Use CampusBookRentals.com for Textbooks & Support Operation Smile

 College text books can be so expensive. For many of your classes you may wish to buy and keep your book for years to come, but often you are only going to need that book for a short time and would rather not have it sit on the shelf collecting dust (like many of my old textbooks are still doing) or face the disappointment of a low buy-back price. Why not rent instead? You can actually save a lot of dough by renting those books you will only need for a short while.  Take a look below at the cost comparison between buying an accounting book new or renting it for a class term. You could save 59% by using Campus Book Rentals! That's awesome!

SEARCH A FOR A BOOK HERE

Here's what you need to know about the rental process at CampusBookRentals.com! Watch this hilarious video:

Besides having the largest selection of textbooks in the nation, here are some great perks that come with using CampusBookRentals.com:

                       - save 40-90% off of bookstore prices

                       - free shipping both ways

                       - 30 day risk-free returns

                       - you can highlight in the textbooks

                       - flexible renting periods or name your own return date

                       - rewards for referring your friends

                       - donation to Operation Smile with each textbook rented

I really want to touch on that last point because I think that is a great thing that makes this company unique compared to the competition. 

Through their Making a Difference Program Campus Book Rentals have teamed up with Operation Smile, an organization that performs life changing cleft lip surgeries on children whose families could not otherwise afford it. They have committed to donating money to cover a minimum of 1,000 life changing surgeries. Your rental could help them do even more than that. A portion of EVERY book rented goes towards helping children in need.

 Read reviews from happy customers, sell back your current textbooks, or speak with live customer support and get started renting your books at CampusBookRentals.com today!

Wordless Wednesday! Museum of Life and Science Durham, NC

We had a lot of fun showing Logan around the museum, he loved the weather station, animals, butterfly house, and outdoor activities.

Pinteresting: Activity for Toddlers

My son is a bust little guy and he really likes anything new. I thought he would enjoy another take on filling and dumping, a typical toddler activity. Here are a few of our inspirations via Pinterest:

 

These are two lists for toddler activities both of which can be found under homeschooling on my pinterest page.

Attempt 1:

So first we tried an idea about using a soda bottle with the top cut off and a hole for retrieval, that didn't work to well. He just wanted to dump them back out the way they came not reach in and get them.

He thought is was fun for a little while, but I thought we could make something better.

Attempt 2:

We used an old puffs canister, and this added the element of opening and closing the lid as well. This was a big hit.

 

Happy Toddler!

Wordless Wednesday! Special Effects Makeup

Hey readers! So some of you may know from my "About Me" page that I have a degree in Theatre. Mostly I am a stay at home mom but I moonlight every now and then as a special effects makeup artist for independent films in our area. You can keep up with, or see more example of my work by liking my Makeup Facebook Page.

Here is some work from my latest project, near the bottom of the post is the more gruesome photos, so get the kiddos out of the room before scrolling down :) All makeup is done my me, none of the injuries or tattoos you see here are real, though the hope is they look that way! Let me know what you think, I appreciate all comments!

Pinteresting: Custom Order Baby Hat

Hey readers! I wanted to share with you my latest custom order, a beautiful newborn hat in lavender with a two layer cream and purple flower. It was such a pleasure to make this for baby Ella Cate and her mommy said I could share this picture with you. Isn't she gorgeous in her lovely hat?!

Contact me about a custom order or check out my Etsy shop for like products at Two Little Sea Stars.

Bright Starts: Lights & Sounds FunPad Review

 Bright Starts recently provided me with the opportunity to review one of its coolest products for early learners. The Lights & Sounds FunPad, recommended for 3m+ is a great toy that will grow with baby from early infant hood through active toddler days. It has 40+ melodies, phrases, and sounds, teaching your little one those foundational building blocks of learning: Letters, Numbers, Colors, and Shapes. It's main feature is the light up pad and main musical button, while it also has a slide switch for ratcheting sounds. It has an on/off switch with 2 volume levels.

We have been a fan of the Bright Starts collections from the beginning in our house. I love how they incorporate bright colors and black and white striping which is great for baby's eye development. One of their other products we already own and love include the Sensory Giraffe, Play A Tune Piano, Pop Links, Hop Along Carrier Toy Bar, and Tummy Turtle Prop and Play Mat.

The Lights & Sounds FunPad is already a huge hit with my 15-month-old son Logan. He goes back to it time and again during which his short attention span is engaged in all the fun things to push and head-bobbing melodies. He had no problem making the connection that the pad's little square boxes could each be pushed for different sounds, as they look very similar to mommy and daddy's App buttons on our phones and iPod which he likes to steal. I've already been referring to this product as the "baby iPad."

Some of the things I appreciate about the design are the different levels of volume, and the variation as well as the length of the melodies played. They don't seem to run on forever like some of the other musical toys that can quickly wear on a parents' nerves. This has been a great toy for taking along on car rides because it sits perfectly in baby's lap. We love our Lights & Sounds FunPad!

For an extra entry into my current Lucky Day Giveaway Hop, you can LIKE Bright Starts on Facebook, and Follow Bright Starts on Twitter, or leave a relevant comment on this post in the comment section below.

 ***Please note that I received no form of monetary compensation for this post. I did receive a sample of the product to try in order to write a fair and honest review. The opinions expressed in this review are my own and were not influenced in any way.

Wordless Wednesday! Batmobile!!

 We thought Uncle Kirk would enjoy seeing his nephew get such a kick out of his old batmobile we found. Duh nuh nuh nuh, Duh nuh nuh nuh, BATMAN!