The Traveling Sisterhood: October 2015

American-made Christmas Decor at Great Prices #Discount #HolidayGiftGuide

Decorate your home and give unique and personalized gifts this holiday season with handcrafted, American-made products from Wendell August. The artisans at Wendell August, America's oldest forge, hand create every piece of giftware in their collection. Choose from ornaments, Christmas decor, personalized gifts, entertaining accessories, or jewelry. 

Review coming soon!


3 Month BuluBox Subscription for just $15! #Discount

 
The perfect partner in the pursuit of a healthier you, Bulu Box is like having a personal trainer and a nutritionist as a best friend. Each month, a box of healthy discoveries is shipped right to your door for just $10.  You learn about that month's 4-5 premium samples, try each one and see what fits into your individual healthy lifestyle.


For sharing your opinions on each month's samples through a quick survey, they also give you 50 Rewards Points (that's $5!) to use in their shop to get more of your favorites. Get a 3 Month Subscription for just $15 (regularly $30) at Bulu Box - Use code WOWZA.  Can't wait to get my first box!
 





Find the Most Timeless Gifts at Russian Legacy




Since reading Judith Pella's Russian series, I have been fascinated with the culture. When I found Russian Legacy, I was incredibly impressed with their wide range of authentic Russian gifts and collectibles. I chose to review their unpainted Matryoshka, nesting dolls.
The package came with 5 dolls which nestle within one another, all uniquely different to paint or color, imported from Semyonov, Russia. Such a wonderful Christmas gift for anyone interested in Russian culture or simply nesting dolls! They would make a darling stocking stuffer for the little girl in your life.

My daughter and I have begun painting the dolls together. Aren't they darling? So original and they offer such creative inspiration!

Russian Legacy offers so much more--apparel, hats, folk art, memorabilia, watches, chocolates, even jewelry and antique items like folk dresses and samovars (the traditional Russian way for making tea).  You can find so many items that would make wonderful gifts! You simply must visit them and especially browse their numerous Russian Nesting Dolls!


Made With Love Cooking #HolidayGiftGuide #Discount


Love Cooking Company has set out with a mission to make baking a simple task. Partnered with some great names in the baking and entertainment industries, Love has crafted bakeware that helps you easily achieve the best-looking baked goods on the table, from filled cakes to bite-size desserts and more.
The Mrs. Fields Cutie Cakes pan creates 48 bite-size cakes when you need a small amount of something sweet. It's ideal for savory options, like mini corn dogs or potato pancakes. After you create your tiny treats, just pop the pan in the dishwasher.  These are so adorable and bite sized!  Any time I make them, everyone raves over them.
The PushPan is a 100% watertight and leak-proof cake pan with a patented silicone-lined removable base making it perfect for cheesecakes, pies and more! An alternative to a spring-form pan, you simply place the pan on something sturdy, press the sides down, and voila - the perfect cake!
The Mrs. Fields Fill N Flip is the easiest way to make a layered cake and create a surprise center that everyone will love. Once you bake your cake, add filling to the side with the large opening, place the non-filled layer on top, and enjoy! Plus, the pan is dishwasher-safe, making clean-up a breeze.  I can't wait to get mine in the mail!
  DISCOUNT 

My Readers receive 10% off your entire order with the promo code LOVE10. For a limited time only. ;)

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Welcome to Honeysuckle Hollow! Li'l Woodzeez, This Week's #1 On Our Holiday Gift Guide


 
Welcome to Honeysuckle Hollow where all the woodland creatures work together to take care of each other and their environment.  Li'l Woodzeez Countryside Cottage came with two bunnies, Emelia and Elliot Hoppingood, who you'll meet later.  In this photo, the Fox and Beaver parents are arriving at the Hoppingood home to pick up the children after a date night.  Mr. and Mrs. Hoppingood were good enough to babysit for them, something they often take turns doing, you see.

