At the Fence

Hi Neighbors! Any of you out there expecting?  Or do you know someone who is?  Here are a couple of books that would make a great gift for someone you know who is expecting.  Both of these books are chock full of information.  The first book is The Mommy MD Guide to Pregnancy and Birth ($17.95).  The second is The Mommy MD Guide to Your Baby's First Year ($17.85).  Both books are written by Rallie McAllister and Jennifer Bright Reich. The Mommy MD Guides are each loaded with over 900 tips for pregnancy and baby's first year.  The tips are from doctors who are also mothers. Lets start with the Pregnancy and Birth.  The book is divided into 4 sections, the first 3 dealing with the three trimesters, and the last dealing with baby's birth.  Each section is then broken down into chapters.  A chapter for each week of your pregnancy and them 3 chapters dealing with the baby's birth.  The book is nice in that it is not information overload, and it is literally writt

Hi Neighbors! Here is a great website you will want to visit.  It is called Goalforit, and the Chore Chart that is available is wonderful!  I am definitely going to be using this again!  I will probably wait until we get back from Chicago, but I really like this idea.  You can go in and design a chart for each of your children, young or older!  There is a kid's chart or a teens and tweens chart.  You get to basically design your own chart.  Add the chores you want, and if they don't already have it listed, you can add it yourself. Child's Chore Chart I love the themes! From Goalforit: I created Goalforit as a "passion-project" to try and help people of all ages bring more focus and personal success into everyday life by recognizing, developing and capitalizing on their own unique strengths & abilities. That said, if you have any suggestions on how I can make the experience better on Goalforit, you can contact me directly by clicking on

Greetings Neighbors! I hope everyone who visits At the Fence has been having a great week so far.  I sure am.  And we have company coming in tomorrow for a visit, and then we get to go to Chicago again for a Watch Night service, I love it! Anyway, I wanted to share with my neighbors just how important an internet marketing strategy can be.  I personally do not make any large purchases without checking them out online first.  Of course I want to see what the company has to say, but I also want to see reviews of the product.  I like to look around and see what others are saying as well as the company.  Here is one example, I have been looking for a new camera, and then a tablet or net book.  While researching one of these items that was available on sale, I couldn't even find information on the product on the company website.  Not a good sign.  Needless to say, I checked out where people were giving their own opinion, and was not impressed.  There were too many problems surfac

Hey Neighbors! So glad you came out today to visit At the Fence.  I have a question, do any of you have any teenage boys that are starting to grow a beard or mustache?  Do they want to shave or allow it to grow?  I have two sons trying to decide the shaving dilemma.  My 18 year old has pretty much decided to go clean shaven, although every once in a while he is not sure.  My 16 year old on the other hand is truly undecided.  He starts to grow the mustache, and then shaves it off.  A few days later, he starts growing it again.  His dad has asked him to decide one way or the other.  So we aren't constantly yoyoing back and forth.  Personally I think he would look nice with a mustache.  It looks good as it is starting to come in.  I don't think he is ready for a beard yet. It is not coming in even there yet.  Their dad has a beard and mustache, and I love it.  The boys are still trying to make their own choices and decisions.  It's funny because they are so close in age t

Hi Neighbors! Glad to see everyone out here At the Fence!  It is a bit windy and chilly out here today, so I won't keep you long. I just received my Frosted Toast Crunch Cereal package, and the cereal is almost gone!  I have a family of cereal eaters.  Not only do they want it for breakfast, they think it makes a great snack throughout the day and right before bed.  Needless to say, when the package arrived one of my daughters immediately took pictures and tried the cereal.  So we have a new favorite in the house now. The package came with a real nice pitcher, that says; "Frosted Toast Crunch".  It is nice, but not what the children actually got excited over.  The spilt milk bowl and the lickety spoon were the hits!  My 11 year old walked around the house showing everyone how it worked.  The handle of the spoon looks like a long, narrow tongue, with a curve at the end.  She thought it was great! Frosted Toast Crunch with 11 grams of whole grai

Guest post written by Jenny Presley There are all kinds of things that I've been helping my friend with on her upcoming wedding. I took a trip with her to look for bridal gowns and have looked through so many wedding magazines with her. It's been so much fun! But it's also strange to think that she's getting married and I'm nowhere near close to that point in my life. I'm her maid of honor and have been working really hard to try and plan her bridal shower without her figuring out what I'm doing for it. I've been doing all kinds of research online with my wireless internet Amarillo for some fun ideas. I thought that I would go with an autumn theme. It's her favorite season anyway so I thought that it wouldn't hurt to capitalize on that. I think that she's going to love her autumn bridal shower . I already decided to go with some pumpkin spice cheese cake as part of the party, which is her favorite seasonal dessert. She makes

