Dec 31, 2012

Holiday Blues, Greens, Reds and Fun

(Lydia's Christmas Dress made by Gramma)

Having the kids home for 2 and a half weeks is both fun and exhausting.  Not "having" to get up early to get them ready for school is nice, but my youngest does not yet know the meaning of "sleeping in" so I still do not get to truly rest or sleep in over the holidays.  Instead, I am more homebound than ever since it is harder to go shopping or run errands with 3 kids than with 1 or none, and I have to be more creative to find ways to keep them active and happy without getting in arguments with each other frequently.

And, having them "do chores" during their break seems to make them very cranky!  lol

So - how to keep them happy, me happy and not have the house destroyed over these FUN holiday times?

A few of My ideas:

1) have them play with only a few new toys at a time - getting a new one out each day instead of opening all the packages all at once.
2) play fun things like play dough and painting that we only do occasionally
3) play games together - like Chutes & Laddars, Qwirkle, Uno and other fun games that all 3 ages can enjoy
4) have grown up "movie time" with the big kid(s) while the younger ones watch an appropriate movie elsewhere in the house.
5) plan a fun but simple craft and have the older kids help the younger one(s)
6) make cookies or a fun treat together

Kids' Christmas Picture 2010

**What ideas do YOU have for entertaining the young ones over school break?

Dec 27, 2012

Personalized Family Decals to decorate your family vehicle! So much Fun!


What does your car say about you? Make your family personality a part of the car with family stickers for car windows. You can get vinyl decal family kits in a wide variety of styles and themes to suit your personal or family style.

All you have to do is pick a sticker that you like to make your car window stickers family, like feet, hearts, stars and more. You can also pick one of the new popular Star Wars family stickers like I did!


For this review I chose the Star Wars Family Decal - but did not get to personalize it.  I Love the quality of the decal itself, and would have enjoyed being able to personalize it to my Husband, myself and our 3 kids (possibly even have R2D2 as our dog - lol) - such a fun way to make our car more fun as well as show others our great sense of humor and love of the Star Wars movies!


The Vinal sticks nicely to the car window and stays secure even with rain or snow.  The characters are recognizable to anyone who is familiar with the Star Wars movies, toys or games.  Such a fun thing to have on our car.  I've had many great compliments since putting my sticker on the car! 
Like my decal?  Want one for yourself?  These fun vinyl decal family kits are customizable and even come with the option to add your family name underneath for free. Such a fun way to personalize your family vehicle with family stickers from VinylDisorder.com.



I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I was in no way required to write a positive review. All my reviews are my honest and personal opinion .  If you have any questions or comments, please see my FTC disclosure or Review Policy.

Dec 23, 2012

Santa Watch Starts at 6:00 AM tomorrow! Join the fun, Win some prizes!

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Do you want to WIN Books, Gift Cards and other Great Holiday Prizes I’m giving away one of those fun things during Santa Watch with Tarah Scott and T.C. Archer tomorrow –  December 24th at Coffee Time Romance.

There are a lot of authors and other bloggers participating this year with fun Santa Sightings, Holiday Memories, and LOTS of contests and prizes throughout the day!

Stop by, leave a comment or hang out with us! We’re starting early – at 6 AM !! Check it out tomorrow and see all the fun prizes, as well as the $5 Amazon GC I'm giving away, plus enter to win many others! I hope to see you tomorrow!

Dec 22, 2012

What does Daddy Really Do when he leaves for Work each day?

What Daddy Did Today
A Father’s Bedtime Story

What Daddy Did Today is a bedtime story for a father to read to his child. When I was a kid, I would always wonder where my father went when he left the house for work every morning. What did he do? Who was he with? Why would it take so long? Of course, I learned later that Dad was just going to the office every day. But my imagination, up to that point, told me differently.
I imagined my dad traveling to space, fighting dragons, and hitting home runs while he was away “at work.” So, this is a story that, as a kid, I would have loved to hear my dad tell. And now, as a grown man and future dad, it’s also a story that I would love to tell my son or daughter before they go to sleep. Because, although the story is filled with fun and adventure, ultimately, it is about how much Daddy loves his kid. I hope you enjoy it.

