Guest Post: Jessie {The Thriftiness Miss}

Today Jessie is back; we did a blog post swap awhile back, check it out here.  She's so creative (and thrifty) when coming up with ideas.  Today she's going to share a new thrifty idea.

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Hi there life, Experience Needed readers! My name is Jessie and I blog over at The Thriftiness Miss. I so happy that I can help Amanda out while she and her family are on their staycation. 

I'm here today to share with you the gift of gratitude, with an exercise in positive thinking. 

These are plain river rocks but they can be more if you want them to be.

The exercise goes like this... Keep your rock with you or in a place that you will see throughout your day. Whenever you see your rock, hold it and think briefly about what you are thankful for in life.

I Jessie, am thankful for...

Guest Post: Cassie {Two In Diapers}

Today I thrilled to have you meet Cassie.  I found her blog a few months ago and had to read everything she had written.  Her stories are funny and it's so nice to see I'm not the only one who finds myself amused with what my kids do.  Make sure you check out her Thursday Mommy -Brain Mixer

Without further adieu here's Cassie.

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Hi! I'm Cassie, and I blog over at Two In Diapers! I'm super excited to be filling in for Amanda today!

At Two In Diapers, I write a whole lot about my favorite activity in the entire world: being a mommy! As a mother of three littles, ages 1, 2, and 4, you can usually find me changing diapers, playing duck-duck-goose, tending to boo-boos, or saying things like, "stop picking your nose", "get your foot out of his face", "No, you can't have fruit snacks for breakfast", and "how did Mommy's bra get in the middle of the living room floor?". :)

I think motherhood is possibly one of the most hilarious occupations on the planet, and I love to share stories of every-day events that make me laugh! Here's one for you!

Guest Post: Maria {Life on M Avenue}

Today I am super excited to have you "meet" Maria.  I found her blog from a blog hop and loved her blog.  Her writing is beyond funny and her stories about her daughter, Ella, are heartwarming.  Make sure you go and check out her blog.  

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Hi! I'm Maria and I blog over at Life on M Avenue. 

Amanda was one of my very first blogger friends when I was getting started in this gig just a few months ago and I am SO eternally indebted to her for answering all of my very silly, very amateur questions and refraining from laughing (too hard) in my face!

My blog is a big mix of our crazy, fun, sometimes messy life. But what I am most passionate about blogging on is my daughter Ella, whose genetics just happen to be a little different than most of ours.. I hope you can stop over sometime for a visit!

Just a Little Different

The other week my husband and I were out in the garden custom designing a cute little fence for our fresh peas to grow along.  Okay.. not really. We were grinding down old cattle panels to slap together so our weeds peas wouldn't fall over. But anyways... I was in charge of singling the fencing posts out of the treasure scrap pile down by the barn that would be used and then hauling them up to the garden. Of course I wanted the strong, sturdy looking ones (those weeds looked pretty menacing) and preferable kinda-sorta-straight, so the fence stood up a little better.

I was carefully selecting the chosen fence posts, stacking them in a nice, neat little pile, when I suddenly realized that I was subconsciously avoiding the posts with little ribs in them. The best I can explain them is they looked like a screw, with all the little spirals going down the entire length. When I looked at the posts I had, they were all smooth and uniform. They were the same. The others were.. they were.. different.

I tried to push the thought out of my mind. "It's fine," I told myself as I started toward the garden, my tidy little stack of uniform posts in tow, now painfully aware that I was intentionally ignoring the fence posts that were different. I was very mindfully and purposefully avoiding them. I hauled a load up to the garden, but as much as I tried, I just couldn't get my very own, very hypocritical thoughts out of my head.

You see, my own daughter is what some might call "different." She has a rare genetic condition called Cornelia De Lange Syndrome (CdLS), which affects her growth and development. We don't know exactly what the future holds for her, but we are facing the very real possibility that it will be "different" that what we once dreamed. 

And we're okay with that.

Guest Post: Amber {Sneakers Over Stillettos}

Today I'm happy to have Amber guest posting for me.  This isn't her first time doing a post for me (you can read her first guest post for me here).  For those of you who have been reading my blog for awhile might recognize her from some of our fantastic photos she's taken for us (you can see them here) - my header was taken my her last year. 

I'll let Amber take over from here. 
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Hello Life, Experience Needed fans. I am very excited to be guest posting here today. I am Amber and I blog over here  and here I eat, breathe, and sleep fashion. It's constantly on my mind. Unless I am being distracted by my own children Ethan and Peyton, or by the two boys that I nanny. When I go shopping for clothes I will always ask myself how many different ways can I wear this. Fashion is fun, and I feel so proud when I can make a jacket work as a scarf. So today I am showing a little fashion mixology post I created a while back, but love so much its worth sharing again. With the exception of my accessories I have pulled out 8 pieces of my existing wardrobe and put together 11 outfits.

