Lands’ End had some wonderful swimsuits to choose from and I’m wearing one with confidence.  Do you have the confidence to share a photo of you in a swimsuit?  If so, share it on their facebook page!  

Lands’ End will be hosting giveaways this week on Twitter using the #LandsEnd tag.  There is also a Swimsuit Sweepstake running right now on the Lands’ End Facebook.  Check it out y’all!

Now I honestly have no idea how to walk you through this so I’m hoping that my photos give you enough information to make it work.  You simply need the following:

• Photo frame with flat sides (Walmart)
• Scrapbook paper in your choice of design (Hobby Lobby)
• Glue (I used a glue stick ’cause it’s all I had but decoupage would be great)
• Scissors

With a little measuring, I simply cut the sides first and glued them on, then cut the top and bottom, and glued them on.  I made sure that it wrapped around to the back of the frame.  You’ll simply snip at the spots that need to be folded; the inside middle of frame and outside corners.

Have y’all done this before?  Pretty easy and a very budget friendly way to get the frame you want! This is of my son Tyler and his friend Kara — Mr. and Miss Highland  YEEHAW!

click on photo to enlarge

I bought the Great Value Trail Mix ’cause it was one less step for me to do but you can easily make your own trail mix by using the following:

• 1 package (16 ounces) banana-nut granola
• 1 package (15 ounces) raisins
• 1 package (12.6 ounces) milk chocolate M&M’s
• 1 can (12 ounces) honey-roasted peanuts

I also used Avery labels (and their website) to create mine but if you have good handwriting, I’m sure you can write it just as well.  My handwriting is worse than a first graders, for reals.  Besides, I’m pretty tech savvy and just about everything I do is through the Internets!  Yeppers!

I bought everything but the fabric at Walmart and that can actually be found at Walmart.  I just happen to be at Hobby Lobby the day I bought it. 

Through September 17, 2012, you can find your school (or add it to the list), register, and get all the votes you can every day.

The top 5 vote-getting schools will receive:

• 25,000 Box Tops for Education coupons
• $10,000 worth of Avery school supplies
• $1,000 worth of gift cards

The 25 runner-up schools will each receive:

• 10,000 Box Tops for Education coupons

10 random winners with more than 100 votes will receive:

• 5,000 Box Tops for Education coupons

Can you imagine your school getting that?!!  And let me tell ya, those box tops make a HUGE difference and can go a long way so I encourage you to save them and give them to your child’s school or donate them to a school who could use them.  They add up quickly and can help get the school cash. And please guys, enter up in the sweepstakes and get everyone to vote for your school!!

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*******HIGHLAND ISD doesn’t know it yet, but they are getting $1000 worth of school supplies on my behalf this week, courtesy of Avery.  I’m so excited to be able to help our kids get the supplies they need for the 2012-2013 year!  WOOOHOOO!!!  Here is what they are getting:

• 6 boxes of 12 1″ binders
• 12 1 1/2″ binders
• 24 tabs WO divider w/pocket
• 24 tab insertable divider with pockets
• 36 see-through sticky notes
• 144 3pk glue sticks
• 18 4pk hi-liters

In our school, that will go a LONG WAY!!   Thank you so much Avery!!!  And thank you for sending me a sampling of the items!  My kids are saving them for the next school year!

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Now something for you!  2 WINNERS WILL HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE 1,250 BOX TOPS DONATED TO THE SCHOOL OF THEIR CHOICE!!  So exciting!! You have the chance to help your school out just by entering here at my blog.

TO ENTER:

SIMPLY LEAVE A COMMENT ON THIS POST SHARING WHAT YOU LOVE ABOUT YOUR CHILD’S SCHOOL OR WHAT (OR WHO)  INSPIRED YOU IN SCHOOL.

I’d love for you to tweet, share on facebook, and tell all your friends to enter but it’s not mandatory.

This ends on May 20th around 6pm CST.  Good luck y’all!!

