Can Anybody Find Me Some Carpet To Love??

 

I don’t know about you, but in my life, carpet and kids typically should not co-exist.

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Maybe your kids always sit at the table to eat, maybe your toddler never wanders around the house with a green smoothie they managed to pull off the counter or a popsicle they snatched out of the freezer, or maybe your kids know it’s not a good idea to chase after their siblings while carrying a bowl full of cereal and milk.

Not so lucky in my house, nor the houses of most of my friends. Continue reading

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We Found the Mattress of Our Dreams!! intelliBED: As Intelligent as it Sounds….

We Found the Mattress of Our Dreams!! intelliBED: As Intelligent as it Sounds….

**We contacted intelliBED to let them know how much we love their mattress

and that we’d be sharing our mattress stories and they offered to give our readers a 10% discount!!

  Simply click here and use coupon code LaughingMoms to receive your discount!**

intelliBED: Eden’s Story

What does a good night’s sleep and the saying, “You never know how much you miss something until it’s gone,” have in common? A ton. Loads. A plethora. Infinite even. It really isn’t that far of a stretch at all to link the two ideas.  Perhaps, you’re wondering how that’s possible––allow me to give you my own version with a little twist.

“You never know how much you have been missing out on an amazing night’s sleep until your lumpy, painful, even nasty old mattress is gone.” This is my story…..

My husband and I have been married for 16 years, all of which we’ve slept on a hand me down mattress. Before I was married, I slept on whatever mattress was given to me by my parents, who got it from who-knows-where. You know, that place where things come from that show up and no one seems to know how it got there. On top of that, said item had a used and worn look with maybe even a slight stench to it? Yeah, that’s the place. So, it’s completely accurate to say that my mattress experience has been given to me rather than chosen. In my naiveté, I never questioned…not once.

As the years went by, symptoms started to emerge. It began with mild tossing and turning, as well as waking up to readjust and get comfortable. At first, I attributed it to sharing my sleeping space with my husband, who has to sleep with a minimum of four pillows. Seriously, that’s a red flag right there. Then I stared waking up to my hands and arms falling a sleep. I’d wake up to the most annoying and uncomfortable tingling in my limbs due to poor circulation. It was so frustrating that my extremities were getting more “sleep” than I was. Continue reading

Paper Mâché Rose Crafts! 4th of July activity!

Just in time for a fun 4th of July activity, we present to you our Paper Mâché Rose craft tutorial!  We would like to introduce you to Bobbidee Evans! She is a dear friend of ours and is an amazing artist.  She is also a mom to 7 beautiful children and teaches art lessons out of her home.  She has fostered some fabulous artistic talent in her students.  You can view some of her art and art from her students on her blog. Be on the lookout for more artistic tutorials from her on our blog in the future!

Paper Mâché Rose Wreath Tutorial Supplies:LM Blog Paper Mache Roses

•Base on which you will attach your roses

•Acrylic paint and paint brush (you could also use spray paint)

•Ink pad for distressing (if you want antique look)

•Bowl (or something to outline a circle for wreath shape)

•Pencil

•Crepe paper in desired color(s)

•Tacky Glue

•Optional – Prismacolor pencil (If you’d like to write something on board. Less harsh than permanent marker.)

Watch the tutorial and share your comments with us! If you make one, we’d love to see pics!

Rocking It with the Laughing Moms on SheKnows!

Click here for Our contributor page on SheKnows.com!

Click here for Our pilot episode of Rocking It with the Laughing Moms on SheKnows.com!

Click here for “Fathers” a parody of “Warriors” by Imagine Dragons on SheKnows.com!

Fabulous Fathers, We Salute You!

We here at Laughing Moms would not be Laughing Moms if it weren’t for the amazing dads in our lives.  We wanted to show our appreciation for great dads everywhere and this parody of “Warriors” by Imagine Dragons is the result.  Fathers.

