Shutterfly Photo Books!

HPIM2321
Originally uploaded by learningmama

We received our Shutterfly order! I'm posting about them this week over at The Voice of Mom. I'm so happy with the photo book and V really enjoys looking at it. If you need a great personalized gift, I recommend checking Shutterfly out!

The Greatest Show on Earth!!

Closed. Congrats to Grandma Lynda!

I love going to the circus. No one does a better circus than Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey. I have been so fortunate to be able to offer you some tickets to the show in Cleveland!! I'll tell you more about that in a minute, but I want you all to check out the preview of their Zing Zang Zoom production here.

Cleveland Show Dates:
Wednesday October 21: 7:30pm
Thursday October 22: 7:30pm
Friday October 23: 7:30 pm
Sunday October 24:11:30am, 3:30pm, 7:30pm
Sunday October 25: 11:30am, 3:30pm, 7:30pm
Monday October 26: 7:30pm

I can give you four tickets for opening night, 10/21 at 7:30pm at Quicken Loans Arena. There is also an All Access Preshow that begins an hour beforehand and is free for all ticket holders! You can meet the performers, see a one-of-a-kind special Ringling Bros. motorcycle as built by Orange County Choppers, see an elephant paint, and more! The winner will be able to pick up their tickets (with a Picture ID!) at the will call window the night of the show! If you don't win:

There is a SPECIAL OFFER FOR YOU! Purchase a 4‐pack of tickets for weekday shows for only $44, or receive $4 off any weekend ticket by logging onto http://www.ticketmaster.com/ and entering the coupon code: MOM

Contest rules:
1) Leave a comment here on this post for one entry. Please remember this is for October 21st at 7:30pm in Cleveland at Quicken Loans Arena! Only enter if you can make arrangements to go. I MUST BE ABLE TO CONTACT YOU! You might want to leave your email in the form of 'name at site dot com' just to be sure!

2) Tweet about this giveaway and post a separate comment below with the direct path to your tweet. (Click where it says when you posted it example: less than one minue ago). Please use hashtag #OHcircus so I can track the tweets easier. Each tweet is an entry.

3) Blog about this and leave a link to your blog post for an extra entry.

I will accept comments from now until October 13th so they have time to make sure your name is on the list! Thanks to MomCentral for sponsoring this giveaway!

A Gift for a Teacher- via thinkmaya.com

Please visit ThinkMaya.com and read about the Gift for a Teacher giveaway. Lots of teachers are being forced to purchase their own classroom supplies this year due to the rough economy. You can nominate a teacher you know to be eligible for a $100 gift card to Office Max. It might not seem like much, but it is really a huge help.

I am nominating my Twitter friend MJ. She is a wonderful teacher. MJ has been teaching Kindergarten for 32 years, that alone shows her dedication and passion for teaching. Her school has frozen funds so the teachers don't have money for the supplies they need. They have to pay out-of-pocket for anything additional for their classrooms. She even uses her own time to stay after school to help struggling students catch up with the other kids. Not many teachers are willing to do that anymore. MJ's husband is also a teacher so they also have his expenses on top of her own. I think she would be a perfect candidate for a little help.

Everyone is struggling right now and this is a great way to help others out that doesn't cost you anything. Many people won't enter giveaways that won't benefit them, but this will benefit someone else and lots of children. Take a minute and make a nomination. If nothing else, read through some of the nominations and promote one of those nominees (or mine :-D ). We all have to help each other.

Birthday Weekend

We just got back from V's birthday weekend! It rained the entire time, but this was the best birthday so far! We had good WARM food and lots of family around. I have been going crazy getting everything ready for that party that I won't know what to do with myself now!

V got Rocky the Robot truck. She loves it! If you have a little kid that likes trucks, he is really funny. It's a bit pricey but it's an idea for sure. We got her a snow globe with her name engraved and 'Happy 3rd Birthday'. She got lots of clothes and books. I'm glad she and I both had a good time.

I added the feed to The Voice of Mom on the sidebar. I write once a week for that so in between my posts here, please check it out! Well I hope all of you are doing well! I need to get some toys and stuff put away from the party. Have a great week!!

Dance class

Well V is all done with her summer dance class. She did pretty well as the weeks went on. We both seem to have made a friend and signed up our daughters for fall class together. I seem to talk to V's little friend's mommy the most while we're there anyways so she even had her first official playdate! V will be taking a combination class of tap and ballet so we're getting her things she'll need for that. She starts preschool very soon! I can't believe my baby is growing up so fast! I have to go next week for the parent orientation and give the first and last month's tuition. I just hope she has a great time. I've always known that I wanted my child to have more opportunities to do things than I had. I never went to preschool and the only extracurricular program I was allowed to do was baseball in the summer. Girls are only allowed to play that until 6th grade here so that went quickly. After that, I was in band until 9th grade where I joined colorguard. I wanted to play sports but I just never pursued anything because I knew we couldn't afford to do much.

V's 3rd birthday is coming up next month too! There is so much going on all at once. It's hard to keep everything straight and make sure I pay for everything and get everything that I need to for dance, preschool, and her birthday party! Oh, and I had a comment on my last post about me being a stay-at-home-mom... don't I wish I could afford to be that! No, I work 40 hours a week full time outside of my home. V and I just try to have as much fun as we can in the evenings and weekends. Well I hope all of you have a great day!

Top 10 Reasons I am Excited to Stay Home with My Family this Coming Weekend

Most bloggers know that BlogHer is going on this weekend. Some of us can't make it so we're having a Non BlogHer Party!! We're celebrating by listing the Top 10 Reasons I am Excited to Stay Home with My Family this Coming Weekend.


10.) Who doesn't love a great make-up artist?


9.) Free pedicures!


8.) Having lunch prepared for me by a great up-and-coming chef!


7.) Great drinks!


6.) Taking a fun train ride!

5.) Funny jokes!


4.) Live music!


3.) Dancing!


2.) Peace and Quiet.


1.) Playing with my favorite person in the world!!



If you have lots to do the next few days, or whenever, check out Cozi for free calendars, shopping, grocery and to do lists, family journals and much more!! They have a great site!! I hope you all enjoyed my post! I hope everyone has a great weekend!!

Follow me on Twitter @learningmama !! Make sure to leave a comment here to help me win $100 sponsorship for the Not BlogHer Party!! Thanks everyone!!

Resourceful Mommy's Bloggiversary

Go to ResourcefulMommy's blog to RSVP. This is for Wednesday night from 8-10pm on Twitter!!