Disclosure: I was sent a sampling of the school supplies in return of my time & efforts to create this post and share the promotion with you guys.  My school also receive $1000 worth of school supplies and I’m thankful that companies give back to school and allow some of bloggers to give back to our local community.  All opinions are my own and I appreciate Avery for doing this! 

You can do this with just about any surface but I thought a cutting board would be fun to make for the Mom who loves to be in the kitchen.  The video is under 40 seconds and will tell you everything you need to know. All supplies were purchased at Walmart for under $10 bucks! Enjoy!

Disclosure: I am an official Walmart Mom. Follow me and my fellow Walmart Moms as we share our experiences and ideas! Walmart has provided me with compensation and gift card in return for my time & efforts to create this post. My participation in this program is voluntary and my opinions are my own, always have been, always will be.

I bought the supplies at Walmart for next to nothing.  Your flowers are under $5 bucks depending on which ones you choose and the floral tape was $1.97.  A 10 pack of Pens cost $1 and if you can find a container at your home, no cost there. If you can’t, I recommend those tall mugs that are around $5 bucks.  That’s under $15 if you have to buy a container, which is pretty good don’t you think?   I know you’ve seen them but have you made one?  If you have your own tips or ideas about pen bouquets, I’d love to hear them!

Disclosure: I am an official Walmart Mom. Follow me and my fellow Walmart Moms as we share our experiences and ideas! Walmart has provided me with compensation and gift card in return for my time & efforts to create this post. My participation in this program is voluntary and my opinions are my own, always have been, always will be.

We’ve never really fed him anything special but now that’s he going on 12 years old, he has a harder time chewing the hard dog food.  And since I can’t stand the smell of wet dog (or cat) food, I was excited to let Cowboy get a taste of the new Fresh Pet Select Roasted Meals.  Before I give my honest opinions, I want to share just a little bit about the product.

• Natural with added vitamins and minerals
• Made with fresh ingredients
• Gently cooked to lock in nutrients
• Complete and balanced for all life stages

This is found in a refrigerator, in the pet aisle at our Walmart so I assume it’s the same at all Walmarts.  It’s weird to say this too but it actually smells pretty good too.   When cut open, you could see the fresh ingredients immediately.

What I loved though, was the chart that told me how much my dog should be eating and the measurement guide so that I can cut the appropriate amount off.

Something you should know about Cowboy is he does NOT like to be watched when it’s time to eat.  In fact, he won’t eat anything unless we walk away or go back in the house.  As you can see from the photos though, I was standing right there and while a tiny bit hesitant, he sniffed, nibbled, and then grabbed the whole thing and took off with it.

Clearly he enjoyed it so much that instead of waiting for me to leave, he went ahead and grabbed it so that he could eat it.  That’s pretty cool.  It makes me happy to see him enjoy the Fresh Pet Select food. It’s soft enough for his teeth and healthy so that he can enjoy his last years with us.

I would consider this premium pet food and with that, comes a price.  While it is more expensive, it’s still not that bad really, especially for something so fresh and healthy for our pets.  I really like the slice and serve factor too because I know that he’s getting the amount he needs. He’s not being overfed or underfed.

Have you guys tried this? I’d love to hear your opinion!  If I ever get a Yorkie, this is the pet food I’ll be trying.

Disclosure: I am an official Walmart Mom. Follow me and my fellow Walmart Moms as we share our experiences and ideas! Walmart has provided me with compensation and gift card in return for my time & efforts to create this post. My participation in this program is voluntary and my opinions are my own, always have been, always will be.

In the video, there are 3 Walmart associates. I was the first person who had gone in to try the disc to digital so it was a learning curve for all of us.  While I cut the video down to less than 2 minutes, it only took 7 minutes for the entire process and that’s with them not being 100% sure on how to do it. I think they did awesome!

