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Don't Forget These Awesome Giveaways!!

I just wanted to remind you of these awesome giveways that are ending soon!! 

Kolcraft Elmo Fruit & Fun Booster Seat Ends 5/18

$95 Gift Certificate to Hapari Swimwear Ends 5/18

CollageIt Pro ~ 20 Winners (12 Windows & 8 MAC) Ends 5/21

 VERY LOW ENTRIES and no entries for MAC so far

Mayapple Baby 3 teething Toys Ends 5/31

 

SuperDuper Game of Choice Ends 5/31

The Circus Is Coming!! Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Presents Built to Amaze! Coming to Arizona

My family will be provided tickets to the event in exchange for this post. 

  

I am excited that the Circus is coming to town next month!  When they were here last year we had so much fun.  This time the theme is Built to Amaze.  I can't wait to be amazed. 

What:   Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey presents BUILT TO AMAZE

When:  June 26 - July 1, 2013

Where:  US Airways Center (Phoenix, AZ)

 

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® Presents Built To Amaze!, an extraordinarily engineered circus experience custom-built for family fun where Children Of All Ages®  find out what it takes to construct The Greatest Show On Earth®. The visionary blueprints have been assembled with a contemporary toolbox of unparalleled imagination that will be unleashed from shipping crates right before the audience’s eyes for the all-new circus spectacular Built To Amaze!

Discount offer – $5 off  tickets in the $20 price levels.

$5 Off with code MOMSAVE

·         Valid on $20 & $25 tickets only

·         No double discounts

Valid on all show days and times EXCEPT Opening Night (Opening Night tickets are 50% off, excluding front row and VIP seating)

Tickets can be found at www.Ticketmaster.com.  

 My family will be provided tickets to the event in exchange for this post. I was not compensated in any way. All thoughts and opinions are my own and not influenced. disclosure

{Never} Wordless Wednesday ~ My Week

Just wanted to share some fun pictures from this week.

Jayden completed preschool.  I was able to stop by and have lunch with him.  He misses all of his friends and begs me daily to take him to school.  Needless to say he can not wait until Kindergarten starts.

      Evan was being a silly little boy and I had to share this picture. I love this little outfit on him.

These are the beautiful flowers that I received for Mother's Day.

 

 

     We went to see Scooby Doo Live.  During intermission Jayden and I were being silly and taking fun pictures.  

Make Mother's Day Breakfast with Krispy Kreme Donughnut Decorating Kit

I was provide the below mentioned product in exchange for my honest review. 
 

     Just last week Jayden asked me what is Mother's Day.  He had learned a little at school, but wasn't sure what it was.  I told him it is a day to honor your mom for being a great mom.  He then asked what does that mean?  What do I have to do?  I then told him that many people do different things for their moms.  Some of the things they may do is buy her presents, make her breakfast or food, take her somewhere special, give her lots of hugs and kisses.  First he told me he is not gonna give me lots of kisses, cause that is gross (He gives me lots of kisses all the time!).  Then he thought a moment and asked I have to make you food??  He began to show some concern because he knows he can not cook or even reach the cereal and milk for that matter.  I said well you don't have to, its just something that some people do.  This got me thinking that little kids have the hardest time really doing something special for their moms on their own.  I remember making my mom breakfast when I was younger.  But a child at Jayden's age (4) just can't do that.  But what can they do?  Something that came to mind is to make something that is already made and just needs a little more.  And as luck would have it I received a fun package in the mail.  The package contained some of the new Krispy Kreme Doughnut Decorating Kits and a coupon for a dozen Krispy Kreme Doughnuts.  This is the perfect way for a young child to "make" mom breakfast.

     

     So I stopped by Krispy Kreme Doughnuts to pick up a dozen fresh doughnuts. Of course I didn't make it home with the full dozen.  I have to admit it wasn't just Jayden, cause we did share a doughnut on the drive home.

     After Jayden had a seat at his table he put on his Krispy Kreme chef hat and prepared to decorate doughnuts.  We opened the decorating kit and found 3 tubes of frosting (yellow, pink, and green), 1 pack of colorful sprinkles, and 1 package of stars.