Here you see Mrs. Hoppingood preparing dinner for the little ones.  She bought her pretty new dishes at Target.  Speaking of Target, you can find Li'l Woodzeez there, too.  No wonder it's Mrs. Hoppingood's favorite place to shop in the evenings when the Li'l Woodzeez Farmers Market is closed.  The furniture in her home is the Kitchenette and Housekeeping Set.  She only just moved in very recently and plans to completely furnish it with lots of accessories from Target.
I especially love the Countryside Cottage because it's perfect for traveling--my children are always bringing their toys to their friends homes and on various outings numerous times throughout the week.  This makes it ideal--all of the furniture, little animal families, and their accessories fit inside with so much space. 
Li'l Woodzeez are currently #1 on our gift guide because of their cuteness and affordability factors.  Today until midnight, Target.com has a promotion for $10 off a $50 Li'l Woodzeez purchase, or $25 off a $100 purchase!  Their shipping is also free. Plus many of their Woodzeez are on sale, some as low as $4.99!  If they don't have the ones you want at your local Target, you can do free local pickup for most of them or have them delivered to your home.


This is a collage of my youngest daughter's Li'l Woodzeez Wish List. Isn't that treehouse incredible?!  We both agree that the Whooswhoos Owl Family would be the perfect ones to move in!


In this video, Emelia Hoppingood prepares "Wonder Soup" for the children.  You can find our recipe for this very delicious soup here.

My kids are crazy for animals!
What Toys Are On Your Child's Christmas List This Year?

Special thanks to the wonderful people at Battat for providing us with these toys to review.
 All opinions are honest and our own.

Super Easy Solutions for All That Busy Halloween Fun! #Treats4All #CollectiveBias

  
This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #Treats4All #CollectiveBias

Halloween is only 6 days away!  
Are you ready?! 
We get so into Halloween!  I still love dressing upBeing a mom is my excuse, but it is just that--an excuse! The kiddos and I always make an entire day of it with our friends.  As soon as we get up in the morning, we put our costumes on and then head to our favorite local restaurant for breakfast where they shower us with free kids meals and fun crafts.  Then, we head to the mall for early trick-or-treating.  We come home so we can hand out candy to our neighbors as they trick-or-treat door to door.  Later, our best friends always have a costume party that's kid-friendly and so much fun!  We end up staying into the wee hours of the night.
In between all the fun festivities, there's candy to hand out to trick-or-treaters, lunch to feed my hungry family, drinks to make sure I have ready for them to grab at a moments notice--AH!  It can get a little overwhelming if I'm not prepared.  So today I headed to Wal-Mart to grab a few things to make sure we will be prepared for a wonderful day of no-stress and all fun!  At Wal-Mart, I picked up a STOUFFER'S® Family Size Entrée, NESQUIK® Ready to Drink Chocolate Milk, and NESTLÉ Jumbo Assorted Fun Size Candy. The candy was calling me name as soon as I walked in the store! The milk was easy to find in the juice aisle.  And the lasagna was right with all of the other family-sized entrees.
The NESQUIK® Ready to Drink Milk is, well, ready to drink!  It doesn't have to be refrigerated before opening.  My kiddos can just grab it and go which is awesome.  Not to mention the fact that they really love "chocolate milk already made," as they call it.
I have one small problem which is that the NESTLÉ® Jumbo Assorted Fun Size Candy comes with Baby Ruths which are one of my favorite candies in the whole entire universe!  If any of those ones are left by Saturday it's going to be nothing short of a miracle... 

This baby is ready to pop in the oven in between mall trick-or-treating and our Halloween party!  I really love STOUFFER'S® Family Size Entrées.  Their lasagna is my favorite and I have a little story to share.  Years ago, I went to a dinner party at a friend's house.  She called everyone to dinner where garlic rolls and salad were surrounded by the most delicious looking lasagna.  Everyone raved over it for the entire meal.  Before I left that night, I asked for her lasagna recipe.  She said, "Celena, to tell you the truth, I just buy a STOUFFER'S Lasagna and put it in my own dish."  I laughed, but it was true!  The stuff is delicious!
We recently moved and I actually love shopping at the Wal-Mart in our new town.  It's cozy, always open, not too crowded, and it's super easy to find everything I'm looking for.  So now I've got drinks to go, a delicious dinner ready to throw in the oven, and a candy bowl filled with a variety of goodies... as long as I don't eat them all first.

What's your favorite candy?  
What are you and yours going to do this Halloween?

Affordable & Beautiful Springfield Dolls Invite Doll Lovers to Play #Giveaway #HolidayGiftGuide



My daughter was so excited when I surprised her with her new Springfield Doll, Savannah!  She had been wanted an 18" doll with red hair and green eyes who looked like her for a long time.  Savannah has long, thick, silky hair which we braided into a french braid.  She is beautiful!
The most amazing thing about Springfield Dolls is that they only cost $21.99 each!  You can buy them exclusively at Jo-Ann Fabric Stores. The “girls” have sparkling lifelike eyes that open and close and silky, long, rooted hair that can be brushed and styled. Each doll is soft and huggable with moveable arms and legs.  Perfect to play with all day and cuddle with at bedtime!


