outdoor patio furniture

It’s That Time of the Year: The Perfect Outdoor Furniture

This time of the year, you have the opportunity to rediscover your garden. It’s just beginning to bloom and you start to dream of those carefree summer days with barbeques and friends coming to visit. To really make the most of your outside space you might have to put a bit of effort in to spruce it up! Why not start with your garden furniture?

outdoor patio furnitureIf you’re worried about budget, take a look at some online stores such as Bridgman. You might be surprised about what you can find online, prices generally out rank the big DIY stores and it’s easier to find something more unique. You could find that a purchase from a generic chain store ends with you having the same furniture as half the street!

New garden furniture can really freshen up your outdoor space, whether you have a large lawn, a small decking area or a simple patio, there are furniture options out there that meet all needs. It’s best to decide exactly what your needs are before searching for a product. There’s a wide selection of materials and finishes out there and it can be a bit confusing if you don’t have a plan in mind before shopping around.

 

Wood can be a good choice for patio furniture. If you are interested in the environment it is easy to check if the manufacturer has used responsibly sourced wood in their products. For your patio furniture why not go for a slow grown hardwood such as teak or oak. They are some of the most durable woods and are perfect for any garden. There are some rules with real quality woods; make sure you inspect the furniture regularly and treat the wood with preserver.

 

patio outdoor furnitureThe most fashionable of materials this year seems to be rattan. Many fresh contemporary designs incorporate the wooden weave. If you are planning to use rattan furniture outside it’s advisable to go for a synthetic version of the look; it’s much more durable and low maintenance. But if you are the type of person who goes for only natural materials there are a lot of genuine rattan items out there, it might be a better idea though to keep the real rattan for you conservatory furniture as appose to opening it up to the elements.

 

A modern classic material for outdoor furniture are metals such as aluminium, you can get some really high quality outdoor furniture pieces under the metal umbrella and it’s known to be one of the most durable of materials. Widely available thanks to its versatile nature, metal furniture can be found on all good outdoor furniture stores such as the afore mentioned Bridgman Furniture where a three year guarantee is offered on many items.


MyJobChart.com – FREE online chore chart

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MyJobChart.com, an online chore chart was designed to teach young people the concept of responsibility, work ethic and the value of money by giving them a way to earn points for completing their chores.

The free site has always offered a way for young users to ‘spend’ their points on rewards they want, ‘share’ what they earn with a chosen charity, or to ‘save’ for the future.”

Kids are able to experience the tremendous rewards of earning money for themselves and then of accumulating that money and saving for the future. As they do this they will get a $20 bonus into each child’s account just for signing up for a kids savings account.

My Job Chart is easy of use and the high-tech approach have made MyJobChart.com a hit with more than 140,000 kids in just over a year since its inception with kids completing over 9.4 Million chores using the site!

Disclosure Policy


#giveaway: Breville Juice Fountain Plus

(view more details on this prize)

a www.NHWellnessCenters.com giveaway powered by Rafflecopter


#bookreview: Seriously, Just Go to Sleep

Book: Seriously, Just Go to Sleep

Author: Adam Mansbach

Illustrator: Ricardo Cortes

ISBN: 13-978-1-61775-078-6

Publisher/Publish Date: Akashic Books/ April 2, 2012

Pages/Price: 32/$15.95

Category: Childrens/Bedtime Stories

About Seriously, Just Go to Sleep

Seriously, Just Go to Sleep is the G-rated, traditional-sized, children’s version of the book every parent has been talking about. Go the F*** to Sleep, the picture book for adults, became a cultural sensation by striking a universal chord for parents. Now, Adam Mansbach and Ricardo Cortés reunite with Seriously, Just Go to Sleep, inviting the children themselves in on the joke. As parents know, kids are well aware of how difficult they can be at bedtime. With Cortés’s updated illustrations (including a cameo appearance by Samuel L. Jackson, who narrated the audio book version of Go the F*** to Sleep) and Mansbach’s new child-appropriate narrative, the book allows kids to recognize their tactics, giggle at their own mischievousness, and empathize with their parents’ struggles–a perspective most children’s books don’t capture. Most importantly, it provides a common ground for children and their parents to talk about one of the most stressful aspects of parenting.

My Thoughts about Seriously, Just Go to Sleep

I have the audiobook version of Go the F*** to Sleep, and it is f’ing hilarious! I think I played that audio book for every single person at work. Seriously. Loved it! Couldn’t understand the uproar over an adult book that accurately describes how every single parent I know feels about bedtime with their kids. Just didn’t get the problem.

Anyhow, when this book came in the mail, I was surprised to receive it, and glad to read it. It expressed, in a very humorous way, the same idea – trying to get your child to go to sleep through all the delays they come up with. It reads like a book of nursery rhymes, with each page is telling a different story about children and animals all around the world who are all sleeping, while your child is dreaming up every excuse in the book to avoid her sleep time.

