The buffing cloth is a gentle way of exfoliating your skin. Just use any body wash on your dampened cloth and massage your rough skin, especially on your heels, elbows and knees. It is suitable for all skin types.

The cloth is 12×36inches and made from durable nylon fibers. After each use it should be thoroughly rinsed and hung up to dry. If necessary, it can also be machine washed in cold water.

Where to purchase or seek additional information:
Dermalogica Ultimate Buffing Cloth

The kit contains:

• Wash off (1.7oz) – a foaming face wash that cleanses pore-deep
• All Over Clear (1.7oz) – a spritzer for your face and body to re-energize and tone your skin and prevent breakouts
• Ready, Set, Scrub (0.5oz) – pore-refining scrub and masque to purify skin and control oil production
• Bedtime for Breakouts (0.5oz) – fights breakouts while you sleep
• Welcome Matte SPF15 (0.5oz) – moisturizer to hydrate your skin

Dermalogica is recommended by skin care professionals worldwide. It is made from high quality ingredients, has never been tested on animals, never uses artificial colors, fragrances, mineral oils or lanolin.

For more information on the starter kit and on the individual ingredients of each product:
Dermalogica Clean Start Kit

Add some chocolate, and maybe a small bottle of Advil . . . and it is almost perfect!

Check your in-ad coupons. I am not going to list any here because I had 3 different end dates and don’t want to list any that send you to the store to find you disappointed.

Selected General Mills Cereals/Nature Valley Granola Bars are buy 4 and get $4 off making them $1.50. Pay close attention to your receipt as I had a problem with them and had to get a refund. These were the ones I purchased. 5 Nature Valley granola bars and used 50¢ insert and 40¢ printable coupons – also 1 40¢ shortcuts.com coupon came off 1

Nature Valley bites (going back for more as they weren’t listed in the ad and in a rush I didn’t cut out my $1.00 coupons I had printed!) – $1.00 printable – $1.00 shortcuts.com coupon = 50¢ profit!!

2 Cheerios – $1.00 printable coupons and 1 55¢ shortcuts.com coupon so 2 boxes for 45¢!

Ragu $1.25. Used a $1.00/2 Safeway booklet coupon and 2 30¢ insert coupons to make them 45¢ each

Capri Suns are $1.79 this week

2 Jr Grands Biscuits $1.69 each – $1.00/2 Safeway booklet coupon – 30¢/2 insert coupon – 30¢ shortcuts.com coupon = 89¢ each

Smart Balance Sour Cream $2.49 – $1.00 insert coupon = $1.49

Safeway hot dog/hamburger buns 99¢

Jennie O Turkey $2.99

Jennie O Turkey Roast $3.49

Farmer John Bacon BOGO ($5.49 or $2.75 each)

1.  Cooking.  I keep the jar on the counter with our cookie dough scoop close by.  Every morning my husband eats fried eggs or omelets.  So just a little bit in my tiny cast iron pan, and voila – no stick. We use it for all our stir frying, I plop a scoop of it into oatmeal, chili, soup, etc, to get an extra boost of goodness.  You can find more recipe uses for coconut oil when you CLICK HERE

2.  Spreading.  Ok, I admit I don’t do this much but my oldest daughter loves it on crackers or a slice of bread with jelly, etc.  She’ll actually even just lick the spoon after scooping some out for something.

3.  Lip balm.  I put a little bit in an old carmex jar and carry it in my purse. I can flavor/scent it with just one drop of essential oil of choice.  Mmmmmm….

4. “Goot” – this garlic oil salve is great for whatever ails you.  We keep a jar on hand in the winter time especially.  It’s basically just equal amounts of Coconut Oil, olive oil and finely chopped fresh garlic.  Rub it on your check on the first feelings of a cold, etc.  Great stuff.  You can find out more details on GOOT by going HERE and HERE.

5.  Dry skin – I keep a jar of coconut oil mixed with my favorite essential oils by my bed and rub it on my sandpaper heels at night.  Softens them really nice.  Great for elbows and knees or other super dry spots.  Because the coconut oil is an oil it will start to melt when applied to your skin and warms, so use it a little bit at a time.

Remember to use our referral code: 5839772 when you order over at TropicalTraditions.com.  And don’t forget to enter our giveaway when you CLICK HERE

http://juicyrewards.tropicana.com/login/home.aspx

Shipping starts at $6.95

The Old Schoolhouse Magazine

Whether you are thinking of homeschooling or you’re already  a seasoned homeschooling family, The Old Schoolhouse Magazine will give you support in your quest to home school successfully and answer the many questions you might have.

