Category Archives: Fun stuff for parents

7 Fun Spring Break Activities You Can Do At Home From KidzBop!

March 26, 2015Family Time, Fun stuff for parents, Summer Time Funkidzbop, spring breakAlicia

I’m sorry to say I almost didn’t open an email from KidzBop today as I was going through hundreds of emails and was attempting to prioritize (silly me) but I thought gosh.. we listen to KidzBop on XM radio EVERY time we’re in the car, maybe there’s something relatable and interesting in the email.

I’m so glad I opened it because Madelyn will flip over these tips!

I can totally see the four of us having a blast doing the activities in the tip sheet below. Wednesday would be my favorite while Thursday would be Sebastian’s favorite and Madelyn’s favorite would be.. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday!

We’re going to my dad’s house in Florida for Spring Break and we will probably have KidzBop on the radio 90% of the time. If my dad and stepmom are lucky, they’ll get to have a KidzBop dance or karaoke party with us! I will not be filming these fabulous experiences! 😉

To access the ‘fill in’ pdf activity sheet referenced in Tuesday’s tip click here.

Here are 7 awesome Spring Break activity ideas inspired by tracks from KIDZ BOP 28.

I hope you enjoy these tips as much as we will! Which would be your kids favorite tips?

Win 6 Months of Flowers From ProFlowers & Evite – #PartyBlooms Sweepstakes

June 2, 2014Fun stuff for parents#PartyBlooms, Evite, ProFlowers, Shari's Berries, sweepstakesAlicia

Disclosure: This is part of a sponsored campaign with ProFlowers and Shari’s Berries. However, all opinions expressed are my own.

I love when my garden starts to bloom in the Spring. Our backyard is painted with beautiful pink, purple, blue and yellow flowers from daisys to lantana to roses. My daughter loves to go to the flower garden and help cut the flowers, bring them inside and made a floral arrangement. It’s a special time for Madelyn and I to bond and needless to say, 90% of the time, at least one arrangement we make ends up in her room. That’s ok with me though. Flowers make us feel happy and when she wakes up in the morning I love that a gorgeous bouquet of flowers greets her with a colorful, warm welcome to the new day.

Flowers are not only a great pick-me-up in your home, but a wonderful gift idea, party hostess gift, and party decoration. I’m the first to blow-up a zillion balloons for a party but a splash of natural color from a flower arrangement is a fabulous way to pretty-up a party too! Flowers make any occasion more memorable. The Deluxe All The Frills Bouquet shown above is the perfect bouquet for any occasion.

At my daughter’s first dance recital, when she was four, one of the other mother’s presented her daughter with a rose after the recital. I felt bad that we didn’t bring Madelyn a flower and have not forgotten to bring her a flower since then. In fact, we brought one dozen roses to one of her recitals and 6 sunflowers to another to that girl’s whose parents didn’t think to bring flowers (like us in the past) got a flower too. Flowers make any girl feel special, no matter what occasion or age! ProFlowers is now our resource for flowers for recitals, parties, and other special occasions. Ordering flowers on ProFlowers, before my daughter’s recital, is as important as getting her costume. ProFlowers is offering my readers 20% of their purchase with coupon code: PARTYBLOOMS

Celebrate Her Beauty Bouquet from ProFlowers

The Celebrate Her Beauty bouquet shown above is a great party hostess gift or centerpiece for an outdoor summer party.

The sweet little bluebird in this bouquet is sure to put a smile on everyone’s face!

We invite family and friends to our daughter’s dance recitals and an after-party and discovered a fun and free way to send invites is through Evite.com. The invitation image below is a sample image I created so you can get an idea of what can be done with Evite.

If you want some sweet treats for your summer party, or dance recital after-party, look no further than Shari’s Berries, a division of ProFlowers, and order the 4 Caramel Pretzels & 6 Cocktail Strawberries gift set – available at ProFlowers. Along with the beautiful flowers shown above, these were a great treat during our recent Florida vacation. These cool, crispy, fresh treats proved to be just what the kids needed on a hot Florida day after a swim in the lake.

Shari's Berries pretzels and chocolate covered strawberries

Enter the #PartyBlooms Sweepstakes To Win 6 Months of Flowers from ProFlowers & Evite!

There are two ways to enter the #PartyBlooms sweepstakes.

1. Take a photo of flowers and Tweet + Instagram them using hashtag #PartyBlooms.

2. Host a party on Evite.com by 6/30/14.

Visit http://bit.ly/1k16FWQ for #PartyBloom Sweepstakes official details.

The Pinterest board below includes some pretty options for party decorations, recipes and more.

Follow ProFlowers’s board All About Celebrating- Party Decorations, Recipes and More on Pinterest.

Kids Central Kitchen baking mixes – review, coupon, and giveaway

March 28, 2009Educational Toys, Food and Drink, Fun stuff for parentsbake, baking, baking mixes, kids central kitchen, kids cooking, mixes, recipesAlicia

Playing with kids can be a chore for parents. Kids play by their own rules and often with toys that are missing pieces which gets very frustrating for me. If you are looking for something more structured, fun, and educational to do with your young kids, look no further than Kids Central Kitchen. My kids LOVE to help me cook and love the end result even more.

