Blog Angels Wrap Up, Link Up!

It's that really exciting time of the month when we get to find out who our Blog Angels are!

It's also a good time to find out exactly what went on; who helped who and how so you can steal some spendiferous ideas for the October round (sign up from 15th September!).

By clicking on these links, you are going to find some of the friendliest blog gals out there. So even if you're not an 'Angel' you can still take part today.

So a quick note on the linky. This linky is for those who took part in Blog Angels August. It will close on 5th September. 

So.

1. Link up your post (Revealing who you helped, how you helped them and some things you loved about their blog..)

2. Go and visit the blog you have helped and leave a comment introducing yourself to them. That way they don't have to click on every link on the party. 

 3. Party likes it's 1999. (For those of you too young to remember this year - it was awesome...(cough) really...)

The new series of Blog Angels is in October! Save the date to come back on the 15th September to sign up. Tell all of your friends in the meantime and have a great day.

Rosie & Katlyn xoxo

Lessons Being Learned

I seriously do not understand what has happened to me since I've had Bentley. 

Don't get me wrong I love being a mommy and doing all things mommy related, but some days it's just hard.

I have also noticed that for some reason, in this last year I have turned into quite the home body. 

I don't really mind relaxing at home, but when you have a little one it's not always the healthiest learning environment for them. 

 I often feel very guilty about this and stress myself out to the point of really not wanting to do anything. 

Kind of a never ending cycle for me. Stupid depression and anxiety!!

I have taken it upon myself to get more involved with Bentley and get him outside more often. 

One way I can achieve this is by going to the little parks that are in our campground. 

It's so nice to just walk a couple of yards and BAM playground!

So we decided to go for a little walk and play for a bit. 

I thought.. What the perfect time to take some pictures of my adorable son! 

I have to tell you that I am overly excited that Bentley is listening better while walking with me as well. It 's so nice not having to hold him and walk everywhere. You wouldn't think you'd feel so tired but holy man!

Anyways.. here are some of the special moments I got to capture....

Also I want you to note that I have started watermarking my photos. Mandy from A Sorta Fairytale had quite the scary story to tell just because she didn't watermark her photos good enough. So DO IT! Now onto the videos... Wahooooo!

What are your favorite things to do with your kids?

Lovely Ladies!

I'd like to introduce you to some of my sponsor lovelies today! They are my swappers and even though they don't get talked about a lot, they are very important to me and I hope that they still feel loved! I am already booked with swappers for September and I'm so excited to say that most of them are repeats, whoop!! I would appreciate if all of you reading this post would go and click on each of these buttons and tell them hi!!

PS- I still have medium spaces available for September if you're interested! You can even get them 50% off by using the promo code 'SeptSponsor'. I'd love to have you!

Rescued by the Coast Guard

 Most Saturdays around these parts are rather non eventful. We normally just sit at home and relax, maybe having a campfire and a few drinks. This last Saturday however, we an adventure for us!

As you have heard we are now living in a camper and when looking for places that let us stay year round, we decided to move from Oak Harbor to the city of Anacortes. Let me tell you, I think everyone should visit this town once in their life!

It's a port town, meaning you are right on the water getting to see all the ships and boats cruise by. There is also an amazing downtown with tons of little shops and fun cafe's. We decided to venture down on Saturday because I heard there was a farmers market and I wanted to check it out.

When we got there though, there was so much more going on! They were actually having boat races and demonstrations by the Coast Guard. It was pretty cool to feel the spray coming off the water when the helicopter lowered. We also walked by some pirates that were sword fighting!! Talk about a weird sight!

After walking around and checking things out we decided to pick out some place to eat. We decided that the Calico Cupboard sounded nice. I'll let the pictures do the talking for this..

Please note that I don't get too many pictures on Logan. He tends to run from the camera.. And even though he wasn't too thrilled with me taking pictures of him, I snapped a few keepers! I also love to see Bentley and him playing together.. I have to say that capturing them playing with the crayons was so amazing! 

I hope your having a great week! Go take an adventure!

Yeah, it went down like that!

If you were to ask me how happy I am with my blog right now, I would have to say that I am overjoyed!

