What is happening at Monkey Do Project?

Monkey Do Project is one of my favorite non-profit organizations. I know the founder and members of the board and see how dedicated they are to helping the people of Appalachia. They give back because they feel strongly drawn to do so and they truly care about the people they are helping. At any given time Monkey Do Project has several different projects going to meet the needs of people in different parts of Appalachia. Here are the current needs:

Holiday Basket Fundraiser - The Christian Service Center food pantry in Clay County, WV had all of their food stolen in early September. This included food that they had started gathering for holiday meal baskets. Monkey Do Project has pledged to provide 200 holiday food baskets but they need donations to fulfill that promise.

Filling the Food Banks - Monkey Do Project has pledged to fill a food bank in Clay, WV, provides food for a weekend backpack program, and aided in starting a food bank in Dunbar, WV.

Daniel's Drawings - Daniel recently turned five but when he was four he was challenged to do something to raise money to help others. Daniel is a self-proclaimed "kid artist" and he is raising money with his "artings" (drawings) and giving it to Monkey Do Project.

Ella's Night-Night Do Project - Ella is an amazing six year old with a huge heart for giving and helping others. When she was four, she had a small blanket that she called her night-night. Ella decided that other kids needed the comfort of night-nights too so she created her own Monkey Do Project to give them away.

Backpacks for Ohio - For two years now I have helped fill 2,000 backpacks at Monkey Do Project headquarters. We gave each child toiletries, nutritious snack, and some school supplies. Monkey Do Project has pledged to continue bringing backpacks to the school health fair.

None of these projects can happen without financial support from individual donors. The needs in Appalachia are high as it is the poorest region in the United States. Please visit Monkey Do Project to find out more about the needs in Appalachia and how you can help.

Donate today to support these projects!

Monkey Do Project is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization which means donations are tax deductible.

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Weather Reflections & How to Help Others

As January ends I've been reflecting on what a tough month it has been for many people. The weather has been CRAZY with Alaska being too warm and snow in the southern states. Snow and  extreme cold here in Indiana have caused school to be delayed or cancelled giving parents and kids a case of cabin fever. The impact of this weather has been huge in all areas of life. The school delays and closings have parents scrambling for childcare, businesses have closed due to cold or road conditions meaning lost profits and lost wages for employees, and people are getting sticker shock when they receive their heating bills. There have been power outages, traffic troubles, and cancelled flights. I'm not sure you could find someone who hasn't been impacted by the weather conditions in some way this month.

I've thought about how lucky we have been to be able to just stay home together as a family. We haven't lost power so the heat has stayed on. Our fridge and pantry are regularly well stocked with food so we only needed to pick up a few essentials. My daughter's preschool only closed for two days so we still had a reason to get out of the house. We are blessed in so many ways.

There are others who are not as fortunate. Monkey Do Project is a non-profit organization that works helping in the poorest areas of Appalachia. This is the most impoverished region in the country. One of their projects is purchasing food for a food bank in West Virginia. This food bank was literally empty when the founder of Monkey Do Project visited but through donations the shelves have been filled each month. Now though the weather is causing the need for food supplies to be even greater. Many of these families rely on the food programs at the schools for their children and since the schools have been closed so many days this month these kids have nothing to eat.

This is only ONE of the ways Monkey Do Project helps people.

Monkey Do Project can't continue to provide food, clothing, blankets, and other aid without help. Right now there are two easy ways that you can help:

1. Make a donation to Monkey Do Project. It doesn't have to be large - even $5 will help!
2. Vote for Monkey Do Project to win a small business grant from FedEx. There is no registration required, it only takes a click, and you can vote every day through February 23, 2014. Vote Here

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Product Review: Immortal Sleep

Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial.

Sleep has never come easily to me. My mom says that I had difficulty sleeping even as a child and that has certainly not changed over time. I'm often in bed for at least a couple of hours just thinking before I fall asleep and then I'm lucky if the remainder of the night is spent in a good, restful sleep.

