Exercise and Enjoy Music with Limm

Disclaimer: I received this product to review. All opinions are my own. 

This Limm Sports Armband has been a lifesaver for my husband and myself. It is of very good quality, meaning that it can endure my exercise, chasing the kids, and even the kids pulling on it. I even sent it to work with my husband one day. He does construction and enjoys listening to music, especially while he paints. He is able to wear this, protect his player, and have his music conveniently on him, without the strain of having his headphones go from pocket to ears. 

The fabric is soft, but when you sweat, it does not become uncomfortable or fall off. I love the key pocket, especially for my walks. I just wonder why I never got one before. With tons of great features, this armband is a must for everyone! 

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.

Enjoy a Crisp Autumn Breeze

I received a product in exchange for my review. All opinions are my own. 

First, I want to say that my husband and I had been wanting one of these for quite a while. We never did purchase one because we honestly didn't think it would work. Boy, were we wrong! Thanks to Mega Mesh, we have the perfect solution to nice weather! 

Not only is it easy to install, it functions as described. It "locks" tight, keeping bugs out. At the same time, it is easy enough to open that the dogs can use it as well. 

In the Autumn months especially, we like to turn off the central air and let the breeze blow through the house. It was nice having the windows open, but kind of wished we had a screen door. Now, our problem is solved. We have the nice storm door for its purpose, but we have this screen door for nice weather, so the air can circulate. Its so refreshing to breathe crisp fall air. 

Also, we have a lot of get togethers at our house, so having this when people are going in and out is not only convenient, but also energy saving. We just turn off the air and let them go and come as they please, without worrying about our energy consumption. 

If you have been on the fence about this amazing product, jump on over- its worth it! 

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.

Toys to Stimulate the Imagination: The Best Gift of All

The imagination of a child is amazing. Every parent wants to choose the best toys to stimulate their child's mind. In today's world, there are plenty of options for selecting and purchasing toys. Parents can go online and visit toy stores around the world. And, of course, parents can always visit traditional, brick-and-mortar stores in person. Either way, children and parents alike can have fun shopping the aisles and selecting the toys and games that stimulate their minds and imaginations.

Quality Time for the Whole Family

Shopping for toys and games is a great way for parents and children to spend quality time together. Whether online or in-store, browsing the aisles is a perfect time to relax and let the imagination wander. Playtime is a wonderful way to nurture creativity and stimulate the minds of children, as well as adults. In-store shopping is a good way to get a feel for the games and toys that bring out the most excitement and joy for the children. It often brings out the excitement and joy in the adults, too!

Selecting the Best Toys

It's wonderful to see a child’s eyes light up when they get a new toy. The best toys will make playtime is more fun and inspire creativity . Stimulating a child’s imagination helps him develop many skills. Ensure the child has a wide variety of toys and games to play with so he can grown and learn as the good times keep rolling. When selecting toys, consider the following:

• Child's age
• His interest
• How he likes to play and interact
• What's popular!

Types of Toys and Games

Toys and games help children develop in many ways. Almost all toys fit into multiple categories for enhancing child development. A small sample of toys and how they help include:

Dolls, dollhouses, action figures – stimulate the imagination as children create imaginary worlds
Costumes – inspires creativity allowing children to be anything they can dream up
Play sets and furniture – allows children to imitate real life
Building toys – enhances problem solving skills
Board games and puzzles – helps children develop strategy and forethought
Outdoor toys – exercises both fine and gross motor skills

Getting toys for a child can be a lot of fun. Setting aside time to spend toy shopping can make it a fun activity instead of just another errand. Children are often fascinated with toy stores. Some people never lose the fascination of toy stores even long into adulthood.

Choosing the Best Toy Stores

The best toy stores will be wonderful and fascinating offering toys, games, gifts, face painting, birthday and holiday items, educational toys and an assortment of unique toy finds. In addition, the store should also have toys for all ages from birth to teen years and beyond.

Bring out the creative and artisitic skills in a child. Provide them with toys and games that challenge their minds while inspiring them to explore their imaginations. The best toys will not need electricity, batteries or additional accessories. A child's imagination will be enough to get the best toys going.

