Usborne Books Giveaway

Have you heard of Usborne Books & More? They are AWESOME books for kids!

Over 1500 bright, colorful and fun titles covering touchy-feely baby books, wonderful preschool picture books, early reading books, chapter books, reference books, sticker books, activity cards and a wide range of subjects for children of all ages.

We have many bookshelves in our house but this one is called the Usborne shelf. These are our Usbornes (with a few dvds and misc books). Can you tell I love them? I have always been an avid reader and so children's books are something I've always been addicted to. About five years ago I signed up with them as a consultant to work the business but most importantly to receive a lifetime discount :) They are a direct sales company like Tupperware or Pampered Chef and we do home parties, but can expand our business into the schools with book fairs. But the part I like best is our eShows. It doesn't matter where you are, you can host a show or give your guests a chance to order online with you reaping in the benefits. You will not find a company that gives out more free items for their hostesses and schools. It's crazy how much they get! (an example - $250 worth of orders can earn YOU as a hostess $80 in books!).

Some great facts about the books - 

Quality is #1 - acid free paper, laminated covers, stitched binding or even library binding available. Lifetime replacement policy where they will replace the book at half price.

Affordablity - a majority of the 1500 books are under $10

Special Features include - lift the flap books to get the inside view, double layout pages (one scene taking over both sides of the page), words and text are simply placed encouraging your child to read, and my favorite - all preschool books illustrated by Stephen Cartwright has a duck to find on each page.

We moved a few times in the past couple of years and so my business had faded away. To celebrate me starting up again I have decided to do a GIVEAWAY! How lucky are you?

A few of our family favorites I want to share with you...

Baby P'Diddy loves it when his big brothers read to him but even better than that he can touch and feel the different textures that stick out!

O'Bear can read now but he still likes the Seek & Find books. This one is called 1001 Pirate Things to Spot.

One of my best sellers is 1001 Things to Spot in Fairyland. It is so sparkly and girly.

C'Man likes to look up subjects online. That is why this book Big Cats is perfect for him. It's IL or internet linked. Usborne has their own website where you key in what you are reading, and even what page number you are on, and they will list a bunch of family friendly websites to find more information about that subject.

One of my all time favorites. A little penguins journey to discover how much a million really is. The best part? In the back of the book is a take out poster with 1,000,000 stars on it! It's huge! And the kids love it!

And some my Greenies will enjoy :)

As you can see I have a passion for books! I could talk about them all day. But today I'm doing a giveaway for a free book! Everyone has different aged children so I want you to be able to pick any book you want (up to a $15 value!)

To enter: Visit my website www.ReadChildrensBooks.com and tell me what you think you or your child's favorite book would be! While you are there you can enter to win $50 in books!

If you like my blog and want to follow it here are some ways to earn one additional entry. If you already follow please make a comment for your extra entry!

- Google Friend Connector

- Facebook like me!

- Twitter follow me!
- FB Status and/or Tweet about the giveaway

- Subscribe to an RSS or email feed (links above)  
- Join me on Networked Blogs

- Grab my button for your website (right sidebar - worth 3 entries!)

Other ways to enter...

- Order Usborne Books from here - these are FANTASTIC GIFTS too! Shipping is pretty reasonable for books. Also ordering $85 gets you $15 free & check out online sales and customer specials. Wahoo! (worth 5 entries!)

- Host an eShow (feel free to email me at happyheaths (at) gmail (dot) com ahead of time because you may have questions first - worth 5 entries!)

- Just comment on what you think of my new blog and how you found me. Thanks!

This giveaway will end on Aug. 13, 2010 at 11:59 ET. Winner will be drawn via random.org. Once a winner is drawn I will contact them and they will have 48 hours to reply before I draw a new winner. Giveaway is open to residents of the U.S./Canada only who are 18 years of age or older.

First Week Thoughts

Crunchy Beach Mama is officially one week old! Wahoo!

First I have to thank you to these great bloggers for putting up with my endless questions...And Baby Makes Three! who has become my true blogging friend and helped me set-up and more. Eco-Friendly and Frugal, who gave me tons of great starting tips. And My Crafty Mom who has been helping with design now and maybe a new look in the future! Check them out :)

Let me tell you what I've learned this past week...

- That there are TONS of blogs out there!! Wow! And TONS of giveaways! I've entered so many lately that I better win something!

- That I need a new computer! My dinosaur aged one can't handle every one's images, buttons, backgrounds, etc. It gets so overwhelmed!