Not only am I learning on how to provide better content for all my amazing readers / followers (Uh yeah, that's you!) I am also learning on how to do things more efficiently and to the benefit of growing my blog.

One thing you may have or maybe not (yay for new followers!) have noticed is what you have to type in, in order to get to this little website. Yes that's right I have kicked the .blogspot nonsense and now own www.thedreamymeadow.com! I cannot tell you how much fun it is to be able to say that, and also the luxury behind it. You see when you own a domain you also can use an email from that url. Meaning for all blog inquiries you will now contact me at katlyn@thedreamymeadow.com. This defiantly makes keeping emails organized much easier! If you do forget my new url though, do not fret! You will be automatically redirected from my old url to my new one. 

Another thing you may have noticed is my kick ass new blog design!

I wish I would have taken a screen shot of my old design just so you could see how dreadful it actually was compared to this one. I mean I can't even compare my skills to Krizmah's. Oh yeah, she did the entire thing for me! I highly recommend going and checking out her design services and her blog. She's a really good friend of mine in this virtual world I reside in and it was so amazing to be able to see her at a professional level as well. 

This process all started with me being frustrated with not having the skills to put a blog design together for myself. I have been trying to do this since I started blogging and it never turned out how I wanted it to. It was never polished enough for me and I just hated it.  I ended up posting about my frustration on Facebook and Krizmah (aka Mrs. White) commented, reminding me that this is what she's here for.

Well I ended up emailing her and asking her about her prices.. When I got an email back she told me that she charged $30 to start out and then once everything is complete and installed I would get invoiced for the time she spent, etc. Now this is seriously an amazing deal in itself compared to some design services you'll find out there now days, but I had to email her back with a frown on my face because I just knew I couldn't afford it at the time.

The day after I got an email back asking me about my follower count and also if I still liked to do reviews on my blog. I of course emailed her back with my deets and my enthusiasm about doing reviews. From there we worked out a deal of her doing my design if I did a review for her.. Woo hoo!

*Disclaimer: I did not purchase this blog design. This review is my payment for this service.*

After our deal was worked out, we got to work immediately. I was beyond excited to start. Let me show you the steps to our process...

Step 1: I was asked to describe how I wanted my blog to look, feel, and flow. The more detail I could give the better. She also asked me to pick fonts that I liked and pallets I was fond of via design-seeds.com. Now was also the time to let her know if any elements that were on my blog to start with were staying. I don't think I was the most thorough with how I wanted my blog to feel and look, but she took my words and turned them into amazingness! A little bit after I emailed her I got back this screen shot...

I fell in love with the background from first site. I told her I wanted it to feel as if you were sitting in a meadow and relaxing. This is how I feel when I look at the background. Just perfect! The only think I wasn't to keen about was the two different fonts in the header and that I just wanted it to be the bolder, skinny font. She changed this within minutes and a screen shot was received again.

Ta-Da! Header is complete!

Step 2: While waiting for my reply about the header font she also was busy playing around with labels.. Can you say screen shot?

She seriously knows me too well. I wanted my labels to be catchy and cute.. I think this was a home run! 

Step 3: We then talked about how I wanted my signature to look as well as what I wanted to say in my about me paragraph under my picture. She again hit these on the head right away!

Lookin' good eh? I just loved how my name goes over the heart and how my about me just flows with the page.. This was just all too exciting! The only thing that I wanted to change was how bold the titles were and also I wanted my labels to match the title font.

Yup, I liked that much better! During this part I felt like I was being a total B word to her, just because I was asking to change so much of the fonts and such. I'm just so grateful that she is so awesome!

Step 4: The one thing I knew I wanted to keep were my social media icons. I have been in love with them the day I put them up on my blog. Why loose what's good? Plus it's one less thing that I had to ask of her. 

I decided that I still liked them positioned at the top of my page for easy access, so there they stayed!

Step 5: The navigation bar was next. At first she had it positioned above my header text by I decided to change it and put it under instead.

Step 6: She then presented my buttons to me.. Which were perfect!!