Read up on current educational issues, learn from homeschooling experts, discover exciting learning adventures, prepare your kids for college, recipes to try, supply lists, writing made easy tips, science experiments you can do from home etc. The magazine offers everything and more you need to know to make your homeschooling journey a happy one for you and your children. The magazine follows a Christian ethos that will keep you strong throughout this commitment.

Where to purchase or seek additional information:
The Old Schoolhouse Magazine

The book features:

• Things you need to consider before homeschooling your child
• Important actions to take to make sure you have the correct information for homeschooling in your own state and know the law
• How to make sure your school district will approve your homeschooling proposal
• What is expected from you as a teacher
• What a school committee looks at before accepting your proposal
• How to create lesson plans
• How to pick subjects the school committee will approve of
• How to make homeschooling fun
• Where to find homeschooling resources and information

In his book, the author gives you the straight talking on what you need to know before embarking on homeschooling your children. Which laws to abide by and on how to deal with your local school district. You don’t need to be a qualified teacher or have a degree but you need to have enthusiasm, be informed, find the right support and want the best possible education for your children.

This book comes as a Kindle version and the file size is 58KB.

Where to purchase or seek additional information:
The Parents’ Guide to Successful Homeschooling

Bringing Up Geeks: How to Protect Your Kid’s Childhood in a Grow-Up-Too-Fast World

Today’s culture encourages consumerism, superficiality and high-risk behaviors. Kids nowadays, through the media, are bombarded with “negative” messages and grow up far too quickly. Raising GEEKs (Genuine, Enthusiastic, Empowered Kids) is the message the author, Marybeth Hicks, is passing on to parents.

In her book she provides parents with information on how to raise children who can resist peer pressure, are strong to pursue their passions and excel at school. She shows parents how to pass on important values and morals and abstain from today’s pop culture pressure.

Marybeth Hicks’ book is a wonderful guide on how parents can help their children to become strong, compassionate, caring and intelligent adults. The author gives parents the confidence to go against popular culture and stand up for their own morals and values.

Where to purchase or seek additional information:
Bringing Up Geeks: How to Protect Your Kid’s Childhood in a Grow-Up-Too-Fast World

I’ve looked at these, but haven’t tried one yet — so I’ll head over there tomorrow morning before we start school.  My kids love the $1 kids hot chocolate!

Have a New Kid by Friday

This book is designed for parents who endure power struggles and endless fights and are looking to re-establish boundaries and peace at home.

Have a New Kid by Friday has a five-day plan (Monday to Friday) that shows parents how to change their children’s attitude and behavior. The five chapters lay the foundation of the author’s five day action plan and he follows up with examples on how to execute his strategies.

The author explains why kids act the way they do and how to bring on positive changes. He also talks about the three pillars of self-worth: acceptance, belonging and competence and how to develop them in your children.

The book also includes an A-to-Z Appendix offering straightforward advice and action plans on parenting topics such as bed wetting and back talking.

Where to purchase or seek additional information:
Have a New Kid by Friday

Fiber One Yogurt comes in 4 yummy flavors (Strawberry, Peach, Vanilla and Key Lime) and is only 50 calories per serving! It has 0 grams of fat, but 5 grams of fiber! (That’s 20% of your RDA!)

If you head over to my personal blog (My Little Patch of Sunshine) check out the giveaway list on the right to enter for a $50 Safeway gift card! Wouldn’t that be great for your grocery budget in March??

I was thrilled recently to receive samples of children’s sunglasses from Julbo. They are the only company that makes sunglasses for all ages — from infant to adult.

Lydia is wearing a pair of pink Julbo Bubble sunglasses made for 3 – 5 yo. They are new for 2010 and they are adorable!  The plastic frames are made from a durable plastic that is soft to the touch and fits her head snugly, but not uncomfortably.  The frames are bendable so I don’t have to worry about her easily snapping them.  She can run around like the crazy child she is and they won’t fall off!  They are lightweight and I think she forgets she’s even wearing them after a few minutes. The hinges are bendable as well, which I think adds to the comfort level.

She loves the color and I love the fact they wrap around her head to provide full protection of her eyes.  I also like the fact that they are dark.  They block 88% of visible light and 100% of harmful UVA, B and C rays.