-Walter Wally


Adventures in pretend Play with WOW Toys ~ review & Giveaway


Casey Camper Van  Profile 
Known as: Casey  
In a nutshell: A real cool dude
Likes: Surfing holidays, chilling and BBQ’s
Dislikes: Stressed out dudes  
Likes to hang with: All cool dudes

Hey guys who’s excited about coming to join me, Casey Camper, on my cool adventures? I like to hit the surf on my regular surfing holidays and I think nothing beats a good BBQ on the beach with friends after a hard day surfing! Everyone needs to chill out and enjoy the sunshine, and that’s what they do when I’m around.
I’m a motorised camper van with some fab features too! Open my roof to find my friends chilling on their bunks, take out the picnic table, match and sort luggage or even have a hop scotch competition on my groovy pull out playground!
My set includes me, my best friends, Pete and Lilly, our pet dog called Sammy, his removable dog basket, his dog bowl, a removable picnic table and two luggage items.

Dec 21, 2012

Winter Wonderland Fun with Melissa & Doug! ~ Win some great stocking stuffers!

ENTER THE WINTER WONDERLAND GIVEAWAY 
SPONSORED BY EDUCATION.COM AND MELISSA & DOUG!

To ENTER - Just click on the picture above or go to THIS FACEBOOK LINK!

Hunting Season ~ Sometimes you can have too much fun

Our sweet Daisy Mae was out hunting as she loves so much, and those silly birds were hiding behind a bush apparently. Determined as ever to get those bird for her "daddy" she stuck her head into that bush to flush them out, only to find her poor ear caught. Of course, being a good hunting dog, she pulled her ear out so she could keep hunting. Unfortunately her poor ear was torn right over a vein and bled like crazy.


Dec 19, 2012

On a Journey with Calgon's amazing new scents!

 

ABOUT CALGON
Calgon is a complete line of bath and beauty products managed by Ilex Consumer Products Group.  The Calgon brand launched in 1946 and in the 1960s became famous with their iconic tagline “Take Me Away!” which has become a widely known pop culture reference.  In 2010, Calgon re-launched with 30 new products in the marketplace, giving the Calgon brand the widest range of specialty bath and basic bath products in the category.  In June 2011, the brand introduced Ageless Bath and the Calgon Sensual Collection to its line.  Calgon is sold at Walmart, Rite Aid, Dollar General, Kmart, Target and Kroger among other national retailers. Calgon products can also be found online at http://www.takemeaway.com


My Review:
For this review, Calgon sent me a trio of sexy fragrance mists to try out and post my opinion right here on my blog.  The three amazing scents are called angelic kiss , flirty tease , and femme inferno .  Each fragrance is unique and great for most people, the scents are light and not overly strong like a perfume might be.  I think angelic kiss is the lightest scent of the three and smells amazing.  I love wearing it as an everyday scent.  I love flirty tease and wear it most often.  I love the slightly spicy scent that makes me feel feminine when I wear it.   Although femme inferno is my least favorite of the three and also the strongest smelling; I still enjoy wearing it in the evenings right before I spend time with my hubby.

I love the selection of Calgon body sprays that my local Walmart store carries.  I have several that are favorites that I usually have in my bathroom and wear frequently.  With the new scents that were added this past year, Calgon has something for almost everyone.  These small body sprays make great gifts for family and friends as well as great stocking stuffers!

Calgon's sexy fragrances remain some of my favorite daily scents, and I hope yours as well.  If you have never tried any of them, I hope this review encourages you to go out and try one soon!