Step 7: And then it was ready to be installed! This process went by so fast! Krizmah really takes her work seriously and I love that about her. She likes to install her designs herself so all I needed to do was take a folder of images that she emailed me and upload them onto a photo hosting site, back up my original template (just in case), make a temporary password so she could have access, email her the photobucket url and my rss feed address, and then simply sit back and relax while she worked her magic. 

It all went very smoothly for us besides on little thing that has been worked out. 

It was so amazing to work with such a close friend of mine and be able to show off her work on my blog. She is so professional and pumps out quality work that's worth all the emails and time. I would highly recommend that anyone who is looking for a blog revamp to use her services. You won't be sorry! 

What do you think of all the changes on The Dreamy Meadow?

You're Invited to my Blogiversary!

Hey all you lovelies! I know that my 1 year Blogiversary isn't for another month, but I want all of you who can to join in on the fun that I'm planning! It's going to be so much fun and the more the merrier! 

I am having a party via Google+ Hangout on October 6th from 1:00 pm to roughly 3:00 pm PST. 

What's going to happen? 

Blog collaboration/ advice

Giveaways

Games

Party Hats

& More!

If you want to come hang out with me on this special day I'd love for you to RSVP so I can add you to the hangout. Just email me with your Google+ URL at katlyn@thedreamymeadow.com.

Can't wait to see you there! 

Reppin' for Omerica Organic!

Omerica Organic was started in 2004 by one guy with a lathe, who was determined to create beautiful pieces of art for others. It has now grown into a company of 15 people, that reaches round the world. The crew are all young artists that have experience with tattoos, piercings, or stretched lobes.

They create beautiful pieces of art for your ears out of natural materials that are made to order. Wood (their preferred medium) is the perfect material for plugs simply because it is natural, lightweight, and comfortable to place in your stretched lobes.

Something that's pretty rad about their company, is that they are extremely eco-friendly! They donate to the Nature Conservancy Tree Planting Program  to offset their use of wood while making these beautiful items. They use wind energy to run their workshop. They also reduce, reuse, and recycle when using the woods, packaging the products, and even to clean up around the shop. One quote you will see when visiting their site is "Be the change you want to see in the world." by Ghandi.

Another awesome thing to have when ordering online is great customer service. At Omerica Organic you'll receive that and more. They love to talk with their customers via Twitter and Facebook, as well as work on custom projects with them by collaborating ideas. If you ever need help with your plugs they are there to help!


I have just recently started to rep for this amazing company and would like to share my rep code with you guys so you can get some of their amazing products!

Make sure to send me pictures of your items when you get them! I hope you all use this code to your advantage! This company truly deserves your visit!

Tutorial: Homemade Finger Paints

Interacting with your kids is a vital part of raising them and teaching them. I have been searching for fun ways to go about this and have found some pretty fun ideas. Today I want to share with you a tutorial on how to make homemade finger paints that won't hurt your kids if ingested (of course we want to discourage this).

 Ingredients 

3 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup corn starch

2 cups water

Directions

Step 1: Combine ingredients and place over a medium-low heat.

Step 2: Warm until the mixture thickens. 

 Step 3: Allow to cool and transfer over to small containers (baby jars would be perfect!)

Step 4:  Add food coloring to add a little pizzazz! 

** Please note that if you do not use this right away, put it into the refrigerator! Otherwise you will have mold form and it will be garbage!

 Step 5: Now give it to your toddler and have fun! As you can see these finger paints are more on the 'goopy' side.. I really enjoy mushing them but I'm sure if you added a little water to them you could get a more creamy texture.

I hope you enjoyed my little tutorial.. This recipe is so simple and takes just minutes! Let me know how you like them!

Squeaky Clean

You've seen the outside of our camper, but now it's time to start the tour of the inside.

One of the hardest things about living in a camper with a 1 1/2 year old is bath time. Or as for us, shower time! I didn't even know how to go about this at first because Bentley was a little afraid of getting water dumped over his head at times. I was scared that he would throw a fit every night because he didn't want that thing to spray him.

