Cuddleuppets, the blanket that is a puppet

Every child needs a lovey.  This is Ducky-moose. My oldest son, who is now 8, got Ducky when he was 9 months old. Despite the fact that Ducky has missing ears and matted down fur, my son still sleeps with him every night.

My second son uses a blankie that has been passed down through several kids. It is now in shreds. He will not go anywhere without that blankie though. And it is white. Well it's supposed to be white!

My 3rd son, he is 4, also has a favorite blankie. It is brown though, never again will I let my kids get attached to something white!

And finally, my little princess. She is two and never had much interest in sleeping with a blankie or a stuffed animal. Until we received a Cuddleuppet in the mail. I cannot peel the thing out of her grip! She runs around the house "biting" her brothers with the monkey! She sneaks up on me with it too! I think she has found her lovey.
Hopefully, in 8 years, it still has its ears!

A CuddleUppet is a blanket that is also a puppet. And they are cute!

You can find all 8 varieties of CuddleUppets at Cuddleuppet.com or at major retailers.

I received a Cuddleuppet from Jay at Play through The Blogger Connection to facilitate this review. All opinions are my own.

The next XSRE Girl!!

Now that the turkey has been eaten, the sales have been conquered, what will Saturday bring?

If you are in the Paramus NJ area, come visit the new XSRE Store at Paramus Towne Square this Saturday. They’re having a grand opening celebration that includes auditions to be the Paramus store’s XSRE Girl. There will be a professional photographer on hand taking portraits of everyone who wants to have them done. From the photos taken on Saturday, they’ll choose the girl who will represent XSRE in advertisements and on their website, and she’ll get a 6-month modeling contract. She’ll be whisked away to New York City, on an all-expense paid trip for her XSRE Girl photo shoot, and be able to buy TONS of great accessories at her store with a $100 gift card coming to her every month.

Don’t forget to tell your friends. There will be LOTS of prizes and plenty of great XSRE’s to try on. The fun begins this Saturday, November 24th from 2 – 4 pm. Who knows, maybe I’ll get to see you in an ad!

Location: XSRE - 240 Route 17 North, Paramus, NJ, 07652
Event Date: Saturday, November 24, 2012
Time: 2:00 pm


This post was compensated by The Blogger Connection

Melissa and Doug Giveaway!

Enter below for a chance to win a Melissa and Doug Big Rig Building Set.  And be sure to visit MelissaandDoug to learn more about the Terrific Twenty Toy list! a Rafflecopter giveaway

Melissa & Doug Terrific Twenty List and Giveaway!

http://www.melissaanddoug.com/Promos/2012+Terrific+Twenty+Holiday+Toys/2012+ Terrific+Twenty+Holiday+Toys+from+Melissa+&+Doug/35178

Melissa and Doug are offering Twenty days of Terrific Twenty giveaway on their facebook page.  To enter go to http://www.facebook.com/MelissaAndDoug.  They will be giving away a terrific toy everyday to their facebook fans.

To learn more about the terrific twenty, visit Melissa and Doug here.


And if that wasn't sweet enough, you can enter here to win a terrific toy as well!  All twenty of the toys look like so much fun, I don't know how to choose one!


Disclaimer:
I received a product to facilitate this post.  All opinions are my own.

The Neon Tiki Tribe

Thoughtful, intelligent, kind, and individual.  That is what Tiki stands for.  With the Neon Tiki Tribe books, my children have learned to be more of all of these.  And what I love about the book is that they are dyslexic friendly!
I got to host a great Tiki Tribe party.  My children invited guests who were age 6-9 over to have some "super-power" fun!  We read the books, ate some snacks, and had a "quiz" about the books.  All of the children really seemed to enjoy the books.  They liked that they could relate to some of the Tiki's.

In the books, Tia, Zeke, Mowah, and Dar use sunglasses to allow them to use super-powers to defend the Earth.  The kids loved it!


Disclosure:  I recieved a party pack to host the party.  All opinions are my own.

Sports Illustrated Kids SportsParent of the Year

I wanted to share some exciting news with you about Sports Illustrated Kids!

For the first time ever, Sports Illustrated Kids is naming a “SportsParent of the Year” and would like to invite you to enter or nominate an inspirational SportsParent! Modeled after the famed Sportsman and SportsKid of the Year awards, the SportsParent of the Year title will honor a parent who embodies the essence of sportsmanship.

After all, we wouldn’t have a Sportsman or SportsKid without the role model who initially set the example. A true SportsParent is dedicated to using sports to support family and community, not scores and trophies. The SportsParent will exemplify qualities that SI Kids aims to impart to children through a shared passion for sports, including fun, dedication, healthy living, and the value of community and team.

This is an EXCLUSIVE contest just for bloggers and their readers!

The “2012 SportsParent of the Year” Grand Prize Winner will receive a $1,000 VISA gift card to support his/her child’s or community team’s sports needs! The winner may also be featured in an upcoming issue of Sports Illustrated Kids magazine and/or on SIKids.com.

HURRY!

Deadline for contest entries is 9/24.

