You can’t have a Star Wars birthday party without a Death Star Pinata to destroy!  But your not going to be able to find one to buy.  So here’s how you can make one!

You start with a Soccer ball Pinata, like the one from at SHinDigZ!

I then pulled all the black lines of the soccer ball off, leaving just a white ball.

Then I spray painted it gray, with two coats.

I then cut a hole in the bottom and filled it with candy (that I got on sale at the 50% off after Christmas sale) and added the Pull-String Kit that is included with the Pinata.  I used painters masking tape, so as too not hold it too tight. (The Pull-String Kit basically makes it easy to get the Pinata open.  It comes with a bunch of strings for the kids to pull so that when the right string is pulled the Pinata comes open and the candy comes out.  But I knew the kids wanted to beat the heck out of it with a Lightsaber, so I opted to just use the one pull string as a way to get it open, IF they couldn’t beat it open…which they didn’t so we did have to use the pull string…but it didn’t work as well as we hoped but it helped.)

Then I let the Birthday boy draw on the details for the Death Star.  He was pretty proud of how he made it look.

The kids LOVED beating the heck out of this Death Star!

Check out how you can plan a Star Wars Birthday Party here!

My little Star Wars fan, just turned 5 years old.  He wanted to have a great Star Wars Jedi Training Party and that meant finding great party supplies at a great price.  While searching online I found Kidspartyworld.com.  They had a great selection of Star Wars party items.

While I was there, checking out the Star Wars items, I looked around at all the other products that they provide for parties!  If your planning a party then you need to check out Kidspartyworld.com. 

Planning a Sock Hop?  Check out these great items!

How about a Luau birthday? And there’s so much more there!

Check out how you can plan a Star Wars Birthday Party here!

Disclosure:  I received free products in return for an honest review.  Thoughts and opinions expressed are entirely my own.  For more information please see my full disclosure policy.

The three points of the triangle represent the adoption triad: birthparents, adoptive parents, and child. The heart represents the love between all three.

We were blessed 5 years ago to receive our son through a wonderful thing called adoption.  I’m so thankful for the amazing gift that his birthmother gave us.

“Not flesh of my flesh, Nor bone of my bone, But still miraculously my own. Never forget for a single minute, You didn’t grow under my heart – but in it”

It all started in August of 2006.  I was working a part time job at a local theme park, while also working at a daycare where I had worked for years.  The theme park was just a fun summer job, that I had took the year before and for what ever reason decided to go back for a second summer.  Most of the other employees were Teenagers, so when I met other ‘adults’, I normally talked to them since I didn’t have much in common with the teens.

Near the end of the summer I worked with an older women and we talked during our shift.  Then a few days later when I showed up at work there was a note on my time card asking me to call this lady regarding Child care.  Thinking that when I told her I worked at a daycare, she took it as I done child care in my home.  So I called her to let her know.

Little did I know but that phone call changed my life forever.  Had I never had met her that day…had I never even worked there that summer…God really does work in mysterious ways.

She told me how when we talked I told her I didn’t have any children and how she thought I sounded sad about it.  Then about how she went to a prayer group and found out the young girl they had been praying for was going to make an adoption plan for her unborn child and was looking for a family.  Through that prayer group we met our son’s birthmother.

But the story doesn’t end there.  Remember how I said God works in mysterious ways…well about 2 years earlier while working at day care I watched our birthmother’s oldest child.  We had really met a few years earlier, we never would have thought we’d met again, in this way.  They say that people come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime.  You just never know who you’re going to met and why.

Even though she was already parenting two other children, she knew that she wasn’t able to parent another at this time in her life.  We ‘matched’ for adopted when she was just 4 months alone.  You never know how long 6 months can be until you have to wait for the birth of a child.

I was lucky enough to be in the delivery room when he was born.

Here we are 5 years later. This photo of just took just this week, January 24, on his 5th Birthday.  When they say that they grow up to fast, you really don’t know until you are there…I’m here.

 Has your life been changed by adoption?

I recently found this Adoption Saves Lives shirt online that you can buy!  I love it!

Running a small business is hard.  Here are a few tips to make it easier.  Getting your name out is the best way to grow your business.   Promoting your business can be  easy once you know how to do it well. Business cards are a great way to do that with out spending a lot of money.  There are tons of websites that will allow you to get a couple hundred business cards for just the cost of shipping.  Printing flyers is an inexpensive way for individuals to promote a products or events. Don’t forget to set up a website for your business.  And don’t forget about the social medias, twitter and Facebook.  Creat a Facebook page for your business. Keep your business from your personal accounts.

With just a little hard work you can make your business grow!  What are your small business tips?

Ⓓ

Guest post written by my buddy Angelo Cooper

My brother is finally getting married. I am so happy for him, but I was starting to wonder if this day was ever going to come. He has been dating the same girl for eight years. She must be much more patient than I am. I don’t think I could ever wait for a guy for eight years. It would be different if there was a reason behind the timeline, but it was just that he was lazy. He knew getting married would mean buying a ring and a house and he didn’t want to do it. Finally, a few months ago I offered to help with the house buying process and I think that is what got the ball rolling. We quickly found a house he liked. I don’t know if he really liked it or was just sick of looking. I had the power turned on and northern virginia direct tv installed. He was in charge of the remaining installations. My guess is the water has still not been turned on, but my brother might have surprised me. He is a great guy and I love him, but he never gets things done in a timely manner.

When you have a Young Padawan  living in your house, you have to have the best Star Wars Costumes! And the best place to find them all in one place is Wholesalestarwarscostumes.com!