I also had the chance to  review their infant style — Julbo Looping Sunglasses. These have no hinges, a very soft elastic band to hold it on an infant or small toddler’s head AND their frames are symmetrical so there is no wrong way to put them on! I wish I had known about them years ago when I struggled to find appropriate sunglasses for my kids.

These glasses are even darker – blocking 95% visible light and also protecting from all the harmful UV rays.

I highly recommend this brand because they provide a high quality product at an affordable price. We have gone through a couple pairs of cheap sunglasses, and these are far superior to those we picked up for less than $8.

If you’re looking for a baby shower gift, birthday gift, or for your own kids, I think these would make an excellent gift!  I plan to get a pair of Julbo Next Sunglasses for Nate, and wish they came in prescription options for Colin!

Disclosure: I received 2 pair of Julbo sunglasses to facilitate my honest and complete review.  Thanks to Julbo for sending them to me!

I had it on my wishlist, and have been watching it since it came out. Last week, when I saw the price for The Beatles: Rock Band had dropped to less than $40, I bought!

We got it last week and have had fun playing it a few times. It’s the same concept as Rock Band, but I recognize most of the songs and I like the Beatles animation in the background. The songs are more family-friendly than those in the original Rock Band.

If you like the Beatles, and you like Rock Band, then I think you’ll like The Beatles: Rock Band. We do!

Joy Bauer’s Food Cures

Joy Bauer is a well-known nutrition consultant who has been working with gold-medal winning athletes, celebrities and actors. In her book she teaches the reader how the food that we eat affects our health. The right foods can be used to lower cholesterol, enhance your memory, get better skin, treat arthritis, manage diabetes, lose weight and treat other health conditions.

The individual chapters in her book provide the reader with information on health conditions such as PMS, migraines, cholesterol, etc. The author then recommends certain foods to eat and which to avoid. All information given is scientifically researched. Each chapter also includes grocery lists, meal plans, recipes and supplement recommendations.

Joy Bauer’s Food Cures makes a great reference for your family’s health and nutritional food choices.

Where to purchase or seek additional information:
Joy Bauer’s Food Cures

Lydia (my 2yo) was fortunate enough to receive the one pictured to the left. She loves rubber ducks and the color red, so she absolutely LOVES this blanket. She shows everyone that comes over that her name is embroidered right onto the blanket’s corner and encourages them to count all the ducks in the panels.

The blanket is beautifully made. The blanket we received has a patchwork top of duck fabric combined with polka dots. The back is a fuzzy chenille and the borders are a bright blue rick rack. This blanket will last through numerous washings and will be just as cute as when it arrived!

Speaking of the arrival — I opened the box to find a cake box wrapped with organza ribbon. If you were giving as a gift, it is ready to give! I thought it was absolutely adorable packaging.

Each blanket comes with a personalized diaper tag, which we’re currently using for Lydia’s daycare backpack.

I think you will be very pleased if you purchase a blanket from Bubblecakes! Check out their website to see their wide collection of unique and interesting fabrics that make adorable baby blankets.

Disclosure: I received a Bubblecakes personalized blanket for this review.

I love that the company was started by parents — because they were alarmed at the added sugars, preservatives and artificial coloring. They decided to offer all natural baby snacks so that parents had an alternative.

That’s a great goal — but if the snacks don’t taste good, kids won’t eat them.  I’m happy to report that all 3 of my kids loved eating this snack! (ages 2, 7 & 9)  I even threw a handful on my salad the other day and it tasted delicious.

I gave a bag to a friend who was headed out for a flight with her 18mo daughter.  She said the snacks were a lifesaver on the plane, and that they were the perfect size for her daughter to pick up and feed herself.

They currently offer 3 flavors: Apple/Banana, Strawberry/Mango and Blueberry/Apple.  You can find them at limited stores, but they are available at Amazon!

You can find out more about the company at their website, on Facebook, or follow them on Twitter.

Here’s Lydia’s video review of Little Duck Organics:

Disclosure: I received samples of the product to review.

Here’s Part one of our series.
and
Here’s Part two.

Because coconut oil is a solid temps below 70 degrees, it’s not always that easy to use it for cooking. Unless you’re brilliant like we are. Here is how we get the oil out for frying, etc:

We just use a cookie dough scoop (we have various sizes depending on what we’re using the oil for).

