The 4-Crow'sALS #IceBucketChallenge #ALSIceBucketChallenge #StrikeOutALS

Obviously the power of social media has shown its face over the past month. I applaud this challenge of awareness and raising funds for research of any disease. This particular awareness began in the sports world, has spread to celebrities, former presidents and people like my family. 

What exactly is the Ice Bucket Challenge? You are publicly challenged via video by someone you know to either douse yourself with a "bucket" of ice water or make a donation to ALS or an ALS charity of choice. One that we are looking at donating to is ALS Guardian Angels, they actually take every dollar donated and spend it helping ALS patients, family members, and caregivers. The suggested donation if you do not do the challenge is $100. It is also suggested that if you do the challenge to donate at least $10. I mean come on, why wouldn't you?

ALS is one of the most common neuromuscular diseases worldwide, and people of all races and ethnic backgrounds are affected. Men are affected more than women, and the signs are often overlooked.

(See more at: http://www.disabled-world.com/artman/publish/famous-als.shtml#sthash.g8uJJtUf.dpuf)

After all challenges were given and accepted, all FOUR of us ended up getting soaked. Here are our videos. 

Here is mine. I was challenged by Heather Davis aka Minivan Momma as part of the Oklahoma Women Bloggers. I called out my cousin Shelly (who gets some time on this because I just found out she is very SICK) and my friend and Happy First owner Debbie Vinyard. 

Braden was challenged by his friend Peyton. He called out Miss K, Evan, and his friends Oriana and Haley.

Miss K was challenged by her big brother. She gladly called out her Daddy.

Jason was challenged my Miss K. He gladly accepted, and learned the real meaning of a cold shower. LOL! He challenged both of our mothers, Belinda and Betty. I cannot wait for those challenges to be accepted.

Did you do the #IceBucketChallenge? I want to see it. Leave me your link in the comments. 

Back to School Teacher Gift with Printable

It's Meet the Teacher day at my daughter's school. We are so excited about her teacher this year. Actually, the entire second grade team at her school is awesome so we would have been happy with any of the teachers. I seem pretty stuck this year on chalkboards, having a ball in class, and cake balls so I messaged her teacher on FB to be sure that there were no allergies or hating on chocolate.

As I suspected, chocolate is one of her faves. So of course, I etched a glass container with ABC & a ♥- oh how I love me some contact paper, my Cricut and some Armor Etch. I then filled the container with chocolate cake balls, added some bakers twine, and the printable below.

I made the printable in PicMonkey. I even included the blank copy above so that you can download and add your child's name and year. I saved mine to my iPhone and sent to Walgreens to print off as a 4x6 picture. If you do this, be sure to hit crop and look at your aspect ratio in 4x6 to be sure you don't cut anything off.

This will also be a great Teacher Appreciation Gift, so get it pinned now. Have a wonderful 2014-15 school year. Don't forget to volunteer and join your local PTA chapter (of course I had to get that plug in).

 

Back to School 2014

Where has Summer 2014 gone? Seriously. School starts for my kids in four days. FOUR days.

Unbelievable.

Keeping up the tradition, we took our annual back to school photos this weekend. Because I am sentimental like that. Thankfully my kids cooperated. Out of over 50 shots, I managed to get a handful of good ones. The sun was to high and they squinted, a lot.

As always, I planned ahead. I found a #hashtag printable at Tatertots and Jello. Love their blog. And you all know how #hashtag crazy I am if you follow me on any of my sites. I also wanted to get away from my house and our classic desk this year. We decided to take our fun to their schools. I debated on whether or not to actually show the names of their schools in my pictures for safety reasons. If I lived in a smaller town, it would be a given WHERE they go to school, but the photo quality helped me with my decision. My son's turned out very well. And since he IS in his last year of middle school I decided it would be okay to show his school. I can't believe I am going to have a high schooler next year! I can't believe my baby girl is a second grader this year!

Okay, the moment you have all been waiting for....

Have a great 2014-15 school year everyone! 

Cozy Wall Art: Canvas Art Project & Review

It has been a crazy, busy summer. But, I don't think any of you need me to tell you that. Cozy Wall Art contacted me before school was out in May to review their wall art. I picked two wall decals one for my son's room and a Ballet Shoes Wall Decal for my daughter's. They did a special cut for me for my son's- he had to have a basketball, their Teen and Tween Wall Decals are amazing. Cozy Wall Art is a Texas based company, they were awesome to work with and offer FREE shipping on all orders.

