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TCBY Frozen Yogurt Pool Party #TCBYGrocery #CBias

Posted by html404 on July 14, 2012
in Food and Treats, Fun Stuff, Uncategorized

A couple of months ago a fellow homeschooler posted on our homeschool group that a friend was selling their pool. It was only used one season. We thought with all the land we had here that it would be great to have a pool to play in so we bought it. One minor detail….we neglected to ask the landlords first, as we really didn’t think it would be an issue. When we did, they talked among their sibling group – this sibling group manages the property since their dad has Alzheimer’s and is in a nursing home – they said no because it’s a liability. You don’t know how disappointed we were. Now we have a nice 15ft by 36″ pool sitting in our garage all boxed up waiting for us to find our forever home….some day.

How can we have a pool party then without a pool? We played in the water at the outside tap. All our garden hoses were out in the garden and in the pasture with the chickens so we filled up water balloons to celebrate and used the water at the side of the house; which also happens to leak and spray all over the place and acted as our sprinkler. We did look for sprinklers at Walmart when we went shopping but there was only one style available and after envisioning the children breaking it, we opted to save the money. Things break easily and fast and lots at our house.

We bought our treats though!

Video of who the little princess above was aiming for! See the video below to find out!

Our pool party was in celebration of National Ice Cream Day, which is tomorrow July 15. It has been super hot here lately. It’s like that every where from what we hear and read. And what better way to cool down than to play in cool refreshing water and snack on some TCBY Frozen Yogurt treats?! Fun, eh?

Leave a comment telling us what flavor frozen yogurt or ice cream you will eat in honor of National Ice Cream Day! Personally, I really like the Vanilla Bean, Orange and Chocolate. All the TCBY Frozen Novelties we tried are a hit with our crew. We really enjoyed TCBY’s frozen yogurt. Special thanks to #CBias for giving us the opportunity to try it for the first time! Hmmm…speaking of treats…wonder if there’s any left?

If you are interested in learning more about #TCBYGrocery, then please join us on Thursday, July 26, 2012 for a Twitter Party from 1-2pm EST. There will be chances to win some cool prizes too! In the meantime, check them out at TCBYGrocery.com, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

“I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community. This content has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and TCBY #CBias #SocialFabric #TCBYGrocery. All opinions are my own.”

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Drawing, Art and the Magic Whiteboard

Posted by html404 on July 11, 2012
in Education, Fun Stuff, Reviews, School

My children love to draw. They create paper dolls, they draw pictures of families, animals and have lots of fun doing so. What’s that old saying about idle hands? Well drawing keeps my children mostly out of trouble because their hands are kept busy. They can draw for hours on end and be pretty quiet while doing so…until they start fighting over markers or crayons (grimace). Drawing has been a great activity to do inside during this hot spell we have been experiencing.

Last summer I invested in a number of wipe off activity books so my younger crew could practice writing their names, alphabet and numbers. I thought this would help save on the amount of paper we used, in addition to saving money. They worked really well, except now we go through more white board markers!

Speaking of whiteboard markers, drawing, art and the Magic Whiteboard have been lifesavers for me during times I need to get work done.

Magic Whiteboard is a roll of whiteboard paper that has 25 sheets per roll ($59.99 retail value). It is portable so setting up a whiteboard on the go never got any easier. The surface wipes off really well and is completely reusable. Ripping the sheet of whiteboard paper off straight and in one piece is challenging at times, especially now that my children broke the box the roll came in. Update: Let me amend this by saying I completely missed the perforated sheets! It works great even with my broken box. (wry smile)

It works great for keeping little boys busy too. What do you think, is it a keeper? I would have to agree!

Interested in the Magic Whiteboard for your family? Feel free to connect with Magic Whiteboard on their website, Twitter , Facebook or Pinterest. Be sure to check out their other products too while you are there!

Faith and Family Reviews received the following product in exchange for writing a review. While we consider it a privilege to receive products to review, our reviews are our honest opinion and thoughts of the product.

