Can you believe it is already September? That just seems so crazy to even type that out. As we all know, when September comes in, everyone gets ready for one last weekend of summer vacation. We are looking forward to the long weekend here. One thing though, we started a new budget as of this morning. Why would we start before a holiday? Well, now is better time then never.

So, let’s see how we can have fun on a budget this weekend.

1. Visit a National Park – Kids are so fascinated by the outdoors, so take this weekend to visit a national park in your area and have great family fun. Hiking, canoeing, conservation projects, historical sites are just a few of the activities you will find. Take a picnic lunch or even items to BBQ there on-site at the park.

2. Enjoy a Museum Day – If you are a Bank of America customer, they are having free museum day this weekend. Even if you are not a Bank of America customer, you can do a google search for your area by typing in ex. Free Museum Raleigh NC. Recently, we took a day trip into Raleigh and had the best time visiting all the musesums and we did not pay one dime. The entire family enjoyed the day too.

3. Backyard Picnic and Campfire with s’mores – Let the kids help you make a picnic with easy items such as PB&J, pretzels, fresh fruit and enjoy a great picnic in the yard. Take out board games, frisbee, or balls and just enjoy the whole afternoon. Then let the sun set, and gather the family around a campfire. Marshmallows, chocolate and graham crackers. Let the s’more making begin.

4. Park and Ice Cream - Visit your neighborhood park and be a kid again. Kids love so much when you get on their level and let your hair down so to speak. Turn off the cell phones and enjoy a day being a kid with your kid. Once you get to the point there is no moving your bones anymore, head to the local ice cream parlor for a delicious treat together.

5. Enjoy a craft day – You know all those pictures that you took over the summer? Now is the time to let the kids get creative and make a scrapbook. Lots of stores have picture deals right now, so do a search on Retail Me Not to see who is running best deal. Walgreens, WalMart, CVS, Target, Sams Club are just a few stores that come to mind. While the kids are crafting, you can make homemade cookies. Serve them up warm with a cold glass of milk then you could enjoy a card game to end the afternoon.

Hope you will enjoy these ideas. We plan to use quite a few of these ideas this weekend. Everyone have a safe and fun holiday weekend!

Did I just step on toes with that statement? Listen, I am not stepping on any toes because if anyone needs their toes stepped on, it is me. I am so not an organized person in my home life, but when it comes to college and work life, I am super organized. What gives? My husband keeps uttering words, I sure wish you would bring your professional organized skills into the home as well. It takes time, it takes products, and the main thing… it takes priority. Fortunately, since I am sure I cannot grab more hours out of the day, I can use products.

Blue Sky saw I was an organized wreck and offered to get me on the right foot for the school year. These super fun products are in stores through mid-September so I wanted to make sure I took the time to tell you about these awesome organization toys for mom!

The Blue Sky Home Series provides a smart, stylish solution for busy moms to get organized for the upcoming school year with a fresh, contemporary design from designer Susy Jack* Contemporary Paper.

To develop this innovative line, Blue Sky went directly to moms to learn real-life insights on how they manage their busy lives. The Blue Sky Home Series fills a need that online calendars cannot. I am sorry, but I just cannot get use to online calendars. I am a visual person and my husband is too. We need to see the calendar laid out in front of us so we know what the day lays ahead for us.

My two favorite products from the Home Series line:

The weekly/monthly calendar is super stylish since moms did help design them you know?! Also, the calendar is just the perfect size for you to carry around with you.

This 3.5 x 7 planner is compact yet complete. Weekly and monthly calendar views allow for detailed scheduling and the snap keeps all your notes together and in-place.

Susy Jack Door Note “Don’t Forget” – I really think Blue Sky had me in mind when they came up with these door notes. I am seriously the most forgetful person and when it couples with all the events going on, there is just no hope… UNTIL Now! I have been placing these door notes on the front door before I take the girls to school each morning and I am so proud to say, we have not forgot one thing yet. This is a huge step forward.

And moms… the part you are going to love as well is the price point on the Blue Sky Home products. The products range in price from $3.99 to $9.99 to fit every family budget and are sold at Target stores and on the Blue Sky website through September.

WIN a Blue Sky Home Series Set and feel better about your organization skills.

To Enter:

Leave a comment below on which product is your favorite.

