Korker Bow Giveaway!

Hi bloggies!! I haven't been on here in so long, thanks to the ever-addictive Pinterest. Are any of you also falling to the habits of pinning?

My daughter and I started a bow business in April and since we can't legally post giveaways on FB, we need to use my blog to do so. Yeah, I know some giveaways seem to be too good to be true, and at times annoying to show up in your news feed. This is why, we will only promote our personal giveaways. :) That means I won't be cramming up your page with laptop giveaways, cruise giveaways, etc. Sound good? Have I lost any fans? *cheering* WOO HOO! Then, let's take a peak at our first official giveaway:

This giveaway begins on Monday and is targeted mainly for our FB fans. However, I would be a very giddy lady if some of you loyal readers joined in. We will have 2 more contests/giveaways after this one, all leading up to the Fourth of July festivities! Good luck!

Don't forget to "Like" our page, Bows By Bella.

30 before 30

This year is a big year for me. I'll be hitting a pretty big milestone....

turning the big 3-0!

I always imagined that this would be such a depressing time for me, but I have to admit... I'm pretty excited about saying goodbye to my 20's. It was definitly a decade of stupid decisions (ahem, I'm talking to you 5 tattoos, tongue ring and eyebrow ring scars), but also some pretty smart ones (saying "I Do," graduating from college with honors, buying a home, having another baby). As October draws near, I have decided to create my own bucket list of sorts. Yes, it is my list of 30 things I want to do before I turn 30.

Stealing an idea from another friend, I have posted all 30 goals onto my bathroom mirror. This way, they will be there, in my face, every single day reminding me of taking time for LIFE.  Once a goal is accomplished, then you move the post-it to the other side of the mirror. This serves as a nice way to see all you achieved on your goal date. For me.. it will be a comforting feeling going into the next decade of my life.

Some of the goals are personal goals for my health...
* going a month without sweets (broken down into 2 goals.. 7 days without and then a month)
* out-running my daughter... and dogs
* losing 25 pounds (broken down into 5 attainable goals)

 other goals are meant to bless others... 

 some are meant to be shared with those I love...

and then there are those that I just want to say I did in my 20s...

What are your goals this year?

Oceans and Currently

Last week we wrapped up our study on oceans, just as I was discovering a learning tool called "Lapbooks." Is anyone familiar with these? I find them fascinating and wonder how is it I have never heard of them before. I graduated with a BA, substituted in school districts, and completed work for a teaching certification.... and I have never heard of Lapbooks! We will begin our next unit on space, and I will most definitely be incorporating this learning tool.

Back to the ocean unit, my daughter finished her Beach Journal:

She included sentences like, "I bring my..., I wear..., I pack..., I build..., I eat..., I see..., and included illustrations for each page.

 She also completed her wall ocean, which included clippings from National Geographic magazines.

As a fun craft, we made a couple of other ocean-related things that I'm excited to show later. For now, here is my "currently" for the month of February (including a new "Random And Kind" section). 

Have a great week!

Valentine's Day craft

Valentine's Day for us has always been more of a holiday for the kids. I get rather annoyed that restaurants have a double waiting time and flowers are always a bit pricier JUST to take advantage of men who feel they need to "deliver." I am quite satisfied with the way my hubby "delivers" the rest of the year, and that is why you will see us buying more glue and glitter in the days before, rather than roses and chocolates.

Sticking to that belief, we found ourselves at Hob Lob, purchasing felt to create fun fortune cookies!  These are incredibly easy to make, and my 10-year-old did them all on her own.

First, you will want to cut out some medium-sized circles from felt. In the middle of your circles, glue a piece of pipe cleaner, like so:

You can type out sayings or fortunes in some cutesy font, but I wanted my daughter to practice her writing and spelling. (See... ANYTHING can turn into a lesson. haha)

Some of hers were cute and lovely, while others were.... well....

Yeah.

Next we placed our folded fortunes, along with small, wrapped chocolates into our cookies and folded them up like a taco. A bit of glue on the sides and top of the cookie held everything in place, but left enough room for someone to easily pull out their treats.

Easy peasy and under $5. Happy Valentine's Day!

Linking to : Living Life Intentionally

Oceanography Study - 4th Grade Fun!

Happy Friday, everyone! We started our first week of oceanography and the curriculum does a great job of keeping it a bit... uninspiring. We did the best we could to make this an exciting lesson.

First, I wanted to get the girls excited about learning about the ocean. We put on our swimsuits (after cranking up the heater), and laid out our towels and some party table covers for our "ocean."

My 10-year-old created a "Beach Journal" where she wrote what she wears to the beach, builds, eats, drinks, does, brings, etc. We also read together the only book I have that related to our topic:

Once the excitement was there, we started the chapter on oceanography. Each day, we encorporated a craft to keep it interesting. On one particular day we made an "Ocean in a Bowl."

We made blue jello, let it sit a bit in the fridge, then added some Nemo gummy fish. We stuck it back in the fridge to harden completely. My 10-year-old was thrilled by how it turned out! She showed it to all the neighborhood kids too.

We also hung up a blue, plastic, table cover on her wall. Using National Geographic magazines, she's cutting out pictures of fish and slowly adding it to her wall display. I'll post more pics next week as we finish our lesson on the ocean.

Having a great time with our ocean in the desert. Have a great weekend. :)

Linking to: 3 boys and a Dog, Living Life Intentionally