      Jayden immediately got started decorating doughnuts.  He was so excited to make yummy Mother's Day doughnuts.  The tubes of color were perfect size for him and he was able to use his little hands to squeeze them easily.  Then he added sprinkles and stars as he created some fun breakfast.

  After decorating about half the box Jayden had to stop for a doughnut break. 

 

    

      The Krispy Kreme Doughnut Decorating Kit is a fun way to spend time with your kids and make something tasty.  Jayden decided that he was going to share his decorated doughnuts.  He made one special for his grandma and gave it to her when she came over on Sunday.  He made another that he gave to his nana today.  Of course he had a special one for me and a couple for himself.  

     

 

The Krispy Kreme Doughnut Decorating Kit is a fun way to make a special treat even better.

 

Buy it:  Krispy Kreme Doughnut Decorating Kit $3.99

Thank you to Krispy Kreme for sponsoring this review. 

 I was provided the above mentioned product in order to provide a review. I was not compensated in any way. All thoughts and opinions are my own and not influenced. disclosure

 

Super Duper Publications Has Fun Learning Games to Increase Your Child's Conversation Skills Review & Giveaway

I was provide the below mentioned product in exchange for my honest review.
 

     If there is only one thing a parent does to help a child get prepared for school I would say that thing should be how to have a conversation.  Parents should have conversations with children.  This is not always easy because their parents may not have had conversations with them.  Often parents and adults in general talk at children, they give them directions or ask some simple questions.  Asking the more open ended questions and continuing a conversation is not always something a parent thinks about doing.  And sadly that is the one thing that can really help a child increase their performance in school and ultimately life.  With Jayden getting ready for Kindergarten I want to work with him to increase his communication skills and much more.  When I was offered to review some products from Super Duper Publications I immediately jumped at the chance.  Super Duper makes hundreds of creative and fun educational material.  I was sent Lids 'n Lizards magnetic Photo Vocabulary Game, MagneTalk Early Classifying, and All About You, All About Me FunDeck.

     

     The Lids 'n Lizards magnetic photo vocabulary game.  With this game children can practice articulation, categorizing, describing, as well as auditory and visual memory skills.  All you do is place a magnet under each of the lids and let the fun begin.  Players will name the photo object on the magnet as they flip the lids.  And the fun is when they flip a lid and there is a colorful lizard under it as a surprise.  The player to uncover the most lizards wins.  There are a few ways to go about this game.  The player can simply name the object on the photo magnet, describe it, categorize it, and more.  The game comes with 10 magnets for each of 5 categories including food, transportation, animals, clothing, and around the house.  You can choose to place a single category under the lids or mix and match them.  When I got this game out for Jayden he loved it.  We started with just naming the items under the lids and then named and categorized them.  We played this game over and over.  He even wanted me to hide so he could hide where the lizards were.  In addition to all the great vocabulary learning we would count the lizards collected at the end to add in a little math skills.  I really like all the possibilities of this game.  The game comes with a great selection of magnets and more can be added.  For younger ages you could make your own magnets with letters to teach letters and letter sounds, numbers, or shapes.  For children with speech delays you could place items that begin with the sounds they are working on.  This game is great for home, school, and speech therapy.

     

     The second game we received was MagneTalk Early Classifying game.  This is a simple  and fun game.  The whole board is magnetic.  The board is drawing to divided into 5 categories, transportation, clothing, animals, food, and around the home.  Some of the skills that children can work on with this game is classifying, vocabulary, critical thinking, and fine motor.  There are 35 magnetic tiles, 7 for each category.  We played this game a couple different ways.  First I just had Jayden take each magnetic tile, name the item and place it in the category it belonged to.  Next we placed them all upside down and together we each picked an item and named it then placed it in the category on the game board.  Another time we played we identified the item and named the category it belonged to as we placed it on the board.  This game also has more possibilities such as describing the items or adding items.  Even with this such a simple game Jayden had lots of fun playing.  I loved talking to him about the different items.  And one of my favorite things was when he at first placed pizza in around the home.  I asked him why he thinks it goes there.  He said, "because you have to eat it in your home."  I think he totally made sense, but we then discussed if there was a better category and that is when he remembered there was a category for food.  We decided it goes in food, but that the food also goes in around the house.  This game is also easy to clean up and store. 

