Site of the week- Baby Candy

Today I am feeling like something sweet...something delicious...maybe some candy? Can you imagine adorable little onesies and toddler t-shirts with sweet sayings, wrapped like fancy candy with a variety of styles, personalization options and colors? Drooling already? You can find all that and much more over at Baby Candy.

Every onesie is uniquely wrapped like candy and sealed with a "nutrition" label which makes it perfect for gift giving. Check out a few of these styles and I know you will be grabbing up this candy for your next gift!

A personal favorite of mine is this one, which my little one has and looks quite adorable in! Sweet Kisses 25 cents! How adorable is that?!?!

Don't worry I didn't forget about the boys! There are so many cute ones for those little guys. And did I mention that you can also get the 100% sugar free onesies and toddler t-shirts? Yes that is right there is the organic version with matching organic sayings! Perfect for your eco-friendly family!

There are so many customized baby candy options that the sky is the limit on what you can do to make this gift truly special for the mom and dad to be. Oh and there is a little something for mom. Sugar Mama Matching Mommy Tee! No matter what you decide to go with when you are shopping at Baby candy, just know that the customer service and quality of product matches the cute adorable packaging. You will never be disappointed with this candy! And better yet this candy never goes bad!

Some of you might be thinking "you know I think I have heard of this before...." and that's right this is the SAME Baby Candy that was featured on Ellen this year AND last year for the Mother's Day special! Jessica Alba received some Baby Candy this year along with the long list of other celebrity babies that are sporting it. So what are you waiting for? Head on over! Don't forget to sign up for the "Get the Scoop" newsletter! You don't want to miss out on anything new from Baby Candy!

~Dawn

A Sweet Treat

Since we are on a roll this week with contests and giveaways, I figured I better offer one from my one site and announce a few new products we have to offer. If you haven't heard about my business let me introduce you:

Sweet Pea Cakes,etc. is home of diaper cakes, organic diaper cake, towel cakes and handmade gifts. We offer a twist on the diaper cakes by hiding all the wonderful, 15 baby items, inside our diaper cakes. We hand make the swaddle blankets, and reversible bib sets, which come inside the cake. These items also match the theme of the cake! There are LOTS of themes to choose from, but you can always choose the custom cake route and get your cake to match the theme of the baby shower or the nursery! These calorie free cakes are perfect baby shower centerpieces and a practical gift for the baby to be, since every size 1 diaper, and item can be used on baby! We don't stop there, we offer organic diaper cakes, with everything inside and out (yes that's right our toppers are organic too!) for our eco-friendly moms! And if you plan on nursing, our Nursing Diaper Cakes, come with a nursing cover-up, burp cloth, bib, nursing pads, Mother's Milk tea and more!

So maybe you aren't having a baby, or your friend had hers 6 months ago and you have yet to give a gift! Well hey we have bath time towel cakes! They are for babies and children! Equipped with handmade pajamas, bath toys, soap, shampoo and either custom towels or handmade hooded towels, theses cakes make bath time and getting ready for bed so much fun! Baby bath time towel cakes come with a cute animal sponge, and you can also purchase matching slippers! Children bath time towel cakes come with a plush topping perfect to cuddle at night!

It's that time of year. WEDDING SEASON. Weddings will be popping up from now til early fall. Bridal showers and bachelorette parties will be sneaking up every other weekend. And what will you get each of these women?!?! Bachelorette towel cakes, wedding towel cakes and manicure and pedicure cupcakes of course! Our romantic wedding cakes include 2 plush bath towels, 2 plush hand towels, 2 plush wash clothes, Champagne Bubble Bath, candles, rose petals to set the mood, and 2 glass champagne glasses! All of our cakes come wrapped in mesh with a card detailing the contents and are ready to give. We love custom orders. So if you need these cakes to match the wedding colors and flowers, just let us know!

Now we don't want the men left out! Especially with Father's Day right around the corner! We can take any of our towel cakes and make them "man approved". We simply add in more masculine ribbons, add shaving kits, cologne, or coffee and chocolates and there you go! Perfect, unique gift for dad! Or simply get a Golfing Towel Cake, or a Cup of Joe cake and send it right to him!

We have lots to offer and more to come. With designer diaper bags in the works, tote bags for all your shopping needs, more towel cakes, pajamas, baby nursery decor, there is so much more coming that you better book mark us. You don't want to miss this!

So what is the GIVEAWAY?!?!?! Yes I am FINALLY getting to that! Right now we are giving away a $50 gift certificate to our store! You can spend it however you choose! All you have to do is:

1.) Visit Sweet Pea Cakes, etc. and shop around! Find your favorite product (think Vanilla Manicure Travel set instead of towel cake- looking for specific)!