- That I don't like the way Blog Hops seem to work. Yes I love it when someone visits my blog and follows me (Thank you soooo much!) but do you know how many blogs I visited, made sure I checked out their blog, read a post, commented, and how many I received back? The ratio is low. But putting that aside, they bother me because 1) most people are coming here to just Google Follow me and never return and vice versea. 2) my biggest peeve - leave me a comment on a post that only says 'I'm following you so follow me' without even reading what my blog or the post is about.

   There has to be a better way to do Hops. Maybe I should start one and the rules will be

     - only follow a blog that you have some interest in and know you will return one day     

     - please take the time to read a post and write a genuine comment.

     - after your genuine comment it's ok to say I'm a new follower but leave it at that and don't babble on because good people will check you out in return.

    I was irked more than once this week from the Hops . With that being said, I made some good friends and connections this way too :)

- That I don't understand Twitter at all! So when you reply or tag someone they don't really see that? Then what's the point of replying and tagging? What am I missing here?

- That Facebook fan pages should have more to them. I want to get emailed when someone "likes" me or leaves a comment on my Wall. I want to be able to "like" people through my fan page. I want to keep track of other blogs through FB without it mixing into my personal account. This frustrates me because I use and like FB a lot but it doesn't seem to be the first choice for bloggers.

-  What was the most important thing I learned? That blogging is ADDICTING and I love it! :)

Thank you to everyone who visited me this week. I am truly honored that you even clicked into here to check out what I was doing. Please keep continuing to spread the word ~ and I still have that great pair of Babylegs to give away. Keep 'em coming! :)

What is Crunchy?

I've gotten this question a ton since I began this blog. I was pleasantly surprised to find a great definition from the online Urban Dictionary. 

 An adjective describing persons or things relating to any or all of the following: vegetarianism; herbs; all-natural and organic products (such as food, skin and hair care products, etc.); recycling; protecting and preserving the environment; natural medicine; etc. People that are earthy-crunchy are sometimes called tree-huggers or hippies.

And Crunchy Mama is defined:

Mother who supports homebirth, breastfeeding, baby wearing, cloth diapering, co-sleeping, gentle discipline, etc. One who questions established medical authority; tends to be vegetarian and/or prepare all-organic foods.

If you would have told me in high school that I would become a "hippie" I would have laughed in your face! In fact it took me until my third child to become this way and I still don't consider myself all the way there. I am excited to explore all the ways to be crunchy through this blog!

Are you a Crunchy Mama? If so, would you like to be featured on this blog?

Kids & Chiropractic

I thought I'd honor Hubby and make one of my first stories be about Chiropractic. We "heart" get adjusting in our house (not that we have a choice! :). All of us visit Hubby's office regularly, even baby P'Diddy. But why do children need to start getting adjusted at such a young age you ask? Well I'll tell you.

It all starts in the birthing process as baby's head and neck gets pushed and pulled through the birth canal. That causes the spine to become misaligned, or the chiro term "subluxated". The vertabra needs to be put back into place so that the body can continue to function in a normal healthy manner. It may seem scary to adjust a newborn but a light finger-tip adjustment with just ounces of force can remove that subluxation!

Here is P'Diddy getting adjusted from daddy.  He didn't even know what was happening! He first got adjusted when he was only hours old in the hospital. I had a c-section and I heard Hubby wince when the Dr. pulled him out of me by his neck.

As babies grow they learn to crawl & walk. Their spines are modified by their newly acquired body positions and by gravity. You know all those bumps & falls they take! Those jolts will cause misalignment. I have a great YouTube video to share with you.

Wasn't that wild? Think about what that does to your spine. With each vertebra that gets taken out of its natural place, our body can't function right, which causes other symptoms.

Here is O'Bear getting his adjustment. When he was little it took him more than a few times to get comfortable with what Hubby was going to do. It can be scary for a child at first because it is something they have never experienced so be sure to find a chiro that specializes in pediatric care and is really good with children. Now O'Bear just hops on to the table and is ready! But his favorite part? The cute chiropractic stickers he gets at the end. Even at his daddy's office! :)

Now C'Man is another story. He loved getting adjusted right from the beginning and will tell you how much better he feels afterward. He had a foot that slightly turned in when he walked so he always gets his side/hip adjusted each time.

Some common problems that Hubby sees children for are persistent earaches, sore throat, colic, headaches, reflux, & even bed wetting! He believes that all problems can be helped with chiropractic care. But it's not instant! So don't think you can go get adjusted one day and be cured. Everyone is different.

