Team Umizoomi: Animal Heroes

May 21, 2013 By 13 Comments

We are excited to feature a sponsored review of the Team Umizoomi: Animal Heroes DVD!

team-umizoomi-animal-heroes

Details …

Team up with Team Umizoomi on four fantastic animal missions! Help Milli, Geo, and Bot get Purple Monkey to his new Monkey Jungle home at the zoo, rescue Buster the dog at a construction site, fix the Cuckoo Bears’ clock, and find all of Farmer Dan’s missing animals!

Our Thoughts …

All three of the kids enjoy Team Umizoomi but they don’t ask for it much off the DVR. When they saw the DVD come, they danced around the living room. Matthew is on a big … no HUGE animal kick right now. So he saw the animals on this DVD and was really excited. The first time the DVD played, they just just sat and watched the whole DVD. That hardly ever happens. The next time the kids asked for this DVD, Matthew loudly requested the “zoo show”. Apparently the zoo episode on this DVD is his favorite.

Want to know the true test to a DVD at our house though? If a DVD is really loved at our house, it ends up in a DVD player in the van. About a week after this arrived, it was in the van. I don’t think it has left!

Do you have kids that love Team Umizoomi at your house? Amazon has a great price on the Team Umizoomi: Animal Heroes DVD right now plus it is available under Amazon Prime!

We are excited to offer a giveaway of the Team Umizoomi: Animal Heroes DVD to one of lucky readers! Good Luck!

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End of Year Cards Using Elmer’s Naturals

May 19, 2013 By 1 Comment

NOTE: “I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Elmer’s. I received product samples to facilitate my review and a promotional item as a thank you for participating.”

What is Elmer’s Naturals?

  • Reinforcing its commitment to innovation and to supporting consumer demand Elmer’s® Products, Inc., makers of America’s favorite school glue, is proud to introduce Elmer’s® School Glue
  • Naturals™— the FIRST and ONLY school glue made with naturally occurring ingredients and available in recycled packaging.
  • Elmer’s School Glue Naturals is just as strong, safe, non-toxic and washable as Elmer’s traditional School Glue.
  • Empty Elmer’s School Glue bottles – both natural and traditional – can be recycled at home by consumers. In schools, the glue bottles and sticks can be recycled through the Elmer’s Glue Crew® Brigade® with TerraCycle, an easy way for teachers and students to recycle and earn monetary donations and other rewards for participating in eco-friendly efforts.

Elmer's Naturals Glue

 

When challenged with making a craft with the kids, I was stumped. They often make little crafts but they seem to just happen and often aren’t fully planned out before the crafts happen. Then I remembered that Sophie and Matthew need to take their teachers their end of year gifts this week so cards were the perfect creation to make! The major issue was that we are redoing the area in the basement has all of the craft supplies. So I dug through stacks and piles to find the items for this project. I was impressed that I found everything that I looked for to be honest!

Supplies Used:

Here are the kids starting their cards that say “Thank You … for being my teacher!”

Starting Craft Time with Elmer's Naturals Glue

We were testing out the above mentioned Elmer’s Naturals glue stick and bottle of glue. The kids didn’t even notice that these were different. They use glue and glue sticks at school all of the time so they were right at home using these products.

Elmer's Naturals Glue Sticks in Use

I was hoping the glue was strong enough to hold the puffy balls. I wasn’t sure how it would work out but they stuck really nicely. Itouched some of Matthew’s glue and was surprise how sticky the glue was. Being Elmer’s though, it washed right off my fingers!
Grace using Elmer's Natural Glue

The kids love their creations.
Elmer's Natural Teacher Cards Finished

 

I love that we are able to take an extra step to be green and protect our environment for our kids. I hope to see more of these products out at back to school time. I know I will look for them when I buy new glue sticks for the Girl Scout troop next year for sure! Need some ideas? Check out the Elmer’s Facebook Page.

We are also excited to help announce the  Elmer’s “Pin to Win” Sweepstakes where you can win an Elmer’s Naturals Prize pack and $100 gift card!

