New offer from ThredUp! 25% Off!

New offer for new customers from ThredUp! Receive 25% off your first order! This offer is good through Monday 2/4, and for New Customers only sorry!

Here is a selection of girls and boys clothes they are currently offering. In case you were wondering, there is only ONE of each item unless otherwise stated. ThredUp offers gently used and sometimes new children's clothing at affordable prices. Some items come new with tags and will generally state that in the description or on the photo. 

If you haven't already be sure to check out their page to see if there is anything you are interested in, they often have a variety of stuff! You can even sell your gently used kids clothes just check out the "Sell or Donate" tab at the top!

Busy Momma's Flash Sale items!

Be sure to check out Busy Momma's Treasures to see what I picked out for this weeks flash sale! Up to 60% off fabulous picks and even more of a discount on flash sale items! Plus check out some of the new items just in time for Valentines day! Click HERE to sign-up and browse the site!

Here is a sneak peek of some items picked for the flash sale as well as some of the Cupid's calling sale which ends on 2/5.

FREE sample of Miracle Gro

If you are into gardening here is one for you! FREE Miracle Gro Sample! A new product, just add water and it expands! Super cool and easy right? No more lugging around heavy bags of gardening dirt! Here is a little more about this exciting new product from Miracle Gro's site:

"A revolutionary mix of natural coconut coir and Miracle-Gro® plant food.

Coir - a lightweight, 100% natural material derived from coconut husk. Compressed coir has a unique cell structure that allows it to expand and retain moisture.

When mixed with native soil, Expand 'n Gro™ helps loosen and aerate soil. It creates up to 90% more air space than native soil alone, so moisture and nutrients can reach plant roots. Even if you have heavy, compacted or clay soil in your garden, Expand 'n Gro™ makes it easier to work and up to 40% lighter. And, unlike traditional soil amendments, coconut coir breaks down slowly in the soil, so it improves native soil for multiple years.

Coir's unique moisture holding abilities help Expand 'n Gro™ retain more moisture than basic potting and garden soils and then releases water as plant need it to help prevent over or under watering." 

Be sure to check this out, it will go fast!

High possibility we found a donor!

Image courtesy of DazzleJunction.com

It has been a busy and exciting week so far!

We received news from the Cancer center that they have found a highly probable donor for my husbands allogeneic stem cell transplant. She still has to do all her testing to make sure that she is the best possible match and physically able to do what is needed to donate. Then we also received news that they had found a backup match as well, which is great news too because they won't do the transplant without having a backup donor in case the first one backs out or changes their mind.

So now we are looking at doing this transplant as early as this March! WOW. This all happened so fast and in all this whirlwind we get so excited but forget the risks involved. I am of course apprehensive about this whole thing, but it needs to be done for long term remission of this Leukemia. My husband is currently back at the hospital right now for his Fourth round of Chemo Therapy, which is hopefully his last before they do the transplant. I just get concerned because his  counts become very low at times (his white blood cell, hct and platelet) and he often needs blood products but we live an hour away from where he is being treated.

ALL (Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia) is a common type of leukemia in children. I just want to give a heartfelt shout out to all you kids out there who are going through this. I know my husband as a full grown adult has his ups and downs dealing with this, and can only imagine experiencing this as a young child, and possibly not even fully understanding the extent of what is going on. It must be so scary and frustrating, you just want to play outside, in the mud and dirt and go swimming in the summer--all of which are things not permitted when you have a delicate immune system. You are all very strong and can do it, and have many supporters along the way even if you do not know it!

I had hoped to be doing more with the blog by this point but this medical condition and kind of put me at a point where the only thing I am focusing on is that and my kids. I am going to try and get back into the swing of things and hopefully get into more giveaways and better content (other than family updates). I have been in contact with a couple companies which want me to do reviews of their products, so hopefully those will arrive soon! I also wanted to try out some new recipes and share them with my audience, I have some desserts that I would love to bake--but I need my husband home to eat them!

So hopefully this will all come together soon, and I can get back to it! Stay tuned!

Image courtesy of Covermole.com

Showered with Love blog-hop, FREE blogger opp!

Great blog hop coming up this April, with a Baby-Shower theme! You can sign up for it here at So Easy Being Green, this is free to sign up but you must provide the prize for your winner or have a Baby Shower theme giveaway! Each prize must be worth at least $25 and be Baby Shower themed/gift appropriate.

Sign-ups close on March 29th!

Influenster box, Palmolive Fresh Infusions

Palmolive Fresh Infusions!

