The Bluebird Patch

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #MyPetMyStar #CollectiveBias As an avid animal lover, and Georgia SPCA volunteer I'm thrilled to be able to partner with Kroger and Purina Dog Chow Natural , for today’s Easy No-sew Recycled Dog T-shirt DIY . Dogs and cats are blurring the lines between “pets” and people. People like me, consider dogs and cats as individuals. My “pets” play a unique role in my family. They are part of our emotional life and their role is much deeper than just companionship. They are family and will always hold a special place in our hearts.  Having four "pets" at home can add up quickly, especially if you are also bringing dogs and cats from the shelter to foster. In order to save some money I have learned a few tricks and today's DIY is one of my favorites.

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #CampbellSavings #CollectiveBias It's hard to believe that July is almost over and Back-to-school is just a few weeks away, unless you have a kid in Marching Band like me, then you are already back! You see, marching band kids start school two weeks earlier. The practice 8 hours a day rain or shine. With the horrendous heat wave that's plaguing our region, I'm always concerned about my kid passing out due to the oppressing heat. He is required to bring lunch and a one gallon jug to school everyday, so making sure he stays hydrated and eats healthy is a must, but that's just half of the battle. When a marching band kid comes home they are basically crawling through the front door and they are hangry! Yes, hangry, a mix between angry and hungry to the point of starvation. So this savvy mom always have a quick, easy and kid friendly recipe that...

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and Kroger. All opinions are mine alone. #RecetasParaMomentos #CollectiveBias Easy Spanish Chicken, Duck Sausage and Seafood Paella Hay una receta para cada momento especial con Kroger! .................................................................................... There’s a recipe for every moment we value with Kroger! A few weeks ago, my local Kroger had a “Taste of Spain” event and for the first time they were selling paella kits. I was so excited to see the “paelleras” displayed as soon as you entered the store, because for the longest time, I've been wanting to make Spain's most famous dish: that sumptuous combination of saffron rice, chicken and shellfish known as paella. I mean, coming from a Puerto Rican household were rice is part of our daily diet, I questioned how complicated could it really be? The reality is that making Spanish paella sounds easy, but it takes a bit of practice to m...

As a parent of two growing teens I dread the day one of them asks me to let them get a drivers permit. Is not that I don't want them to drive or be independent, is just that I don't think they are aware of how many things can go wrong while driving. Teaching teens how to drive is a big step and can be nerve-wracking, specially for over protective moms like me. Encouraging teens to adopt safety rules such as use of seatbelts, passengers, curfews and dealing with distractions like cellphones is crucial if you want to keep them safe on the road. For Global Youth Safety Month The Bluebird Patch has partnered with DriveitHOME™, an initiative of the National Safety Council, designed by and for parents of newly licensed teen drivers. DriveitHOME™ offers free resources parents can use to help their teen build experience to become safer drivers. It also is a place parents can share their ideas for keeping teens safe behind the wheel. Recent research has shown that parent...

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #SienteGlade #CollectiveBias Madeleines are a sweet buttery french pastry or “tea-cookie” that pairs spectacularly with your “cafecito” (coffee). These precious tender little cake-like cookies are baked until golden crisp, in special molds, that give them a delicate shell shape. They are thick in size, but light, soft, and smooth in texture similar to a sponge cake, and are loaded with a rich decadent buttery flavor. Madeleines are easy to make, and once you get the hang of it, you will be obsessed making them for parties or giving them away as gifts. They literally take 15 minutes to bake! INGREDIENTS 4 large eggs, lightly beaten in a 2-cup measure 1¼ cups sugar 1 cup all-purpose flour, plus 2 Tbs. for molds 1 cup of cake flour 2½ sticks unsalted butter, cut into 12 pieces 1 cup of raspberries A pinch of salt The ...

