Where, Oh where, has my little girl gone?

    Having a toddler and a preteen is weird. There, I said it, and I can't take it back! I look at Charlotte and see her tiny little face and cute little nose. Just as I'm getting lost in her innocent big brown eyes... "MOM, CAN I BORROW YOUR SHOES?" jolts me back to reality. I whisper softly in her sweet little ear "Please don't ever be a teenager". Then Amber walks into the room, almost dressed for school, reminding me that we need to go bra shopping... soon... again!

    I can't remember a lot of Amber as a baby... I don't know why. I know that she had lots of curly red hair and big blue eyes. I remember her first tooth, first words, and first steps. I just feel like I'm watching a movie of some one elses baby. My feisty redhead is almost 12 and is growing out of clothes and shoes weekly. It seems so long ago that I was changing diapers and nursing her to sleep. I feel guilty that my memories of her babyhood are so fuzzy... So I dig into the photos!
     There she is! 7 lbs. 9 oz. 19 1/2 inches long with a head full of red hair! The same button nose that I now gaze upon in Charlotte's face! I remember taking all of these photos and slowly regain the feeling of amazement at her ability to memorize everything around her. She watched every single thing and it was almost as if she was filing it away.
     Even the pictures from the last 2 years show a completely different girl young woman. Her hair has changed, along with her face. That little button nose is looking more like mine and unfortunately so is her skin. Although the dimple in her chin that reminds me of her dad will never go away! We talk about periods and choosing good friends and I explain why her teacher punishes the whole class when one kid misbehaves. Our conversations are more purposeful and I hope I'm sharing the right stories from my youth.
     Every day I look at my 2 girls and think that someday very soon Charlotte will be Amber's age and Amber will be my age (not at the same time of course) and I will wonder the same things all over again with Charlotte...

Where, Oh where, has my little girl gone?

If you have enjoyed reading this post please hop along to the other posts in the Manic Mommy Monday hop and even post your own:

CrindelStar~ Where the Universe Dreams! A unicorn story and song Review and Giveaway

I have had the great pleasure of learning about a fabulous story for my girls!

CrindelStar~ Where the Universe Dreams is a very cute story about a girl named Maria. She still believes in unicorns and her classmates are pressuring her to give it up! She gets a visit from a beautiful and magical creature named CrindelStar who makes her feel very important in a special way. Maria holds the key to keeping unicorns alive and that she can never stop believing!

This beautiful story about magical unicorns brought me to childhood again. Believing in magic and creatures unseen is what makes childhood so much fun. As a child I read a few unicorn stories and I even bought a copy of my childhood favorite for Amber last year. I enjoyed seeing the light in my daughters eyes when this story touched her just as it had touched me! We had the chance to bond like only a mother and daughter could.

The awesome thing about the CrindleStar album is not on a CD or encased in plastic... The album is a code printed on the back of a seed card! After you have redeemed your code to download the story, you can plant the card in soil and grow some beautiful wildflowers. The front of the card has beautiful artwork too, which almost made me not want to plant it!

How to plant your card:

1. Tear your card into pieces (I know it's hard to do this to such beautiful artwork but you will be rewarded with equally beautiful Black-eyed Susans)

2. Soak in water and spread out under 1/4 inch of loose, well drained soil.

3. Keep warm and moist

4. The paper will recycle into the soil and in 2-4 weeks sprouting should begin!

Where to buy CrindelStar:

You can get an instant download here: http://www.nimbitmusic.com/crindelstar2012

You can also get more information at CrindelStar.com

Win it!

    Gigi, the creative mind behind CrindelStar is going to give a free download of CrindelStar to share with your family! The winner will receive 1 CrindelStar’s Story 7 Song cards! Please use the Rafflecopter below to enter. Good Luck!

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Mom Blog Society. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. http://momblogsociety.com

My Wonderful Walls Giveaway Event!

I'm very happy to introduce you all to My Wonderful Walls! They offer imaginative wall stickers, wall stencils and canvas wall murals for kids' rooms and baby nurseries. It's all created and manufactured in the United States!

 

About My Wonderful Walls: 

My Wonderful Walls is a modern day Mom & Pop online retail business operated by Michael and Stephanie Goins. The idea for the company was born after Michael hand-painted a mural in their older son's new room. We knew that other parents would really enjoy doing this, but most lack the artistic training and/or confidence. So we decided to design products that would allow all parents (even the artistically challenged) to create wall murals themselves. We formed My Wonderful Walls in 2008 with a mere four wall stencil kits, and now we carry hundreds of popular product and ship all over the word. Each and every one of our products is designed and manufactured with tender loving care in the USA in beautiful Chattanooga, Tennessee.