Here’s how to enter:

1.) Decide who to submit for the award, whether it is yourself, your spouse or another parent

2.) Simply go to www.sikids.com/sportsparent and follow instructions to submit your nomination

3.) Remember there is (1) nomination per person or email account.

4.) “Like” the Sports Illustrated Kids Facebook page

5.) Share your entry with all of your friends and followers via social media (Twitter Hashtag: #SPOTY2012)

As a special offer for you, SI Kids is providing their September tablet issue COMPLETELY FREE! The tablet edition has everything that the print magazine has, but also includes bonus photos and interactive features like games and sports cards that kids will love! Simply download the SI Kids app on iPad or Kindle Fire, and use these credentials to access this latest issue:

• Login: freeissue@sikids.com

• Password: september2012

Or, if you want to receive an entire year of SI Kids in print and on tablet for only $19.95, you can subscribe immediately by heading HERE.

About Sports Illustrated Kids

SI Kids is THE magazine for boys and girls who love sports. It presents sports the way kids want to read about them: with great action photos, easy-to-read stories about star athletes, helpful instructional tips from the pros, and humor, comics, and activities. SI Kids is a great way to encourage kids to read, and it has won highest honors from the Association of Educational Publishers and the Parents' Choice Award.

For more information go to: http://www.sikids.com/

Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SIKids

 

Disclosure: Our blog received a year subscription, promotional merchandise and information from Sports Illustrated Kids in conjunction with this post

Here's to a clean house!

I am so sick of tripping over my children's toys! I sound like a broken record saying, "Pick up your toys, put them where they belong.". After many years of nagging, I started putting the things away for them. Picking up my children's toys from around the house has quickly turned into picking up everything for them. From dirty laundry to dishes to crumbs they drop on the floor. Well, not any more! I know that picking up after them will not teach them good life skills, and it is exhausting to pick up after 6 people! When I saw a picture of a moms genius idea on Facebook, I knew I had to make one of my own.


Now, if the kids don't pick up their things, I will place them in my basket and they will have to do a chore to get one item back. My oldest, who is 8, took this the hardest. He claims it is not fair, I think he just likes being lazy.

This was so simple to make. I used the saying from the Facebook picture and typed it up in a PowerPoint document. I made mine with blue though, it matches my playroom better. I "laminated" all the paper with clear contact paper to make it sturdier. I used a template for video spine labels to print out the chores. I hope to stick to my guns with this one and have a cleaner, happier house while teaching my children to pick up their own messes!

Tip Tuesday

School was cancelled this morning due to a power outage so I decided to spend my morning cleaning my bedroom. While in my disastrous closet sorting through my boots, I discovered that if I roll up old magazines and stick them in the boot, it stands up perfectly. Now I don't have to worry about my boots flopping all over my closet. And when I look in the closet, I can see all of my adorable boots lined up ever so nicely. I can even see the floor of my closet again!

Fashion Forward

So I have not been very fashionable lately, with being a stay at home mom and all, and I have really been feeling frumpy.  When I got the opportunity from SheSpeaks to join StyleUnited and be one of the first to check it out, I jumped on it.

StyleUnited is a place for busy women to go and get personal recommendations on beauty and fashion.  They help with makeup, skincare, and fashion.  StyleUnited helps women connect with their full style potential using these tools:

Style 360 - a fully personalized diagnostic quiz that has been designed to understand your individual needs in skin care, hair care, cosmetics and fashion.

Customized Beauty and Fashion Content - hundreds of curated articles, blogs and how-to videos from industry experts created to answer your every question while keeping you up on the latest trend news.

StyleUnited is brought to you by brands such as Olay, Frederic Fekkai, DDF Skincare and Cover Girl.

If you would like to join StyleUnited and see your beauty potential, visit them here.



I was compensated with free product for this post.  All opinions are my own.

Summer is finally here!

Now that the unofficial start of summer has come, it is time to break out the shorts!  I haven't acutally worn shorts for the last couple years because I hate how short shorts are.  When I had the opportunity from Crowdtap and Old Navy to go shopping with a friend for a pair of shorts, I expected many shorts that were way to short for me.  To my surprise, Old Navy offered many different styles of all different lengths.  I ended up with a pair of 9" bermuda shorts.  They come to my knee so I can stay cool and modest!

These are the shorts I ended up with.  I love them!

Not only are these shorts the perfect length for me, they are well made and seem like they will last for years!  It was very hard to choose which shorts I wanted because Old Navy has a very great selection this year.  There are all different colors and styles available.

I was compensated with a free pair of shorts for this post.  All opinions are my own.

Recalls Plus App

As a mother of four, I am always wondering if my childrens toys are safe.  I usually do my homework before making a purchase but sometimes find a great deal at a garage sale or consignment shop.  When making second hand purchases, one can never be too sure about the safety of the items.  I used to check certain products on the Consumer Product Safety Commision website, but that took some time to weed through the products I was looking for.  With the new Recalls Plus app, I search for my specific item,and even add it to a personal watch list.  Then I get notified if my product does become recalled.  You can download RecallsPlus on your iPhone, Android phone, and even on Facebook here!  Thanks to SheSpeaks for introducing me to this app.  Now I can spend more time with my family and less time in front of the computer researching products!  RecallsPlus keeps track of childrens products and food allergen recalls.  Find them on Twitter @recallsplus and @shespeaksup.