Star Wars is one of America’s most popular movies of all time.  Whether you loved Hans Solo, Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader or Yoda; there are many different Star Wars costumes to choose from. Star Wars costumes and accessories can be found as sets or bought separately to complete a Star Wars costume. Star wars fans can also accessorize their Star Wars costume with a light-saber or doublesided lightsaber and recreate their favorite Star Wars battle scene.

We eat, sleep and play Star Wars all the time here in our house.

For our review, Jace picked out the Star Wars Deluxe Luke Skywalker Child Costume.

This great Star Wars costume features the classic Luke costume of a white tunic, black belt, tan pants and attached brown boot tops.

We picked size Small.  It says it’s for sizes 4-6, but it’s a little big on Jace.  But that just means it will fit him longer. It takes a little work to get the tunic top in place just right before you tie the belt on.  One side ends up looking too long.  And Jace thought that the boot tops would look more real.

Over all Jace LOVES his Luke costume and it’s a MUST for any young Padawan!

Make sure you check out my Star Wars Birthday party ideas!

And don’t you just want this Yodi for your dog?

Check out how you can plan a Star Wars Birthday Party here!

I’m so excited that my son is turning 5 this years.  He’s totally into Star Wars right now, so we’re planning a Star Wars birthday party.  We’ll be hosting Jedi Training for a few of Jace’s little friends.

I plan on sharing all my Star Wars Birthday Ideas with you along the way.  So make sure you check back for more ideas!

May the Force Be With You!

First I got these great invitations from TinyPrints.  (In the black area on the front of the card is where the Date, Time and Place goes.)

Then in the invitations that went to his friends I also added this:

In a galaxy far, far away, on the morning of (Child’s Birthday), a baby boy was born. The Jedi Council named him Jace and they knew he was the chosen one. In the 5 years that followed his birth, young Jace has been learning the powers of the Force. Meanwhile, the Republic discovered a new enemy. The Jedi Knights felt a strong disturbance in the Force. Fear, pain and suffering have opened the path to the Dark side. Many Jedi Knights have been lost. The very future of the Jedi Order is in jeopardy. Young Padawan Jace has been called by the Council to seek out future Jedi. Master Yoda is urging the younglings to complete their training and take part in the upcoming trials.

Each Padawan’s presence is requested to complete their Jedi training and prepare for the trials on (Date of party). Transport to the Jedi Temple, on Coruscant, will be departing promptly at 4:00pm from the Nehring docking bay. Please advise the Jedi Council as soon as possible as to whether each Padawan will accept the challenge of the trials.

MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU!

Please note that due to new security protocols in the Republic, no weapons will be allowed on all transport vessels. Rest assured that the Jedi Council has secured enough equipment for the Padawans to complete their training.

Check out how you can plan a Star Wars Birthday Party here!

I recently discovered Punch Tab; a loyalty program where you  can win points for visiting my website, making comments or clicking Like or +1.  So check out the “REWARDS” Button on the upper Left hand side of the page.

If you look to the left of this post you will see a “rewards”ribbon.  All you need to do is connect with your Facebook account when you receive the pop-up and you’re all ready to start earning points!

You can earn up to 500 points daily! You’ll be able to redeeming for great rewards, like $5 Amazon gift cards and $15 Groupon gift card.

Do you eat Black Eyed Peas on New Years for Good Luck?  Or at least try to gag one down?

A few years back looking for a new way to make Black Eyed Peas I found this great recipe for them.  I’ve made it every year since and everyone just loves them!  It basically taste like bean and ham soup!

Head over and check out Jenilee at Six in the Nest.  I’ve been a follower for a long time and just love her blog!

Your Name: Jenilee

Where do you blog? Six in the Nest

How did you decide on what to name your blog? I have six children, so I was trying to think up a good “play” on that… and I LOVE birds, so Six in the Nest seemed to come naturally.

Tell us a little about you… Well, I am a mother and wife. I am 27 years old. I have my associate’s degree in healthcare administration, and I currently work at a nursing home as a CNA and at the United States Post Office as a rural carrier. I am a MAJOR procrastinator a lot of the time, and tend to be pretty forgetful… I blame it on my crazy life!

Tell us 5 of your favorite things, and 5 of your least favorite things.

Favorite Things:

• 1.  My Family
• 2. The internet
• 3. The color green
• 4. Birds
• 5. Spring

Least Favorite Things:

• 1. Death
• 2. Liars
• 3. Vomit/Spit
• 4. Chapped Lips
• 5. Little boys’ aim

When and why did you start blogging? I originally started back in October 2009 I believe…but didn’t blog regularly until my friend Skye started blogging. It made me interested in it and she introduced me to review blogging.

What do you blog about? Family, life, reviews, giveaways…whatever else I feel like sharing.

What does your family think of your blog? Do they read it? My immediate family loves it.. my exteded family reads it sometimes, not sure what they think of it.

When do you find the time to blog? Lately, I don’t. :/ I have been SOO busy, but I am getting back into “the swing of things” and I will be taking more time in the evening to write again!

What is your favorite blog post ever? Hmm. Hard to choose! How about this one: Family photos….incredibly difficult with 6 kids!

What has been your biggest blogging challenge? I didn’t realize how much work it really is. It is difficult for me to be organized like I need to. I’ve lost my review lists (when my children took my notebook)…that was devastating! I still have companies emailing me because I had forgotten to post their review. I also struggle with finding time most days to actually write, which is disappointing because I really do love to write.

What advice would you give a new blogger? Google is your best friend! I have learned SO much just from searching for the answers to questions I have.

What are your favorite blogs to read? I haven’t had a chance to really read any blogs recently, but I do have many blogging friends and I love to catch up with their blogs when I can!

Where can we find you?

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sixinthenest

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/SixInTheNest