Maggie Bags Giveaway - Ends March 28

Welcome to the Maggie Bags Tote of Many Colors Giveaway! 

Sponsored By: Maggie Bags

Hosted By: Mami's 3 Little Monkeys

Maggie Bags are made with automotive seat belt webbing which is built to
meet government safety standards to protect us while in a vehicle. With the
government's high standards, millions of yards of seat belt material are
rejected each year by automakers, so Maggie Bags uses as much of these
rejected materials as possible to create their durable seat belt purses
and handbags. Maggie Bags launched their first line of unique
seat belt handbags in the spring of 2009 with only a handful of
retailers and a small online store. However, today their fashionable and
functional seat belt purses and handbags can be found in hundreds of retailers
across the United States as well as many online retail stores and their
very own online store. With fun colors and multiple styles, you'll be sure to find a bag that fits your style and personality. Below you'll find a discount code for shopping and a giveaway for their signature Tote of Many Colors.

Read Mami's 3 Little Monkeys full review! 

Discount Code!

Use discount code MAMIS3MONKEYS18 to receive 18% OFF your order at Maggie Bags! No minimum purchase required. Expires March 31, 2014. 

GIVEAWAY! 

One lucky reader will win a Tote of Many Colors of their choice! 

This giveaway is open to US residents whom are at least 18 years of age. Ends at 11:59pm CST on March 28th. For your chance to win complete as many or as little entries as you wish. There are only two mandatory entries into this giveaway, once you've completed those two entries, all other are optional. The more you complete the better your chances of winning! One winner will be chosen at random on or after March 29th, winners entries will be verified. Winner will then be notified via email if their entries were indeed fulfilled. The winner will have 48hrs in which to respond to the email or a new winner will be chosen. 

Good Luck! 

Entry-Form

Disclosure: Mamas Around the House blog is not responsible for the fulfillment of the prize. Prize will be fulfilled and shipped directly by Maggie Bags. If you have any questions or would like to see your products/brand/services featured in a similar event please contact Sarh at mamis3littlemonkeys@yahoo.com

Brother Bully No-more

"Sean's a BAYYYYY-BEEEEEE"

 Did I hear that right?

As I'm inside the house prepping for dinner, I hear a total jerk move come from the playhouse outside.

Wow, what a bully move! As I crept outside, I see Kasen outside the playhouse and Sean inside. Kasen has his hands on his hips, being a bully. Sean is on the inside with a toy gun pointed at Kasen, yelling "Stop it Kasen!"

Kasen stood with his head in the corner until i could figure out what to do. I figured I had to take a deferent approach at this in order for him to actually learn the lesson. What I didn't want to do, was yell.  So, I googled "How to deal with a bully"

Believe it or not, there were a lot of forums from parents saying 'Walk away and tell a teacher' Well, that's all cotton candy and caramel apples until the kid is labeled as a nark! Then, they have two labels (a sissy and a tattle-tell). Is that really what we should be teaching our kids from the beginning? To just walk away from a problem instead of trying to solve it? 

Not this mom-especially because I had kids on both sides of the bullying spectrum. Where was I to start? The youngest, I decided. That's where I'll start. 

During our convo, I learned that there was a new kid in Kasen's kindergarten class. He would hit and kick kids on the playground and was sent home with writing in his folder (the worst punishment according to Kasen). 

I've seen his mom pick him up after school, and he is even a little shit to her. She has no control over him and repeatedly says 'That's not nice' in a sweet tone after he kicks her and runs into oncoming traffic. 

My son had tried to be his friend. Finally, he told me that he 'isn't mean to him, but  just ignores him'. Good job buddy! Ignore the problem, but don't let him push you around. From there on during our talk, he cried. Wait, no. He bawled when we were talking because he said he was feeling guilty. He did seem to understand the following lessons: 

 We need to not pick on the weak to feel better about ourselves. 

There are many types of people (religion, race, sex) in this world. Just because somebody is different, doesn't mean they are wrong. 

Setting good examples. He is not the youngest anymore and has a sister that will look up to him and follow by example. 

You catch more flies with honey than vinegar. Even though someone may be pestering you, being nice is better than being bitter. 

At the end of the day, we prevailed. We learned about bullies and why we shouldn't be one. Most importantly, Mommy didn't yell, but still effectively got the lesson through. 

Hmmm... Guess we both learned something today. 

Photo courtsey of freedigitalphotos.net "Child Draws" by Supertrooper

Julep Maven Subscription Program - A Great Fit for Your Style

Over the past few months we've shown you just how much we love Julep here at Mamas Around the House (MAtH). They provide great beauty products in a monthly subscription set up, and one of the best parts is that each month there may be different things. Liz is a Julep Maven subscriber, and in past months she's received nail colors along with lip gloss, nail color and eye shadow, and even a full pallet of eye shadow. And in the coming months they have awesome stuff coming. We're super excited to see what comes in the next box.