Have you seen or tried the Elmer’s Natural products yet? Leave us a comment and let us know!

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ARM & HAMMER Tooth Tunes

May 18, 2013 By 1 Comment

We are excited to feature a sponsored campaign with ARM & HAMMER™ Tooth Tunes™!

ARM & HAMMER Tooth Tunes One Direction

What is ARM & HAMMER™ Tooth Tunes™?

Each toothbrush features two minutes of music to encourage longer brushing and ensure that kids achieve the dentist’s recommended brushing time. Two new ARM & HAMMER™ Tooth Tunes™ toothbrushes each feature a chart-topping single from One Direction: “What Makes You Beautiful” performed by One Direction and “One Thing” performed by One Direction.

Out of our three kids, Grace, who is 6, wanted this toothbrush. I will be the first admit that she is horrible at brushing her teeth! Horrible! She complains and complains and complains. It is too long and she wants to be done. Grace loves music though so I was hopeful the ARM & HAMMER™ Tooth Tunes™ toothbrush would work for her. She loved the One Direction: “What Makes You Beautiful” the first time she heard it. I admit we didn’t know the tune before trying the toothbrush but I think I will know the words before long. The only issue is trying to get Grace to not dance around with her toothbrush!  She is constantly moving with the Tooth Tunes toothbrush singing to her!

Grace using ARM & HAMMER Tooth Tunes Toothbrush!

Plus we are excited to help announce that Church & Dwight Co., Inc., is excited to announce the Brush with Tooth Tunes™, Rock with One Direction Sweepstakes! Enter for a chance to win the Grand Prize, four tickets to a One Direction concert in August 2013. 100 First Prize Winners will receive One Direction prize packs, with One Direction merchandise. Visit ToothTunes.com, complete the registration form and click submit to be entered for your chance to win. Enter up to once per week now through 6/30/13. Be sure to check out the ARM & HAMMER Sweepstakes Page to enter!

Want to learn more? Check out the ARM & HAMMER Tooth Tunes Website and ARM & HAMMER’s Facebook Page!

So do you think the ARM & HAMMER Tooth Tunes toothbrush would help your kids brush longer? Leave us a comment and let us know!

Disclaimer: I am part of the Mom It Forward blogger network. Mom It Forward and ARM & HAMMER™ Tooth Tunes™ partnered in support of this campaign. ARM & HAMMER™ Tooth Tunes™ compensated me for participation in this campaign. However, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

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Today I Saw Her Future

May 14, 2013 By 15 Comments

It is a rare day that I drop our youngest two kids off at preschool. That is normally Brian’s job but today I dropped them off on my way to work since he had an early morning appointment. Sophie had to take her preschool graduation gown back to school today. We had forgotten to take it back and she had to have it for dress rehearsal tomorrow. I impressed myself and even managed to toss it in the dryer with a wet washcloth to get the wrinkles out of the gown. Sophie carried her gown out out the car and smashed it under her book bag. oh well. It was going to get wrinkled and I accepted that.

We got preschool and little man ran ahead to open the door. Daddy has taught him well and that boys should open doors for girls! ;) Sophie insisted on carrying her gown. I reminded her not step on it as I was getting Matthew’s book bag from the car and caught up to them to see this.

A 5 year old getting ready to graduate preschool and go to Kindergarten.

So confident.

So proud of herself.

 Getting Ready for Preschool Graduation

Her little brother stood there holding the door open for his sister that he loves more than anything even when he fights with her before school.

In 13 years, I pray that I see this again.

A girl (that will always be little to me) getting ready to graduate …

hopefully still so confident and so proud of herself.

So there you have it.

There is my goal … no …. OUR goal as parents is to keep that girl being little in our hearts while she grows and ensure that confidence and pride in herself continues to grows!

We honestly have that goal for all three of our kids but that simple glance up this morning caught me by surprise and made me realize that she won’t always be five. I know that is a fact … a given … part of life but this morning I saw the future she has ahead of her. I couldn’t help but smile and be proud of all we have yet to come in our lives with our three children.