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser, Walmart Family Mobile. All opinions are mine alone. #DataAndAMovie  #CollectiveBias If you have a family like me that loves family movie nights and uses their cell phone devices as their primary data source, there's a new mobile plan from Walmart that's perfect for your busy lifestyle. Walmart Family Mobile PLUS Plan now comes with Unlimited Talk, Text, & Data which includes up to 10GB of 4G LTE plus a free movie on VUDU every month ($7 value) per line for $49.88. Seriously, $49.88 for an unlimited plan plus a free movie every month, it  doesn't  get better than that. There are so many things I love about this new unlimited plan, but I narrowed them down to five, to help you make an informed decision.  Top 5 Reasons To Sign Up For a Walmart Family Mobile Plus Plan 1. Affordable no annual contract or credit check cell phone plan :  When you switch to Walmart's...

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Manwich for IZEA . All opinions are 100% mine. Mommin ain't easy, especially if you have teens at home. Yes, they are more independent at this stage but they still need you as much as when they were little. Monday is the “less-thrilling” day of the week at home mainly because it represents that the weekend is over and a full week of work awaits us. However, science says Monday is the day that statistically people tend to change something about themselves. On Monday's we are more likely to consider (or actually start) something new like trying a new recipe, tackle a new home project, or finally sign up for that gym membership you have been contemplating for weeks.  Manwich Monday is a great way for you to start your week, with a tasty, easy-to-make family meal around the dinner table! Manwich is a hearty sauce with a sweet and tangy taste and it also has the kid-stopping power, as your children will need ...

I have received information from the makers of TYLENOL®. The opinions stated are my own. This is a sponsored post. #HOWWEFAMILY How does your family do the holidays? My family is always super busy during this time of the year. The kids are very involved at school (and outside the school), so almost every single weekend they are either volunteering at the museum, teaching (one is a black belt instructor) or doing community service with JROTC.  If we are not doing any of those things you can find us touring colleges or attending their different community outreach events (like the recent Buzz on Biotechnology at Georgia Tech), and well let's not forget all the different media events we get invited on a daily basis. I swear I turn down 90% of them because we just don't have the time to do it.  When it comes to how we celebrate the holidays, the reality is that is has always been just the four of us. We have no family in Georgia, so I always feel the...

It's The Stinkiest Time Of The Year It's beginning to smell a lot like Christmas! The clean, fresh scent of a live Christmas tree, sweet treats baking in the oven, and the spicy aroma of mulled wine, holiday smells are an instant connection to our Christmas past. Holiday smells can evoke powerful memories and instantly transport us down memory lane with multiple emotions and vivid mental images for the place or person we associate with the smells. However, while the holidays really are magical, the truth is, they can be filled with entertaining chaos and sometimes…they literally stink. Let's be real, when you open those Christmas boxes from the attic after 11 months, it feels like a slap in the face. Dusty ornaments, musty stockings, and funky smelling lawn decorations, the lingering smell is nasty. But, the reality is that you don’t have to embrace these stinks, when you can eliminate them with Febreze and be guest ready all season long. Whether i...

Home Is Where You Feel Happy and Cozy After a Long Journey Marie Callender’s creates homemade meals and desserts made with high-quality ingredients and signature special touches that your family can slow down and savor together.  When you are a military family like us you know you do everything within your reach to send comforts from home to your soldier no matter how far they are. Sometimes is the smallest gestures that bring them the biggest joy.  This is why we are so happy to see how Marie Callender’s announced the return of the Comforts from Home Project , a partnership with the United Service Organizations (USO) that’s dedicated to bringing the heartwarming feelings, flavors, and favorites of home to those who miss it most. To help bring the comforts of home to the brave men and women of the U.S. military, Marie Callender’s donation to the USO will provide electronics, sports gear, books, games and more to troops stationed in remote locations a...

