Does Your Child Have a Dream? Post It On The Dream Wall

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of UPromise for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Does your child have a dream? My son has always wanted to be a deep sea diver, I think since he could talk and express his opinion about things. He's always loved the water, and whenever we're near it he usually ends up wet somehow. He has a snorkel set, and spends most of his time under the water checking out what's going on there.

I submitted my son's dream to the Upromise Dream Wall. Upromise is celebrating its 10th Anniversary by giving away $20,000 to users who share their child's dream, and tell how they've supported it. Upromise wants to celebrate the money their members have raised through the program, and all of the ways it has helped to make children into the people they are today and the grownups they will become.

Anyone can participate in the sweepstakes by submitting their child's dream. You can also vote for your favorite story, or stories by “liking” them. Upromise is giving $1,000 prizes to ten lucky winners, and one grand prize of $10,000.

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Go to www.upromisetodream.com and share your child's dream, make sure you check out the dream wall official rules so your dream can be posted for a chance to win $1000 or even $10,000.


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Mid July Crafty Weekend Links

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This summer has flown by! I can’t believe July is halfway over already! I haven’t done the crafty links the last couple weeks. I haven’t had any time for crafting myself lately. We were at the lake the first part of July, and before that the summer went really fast.

This weekend has flown by too, I can’t believe it’s Sunday night already, and I haven’t even posted this weeks crafty links. Here they are. I hope you enjoy checking them all out as much as I did!

Experimenting With Mixed Media
Cherie plays with mixed media techniques for a picture.

Eileen – The Artful Crafter
There are probably as many art journal techniques as there are artists who keep visual journals. See which ones Eileen chose for her first art journal page.

Beading Arts
Cyndi shares the instructions for making a freeform peyote stitch necklace. Now the piece just needs a name!

Butterfly Coloring Pages
Linette played with different ways to create coloring pages.

 

Don't Let Mosquitoes Ruin Your Summer Outside Activities

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Mosquito Magnet for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

My son loves to get outside and play ball. Baseball, football, or basketball. As long as there's a ball in his hand he's happy. In the evenings my husband and my son like to shoot a few hoops, or pitch the baseball or football back and forth in the yard. We also like to have weekend campfires in the back yard. The other night my son came in with mosquito bites all around his ankles. Ugh! I always feel like the worst mom when that happens. I tell him to use mosquito spray every night, but unless I'm standing on top of him he'd rather sneak out of the house without it.

This spring was a really wet one here in Ohio, with plenty of standing water which mosquitoes love! They're already out with a vengeance in our area.

This year I think I might try Mosquito Magnet®. It offers season long mosquito protection for up to an entire acre. We have several acres, so we may have to use a couple, but it beats trying to get my son to spray himself with mosquito spray every night.

You can find more information on the Mosquito Magnet here: Mosquito Magnet Executive Mosquito Trap and Accessories

What's your child's favorite outdoor evening event or activity during the summer?


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Merry Christmas From The Home and Garden Cafe

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Merry Christmas from The Home and Garden Cafe.

I hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas.

Winter Berries

Image via Stock.xchng

Dunkin’ Doughnuts is Giving Free Coffee Samples

Dunkin Doughnuts has free coffee samples, while they last. Just click on the banner below, then click on “free sample” when you get to their website. Enjoy!

Dunkin' Donuts. Dunkin' keeps me blogging. Try Dunkin' Donuts Coffee For Free. Get a Sample

Fun Things Coming Up at the Cafe

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Thanksgiving and Christmas

I have some fun things coming up here at The Home and Garden Cafe.

I’ll be having a giveaway next week for the Bloggy Giveaways, so check back to see what’s up for grabs the first of the week.

I’ll also be having some holiday decorating tips from Julie at Ed’s in Tipp City. She has some beautiful holiday decorations, and throws a wonderful Christmas party for all the Ed’s Heating and Cooling (they’re in the Dayton Ohio area) employees every year. I’ve talked her into sharing some of her entertaining secrets, and I can’t wait to share them with all of you.

I also have a few holiday home decorating ideas of my own, and some holiday recipes coming up in the next few weeks.

I’ve come up with some fun gift guides, and gifts you can make yourself to share with all of you.

Stay tuned! If you haven’t already, make sure you subscribe to The Home and Garden rss feeds so you don’t miss a thing.

A Couple Quick Giveaways and Fun Weekend Links

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party I have a couple giveaways going on at my other blogs, please stop by and check them out.

At She Knows Parties I have two giveaways going on:

At Mother Earth’s Garden you can sign up to win 6 cans of Thompson’s Water Seal Aerosol Waterproofer. Enter to win before midnight this Sunday August 10th.

I also posted my favorite recipe for Zucchini bread.

Robust Cooking has, a recipe for, Chicken Skewers on Watermelon and Feta Salad, a tasty way to celebrate National Watermelon Month.

Kid’s Birthday Fun shares that making your own cupcakes for a birthday party doesn’t have to be complicated, just add sprinkles for cupcakes kids will love.

She Knows Parties  has some fun ideas for a dog party, including dog invitation ideas, and dog party games and activities.

Since everyone’s buzzing about the Olympics, Light the Torch has some fun and tasty recipes for your Olympic party.

 

Happy Reading! Have a great weekend!

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Weekend Fun Links

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IMG_2857 Here are a few fun links for your weekend enjoyment.

This year all the rain has left our area extra buggy, here’s the recipe for a homemade insect repellant bar.

The blueberries are in season, at Robust Cooking I shared a recipe for Blueberry Oat Bran Muffins.

During the hottest days of summer why not plan a beach or pool party?

The Olympics are coming up in a few weeks why not plan some backyard Olympics games?

Batman the Dark Knight costumes are going to be popular this Halloween.

Check out all the great animated children’s movies premiering in 2008.

Have a wonderful weekend!

What’s Blooming In My Garden On Green Thumb Sunday?

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Green Thumb Sunday
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Welcome to Green Thumb Sunday. If you want to check out everything that’s blooming in my garden check out my post for Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day at Mother Earth’s Garden.

Here’s a couple of my favorite blooms.

The planters on my front porch are blooming like crazy.

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Here’s another shot of my peonies. I rescued a couple from the heavy rain, and wind we’ve been having plenty of lately.

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This white hydrangea is another one of my favorite garden blooms.

White Hydrangea

Don’t forget to check out the other participants in Green Thumb Sunday.

Images (c) Linette all rights reserved

Fun Weekend Links

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pink peonies I haven’t had much time to post anything here lately, but here’s what I’ve been up to on some of my other blogs. Feel free to stop by and say hi.

At the Kid’s Birthday Fun Review summer is the time for movies, on both the big screen and the small screen. If you’re planning a Wall-E birthday party, or a Camp Rock party stop by and check out some of the ideas.

I also have a new lens on planning a Kung Fu Panda party. We went to see Kung Fu Panda this week, it was a really fun movie. My son’s ready to go back and see it again!

I have a couple more new lenses, one on melting, and molding chocolate, and I’ve been working on some yummy cupcake ideas. I’m on a food role!

Check out my pink peonies (one is pictured here), the Garden Pest Control Round-Up, or the view from my window at Mother Earths Garden.

At She Knows parties I have 4th of July Party Decorations, a summer ice cream party, and ideas for a girls night in bachelorette party.

My favorite recipe for making strawberry rhubarb crunch is at Robust Cooking, along with details on how I make my own personal cookbook with my favorite recipes.

Have a great weekend!