Oh and hopefully our little man will keep opening doors for all of the ladies including both of his big sisters just as daddy taught him!

Have you seen your future in the small every day activities that happen in your life? Leave me a comment and let me know!

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Lids ‘n Lizards Magnetic Photo Vocabulary Game

May 9, 2013 By 39 Comments

We are excited to feature a sponsored review of the Lids ‘n Lizards Magnetic Photo Vocabulary Game!

Lids 'n Lizards Game

Details …

Lids ‘n Lizards® Magnetic Photo Vocabulary Game

Watch kids flip their lids over magnetic photos of ice cream, monkey and toothbrush, as they comprehend that they belong in Food, Animals and Transportation. Grownups place a magnet under each one of the lids and then hide the lizards under the lids. Children flip a lid, name the photo object on the magnet and identify its category (such as Animals, Clothing or Around the Home). The child that finds the most lizards is the winner. Game includes 50 magnets, 20 lids and 12 lizards. (suggested price: $39.95) Recommend Age: Grades PreK – 5

Our Thoughts …

As a refresher, our kids are ages 3 (almost 4), almost 5.5, and 6.5.  I wasn’t sure if this game would work for all of them. I was able to unstack the lids easily but the kids had problems unstacking them. I wasn’t sure how the game would go when the kids couldn’t get the magnets separated from each other (they were stacked by categories!) I did get 20 magnets unstacked to go in the bottom of the 20 lids. The kids hid all of the lizards and started playing the the game.

Lids 'n Lizards Game - Ready to Plan!

So the version of the game we played was the basic version that all of the kids could play. The kids picked a lid to see if there was a lizard. They got to keep the lizard if they could say what was on the picture of the magnet and then what category the magnet fit in. Some of the categories are Food, Transportation (this was a hard word for all of them!), and Around the House. I was worried Matthew wouldn’t keep up but he did!

Lids 'n Lizards Game - Found a Computer!

Matthew lasted a couple of rounds of the game. The girls wanted to keep playing though. Since we are the younger side of the games, I loved how the kids played this game with very little help.

Ready to go buy this game or another product? We are excited to share that Super Duper is celebrating ”It’s Better Hearing and Speech Month” with 20% off your entire web order with Promo Code BETTER! 

We are excited to giveaway a Lids ‘n Lizards Magnetic Photo Vocabulary Game to one of our readers! Good Luck!

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The Young Scientists Club – Kitchen Science Kit

May 3, 2013 By 55 Comments

We recently heard that Ms. Frizzle, not known for missing an opportunity for science fun, will take her Magic School Bus® and be joining Clifford with two new kits of her own this year! We are excited to have the opportunity to review one of these kits for you!

We choice to review the Kitchen Science kit … more specifically the …Clifford Kitchen Science Kit Clifford The Big Red Dog Kitchen Science Kit

Clifford knows the kitchen can be a very intriguing place beyond a place to grab snacks and drinks. His friend Emily Elizabeth guides young scientists through captivating experiments with catchy titles such as test tube explosion, making slime, crystal star, crystal art, milk glue, colored celery, waking up fungus, fungus eats bananas, fungus in a tube, sticky ice, upside down trick, crystal garden, and exploding volcano. Young Scientists will feel like real scientists when they use the included colorful lab tray, measuring cup, test tubes, and funnel to perform their experiments! For • Ages 3+ • $19.99

The kids heard exploding volcano and couldn’t wait to try the kitchen experiments out. We had to delay activities by one evening because of some yard work we had to get done and we had three completely bummed out kids. Who knew science could be so exciting that the kids would be sad to not do it? Can you see how excited they were to get started?!

Clifford Kitchen Science Kit - Excited Kids
I personally loved seeing their excitement with my engineering background. We recently did a Math and Science Night at Grace’s school and I have to admit this kit has some great experiment ideas that are perfect for the Kindergarten through 2nd grade age group!