Oh and our bathroom is quite tiny. It's fitting for us though and I mean do we really need anymore? What you don't see in this picture are the two cabinets that we have. One is above our sink and one is above our toilet. So really we have tons of space to store our things (even though I like my things to 'decorate' my counter!)

As you can see though, Bentley LOVES the shower head! He only throws a fit when I take the shower head away from him so I can wash his head more. He's really good at rinsing the suds off of himself though! Oh I have such a big boy now! Where did my baby go!? Will someone please tell me!

Anyways... We have a lot of fun each night spraying each other and getting clean. I love it! ♥

Getting By

It's only 8:19 am and I already want this day to end. I has been nothing short of a nightmare for me and I just think I need to disappear.

I don't really like to talk about Logan and I fighting on here.. Truly because I don't think it's anyone's business what we fight about and why we do it. But I will say that we are today. I hate it with a passion...

Our first year of marriage has been less not been easy or 'blissful'. It has been stressful, hateful, and hard. We have gone through so many things that are just NOT fun and it's still not over. We have to go to court to try and prove that we are not liable for the damages in our last apartment on the 30th of this month. Sounds like a bunch of fun, huh?

On top of all that we have a child. Now we all know that starting a family has it's challenges but I think Logan and I have reached a new level of struggle with it because Bentley is not biologically his. We had a really hard time when I first moved here last September with Bentley and Logan sharing me. After figuring that out I though things would be fine and everyone would just love each other. It hasn't really went that way. It has taken a great amount of effort for Bentley and Logan to really bond  and Logan still refers him to people as 'Katie's son'. 

This brings on a whole different struggle inside of me because Logan is the ONLY daddy that Bentley has ever known and I want to keep it that way. I just don't understand why it's so hard to love Bentley like he's his own flesh and blood. It baffles me quite a bit at times. 

Now don't get me wrong! I am not blaming Logan for our struggles solely at all. I have my fair share of learning to do with things. For example me with money.. I have no idea where this came from but I am now horrible with it! I mean I pay all of our bills on time but then when I see we have extra money I just go with it.. Then we overdraft and it all blows up from there. Before I moved to Washington I was really good with money. I saved everything I could and only bought what I needed to. What the hell happened to me!? I'm working on this problem and hoping that I can get it under control fast.. It will take a great stress off of Logan's shoulders since I'm not even bringing in an income.

I also feel as if I'm a good wife.. I don't get up with Logan at 5:00 am and make him breakfast and pack him lunch. I'd rather sleep in that extra half hour until Bentley wakes up. I also tend to focus on Bentley and having fun all day rather than cleaning my house at times. I mean it's not disgusting or anything.. Just some dishes in the sink, cluttered counters, and toys on the floor.. All this on top of each other though tends to put stress on our relationship. 

When I write everything down like this it doesn't really look that bad. It seems like they are easy things to change and we'll be able to get by just fine.. Honestly though it is the hardest thing to overcome.. I am not a person who changes easily and I tend to over think things and going back to square one at least 4 times. All we can do is work at it though and get by until things smooth out. Marriage is a wonderful thing!

PS- Sorry about my blurry picture!

Let's be friends! ♥

Mkay, so you all know how much I love my sponsors! If you don't, well I ♥ them lots!!

And for this reason, I have a few promotions going on for the month of September that I want to tell you about! Wanna know what they are?

Use the promo code 'SeptSponsor' to get 50% off on any ad spot!

Use the promo code 'AllAbout3' when you buy 3 months to get 30% off!

I think that sounds like fun, don't you?

Here's what I have left... 15 Medium ads! 

I hope you take advantage of them! I'd love to meet new friends and be able to promote all of your lovely blogs! I do have a limited amount of spaces though.

 *Please note that I will approve your ad right away but then edit the date so it starts on the 1st of September. It will be up for 30 days.

I ♥ Scentsy!

Hello everyone and welcome to Scentsy! I am a proud mom of four beautiful boys as well as work full time out of the home. To say I have a lot on my plate would be an understatement! You may be asking yourself where I find the time for Scensty?! The truth is, I MAKE time for Scentsy as I set my own hours, meet great people, have built more self confidence, and truly LOVE what I do!

I purchased my very first Scentsy product in 2008 while in search of an affordable, family friendly, safe way to create a warm and welcoming atmosphere in my home. I have tried every last product out there and was apprehensive Scentsy would be the same. Boy was I wrong! Scentsy has met all of my expectations and more! I was hooked and decided to share Scentsy with others. Never once have I had second thoughts about my choice to become part of the Scentsy family and I would LOVE to share it with you!

My team is ever growing and every time I speak with them they cannot stop raving about how FUN Scentsy is and how glad they are to have joined! Even if you are simply looking into possible alternatives to the traditional 9-5, let me know, ask me anything.... you never know how Scentsy can change your life too!

Whether Scentsy is new to you or you are a diehard fan… now is the time to check out our new products! The month of August is home to our semi-annual 10% off sale!!! Now is a fantastic time to give Scentsy a try and to stock up on your favorites! Next month our BRAND NEW CATALOG is released!!! Don’t miss out on the opportunity to be one of the first to see the all the new products as well as all the HOLIDAY warmers and scents!!

Did I mention that each month Scentsy also releases a Scent AND Warmer of the month!!! That’s right, each and every month Scentsy offers a new and exciting scent and warmer for 10% off!! You will not want to miss these!!

Visit my website and sign up for my newsletter to be sure to get the inside scoop on EVERYTHING Scentsy!!

http://scentsy.com/lf

Operation Shower + ShoeDazzle! ♥

Military life.  You all know that my husband is in the Navy, and we have went through our fair share of things while in, but one thing I can't prepare myself enough for is fact that he will be deploying out soon and I'll be left behind. 

It's one thing to go through that when you're by yourself or have older children, but I cannot imagine how it must feel to be pregnant without your husband there for the ride. I know several women that have done this or are doing it now and I seriously don't know how they stay sane! They are strong women, that's for sure! 

For this reason, I am excited to be partnering up with Operation Shower and ShoeDazzle to bring ladies in this situation baby showers! Don't the two of those sound wonderful together? I think so!

Now you may be thinking, "What is Operation Shower all about?" Well let me tell you a little bit about it.. Operation Shower was created in 2007 by the lovely LeAnn Morrissy who was asked to send cards to 4 expectant mothers who had husbands on deployment. She decided to do some a little more special though. She sent them a "shower in a box". She got so much thanks and support with doing this, that she decided it was worth doing over and over again. Thus, Operation Shower was born! Operation Shower now partners up with different organizations to raise money and offer quality products and services. This is where ShoeDazzle comes into play!

ShoeDazzle is an amazing website in itself! On it you get to take a survey to get a customized showroom full of shoes that match you! To add to that awesomesauce though, Vanessa Lanchey designed the "Monroe" shoe just for Operation Shower! 

Vanessa grew up with a father in the military and can relate to not having a family member with you for important events. She designed the "Monroe" shoe with inspiration from Marilyn Monroe's style and amazing support for our troops. And let me say.. These shoes are truly amazing! 

On top of an astoundingly beautiful shoe, 100% of the proceeds goes to Operation Shower!! So grab yours today for only $29.96! See, amazing price too!

Click here to read more about Operation Shower. Click here to buy your own "Monroe" shoe.

GASP!

I love exploring different things with Bentley! Probably because he acts like a total nut with whatever we do (as you can see below). Just simple things like coloring make my day!

I am trying to be more active with teaching Bentley things by touching and doing. I think it's really important to get your kids involved and to not let them sit in front of the television all the time. 

I remember how active my own mother was with my brothers and I. Looking back at all of the things that we did makes me want to give my son the exact same thing! It's so much fun to get outside or sit at the table with music on, working on crafts! Plus you're rewarded with pretty artwork! ♥

I have to tell you though that our family has been having a hard time with this. First of all we live in a 5th wheel camper right now and the TV is right in the middle of it. It normally is always on because I really need noise when I'm at home. It gets me through the day without thinking that I'm all alone in my house. I have a plan though where Bentley can only watch television for 1 1/2 to 2 hours a day.

