It is Friday!  I can't believe it!  I have been thinking long and hard about my fabulous find for today!  Especially for us parents who struggle with teaching balance for our children in regards to playing by themselves, playing with each other (if you have more than one) and me playing with them!  So...stay tuned, as I have a terrific fabulous find! 

First and foremost I need to give a shout out to my husband who treated me to a date last night!  It wasn't just a normal date, it was the American Idol concert.  If you didn't watch last season, the talent on there was amazing.  Last night proved to be some of their best talent coming out!  Wow...some of the folks that I didn't even vote for did the best performances!  Here is a little pic from last night...what fun!  We were too high up to get a face to face shot with Scotty McCreery! 

If you haven't been on a date with your spouse lately, make the time, not only is it well worth it, but it was just more than nice to just hold hands, hang out, and scream like crazy fans with my best friend! 

Now onto my fabulous find...although, my husband is surely to be my most treasured and best fabulous find!
This book!  Its amazing!  Great ideas for parents for their children.  And...best of all it is all with stuff that you would normally find around the house!

Got it on Barnes and Nobles website through my new favorite place!  Additional 4% cashback.  Plus a great price!  You do have to click on Partner Stores and Search for Barnes and Noble! 

Unplugged Play!

 I apologize I have not written in so long!  Our household has been a bit of a crazy mess.  This week I happened to get sick with a disasterous cold.  However, I feel like I need to share two great things on this FABULOUS FRIDAY!

My daughter starts dance lessons today!  She looks absolutely adorable, and she is super excited!  I can't wait to hear how her experience is once I drop her off. 

AND...finally, I found a GREAT website for any kind of shoes!

The story behind it is...my son has incredibly odd feet...fat in all directions!  So, reluctant to buy shoes that hurt his feet, I just kept socks on him, but with a rambunctious 18 month old comes the need for new shoes.  A friend of mine recommended Keens.  After looking them up online and taking a large gulp at the price I decided to check out a new shopping portal that is like an Amazon, but it finds the customer additional deals.  So after searching the site, I was able to get him a pair of shoes, for 60% off, then with my FREE membership to this shopping site, I got an additional 11% PLUS free two day shipping!  Super cool!  Now my son has a great pair of shoes that fit him very well!

Zach's New Shoes!

Here they are!  Click HERE, and it will take you to the site that I got my great deal from!  You will need to fill out an EZ Registration with just an email address so that it can give you the additional member benefits.  BUT...it is free and they have a bunch of other stores.  I typed in Toddler Keens in the search box, in case you are on the hunt for the same shoes!

I apologize for skipping almost an entire week!  Things got CRAZY around here!  I have a fun job outside of mommyhood and I experienced quite a bit of it last week.

But, I have a VERY cute and simple find for my Fabulous Find Friday that I am posting on Thursday! 

CAMP TINY! 

Yes...a fellow friend of mine on facebook introduced me and then I found out it is someone that I know!  So, to help her promote her new adventure and my plan is to start CampTiny in my own house beginning next week....here you go!  I hope you find it as cool as I do, and if you do, make sure you post a comment to tell her!

CampTiny

Ahhh...the southerner in me is coming out!  It's summer!  Get prepared for a great series I am going to do over the next couple of weeks on how you can use those YUMMY tomatoes that are about to POP out of your garden! 

However, today since our tomatoes are still green, I am going to feature a delicious banana pudding that I got from my grandma, however I am going to change up one thing and that is the pudding type.

So grab 2 packages of pudding.  This time I used Jello Banana Cream Mix vs. my usual vanilla.  Either is fine.

Mix one box first. 

Add to a bowl.  I like to use a clear bowl because I love to see the layers of yellow and white and it makes for a good presentation.  It's the Paula Dean in me!  ;) 

As the caretaker of two little children on this earth, I have lately been contemplating what life would be like with a third.  It has been a hard and emotional place to come to because there are so many variables.  One, being my husband, who is fairly certain two is good for him.  However, he will preface, that if we were in a different financial position, he would be more open.  Which has led me to ask many questions, obviously. 

But, for me the variables are my difficult pregnancies, my anxiousness during my pregnancies with the loss of our first child, and then the responsibilities that come after they are born.  Especially, since I do work and want to continue to work.  It is a frustrating place to be in because I LOVE having children, love them to pieces, and I particularly LOVE when they are the age they are now.  So, one more to me, makes me think the family would be complete.  And, I have an uneasy spirit about where we are now.  For those of you that know me, it translates to a lot going on in the processing of my thoughts, feelings, and even my prayer life with the Lord. 

Lately, I have just prayed for the Lord to make it abundantly clear to the both of us.  Like, change our hearts miraculously.  If it is my heart that needs to be changed, then I want the spirit of contentment to override what I am feeling right now.  If we are to have another one, the Lord is going to have to miraculously speak into my husband's heart to give it a go!  And, of course I would follow. 

I need Scripture to hold my place while I am waiting for some kind of clarity.  The Lord always speaks to me in quiet, and when I am writing, so I ask you to pray with me as I find time to write and journal about this fragile topic.

I have been searching long and hard to find the RIGHT tablet.  I'm not a trend follower, typically, for those that don't know me.  I process and research for months before making a purchase.  I have been wanting a tablet, mostly for business purposes.  I have a smart phone that I am able to share the internet with folks, but it is not the same particularly when you have a 10" screen vs. my tiny smart phone screen. 

I might offend some people, BUT, it is what it is, I am not a HUGE fan of apple.  I have the ipod, and that is about all I own.  I could tell you why but that would go into a very long story - so I will wait to dialog with folks on that issue.  SO...the Ipad is out - however, to be fair, I did look at it!  Very nice and slim, is fast, but there were too many things I didn't like (no expandable memory space, apple market not as many free apps).

Now on to my quest - and maybe this is not a TRUE fabulous find because I haven't actually purchased it yet - but I am looking for a GREAT Android powered tablet!  I have tried a couple, even purchased one, but decided to return it because of the actual Android operating system is not the Honeycomb 3.0, and I did not know that until after I bought it. 

Now to those of you who don't really care about the details - guess what, that is what you have me for!  Because I like the details and the research and SO far...no luck.  Here are my breakdowns:

Motorola Xoom - Too heavy! 
Acer Tablet - Definitely in the running - Light Weight and easy to use
Ipad - did not have expandable memory (SD ability) and I don't like the fact that ONLY apple stuff works with it.
Archos - This was the one I bought...and well, it did not run on an operating system that was compatible with most Android Apps.  So...bad purchase, and I'm sending it back. 

If you have suggestions, I welcome them!