I will occasionally be writing on topics that surround Chiropractic so you will learn a lot from me in the coming months, but a great book to start you on is called One Minute Wellness : The Natural Health and Happiness System That Never Fails (Body By God) . It's a book that is split into two parts - the first section reads like a story and is about one man's life. It's not boring and I promise you will enjoy it and learn great things.

Welcome BabyLegs Giveaway!

I am so excited to officially launch my blog today! My journey began many weeks ago when I checked out a copy of WordPress For Dummies at the library. Boy did I study it. I am NOT technical and many headaches came my way. I was spending hours at the computer and getting nowhere. My husband just laughed at me and didn't understand why I couldn't just jump in. Well, to make a long story short, here I am at Blogspot and loving the ease of it! And mostly I've been jumping in! Well, with a little help along the way... :)

Please read the About Me so you can get to know me a little. This blog will be about my family because they are fun to write about, how to live more naturally (with my 3rd child I'm breastfeeding, babywearing, cloth diapering, & all that good stuff) as a parent but also as a person trying to simplify, live healthier, & taking care of our environment in the eco-friendly way. I'll be focusing on my Favorite Things page where I'll happily promote handmade items, wahm sites, deals, and anything I personally use and love. On my Giveaways Page I hope to give away these items to help promote myself and those mamas! And, if you have a giveaway I'd be happy to list it on there. So spread the word :)

To start things off and have a little fun I'd like to give away a pair of BabyLegs! These leg warmers are something I have recently been introduced to and I have to say I love them! As the name implies you'd think they were just for the little ones but my six year old thinks it's so cool to wear them on his arms. My favorite use for them are at nights when baby just wears a diaper & t-shirt to bed, we add these for a little extra warmth, and when he gets changed in the night we don't have to worry about messing around with pants. Also, he is practicing his crawling and will one day soon be on the move and what a great way to protect those little knees! Here are my guys showing off their 'Legs...

And if you didn't know, this company was started by a wahm. Look how far she has come!

Check out their Facebook page because they are always posting good deals and you can see a sneak preview of their Fall lineup which will be premiering in August. I emailed them to find out what other great announcements I could share with you but I'm low on the totem pole and didn't hear back...sniff sniff...:)

Now what you've all been waiting for...BabyLegs Giveaway...I'm personally giving away a new pair of my own so I don't represent the company in any way. Please enter to win a pair of Supersoft leg warmers in the Americana color. Take note that the regular pairs are 33cm but the Supersoft ones (and they are soooooooooooooo soft) are 40cm, so a little bit longer and don't fit as nice on the tiny ones. O'Bear is wearing the Flame pair above and they fit all the way up his arm.

To enter comment below what you think of my new blog and any tips/advice you have would be greatly appreciated :)

Additional Entries are as follows and please comment for each entry and how I can find you...

- Sign in through Google Friend Connector and become a follower (I love Friends!)

- Follow Me on Twitter (link above)

- Like Me on Facebook (link above)

- Grab My Button and let me know where you posted it so I can see how you spend your days... (3 entries!)

- Help me spread the word with FB status updates & Twitter Tweets @CrunchyBchMama

- If you're a part of Networked Blogs follow me there though you may need to explain to me how to optimize this

Thank you so much for helping me launch my blog!

This giveaway will end on Aug. 6, 2010 at 11:59 ET. Winner will be drawn via random.org. Once a winner is drawn I will contact them and they will have 48 hours to reply before I draw a new winner. Giveaway is open to residents of the U.S. & Canada only who are 18 years of age or older.

Sophie the Giraffe Teether

"You bought him a dog toy?" was my husband's response when he came home from work the other day.

"No!" I definately cried, "Everyone has one. She's 'the thing' for babies"

"Oh, the follower," he smirked to me.

I was appalled! For a second...because it's true. P'Diddy had to get Sophie. I didn't actually mean to go with the crowd, I was just looking for a teether, but once I started researching teethers I learned that everyone does have one. And to prove my point - when we go out and P'Diddy is playing with Sophie, everyone says "oh, we have Sophie too!"

What makes Sophie so special? Check out all her unique traits...
P'Diddy loves Sophie! She is just the right size for him to hang on to and as you can see his favorite part of her is the ears! They are the perfect little bite to nibble on. And perfectly safe. Sophie's natural rubber comes from the Hevea tree. Yes a tree! And her colorful spots are non-toxic food paint.

 Admit it, you have a Sophie too?! ;)