    

      The third game we received is the All About You, All About Me Fun Deck.  This is a deck of 56 cards with questions to help your child talk about themselves.  The deck includes some basic questions, open-ended questions, content cards, and some game ideas.  These cards can be used one on one or as shared as a group.  The cards all store in a sturdy storage tin.  I pulled out this fun deck when Jayden wanted to play a game.  I started by randomly pulling out a card and asking him the question on the card.  He was so cute just making up things like when asked about "What do you do after school? And how do you get there?"  He told me he rides the bus, which isn't true, but he has always wanted to ride a bus.  Jayden then grabbed a card and made up the question as he asked me.  Next Jayden pulled a card and asked me what it said.  I told him and he went over to his daddy and "read" the card.  He just repeated what I said as he looked at the card.  I love when he pretends to read.  John was game and answered the question and then threw it back at Jayden and asked him the same question.  I really like that this game can be played anywhere.  We could even play in the car.  We are planning a vacation trip to California soon and when we go we will be driving.  I am going to take this deck for something fun to do in the car as we drive.  It is small and takes up so little room too.  I might just put them in my purse for those emergency situations when I need something to keep Jayden busy.  This game is also an app that you can add to your iphone or android phone. 

     Something I really like about all these games is that the instructions are printed right on the inside of the box lid, on the back of the game board and in the deck.  This may seem little, but I really like that this helps to keep from losing the instructions.  Those paper flyer instructions often get torn or lost.  Super Duper has so many great educational games.  There was another game that was offered to me, but it was out of Jayden's age range.   It looks like a great game for older children, it is called TopicTalk Conversation Card Game.  This is a game I will keep on my list for when Jayden gets a little older.  And one last think.. Super Duper has Free Shipping to USA and Canada on all orders over $20.

Discount Code:  Currently you can save 20% when you use the code BETTER on orders over $20, plus you get free shipping.  But hurry this offer ends May 31, 2013.

Buy it:   All About You, All About Me Fun Deck (PreK-5) $12.95
              MagneTalk Early Classifying (PreK-5) $21.95
              Lids 'n Lizards Magnetic Photo Vocabulary Game (PreK-5)  $39.95
              Topic Talk Conversations Card Game (2nd Grade & Up) $32.95

  Win it:  One (1) Arizona Mama reader will win their choice of one (1) game: All About You, All About Me Fun Deck, TopicTalk Conversation Card Game, MagneTalk Early Classifying, OR Lids 'n Lizards Magnetic Photo Vocabulary Game. 

Enter in the Rafflecopter form below! This giveaway will be open until 5/31 at 12:01AM (EST).  Open to US and Canada.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
 

Thank you to Super Duper Publications for sponsoring the review & giveaway

 I was provided the above mentioned products in order to provide a review. I was not compensated in any way. All thoughts and opinions are my own and not influenced. disclosure

Happy Mother's Day To My Mom and All of You Mom's Out There

     It might not surprise you to know that I have the best mom in the world!  That is right my mom is the best.  She is a wonderful person inside and out.  She was a single mom for my brother and myself since I was only 2 years old.  She devoted her life to us and didn't think twice about it.  She has always been there for me though the good and the bad.  I consider myself very lucky to have such a loving and caring mom.  I strive to be as good of a mom as she was is.  My boys are super lucky to have a wonderful grandma that will do anything for them too.

     

Wishing my mom a VERY Happy Mother's Day and remind her that I love her very, very much!

 

I also want to wish all of you wonderful mom's a Happy Mother's Day too!  I know I am not the only lucky one with a great mom.

 

Even More Winners...

Conscious Box 3 Month Subscription ~ Laurie G.

MotorWorks ~ Kimberly S.

Have It Your Way ~ Ryan W.

PinkBlush Maternity GC ~ Happily S.

Learning Resources Talk Links ~ Sylvia W.