Hi Neighbors! This New Year's Eve we are planning to be at a church in Chicago for Watch Night Services.  Basically we will have singing, preaching, prayer, and of course snacks.  My husband and both my sons will preach.  I love meetings like this! Anyway, I wanted to share some snack ideas with you from Target.  First off, I received 3 different Melba snacks from Target.  The first was the Old London Melba Toast (Sesame), next was Old London Melba Snacks (Sea Salt) and last was the Old London Melba Snacks Roasted Garlic.  Now we pulled ours out for game night and had them with cheddar cheese on them.  They taste great by the way!  I didn't really have enough time to put together one of theior recipes, but I will include a couple here if you would like to try them. The Lemon Meringue Tarts would be a favorite in my family! Lemon Meringue Tarts Yields about 24 tarts INGREDIENTS: 1 box Melba Snacks Whole Grain Lemon Curd Meringue For Lemon Curd

Greetings neighbors! Here is another last minute idea for a gift, though I have to tell you, an even better idea is have this game for your New Years Eve party or get together.  Reverse Charades , talk about a great ice breaker!  My family played this, and at first it started out a bit stiff because everyone was embarrassed, but after a round or two, it got really silly!  We just played as a family. Here is how Reverse Charades normally works.  First you divide everyone up into two teams.  Decide which team goes first.  Team 1 chooses one person to guess, and the others all stand up to act out the words.  With this game there is no preparation ahead of time and no talking or mouthing words or information is allowed.  Team 2 chooses one player to pull the word cards out of the box and show them to team one, not to the person guessing.  Flip the timer and begin!  The person holding the cards pulls one out and shows it to team one, who start acting out the word/s.  This

Grand Gift Guide At the Fence Post Hello Neighbors! We finished up re-arranging the Rooms we were working on yesterday and it looks really good!  We are trying to get everything organized and keep it that way.  Speaking of organizing I have a product that will help you do just that!  This amazing product is...  BLIS!  An online organizing system!  It is the... Best Life Information System Here is some information about BLIS... " We suspect we are a lot like you --- trying to meet the demands of information overload and having enough time for family, work and play.   We are sisters, wives, daughters, friends, working mothers, home-owners, grocery shoppers, cooks, taxi drivers to our kids, and most recently, co-founders of BLIS, the system which keeps us from losing our minds. "I remember a conversation Tricia and I had about how we felt we were living one day at a time and feeling totally disorganized. I had a long 'to do list' (which I had

Hi Neighbors! I hope you are having as nice a day I am.  Sitting at my desk working with my family around me, music playing, and just enjoying the day!  I have another product I wanted to take time to share with you.  I found this at ChiTAG and think it is a really cute idea!  They are called Floppets !  They are cute little animals, that attach to a small piece of velcro strip, that you can then wrap around a pony tail, purse strap, attach them to a bracelet or a strap on your sandals even a finger.  You can then take your little friend with you everywhere.  Their logo is: "They go WEAR you go!"  We received a Chicago Toy and Game Fair badge, and then we were able to choose a skunk, pig, and a cow.  They are really cute! Floppets : Floppets by Zydeco Studios are the homegrown brainstorm of Ilyse Brainin, a passionate reading teacher. Ilyse’s vision is to create cool, fun, and affordable transmedia toys and novelties that are story driven. Floppets are a clev

Hey Neighbors! I received a special package with a sneak peek at a new product EI has coming out in 2012.  His name is Kai!  My daughter thinks he is really cute.  They claim he is an alien, but she is positive he looks like a frog, so a frog he is...today at least.  He actually has two friends Lex and Fez.  They are puppets on a stick !  They are so easy to use with the little lever on the stick, that even a young child can make the mouth move.  You can also open and close the mouth by pulling on the ball on the end of the stick. Kai, a Stick Puppet from Educational Insights. Doesn't he have a cute face? Lever for moving mouth. Kai and friends could provide hours of fun for you children and their friends, or for just one child.  They can make Kai, Lex and Fez talk, or create a play.  Have them put on a small play one night for family night.  Or for a school assignment, you could have them write a play, with scenes and props. You can purchase Kai and his fr

Our apologies neighbors!  Apparently the Rafflecopter was accidentally omitted.  Please stop by At the Fence now to enter.  We have corrected the error.  If you ever notice an error like this please email, so we can correct as soon as possible.  Thank you!

