Bus Bully & Safety Solution

Our Government continually cuts funding for schools but then wonders how what is wrong with our country.  We need more money in our schools.  We need to invest in the education, protection and mental health of our youth.

One of the things that amazes me is we have one adult on our buses.  One adult to drive, load and unload and monitor behavior.  Is this beyond ridiculous to anybody else.  We are willing to put the safety of our children at risk because our schools do not have the funding to hire two individuals per bus.  Just think how dangerous it is to drive and watch what is happening with 40 kids all at the same time.  Why is our society OK with this!?!?  Have we really come to just accept that education is not a priority because of cost.... 

How can this be changed?  When will the money in this country start going to where it is needed as opposed to where it is wanted. 

The OMG! Find for Today....

are these amazing Dansko Professional Clogs:

These fabulous shoes can be found at 6pm.com for 30% off!!!  I can not rave enough about danskos, both their comfort and quality are top notch! Click here to check them out plus a wide range of other danskos on sale.

And, right now, ebates is offering 2.5% cash back at 6pm.com... it may not sound like much but it adds up over time.  Click here to check out ebates.

Oh So Pretty! Find for the day....

I love the web site 6pm.com and am always excited by the fabulous deals they have to offer. Check out this sweet Fossil bag, 60% off!

Find it here.

And to add to the savings, ebates is offering an extra 2.5% cash back at 6pm.com!  You can sign up for ebates here.

History in our schools

This post is based on my thoughts in reaction to a friends post on facebook referencing her 10 yr old daughter's fears in reaction to a video of the 9/11 events. 

I do believe all of our history, the good and the bad, needs to be taught in our schools but I believe it needs to be taught based on an age appropriate basis. Subjects involving death, terrorism, suicide, etc should be screened carefully and worded appropriately based on age. Yes, history happened, yes we need to learn it all, but some of it is pretty scary, violent, horrific stuff (i.e. concentration camps, mass suicides, etc.), so maybe like movies, content should be rated as to what age group it is suitable for.

I think any video where people are dying should be a high school type of thing.  Showing a video of buildings full of people falling to the ground does not exactly rate at middle school level in my mind.

Ranger

The puppy has taken over our lives.  Don't let his little innocent face fool you.  He is a master manipulator, hell bent on eating anything and everything that will easily lodge in his throat, an adept sock/underwear thief, who, when in stealth mode, can poop in ten seconds when in the house (even though it is a process that takes 30 minutes when in the yard).  Ahh, life with a new baby, I had forgotten what it was like.

Summer Survival - the bickering

Oh the bickering, whining, picking, and boredom.  Entertaining the kids during summer break sometimes feels like it should be a full time job.  My kids are in bickering mode which leads to a lot of tattling and whining.  I am so ready to just put them all in their rooms and tell them they have to read quietly the rest of the summer.... I can only dream LOL!  I wonder what other mom's are doing to keep their kids preoccupied during the summer.

Handmade In the Bathroom

I love handmade soaps.  Well, to be honest, I love not only handmade soaps but also handmade lotions bath bombs, body scrubs... the list goes on.  And a great place to shop for these is on Etsy.
I have bought from KB Shimmer and absolutely adored all the goodies I received.  Check out these from her store:

Top Picture: Pink Sugar Bath Bombs Set of 3

Middle Picture: Good Morning Citrus 9oz Jar Sugar Body Polish Scrub

Bottom Picture: Rosemary Mint Essential Oil Soap

Just a few of the pros of buying handmade bath products: 

Direct sales, straight from creator to buyer

Less packaging

A complete ingrediant list

Contact with the creator so all questions can easily be answered

Fabulous customer care

Shopping local to support local artisans

Handmade soaps contain glycerine

I think everybody should give handmade soap a try!

Introducing our Jack Rat!

I have been keeping a eye out for a small dog for my son, be it on the down-low... I have a lot of anti-pet people who think anybody is insane for adding responsibility on to a busy life via a non-human extra mouth.  But I really feel like our house was missing something since our yellow lab passed away last summer.  I mainly wanted to get a dog for my son, who I feel needs a little boost.  I think he sometimes feels a little neglected in the middle of his two sisters.  Well, a neighbor posted on her facebook account that she had Jack Rat puppies, they are a mix between Jack Russell Terriers and Rat Terriers.  So we received our new puppy, Ranger, on Sunday and I am tickled pink with this little guy!  Nights have been a little rough but so far, he has been a dream puppy.  So cute and energetic.

Last day for Kohls 30% off

This is a great time to shop at Kohls, just use coupon code SAVEINJUNE to get 30% of your order.  Today is the last day for this coupon code.  Shipping is free if you spend $75 so make sure you spend that amount.  Kohls is so great about returns, you can just order things to try and if you don't like it, next time you head out to Kohls, you can always return it.  I also find that I can get toys at Kohls marked way down.  Don't forget to check their seasonal clearance.  They have the most awesome garden flags and they are priced anywhere between $2.99 and $5.99 at times, then take 30% off of that!  Now that is a bargain!

Crafting is my obsession...

So when the diynetwork had a run of handmade/handcrafted shows on during the day time hours a couple of years ago, such as B. Original and Creative Juice, I was completely glued to the TV, just soaking it all in.  So, thanks to that and my love of Etsy and youtube videos and crafting web pages, my brain is bursting with snippets.  And the problem with my snippets, they never have the pertinent info that makes it possible for me to locate the information again, ugh!  Like the name of the artist, or even which show it was on.  I once saw an episode that was on book binding, it was filmed at the artist's studio and she made incredible books and I loved her technique.  I want to try something similar, and I think I remember enough of what I saw to make it work, but I would LOVE to see the video again, just to have her name to show off her books to all of you.  I have searched Google, HGTV and youtube but no luck.  Oh, if only I could get paid for the time I sspend searching for things on the internet.  It really is like trying to find a needle in a haystack, only the haystack is the size of Texas!

PS Did you know Cathie Filian has a shop on Etsy?  How cool is that?