Why so much you ask? Well I really don't think that it's that much compared to how many hours we really have in our day. He really enjoys watching certain shows on Disney Junior in the morning. We watch it for about an hour. I then think it is alright to let him have an hour or so in the evening to wind down and cuddle. We have Disney Junior as a station and I think the shows on there are really educational! Who says that technology is a bad thing with kids?

Another thing I am working on is starting an activity binder for Bentley and I. It will be filled with activities and crafts that we enjoy to do (most of them found on Pinterest) and in categories of age groups. It's turning out to be a really fun project because I will not add something to the binder without testing it out first! We have not tried much yet because of all the moving and such, but I have big plans for this! Stay tuned to see the adventures it brings us!

GASP - Announcement Time!

On Friday evening we adopted Elena's biological brother! His name is Kilo and he looks exactly like here beside he has a little more muscle. Sooo.. We now have tail waging twins! ♥ I think we may be a little crazy to have a toddler, cat and two dogs in this camper with us but it's okay because the chi-weenies only equal 1 regular size doggie! Let the fun begin.

Anticipation in August... The Giveaway!

Wow you guys.. I have been so anxious for this giveaway that I'm about to share with you. I have never had so many wonderful sponsors willing to donate something. It's amazing I tell you!

This month I have 11, yes ELEVEN, prizes up for grabs! How spectacular is that!? To make this easier for everyone, I thought I would just list the lovely blogs/shops with their links and what they have donated. That way it's easy to check them out and also follow them! All you have to do then is enter via rafflecopter and voila!!! Here are the amazing people who have made this happen...

Beyond Postmarks - $10 Gift Certificate to Beyond Postmarks

Flats to Flip Flops - Medium Ad Space

Only Impossible Until Done - Medium Ad Space

ModaMama - Medium Ad Space

Dressed to Thrill - Tie or Bowtie

Kim's Knits & Pics - 2 8x10 Prints and Medium Ad Space

Life, Chaos and Quotes - Large Ad Space

Doe Eyed Dear - Dozen Cupcake Picks

Glassy Bands - Glassy Band of your Choice

Eloping Designs - Irregulars Faux Pear Earrings

Lady Pair Designs - $10 Shop Credit

Thanks to all of you who donated! You're so awesome! ♥

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Songbirds & Buttons

Oh yet another day in this lovely life of mine has blossomed and I am so very happy o be sharing it with you. I would also like to go forth and share someone who is AH-mazing with you! She is another one of my featured sponsors  and someone close to my heart as a friend. I hope you love her as much as I doooo! :)

First I should probably start off by telling you her name which is Kendall! She is the creator/writer of Songbirds & Buttons and writes about so many fun things! You have to make sure and check this blog out! But first let's get to know her a little better.

I have asked her to answer a few questions as a way for us to have some fun while learning all about her.. Here's what she said..

Hi, I'm Kendall! I created this blog because I wanted a space that was my own to share the little details of my life. Things that make me smile, happy moments, encouraging words, and lovely little projects. I am the momma of a beautiful boy who you will see sprinkled on the pages of this blog- because he is my world. Also, the hubby isn't bad either- he's actually amazing. I hope you will comment- say hello and tell me a little bit about yourself! I love making new blogger friends

If you could be a Disney Princess which one would you be and why?

Oh, tough call. I suppose Jasmine just because I like her outfit the most. I dressed up like her for Halloween one year and it was a hit!

Where do you see yourself in 5 year?

Happy, in love, surrounded by my family, and enjoying every minute of life.

Where is your favorite vacation spot?

Humm... anywhere with a King sized bed, jacuzzi tub, and a large tv. Oh, and my family too!

What motivates you in life?

My son Wyatt motivates me. I want to be the best I can be for him, to encourage him to do the same.

What is your biggest blogging goal?

To maintain my little space on the web for as long as possible without letting it take over. Sometimes when you get too involved with your blog you lose your love and passion for it. I don't want that to happen - so if anything, I'd say my biggest goal is to be leisurely with it.

Isn't her family beautiful? She is such an amazing mommy and I have so much fun reading her blog! I really think you should check her out! Here are her links!

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