I recently received my latest box from Influenster, it contained 3 free bottles of the new Palmolive Fresh Infusions! I loved the smell of all of them but favored the Lime Basil the most, it is so zingy and fresh that it takes you away somewhere citrusy while you're standing in your kitchen doing chores. It reminded me of my childhood, summers playing outside while eating a Lime Otterpop, yes it not only smells fresh, but it smells sweet and tasty as well, but I don't recommend eating it!

If you are concerned at all about what is in your cleaning products, or just curious, their website explains in detail what is in their products and why they use it. I know personally I like to know what I am washing my dishes with since we eat off of them, but also I get concerned as to what is around my small children. Here is an excerpt of ingredients from their website, I chose the Lime Basil since I liked that scent the most:

INGREDIENT (INCI NAME)	PURPOSE
Water	Consistency
Ammonium C12-15 Pareth Sulfate	Cleaning and Foaming Agent
SD Alcohol 3-A	Controls Thickness and Clarity
Lauramidopropylamine Oxide	Cleaning and Foaming Agent
Sodium Chloride	Controls Thickness
Magnesium Sulfate	Controls Thickness
Poloxamer 124	Controls Thickness
Fragrance	Pleasant Scent
Pentasodium Pentatate	Maintains Product Stability
Preservative	Preservation
Sodium Bisulfite	Maintains Product Stability
Dyes	Color

I really liked the way this dish soap handled cleaning my dishes, from scrubbing the burner liners from my gas stove, to yucky cooked on sauces and even the grease. I had made a Lasagna and this dish soap handled cleaning the pan afterward, it sparkled!

I feel somewhat comfortable about the ingredients, although there are a couple that raise concerns, such as the Ammonium C12-15 Pareth Sulfate which can alter DNA and cause respiratory issues, although in larger quantities I would imagine. The Sodium Bisulfite can also cause respiratory issues, but Sodium Bisulfite can be found in other common household items as well from laundry detergent to anti-aging creams, which are more easily absorbed into the skin. While this bothers me a little it is not enough to raise a flag as there are other more harmful ingredients in some other dish soaps out there.

Overall, I would purchase this product again, and I would also recommend it to friends based on the scent, cleaning ability and price. You can find this product at your local Wal-Mart for around $3.00 a bottle. I give it a 7.5/10.

Be sure to check out Influenster for other reviews of this product! As well as Palmolive's website!


For more information regarding some of these ingredients, please check Goodguide or Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep cosmetics database at EWG.

List of possible matches

I have been busy these past few weeks with my husband in and out of the hospital, a consultation in Buffalo and just me and the boys to take care of. I have decided on top of all of what I already have, to try and learn to quilt! I have a new sewing machine which I got from my husband for Christmas and I would love to get some projects going! I have already started making my own doublers/liners for my diaper stash but I wanted to try something bigger. Any tips are welcome! I know very little about quilting, but I have been looking up block patterns online and trying to figure it out. It looks like fun! Of course I am starting off small because I am sure there will be hiccups along the way. I have been accumulating fabrics and supplies to start off with and I am noticing each time I look at my stuff that there is so much more that I need to get! Can anyone recommend a good rotary mat and cutter? I see that there are many on the market and was looking at the Fiskars items...I know a self healing mat is the best and a sharp blade will make better edges and such. It is a lot to learn!

The Cancer institute contacted my husband a few days ago letting him know that they have a list of potential donors that they were getting into contact with. So this process is starting a whole lot faster than any of us had hoped! It is kind of surprising actually, some people go years without finding any donors and some don't find one at all. I am happy to have this news but I still know we have a ways to go yet and this is no definite answer as to if we have found a match or not. I am keeping my fingers crossed! My husband just wants to be done with all of this. I cannot blame him, he has been in the hospital all but about 10-days since November. It is a revolving thing for him, he gets out and goes right back in for another round of Chemotherapy. This whole transplant process makes me nervous, there is a lot of higher doses of chemo that he will undergo as well as possible full body radiation. I can only imagine how he feels, but I hope he knows I am with him every step of the way.

InPink Deal!

InPink is practically giving away these cute little earrings! Offer good through tomorrow while supplies last! Enter promo code "VIP36" at checkout to get the savings!! Plus, they offer FREE SHIPPING on orders over $49!

Emperola's $500 PayPal Cash Giveaway! Ends 1/30

Here is the $500 PayPal cash giveaway brought to you by Emperola! This giveaway was pushed back due to Facebook policy changes, it will run from January 10th to January 30th! Be sure to get your entries in to refill your pockets from that expensive holiday season! Enter on the Rafflecopter form below! Good luck!