Last Thanksgiving, my family went on a road trip to visit family in Florida.  We listened to “Warriors” for hours straight. Literally, hours.  When my husband finds a song he loves, he plays it continuously. Especially when he wants to stay awake while driving.  So, after hearing “Warriors” for probably the 500th time in a row (fortunately, it’s a dang good song), the idea for “Fathers” was born and my husband and I wrote it together on our drive.  It was so fun to see this song come to life.  We’re so grateful to the many talented dads who sang for this video and who were in the video.  Imagine Dragons are not easily covered.  They’re amazing and we do not touch the tip of their talent iceberg, but it was sure fun trying!

Check out our Behind the Scenes footage!

Special Thanks to our many vocalists:

Robbie Northrop, Marcin Vaclaw, Steve Hanks, Brad Chappell, Joe Merrick, and Robb Rigby.

Special Thanks to the families who helped make our video footage awesome:

The Vaclaws, The Hanks, The Hales, The Chappells, The Millers, The Hainlines, The Beckhams, The Morris’, and The Merricks.

New Lifestyle! A Less Serious Look at Fitness

Summer is right around the corner! Are you ready to don a bathing suit?  If the answer is yes, then pat yourself on the back, because you are awesome! If the answer is no, don’t worry, you’re in good company.

Back when I used to think I knew what it meant to be busy, (balancing job, boyfriend, friends, shopping, and fun) I was actually a personal trainer.  I loved working out and loved fitness.  I still do, but now as a wife, mother of 3, business owner (Planted Juice), and laugh seeker (Laughing Moms), I can’t even keep my house in order, let alone my body.

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Fortunately, (I suppose) due to food allergies I eat pretty well, so my weight is within a healthy range.  Unfortunately, my muscles left this body for fitter pastures long ago.  I’m pretty sure my 5 year old is already stronger than me.  In my defense, she is a quarter Samoan, and my husband is a freakishly strong man who passed on his strong genes.

So, as I sat and planned a calisthenic comeback, inspiration struck! I grabbed my computer and did some keystroke reps, getting my fingers in the shape of their lives. “New Lifestyle” was the result of this workout.  It’s a parody of “Style” by Taylor Swift, and it would help me laugh my way to flatter abs. Come get your workout in with me! For best results, repeat 5x/week for 25 minutes minimum.

xo – Alisha

What are your thoughts on this fitness regime? Share your comments below, we’d love to hear your ideas!

Wonderful Things Wednesday!

Laughing Moms Nap Time No Go

We love when people share their funny stories or creations with us!  Because, as you may be aware, we love to laugh! Can any of you relate to this 1-min video short?

Filming disasters is therapeutic.  If you try it, let us know!  Thanks for sharing this video with us, Melissa Murphy!

Tuesday Treasures! LOVE wall!

Tuesday Treasures LOVE Wall

Tuesday Treasures! LOVE Letters Made With Pennies and LOVE Accent Wall. LaughingMoms.com

For this Tuesday Treasure, I actually had a bag of treasure to use!  Well, kind of.  My husband works at Provident Metals, an online coin and bullion dealer.  They buy and sell bags of coins, like wheat pennies and junk 90 silver coins, etc.  They also get a large amount of just face value coins in the process, so I asked him to bring me home a bag of face value pennies.  If you have a penny jar lying around somewhere, or a coin jar, this could be done with other coins as well, I just figured pennies were the cheapest to use, haha.

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This was the inspiration pic.  I actually prefer the letter shapes in the inspiration pic, but I couldn’t find any like that the day I decided to do this project.  I’m sure I could have ordered some from somewhere, but I was impatient and just wanted to do it.  My 10 and 4 year old daughters helped me with this project and we had a great time making it together.

This is a before of the letters:

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This is the glue we used:

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My daughters wanted to make patterns with the pennies, so we did every other penny heads or tails as best as we could on most of the letters.  The O was a little funny and had too much space left between the letters, so we overlaid two more rows of pennies on top of the base of pennies.  This letter ended up being pretty heavy.

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I had some silver spray paint on hand and sprayed the letters.  When my husband saw the silver painted pennies, he asked why I didn’t just use dimes.  I said pennies were cheaper.  Then he asked how much the spray paint I used to make the pennies silver cost.  I wasn’t sure how to quantify the amount of spray paint I used from the can to figure out the answer to his question.  But I like to think it was cheaper for me to do it this way.  At any rate, the pennies cover more surface area of the board than dimes would, so it probably took less time.  That makes it better, right??

