Listen for Your Soul

I rarely sit down to read a book. A lot of it is the state of interruption that I live in. This post is typed in two line increments because I chose to start typing right after I laid the littles down for a nap. . . and they often need my help again and again until finally they are asleep.  

I have shared before how much I enjoy listening. Music feeds my creativity and my sanity, audio broadcasts, such as the Focus on the Family App keep me grounded and educated, listening to the Bible gives me insight and attentiveness to the big picture and audio books have breathed in depth and encouragement. 

When I headed to one of my favorite websites, ChristianAudio.com, I was thrilled to find that a book I've been wanting to read was available as the free book of the month. 

You may have seen this video::

This couple both inspires and intrigues me. I cannot understand, but I seek the wisdom that they have within. Download the book Eight Twenty Eight here: http://christianaudio.com/free/ during the month of July! I pray you are blessed, I can't wait to listen alongside you.

Thank you Ian and Larissa Murphy, for sharing your journey with us.

This is not a sponsored post or anything :) I just wanted to share the love!

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My Honest Review: The Honest Company 4-in-1 Laundry Packs

Hi there friends -- I'm so thrilled to review my first product from the Honest Company -- their 4-in-1 laundry packs!

Photo courtesy of The Honest Company

First impressions: 

• darling floral packaging design - clean and fresh!
• simple and easy packs for quick laundry, with no miss measuring or spills
• 50 loads of laundry in one bag -- yay :) 1 pack = 1 load
• great label listing ALL ingredients and how-to use

What did I think?

• I watched the pod dissolve under the cold water stream right away, which I was really glad to see since I primarily have used liquid detergent (I've emptied my Honest Liquid Laundry Detergent) so I'm not super used to using pre-made little packs.
• Clothes and towels were clean. There aren't perfumes or scents added, so my clothes smelled like ... well ... nothing, but I knew they were clean because goodness knows they smelled like something before! I have no complaints :)
• Cloth diapers came out smelling like nothing as well and appear to be clean. I can't speak for poo stains, since my son's diapers are only pee from naps/bedtime (since we are potty training) -- but we have a little more time between washes now that he's not using as many diapers, and the urine smells were completely gone using the honest 4-in-1 packs (and impressive feat). I do a pre-rinse cycle first, and then started the actually wash load and ad the pack.
• I had confidence that the honest 4-in-1's wouldn't give us any weird rashes or skin irritation, I was at ease to use them on baby clothes!

All about the details:

• Mineral-based ingredients that (1) clean, (2) fight stains, (3) brighten and (4) soften
• VERSATILE -can be used in both HE and standard washers, hot and cold, all colors and fabrics
• Hypoallergenic + Biodegradable + Non-Toxic + Septic Safe + No Animal Testing or by-products
• FREE of SLS, fragrances, dyes, glycols, phosphates, 1,4-dioxane, chlorine, DEA, formaldehyde, caustics, & optical brighteners
• AWARDS:       

Final thoughts: 

• I would recommend exchanging your laundry detergent for something "free and clear", especially if you have ANY skin issues or sensitivities -- and would recommend honest 4-in-1 laundry packs without reservations.
• VALUE - In comparison, you don't get as many loads as theHonest Laundry Detergent (70 loads vs 50), but they are quick and convenient, and you don't have to risk spills, messes or mis-measuring. So it really depends on your preferences :)
• If you like fruity or flowery smelling detergent, or are at least used to it, this would be a change. If you want your clothes having a "yummy" smell, I would suggest adding an essential oil to the washer (or dryer) load -- my recommendation would be Young Living Lavender!

I hope this review has been helpful for you and your family! Have you tried any of the Honest products? Do you prefer powder, pods, or liquid detergent?

Interested in this natural and upright Honest company? You can Bundle & Save! by ordering online! 

Try out 1 or 2 or all 3 of their FREE trial offers -- just pay for shipping! The best way to go would be to get all 3, and only pay $5.95 for shipping the trials. 

FYI: If you only choose to only get 1 trial, it would still be $5.95 shipping. 

Honest Diaper Trial, Honest Essentials Trial, Honest Health & Wellness Trial. 

Special honest note: After you purchase the trials, you have 7 days (post purchase) to choose to enroll or cancel your membership/subscriptions to the 3 different bundles. Once you log-in and decide which bundles to continue, you will only be charged in the future for whichever monthly bundles you chose (diapers/wipes $79.95, essentials $39.95, health & wellness $39.95) plus shipping. You could choose to cancel all bundles within 7 days and not be further enrolled/charged. 

* I was given this product to review for free -- but was told to give my completely unbiased opinion in a review! I am an ambassador for Honest products and thank you for using my links to give my family a bit of compensation at no additional charge to you!

   

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Having Fun Isn't Hard...When You've Got a Library Card!

So for those of you who don't know...that silly title is from my dear ol' pal Arthur from PBS Kids! Need an introduction? Here is the song itself: 

Well, thanks Arthur --for putting it so well! Having and utilizing our library card is something I love doing, no matter where we live! In fact, it was one of the first things we did once we moved to South Florida -- make a trip to our local Broward Public Library to pick one up! All we needed was a local ID, and before we had ours we used a simple utility bill to prove we were county residents.

When did the love for libraries begin?
I grew up going to library story-time as a kid, checking out all of the children's arts and crafts books or anything related to animals or being a veterinarian and browsing through the super cool American Girl Magazines! One of the best things about the library I grew up going to [shout out to Springdale Public Library] was participating in fun classes about wildlife as well as going to the park to swing and feed the ducks!

photo from Springdale Public Library Facebook

Why do I still love the library?

Nowadays I enjoy our local library:: 

• to check out artistic or craft books...that hasn't changed (I even brought a stack of them to our Art Journal Connect Group for inspiration)
• pick up DVDs [1 week for FREE, people...plus you can usually renew for another week!]
• make copies or print for minimal cost [ours is 15 cents] (we don't have a printer...so we've actually printed a time or two, when in need or a big value coupon!)
• weekly toddler time to get little man out to play with other toddlers, and to meet-up with other moms ... or his Pops (see photo! too cute!) :) --we have songs, stories, bubbles, parachutes and toys -- all with NO membership fee, of course, because it is the li-li-library! Makes my heart go pitter-patter!
  
• aaaand my BIG favorite -- DOWNLOADING FREE AUDIO BOOKS ONLINE! I don't even have to check anything out in person. I just download the FREE OverDrive App, entered my library card info BAM! I had access to wonderful Audio and E-books [they have a over million titles!] aaand can access them from the same place I left off even when I change devices...pretty cool if you ask me!
• PLUS options for so much more -- movie nights, Freegal Music downloads, CD checkout, language learning software, common interest classes, discount book sales, special guests and book clubs for all ages and genres! 

What do you enjoy about your local library? Do you have story-time memories of books and puppets from your childhood?

Enjoy that library card, best plastic card you'll ever add to your wallet!