Extra Entries:

Tweet about this Giveaway.

I need to get more organized in my life, so I would love to win the #blueskyhomeseries set from @onemomsworld http://ow.ly/6hdyZ

Subscribe to our Feed

Make sure to leave an additional comment for each extra entry.

Contest will end on September 4, 2011 at 11:59pm ET.

Disclosure: I was sent a review set of the Blue Sky Home Series line to fully facilitate this review. All thoughts and opinions are of my own.

Parenting is the best thing that could have happened to me. As a young child, I would sit and dream of the family I would have one day. In those dreams, the amount of love that I have for my children was left out. I never knew I would have this undying love for my two beautiful girls. The love between my girls and I just brings a huge smile across my face. How do I know I have this special love? You can just look into my girls’ eyes when they look at me and the same when I look at them. BUT, there is another way to tell… love notes for children. I never know when I will get up and find a love note hid in different places throughout the house.

For instance, last week I came back home from dropping the girls off to school and found a note in the bathroom from L. Sweet little note saying how much she would miss me that day but she would see me very soon signed with love. The note is not just no ordinary note, this note will always be treasured and lives on my desk so I can look at it daily. Fast forward to tonight, I found another note. M had fell asleep fast but L was having problems falling asleep. I went to lay down with precious L and as soon as I lifted my arm under my pillow to get comfortable, I felt a little piece of paper. Sweet M had somehow managed to sneak a note to me. It talks about how much she will miss me while she is at school but she can’t wait till she gets home to give me the biggest hug ever, signed with love from sweet M.

As soon as I read that note, I immediately thanked God for blessing me with the two best daughters in the world. How did I get so lucky, I asked? It is not luck, God delivered these two sweet girls to me because he knew I dreamed for this family for so long.

I began thinking, love notes can keep your children talking to you all throughout their childhood. There will be times when your children may not want to talk face to face at first and needs something to break the ice. Love notes will be the right key. I leave my girls post-it notes all throughout the house and in their lunch boxes. They love finding them and seeing the smile on their face is priceless. You can be as creative as you want with the love notes or you can print free templates off the internet such as these Free Printable Lunch Box Notes from Get Buttoned Up.

Surprise your child today with a love note and you may very well just start a tradition in your house and find love notes popping up all over the place. You will love the notes and your kids will love them. Priceless feeling!

Are you scheduling a family trip to Branson, Missouri? If so, I would love to help you with what must-do activities to schedule that the whole family would enjoy.

First, you have to plan a dinner show that will entertain the entire family: Dixie Stampede

Secondly, for a thrill ride that will have you saying… seriously I just did that? Shepherd Hills

Thirdly, a dinner that is extraordinary on a cruise boat: Branson Belle

and you cannot leave off the WhiteWater Park in Branson, Missouri. The perfect attraction to spend the day to relax and cool off in the water. You don’t have to worry as there are so many activities that you will definitely not hear the “I’m bored” comments from the kids. I will go ahead and say too, the prices are very reasonable for a family as you can literally spend all day and have fun in the sun.

We arrived at the park and the kids were ready but of course we had to be tourists and get our picture made.

Then, BOOM… lightning, thunder and rain decided to make a presence. Luckily, Mother Earth knew there were a lot of kids eager to take on WhiteWater so the storm passed fairly quickly. The girls dived into the wave pool first thing.

L spotted the cool kids area and pleaded that we must go see now.

As soon as we got there, I knew exactly why she was so eager to visit the kids area. Everything was just her size. M saw the fun L was having and had to join in as well. Lots of laughs and smiles.

While L was enjoying her size park, M was ready to take on an adventure. One of the many water slides at WhiteWater and M was up for the challenge. This 7.5 story, 6-lane, multi-level thrill slide is the wildest ride ever to hit White Water! I waited patiently at the bottom of the slide and once I spotted M, I knew she was having a blast.

After being in the water all morning, we had worked up quite the appetite. I love how the park has posts throughout the park directing you in the right direction.

We spotted the food fast.

WhiteWater had anywhere from healthy salads and fruits to the juicy hot dogs.

and you cannot forget the awesome souvenir cups….

The food was gulped down and it was back to the wave pool to finish out the afternoon. Now this is how to have fun in the water. Definitely add to the family to-do list in Branson, MO. We highly recommend it.