Find the dvd/blu-ray movies you have in your house. Sign up for a VUDU account ahead of time. This will simplify the process.  Search your movies and add to your list.  Not all your movies will be available but many are.  They will be adding more movie studios that will allow this so be patient.  What I love is that if you own a DVD but want it in HD, you can simply upgrade for the $5 vs the $2.  Once your list is created, print it and take it to Walmart to be digitized.  It’s very easy, cost efficient, and fast.

That’s it! They are in your account and ready to watch.  Have you tried it yet? What movies can you absolutely not live without?

Disclosure: I am an official Walmart Mom. Follow me and my fellow Walmart Moms as we share our experiences and ideas! Walmart has provided me with compensation and gift card in return for my time & efforts to create this post. My participation in this program is voluntary and my opinions are my own, always have been, always will be.

Anyways, back to the cleaners.  I used them all but the three I’ll discuss are the disinfecting wipes,  natural dish soap, and the laundry detergent.

Seventh Generation Disinfecting Wipes

They do kill the influenza virus as well as salmonella botanically. That means they only use plant ingredients.   They have a lemongrass & thyme scent that would describe as a very springy clean smell.  I really like them.  I kept these in the kitchen to wipe down the refrigerator and faucet knobs.  I also gave my counters a swipe with them. Two thumbs up!

Seventh Generation Natural Dish Soap

This is by far my favorite out of all the cleaners sent.  I LOVED the lavender floral & mint smell and found it to clean just as well, if not better than others I have used.  What you should know about this product is that it is non-toxic, biodegradable, and hypo-allergenic.  That means it’s safer (in case little man were to stumble upon it and get curious), safer for the environment, and safe for pretty much anyone to use.  Not too shabby eh?

Seventh Generation Natural 2X Concentrated Laundry Detergent

Also non-toxic.  It uses enzymes and plant-derived/plant based cleaning agent to remove all the stains.  I don’t’ know but that’s pretty cool that a cleaner made from plants can do that, don’t you think?  It’s free & clear of any dyes, fragrances, and masking agents. I know these things are so important to many of you.  While I have not jumped on that wagon, I do want our Earth to be healthy so I’ll definitely be substituting products like these that I love.  Anyhoo, I found that this detergent cleaned great.  I tested it out on Truett’s pants and they looked very clean so no complaints.

Overall, I was completely satisfied with the products. I don’t see any reason why I wouldn’t use them.  I think that people get so comfortable with products they’ve used for years that they are scared to try anything new, especially natural cleaners.   Also, sometimes we want to try natural cleaners but have the mentality of “it probably won’t help the environment anyways…I’m just one person” but in truth, every single little thing you can do for our Earth, it’s meaningful and worth the time, efforts and you getting out of your comfort zone to try new things.  I think the Lorax book’s message was just that…we can all make a difference and by being that example, others will see, ask and eventually follow suit.  We all need to be educated and I was happy to learn more about Seventh Generation and teach my kiddos a little more about how they can help keep our Earth and environment healthy!

Disclosure: I am an official Walmart Mom. Follow me and my fellow Walmart Moms as we share our experiences and ideas! Walmart has provided me with compensation and gift card in return for my time & efforts to create this post. My participation in this program is voluntary and my opinions are my own, always have been, always will be.

Not too long ago, I hurt someone I love very much.  At the time, I tried very hard to not get upset because I am very compassionate towards the circumstances but I regret to say, I failed.  I ended getting upset and haven’t talked to this person since then.  HUGE discipleship denied.  So what to do from here?

I prayed and looked to my Bible. Thanks to my helpful WORDsearch software and of course God’s guidance, I was led to Jonah.  In short, it was about Jonah being angry with someone and the Lord rebuking him for it.   I realized, at that point, how important it was to pray to repent for being angry & things I shouldn’t have said and pray for things that I could do to improve the relationship and how I could influence this person’s choices and be a positive example to them, for them.

So now what?  Well, I continue to pray, duh. And if I’m to take Christian action like I’m ‘sposed to do, then I’ll be making a call tomorrow. And I leave you with this…..

See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.  (Hebrews 12:15)