Vtech For The Win: Smart Animals & #Giveaway

Disclaimer: Product, information, and item for giveaway have been provided by Vtech. All opinions are my own. 

I have mentioned before how much I love Vtech toys for my little ones. Tbomb has several and we've never had complaints. Recently, I was given the opportunity to review a new toy from Vtech. I was especially excited about this one because both Tbomb and Kodabug are within the age range for the Go! Go! Smart Animals. We received the Go! Go! Smart Animals™ Forest Adventure Playset™ and two Go! Go! Smart Animals™. This particular product has been released as an extension of last year's big release- Go! Go! Smart Wheels.

Not only is this toy adorable, but it teaches so much. The animals that go with the play set are specially designed so that they do different things when located at different "smart points." I'm also a huge fan of toys that can be added to. This is a great option for a reward system. For each goal met, purchase a different addition to the play set! 

Go! Go! Smart Animals™ Forest Adventure Playset™:

The play set comes with a SmartPoint bear. The bear plays with the additional animals as well. At each SmartPoint location, he responds with different phrases, music, or sound effects. The Forest Adventure Playset has two SmartPoint locations and four manipulative features that encourage problem solving and find motor skills. (Ages 1-5 years; MSRP: $14.95)

Go! Go! Smart Animals™:

The Go! Go! Smart Animals add to the fun of the Forest Adventure Playset and additional Smart Animals toys. They are perfectly sized for little hands and even have a light up button that plays fun animal sounds, sing-along songs, and teaches letters and animal names. The animals work with the Smart Point locations of the Go! Go! Smart Animals and Go! Go! Smart Wheels playsets. Available animals include: monkey, tiger, lion, hippo, giraffe, elephant, zebra, and alligator. (Ages 1-5. MSRP: $7.99)

It is very rare that I run across a toy that is appropriate for both my 1 year old and my 4 year old. I love that they can play together and there is something for each of them to gain. Kodabug laughs at the animals and rolls them. (Of course, she puts them in her mouth.) She is even starting to mimic some of the sounds. Tbomb likes that they are "animals cars" and he can drive them through woods. He has been trying to get Kodabug to say what the animals say "Koda, say Zara the Zebra." It is so adorable watching these two play together and both of them learn from it. Tbomb also loves that he gets to "teach Kodabug." While Koda hasn't quite gotten the concept of rolling them on the playset, she is very attached to the zebra. In fact, I can't leave home without it. It is adorable hearing her laugh and push the button, which is easy enough for her to use. This keeps them entertained for hours, which is rare and allows mommy to work. VTech, you really have done it again!

Purchase: 

Vtech

Amazon

Follow VTech:

Go! Go! Smart Animals Page

Vtech Twitter

Vtech Facebook

Would you like to win a Go! Go! Smart Animals gift set? You will receive a Forest Adventure Playset (comes with the bear), along with two additional Go! Go! Smart Animals. Enter Below. Winner will be announced October 1st. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I Just Love Parties: #FitMadeFun

Disclaimer: I had the privilege of hosting a MomSelect party and received goodies for the party. All opinions are my own. 

This year, LeapFrog and Clif have partnered to get kids active this fall. With the release of the LeapBand and Clif Kid ZBAR Protein, getting healthy more fun that ever before. To celebrate, Fit Made Fun Day was celebrated in California on September 6th. Families were encouraged to participate in 60 minutes of motion either at the event or virtually. The goal was to set a world record with the most people moving at once. Fun, right.


Update from LeapBand: Soccor star, Mia Hamm, and over 300 kids and parents became Guiness World Record Holders on September 6th for most people hopping on one foot (321), most people making sand angels (292), and most people doing the swim dance (318) at the Fit Made Fun beach event in Santa Monica, California.  

Considering that 75% of children do not get the recommended amount of daily exercise, this is a huge feat!

We have to work together to find ways of getting our children more active and eating healthier. LeapFrog and CLIF ZBAR is helping, and making huge strides. We have to take this further because this is the first generation of children not expected to live longer than their parents.