Savannah is all ready for bed.  Isn't she cute?  We especially love these Springfield PJ's because they come with adorable bunny slippers!  This month (right in time for early Christmas shopping!) Jo-Ann Stores will start to stock these and the other perfectly packaged outfits pictured above. 

GIVEAWAY
One reader will win her choice of doll, based on availability.
 Enter below by 11/2 at 11 pm anyone's time. 

You Can Find Springfield Dolls On

Special thanks to the wonderful people at KidStuffPR and Springfield Dolls for providing us with this doll for review.  
All opinions are honest and our own.

INVICTA Challenge’s Flash & Thunder Paratrooper! #Giveaway #HolidayGiftGuide

 
I have discovered an exciting and innovative new toy set: INVICTA Challenge! As a military veteran and a history lover, I think this toy is especially amazing and I knew it was perfect for our son!  Their first set, Flash & Thunder, is based on a real person who was instrumental in helping turn the tide of WWII on D-Day. The toy is GI Joe style, made well with movable arms and legs, detachable helmet, backpack, and gun, and comes with a graphic novel and a ton of other stuff you'll hear about soon.

INVICTA Challenge also has an action-packed video game app, maps, and operation packet that inspire kids to read and then lead. The Operation Packet includes tons of different "TOP SECRET" missions.  My son is 8 and he loves this set!  It's meant for kids 8 to 14 but I can see even older kids thinking it's cool.
 “We want kids learning about heroes and leaders who can inspire them to their own greatness in a fun and compelling way.  INVICTA is an acronym for seven key leadership traits: Integrity, Nobility, Valor, Initiative, Curiosity, Tenacity and Accountability. These traits are infused with every story. Our stories are highly visual and contain plenty of action and adventure.” -Jim Murphy, former Marine Corps infantry officer and creator of INVICTA Challenge

Flash & Thunder tells the true story of a Native American paratrooper's incredible D-Day leadership. This game is ideal for all kids – even reluctant readers – who can’t resist taking on a mission.  My son is already asking when more soldiers will be available!  And he'd really like an airplane and a tank for these guys, too. (hint, hint, Jim Murphy, if you're reading this!)

Where to Get It
Christmas Eve is in exactly 2 months!  
You can buy the INVICTA Challenge set at Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com for $34.99. Save it to your wishlist in case you don't win the giveaway!

GIVEAWAY
One reader will win the INVICTA Challenge set.
 Enter below by 11/3 at 11 pm anyone's time. 

You Can Find Invicta Challenge On

Special thanks to the wonderful people at KidStuffPR and Invicta Challange for providing us with this set for review.  
All opinions are honest and our own.
 

An Adorable Plush Puppy and Book Set from Operation ResCUTE #Giveaway



My little guy loves his new Jingles puppy!  He liked him right away but loves him even more now that he's read his story and now that he knows that for every ResCUTE puppy that's purchased, 100% of the profits go to help shelter animals. I should mention that the real Jingles is a girl.... ours is a boy b/c my son has deemed him so. ;)

The illustrated book is an adorable story written from the dog’s point of view, in her own voice. It's as true to life as real-life story of a shelter pup could be, based on a real puppy named Jingles... We adopted a homeless puppy ourselves so the story resonated with us even more as we wondered what life was like for Lucy before we found her.

Jingles is the first in the Operation ResCUTE series.  My kiddos are already asking when there will be more puppies available!  I think they're especially hoping for a Shih Tzu like our Lucy.
We're adding Operation ResCUTE to our Holiday Gift Guide because it's not only an adorable toy set, but 100% of profits are donated to help rescue animals get adopted!
GIVEAWAY
One reader will win the Operation ResCUTE set.
 Enter below by 11/2 at 11 pm anyone's time. 

You Can Find Operation ResCUTE On

Special thanks to the wonderful people at KidStuffPR and Operation ResCUTE for providing us with this toy for review.  
All opinions are honest and our own.