I have only been using the RecallsPlus app for a short time and already have found products of mine that have been recalled.  I am so excited to have this app on my phone.  My favorite part of this app is the personal watch list.  It will save me lots of time, which is precious these days!

Although I partenered with SheSpeaks for this blog post, all opinions are my own!

Recycling Rubbermaid Style Review and Giveaway

A few years back, my husband and I decided to start recycling plastic.  We always did recycle aluminum cans, after all, you can make some decent money recycling them!  I don't know why we never thought to recycle plastic before.  I guess we figured we didn't throw out that much plastic.  After just a few weeks, we had quite the mound of recyclables piled up in our basement.  We were shocked at the amount of items we kept out of the landfill that year.  Since then, we have had 4 children, and the mounds of plastic, paper, ect that we recycle is huge!  We live out in the country where we are responsible to bring our own recyclables into the recylce center.  This gets to be such a pain because we end up with loads of stuff in our basement.  My family works as a team to make the job easier on everyone.

With Rubbermaids new Hidden Recylcer, our job has become even easier.  Instead of having a paper bag filling with "junk" under the sink, we now have a stylish, heavy duty bag to collect our recyclables in.  No more paper bag denigrating on its way down to the basement.  The Hidden Recycler is a 5 gallon bag which holds up to 36, 12 ounce cans.  Milk jugs fit nicely as well.  My favorite thing about the Hidden Recycler is the leak-proof liner.  No more drips down the basement stairs either.  The bag is machine washable too.  And in the spirit of recycling, the Hidden Recycler itself is made from recyclable material!

If you would like your own Rubbermaid Hidden Recycler, they can be found at Rubbermaid.com or at select Meijer stores.  The suggested retail price of the Hidden Recycler is $15.99.  Or, you can enter right here to win one of your own!

Rubbermaid provided me with a hidden recycler at no charge.  All comments are my own.

The Passover Meal

Tonight marks the first night of Passover.  We had a very nice, intimate meal at a fellow believers house with one other couple.  We actually made it through most of the service with all of the kids.  Of course, we had to give them "jobs" so they felt like they were a big part of it this year.  When it came time for washing of hands, the oldest got to hold the bowl for the water to fall into.  Our 6 year old poured the water over every one's hands.  And our 4 year old got to carry the towel for drying hands.  Of course, Elliana, who is almost 2, was content sitting at the table eating Playdoh!  When we were reading about the plagues that happened in Egypt, the kids threw toy locusts, flies, ping pong balls for hail in the direction of the adults.  They also turned water red to represent the water turning to blood in Egypt.  All in all it was a very nice Passover meal.  Now comes the hard part!  Not eating leavening for 8 days!  This will be very difficult for the kids because most of the snacks they eat lately contain some sort of yeast.  I guess it is a good time to re-incorporate fruits and veggies for snacks.
I am, as I always do, having a hard time letting go of the traditions I had as a child and not passing them on to our children.
I grew up Lutheran, celebrating Easter.  I remember the excitement of Easter as a child, waking up in the morning, finding baskets filled to the brim with chocolate, candy, and sometimes even a toy!  I loved the building excitement as each of us would find our baskets and help the other kids find theirs.  After we gorged ourselves with as much candy we could sneak before mom cut us off, we were off to church.  Often, it was hard to sit still because of the sugar pulsating through our veins!  After church and a quick afternoon nap, we headed to my aunts house for a huge Easter egg hunt.  The winner always won a giant chocolate bunny.  Mmmmm, more chocolate.  However, as time goes on, it seems as though there is way to much emphasis put on Easter baskets and Easter eggs, and no emphasis put on what Jesus did for us.  This is very frustrating for me, a good reminder of why we stopped celebrating the holiday.  For us, we want to live like Jesus did, and he celebrated Passover, even becoming our Passover Lamb.
As it comes to this time of the year, I want to create traditions for my children to pass on to their children.  I want them to remember excitement about Passover, not just remembering sitting through a very long service and dinner.  Do any of you have any suggestions for me? 

The proof is in the Socks!!

As a member of shespeaks I get the opportunity to try all different products.  The latest product I was able to try is Tide Coldwater.  This was great for me because I always wash my clothes with cold water. Doing this helps me to save money on my energy bill!  My clothes also have a tendency to shrink if I wash them in warm water.  Being a mother of four and a wife to a construction worker, I am always on the lookout for detergents that will truly get my clothes clean. 
So your probably wondering how the proof is in the socks!  I bought all of my boys the same tube of socks for the holidays.  This was a major problem while sorting socks because I had no idea whose socks were whose.  So I labeled them with a permanent Sharpie marker.  I put their initials on the top of the sock.  After 2 washes in Tide Coldwater, the initials were gone.  This proves to me that the Tide Coldwater is doing what it is supposed to!  Trying to figure out whose socks are whose however, is much more difficult now!

I this product and a gift card at no cost from P&G and Shespeaks. All opinions of the product are my own!

embed this: