Looks like today is the day that most Christmas sales start. I actually love buying for others (until I get spending fatigue). I thought I would include some good sales on Amazon today. As an Amazon associate I do get to see some of the sales before they go live, and I can tell you that there are some really good ones!

The Fire Stick is awesome. We carry it with us to hotels and vacation rental homes.

My children have the Echo Show and really love it.

One of our recent purchases has been an electric kettle. My father has had the fire department at his house twice from burning a coffee pot on the stove, so this was a must.

This Christmas tree is on Black Friday sale and is so pretty. I has dense branches and really pretty lights and is under $75.

Another good Black Friday deal is this Ruggable rug! We have it in our entryway and love that we can wash it when it gets wet or muddy!

On my Christmas list for the past couple of Christmases has been the Tineco vacuum. I’m starting to think my hints are enough, and I’m going to buy this for myself.

. I look forward to sharing more deals as I come across them! Happy Shopping!!

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As an Amazon Associate, I may make a small commission on any purchase made through links at absolutely NO COST TO YOU. This blog costs money to run and I greatly appreciate any and every purchase made through my links as it goes towards that! Thank you for being here!

With two birthdays within a week of one another, two of my girls always have a joint birthday party. As they are no longer kids, they wanted something everyone could enjoy. We looked into send away pottery, but it is very expensive for more than just a couple of pieces. We looked on Amazon for a pottery wheel. They were affordable, and getting them early allowed us to have time to practice and have them for later use.

We also had a pour paint area. If you’ve never used this stuff, it is awesome. It makes really unique paintings. It is easy to use and really fun!

We also had regular painting available. It’s always fun to see what people choose to paint. We got paint from Amazon and Michael’s. I got plastic tablecloths for easy cleanup. I also used plastic cups to clean the brushes.

Of course, we HAD TO do tie dye. I bought cheap white shirts and got tie dye kits from Amazon.

I made balloon garlands with colorful balloons. We made hanging “pouring paint buckets” garland for the kitchen. We set up the tables with all the things people would need to create their masterpieces.

We had creative foods.

If I’d lived in a more metropolitan area, I might have pursued art or art history because I love it. I’ve tried to make sure that my children have had lots of exposure to art in all its forms. I was excited that they wanted to have a party with art as a theme! I hope you’ve enjoyed following along.

DISCLAIMER: As an Amazon affiliate, I may receive a small commission on qualifying links at no cost to you!!

The great thing about baby showers is their versatility. Some moms want a big, over the top party, while others are happy with some snacks and a few decorations. Showers can have a theme, or they can just have a color scheme. Over the summer we hosted two different baby showers. One of them was themed as an enchanted woodland party. The other was only the baby’s name and the mom’s desired color scheme. The enchanted woodland shower was one where the baby’s sex was unknown, so it needed to be more engender neutral. Some of the things we did that I enjoyed the most were: baby predictions, freezer foods, embroidered sibling writing, and decorations for both. At one of the showers (we meant to do it at both, but forgot) we did a baby prediction. It included date of birth, time of birth, hair color, weight, and length, along with their address. I saved them and the person with the closest and most correct answers was sent a gift card in the mail.

Another idea I enjoyed carrying out was asking family members of the momma to bring a meal or two for her freezer. I purchased an XL cooler bag and put them all inside. We gave them to her at the end of the shower. This helped provide her and her family with meals for the first week and a half after baby was born. The other mom didn’t want freezer foods, so I gave her a gift card instead (and also brought a freshly made meal after baby was born).

One of my favorite touches was the embroidered sibling writing. I had the two sisters write their new baby brother’s name on paper. Then my amazingly talented daughter embroidered them on pajamas, swaddling blankets, and towels. I don’t know if the mom used any of these or not, but I know they would be a keepsake for me. I love the idea of saving that sweet little kid writing. We also used it as a decoration. We spray painted a canvas navy blue and then wrote with a gold pen the name of the baby in one of his sisters’ handwriting on the canvas. I thought it was a sweet touch.

The decorations were completely different at the two showers, but one thing was the same- balloon arches. I bought the balloons on Amazon. For the woodland theme, I got some woodland creatures at Michael’s. I purchased stick on baby creatures from Amazon for the wall. Many years ago we had several trees cut down, and I asked the man doing it if he would save me a few slices. He informed me that they had to be kept in water for a week or they would split (news to me). After that week they’ve been out to good use since. I often pull them out as decoration. We used mason jars with fairy lights as well.

We made individual meals for the first shower of the season due to a rise in Covid numbers in our area. The second shower we did a food table. The woodland shower features all picnic type foods. We had chicken salad, potato salad, pasta salad, fruit salad, and “mushroom” cake pops. The individually wrapped party featured chicken salad on a croissant, cucumber salad, chips, and a cookie. I also served cake pops at this shower as well. The shower gifts were bath bombs at one and a sugar scrub at the other. We purchased some games and printable off of Etsy. I was very displeased with one, but will link the other.

Overall, I think these showers went well. I hope the mothers enjoyed themselves, and got all the things they needed and more.

Calcium and bone density seem like things only “old” people need to worry about, but now I’m thinking that’s just not true.

When I was a small child I broke several bones. I wasn’t a huge milk drinker, but I did enjoy cheese and ice cream. We chalked up my broken bones to being Little Miss Clumsy, and went on with our lives. I lived through my teen and young adult years without breaking anything but a toe here and there. While I was on a keto diet for years and years, I never once thought about how much calcium that diet naturally provides. Once I realized my body no longer was responding well to cow’s milk I eliminated it from my diet entirely. I never thought about how the lack of dairy could affect my bones.

Back in January it was really icy and cold. Our driveway is steep and curvy and our car was sliding backwards into the road. I came down to give my husband a helping hand. I slipped on some ice that I never even saw. When I fell I extended my arms and saw and felt my left wrist completely break.

I shattered part of my ulna and broke my radius in more than three pieces. It was one of the most physically painful things I’ve experienced. It required surgery (ORIF), and it was an incredibly long recovery.

After all of it was done there was a lightbulb moment of “maybe my bones have lost strength and density due to the missing calcium in my body”. Since then, I’ve been taking supplements, and also trying to get more calcium from non-dairy sources. According to healthline good non-dairy sources of calcium include: seeds, tofu, amaranth, fortified foods and drinks, spinach, salmon, almonds, sardines, kale, figs, and white beans. There are others, but here’s a good start for anyone curious about what foods have a good amount of calcium.

If you’ve experienced low bone density or broken bones, let me know about your experiences and if increasing your calcium intake helped.