As a mother of a little girl, I am constantly on the lookout for very cute, yet very functional clothing for her.  I think that her clothes should be oh-so-fun and adorable since you're only young once.  You would think that there would be a ton of wonderful clothes out there for children, but to find something that really makes me say, "Oooo, I've GOT to have that for Riley", is actually a lot tougher than expected.

That's why I'm so glad that Kidorable had the "Oooo" factor in mind when they designed their styles of kids' clothing and accessories.  The hardest part of this review was just picking ONE design out of the seventeen they've created!  Keep reading to learn more!

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Now that Riley is getting older and is in need of a bonafide "big girl" room, I have thrown myself into making it super special for her.  She's already got a fabulous bed, fun furniture and a funky rug, but I really wanted to give her room a little extra zing.  This led me to begin painting a huge mural on her walls in the "ladybug garden" theme.

Now, several months later, I'm still not completely finished and the thought of painting every single little bug, flower and bird just exasperates me.  Thankfully, Design with Vinyl came to my rescue by reminding me how quick and easy vinyl wall art decals can be versus decorative painting.  They were nice enough to hand select a myriad of accents to help make Riley's ladybug garden themed room come to life.  Keep reading to learn more!

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With fresh produce at its peak of flavor and lowest prices, summertime is the perfect time to take advantage of all the benefits of eating organically grown fruits and vegetables.

Earthbound Farm, North America's leading grower of organic produce, has an extensive website that makes eating and cooking organically a snap with tips, recipes and down-to-earth (no pun intended!) advice on how to feed your family the healthiest food while protecting the planet.

Not sure what it means when a fruit or vegetable is labeled organic?  You can't buy everything organic so you'd like to know which fruits and veggies are the most likely to have the most pesticide residues?  Looking for the perfect family-friendly recipe -- or two -- for the 5lb zucchini or bushel of tomatoes you just harvested from your backyard garden?  Answers to these questions -- and much, much more -- are all available on EBfarm.com.  Keep reading to learn more!

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One luxury that I just cannot do without is a plush, snuggly and oh-so-comfortable pair of slippers.  Since becoming a stay-at-home mom, I must admit that I am rarely seen inside the house without wearing a pair.  I've always been cold-natured, and so even when the temperature is near eighty degrees indoors, I'm still known to don my trusty sidekicks.

Of course, not only should my slippers be comfortable, I like them to also have a little personality, so that they are fun to wear too.  Aroma Home has a wide selection of Fuzzy Friends Slippers which are simply adorable to look at and seem super luxurious for my tootsies as well.  Were the Fuzzy Friends Ladybug Slippers able to make my toes smile?  Keep reading to find out!

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Summer is the season for backyard discoveries and exploration!  The insects are buzzing, the flowers are in bloom and the whole world seems to be at the peak of activity.  As a young child, I found endless fascination in nature's creatures and I want to definitely encourage that same admiration for critters big and small with my daughter.

Catching bugs and setting up tiny habitats for them can be an all-day job and for that kind of work, you need the right equipment.  Gone are the days of Mason jars with holes punched in the lid and picking bugs up with your bare hands.  Learning Resources has developed MUCH cooler scientific tools for your little one to use.  Riley and I had the chance to review the Big View Bug Jars and the Early Science Explorer's Set.  Keep reading to learn more!

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As I'm sure many of you who frequently enter blog giveaways are aware of by now, there's been a drastic change in the contest blog community.  Several of us giveaway bloggers have started using a great new program called Rafflecopter, which has many benefits for both the contest hosts and the entrants.

Many of you who have begun entering these Rafflecopter-hosted contests have screamed out your enthusiasm for how much quicker and easier it is to enter blog giveaways than before.  I have to admit that I really like Rafflecopter too because validating entries and drawing winners is much more streamlined and efficient.  However, some of you have expressed that Rafflecopter is a tad confusing or is just not working as it should, so I wanted to create a step-by-step tutorial for how to use Rafflecopter and so that you can start entering this type of giveaway as quick and easy as possible.

Rafflecopter is still in a testing stage and so it is not perfect...yet.  Several of us contest bloggers are working closely with those folks and they are ironing out bugs and making improvements to the program all the time, so don't be surprised if you see a few changes now and then.  I also have become aware of a growing population of folks who love Rafflecopter so much that they will only enter those type of giveaways now!  In order to accommodate those of you who fall into that category, I've created a special Rafflecopter tag (located on my navigation bar) which will help you quickly and easily find all the Rafflecopter giveaways hosted here.

At any time, if you ever have any questions regarding Rafflecopter or its use, please don't hesitate to email me at [email protected] so that I can help you right away!

So without further ado...here's my tutorial for using Rafflecopter:

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