Lets take some inspiration from LeapFrog, CLIF, and Mia Hamm to make our children realize how fun being active is. I don't know about your child, but Tbomb would like nothing more than to hop around on one foot all day long!

Gathering for our party.

As part of their virtual event, my family was chosen to host a party. We did our party on September 6th. We held a play date, provided snacks, and let the kids run wild. We made sure the kids drank plenty of water, had some fruit, and ate thier Clif Kid ZBar Protein.

We Had plenty of activities to keep the kids busy, like 4 year olds really need help with this?!

I met a few other moms at a park and asked them each to bring outside toys that encouraged movement. This ended up being the best thing for 4 year olds. We ended up with hula hoops, badminton sets, wagons, sacks, and anything else you could think of for outside play. We got the kids to take turn playing with the toys together.

I must say that this was definitely a success. In fact, I'm thinking of making this a common thing. Several times a month, we'll meet at the party and do this.

Because we only had a few kids at this play date, we were able to do it again at TBomb and Kodabug's birthday party. Letting the kids run wild in spurts allowed them to enjoy the party and not squirm trying to be still.

LeapBand is a truly unique children's product. It encourages movement through games. Tracking the child's movement, the virtual pets are taken care of. You can even connect it to your computer to set school and sleep mode. In these modes, the games are blocked, although movement is still tracked. During sleep and school times, the LeapBand functions as a watch. When connected to the computer, you can track progress and even add challenges, although there are built in challenges. There is even an app available from iTunes, Google Play, and LeapPad that corresponds to the LeapBand to earn extra rewards.

My favorite feature is that it requires no batteries- it is charged via USB port. Also, it is educational and encourages an active lifestyle. There are spelling challenges as well. Within a day, TBomb had started spelling CAT and DOG. He would randomly spell them throughout the day. The LeapBand is going to be one of the huge toys this year for Christmas as well. From The Toy Insider: "Congrats @LeapFrog #LeapBand on making our #TITech12 list! See the full list here: bit.ly/1sljhgqpic.twitter.com/OWFl5PolO4"



Clif Kid ZBAR Protein is Tbomb's new favorite snack. I actually can't believe he likes it, because he doesn't usually care for things like this. The bars come in mint chocolate, peanut butter chocolate, and chocolate chip. Tbomb asks for them all the time. With them having 5g of protein, 3g of fiber, and made with organic whole grains, they are definitely a win in my book. ZBar Protein also has no high fructose corn syrup, synthetic preservatives, or artificial flavors. (There is also none of that horrible red or yellow dye in them).

If you are interested in getting kids together to get them moving, encourage a healthy lifestyle, and show that moving is the most fun, be sure to check out the LeapBand Party Planning Guide. There are tons of resources and printables to help make an active and memorable party!

Like on Facebook:

LeapFrog

CLIF Kid

The Palmetto Queen

Check out the infographic below for ideas and tips to stay active!

Easy Vegetables and #Giveaway

Disclaimer: I received a product to review. All opinions are my own.

With my beautiful Kodabug getting older, we have been exploring new menu options. We started with using a garlic press to mush food, but now she's eating what we eat. I've been wanting ways to make it easier, and to make food fun for my very picky Tbomb.

Briefton's InstantVeg came to the rescue with this awesome spiral slicer!

Because of the unique slicing mechanism, I can turn any firm vegetable into a fun dish for the kiddos. I can make veggie fries, veggie pasta, and veggie ribbons.

This makes it easier to feed Tbomb and Kodabug raw vegetables, but I can also cook them and create fun dinners that get the kids excited about healthy foods.

When you order, they send you a recipe book with 20 healthy spiral slicer recipes. This should be in every mom's arsenal.

It comes with 4 cutting widths and really is as easy as turning a handle. Slice directly into your dish/ pan or slice in to the attached bowl. It even comes with a lid that locks in aromas. I love that it is all contained, so there is no risk of finger injury and the design makes it easier to slice larger vegetables.

The InstantVeg spiral slicer has become my favorite kitchen gadget. I'll even take it camping with us!

Would you like to win your own Briefton's InstantVeg spriral slicer? Just comment below on how it will make your life easier for a chance to win one of your own! 

Winner will be chosen October 1.

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.