I loved this and so did my kids – although they didn’t get the humor of the situations described. But my absolute favorite part of the book is an illustration – of Samuel L. Jackson tip-toeing out of his daughter’s room, after he’s read to her the grown-up version of this book. Nothing funnier.

Disclosure: I received a review copy of this book to facilitate my review. The opinions are mine.


Ways to bring the farm to your table

TropPurePremiumLogo (1)With the weather warming up, our family is spending more time outside. It’s been between 70 and 85 degrees for over a month now, and we’ve been enjoying every moment of this great weather. The girls are ready to go outside from the minute I get home from work, and I can barely get them indoors to eat, do homework, shower, and go to bed.

This morning we got up and headed on over to the All Local Farmers Market. This is practically a weekly ritual for us. We get great deals on hormone- and antibiotic-free meats, enjoy a breakfast of grits or hashbrowns, meet the farmers who raise the animals, fruits and vegetables that end of in our recipes, and have an overall good time. So by frequenting your local farmers market you can ensure the foods you feed your family are good quality and you can also support local businesses at the same time.

IMAG0219You can also grow your own food. This is backyard farming at it’s best. Although I’m only able to use containers to grow our own food, we’ve got tomatoes, onions, spearmint, and garlic growing well so far. The lemons won’t be ready until the end of the year at the earliest, but I’m looking forward to all that they provide for our family. We also have some strawberries growing, but it doesn’t appear that we’ll get a great yield from those. Coco’s already eaten the one in the picture, though!

I’ve said before that I’m not patient enough to plant from seeds, so I buy starter plants and go from there. Even us brown thumbs can get a nice yield when we try!

Often I’ll find that, in good weather, there are roadside stands or end-of-the-driveway stands with really good prices on fruits and vegetables. Between those stands and the pick-your-own farms, the girls and I always have a good supply of fruits and vegetables on hand – especially strawberries. It’s a Mother’s Day ritual for us to pick our own strawberries. We’ve often had friends or family join us, and we make an entire day of it after church.

When you just can’t grow it yourself or buy from local producers, head on over to the nearest grocery store. The fruits and vegetables there are fresh and usually have a reasonable price attached to them. Check out the sales paper before you go, so you can get the best bang for your buck when you shop. While you’re there pick up a carton or two of Tropicana Pure Premium 100% Pure Florida Orange Juice. Did you know that Tropicana collects oranges from 22 counties in Florida? So Tropicana really is 100% Florida-grown!

grove (1)Don’t forget to enter the Tropicana sweepstakes for a chance to win 100 Florida prizes, including one-year-supplies of Tropicana (in the form of twelve 59 oz. Tropicana Pure Premium containers) and a trip to Florida to visit an orange grove. Ninety-nine winners will get a one-year supply of orange juice in the form of twelve coupons for (12) 59 oz. Tropicana Pure Premium® containers. One winner will get a trip to a Florida orange grove and invite three (3) guests for:  Round-trip airfare for four (4) to Florida, three (3) night stay at a Florida hotel.The winner will have an exclusive experience at experience at a Florida orange grove. For official rules and regulations, visit the “sweeps” tab on Tropicana’s Facebook page at www.Facebook.com/Tropicana.

Before you go, please “like” the Tropicana facebook page.

Disclosure Policy: “I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Tropicana blogging program, to earn My SocialMoms Rewards Points. The opinions and ideas expressed here are my own. To read more posts on this topic, click here.


#bookreview: Simon and the Easter Miracle

Book: Simon and the Easter Miracle: A Traditional Tale for Easter

Author: Mary Joslin

Illustrator: Anna Luraschi

ISBN: 978-0-7459-6058-6

Pages/Price: 32/$14.99 (Lion UK)

Category: Picture Book/Childrens/Religious Holiday/Easter

About Simon and the Easter Miracle

Simon was just an ordinary countryman, coming to Jerusalem to sell his produce. But on that same day a man was being led to his crucifixion, and Simon was swept into the commotion.

A traditional folk tale that goes to the very heart of the Easter story.

My Thoughts on Simon and the Easter Miracle

“All I wished for today was a good market, with fair prices for my produce” (p. 28)

Simon was a regular person who just wanted to sell his fruits, vegetables, bread, and eggs and go back home. He had a sack full of heavy food to sell, and used a stick to help keep him upright as he walked. But as he’s walking his comes upon a commotion, and becomes a part of history. This is a great story to read to your children as we get nearer to Easter.

About the Author of Simon and the Easter Miracle, Mary Joslin

Mary Joslin is the author of The Lion Book of Best-Loved Prayers, The Lion Book of Day-by-Day Prayers, The Lion Day-by-Day Bible, On That Christmas Night, and The Story of the Cross.

About the Illustrator of Simon and the Easter Miracle, Anna Luraschi

Anna Luraschi is the illustrator of numerous books, including Bedtime Rhymes, Twelve Dancing Princesses, Stories for Little Children, and The Usborne Book of Christmas Poems.

Disclosure Policy: I received a copy of this book to facilitate my review. This review sponsored by Kregel Publications.