2.) Come back here and leave a comment letting me know your favorite as well as a valid email address! I need to be able to get a hold of you when you win!

3.) If you are a blogger, link up to this contest! We want everyone to know about it! If you aren't a blogger, just tell all your friends to stop on by!

4.) Don't forget to sign up for our newsletter when you are at Sweet Pea Cakes, etc. There is an extra giveaway going on there!

Contest ends Monday June 9th! Winner will be announced on Tuesday June 10th! So check back to see who won! Have a wonderful week! And get out there and enjoy your summer!

~Dawn

P.S. Don't forget your Graduation Towel Cake for all graduation High School Seniors!

Tackle it Tuesday- UPDATE

Ok so Tackle it Tuesday was yesterday but I promised to post the AFTER pictures of the projects I started. So if you want to see the BEFORE click here. Otherwise see how everything turned out in my daughter's room:


Here is Monkey's closet. I forgot to get a before shot but this is much better. The clothes are hung up, I removed a ton of stuff from the top shelf, boxed up clothes that don't fit now, and took out two bags full of shoes that were too little. The kid grows like a weed. Now the toys are organized as well.
Here is the book shelf all organized. All the beanie babies and things were taken off and placed in the next picture on the new shelf we put up. This now allows more room for the chapter books and things in the months ahead. All the drawers in this room were organized too. All 9 of them!

Here is the new shelf and the neatly made bed! The girls are just hanging out!

Everything is organized and we put up the bulletin boards too. I now have to get new curtains for the window and take down the bed sheet. I had other blinds up but they were too dirty so I got rid of them.

All the clothes are boxed up and in the garage. I managed to pull out the wagon for Peanut to ride in and make trips to the garage. It's attached to the townhouse but to get to it you have to go outside and around. Totally pain. But we got everything to the dumpster and everything packed away. As well as a huge box of toys and books to donate and a box of papers to recycle.

Oh I also managed to finish the hall closet like I planned. Everything is placed differently, a lot of stuff was thrown out and the remainder placed in little boxes at the top. I am shocked at the size of the bag of trash that left this. Who would have thought? But everything is coming along nicely. I only have a few more areas in the house that really need to be organized and then it's all done.

So there you have it! There is the update! Hope you like the pictures. Come back next week for the next Tackle it Tuesday. oh and don't forget to visit 5 Minutes for Mom to visit all the other Tackle it Tuesday stuff.

~Dawn

Inspired by Angels

Today I would like to introduce to you a company called Inspired by Angels. This company offers custom greeting cards, photo and cardstock invitations, birth announcements, business card design, and custom requests! Whether you are looking to send special family greetings, announce the arrival of your baby, get started with your own business, Inspired by Angels will have something for you.

Owner Renee, came up with the business name after losing her son. He is now the angel who inspires her. She has been in business with an ebay store for about a year but has now switched over to her own website. This is where you can be checking out her most popular items: photo birth announcements, and holiday cards.

"It is a slow process getting your business off the ground, but keep persevering!" "Customer service is so very important." No doubt that you will find excellent customer service with all the custom requests that Inspired by Angels can do for you!

Not only was I impressed by the work and design but the prices as well! And I would have to say my favorites are the birth announcements! I love seeing adorable little babies presented so beautifully! It makes it just a joy to share the news with family and friends.

Right now all readers can receive 10% off your first order as well as referral bonuses! One lucky winner will receive a free card design or 50 business cards! Your choice! So how do you win? Simply visit Inspired by Angels and take a look around! What is it you like best? Head back over here and click on the pink comments link and post your comment about your favorite design! Add a valid email address in your comment so that I may contact you when you win! Check back Thursday June 5th to find out who the winner is!

If you are a blogger, feel free to link up with this post! And if not, just tell a friend about this contest! Contest ends Wednesday June 4th!

And if you can't wait to win, start shopping now!

~Dawn

Wordless Wednesday- Girls and a Box

This Wordless Wednesday finds us with the girls and a box. Peanut played in this box with all my toppings for my diaper cakes FOREVER! Great, cheap, entertainment. Monkey kept throwing the stuffed animals in the box to cover Peanut and she got a total kick out of that!

To see past Wordless Wednesdays click here! And to visit all the other great WW, head over to 5 Minutes for Mom and check them all out!

Stop back later this week to see some fun reviews, contests, and mommy updates! Have a great week!