Kids Central Kitchen has 7 different baking mixes including Flap Jacks, Propellar Energy Bars (my favorite), and Brownies.
You provide minimal ingredients, mostly water, milk, oil, and/or yogurt and the rest is in the baking mix.
These baking mixes provide an easy, fun way for older kids to work on basic skills like measuring and reading.
Simple yes, full of yummy delicious flavor.. yes!

You'll also find kitchen utensils, bakeware, and baking supplies at Kids Central Kitchen and while you're there check out the Kids Baking Party in a Box!

WEBSITE

COUPON CODE: MOMMY15 – get 15% off your order (expires 12/31/09)

GIVEAWAY: One lucky reader will win a $25 Kids Central Kitchen gift certificate!
Leave a comment below telling me what color the BIG mixing bowl on the Kids Central Kitchen homepage is and your email address will be entered in the giveaway drawing! GET TWO ENTRIES when you tell me a short story about a funny cooking experience you've had in the comments area below.

Diaper Cakewalk diaper cakes

September 15, 2008Fun stuff for parentsAlicia

Diapercakewalk1 If you want to surprise your friend with an incredible baby shower gift, get her a diaper cake. I didn’t know these existed until after I had Madelyn, over two years ago. Had I known, I may have asked for one. Packed with diapers, toiletries necessary for baby’s first days and weeks, and in some cases a toy Diaper cakes make a great gift for expecting or new parents. Diaper Cakewalk’s diaper cakes are available in different styles and colors including gender neutral for those who don’t know if they are having a boy or girl. Did you know that the average new born uses 6-8 diapers a day? I think I used more than that! These diaper cakes have new parents covered, at least for a week or so, with size 1-2 brand name diapers. The eco-friendly diaper cakes come with Seventh Generation diapers and Baby Avalon products. I used Seventh Generation diapers for Madelyn and loved them.

Some other things that are or can be included in a Diaper Cakewalk diaper cake are baby
booties, diaper rash cream, baby wipes, a teddy bear, and scented
diaper sacks. See, I’m not kidding when I say that these diaper cakes
have everything a new parent needs for the first few weeks. I think the Transportation diaper cake is adorable. In addition to all of the essentials, this diaper cake has three plush baby vehicle toys that make sounds and are the perfect size for little babies.

The presentation of each diaper cake is beautiful and will make a great center piece at a baby shower. I have no doubt that a Diaper Cakewalk diaper cake will make lots of expecting and new moms very happy. What other gift gives parents everything they need for baby for in the hospital and for when they get home?

Parents or gift givers can create a diaper cake that fits their budget and needs starting at $39. Diaper cakes start at 3 tiers and can be built with up to 5 tiers and a couple of Diaper Cakewalk diaper cakes I really like are the gingham and cappuchino eco-friendly.

Where to buy: Diaper Cakewalk

SimplyMobile™ Mom – Take your favorite content with you.. on your cell phone, FREE!

May 16, 2008Fun stuff for parents, Gadgets, OrganizationAlicia

SimplyMobileMom is a new online service that gives me the ab
ility to copy online & computer content to my cell phone whether it’s pictures, recipes or snippets from a favorite blog (The Mommy Insider, for example). An example of how I use SimplyMobileMoms is copying content from a news website like FOXNews.com, to my cell phone so that I can read it later when at the doctor’s office, in the school pick up line, or at the park without having to find the exact article on the website.

If you don’t have a cell phone with a web browser, or just don’t use it, the SMS version of SimplyMobile is what you need. Instead of receiving a text message with a link to the content, you will receive the content in the form of a text message. For example, if you want to save a news story to your cell phone, you simply select the text, right click on it, then click on the "add to simplymobile" text in the menu that pops up. The SimplyMobileMoms application on your computer will open and you will then choose a category in which to place this content for quick access on your cell phone.

The content I add to my phone creates a "portal" where I can access my saved content when I am away from the computer. Organized by buckets (phones/people to receive content), categories, and then content items, you
can always gain access to the content you’ve added to your phone, even
if you have deleted the original text message.

There are lots of ways you can use SimplyMobileMoms. Here is a list of what I regularly use it for:
1. To do lists
2. News snippets – I send news snippets to my cell phone so I don’t have to visit each news website individually to read the news I am interested in. I just go to my SimplyMobileMoms on my cell phone and can see all of the stories I copied in one place.
3. Finding local products – The "TheFind" plug-in makes it easy for me to find just about anything in my area. I type "organic vegetables" and I got a list of stores in my area that sell books on organic gardening, stores that sell organic cosmetics, etc.. This plug-in is really fun!

HOW IT WORKS: SimplyMobile is software you install on your computer. It lets you add any content to your phone like directions, to-do lists, grocery lists, contacts, and more from Web and your computer. You can even share that content with other people’s phones. If I want to share a news story with Tim while he is at work, I can!

WHAT YOU NEED: All you need to use SimplyMobile is a computer with Windows and any cell phone with any carrier because content you add is sent in a text
message. SimplyMobile covers the cost of the text messages I receive and I don’t get spam text messages.

Like with any new software or service, I have experienced a few small issues such as not receiving a text message when I add new content and not being able to add a photograph from my computer sometimes, but all-in-all, I think SimplyMobileMoms is a great service for moms and dads!

WEBSITE: SimplyMobileMom