MelissaStuff

Okay, so when I tell you about this gift, you can't tell my littlest one, Weston. He is in a phase of life where he is slightly petrified by many things in life - thunderstorms, rollercoasters and along with half of the world at some point, the dark. To further complicate his 5-year-old issues, his room is on the second floor of our house, down its own hallway across from an eerily, empty media room and the attic access! When my sister told me she was looking for a good Christmas gift for him and I came across this next product, I knew we had an incredible solution to his problem: Bright Time Buddies, Unicorn  The Night Light Lamp You Can Take with You! Of course, we already have an array of night lights that Weston alternates . . . in addition to the closet light, the bathroom light and sometimes even the overhead light that he leaves on in his room overnight. The real problem comes in when he has a bad dream, has to go to the bathroom during the night or needs someth...

This summer has flown by. I can't believe my boys start school a week from this coming Monday . . . and this year, ALL of my boys will be in school for the first time. Be still my little momma heart, my baby is going to be in Kindergarten. I never dreamed we would actually make it here, to this point. People warned me it would fly by but it seemed never ending in the moment. And now here we are and it's happening. I'm so proud of my big boy - all three of my big boys are doing so well and growing so big. As I prepare for all of the boys to go back to school, I am flying through labels . Labels on clothes. Labels on shoes. Labels on school supplies. Labels on sports equipment. Labels on personal items that sneak their way into school - books, sunglasses, hats, electronics, etc. If you use labels like I do, this is a deal for you - 20% off Label Daddy labels. Use code USFAMILY20  at checkout . I can swear by these labels . I have used them for camp, to differentiate b...

I have been so busy lately that shopping - let alone consignment sale shopping - has just not been on my radar. But the one sale I am making time for is the Just Between Friends - Ft. Worth sale. It's Texas' largest consignment and maternity sale held in the Will Rogers' Memorial Center  - Amon G. Carter Exhibit Hall. This year's sale will be held Thursday, September 3, 2015 through Saturday, September 13, 2015, so there's plenty of time to schedule a shopping trip (or two)! If you are a first-time parent or grandparent, you can sign up and  get a free pass to get in to shop early . Or you can consign or volunteer, both of which will get you in early as well. But here's the deal - not only will I make time shop consignment, I will also make it a priority to make time to sell consignment. Let me tell you why. #1 - It forces you to take the time to clean out closets, toy bins, under beds and the backseat of the car. It's so easy to get busy and put t...

TODAY ONLY,  Pottery Barn has FREE shipping with the code FREESHIP . And they have some decent sales, including their backpacks starting at $13.99. Thanks, MyCrazySavings!

Yesterday, I stopped into Wendy's and was excited to see that they are offering coupon books that are good for 5 Jr. Frosties for just $1 . . . and $3 million from the sale of these coupons goes to support the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption through Wendy's. It's been a while since I have said much about adoption, but if you're a long-time reader of the MelissaStuff blog you know that adoption is dear to my heart. One of the biggest hang-ups for people who would potentially adopt is simply the overwhelming cost involved. Wendy's has worked for years to help offset that concern so that more families could bring a waiting child into their home. Currently, there are more than 20,000 children in foster care in the United States. We have friends who have adopted from the foster care system, and other friends who had long-term placements through foster care. We know firsthand how precious these children are. They all need homes and we want to do everything we c...

With all the boys in my house, we're rough on swimsuits . . . and I'm not a huge fan of the typical character suits. With sadness this week, I had to put my absolute favorite swimsuit (with matching sun guard) in my consignment pile. It's a 3T and my littlest one is wearing 5s now. I just couldn't stretch it to make it work any further. You can imagine how excited I was to find that the site they were purchased from - Cabana Life - which can be pretty expensive was having a 60% off sale with the code LDAY15 ! Hurry, it's ending soon but the suits are fun, bright and well made especially if you have fair-skinned littles. They also have girls, women's, coverups and more. Note shipping is $9.95 so not cheap but still a good value for what you are getting - and the code isn't good on items already on sale. Enjoy! Can't wait to see what you get.