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After the spray paint dried, I made a little wall of things to go under this new LOVE sign.  I want my sweet daughters to know to always love themselves, so I added a bunch of cute mirrors that I got half off at Hobby Lobby.  I also got a couple of frames from there that were on major clearance.  They were both brown, though, so I spray painted them to match my decor better.  One I sprayed black and added some silver into the texture of the frame.  One I painted silver and it looks kind of pewter.  In those frames, I added words I love.  Tolkien’s “Not all who wander are lost.” I overlaid this quote on top of an antique script background I found.  I also framed a song I wrote for my husband called “Salt Water Soul.”  It’s kind of an ode to the fact that we met in Hawaii and him being my amazing Polynesian bestie and all 🙂

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So here’s my finished LOVE wall.  What do you think?  Notice one of the things I love most in this world reflecting in the bottom mirror? LOVE her!! What would you put on your LOVE wall? I’ll interchange family pics on here sometimes, too. Send us pics if you do one! We’d love to see!

PS – I hung the LOVE letters using sticky-backed industrial strength velcro. Pretty sure it might remove the dry wall when I take it off.  But it works great for now!  Might have to sell it with the house someday, though, haha. #notgoinganywhere

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I do not receive any compensation from any of the brands recommended here.  Those are just the items I used.  However, if they ever decide they want to compensate me for sharing, then I’ll say, “Um, heck yes, and thank you.”

A Note and Pics From Our Mom of the Year Winner!!

We just got the sweetest message from our Mom of the Year winner, Rebecca Osmialowski and wanted to share it here with all of you who are following her story!

Hello! I just want to thank you, so much, for this wonderful gift that you have given me. I am both honored, and humbled beyond belief that my story was written by such an amazing woman that I consider not only my friend, but my sister in heart, and that it touched your hearts as well. I am blessed beyond measure for the wonderful people in my life that have seen my children and I through our struggles and joys, and for their warm words of encouragement and soft shoulders for tears.

There have been too many days to count that have been full of struggle, heartbreak, and guilt, but every night I still go to bed with a silent prayer full of thanks and relief that it was another day that I got to spend with my beautiful children. They are the true heroes in this story. They fought, and continue to fight every day for a place in this world, and I couldn’t be happier for the strength and tenacity that they have.

Again, thank you, SO much for this amazing gift that you have given me. My heart is overflowing with all of the kind words and warm wishes that I have received because of Jessica’s beautiful nomination and your wonderful recognition. I only hope that I can live up to such an amazing award and honor!

Sincerely and with Love, Rebecca Osmialowski

(On a side note, EEEEEEK!! I am so excited to see all of the goodies and try everything out!! And oh my gosh, a gift card!!! I was just exclaiming that now I could maybe get my hair and toes done, AND buy a new hairdryer and curling iron! THIS IS SO AMAZING!!!! AHHHHH!!!)

Also, I couldn’t bear to change the picture that Jessica included with the article because it just simply means so much to me. So! I am sending a collage of some of my favorite moments with the kids! I’m one of those people that loves candid photos and funny faces, and I can’t help but share with the world these silly, yet adorable mugshots!

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Mom of the Year Monday!! Check Out Our Contest Winners!

Instead of Music Mondays today, we are so excited to announce the winners of our Mom of the Year contest!  We read so many wonderful submissions nominating so many deserving mothers and we are so grateful to have learned more about these amazing mothers from all over the country.

As a reminder, our winners will receive some amazing gifts from our sponsors!  For our grand prize winner, a $250 Visa gift card from AdPlotter, a year subscription from Parents Magazine, the Love necklace from Freshie & Zero, and a trophy filled with mom-loved products from Laughing Moms and Planted Juice!

We will be sharing the nomination stories submitted about our winners below. To start us off, we’re pleased to introduce you to our grand prize winner.

We spoke with our Mom of the Year winner earlier today and she was so grateful and so humble and appreciative and we’re so happy to be able to share her story here!

Without further ado, the Laughing Moms 2015 Mom of the Year is Rebecca Osmialowski!

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Here is her nomination story: Continue reading