~Dawn

Works For Me Wednesday- Customer Service

This past week I was thinking about the things that work for me that I think would be worthy of sharing... and I was just at a loss until.. I had a horrible experience with customer service and an online advertising company. What this taught me is what works for me- which is excellent customer service. Now this company promised to advertise my business website at the top of the search pages on Google, Yahoo, AOL, MSN, and more for any 10 keywords I selected. I would receive a 30 day trial and after that start paying a monthly fee unless I of course cancelled. Sounds good right? WRONG. I didn't realize til after that the keywords would be followed with in Denver, CO. So unless someone in my state is specifically looking for these keywords what the heck was the point. I was told I would get a follow up email with all the details that went on with the recording and so forth. So to make a long story short, I didn't get the email, I tried to cancel but called the wrong number, I got charged, disputed the $258 charge and repeatedly called with no return phone call. Now after getting charged again, I finally found the website, emailed and called and finally got an email back saying "too bad, too sad, you were told the number in the recording, you agreed, you didn't call the number, deal with it." So what I found was that customer service has gone to the toilets. No longer do you hear " what can I do to help you?" " Let me see if I can fix this for you" "Oh I am sorry it looks like we had a misunderstanding (obviously its my fault they just don't say it)".

Reminds me of why I do business with FedEx. Every time I go in with my packages to mail for my business, I am greeted my name, asked how business is going, how the kids are doing, anything new and exciting to share. I find that I am in a great mood when I leave there, regardless of how long it takes to get all my boxes rang up, how long the line is, or anything else. Just being friendly, offering things above and beyond, bring back repeat customers. I had a great experience like this with a Jamba Juice, near my old work. They always remembered my order! I loved it!

So even though this post doesn't give you a new product to try, a site to visit, or something exceptional to make your day easier, it's a just a thought on the long lost cause of customer service. Maybe you have a story on this to share, or thankful you never experience it, or maybe it reminds you why you make sure to have awesome customer service in your own business. Whatever the case, feel free to share your comments and then head over to read the other Works for Me Wednesday posts!

Have a great week!

~Dawn

Natural and Organic

Ladies I am so excited to introduce to you a company and a giveaway especially for you! No children required, you don't have to be a mom, you just need to be a woman that desires beautiful skin!

Mainely Naturals offers quality skin care products that doesn't cost you an arm and a leg! Not only do they have Natural Skin Care but they also have Aromatherapy Products. Kris, the owner of Mainely Naturals came up with the name since it seemed only natural to have it as "Mainely" being she resides in Maine! She has been running this business for 3 years and during this time, has learned how important SEO (search engine optimization) is! "You cannot just set up a website and expect customers to find you. You have to get your products and your brand out there!" And out there she has! The most popular item from Mainly Naturals is the Face Firming Serum, with Haloxyl Under Eye Serum in a close 2nd.

What I find great about this company is there is NO animal testing- totally Cruelty Free, NO animal by-products except for Milk and Honey, NO artificial colors, only scented with pure essential oils and natural extracts-aromatherapy! But my truly favorite part is the fact that everything is made with natural and organic ingredients. With the world "going green" it seems only natural that your skin care go green as well!

You have to check out the Stay C- Vitamin C Serum! Vitamin C prevents oxidative damage (think sun spots, wrinkles, sagging) by neutralizing oxygen-free radicals before they can attack the body! Fantastic! This is great with summer coming up! Then there is the Green Tea Antioxidant Facial Cleanser! Green Tea is an amazing antioxidant helping to fight off environmental free radicals and protect the skin from further damage! It's not just for drinking anymore ladies!

Here is the good news! Right now one lucky winner will get a $20 gift certificate to spend at Mainely Naturals! All you have to do is visit Mainely Naturals and shop around! Come back here and click the pink comments link and leave a comment about your favorite product! Include a valid email address so I can let you know that you won! Check back here on Wednesday June 4th to see who the winner is! Don't forget to sign up for the newsletter! Readers get special deals and sales! All orders also include free samples! So if you can't wait to win, just start shopping now!

Don't forget to link up to this contest if you are a blogger and if you aren't, just tell a friend to stop by and enter! Contest ends Tuesday June 3rd!

And some advice for other working women: "Excellent Customer Service is just as important as having an excellent product." Well said!

~Dawn

Tackle it Tuesday- Closets and Bedrooms!

For this weeks Tackle it Tuesday, I took on a bit more than I can chew. First I decided I would work on the hall closet and get all the towels, sheets and everything else that is in there organized and functional.

Not only that but I decided that I was going to tackle my daughters room. I didn't want to just put everything away, but I wanted to sort through the clothes and get everything out that was too small, organize drawers, put up shelves, clean out the closet and so forth.

In the process of sorting. Notice the huge box full of school papers. We have to sort through and find the good ones that she can keep. She insists they are all good.