Our most common usage is for frying eggs and omelets, stir frying veggies and meats and … my personal favorite … popcorn! Talk about yummy. We have an automatic popper like this one:

so we scoop the coconut oil in there, let it melt as the arm turns and then add the popcorn kernels. The best part is, you can taste the lovely coconut flavor on the popcorn and you don’t have to add butter – just add a little salt and … mmm… mmm… GOOD stuff!

We throw it in smoothies too for added yum and health factor although when it’s winter our smoothie intake goes down considerably. And as I said before we even use it for moisturizer and lip balm. It’s great stuff, I’m telling you.

Here’s the great thing… the folks at Tropical Traditions are so confident that you’ll love their oil too that they’re letting us do a giveaway! Whoo hoo!

So, what do you need to do to enter to win yourself one of these great big jars of gold? Just two simple steps.
1. Subscribe to their newsletter by clicking HERE.

and
2. Comment here to let us know that you’ve subscribed and you’ll be entered!

We’ll draw the winner on February 19th and Tropical Traditions will send your jar directly to you! Get ready for YUM!

And here’s a great article on the Tropical Traditions site about how coconut oil is made.

And don’t forget you can purchase Tropical Traditions on their website – please use the refer a friend button when you do and add our sponsor ID referral number: 5839772. If this is your first order and you use the referral number you’ll get a free book!

Martin Seligman talks about how being a pessimist can hinder your success, cause health problems and hold you back in school.  He describes how being negative and a pessimist handicaps success.  The author also provides the reader with an easy to understand model to assess their own thinking style and how this affects your mood.

Included in the book is a plan for changing thought patterns from pessimism to optimism. This can be implemented in easy to use steps and with the help of the contained worksheet pages. This can be used for yourself, but also for your children.

Where to purchase or seek additional information:
Learned Optimism: How To Change Your Mind And Your Life

Features include:

• Customizable buttons to perform common tasks (open documents, replying to e-mail, forward and back internet buttons etc)
• Enhanced grip
• Ergonomically designed keyboard for natural wrist and arm alignment
• Improved F key functionality
• Multimedia centerSleep and log off keys
• Tilt wheel technology
• Often used symbols are in easy reach just above number pad
• Intuitive zoom feature button

The keyboard benefits from the new Gull Wing design – a 14-degree gable, a natural arc and a curved key bed to encourage a more natural typing position. Included in the purchase is a Universal USB cable as well as software CD-ROM.

Where to purchase or seek additional information:
Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000

The complete exercise program will ease eyestrain when reading and after computer work.  Your eyes will feel relaxed and refreshed.   The program comes with an illustrated study guide and an exercise eye chart.

One of the vision-improving exercises is called “Palming”.  Dr Schneider guides you through the exercises with clear instructions and directions on how to breathe.  The movements are relaxing and simple.  Other exercises include “Stimulating Your Peripheral Vision”, “Outdoor Exercises”, “Sunning”, “Long Swing” and others.

The program was designed by Dr. Meir Schneider, PhD, LMT.  He was born legally blind and, using the Bates method of eye exercises, cured himself.  Thereafter, he went on to develop his own Meir Schneider Method of Self-Healing through Bodywork and Movement.  He is the founder of the School for Self-Healing, which teaches movement work, massage and vision therapy and runs training and workshop sessions.

Where to purchase or seek additional information:
Yoga For Your Eyes.

And count down to potty training days!

There is more on the table that I had time to talk about — but these are all the things I wanted to share!

Piggy Paint, BornFree sippy cups, board book photo albums, JJ Cole’s diaper pod, the Puj baby tub, Mrs. Meyer’s Baby Line, Robeez and Kristi G’s fabulous bag and grow chair!

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be writing more detailed reviews of these fun items, as well as more fun baby products — so come back often!

Wow!   A cereal that more than one family member likes and will eat more than one bowl of?  I had to try this!  Thankfully, I was sent more than one box so I had the chance (since my family had devoured the box they opened 2 days ago.)

It IS delicous!  It is crunchy, but not too crunchy.  It is sweet, which I like — but must not be too sweet, since my husband likes it, too. The serving size is 3/4 cup which gives you a good – size portion that is filling for breakfast.

It’s  great to throw in a container and give to my preschooler to munch on as a snack.

There are 190 calories in a serving (before milk), 3g of fat, 9g of sugar and 6g of protein. Visit Kellogg’s.com for all the nutritional information.

Hopefully it will be on store shelves soon, because I will be buying it in the future!  I think you’ll like it!