THE EXPERT IN ANYTHING WAS ONCE A BEGINNER There’s little doubt that learning to play a musical instrument is great for developing brains. Learning a musical instrument is a superb opportunity for children to express themselves creatively while picking up a new skill. My son joined the school band during sixth grade and I love seeing how much this experience has changed him.  He now has less feelings of anxiety, has a greater control of his emotions and is more focused and attentive during his classes. His ability to memorize and remember information is off the roof. Is almost as if playing an instrument has all of the sudden optimized his brain. He loves music so much that he joined a second band (pep band) and guess who is always traveling back and forth making sure that is on time for the games or school concerts? Yep, me. High school awaits next year and he already made the commitment to join the marching band. He plays the flute, and normally...

Love isn't something you find. Love is something that finds you. Loretta Young   The say your wedding is the least important day of your marriage but it is definitely that one that you will remember the most. You see a wedding is one of those autobiographical memories in your life that imprints in your brain automatically. This memory is not part of you, but actually a piece of you, for better or worse. You may forget many visual details, but you will never forget the emotions and feelings you experienced that day. When you are planning a wedding the only rule you need to remember is that there are NO RULES so might as well have fun with it.  I love Boho-chic weddings because of their organic, ethereal yet romantic feel. Boho-chic weddings are whimsical, vintage-inspired, super chic and unpretentious.  They are perfect for dreamers and lovers of all things non-traditional. I created my first Boho-Chic wedding guide on Ebay to help you find all...

THE MAGIC OF HOME IS THAT IT FEELS GOOD TO LEAVE AND IT FEELS EVEN BETTER TO COME BACK! What does home mean to you? This fall,  Marie Callender's  is re-launching the Comforts from Home Project by bringing the comforts of home to those who protect America’s homes every day: the brave men and women of the U.S. Military. Enter the Marie Callender's Facebook Challenge by sharing a photo of what home means to you today to support Marie Callender's USO Operation Celebration! Scripps Networ ks Interactive will donate $1 to the USO for each photo received (Up to 10K).  User photos may be featured on Kitchen Crashers on  DIY Network  &  HGTV  – Airing 11/9 and 11/14, Hello/Goodbye on  Travel Channel  – Airing 11/10, and Guy’s Grocery Games on Food Network & Cooking Channel -- Airing 12/14 and 12/19. In addition, when you buy a  specially marked Marie Callender's ®  packages,  every time you enter a code from a specially...

I hope you all had the chance to grab the special Hamburger Helper®​ Ibotta coupon we just posted a few days ago because today I am "flipping" the Hamburger Helper® Tuna Cheesy pasta into something completely different. I have seen so many recipes of stuffed peppers using Hamburger Helper®​, but I have never seen one where they substitute the protein for crabmeat. The funny part about this recipe is that I accidentally discovered it when I realized I forgot to buy the tuna for the recipe. Stuffed peppers with crabmeat stuffing is nothing new, so I thought, why not add crabmeat stuffing to our Hamburger Helper®? Just top it with a great gooey cheese and it should be perfect, and it was! The best part of this recipe is that is it so easy to do and it requires a limited amount of ingredients. Hamburger Helper ® Crabmeat Stuffed Peppers INGREDIENTS 1 box of Hamburger Helper®​ Tuna Cheesy Pasta 4 Bell Peppers in any color 8 oz of crabmeat stuffing 8 oz crabme...

June is National Burger Month Head to Walmart And Grab a Hamburger Helper® And Make Summer Meals a Breeze! Summer is here, the sun is shining and the warm southern wind is sweet. June is officially in full swing, kids are busy volunteering, practicing martial arts, and learning a third language at home. My kids are fluent in Spanish and English, but they are determined to learn a third language before they graduate from high school. My eldest is learning German, while my youngest is fascinated with all things French. Summer is challenging for most families, especially those with children, because not only they need to keep them busy, but you need to make 3 meals a day, when you normally only make two. What is it about kids spending long periods at home and overeating? Seriously, where does this insatiable appetite comes from? A bottle of juice? Gone in a day! Bagels? Gone in 2 days! I am just glad I can go to Walmart and get Hamburger Helper® and whip up a healthy, quick and ...