Thankful Tuesday's

I am following along with the 4FabMoms Thankful Tuesday's. It's been a fun following along! Today I am thankful for our big yard! I know it sounds funny, but I am! We have 5 acres with the 5 adjacent acres that are owned by my in-laws. So pretty much we live on a compound!!! The nice thing about it, though, is that there is no traffic on our private road and therefore, I feel really safe about my daughter being outside. Although she's too young to be outside all the time by herself, I will occasionally let her play in the sandbox on her own while I look on from the house.

While I do miss living in a neighborhood, it is nice to have lots of land where it's always peaceful and quite! And there's lots or room to play and roam! So, there you have it, I am thankful for our big yard!!!

A New Blog

The 4 Fab Moms are at it again! We have started another blog (Family-Fun-Time) centered around family fun activities. This blog will coincide with our Family-Fun-Time website and will give weekly ideas on fun activities, recipes, and other ideas to inspire family togetherness.

We are super excited about our new adventure and hope that you will join us!

A Cool Find

My friend, Rebekah, has been telling me about this cool club online, but as always, I have put off looking into it! It's called The Brands Club and it's an online club that has over 250+ stores you can shop in and receive discounts. Stores like Gap, Old Navy, Babies R Us, Toys R Us and so many more!

I have several baby showers coming up and she sent me an email reminding me to buy online (since we don't have a Babies R Us close to us) through The Brands Club. Not only it is free to join, but I made 5% back on my purchase. It's not a ton, but at least it's more than I would have made if I hadn't joined!

Another great incentive is that once you join, you can refer your friends and if 5 join, you make $5. It's simple, free, and so easy! So check it out today. And if you sign up, please be sure to use my Membership Code so I will get credit: BC04275. Many Thanks!!

A Fun Magazine for Kids!

If your kids are anything like mine, they absolutely love to get mail. Everyday my dd looks forward to getting the mail and seeing if there is anything for her (I usually just give her my junk mail and that seems to keep her content!).

Last year for her birthday, Lilly received a great gift, Wild Animal Baby. It's a monthly magazine full of great pictures, stories and more. She loves getting her magazine each month and we read it over and over again!

So, if you're looking for a unique and inexpensive gift, you should check Wild Animal Baby out!

Manners, Are They Important?

So I was reading an article today in my Cookie Magazine that was talking about manners. The author had some very insightful points and thoughts. Like, are all manners really necessary or pertinent to our lifestyle. She used the example of breaking bread rather than chomping into it. Her thought was perhaps breaking the bread was done eras ago for some health reason (looking for mold or bugs!!) and perhaps it was never meant as a manner at all.

While I appreciated her thoughts, I still walked away with the feeling that she doesn't place as much emphasis on manners as I would and do require. I was raised with manners and have always prided myself on being well mannered. I think it's polite and shows that you have some sophistication if you use manners. And since I cringe whenever I don't hear a child use "please" or "thank-you" I have instilled these manners in my toddler. Of course I will teach her more as she grows up, but for the time being, it's just the simple manners that I require!

And since we live in the south, I do require my dd to use "sir" and "ma'am." My mother cringes when she hears this, but it's something that I have grown to realize is important in our little hill-billy town (okay, we're not that bad!!). There just seems to be a difference in the kids that are required to say it vs. those that aren't. And since it's polite, well, my dd is required to say it! Plus, right now it's really cute coming from a two and half year old!!

So, I was wondering, do you find manners to be important and if so, what do you require of you kids? And do you find a difference in kids that are well mannered vs. those who are not? Looking forward to your comments!!!

Thankful Tuesday's

The 4 Fab Moms post a weekly segment on thankfulness. Since I think it's so important to be thankful for everything we have in life, I thought I would tag along and use it here on my blog as well!

Enjoy!! Thankful Tuesday's.