My Wonderful Walls Review:

I have not reviewed My Wonderful Walls yet... but Heather from Full Price? Never! did review the wall stickers for her toddlers room! Here are her thoughts: "I am not a creative person, I wish I was but I've come to terms with it. I was so excited to try the wall stickers because even someone like me that lacks artistic skills can use them with terrific results! I'm always looking at my daughters boring closet doors and trying to think of someway to make them more fun for her... I finally found the answer! The stickers were very easy to use and absolutely adorable! The toddler agrees! The only problem I had was choosing from all of the themes they offer... farm, flower garden, transportation, jungle, dinosaur, princess, bugs, forest, fairy, cats & dogs, outer space, pirate, owls, dragon, monsters, circus, bugs, ocean, polka dot, clouds and more!"

GUESS WHAT!?!
I've joined the Host, Full Price? Never! to bring you this awesome giveaway!

The Prize: 1 Lucky winner will win any one item of their choice from My Wonderful Walls. This includes free shipping and is valued at $177! This giveaway is open to those with a continental US or Canada mailing address. You can enter using the form below!


UPDATE: You can get 15% off your order with the code "fpn15" lets go shopping!

GOOD LUCK!

In a tough economy, you can't be too careful with your credit.

    I recently posted on the topic of identity theft which got me thinking about credit history. I also mentioned in that post about the people who cover the pinpad when entering their number to prevent me from seeing their PIN.
    One of the things I am supposed to do at my side job is offer our store's credit card. Lately it has been a struggle to get people to sign up. Here is a short list of rejections we get on a daily basis:

• "My credit isn't good enough"
• "I don't want it to show up on my credit report because it will lower my score."
• "The interest rate is too high"

    Let me explain for you mommies out there a little about how that works! I will go in order of the list. Yes your credit score does matter when applying for a line of credit. However, companies are still giving credit! They understand that times are tough and we still need to take care of our families! Sure they want to know that you are going to pay your bill (and pay it on time). As long as you are paying your bills you should be OK. Most likely those will less than great credit could get a lower limit. I believe that most of the people who say that don't actually know their credit score. 

    Every time you apply for a line of credit it does show up on your credit report. Does it have a negative impact on your actual credit score? It only shows up on your credit report as an inquiry. I checked my credit report and noticed that EVERY MONTH there was a credit "inquiry" from Capital One. If you get a credit offer in the mail all the time like I do, guess what, they have already run a credit inquiry! I thought to myself "I didn't give them permission to do that!" So I took a little time to contact them and tell them to take me off of their lists! I would highly recommend checking your free credit score to see who is viewing your history! So to answer the question at hand, it will show on your credit history but it will not bring your score down any more than another company that is checking it regularly without you even knowing!

    Interest rates are on the rise. That is not going to change for a while, unfortunately. When I hear this response I really want to say to them "It's no higher than the cards you already have!" There's really no way around this, if you want a company to lend you money, essentially, they are going to make sure they get it back promptly. It isn't necessarily about making you pay more, but about motivating you to pay it back sooner! (Of course not everyone does and they do make a large sum of money on this high interest) 

    Bottomline: If you are concerned enough to cover your PIN at the store you should be concerned enough to check your credit score regularly. It could save your bottomline in the end!

    Thanks for reading my post, I know it is a little off topic but I really feel like this is something not enough people are taking care of! I hope you learned something or are motivated to check for yourself!

This is a sponsored post for freescore.com. I have connected with them through Blogsvertise. While I will receive some compensation for this post, the opinions stated are 100% mine.

Do you worry about identity theft?

Sometimes I wonder how someone could be so dishonest. I work in retail at night as a cashier supervisor and I always see people freak out and cover the pin pad when enter their numbers. I think to myself "me seeing your pin doesn't matter unless I have your card, silly". But in all reality how do you know who is or isn't capable of using your personal information. They don't know me. Sure I look sweet and innocent (most days) but I have caught shoplifters in a suit and tie!

A few years ago I lost my wallet in the woods... Long story, yes there was a few drinks involved. Someone found my wallet and turned it in to the local police station. I got a phone call to come pick it up. On the phone the very nice policeman said "you know you should have your social security card in your wallet, right?" Of course I knew that. I had just gotten hired at my job and needed to take it in to them. I never got around to taking it out! I really dodged a bullet! When I picked up my wallet the lady at the desk said I was lucky because the gentleman who turned it in had been in there before a few times and not a good citizen! If this scares you it should! Identity theft is very serious and in this difficult economy criminals are getting crafty! Finding people to take advantage of is their job! I think it's time to get some identity theft protection!

I found a great place to get protected. IdentityHawk helps people like you an me safeguard our assets, our belongings, and our good names. Through their suite of protective benefits, IdentityHawk members can view the health of their identity protection, identify areas most at risk, and take steps to reduce those risks.


This is a sponsored post for IdentityHawk. I have connected with them though Blogsvertise. While I will receive some compensation, the opinions and stories contained are my personal true stories! Any opinions stated here are 100% mine.