All winners have been emailed.  Winners have 48 hours to claim their prize or a new winner will be picked.  Thank you to all the great sponsors and for all those that have entered. 

Mayapple Baby Suri the Octopus and Friends Teeting Toys Review & Giveaway

I was provide the below mentioned product in exchange for my honest review.
  

     Evan puts everything in his mouth, I mean EVERYTHING!!  I am always on the look out for anything that will help his teeth feel better.  But I want more then just any teether, I want something safe for him too.  I had seen Suri the Octopus and friends teething toys and was immediately interested.  I was happy when Mayapple Baby offered to send Suri for us to try.

     Suri the Octopus and his friends are made with 100% food grade silicone.  They are BPA free and Phthalates free.  The set includes 3 pieces.  All 3 characters have multiple sensory points and textures too soothe baby's gums.  They are designed to reach both the front and back teeth.  They are all easy for baby to grab and manipulate.  They also encourage imagination with a fun marine theme.  First there is Suri the Octopus.  Suri is concaved shaped to fit baby's hands.  Second there is the anchor.  It has 6 biting sites and 3 different teething textures.  And the third is the Wheel.  The wheel has 12 biting sites with 2 different teething textures.

     

     After I initially washed these teething toys I gave them to Evan.  He explored them for a little bit by picking them up and turning them over and over.  I encouraged him to put one in his mouth.  He was a little hesitant at first.  Once he put one in his month to "teeth" on he was immediately happy.  He was laughing as he took it in and out of his mouth.  He tried all 3 of them.  He finds them all the time and immediately puts them in his mouth to chew on.  He will even leave them dandling from his mouth as he crawls across the room.  It is so funny to watch him crawling around with one of these teething toys in his mouth.  Jayden will try to take it from him, but he keeps a tight hold and doesn't want to give up his toys.  But when Jayden does get a hold of them he loves to pretend he is driving a ship with the wheel or throwing the anchor overboard.  Of course I have to remind him that they belong to Evan.

     

 
     I really like that they are all 3 a great size for Evan's hands to hold and move around.  I like that there are different textures to help with teething.  And of course I love that they are safe for him to put in his mouth without any toxic items.  These are great teething toys and I really think they help Evan's gums feel better when they are hurting. 

 Buy it:  Mayapple Baby - Suri the Octopus and Friends Teether - 3 Teething Toys - Blueberry Set

Win it:  One (1) Arizona Mama reader will win Suri the Octopus and Friends Teether in their choice of Blueberry or Lemon

Enter in the Rafflecopter form below! This giveaway will be open until 5/31 at 12:01AM (EST)


a Rafflecopter giveaway
 

Thank you to Mayapple Baby for sponsoring the review & giveaway

 I was provided the above mentioned product in order to provide a review. I was not compensated in any way. All thoughts and opinions are my own and not influenced. disclosure

{Never} Wordless Wednesday ~ Walk With Me 2013

     OK.. so I know it is not Wednesday and I'm late.  The last couple of nights I have just passed out as soon as the baby was asleep.  I guess I was in need of some sleep.  But I wanted to share our weekend event.  The boys and I participated in Walk With Me to benefit Easter Seals on Saturday.  Jayden and I have participated every year the event has been here in AZ, since Jayden was 11 months old.  I look forward to this being a tradition for the boys in giving back to others.  But for now it is just a fun event.

 

Jayden and Aidan were very excited to walk together.  They are so cute holding hands for much of the walk. 

   

They were excited to walk across the bridge. 

   

A couple of the high school students from Jayden's preschool came too.  Jayden was so excited to see his favorite teacher Ms. Sierra.

 

   

We loved having the Joovy for when the boys got tired.  Both Jayden and Aidan took advantage at different times.

 

   

Jayden, Haley, and Aidan after the walk.  

   

 Evan slept through the walk, but woke for some fun after. 

 

Jayden and Miss Sierra with her dog Daisy.

   

 Jayden found the basketball game and although it was very high and hard to make a basket, he kept trying and had fun. 

   

My sweet boys relaxing on the grass together.