I have tried a variety of sleep aids from lavender scented anything to melatonin to prescription sleeping pills. I try not to take anything for too long because I don't want to become dependent on it and my body adjusts quickly so nothing works consistently. I'm pretty sure the doctor and I tried at least three different sleeping pills before we even found one that would get me to sleep!

In what feels like my never ending quest for sleep, I'm always happy to try a sample of something to see if it might work. I received enough immortal sleep for three nights. I did not use it for three nights in a row.

Immortal Sleep claims that it may:

• improve quality of sleep
• create deep relaxation of the mind and body
• increase alpha waves in the brain associated with feeling calm and peaceful
• promote your body's ability to produce GABA, a substance that is your brain's own tranquilizer
• alleviate depression

Unfortunately, I was disappointed to not see the majority of these benefits. The first night that I took Immortal Sleep I fell asleep very quickly and was in a very deep sleep for several hours. Unfortunately, I woke up around 3 am and was unable to get back to sleep which was very frustrating. The second and third nights I had difficulty falling asleep and once I did I woke up after only a few hours. I feel like the sleep that I did get was deeper than normal but I still wasn't getting enough of it.

Immortal Sleep, as well as other herbal supplements, may be purchased at Immortal Herbs. They do offer a 90 day Money Back Guarantee. Immortal Sleep may also be purchased on Amazon (affiliate).

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

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Celebration Crossing at Indiana State Museum

Although Indianapolis has tons of great stuff for families to do all year long, I've never been great at getting us out of the house. Part of that was because I didn't really know where to find information about events that are appropriate for my kids. Now that I've discovered Indy with Kids I definitely don't have that excuse any more! When Katy invited a group of bloggers and their families to check out Celebration Crossing at the Indiana State Museum, I jumped on board. We had never visited the Indiana State Museum and this sounded like the perfect opportunity to go.

Celebration Crossing offers fun for kids and adults alike. The big draw for us was riding the Santa Claus Express and the opportunity to see Santa. Even with the large group of bloggers, the line for the train went fairly quickly. On our way home Elizabeth declared that the best part was the train before we even had a chance to ask about her favorite activity.

I wasn't sure how visiting with Santa would go this year. Last year Victoria was fine but Elizabeth nearly strangled me when I tried to get her closer. This year Elizabeth gave Santa a huge hug and climbed right up on his lap! Victoria wasn't too sure at first but she did great too. I love how beautifully Santa's room is decorated. Photo packages may be purchased from the museum or parents are allowed to take photos from the doorway.

Santa's Playground was another fun part of our visit. There were a good variety of activities from crafts to games to a constantly changing playground built by the kids. I loved that I was able to see all areas of the room so I was comfortable taking a break and letting the kids figure out the activities on their own.

Celebration Crossing runs through December 31,  so there is still plenty of time to go check it out. Be sure to check the Indiana State Museum website for a list of dates and times for special events like Santa's Holiday Breakfast and Hoosier Radio Hour: A 1940's Christmas. Museum admission is $10 for adults and $5.50 for children (3 - 12). Parking is available at the White River State Park Garage for $3 for 3 hours with museum admission. The Indiana State Museum is also having a special free day on December 16, 2013.

Disclaimer: My family and I were given tickets to experience Celebration Crossing at the Indiana State Museum as part of a blogger event. All photos and opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own and accurately reflect our experience.

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Get a Book in Your McDonald's Happy Meal

Yesterday I wrote about how much I loved reading as a child and how much my girls and I read together. Books are a huge part of our daily lives and a great tool for learning and growing our imaginations. I'm excited that McDonald's is celebrating reading by offering books instead of toys in Happy Meals through November 14. Each Happy Meal will include one of four books that focuses on nutrition or active play presented in a fun story that kids will love.

McDonald's Happy Meal Books

The four limited edition titles are:

• The Goat Who Ate Everything – Tells a story of a goat who has a big appetite and struggles to eat right. But when he does, he feels great and becomes the playful ‘kid’ everyone loves.
• Deana’s Big Dreams – Shares how Deana, the world’s smallest dinosaur, grew tall by eating right.
• Ant, Can’t – Features Ant, a bite-­‐sized bodybuilder who’s big on encouraging physical fitness through exercise and eating right.
• Doddi the Dodo Goes to Orlando – Follows happy-­‐go-­‐lucky bird Doddi who travels the world. She eats right because this dodo is always on the go-­‐go.