The Riviera for March Mavens

This month's box contained bright, dramatic colors that you'd find on a Riviera vacation. Each month is a different theme, and before the box is sent and your card is charged, you can see what you're getting and decide maybe, just maybe, you want to get all the colors for the month (from all the boxes) as an add on to your box. Or maybe you just want to add on a few colors at add on prices (usually $4.99-$6.99 for Mavens). For my box I received two nail colors and added on two nail colors. There are always samples or something fun such as candy in the box. I love the surprises.

FREEBOX is your code to start!

Right now Julep is giving away your first box for free (just pay shipping which is $4.99) with the code FREEBOX. After that you can keep getting boxes every month for $19.99, you can gift your box to a friend, or you can cancel (but I don't think you'll want to, nail color mail is just way too fun for that).

It's a total win-win. Try it out, love it, and build your nail color and beauty collection. Not a fan? Cancel or gift your subscription to a friend. You'll never know what style fits you until you try!

Madison Reed Salon Quality Hair Color - Try It On Sale!

After reading Liz's review of Madison Reed at home hair color, you may have been interested in trying it for yourself. Who wouldn't want to try healthy, gluten free hair color that makes your hair look fantastic, right? Well, until March 31, 2013 you can try it for 20% off your first purchase. And the shipping is free! Use code NEWYOU when checking out to receive the discount.

Madison Reed Hair Color

This is a great way to try Madison Reed out and see if it is for you. If you love it (which you will), then you can schedule deliveries so you don't have to worry about finding products to color at home when you need them - they'll deliver them to you!

What We Learned (March 2, 2014 Edition)

What, it's March you say? No way! It seems as if Christmas was just last week. Speaking of weeks, what did the Mamas learn and experience this week? Lisa's is way more fun than something that she learned so don't miss it! Don't forget to comment at the bottom with something cool or funny that you learned.

Lisa:
Since this is my bday weekend, I'd like to make my WWL post into a bday wish. I share my bday with Dr. Seuss and Jon Bon Jovi, so it is a cool day.

My bday wish on this, the beginning of my 33rd year, is for some time spent reading a book, eating a lasagna, and getting loved on by my band of misfits. Pretty simple, huh? Nevermind that there's a snow storm on the way...again! With all the craziness of last year and the speed this year has already gotten, some uninterrupted family time is seriously all I want.  That's really what all these weekly lessons boil down to: learning to be a good human while being present for your own band of misfits. So, raise your glass to those born on March 2nd, say it in a Seussy rhyme, listen to some Bon Jovi, and have a great weekend!!

See ya next week! :)


Robyn:
I've learned that a white chocolate shell from a chocolate covered strawberry resembles a biore strip...eww!

Strawberry or Biore...?

I've learned that F16's sound like freedom as I eat my wrap and drink my sweet tea under the shade tree in the 86 degree texas weather. 

Lastly, I've learned that there are some friends that just 'get' you. Usually that conversation starts out like 'omg, you're gonna think I'm nuts, but...' And ends with the other friend feeling relieved as they thought they were the only one in the world that felt this way. Keep that type of friend forever! That's the sign of a BEST friend. 

Liz:
Last week I wrote about how we changed over our cell phone providers to Republic Wireless to save money. Another part of the "save money" plan was to ditch cable and get Netflix and HuluPlus instead (no we were Netflix free before that). I had planned to do this by getting a piece for our current TV that made it WiFi compatible, but it turns out that our TV was so old it didn't have a USB port. D'oh! So I hawked TVs and decided that when I was ready to change, we'd get a Smart TV, add Neftlix and HuluPlus, and ditch cable. I talked to Mike about it and he was on board. Then a former student who works at an appliance store told me he had a TV on clearance that would fit our needs. Needless to say, we made the switch this past week. While I'm not a fan of making lots of changes in a short period of time, buying the TV, setting it up, getting Netflix and HuluPlus, and transitioning from no cable was actually pretty easy and we're happy with it. Now I'm less happy with my new Internet bill (since we had bundled previously) but that's another story. Now I'm searching for cheaper Internet providers. That's my next project.

With the new TV watching options I've realized we watch less TV. No longer is the TV just "on" at our house - we watch a specific show or movie (and thank God it's not always the same movie anymore) and then we're done with it. There's no just searching for what's on and watching something random because there's nothing else on. I looked at all the kids shows on Netflix and randomly tried Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood for the boys and OMG they are entranced. And it's a great show. Score!

An amazing friend asked me if I wanted to take a mini-vacation during my Spring Break this year, and Mike agreed! So Michelle and I are going to stay in a hotel one night during break and relax. I don't think I need to say that I'm very excited and looking forward to it. Not only will I get to hang out with Michelle which I don't get to do often, but I'll get to relax for almost 24 hours. Nobody asking me for drinks. No little boys getting into a fight (which has started). No dogs. Nobody refusing to eat what I cook. Will I miss my husband and my sons? You bet. Immensely. I'll miss hugs and kisses and sweet boys and cuddling with Mike, but I'll be able to do those things the day before and the day after too.

What about you? Share in the Comments below with us.