Life is beyond busy right now. I wish I could slow down time or even turn back time, but that is not possible. One thing I can do though is take more time and cherish each day of life. Each day my girls create priceless memories that I wish I could bottle up. I know all moments are not cherished (ex. screaming fits), but instead of telling your child to just wait a minute, we need to embrace this time and let them know they have our attention. M and L are my special occasions.

Hallmark is helping me celebrate these special occasions with their “______ is a Special Occasion” campaign.

Hallmark introduced a new campaign earlier this year called Life Is a Special Occasion. This is much more than a tagline — it’s a call for all of us to push the pause button on the blur of daily life, and think about the beauty of unplanned, perfectly imperfect moments.

During our trip to San Diego earlier this month, I was able to meet in person Hallmark and interact with their booth on the expo floor. The best part, my girls were there with me to take in this special moment. Hallmark had a special board where you could write your special occasion. The girls and I both were able to write on the wall.

Also, to take it a step further, they had these cute purple shirts on-hand so we could write our special occasion and wear the shirts proudly.

M’s special occasion was “Learning to Clog.” She got stopped so many times that day since she was wearing the shirt, so she could explain what clogging was. Once M would explain it, the person would want to see M clog. She was on cloud nine all day long. At one point on the expo floor, I was checking out the new Samsung tablets and I looked back to check on M. She had a crowd of Samsung representatives around her while she was clogging. Friends, this brought the biggest smile to my face. My sweet M was celebrating her special occasion all because of Hallmark starting this campaign. Beautiful moment between child and mother as M came running to me when she was done clogging and gave me the biggest hug. This is how life should be and life should definitely be celebrated more.

What is your special occasion in life? Let Hallmark help you celebrate!

Who knew there was such a day? Let me be the first to wish you a Happy National Toiler Paper Day . You know, I was able to get in a little snuggle with the Charmin Bear in San Diego earlier this month at the BlogHer conference. I may or may not gave him a long hug to get in more snuggles… HA!

Charmin is helping celebrate the big national holiday on their facebook page. Pssst… I heard they may be breaking a Guinness World Record. Head on over to their page and check out what the big news is!

School is back in session and we are all about fashion here in this household. My precious L is such a fashionista at the young age of 6. She will not wear no jeans of any type, no shorts, no pants, only skirts, dresses, leggings are in her wardrobe. I am sure L is not alone, as there are many kids who have to dress a particular way. The only problem is that schools have guidelines, especially when it comes to shoes. The girl’s school has PE each day, which I am so thrilled about, but that means the girls must wear rubber sole shoes to PE. This is where we enter the Crocs new Back-to-School line. All the shoes are school-approved on the outside, but have the same comfort in the inside as their favorite summer shoes, allowing them to relive summer while in school.

M was sent one of the styles from the new line.

This style is the Kids’ Hover Sneak Metallic in bubblegum color. Now, my girls have wore crocs since they were born. They love the feel on the inside and how easy they are to put on. Enter a tennis shoe into the mix for the first time and I wasn’t quite sure how M would react to the shoe. She laced up the shoes with a smile on her face and began walking all around outside, then she started running, then she started jumping. I chimed in and said, does this mean you like them? She said, yes, mommy, I have put them to the full test now. She loves the feel of them she said, and they were comfortable. The real test was when she wore them to school all day. I awaited after her first day of school, and she exclaimed, mommy my shoes did not bother me all day long and I got so many compliments on them. SCORE! I believe we have a winner.

There are 13 new styles in this new line for boys and girls from kindergarten all the way through 8th grade. Each shoe is closed-toed, closed-heeled and rubber sole, so they will meet the schools expectations. Check out all the new styles in this interactive video. All the animated shoes featured in the clip are clickable, so you will be able to interact with the video. Also, there is a hidden egg within this video. Try to find it and click on it. You will have to see what happens! Here is an image of the egg so you will know what to look for:

Pretty cool huh? To help kick off this new school line, Crocs is holding a contest. A trip for four to San Diego: oceanside, family-friendly hotel, San Diego or Sea World tickets, $200 play money, and a rental car. Click here to enter the sweepstakes. You just never know who will win?!