As I said they loved the exploding volcano. The test tube explosion was fun with more explosion happening. The kids laughed and laughed at me when I told them to please not blow the house up! I love hearing that laughter! They also loved coming up with a hypothesis (but we didn’t call it that for our 3-6 year old age range … we just said guess) on what would happen to the celery in the colored water. Grace, our 1st grader, cheated and read the direction sheet and was then all proud she knew the right answer! Guess we should expect that with her love of reading!

Clifford Kitchen Science Kit - In Action

Which activity do you think your kids would love the most from the Kitchen Science Kit?

At just $19.99 – $39.99 a piece, scientifically-inclined kids can get their paws on any one of the five new kits from The Young Scientists Club this Spring. We are excited to offer a giveaway of the winner’s choice of any of these four kits: Bubble Science kit,  Rainbow Science kit, Kitchen Science kit, or the The Wonders of Nature kit! Good luck!

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HUGGIES® Little Movers Slip-On® Diaper Pants

April 23, 2013 By Leave a Comment

We are excited to work with a local reviewer on this sponsored campaign for HUGGIES® Little Movers Slip-On® Diaper Pants!

Our family is a HUGGIES family. When I buy diapers for friends or baby showers, they are HUGGIES for sure. We have local friends that have a new addition of twins to their family. Oh they also have 5 year old and 1.5 year old. Their little man is on the move … just as the babies showed up. We knew their busy momma needed all the help she could get now changing three diapered kids. The HUGGIES® Little Movers Slip-On® Diaper Pants seemed like the perfect for her.

Two huge boxes of these diapers arrived at our door. They were excitingly delivered with a Sunday dinner meal to a happy momma!

huggies-2

So what did this busy mom think of these new diapers?

I love how easy it is to just slip them on his wiggly hiney! But … one of our little man’s latest escapades is stripping off his clothes. He can get out of just about anything right now, except overalls, which he’s figuring out. Oy! So these diapers are like pants or shorts to him and I caught him pulling it down yesterday, pretty easily. oops! I will say that they hold more than I thought they would!

Reviewer (Mom of 4!)–

VLUU L200 / Samsung L200Isn’t he a cutie on the move? 

VLUU L200 / Samsung L200

 

What makes the HUGGIES® Little Movers Slip-On® Diaper Pants special?

  • Easy open sides and grip tabs make removal and rolling up the diaper for disposal simple and easy.

  • HUGGIES® Little Movers Slip-On® Diaper Pants come pre-fastened and require no adjustments for a quick and easy diaper changes. 

  • The diaper has trusted Leak Lock® Protection. The protection and security you both need between changes. The diaper absorbs-away layers and long-lasting core lock in wetness and keep baby dry. 

My only comment is that I wish they had these in a size six diaper. These came on the market when our Matthew was a size six. They would have been great since he was so active. Then again he is the only kiddo I know that made it to that diaper size.

We are excited to share that you can save $2 on any one package of HUGGIES® Little Movers Slip-On® Diaper Pants. Share it with three friends and the coupon value increases to $2.50!

What do you think about HUGGIES® Little Movers Slip-On® Diaper Pants? Would they be a fit for your family with a standing and active little one still in diapers? Leave us a comment and let us know!

NOTE: I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for HUGGIES. I received product samples to facilitate my review. All opinions are my own.

 

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Did Summer Come?

April 10, 2013 By 1 Comment

Yesterday the high was in the 80s here. We had SNOW just a few weeks ago! I had a chance to share this picture on Instagram with Brian so he could see the kids having fun.  He sure is missing them when he is in Chile!

bubble-fun-sb

Brian’s response to this picture was … they look so happy! They were! It was warm … they were outside … they were in heaven!

Grandma (my mom) brought bubbles with her … well they are bubble machines. We soon realized they require batteries. LOL  So there mom and I were trying to get batteries in the bubble machines while the kids jumped around.  Tip: Check to see if the new toy requires batteries before you show the kids. We know this tip. We knew better. oh well.

