best time ever to save

With 1 cent sample pads, price discounts site-wide, member specials and free shipping promo, there’s never been a better time to shop and save at New Moon Pads!

my newest project

I have to apologize for neglecting my blog. I’ve been busy with a new project online and I’m really excited about it. I now have a dynamic online newsletter and I’m thoroughly enjoying it. It gives me a chance to use my creative side…something I don’t seem to get enough time to do lately. Soooo…if you get a moment check it out at “The Monthly” and let me know what you think. I’m always open to suggestions and comments.

trying to make it a wee bit easier

With the economy doing so badly worldwide I’m trying to make it a bit easier for my customers to be able to save money by switching to cloth. I know finances are tight for many so I’ve removed any shipping charges completely on all orders to Canada and the US (and I’ve discounted the shipping cost to international orders) from now through to the end of the Christmas season. That way it’s easier to buy just a couple of items as can be afforded to stock up slowly and not get dinged for shipping charges each time. So much can be saved by switching to cloth. The cost of disposable products over time adds up faster that many realize. Personally I can’t imagine using many disposable items I used to take for granted years ago….ie., (on a personal level) pads, feminine/family cloths, cloth napkins, cloth wrapping paper (yup…I’ve scrapped paper wrapping paper completely and instead I make cloth drawstring bags when I’m gift giving). There are so many alternatives. We, as a family, started using reusable cloth bags at Christmastime quite a few years ago. I made up about a hundred of them in different sizes and stored them away and now give all Christmas gifts in either cloth bags or in baskets or other reusable containers. What works great for gift giving is filling the bottom of a terra cotta plant pot (whichever size suits the gift you’re giving) with raffia or straw and then placing the gift (or gifts) inside the pot. It looks wonderful and every part of the packaging is reusable. We also use cloth bags when grocery shopping.

happy thanksgiving canada

I know it’s tomorrow but we usually do Thanksgiving dinner on the Sunday so I’ve just pulled a couple of pumpkin pies out of the oven and in went a well stuffed turkey.  It smells so good!  I love Thanksgiving.  There’s so much to be thankful for…three wonderful happy healthy sons, a terrific husband, health, family,  friendships, my business…

My wish is that everyone has something to be thankful for in their lives.  Happy Thanksgiving Canada!

worldwide financial crisis

Somehow I’m feeling that this was inevitable.  It’s scary to think that everyone worldwide is feeling this crisis.  I know how hard it is for the “little guy” right now and with that in mind I’ve decided to offer free shipping for all orders to Canada and the US over $39 (with discounted to international).  I realize money is tight and a lot of people are reluctant (if not downright unable) to spend much right now so I want to do my part to ease the crunch where I can.  I’ve also lowered some of my prices as well.  I figure I’ll just have to work harder to make the same living I was making a few years ago but I don’t mind hard work.  I’m hoping that more businesses will take this step and lower their costs to try to get the economy moving again.  Maybe if enough of us WAHM’s do this then the big businesses will take note and possibly follow suit.  I know…probably wishful thinking.

when the wind blows…

…THINGS FALL DOWN!  Good grief!  Well, I guess it could have been worse…we could have had to replace TWO fences.  Oh well.  At least it was the fence we were planning to replace next spring.  I just wish it hadn’t taken down the clematis with it when it went.  *sigh*

we’re in for a storm

I’m sitting here waiting for this huge storm to hit us.  Wind, rain, major nasty weather.  Guess I’ll spend most of the day sewing and wait to rake the leaves until it’s over (no point in doing it twice).  So…what should I sew?  Guess I’ll do baby/mama/family wipes today.

today only…free shipping worldwide

on all website orders at SWEET CHEEKS and NEW MOON.

parent test

Are you considering having children? To determine whether you are truly prepared for the experience, I suggest you take this set of simple tests.

MESS TEST:  Smear peanut butter on the sofa and curtains. Now rub your hands in the wet flower bed and rub on the walls. Cover the stains with crayons. Place a fish stick behind the couch and leave it there all summer.

TOY TEST:  Obtain a 55-gallon box of Legos (if Legos are not available, you may substitute roofing tacks or broken bottles). Have a friend spread them all over the house. Put on a blindfold. Try to walk to the bathroom or kitchen. Do not scream (this could wake a child at night).

GROCERY STORE TEST:  Borrow one or two small animals (goats are best) and take them with you as you shop at the grocery store. Always keep them in sight and pay for anything they eat or damage.

DRESSING TEST:  Obtain one large, unhappy, live octopus. Stuff into a small net bag making sure that all arms stay inside.

FEEDING TEST:  Obtain a large plastic milk jug. Fill halfway with water. Suspend from the ceiling with a stout cord. Start the jug swinging. Try to insert spoonfuls of soggy cereal (such as Fruit Loops or Cheerios) into the mouth of the jug while pretending to be an airplane.  Now dump the contents of the jug on the floor.

PHYSICAL TEST (WOMEN):  Obtain a large beanbag chair and attach it to the front of your clothes.  Leave it there for 9 months. Now remove 10% of the beans.

PHYSICAL TEST (MEN):  Go to the nearest drug store. Set your wallet on the counter. Ask the clerk to help himself. Now proceed to the nearest food store. Go to the head office and arrange for your paycheck to be directly deposited to the store.  Purchase a newspaper. Go home and read it quietly for the last time.

FINAL ASSIGNMENT:  Find a couple who already have a small child. Lecture them on how they can improve their discipline, patience, tolerance, toilet training, and child’s table manners. Suggest many ways they can improve. Emphasize to them that they should never allow their children to run riot. Enjoy this experience.  It will be the last time you will have all the answers.

lucky us

According to today’s regulators and bureaucrats, those of us who were kids in the 40’s, 50’s, 60’s, 70’s or even the early 80’s, probably shouldn’t have survived.

Our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paint. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets, and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets (not to mention the risks we took hitchhiking) .

As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back of a pickup truck on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle. Horrors! We ate cupcakes, bread and butter, and drank soda pop with sugar in it, but we were never overweight because we were always outside playing. We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle, and no one actually died from this. We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then rode down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the street lights came on. No one was able to reach us all day. No cell phones. Unthinkable! We did not have Playstations, Nintendo 64, X-Boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, video tape movies, surround sound, personal cell phones, personal computers, or Internet chat rooms. We had friends!  We went outside and found them.

We played dodge ball and sometimes the ball would really hurt. We fell out of trees, got cut and broke bones and teeth, and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. They were accidents. No one was to blame but us.  Remember accidents? We had fights and punched each other and got black and blue and learned to get over it. We made up games with sticks and tennis balls and ate worms, and although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes, nor did the worms live inside us forever. We rode bikes or walked to a friend’s home and knocked on the door, or rang the bell or just walked in and talked to them.

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn’t had to learn to deal with disappointment. Some students weren’t as smart as others, so they failed a grade and were held back to repeat the same grade. Horrors! Tests were not adjusted for any reason.

Our actions were our own. Consequences were expected. The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke a law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law.  Imagine that!

This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers and problem solvers and inventors, ever. The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.

That’s what it was like to grow up before lawyers and government regulated our lives, for our own good.