My intentions were to change their beds around this summer. It is time to move B to Miss K's full size bed. He is over six foot tall now. With that move comes paint and major re dos right? Well, then in June we called in a realtor. Needless to say we still haven't put the house on the market and no beds have been moved around. Since my walls are already a neutral color we know better than to paint them, and if we do move within the next year, I don't want to lose these awesome wall displays. So I went to Pinterest and began looking at ways to save the vinyl. I ran across a few pins on putting vinyl on canvas. Seemed easy enough. I even contacted a friend who paints for a living, she says she does this all the time and said she would do it for me. I was up for the challenge.

The canvas sizes I needed were $29.99. I needed two. I lost my primary income when school let out. Time to save and use those 40% off coupons at Hobby Lobby. Thankfully I already had my daughters background paint on hand- a quart of SEXY PINK from Glidden that I had received free from a promotion. Then my son decided on a background of BOO SKY which is a Disney color by Glidden.

Our project finally began this week. The kids painted their canvases using a foam roller brush. Two coats and we let them dry over night. They had a lot of fun. Believe me its a great bonding experience to give your children a paint brush and challenge them to not make a mess on your uncovered kitchen table.

The next day, Miss K and I set out to transfer the decals. This took a measuring tape, some masking tape, the card that Cozy Art sent, my Sam's Card (because two cards are better than one), mod podge, and then I had to run to Dollar General to get some spray adhesive for Braden's. His needed help sticking. I can't answer the why on that one. Maybe because it was such a huge graphic, it also seemed to have a different backing on it than Miss K's. Her's was blue.

 

To apply, we just measured and centered, we used the halve method to pull the backing paper/transfer method off. They were huge transfers, and we didn't want them to slip. Then we used the cards to rub on the decals. With the canvas there isn't a hard surface under it, so I used a stack of copy paper. Worked perfectly. After application I went over with a coat of mod podge to seal.

On B's, in order to get the transfer paper off, I had to lightly spray the canvas with the spray adhesive. His does have a few bubbles in it, where I messed it up before getting the adhesive- could kick myself. He loves it though.

 So, what do you think? I want to try some wall quotes on canvas next. Can't wait.

Special thanks to CozyWallArt.com  for providing the products free of charge for my honest review in this post. I was not compensated monetarily for this post. 

Got Glasses? I Do. From Firmoo.com, Review & Giveaway: 5 Winners

Many, many things are changing as I approach the big 4-0, including my eyesight. I am ashamed to admit it, but my current glasses are 11 years old. See below. A little outdated. We went as a family last October to get our eyes checked and ALL of us were sent home with a new prescription. This meant four new pair of glasses and also contacts for my teen. We took care of everyone but yours truly. I was in denial. And the pocketbook was protesting big time.

11 year old glasses. Wire frames. Wore for driving, reading, computer work. 

I was contacted on July 24, 2014 (this timeline is very important), by Firmoo to review their glasses, service, and website. In exchange they would send me a pair of high quality and fashionable glasses or sunglasses.  "Firmoo.com is the world's most popular online eyeglasses store. Years of expertise in optical industry enable Firmoo.com to offer varieties of prescription eye wear to the consuming public in high quality yet at extremely affordable prices."

Remember above when I said someone was left out of getting her new glasses? Well, what did I have to lose? I went to their website, was able to log on with my Facebook account. Then I began to browse. I had never ordered glasses online before. Frankly, I don't even have a clue what anything on my glasses prescription means. The site walks you through. Easy. You can upload a picture of yourself (it's really supposed to be straight) and you can use their "try-on view". 

Here is mine:

On July 25, I placed my order for #CP6082. It wasn't hard to order. I did have to take my prescription to my eye doctor to get my PD (pupillary distance). I didn't want any mistakes on my own measurements. My glasses were ordered with the standard 1.5 index and anti-scratch. The company was supposed to upgrade the glasses per blog arrangement to 1.57, anti-radiation, and UV filters. I honestly don't know if this was done or not. It wasn't reflected in the invoice. My glasses arrived via mail on August 4, 2014. The package was sent internationally and was a little beat up. The glasses inside the hard case were perfect. My husband and kids absolutely love my selection. 

What do you think?

This experience was way easier than I imagined. I was leery at first. So far, I am very satisfied. 

Firmoo offers a First Pair Free Program. This program provides free glasses for new customers to try their products & service. Their free offer is open to almost all countries in the world, such as U.S., Canada, Australia, etc. Every new customer qualifies for free glasses. 

In addition FIVE of my readers are going to receive a $30 voucher towards Firmoo's Classic Series Glasses, shipping is excluded. How fun is that? All you have to do is visit the site and tell me which frames you would choose. 

 

Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising): Many thanks to Firmoo.com for providing the vouchers for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post. Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway. If you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification. This giveaway is open to U.S. only.

Powered By Firmoo

a Rafflecopter giveaway