My First Doll

Gifts added:

• Toddler/Children’s size T-shirt Cupcake Gifts
• Towel Cakes and Kitchen Cakes with Towels, Pot holders and utensils!

Baby's First Christmas

The concept is simple yet many web masters, bloggers and website owners do not follow the basic concept. To get traffic to your website, you should visit and interact with other websites and writers. It is pretty much common sence. Visit and comment and if you like the site or even the style of writing, something or someone impresses or inspires you, then follow the blog, buy the product and so on.

Link Referral is an interesting directory. Add your website or page to the free directory. Each day, you should try to visit the Link Referral website.

•  Log into your free account.
• You should make sure to meet the daily quota of interacting with other websites that are located in the directory.
• Visit a minimum of 30 website or page links that are found in the directory. Each day, leave at least one comment, post or new topic discussion post on a forum.
• Review 5 websites or pages each day. It does not take long to complete a review. Most of the questions that are asked are multiple choice. Leave a review of the site in the comment box. Website owners or writers even have the opportunity to ask a question about the website to learn what reviews may think of a particular area on the blog. For instance, I visited a recipe page. The owner asked if the price to purchase the recipes was too low of a price. In this case, the reviews not only ‘reviewed” the site, but also provided real information about the content to the owner of the website. I found this to be a gret way to learn what others think of your website as well as the content. This question being answered provided handy relative information to the owner.
• Once you have logged into your account and completed your requirements for the day, your link is placed in a lower location to become more visible to other participants. Complete your daily requirements to gain visibility on the directory list. The lower your number on the directory for your category, the more your possible traffic will increase!

I joined the Link Referral directory, just over twenty-four hours ago. During this time, I was learning about how the website worked. I visited I belive eleven other websites, I wrote the five reviews and I added a new topic to the forum. I planned to visited again in the evening to complete my 30 website visits. However, after a two-hour school program, we arrived home at nine thirty at night. We had to plan for the next day, bathe the children, get the wee ones to bed and clean up from the rush out of the front door to be on time. By this time, we were all exhausted. I did not make it to visit the remaining sites that I needed to complete for my daily quota. I did think about it after I was in bed for a few minutes. Does that count? Well, although nice, no it does not. The program concept will work best if the daily requirements are actually met. However, to my surprise, I learned that during the first twenty-four hours after joining the Link Referral Directory, 15 visitors visited Mommies and Beyond via the Link Referral Directory. I honestly appreciate each and every visit to my blog. I enjoy writing about new products, reviews, offering free giveaways and craft project ideas, talking about family life, Disney, My Homesteading project and whatever happens to strike my fancy. I am happy that you are reading this post and visiting. I hope that you will follow and visit again. I hope that you win a giveaway prize and learn something new, find something interesting and leave me a comment. I am even happy to return the favor by visiting your blog or website. Just let me know that you were here by leaving a comment with your website url link. I read each and every comment. I appreciate all of my blog visitors. I am excited that fifteen people visited me through the Link Referral Directory. I hope to see the visits and my readership grow!

In my opinion, the first twenty-four hours and my participation in the Link Referral Directory are both a success. I encourage you to take a few minutes out of your day to join the program and then set aside ten, fifteen or even twenty minutes each day to complete the daily requirements. There is an advertisement on the right side bar for Link Referral. Simply click it and join!

I would love for you to come back and let me know how your experience with Link Referral goes. I can hardly wait until tomorrow when I learn how my link in the directory goes after I actually took the time to learn more about the program and complete my daily requirements today!

Good-Luck. Please feel free to visit Mommies and Beyond again! Follow along via email, Face Book, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest! Have a wonderful day!

Pinterest: Shanna Mommies and Beyond Face Book: Shanna Mommies and Beyond and Twitter:@Craftsexaminer (Crafts Examiner) and Google+ : Shanna B.

I reviewed the Link Referral Directory all on my own accord without compensation or request! These are my true and honest opinions!

Hop on over for your chance to enter!