Here is a picture during this process, which we have been working on, off and on, for two days. We have some keep things, a trash bag, and a box of giveaway.

Here are the clothes I have to get boxed up now and moved out to the garage!

And here is Peanut dancing in the middle of the room while I am still trying to sort and move through all the "Stuff". Good grief Monkey has WAY TOO MUCH STUFF!

Now you might have noticed that there are no AFTER pictures posted. Well that is because we are still working on everything. After sorting through everything, going through all her drawers in the art stand, the dresser and book shelves, it has become a bigger project then I thought. We also put up the shelves, but the drill died. So that is charging right now. I am hoping to finish it up tomorrow and post up the after pictures Tuesday night or on Wednesday. So you will have to stop by again and see the finished look after everything! I am excited though. It is all looking great! And the girls think so too! Check out how happy they are relaxing on the bed while I am cleaning:

To see past Tackle it Tuesdays click here! And don't forget to see what else is being tackled over at 5 minutes for mom! Are you tackling something right now? Did you get a chance to relax over this three day weekend? Hope so! Stop by tomorrow for Wordless Wednesday, the AFTER pictures and giveaways this week!

~Dawn

*** UPDATE: to see the AFTER pictures click here!

Wordless Wednesday- Field Day

Here are pictures of Monkey from her field day this year! Field day was one of my favorite things when I was young! I loved the three legged race! Won first place almost every year with my childhood best friend, Kelly. What's going on with your Wordless Wednesday? Check out all the others at 5 minutes for mom!

Have a great week!

~Dawn

Kaleigh's lemonade stand for charity

Here is a video of Kaleigh telling about her lemonade stand to raise money for Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation, which uses the money for childhood cancer. If you would like to donate you can go here or click the donate banner on the left. Thank you.



Thank you and please spread the word to check it out!

~Dawn
Sweet Pea Cakes, etc.

Wordless Wednesday

They grow up so fast! Here is Peanut in the car. She was having a great time! Check out all the Wordless Wednesday fun over at 5 minutes for mom! Have a great day! Leave a comment so I can come visit you too!

~Dawn

Mother's Day weekend!

The weekend has finally come where it is the weekend just to celebrate being a mom. Now for most moms your day will be filled with family, doing things with the kids, maybe going out for dinner or enjoying a home cooked meal. But maybe, just maybe, you are one of those moms that get to take the day off. You are off to the spa, after getting to sleep in, while your hubby is at home cleaning, cooking and taking care of the kids. You might possibly be curled up in a chair somewhere reading a book. I know for me I am working from home so I can be with my kids every day. I spend time with the them each day, reading every night, finding family activities to do on the weekend, enjoying church together and just being a family. So really for me, Mother's Day is not different from any other day. But it is a day for me to remind my mother how much I appreciate her and everything she has done for me. It is also a day for me to reflect on the kind of mother I have been, the kind of mother I want to be and what I can do to show my own children that I truly appreciate them. For me, it's a day to slow down and truly enjoy what motherhood is all about.

So to kick of Mother's Day weekend, Monkey and I read Why a Daughter needs a Mother. We read half of it last night and the rest tonight. It was very nice to go over the lessons mothers should teach their daughters, remind your daughter why you love her, and just spend quality time together. This morning we then got up to participate in the Run, Walk and Waddle, that raises money for postpartum depression. I packed Peanut in the stroller, and Monkey walked with me. It was windy beyond words. Which also brought up a strange bitter cold! Had I know I would have packed the girls in their snow suits! It was a pretty cold walk. We finished the 3K walk in an hour and I ended up carrying Peanut wrapped in a blanket for the last mile. Talk about a work out!! But it was really great to get the fresh air and exercise, as well as help with a great cause. As mother's we have so many highs and lows, and for some its harder than we know. So anything that can help out someone else, should be done. If you want to see more info on the walk click right here.

The day continued at home with lunch and nap time. I got some cleaning done (not as much as I had hoped) and quite a bit of work done. Now as the kids sleep I am trying up some loose ends on the computer, then I plan on sewing and ironing a bit before reading and going to bed. Tomorrow will be church, lunch with my mom, and taking the girls out to the park or zoo. Tomorrow night I think we will venture out for dinner, just the girls and I, before heading home to tackle some laundry and bedtime. Monkey already gave me one of her gifts she made. How sweet it is when they are so young and excited. These gifts truly are the best since it takes their time and dedication to make these gifts filled with so much love. One day it will be so nice to look back through all these gifts to see how they change over the years.

What are you doing this Mother's Day? Do you have a special day planned? Are you doing the usual or do you do something new each year?