McDonald's Give A Book, Get A Book

Indy with Kids has partnered with McDonald’s of Central Indiana for the local, “Give a Book, Get a Book” campaign.

November 1st-14th, book donation sites will be set up around the area at the Ronald McDonald House, local libraries and Indy Reads Bookstore. In exchange for the donation of a new or gently used children’s book, customers will receive a Be Our Guest card for a free Happy Meal. In addition, participating libraries will host a “Happy Meal Day” with activities for kids and McDonald’s Happy Meal books.

I'm sure the girls and I will be grabbing a Happy Meal sometime in the next week. Is there really such a thing as too many books? Naw, I didn't think so!

Mom Tip: If your kids are young and willing to share grab one Mighty Kids meal to split. 6 chicken nuggets is plenty for my girls, they share the apple slices, & there are extra fries for me.

Happy Meal Giveaways

Several of my fellow Central Indiana bloggers are giving away Happy Meal prize packs. Go forth and enter quickly because these won't be open long.

• Indy With Kids
• Chaos is Bliss
• WritRams
• What's Up Fagans?
• Redefining Perfect
• Gotchababy
• Indy Homeschool
• 4th Frog Blog

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The Importance of 5

On Monday, we celebrated our oldest daughter's 5th birthday. I admit to having a bit of a mom freak out over this one. Five sounds so much older than four to me. It feels like we've hit another milestone in her life. I associate five with kindergarten even though she won't go until next fall. I'm not ready for her to stop climbing into my lap or even into bed with me when she is up in the night. Thankfully, she isn't quite ready to give up those snuggles either. I am glad I have been able to stay home with her and watch her grow for five years. I am happy that she is independent and confident playing with others at preschool. I am torn between wanting to keep her close and wanting her to explore on her own. I love that she is learning to read and that she enjoys discovering new things. I can't believe the grown up phrases she comes up with and I laugh when I remember the girl who didn't talk at all. It is hard to believe that my baby girl is 5!

Five is important for another reason this month. Remember in September when I shared with you about this empty West Virginia food bank? Monkey Do Project founder +Jacqueline Wilson realized that if each of her Twitter followers gave just $5 that would be nearly enough to fill the food bank for an entire year! Check out her post on Monkeytober13 to see her thoughts on the project and to see the amount donated so far. I think most of us could spare five dollars and I'm simply amazed at how much good that little amount can do.

I'm asking you to help celebrate my daughter's 5th birthday by donating $5 to Monkey Do Project.

Be sure to select MONKEYtober as the project designation so Monkey Do Project can track donations. My little monkey and I greatly appreciate your support!

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New Luvs Super Absorbent Diapers #TheClueIsInTheBlue

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post for SheSpeaks & Luvs diapers. The opinion expressed here is based on our experience with the product.

Let's face it diapers are expensive. Unless you go the cloth diaper route, diapers may be one of the largest baby expenses over time. When SheSpeaks and Luvs offered to send me a package of the new Luvs Super Absorbent diapers with Night Lock (look for that blue label), I was happy to give them a try.

The claims on the back of the package:

• Helps Lock Wetness Away - Even Overnight
• Cottony Soft on Baby's Skin
• Leak Barrier Leg Gathers
• Refastenable Stretch Tabs
• Great Fitting Contoured Shape

Here is our experience:

The Luvs diapers fit Victoria well. She is currently on the edge of moving from a size 3 up to size 4 based more on height than weight. I think the Luvs diapers are slightly longer than the brand we are currently using which gives her a bit more time to grow. The diapers fastened well and were easy to adjust if her wiggling prevented me from getting them fastened securely on the first attempt. Victoria seemed to be comfortable and the diapers didn't appear to hamper her climbing in any way.