The kids ran around the yard chasing the bubbles. There was a nice breeze carrying them down the hill to the backyard. It was beautiful full of bubbles. Then they became kids again and started chasing each other with the bubble machines. They started making laps around the house chasing each other. On one hand you want to tell them to be careful but on the other hand I was thinking about how they would pass out for bed!

Today is supposed to be just as warm as yesterday and then we get Spring back again. We are making sure to enjoy this nice weather while it is here. The taste of summer is being enjoyed for sure!

I think tonight maybe we will have dinner outside … or at least ice cream after dinner.

What do you love to do when it finally warms up? Leave me a comment and let me know!

 

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Healthy Classroom Station

April 4, 2013 By Leave a Comment

If you have school-aged children, you know that they are going to get sick.  Sometimes it seems like they just get sick way too much and it always seems like it’s the exact same sickness.  I know classrooms where as many as half of the kids are out sick!  Even the teachers get sick, missing over five days per year due to illness.  One of the number one reasons for absenteeism is “presenteeism”, sending kids to school even when they are sick.  In fact, even seemingly healthy kids can shed germs up to three days before they start to feel sick.  Enter the Healthy Classroom Station.

healthy classroom

Kimberly-Clark Professional has started The Healthy Schools Project, an initiative to provide hygienic solutions for the entire school, not just the restrooms.  They go beyond the products to providing materials that can teach students about the germs and why they should keep their hands, desks, doorknobs, etc. clean.  For example, did you know that germs can live on a surface for up to 48 hours?  Anyone touching that surface during that time can get infected.  And did you know that the average desk has 400 times more germs on it than the average toilet seat??  To help keep the kids from getting sick, The Healthy Schools Project is based on a three step cleaning process, Wash, Wipe, and Sanitize.  Easy, right?

We had a great opportunity to help out Grace’s classroom by donating a Healthy Classroom Station.  This thing was actually pretty cool.  It is a stepped plastic station that holds anti-viral tissues, hand sanitizer, and surface cleaning wipes.  Instead of having tissues in one place, sanitizer on the other side of the room, and cleaning wipes who knows where, it is all together, in one place!  For Grace’s first-grade class, this makes it easier and keeps them away from instruction for less time when they go to blow their noses.

To help spread the word about germs, Kimberly-Clark even provided us with some great classroom materials.  Check out these cute stickers letting kids know where the germs hang out!

Germ Collage

If you are looking for more information about healthy schools and fighting germs, check out The Healthy School Project on Facebook and Twitter.

Have your kids gotten sick from school?  Have you sent them to school sick?  Let us know what you do to keep your kids healthy.

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Filed Under: Health & Beauty, Kids, Promotional, Reviews, Simply Family, Simply Life

Preschool Independence in Picking Clothes

March 21, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Do your kids pick out their own clothes each day? I admit that ours do end up with coaching some days (such as Sundays for church) but there are days that Grace has worn a fancy dress to first grade for no reason at all besides that she what she picked out to wear. Matthew who is three has been watching his big sisters pick out clothes for school all year. I always picked out his clothes and would bring them downstairs to change him the next day. Last week he decided to start picking out his own clothes for school. Sure they don’t really match most of the time but he is three and he is picking out his own clothes … way to go little man! He knows he needs a shirt, pants, underwear, and socks. He is learning to get it all by making a few trips up and down the stairs but he is learning and he is making his own decisions.

It might seem like a little thing that he is picking out his own clothes but it is a huge step for him … especially without encouragement but just the example from his big sisters. I love to see him learning and growing. Maybe one day his clothes will match better but for now, I am learning to be excited in his choices. Sophie has taught me that what I define as matching clothes doesn’t match her definition of matching clothes this school year. It was hard for me to accept but once I confirmed that her preschool teachers knew she picked out her own clothes and I wasn’t insane I accepted her decisions.

Preschool independence might be a dinosaur shirt with black play pants but you know what … they are pants and long sleeves and we still have winter weather here in Virginia so I am not complaining.

What does preschool independence look like at your house? Do your kids pick out their own clothes and define their own style? Leave me a comment and let me know and learn from you!

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