Just this afternoon, Denny and I were picking up a few salads for a late lunch when a customer walked into the little deli. A short time later, the man approached an elderly man wearing a WWII ball cap. The man mentioned that he liked the older man’s hat. After a few words were exchanged, the younger man mentioned that his father had also served in the war and that only in the past 6-7 years, had he began to open up about the experience. The younger man then took a minute and Thanked the older man for his service. Wow, that was really impressive. In fact, I have chills and tears as I type this. As I overheard the conversation, I noticed that all eyes were now on the two men. My eyes welled up in tears, gratitude, patriotism and respect for both the aged solider and the man who expressed his appreciation, four times, as he spoke to the older gentlemen and then exited the deli. Thank-you all and thank-you to the man who expressed his gratitude and to all that do! God Bless you all!

Come and join A Little bit of Everything, Mama Papa Barn, and Faerotic Prose as they have teamed up to offer you $50 in cash, (through paypal), just in time for Memorial day

Please make sure you stop by the sponsors and thank them for this great opportunity.

Please be on the lookout for more great things to come up.  One is a Father’s day Playstation giveaway, (still looking for more sponsors)

Also have the Summer Celebration going on.  Looking for bloggers and sponsors as well.  this is a FREE blog opp

a Rafflecopter giveaway

In my home, my teens are encouraged to by themselves. We try to boost self-esteem, being natural and physical acceptance. I do not allow the coloring of hair in any color including natural hair colors from boxed hair dye kits.

One of my adopted children comes from an ethnic background. She is constantly worried about what others think about her hair and the curls. She is a beautiful girl. We have encouraged her to grow her hair. It does need to be straight or blonde or light brown or even neon orange for that matter. She is a beautiful young lady with natural curly hair!

Beautiful Natural Hair

I recently learned of the first Natural Hair Kinky & Carl E. Stranz. It is an interesting comic. Please go and take a peek. You will also enjoy the pictures of proud beautiful women sharing their natural hair styles! Make sure to visit Kinky & Carl E. Stranz on Face Book!

All women are beautiful. You do not need to ruin your hair to fit into a fake vision of what a woman should look like, to fit in with the current trend or hair color or chance anything about your appearance that is natural God-given and what makes you …You! Skip the chemicals and chemical damage and go natural! Keep the waves, the curls, the color, the gray hair!  Do something different and just be you! Bask in the glory of your natural beauty!

I had the opportunity to review the T-Shirt Printing dot net Monkey Mascot T-shirt. I am an all american Jeans and T-shirt kind of girl. I love to get dressed up but at heart, I am always a Jeans and T-Shirt girl! Throw in pearl necklace and a pair of boots and I am ready to go!

T-Shirt Printing dot net

When I learned of the opportunity to review a t-Shirt from T-Shirt Printing dot net, I jumped on the chance! I love a good T-Shirt. Well, I chose the size Tee that would fit my plus size gal body. I chose the color grey. I love The Heather shades of color!

Monkey Mascot T-Shirt

I received my shirt in the mail in a timely and faster than I expected manner! My shirt arrived in a nice packaged bag. The shirt was folded nicely and in great condition when I received it. I wore it the very next day. I had to take a drive nearly an hour away to run an important errand. The great part of my trip, is that I would have the opportunity to wear my shirt around many people. Upon the completion of my errands, we went to the downtown of Ann Arbor not far from the University of Michigan! We walked around to several shops including a great lunch spot and the sweetest spot in Downtown Ann Arbor, the Cupcake Station. Upon our journey, the cashier at the gas station told me that she “liked my shirt!”. I thought that was great being that I was reviewing the Tee at the time! While we were in the Cupcakes Station, we were picking up a special treat to take home to surprise the family later that evening. The young lady at the cupcake shop, mentioned that she also, “really liked my shirt!” , My fiance’ looked at me and smiled with a head nod! It seems that while we were walking along the streets in the college town, several heads turned to look at my Monkey shirt. In fact, the cupcake girl, Said” I love the monkey on your shirt!”. As far as visual appeal, I believe that this shirt earned an A+!