Celebrating Lucy and Pedigree Pet Month! #PedigreeGives

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #PedigreeGives #CollectiveBias 

This month, we celebrate the day this sweet puppy followed us home. She licked our toes in our flip flops and we just couldn't ignore her.  From the moment I picked her up that first time, I instantly fell in love! A year later, we are so in love with our Lucy and we can't imagine life without her!  We wanted to celebrate all month long with special goodies for her and it turns out the whole country is celebrating with us because this is Pedigree Pet Month!

So yesterday, on our very first ever trip to Sam's Club (exciting in and of itself!) we headed to the pet food aisle to find the goodies.  It's really awesome b/c when you purchase PEDIGREE® products at Sam's Club during the month of October, the PEDIGREE® brand will donate a bowl of food to a dog in need.  They'll also donate a bowl of food for every photo upload to Instagram or Twitter of the dogs we love!  Use the hashtag #LaterShelter for a chance to be featured on SamsClub.com.

Lucy doesn't eat the PEDIGREE® Adult Dry Dog Food because she eats their Small Breed Food.  It would be perfect for keeping her older, best dog friend Coda happy and healthy!  She'll have to tell him all about it. ;) She does, however, eat PEDIGREE'S® delicious (or so she tells me it's very delicious--I haven't tried it yet) Choice Cuts Dog Food.  The instant I saw the huge Bonus Pack, I had an idea....

The kiddos and I made Lucy a PEDIGREE® Choice Cuts Dog Food House!  In this photo, she had just finished snacking on one of their DENTASTIX®.  
She came running out when she smelled the Choice Cuts I had just opened and was spooning into her purple food dish.  She stood and begged, patiently waiting!
The purple food dish is invisible in this photo as she gobbles it down!

Poor pooch, in denial that her PEDIGREE® Choice Cuts are already all gone!  She scooted that bowl all over the kitchen, trying to lick up any invisible contents that may have been remaining.  The kiddos and I laughed as we realized how  much she really loves this stuff!
 Do you have a pet?  Which was your favorite pet ever? If you have a dog, don't forget that Pedigree Pet Month is going through the end of October!

I've had many pets, but Lucy is definitely the best dog I've ever had... or have ever even known!  I am so blessed!

We Are Astronomers! #NancyLarsonScience


I finally discovered Nancy Larson Science and I love it because if I had all of the expertise, all of the time, and all of the resources this is the curriculum I would have come up with!

It took me 6 years but I've finally found the absolute perfect Science curriculum!  I've tried Abeka, My Father's World, McGraw Hill, and a hodgepodge of my own making which worked best until now but took so much time and effort. Here is my drawer filled with our Nancy Larson Science 3 curriculum, minus all the amazing posters and some of the other extras you'll see in the next post.


As you can see by the lesson plan, teacher preparation is virtually effortless.  As long as you're organized with all of your materials in one spot, prep takes about 3 minutes... hence the Science drawer in my 100 year old antique dresser.
As the kiddos finished up their Math assignment, I set up for Science class.  I love this dresser along with its matching desk. Amazing Craig's list find! 


Each lesson is about 4 pages long and goes through everything you need to say and do in nice large print that makes discussion simple and effortless.

Having fun with her Science, feeling like an Astronomer as she learns about our universe!
They're retaining what they learn and are also learning study skills as evidenced by each day's quiz.  They all have highlighters and in the lesson plan, they're told what to highlight, the especially important information they'll need to recall later.  I love that!  2nd and 5th grade and they're already learning important study habits just like they'll need in college!
 
We chose to go with Science 3 which doesn't mean "grade 3". Instead, it's based on what your needs as a homeschool classroom are and on the interests and levels of your children. My son is in 2nd grade, my daughters are in 5th, and this curriculum is adaptable to all of them.  We have Science together, all of us are learning, and it has been an amazing year so far!
Science 3 is broken up into 8 different sections in which you are a scientist in each.  This month, we're Astronomers and, I have to tell you, even I have learned so much!  The curriculum is equal parts learning, equal parts doing.  Videos will be coming soon so you can see just what the "doing" consists of! 


I've just got to show you Science 1 even though we're not doing this one.  This is nearly the curriculum I put together for my kids in 2nd grade so we're definitely on the same page!  Doesn't this look like fun?! 
If you're looking into a better Science curriculum that will perfectly fit your family, definitely check out Nancy Larson


Special thanks to the wonderful people at Nancy Larson for providing us with Science 3 to review this year!  All opinions are honest and our own.