As parents its hard to know sometimes just what gift is going to resonate with your child the most. We all do our best to pick things that match their interests or seem to fit with their personality . . . but the truth is we all know its a crapshoot. This Christmas I gave all four of the little boys in my house their own set of Lovable Labels with their name on them. We don't have super common names in our house - Riley, Colt, Weston and Brenton - so my kids aren't used to having anything with their names on it. But their faces lit up when they found these in their stockings: You can get the same kind of thing for your kids a t Lova ble Labels today!

Last weekend we had the opportunity to visit Gattitown in Frisco. We had been to the smaller location in Mckinney, but I didn't know what to expect from the larger Frisco location. My boys were excited the minute we walked in the door. I was quite glad that the food was the first thing we encountered because I'm pretty sure if not, we would never have gotten them back to sit down and eat. We ate first. The salad bar was very well-equipped and my boys - both big and little - were pleased with the pizzas, including the dessert. You can request your own type of pizza and we, of course, had to test that out. The only thing that was slightly disappointing in the food area was that there were two Icee machines, but neither one worked. However, the disappointment was short-lived as we left the food area and entered the game midway. Since all of the boys are 7 and under, we have spent many hours in Chuck E Cheese and the like . . . I dread those visits and can't leav...

Just popping in to share a really good offer I found. Been super crazy in my life for the last couple of weeks . . . but it's ALL good, in fact miraculously good. But I didn't want to forget to tell you about the new GattiTown offer. If you haven't visited GattiTown with your kids, you should try it out. They have an unlimited pizza buffet, pastas, and freshly made desserts in addition to the salad bar and all kinds of drinks. Those of us with small children know that one of the worst mistakes you can make when you go out to eat with small children is to pick a restaurant that takes forever to make your food and get it in front of the kids. But at GattiTown the food is ready when you walk in the door. There's NO waiting . . . and therefore no whiny kids. GattiTown also has a lot of fun things for everyone to do; it's fun for the whole family!  The Midway is filled with countless family-friendly games including multi-level video and interactive games, bumper c...

Now everything awesome - kids, basketball, teamwork, and having fun – comes together at destination awesome: Harlem Globetrotter Summer Skills Clinics, the ONLY clinics coached by stars of The Harlem Globetrotters! Everyone loves The Globetrotters, the stars who always put smiles on kids’ faces. At Globetrotter Summer Skills Clinics, our stars coach kids in limited size groups and bring laughs, encouragement and high fives for everyone! Globetrotters direct, motivate, inspire AND entertain, keeping it inclusive and fun for ALL boys and girls, aged 6-12, of ALL skill and experience levels. Each session is $59 and includes a free ticket voucher to see the Globetrotters live in 2014!  But you can save $10 with promo code USFAMILY! Code is valid through 5/31. Each child will receive:  A free ticket voucher (valued up to $40) to see the Globetrotters during their 2014 World Tour Autographs and photos with the stars! Official Globetrotter certificate of completi...

Look at these! Aren't they great? My boys probably wouldn't be so excited about these soaps, but the girls traveling with (ages 8 and 5) are going to LOVE them. They are clear bars of soap with no scent and as you use them up, there is a Princess ring in the center of each of them. These Disney Princess Ring Soaps are available for $6.99 from  OnevaKindDeltaDesign   on Etsy.

So, my blog has definitely taken a back seat for the last few months or so and it's time for that to change. We are completely, ridiculously, overwhelmingly planning for our upcoming Disney cruise with our kids. Personally, I think I feel like I should keep myself busy so I don't have time to wonder about how vacation and kids can go in the same sentence . . . but it's been fun and we have found great deals along the way, as well as some unique, handmade items that might not be quite bargains. Here's a quick preview of some of the things to come in the next few weeks -