Grand Gift Guide At the Fence Post # Hello Neighbors! How is everyone today?  We have had a great day!  I have yet another great gift idea.  Doodlebuckets !  They have so many great Christmas Gifts .  They sent me their Chocolate Delight Holiday Gift Basket... Here is a little bit of information about Doodlebuckets ... "Doodlebuckets Family Gift Store was established in 2002 with an aim toward service, integrity, and quality. We provide our customers with high quality gifts, excellence in customer service, and a generous return policy. We aim to please and are not satisfied until our customers are satisfied." This Gift Basket is great!  It came with : Prestige Bar, 60% Dark Cacao Milk Chocolate Prestige Bar 3.0oz Milk Chocolate with Caramel filled 3.5oz Milk Squares Dark Squares Milk Square with Caramel My Dad is a big fan of the Ghiradelli Chocolates so he loved this basket.  As soon as it came in he tried grabbing them!  I d

Hello Neighbors! We have more snow!  It was snowing most of the day today.  The snowflakes were very big.  My little sister is so excited!  We had alot of fun this afternoon (sort of:),  we totally rearranged our Dining Room and Living Room area and our Study!  It looks really nice now.  By changing things around it gives us more space and I personally think that it looks better this way. Speaking of changes, I am not sure if you remember, but recently we put fencing around our backyard.   It looks really great! (As you can tell by our new background.)  I have also been looking at bamboo fencing for our front yard.  I think it would look nice.  I have been researching all the different types, colors, and styles.  They even have bamboo paneling .  I think I like the Natural look the best.  It looks so ... natural! :D  What do you think?  Have you ever had  bamboo fencing or know somebody who does?  Leave your thoughts or comments and let us know. Brought to you by your friend

Hello Neighbors, As you all know from previous posts I hate crowds.  So what better way to give gifts than to give a gift card.  I personally love to receive gift cards where I can shop the after holiday sale.  Gift cards also make great gifts for the hostess of any parties you attend.  You can always give the hostess a gift card for her favorite store or restaurant.  They are also perfect for couples with young children to give them a card with a gift card to a restaurant enclosed and a note that you will watch their children so they can go out on a date.  For gift exchanges you can give gift cards to unique bath and body shops, candy and bakery stores, or a special coffee shop.  For a unique gift you can bake them so cookies, buy a refillable coffee mug and give a gift card to the local coffee shop.  Another special way to give gift cards, if you are crafty, would be a gift card bouquet.  You could attach the gift cards to floral sticks and add ribbons, flowers, and leaves at your

Gift Guide Post # Hey Neighbors! Any of you have some last minute gifts that you haven't decided on yet?  Here is a really neat idea.  eGifting with First Data.  You can purchase gift cards and email them to your friends and family!  You can purchase cards for Wal-mart, Cold Stone Creamery, Boston Market, Burger King and others.  You can see the list here .  I received a Puppy Gift Card! eGifting with First Data is so easy.  You choose which store you you want a gift card from, and choose the amount.  Next you decide who you want to send one to! You can choose one friend or several friends.  Then you decide whether you want the gift card delivered by emailed or snail mail.  Right now, email might be best!  You purchase the eGifts with your charge card. I did not purchase any myself, but I did receive one!  A $5 Walmart eGift that came in my email.  You do have to wait one hour from purchase time to actually print it off, but I had no trouble using it at my local Walm

Gift Guide Post # Hi Neighbors! As the Gift Guide is winding down, I want to remind you to keep stopping by for last minute gift ideas, and there are still a few giveaways going up.  This is one of them.  Pure Integrity Soy Candles sent me a Cocoa Mint scented 16 oz. soy candle!  All you need to do is remove the lid and inhale to feel better!  Since I can't have my sweets in food form anymore, I will take them in candle form!  I LOVE candles that scent the whole room. I also received 2 tealights in Summer Breeze!  This has a light, clean fragrance! The 16 oz. has two wicks. I stepped outside to try to get a picture of some birds at our feeders, and when I walked back in I was greeted with a sweet, chocolatey, minty fragrance!  Wonderful! I wanted to ask my neighbors what you know about soy candles.  I am impressed with the information I received from Pure Integrity.  Here are some helpful hints from Pure Integrity : 1. Keep your wicks trimmed.  If they get too