Spring has arrived!

Spring is here!  I know everyone doesn't feel this way, but I love Spring & Summer!  I love watching the plants and trees that have been dormant all winter show signs of life.  It is great to see green grass and some flowering plants pop up through the soil.   I am anxious for the warmer days to arrive.
Carthage High School Baseball season opened this past weekend.  Our team won the Springdale, Arkansas Tournament!  Way to go CHS!  Friday was beautiful and Saturday equally so!  Some of the Fans had shorts and flip flops on!  Today, we need our winter coats again!  Spring weather is unpredictable in this part of the country!
Easter is a week from Sunday!  It seems so early this year!  We usually have a big family Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday before Easter.  There are usually around 40 of us.  It is so much fun to watch the kids run all over the yard searching for the bright colored Easter Eggs.  Some of them have to stop and check out the prize inside before they look for more Easter Eggs.  Others want to gather as many Easter Eggs as they can and then see all of their prizes at once. Whichever way they decide, it is fun to watch their faces light up with their new found treasures.
If you are looking for a creative Easter Basket, check out the adorable Stephen Joseph Quilted Backpacks at The Crazy Dazy.  There is time to order and receive them before Easter!  You can make the backpacks extra special by having them Personalized.  Kids love seeing their Name on things.  The backpacks can be stuffed with Easter Basket Goodies and then reused after Easter to carry their toys, clothes, or papers. I love giving a unique gift!  While you are checking out the backpacks, be sure and check out the other Stephen Joseph items you can use to fill your Baskets.  The Doodle Dudes and Snappy Notes are sure to be a hit!  Whatever you choose, all of us here at The Crazy Dazy wish you a very Happy Easter!

Stephen Joseph Ballet Bunny Backpack

Stephen Joseph Bee Backpack

Stephen Joseph Monkey Backpack

C-A-M-P-O-U-T!!!

Before our third son was born, my husband wanted to start a special tradition with our kids..  At the time, our oldest son was 4 and our second son was 2. We decided to make Friday nights our Family 'Camp Out Night'.
Every Friday night we would drag out the sleeping bags and pillows to our living room floor.  The boys picked special movies and games that they wanted to watch and play.  I usually made a special snack to eat while we watched the movie. As a baby, our third son joined family Camp Out Night's in the Pack-n-Play.  The boys loved Camp Out Night and never wanted to miss it!  Sleeping on the living room floor wasn't easy, but I wouldn't have missed all those giggles and games for anything!
As the boys grew, when they reached special goals or achieved certain things, we wanted to reward them.  The boys got to choose, within reason, what they wanted as a reward. That usually meant pizza.  It didn't take long, before they realized that they would like to have an extra 'Camp Out Night' as a reward!  Imagine, trading in pizza for sleeping on the floor!
There are 10 years between our oldest son and our youngest son (4 boys).  When number 4 was born, he also enjoyed Camp Out Nights with all of us. Sometimes in the summer we would drag the sleeping bags out to the trampoline and all 6 of us would sleep there.  Needless to say, when one of us rolled over, everyone else knew it!  We have a sleeping porch off of our Master Bedroom.  When the weather was warm, we would drag the sleeping bags and fans out on the sleeping porch and have 'Camp Out' there.  We would lay out there and listen to stories that the boys would tell.  Sometimes we would break out into song!  We certainly weren't a choir, but we had a great time.  I am sure that the neighbors wondered what was going on when they could here us giggling and singing, but they couldn't see us.
Our boys enjoyed family Camp Out Night's so much that they looked for reasons to be rewarded with extra nights!  As the older boys grew up and moved out of the house, the youngest still wanted to have Camp Out Nights. We have so many great memories from our Camp Out nights!  Our boys are old enough that the really cute sleeping bags weren't easily available then.  Today, there are so many cute ones on the market.

Horse Nap Mat

  Check out the adorable Stephen Joseph Nap Mats at The Crazy Dazy and start your own family Camp Out tradition.  There are Boy Nap Mats and Girl Nap Mats and there are also Nap Mats that work for both like the Monkey and the Horse.  Stephen Joseph offers may great designs!  You can make the Nap Mats extra special by having them personalized.  Whatever you choose, enjoy making special memories that will last a lifetime!

Pink Turtle Nap Mat

Bunnies and Baskets

Usually when I take down my Valentine's decorations at the end of February, it is too early to put Easter decorations out.  Not this year!  With Easter being the end of March, I brought out the Easter stuff as I put up the Valentine's. To decorate the Dining Room,  I scrunched a pretty yellow piece of fabric down the middle of our table as a runner.   In the center of the runner there is a large bright yellow and pink flower arrangement.  Going down the table on each side of the flower arrangement are crystal candle holders topped either with pretty candles or with decorated artificial eggs.  Then I set the table with our wedding china.  The buffet has glass jars filled with bright plastic eggs and pretty ribbons, along with Spring colored what not dishes. Our Entry Way is filled with trunks, baskets, and buckets of bright colored eggs surrounded by stuffed and ceramic Bunnies.  On top of our Fireplace is a Plastic Bunny that my Grandparents gave me for my first Easter many years ago.   I love decorating for Easter and knowing that Spring is on it's way!
If you have Easter Baskets to fill, check out The Crazy Dazy for unique gift ideas!  We offer several small unique affordable gifts that are a great size to add to Easter Baskets.  There are Wallets, Clip Boards, Large Paper Clips, Pencils, Zipper Pulls, Water Bottles, and many other gifts.  Find just the right things for the kids in your life!  Order them now so they will arrive in plenty of time for Easter!

Space Waterbottle

Peace Penny Pincher

Wallet