CALGON EXPANDS SENSUAL COLLECTION WITH NEW ENCHANTED EMBRACE FRAGRANCE AND GIFT SET IN SPRING 2012

Baltimore, MD. – March 27,2012 – Calgon, a leading bath and beauty brand, announced today the introduction of Enchanted Embrace, a new fragrance in the brand’s popular Sensual Collection that launched in 2011. Enchanted Embrace and a new Sensual Mist Sampler Gift Set will be available at select national retailers beginning late Spring 2012. The Sensual Collection line extension comes on the heels of announcing the re-launch of the iconic scent, Turquoise Seas. 
Enchanted Embrace, a fruity-floral fragrance with notes of warm vanilla, lush peony and purple passion fruit, will be available as a 6oz Sexy Fragrance Mist and 4oz Shimmering Moisture Mist. The purple packaging was chosen to display the fragrance’s magical and enchanting sensuality.  The Sensual Mist Sampler Gift Set will highlight the popular Sensual Collection fragrances launched in 2011 including Flirty Tease, Angelic Kiss and Femme Inferno. 
 “The Calgon Sensual Collection has paved the way for a younger demographic to discover an iconic brand that has been around since the 1940s,” said Ben Harvey, Executive Vice President and General Manager at Calgon. “We hope to continue to empower women by encouraging ‘take me away’ time for pampering and relaxation using our wide array of bath and beauty products, including new scents like Enchanted Embrace.”
To support the launch, Calgon will be rolling out a major marketing and PR campaign under Alliance, the activation and PR division of Grey NY.  The sales effort and new product for Calgon is driven by Ilex Consumer Products Group, which acquired the business in November 2008, when they bought the company from Ascendia Brands.
I received one or more books or products in the post above for review purposes only. I was in no way required to write a positive review. All my reviews are my honest and personal opinion .  If you have any questions or comments, please see my FTC disclosure or Review Policy.

Dec 15, 2012

Great toys for amazing kids ~ Fun with ToysRUS!

My daughter and I had a fun time reviewing this Rubik's Rock N Roll Maze from ToysRUs.  It has lights and sounds to guide you while playing.  The player has to turn the maze wheel to guide the ball into the lit-slot.  There are three different levels, from Free Play to a more advanced level that my 11 year old son likes!



Lydia loves playing with this Rubiks Rock N Roll maze and often has to fight off her older sister and brother to keep them from playing it too.  This is a great toy for toddler through child (I would say 3 years to 9 years), due to the different levels of play, and the ease of free play mode.  We love this unique toy from the makers of the Rubiks Cube!


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A-maze-ingly fun! Inspired by the engaging ball movement seen in games like pin ball and bagatelle, this unique game has a conical base that makes the maze so much more interesting to solve! Choose one of three different puzzle modes, then spin the unit to move the ball through the maze. Flashing lights indicate your target zone as music and sound effects add excitement.

(click on the picture to go to the ToysRUs page to purchase this fun toy)


The second toy we received from ToysRUS for this review is the Pavillion Light Up Backgammon Game

Product Description
Breathe new life into your games with powerful lighting effects. Lights build an enhanced atmosphere to create a truly surrounding gaming experience. Especially useful for those late-night gaming sessions. Play games all night long with your friends and family. Enjoy the Big Light Up game boards. High tech electronic game, unique illuminated board, and transparent light diffusing pieces for a visually stunning game experience

My 11 year old son loves to play Chess and Checkers.  When he saw this game in the box, he got excited.  He loves learning new games and we both enjoyed playing Backgammon in the dark, with the gameboard lit up!  With the Christmas Tree lit in the background it made for a fun family game time for the both of us.  I had not played backgammon since I was about his age so it took us a few tries to finally figure out how to play correctly.  I can see this being one of our new favorites for our Family Game Nights in the future!  He has already asked to have it as one of our feature games for our New Years Eve party this year!  A great game for older kids and adults who love strategy!


For more great games like these - visit Toys R Us online or your local store!
You can also find ToysRUS on facebook and twitter

I received one or more  products in the post above for review purposes only from ToysRUs. I was in no way required to write a positive review. All my reviews are my honest and personal opinion .  If you have any questions or comments, please see my FTC disclosure or Review Policy.