Sunshine and Sippy Cups — Page 173 — Smart Solutions for Busy Moms!

Click, Color, Capture Photo Challenge: Week 2 – Orange

CLICK, COLOR, CAPTURE PHOTO CHALLENGE!

Welcome to Week 1 of the Color, Click, Capture photography challenge hosted byEast9thStreet, A Helicopter Mom, Nap Time Is My Time and Sunshine and Sippy Cups! Our color this week is Orange – And here’s my favorite Orange photo…

“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.” – Lao Tzu

We moved into our new home in November of 2010 – leaving behind a beautifully landscaped home. My mother spent most afternoons at this new home working on building a new garden – She is a completely amazing Master Gardner. This is one of her beauties, taken at the end of the summer. I love the way that the light shines through the petals – Makes me feel warmer and brighter just looking at it. Oh, how I’m longing for summer to come back again!

This Week’s Photo Tip

Emily Anderson of Emily Anderson Photography has been photographing children and families in the Northeast Arkansas area for several years. She has the patience of a Saint and an impeccable ability to capture the most innocent moments.

When photographing children, have realistic expectations. If your 2 year old can’t sit still to watch his or her favorite 15-minute television show, a 40-minute session with props and specific poses is probably out of the question. (Even for a professional this can be hard to accept when it involves my own children. J ) Arrange to have another person there to chase a runaway toddler, wipe noses, and pull dresses down to cover diapers. Pick a time that the kids are usually at their best. I find that in the morning, right after breakfast is a great time for most kids. Have everything ready and easily accessible. You don’t want to have to go searching for a specific toy or book when you are 10 minutes in to their 20 minute attention span. If the kids are going to working on a project, think about what angle you will be photographing from when you set up the workspace. Take a few test shots of the area as you set up. Keep it fun, and never underestimate the power of candy or gummy fruit snacks.

Now – It’s YOUR turn to join the fun!

Each week we’ll feature a new color, and link up our favorite photos in that color. Whether your a pro at photography, or a total beginner – I’d love to have you join the fun! We’ll have a new photo tip each week, so we can all work on improving our photo skills together. So – Write up a quick blog post featuring your own favorite color, tell your readers about the Color, Click, Capture challenge, and link up with us!

Link Up Your Orange Photo for the Color, Click, Capture Photo Challenge

Posted by Meagan Paullin on February 8, 2012 Filed Under: Blog Hops | 4 Comments

Stumble Tumble Tuesday – 2/7 – #BloggingTips

Stumble Tumble Tuesday

This fun weekly event is hosted by Acting Balanced, Sunshine and Sippy Cups and Wyoming Girl Turned Coastie Wife! The goal of this hop is to use Stumble Upon to help you promote your blog posts and get more traffic. It’s fun, it’s a big boost to your best posts, and you can find new great friends to follow too!

Even if you think you are stumbling correctly, please read this post on how to check and see if your stumble was successful. Some stumbles aren’t showing up, thanks!

TO TAKE PART IS SIMPLE

Add a link to a blog post that you would like people to stumble to the linky below. It *must* be a link to an actual post and NOT your main site. Please do not list giveaways.
Stumble as many other posts as you care to, check to make sure that your stumble went through by clicking on the “Info” icon. If you’d like to, you can leave a comment on their post saying something like, “I’m stopping by from Stumble Tumble Tuesday and just stumbled you – great post! My post is _____(add link)”. That makes it easier for them to return the love! The great thing about Stumble Upon is that it is fast and easy to do with the Stumble Upon toolbar.
PLEASE DO NOT ADD YOUR LINK IF YOU AREN’T GOING TO STUMBLE ANY POSTS.
Remember, link directly to the actual post, not your home page.
PLEASE – Don’t list any giveaways. StumbleUpon is for Evergreen posts.
PLEASE – Only one link per blog.

Feel free to post about Stumble Tumble Tuesday on your blog and help us spread the word – The more people are stumbling, the more traffic we’ll all get, and, hey – the more, the merrier, right?

HAVE FUN WITH IT AND LET’S DISCOVER AND STUMBLE SOME POSTS!

The first person to “like” a post on StumbleUpon assigns it a category. If your post has not been discovered yet, please leave the category you would like, in your link to help the discoverer assign it correctly. Example: Strawberry Shortcake Recipe (food).

If you have ANY questions on how this works – remember to read the post above, which covers some great basics. If that doesn’t answer it, leave me a comment here or on my Facebook wall – and I’ll get back to your right away. StumbleUpon can be an uh-MAY-zing new way to increase traffic to your site – and this is a fun way to use it!

STUMBLE TUMBLE TUESDAY LINKY

Posted by Meagan Paullin on February 8, 2012 Filed Under: Blog Hops | No Comments

Buy a Box, Donate a Meal: Love with Food Giveaway

Love with Food Gourmet Gift Box

I am a big fan of monthly “surprise” subscriptions. I love the Bluum Box for new moms, Fair Ivy has super fun packages for adults, teens, and pets – And now I can give gift subscriptions of Love with Food to my foodie friends too! Each monthly shipment comes packaged in a cheerful red box, and is filled with gourmet food bites to discover. You can then visit the website to get discounts on your favorite full-size products. Love it, right?

They Taste Good, and they Do Good!

Every box purchased through Love with Food means another meal donated to help feed a hungry child – Donations are made to No Kid Hungry, and almost 5,000 meals have already been donated! What an easy way to use your purchasing power to help other moms raise happy, healthy children. I love companies that use their profit for good things.

From Sweet to Savory – There’s a bite to please any palate!

Each of these fun gift boxes comes loaded with at least 5-6 new bite-size products to taste. The kids are already huge fans of the fruit snacks that were included, and fought over who would get to try this new flavor. I had never tasted Somersault snacks before, and am SO glad that they were in this box – What a perfect healthy snack for busy moms! There was nothing in the box that we didn’t like, and some will be new regular purchases in my house. The selection was just perfect.

Love with Food Giveaway!

You can try one of these fun gift boxes too – 5 lucky fans will each be shipped out their own box of gourmet food treats to discover new tastes too! Use the easy peasy Rafflecopter form below to enter – and be sure to come back each day for the bonus entry. Feelin’ lucky? Check out the BIG list of giveaways in the sidebar too – The more you enter, the more chances you have to WIN!

Have fun & Good luck!

{Disclaimer: I received a complimentary gourmet food box to facilitate this review, from Love with Food through Mom Blog Society. All photos, opinions, and ideas are my own.}

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Posted by Meagan Paullin on February 7, 2012 Filed Under: Giveaways | 55 Comments

Simple Routines for Better Mornings!

“How does one become a butterfly?” she asked pensively. “You must want to fly so much that you are willing to give up being a caterpillar.” – Trina Paulus

That is one of my favorite quotes. It reminds me that I each day, I should do things that bring me closer to the goals and dreams that make me happy, and work on eliminating the things that get in the way. Over the past year I’ve made lots of small changes to my life that help to brighten each day – Things that help me stay centered and balanced, so that I’m able to be the best me that I can be!

Building a Healthy & Happy Day!

Here are the two routines that have really helped give me a better start to my days. I had noticed that it was the same few spots that always challenged me – but a little tweak here and there, and those problems were so easy to fix. Use these as a launching point to figure out some easy solutions to your own busy mom challenges, and simplify your life too!

Starting the Day Better – I used to be stressed in the morning. I’d just get started on work, then the baby would get up and need to get dressed. Next I’d need to lasso the boys and drag them away from the Xbox long enough to get ready for school. Things always felt really hectic, and I was always so tired. So now, even though it’s a bit tough some mornings, I get up at 6 am before everyone else wakes up. I can enjoy my coffee and my newspaper, go over my blogging planner and household schedule to plan my day, and start things much more peacefully! By the time everyone else finally gets up, I’m bright and cheerful {and caffeinated!!} and ready to face the morning challenges with a smile.
Ending the Day Better – I hate messes. But, with extended family living with me and an busy blogging schedule, the house gets super messy! With so many people – including kids and too many dogs! – there’s really only so much I can do. I’ve learned to do my best, and forget the rest! But each evening I take 15 minutes to do a quick clean – A basket to pickup forgotten toys, dishes loaded to the dishwasher and counters wiped clean, throw pillows and blanket fluffed and straightened. It’s an easy task, but makes a big difference. You feel less stressed when you go to bed, and it’s nice waking up to a {mostly} clean house in the morning.

What do you do to live a healthy & happy life?

The small routines in my life help me reduce my stress a ton, which leads to a much happier and healthier mom of the house. I’d love to hear your own busy mom solution tips as part of this discussion sponsored by Quaker Instant Oatmeal – A great option that can help you get a great start every morning. Simple, and super delicious!

Join the Discussion and Share Your Best Tips!

“Small Wins, Big Rewards” Sweepstakes

You can join the discussion here – Share Your Small Wins! Other busy moms will get to benefit from your great ideas, and YOU will get a chance to win some amazing prizes, just for joining the fun!

At the end of each discussion one lucky participant will be chosen at random to win a $50 Amazon Gift Card, to purchase anything from your favorite Quaker Oatmeal products to exercise clothing to help them get off to a perfect start each day!
All of the participants of the 3 discussions will also be entered to win the Grand Prize – a $1000 Amazon Gift Card! So the more discussions you participate in, the better chance you have of winning!

Discussion Details

Remember, the more discussions you join, the more opportunities you’ll have to win – Can you imagine how much great stuff you could get to brighten your mornings with a $1,000 Amazon Gift Card?! Here are the dates of each discussion, and the topic for each one:

2/9 – Small Wins: What small wins can you accomplish as part of your morning routine to help start your day right?
2/23 – Future Wins: What morning small wins will help contribute to a successful future?
3/8 – Healthy Rewards: What small steps in the morning do you take to keep healthy?

Share your ideas, join the fun, and good luck in the Sweepstakes!

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{Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Quaker Instant Oatmeal through Glam Media. The content, ideas, tips and opinions are all 100% my own.}

Posted by Meagan Paullin on February 6, 2012 Filed Under: Busy Mom Solution | 3 Comments

Love Your Breed – Win the Entire Product Line!

“There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face.” – Ben Williams

Abby loves dogs. Loves, loves, LOVES dogs. Her third word was dog – Right after momma and hat. But hat also sometimes means dad. We got a puppy when she was just a few months old, and they are the absolute best of friends. So, she of course has lots of doggy toys. When I heard about the new Love Your Breed collection of products from foufoudog.com, I knew we had to check it out!

“The more I see of man, the more I like dogs.” – Mme. de Staël

I had heard of foufoudog, but had never visited their website before – Which means I have been missing out on some totally amazing doggy gear! The creator, Cheryl Ng, was disappointed by the lack of high-quality fashions for dogs, so she decided to jump into the scene and start designing them herself. One thing that sets them apart is that she realizes that big dogs want cool gear too, so she designs for ALL breeds of dog! That led to the Love Your Breed collection – a selection of super cool accessories to celebrate your love for your favorite dog! My mother lives with me, and has 4 little Dachshunds – and our little guy is a fluffy Shih-Tzu – so we got an assortment of products featuring both breeds. Abby was so excited when I opened up the package – I wish I had gotten a video, it was priceless.

“I think dogs are the most amazing creatures; they give unconditional love. For me they are the role model for being alive.” – Gilda Radner

One of my very favorite’s that we were sent to check out was this super cute little rhinestone sticker! I thought that it would be trickier to work with, but it was so simple. We’re in the process of re-doing our whole Master Bedroom this month, to make a better space for Abby – {she’s sharing a room with me while my brother and his kids stay here for the summer} – and this was the absolute perfect thing to decorate her toy buckets!! It has stayed on perfectly, which amazed me, since Abby keeps trying to get it off. So I ordered a couple more for her other buckets too! You could use this for so many things – and they’re even cuter in real life. Really high quality.

“The Love Your Breed collection includes Luggage Tags, Plush Toys, Acrylic Key Chains, Key Covers and Pens. Already creating a buzz in both the pet and gift industries, this collection is a must-have for all pet owners, pet lovers, and other pet friendly people.” – foufoudog.com

“Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.” – Roger Caras

Another favorite of mine is this super cute Luggage Tag! It matches perfectly with my favorite travel bag from DAV. Since I’m going to be traveling a lot this year to blogging conferences, this will see a lot of use. It’s great quality too, like all of the Love Your Breed products, and is just a really fun addition.

Want to WIN a set of Love Your Breed Products?

One lucky fun is going to WIN the entire collection from foufoudog – The prize package will include everything listed on this page – Love Your Breed – which means one each of:

Acrylic Keychain with Rhinestone Detailing.
Key Cover – Very Fun!
Luggage Tag for Travel.
Adorable My Pet Pocket Plushies.
Love Your Breed Pen.
Rhinestone Sticker – My Favorite!

This fun prize package is sure to totally delight any dog-lover – and has a value of about $40 bucks! And – If you’ve got a pet lover that you’d love to surprise with some of the great goodies from foufoudog.com, check it out:

Free 15% off Your Purchase Gift Certificate!

This is valid for every single one that enters this giveaway – It can only be used once, so make sure to stock up on great gifts for everyone on your list this year! Now – to enter to win, use the easy peasy Rafflecopter entry form below. And if you’re feeling lucky, check out the rest of the great giveaways over in my sidebar too!

Have Fun, and Good Luck!

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Posted by Meagan Paullin on February 6, 2012 Filed Under: Giveaways | 2 Comments

Save 15% Off an Entire Purchase at foufoudog.com!

For all You Pet Lovers!

Visit foufoudog.com today to use this great online savings certificate! And, until February 20th, you can also enter to WIN the full Love Your Breed collection from foufoudog, right here on Sunshine and Sippy Cups!

Enter to WIN!

Enjoy your savings – and if you enter the giveaway, Good Luck!

Posted by Meagan Paullin on February 6, 2012 Filed Under: Shopping, Deals and Coupon Codes | No Comments

How to Budget for Family Medical Expenses

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Walgreens for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Medical Expenses are Hard to Plan For

Medical expenses can be one of the biggest budget-busters in your family’s spending . It’s hard to plan for your medical expenses, since your medical needs are usually so unpredictable. Kids get sick, and accidents happen. One big illness or injury can take a big bite out of your income – but there are a few things that you can do to be better prepared!

Start a Monthly Savings Account

If you kept good records last year, you can add up what you spent on medical expenses last year to get a better idea of what you should save. Add it all up for the year, divide by 12, and make it a goal to save that much in a special account each month, so you know that you’re pretty well prepared for any emergency that comes up. If you aren’t able to look at last years spending, it’ll be a little bit tougher – But try to estimate how many times the kids usually go to the doctor over the course of a year, add up copays, add extra for an emergency room trip or two {with kids, it happens!} – and base your saving plan on that. It’s not perfect, but it’s a great start!

Walgreens Prescription Savings Club

Appointments with your family doctor and emergency room visits aren’t your only medical expense – Prescriptions can also be a HUGE spending category! One way to help save money on prescriptions is to check out Walgreens Prescription Savings Club. Here are a few of the ways that it can help your family:

A full year Family Membership is only $35, and covers everyone in your immediate family – Spouse, dependents 22 and younger, and even your pets!
Have dependents over 22? It’s only $20 for an individual membership.
Savings on over 8,000 brand-name medications, and all generics.
Discounts on flu shots, pet prescriptions, nebulizers, and diabetic supplies.
Bonuses when you purchase Walgreens brand products and photofinishing services.

How do YOU plan for Medical Expenses?

A sick kiddo can totally throw you off schedule – Both in your budget, and in your daily schedule. You might have to take a day or two off of work, get meds, maybe visit your family doctor. How do you prepare and plan for this type of challenge? I’d love to hear your tips too – Please share your best “Busy Mom Solution” tip in the comments.