to give away to one lucky contestant!

To enter the giveaway please follow all of the directions below! If you don’t follow the rules, you can’t win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Celebrate National Reading Month with Duraflame

Blog· Review

March is National Reading Month so there is no better time to cozy up by the fire and enjoy a good book! Dr. Seuss’s Birthday was on March 2, followed by Read Across America Day on March 3, 2014. Duraflame wants to help remind people of the importance of making reading a daily habit. Celebrating and encouraging reading with our families is just as important as it always has been!

My mother read to me every night when I was little and I quickly became a bookworm. Spending countless nights reading under the sheets way past bedtime because I just couldn’t put a good book down. It even led me to graduate school where I got my master’s degree in library and information science. I just love telling people that I am a librarian!

If you have never read The Lorax then you are definitely missing out on a great book to read to your kids. Just as the Lorax fought to preserve the majestic Truffula Trees and make the world a better place, Duraflame also believes that everyone can play a hand in protecting the resouces that are most valuable to our planet. Here are some facts about them you might not know:

No trees are cut down to make duraflame fire logs and the use of fire logs instead of wood can save 1.2 million trees from use as firewood each year.
Duraflame recycles more than 50,000 tons of wood sawdust and agricultural biomass each year to make fire logs.
A fire log produces 80% less emissions than a similar duration wood fire. Now, that’s a breath of fresh air!

The 6lb natural fire log is made from 100% renewable resources including bio-based waxes and oils combined with wood sawdust and agricultural biomass (no petro-chemicals). When I have a fire going in my fireplace I only use duraflame. I really like that they are fast lighting. The cold weather should be gone soon but until then read some good books with your kids fireside and once they are in bed enjoy a good book just for you!

Connect:

You can connect with Duraflame on their website and Facebook.

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