I had a blast creating these outfits, trying to think outside of the box and finding the most ways possible to use each piece.

Do you have fun with Fashion Mixology? Would love to see what and how you put your outfits together!

Thank you Amanda for sharing your space with me, and I hope your fans enjoyed my mixology and will pop over to say hello! xo Amber

Guest Post: Mariam {Just Keep Swimming}

I am so excited to introduce you to Miriam, she blogs over at Just Keep Swimming.  Her writing is fantastic and I can relate so much to what she writes about.  Make sure you go and check her blog out; it's truly wondeful!

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Birthday Insanity

I really hope Amanda is off somewhere soaking up the warm sun and not having to chase her little ones too much. While she's relaxing, she invited me to write a guest post for her. I was of course thrilled. Thanks for welcoming me into your little part of the web!

Amanda caught me while I am in full birthday party mode. Two of my three children have birthdays within 20 days of each other so this time of year is hectic. Many of my waking hours are spent thinking about the kids' parties and how to make their day extra special. For some reason I feel compelled to throw the best birthday party ever. In my head there's a competition; with whom I'm not quite sure.

Usually, I browse web sites for ideas for next year's party the week after this year's party is done. I often have a theme and activities picked for the summer birthdays by Christmas. These ideas area always tossed out by May by my kids who have differing opinions. (Life would be much easier if kids didn't come with opinions!) I then borrow other's ideas (thank you Pinterest!) as I attempt to put on a party that is memorable for the parents who may not even show up.

That being said, last summer my 3 year old was invited to a birthday party. The mother invited everyone to her area pool. She had some goldfish crackers and grapes to snack on. Each kid got one homemade cupcake for dessert. The party favor was a small cookie to take home. If I had to guess, the entire party for twenty kids probably cost less than $100.

Grow.Swap.Share: Jessica's DIY Puzzles

Today, I'm participating in the Grow.Swap.Share. I'm posting over at The Thriftiness Miss about Egg Fritattas. I'd like to welcome Jessica from The Thriftiness Miss. 

Hey there everyone! I'm Jessica and I blog over at The Thriftiness Miss. I'm so excited to be here guest posting at Life, Experience Needed and to share with you one of my new favorite craft projects for the kids.... DIY Puzzles!

Being my thrifty self I came up with 4 different ways to make your own puzzles out of a $1.00 pack of gift boxes from any dollar store.

Let's face it, toys get lost and broken and sometimes just don't last very long. With this cheap trick you can make tons of your own puzzles for your children at pennies on the dollar, and they can even be included in the puzzle making fun!

To make these, go get yourself a cheap pack of gift boxes from the dollar store and unfold the corners to make them lay flat.

Then cut all the edges off so you are left with the flat pieces of cardboard.

Covert Robin Gift

Hello!  I'm Rikki from Optimistic Slacker & I was Amanda's Covert Robin.  From what I was able to ascertain, Amanda, like me, is taking it one day at a time & doing what she can to make good, healthy choices for herself & her family - and she gardens!  My husband (Yobo) & I (ok, mostly Yobo) have been working on our garden over the past few years and have spent a lot of time experimenting with what yummies we can grow that will be productive up our way in Alaska.  When we found out where Amanda's at, Yobo immediately asked if we could move there because they have some EXCELLENT growing conditions!  Saving the trip, we settled on gardening vicariously through her  - hope she doesn't mind! :)   

Somewhere in Amanda's blog, I read that she didn't have much for winter wear, so some mittens were in order!   These are just some lightweight, lovely feeling mittens.  Now, I didn't knit the mittens or dye the yarn, but I did spin the yarn  :D   This was some 70/30 merino/silk spun about about 2 years ago that was dyed & knit by a friend and fellow Alaskan.  Now put those mittens away until fall and let's bring on the summer!

Meet Amber At Sneakers Over Stilettos

Hello Life, Experience Needed readers! I'm Amber, blogger behind Sneakers Over Stilettos. I am fashion obbessed, a self proclaimed shoe addict, and take an unhealthy amount of photos on a daily basis! After reading my guest post I hope you will come over and say hi! Love meeting you bloggy pals!

Now on to the guest post! If you have been following Amanda's blog for a while you know that she has posted some pretty yummy recipes in the past. So I figured her readers must love cooking as well! I am actually not a very big cooker in our house. I am really spoiled and my husband does the majority of the cooking.

When I do cook, I prefer to make more interesting things. Today I am going to tell you about one of my favorite things to make Coq Au Vin ( Chicken in red wine )