Whatever it is you do tomorrow, I hope you have a wonderful day. Happy Mother's Day to you and your own mother. May you have a great day as well as a great rest of the year!

~Dawn

Site of the week- Little Ladybug Designs

This week I would like to introduce you to Little Ladybug Designs. When it comes to announcing the special events in our lives, cherishing special memories and getting our business off to the right start, there is no better way to do that then through the designs of Little Ladybug. Here you can receive custom cards for any occasion- adoption & birth announcements, birthday invitations, baby shower invitations, religious invitations, save the date cards, bridal shower invitations, wedding invitations, wedding announcements. Little Ladybug designs has been working hard on expanding their line of products to offer you an even bigger selection. Check out all these new items:Baby Shower Invitations, Birthday Invitations, Adoption Wall Art, Personalized Wall Art, and Business Cards.

Have you ever had a video montage made to capture your special moments? This is a special treat by Kim, the owner of Little Ladybug Designs. Check out the sample video so you get an idea of what all this video montage has to offer!

When you are ready to decorate your nursery, Little Ladybug Designs is ready with their new wall art that is personalized. If you have adopted, you can pick out the sweet adoption wall art to add extra meaning to the baby's room.

Now are you looking to take your business to the next level? Do you want custom business cards to match your site? Do you need a business logo or return address labels? Look no further. Little Ladybug Designs has got you covered. Just contact Kim with what you need and she can make it happen. Making her products customized is what she does best. With every card you purchase you receive: professionally printed cards on high quality photo paper or card stock, basic photo editing, envelopes and free and unlimited digial proofs.

Head over to Little Ladybug Designs and start shopping! Enjoy a 10% off discount now through May 31st by clicking the following link: http://www.littleladybugdesigns.com/?code=maypromo

**Don't forget to sign up for the Little Ladybug Designs newsletter and receive a $5 coupon! Visit their blog as well!

Thanks for checking out our site of the week! Check back next Friday for another new and exciting business!

Have a great weekend!

~Dawn

What Doesn't Work for Me Wednesday

Well today is the first time I have participated in Works for Me Wednesday at Rocks in My Dryer. Today is also a themed WFMW and it is what doesn't work for me. Well let's see I think I have a few....

Driving: With gas prices as high as they are, driving doesn't work for me. Paying over a $100 in gas a week is killing my budget. So right now I have to start thinking of other ways to get places, or how to run all my errands at once in order so that I minimize my driving as much as possible. Soon I am never going to leave the house since gas prices will be through the roof.

Shopping while Hungry: I don't know why I can't get this one down and know it doesn't work for me. Every time I shop hungry I come home with nothing but snacks and munchies and things that will never equal a great dinner or lunch and missing the important things I went there to begin with. I need to eat a light snack before shopping. And I need to not take the kids. Carrying a 1 year old who wants in and out of the cart and wants to walk around the store and wants to throw a fit DOES NOT WORK FOR ME. As well as a 7 year old asking for something different on every row as well as letting me know that she doesn't want the things I am putting in the cart. Nope I think kids shopping with me doesn not work at all.

Sorting laundry: Sorting all the laundry into piles of whites, jeans, colors, darks, towels, bedding, delicates, and whatever else you can think of does not work for me. That is so time consuming and takes over the whole house. I just throw it all together. Although to be honest I think a few piles do get made of jeans and of delicates but the rest all goes in together. With lots of dirty clothes and children making messes with theirs, I just have to get as much of it done as possible. So I wash it all on cold, dry on low and don't use beach. They come out clean and fresh every time.

Well this was fun... hopefully I got the theme down this week and can add something useful next week when its just works for me wednesday. I have to start thinking of what actually works for me that is worth sharing. More themes are coming up: June 4 -- The Mom-I'm-Bored edition, July 2 -- The Five-Ingredients-Or-Less edition. So head over to Rocks in My Dryer and read the other fun WFMW posts. Make sure to leave a comment if you stop by so I can come visit you and say hello!

Have a wonderful day!

~Dawn

Wordless Wednesday- The Big Apple

I figured this Wordless Wednesday I would post something different instead of pictures of my little girls. I know we love to see them every week but let's take a look at some pics I took on our trip to New York. It was our first time there and it was amazing. There was so much to see and to do. We didn't even get to half of what I wanted to see. Hopefully this fall or next spring we will be heading back out there. My little brother goes to NYU so it was a good reason to head out there. :)

Leave a comment so I know you stopped by and so I can come and visit you. Grab a cup of coffee and stay awhile. Let's get to know each other a bit. Then head over to 5 minutes for mom for all the other great Wordless Wednesday fun!



Have a great day!

~Dawn