Now, for the wear of the shirt. I loved the color. The shirt was a nice comfortable material. I was impressed with the quality of the shirt. The tee was a nice quality material. I liked the length and the fit of the shirt. Now, I tend to be one of those people who drop things. My lovely stir fry dinner graced my shirt. I was not happy at all about this. I went ahead and washed and dried the shirt the next morning. To mY surprise and delight, the shirt washed clean. I was relieved! Thankgoodness that the shirt was not ruined. I have to say, many shirts have failed to make it out of the dryer clean. Yay. The T-Shirt Printing dot net Monkey Mascot T-Shirt has won my approval and that of several college students. Even my preschooler loved “mommies monkey Shirt!”

Miss. J Sporting The Monkey

I think that the T-Shirt Printing dot net mascot monkey shirt is a nice shirt. I would definitely recommend purchasing from this company.

The T-Shirt Printingdot net company offers a variety of options for your screen printing needs!

An example of options on T-Shirt Printing dot net:

Promotional Clothing
Huge choice of promotional clothing
Competitive pricing
Quality printing and embroidery
Fast turnaround times
Quantities from 12 to 100,000 (T-Shirt Printing dot net)

There is a variety of types of clothing for children, men and women. You can choose between a variety of options, quantities as well as type of clothing, what is printed, the sizes and of course the colors of your shirt or shirts.

The Giveaway:

Mandatory, you must be a follower of Mommies and Beyond. Please leave a comment and state how you follow! There are two Mandatory task on the Rafflecopter form below!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thank-you for learning about T=Shirt Printing dot net and visiting Mommies and Beyond!

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.

DISNEY CRUISE GIVEAWAY

As you well know, my DREAM VACATION is a DISNEY CRUISE! I stumbled upon an upcoming Disney Cruise Blog Giveaway! I can hardly wait to enter the giveaway!

So, Save the Date! Good-Luck

Crossing my finger to win this amazing giveaway!

You can find the Mommies and Beyond Badge on the right side of the post!

I really want to learn how to expand my grocery budget. In addition to having a good-sized family, summer vacation is quickly approaching. With summer comes BBQ’s, friends visiting and my children’s friends spending a good amount of time in our home. I have noticed that naturally, the grocery bills increase during the summer. I also like to purchase local and fresh produce in addition to growing our own garden.

So, it seems like a great time to start saving as much as possible. I learned that Kmart doubles all coupons that are Health, Beauty or Grocery items. With this in mind, I took a look at my new coupon book. I also learned that there is a current promotion at Kmart where if you spend a minimum of $30 in Proctor and Gamble products, a Catalina ( a coupon that prints with your shopping receipts at the cash register.) coupon reward of $10.00 off of an upcoming Kmart purchase would be offered. I learned that this coupon , in this case, would not be good to use for a few days and that it is $10.00 off of a purchase of $10.00 or more in Proctor and Gamble Products.

So, I took advantage of these offers. I set out to stock up on some much-needed items while saving as much as possible. I am not an extreme couponer really just a novice. So, any saving is a good thing! I used many of my coupons and shopped for about two hours. I am still learning to be more organized with my coupons. I would advice trying to match up your sales with your coupons to save time as well as money. In addition, your best deals will be possible if you have signed up with their Kmart Rewards Program. It is a free program. Members are offered sales on products as well as the possibility to earn rewards. We once earned a free bag of pretzels for instance.

So, I was planning to purchase quite a bit of items. So, in the end, spent $145.00. I did earn the doubled coupons and also the P&G catalina $10.00 off a future P&G purchase. I saved $80.00 in coupons earned the $10 off coupon and saved .30 cents off of 15 gallons of gas (Have not used yet.) and not counting the gas rewards, I saved a total of $90.00

Shopping Trip Two:

Grocery shopping. Yesterday, I went grocery shopping. I wanted to buy a handful of items. I used my coupons. Little did I know that the store doubles coupons. I need to check out the coupon policy. I was not aware of the possibility of doubling the coupons. However, not all of the coupons doubled. So, I need to find out how the system works. So, With my coupons doubling for the most part, I spent $127.00 and some od cents and saved $15.95. Yay. That could be a few dinners. So, I was able to expand my grocery budget this week.

I learned of a lady that is offering a local couponing class. I have signed up to learn how to make the most of my coupons. As for now, I am very excited to have saved a total so far in May 2012 of $105.95

$105.95 plus the unused gas rewards of  .30 cents off of up to 15 gallons of gas!