“This post was made possible by Mom Spark Media and Crocs. I received a pair of Crocs shoes for the purpose of this review. I was also compensated for my time investment and work on their Back To School campaign. Thoughts are my own.”

Much to our dismay, a hurricane is approaching the NC coast this weekend and headed straight up the east coast.

Picture courtesy of USA Today

As you prepare your emergency kit with the help of Molly Gold from Go Mom!, I wanted to help you with wireless tips courtesy of Verizon Wireless. Most people don’t think about all their wireless needs when preparing for a hurricane, but it actually is a very smart move. Our cell phones can be a definite need in the midst of a crisis. Use these tips while preparing, you will be thankful I am sure.

1. Weather widgets and local TV stations’ apps for smartphones and tablets can keep people update on what the weather is doing if they’ve lost power in their house and can’t watch the news.

2. Limit non-emergency calls to conserve battery power and free up wireless networks for emergency agencies and operations.

3. Send brief text messages rather than making voice calls for the same reasons.

4. Don’t leave the house without car-chargers to ensure you have back-up power.

5. Keep phones, laptops, PDAs, batteries, chargers and other equipment in a dry, accessible location.

6. Forward your home phone calls to your wireless number if you have to evacuate.

Stay safe everyone and please listen to authorities when they say evacuate, please evacuate!

Congratulations to comment #43 nanjhall!

Over the past couple of years, you have seen Walgreens pop up all over the country. Each store really gives you that hometown feel each time you walk in no matter where you are in the United States. Since we travel a lot as a family, I feel secure when I see a Walgreens in a city we are visiting. I know I am able to walk in and grab a health and beauty item, talk to the pharmacist on duty, pick up a souvenir for the city we are visiting, get digital pictures developed and even grab a delicious snack. Walgreens really has you covered and now they even are helping you preserve your family memories with a new photo gift, glass prints. I have seen different photo gifts during my lifetime, but I have to say, the glass prints peaked my curiosity. I was given the opportunity to review the glass prints, so let’s walk through the easy process.

Since my family travels a lot, I wanted to capture all the states we had been to this year in one glass print. You have several choices to choose from in the glass prints section.

I chose the Collage Curved Glass Print to display all the pictures that I wanted to from our travels. The glass prints come in three different sizes. The prices run from $29.99 to $54.99. You can save 25% off all photo gifts right now at Walgreens with the code ALLGIFTS thru Saturday, August 27.

You select which size and then you upload your pictures. Walgreens will automatically place the pictures in the correct order to match the collage on the glass print. It really is that easy. Are you ready for the finished product?

The quality was better than I expected. It is a thick sized piece of polished glass and uses the natural lighting in the room to illuminate the picture. The pictures just shine in the glass. Now, each time we sit down in the living room, we can remember the wonderful year 2011 has brought us with our travels.

WIN:

One lucky fan here at One Moms World will win a $25 Walgreens gift card to help you preserve your family memories with a photo gift.

To Enter:

1. Leave a comment below telling us which picture you would like to preserve.

Extra Entries:

Tweet about this Giveaway

Subscribe to our Feed

Make sure to leave an additional comment for each extra entry.

Contest ends August 28, 2011 at 11:59pm ET.

Disclosure: This post is part of a Walgreen’s sponsorship package on BabyCenter. Compensation and giveaway prizes were provided by BabyCenter and Walgreen’s.

Have you ever been up close and personal with a giraffe? I can cross that off my bucket list. As I wrote before about our trip to San Diego Safari Park, I was literally face to face with a giraffe.

The reason we were so up close and personal is because we went on an amazing, educational and out of this world experience on the Caravan Tour. Our tour guide was so patient and really made the whole tour so much fun. I believe we were all sad when the tour came to an end because it was that much fun. You are riding around through the habitats and are able to get so close with all the animals. The girls were filled with questions and the tour guide took time to answer each question a way the girls could understand. You are on the tour 2.5 hours but the whole time is filled with adventures, so many different animals, feeding time and lots of smiles, laughs and oh my’s.

Quick one minute and twenty seconds video to summarize our feeding time and up close and personal adventures.

Now, you see why the girls are still talking about this adventure two weeks later. It is a time to turn off technology, get down on your child’s level and have an amazing time enjoying mother nature. Two thumbs up from the entire family and agree everyone should add to their must-do list for San Diego.