I think the outside layer of the diaper feels a bit more like plastic than the brand we currently use. I didn't notice a plastic scent when opening the package however. Victoria's skin is quite sensitive and she still occasionally breaks out in an eczema rash. We did not experience any irritation from switching the diapers to Luvs.

Although we didn't have any leaks down the legs, Victoria is an extremely heavy sleeper and we did have wet sheets on a few mornings. This happens with our current brand of diapers as well and I don't think we had any more wet mornings with Luvs than we were already having. The only solution for this appears to be limiting Victoria's liquids after dinner. The new Luvs Super Absorbent diapers (sold exclusively at Wal-Mart) claim to be 15% more absorbent than regular Luvs.

The Verdict:

Luvs Super Absorbent diapers are definitely worth a try! Especially since Luvs offers a money back guarantee if you contact them within 60 days of purchase. Remember the clue is in the blue on the label so you know you are getting Luvs most absorbent diaper.

Note: All opinions presented in book and product reviews are my own. Opinions presented in posts authored by others reflect the view of the author only and not necessarily my view or opinion.

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Celebrating Womanhood: Coming Together

The Celebrating Womanhood Event is being hosted by
Living, Learning, and Loving Life, Cabin Goddess, and Tea with Dee.

Have you ever witnessed the power of women to come together after a tragedy? It is truly a force of nature as the troops rally around the family that is hurting. Meals are prepared, visits are made, phone calls and twitter messages fly, and funds are raised all while shedding tears and sharing in the pain that can never be taken away.

I am still being introduced to the community of women bloggers here in Indiana but recently I saw their power in action. It was not their power to gain sponsorships, to represent brands, or their business savvy that grabbed my attention (although they are fabulous at those things too). It was the power of their community, their love, and the ability to rally around one of their own. On September 3rd and 4th, the Indy With Kids family lived every parents' worst nightmare when their beautiful 2 month old baby girl was taken to the hospital and failed to recover over night. Shaundi died and the Indiana blogging community wept with Katy, Jacob, LuLu, and Scout. Prayers started going up as soon as they were asked for and they haven't stopped since. Love For Shaundi started with a hashtag and a Go Fund Me donation site. Cookies were baked by the dozen to represent the birthdays Shaundi would never have and balloons carried messages to heaven.

Messages to Heaven Photo Credit WritRams

While nothing will ever take away the pain the Mann family is experiencing, these women are surrounding the family with love and walking alongside them on this difficult journey. I am humbled to be a part of this community and to know that I have friends who would jump in and do the same for me if my family were in need.

Note: All opinions presented in book and product reviews are my own. Opinions presented in posts authored by others reflect the view of the author only and not necessarily my view or opinion.

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Help Fill A Food Bank with Monkey Do Project #monkeydo

Have you ever been hungry? I'm not talking the standing in front of a full fridge and saying there is nothing to eat kind of hungry. I'm not talking about the oh we haven't done grocery shopping this week so we'll just go out to eat kind of hungry. I'm talking about true hunger - when the cupboards are bare and you don't know where your next meal will come from.

Do you know where you would turn for help
if you truly couldn't feed your family on a regular basis?

Now imagine that you turned to a food bank for help and their cupboards were as bare as yours:

Empty shelves in a Clay, WV food bank.

This is the situation in Clay, West Virginia. The food bank there has NOTHING to hand out to people. Clay County is considered a distressed county which means that it is in the worst 10 percent of the nation's counties economically. This means unemployment and poverty rates are high while per capita income is low. These are families who need help and the organization that is set up to help them cannot do it alone.

Monkey Do Project has pledged to help fill the food bank in Clay, West Virginia but they need donations to do it. I am always amazed at how much good Monkey Do Project can do with small donations and how they add up quickly. If everyone reading this post makes just a small donation it will make a big difference in the life of a family in Appalachia.

Donate at Monkey Do Project

Note: All opinions presented in book and product reviews are my own. Opinions presented in posts authored by others reflect the view of the author only and not necessarily my view or opinion.

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