Today's Finds: Grass Animals

Alpaca ($4.29 + Free Shipping)

Puppy ($4.38 + Free Shipping)

Bunny Rabbit ($4.42 + Free Shipping)

Squirrel ($4.43 + Free Shipping)

These are so adorable, and a fun way to dress up your desk this winter.  

They are crafted out of artificial grass so there is no need to water or maintain it.    

They are under $5 each and shipping is free at Tmart.com.

Happy Veteran's Day!

Glamour ran an article called "31 Days of Giving."  The article gives readers 31 ways to give back to people.  You can read the online version at Donating to Charity: 31 Days of Giving by Glamour.com.  The article inspired me to compile a list of ways to help our troops and their families in the spirit of Veteran's Day.

• Send a teddy bear to the child of a deployed marine.  For $25, jonathancollins.org gives a plush toy with a voice message recorded by the parent, which will play when the paw is pressed.

• Show your support for our troops. A donation to woundedwarriorproject.org can aid a soldier’s physical—and emotional—recovery after deployment.

• Support the troops with warm socks, deodorant, Cheez-Its: Find their wish lists at anysoldier.com.

• Staying home for the holidays? Donate frequent-flier miles to injured soldiers’ families at heromiles.org

• Buy a counseling session for a soldier returning home after serving in Iraq or Afghanistan with your $17 donation to www.giveanhour.org.

• Create and send a postcard to our troops for free by visiting: http://www.cosmopolitan.com/cosmo-kisses-postcard.  Cosmopolitan and Maybelline New York will donate $1 to USO for each postcard sent. Up to $20,000.

Pumpkin Update

Photo: Jack-o-Lantern from the Garden

I planted pumpkin seeds in July, but as you can see our pumpkin was not quite ready for carving.  My daughter and I decided to carve the pumpkin anyways.  We were inspired by the jack-o-lantern in the Bubble Guppies episode about Halloween.  We both bonded over the experience, and were happy with the final product.  Next year, I will try planting the seeds in June, and will use a lot more organic fertilizer.