$500 Cash Giveaway Sign-Up hosted by Emperola.com

This Giveaway is scheduled to run from Jan 10 till Jan 10.

Please visit our sponsors: RewardIt.com and BookSna.gr!

In just three months RewardIt has made over 100 people winners and is looking forward to launching very soon so that they can make even more people winners. RewardIt will also allow users to earn virtual currency called Reward$ just by searching the web, playing games, watching videos, redeeming coupons and much more!

BookSna.gr is the premier online site for getting free and discounted eBooks. Every day we list exciting new free eBooks available for download and we give away free premium eBooks every week as part of our Giveaway Club! Head over to BookSna.gr every day to get our latest recommendations and find out what new books will interest you!

Special thank you to our co-hosts:
MumbleBeeInc Deals and Steals, Dragon Blogger Technology, Stay a Stay at Home Mom, Giveaway Promote, Whats UP and Jenns BlahBlah Blog

Complete the tasks below to earn entries into this giveaway. One lucky person will be chosen at random from all valid entries and receive $500 cash via PayPal.

Enter to win $500 Cash via PayPal hosted by Emperola.com

Open to US and CAN.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

A few great things!

There are so many great blogs having some awesome giveaways right now!

Thrifty Momma Ramblings is having a 2 Candle Giveaway, there will be two prizes with two winners! They are offering a Diamond candle as a prize as well as a 3-8-1 candle, both of which I have owned, burned and loved! Each candle contains a piece of Jewelry in it, the Diamond candle will contain a ring valued from $10-$5000 and the 3-8-1 candle can have anything--necklace, bracelet or ring valued at $45-$7500! Both prizes are winners choice of scent! This giveaway is open to US and Canada and ends in 2 days!! Click Thrifty Momma's logo to enter!

Great giveaway hop for all you momma's out there, the Mama's Got a New Look Giveaway Hop!! From January 3rd to January 17th enter to win some awesome prizes from over 30 different bloggers! Two Grand prizes from According to Jenny is worth $450 meaning 2 grand prize winners! Click the logo on the left to be taken to According to Jenny's blog to enter for the grand prize then scroll down and click the links to hop to the other blogs!

Also, ThredUp is offering a great deal for new customers! FREE SHIPPING through the end of this month! Gently used children's clothing, brand names at great prices! Here are the fine details:

- Valid for new customers only/first purchase only

- Cannot be combined with other offers

- Valid through Jan 31, 2013 at 11:59 PM PST

Enter this code to get discount: SHIPJAN13

This is one giveaway you do not want to miss!! Michaels is offering a giveaway on their Facebook page, they are giving away 4 prizes each includes:

• $1000 gift card
• Jo Pearson's advice on how to build the perfect craft closet
• A personal shopping appointment at your local Michaels store!

Click the craft closet to the left to enter!

Have fun entering! Be sure to read all rules for the giveaways!

Stem Cell donor search continues!

So, it is a new year, and for some (like our family) it is a new beginning. We have a long difficult road ahead of us, more so than others and even less still than some, but we hope for the best and push on. This will be a year of challenges, struggles, tears and happiness. My husband went into the hospital today for his third round of chemo therapy. We aren't sure how many he will need before they do his Allogeneic Stem Cell transplant, but we get the impression that they do 4 with this particular protocol or possibly even more than that. We are hopeful that they will find a match in a decent amount of time based on my husbands background, many of the donors come from Germany as they promote getting tested and even pay for it over there. Some countries are ahead of the curve in some aspects--more so than the US at any rate. The boys don't exactly understand what is going on, they just know that daddy is sick and needs to go to the doctor frequently to get better.

We spent Sunday and Monday in Buffalo NY at the cancer center for the consultation, our appointment took about 5 hours and we were bombarded by many different people (5+) including the doctor, finance, a representative from the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) as well as my husband getting additional blood drawn so they can type him specifically to find the best match. I will admit this was a lot to take in and try to understand in such a short period of time. They told us the good as well as the bad (which there is more bad than good) and explained all the ins and outs. It will take an unknown amount of time to find a decent match, then on top of that prepping the donor and then prepping for the transplant. All in all he will need to be out in Buffalo for 100+ days for the whole process. This will be interesting since we have 2 small children, and he will need a 24 hour care giver--me. 

We were lucky that our appointment fell on the day that it did--a few days prior we got 18+ inches of snow. We had a nice break in the weather and when I got back from dropping him off at the hospital today we had a Lake Effect Snow warning with an additional 8 inches of snow expected...Talk about timing! 

This is definitely a challenge for all of us but I think we are up to it, we can make it work.

Happy New Year to us!