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TinyPrints.com

Posted by Brande on June 29, 2012
in Coupons, Family Stuff, Fun Stuff, Holidays, Pregnancy and Birth, Uncategorized

Need invites for your summer parties? Planning a wedding or shower? How about a birth announcement? Got a kid’s birthday coming up? I Do! Head over to Tinyprints.com for your invite printing needs. Once you pick your card, this is a very user friendly site. It walks you through each step of the card. If you need to edit, just click on it! Very simple.

Check out all of https://www.facebook.com/tinyprints

· Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/tinyprints

· Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/tiny_prints/

I will be receiving cards for posting this blog information.

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Old Navy $1.00 Flip Flops June 30th!

Posted by Brande on June 28, 2012
in Family Stuff, Fashion, Fun Stuff, Products for Dad, Products for Mom, SALES, Shopping, Thrifty Thursday

According to Old Navy’s Facebook Site! $1.00 Flip Flops on June 30th!

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Toys for My Boys

Posted by html404 on June 27, 2012
in Baby Products, Family Stuff, Fun Stuff, Kids Toys, Reviews

In a consumer driven age it’s hard to keep “the stuff” at bay. I have always been one to go through my belongings and get rid of stuff. I can thank my mom for that trait or habit. Our home growing up was never cluttered with stuff and that’s the way I have strived to be, I just have double the people my mom did. It gets tougher when you have eight children, especially when they are home every day. Some of you have the advantage of purging while your kids are at school, I don’t have that luxury. I can’t throw out things they really want to keep, but are useless and take up space. You know all those little trinkets, drawings. They are wonderful but I can’t keep every single one my eight children make or I’d live in paperville! Thankfully, the older my children get the better they are becoming about keeping things to a minimum – that does not mean they are neat about it though!

We have always been on the conservative side of toys too – didn’t want to live in toyville either! So when our children receive toys it is usually something that they have really talked about or we thought they would play with it long term, a figure or little people or an educational toy.

People figures have always been a favorite in our house and something our children never really get tired of playing. Our children recently saw a transformers trailer and so we thought our four year old would enjoy playing with the Transformers Rescue Bot. It is really easy to transform and both our little boys love playing with it. It retails for $12.99.

Here’s a little video with my daughter showing how it works before we let the little boys have it, as I didn’t want to have to hunt for it!

Now my littlest guy gets a kick out of the Playskool Poppin’ Park Squeezn’n Pop lion toy. It’s this little toy lion that has a circle mouth where you can place a ball, then you squeeze and out pops the ball! Junior laughs every time. This is a toy for little ones 18 months and up.

Love these new toys for my boys!

Have your children received any new toys lately? If so, what?

Faith and Family Reviews received the following product in exchange for writing a review. While we consider it a privilege to receive free products to review, our reviews are our honest opinion and thoughts of the product.

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Kohl’s Cares Campaign – A Review

Posted by Professor on June 24, 2012
in Books, Education, Family Stuff, Fun Stuff, Gift Ideas, Giving Back/Charity, Kids Toys, Organization

Kohl’s is one of my favorite stores… not only because they offer a great variety of fashion but because of their low prices and great deals! But Kohl’s is awesome because they also give back though their Kohl’s Cares campaign.

Kohl’s Cares Campaign features merchandise for children and 100 percent of the net profit benefits children’s health and education initiatives nationwide.

Items available through the Kohl’s cares campaign for the Summer 2012 campaign feature Vibrant Guy Parker-Rees illustrated Books, Coordinating plush toys, and tote bag.

Kohl’s Cares Cause Merchandise for Kids Books include:

Down by the Cool of the Pool – Children will love to sing and dance along as the story comes alive with animal sounds and celebration!

Giraffes Can’t Dance – This adorable story will teach children about the importance of individuality in a tale of a giraffe with two left feet.

Dinosaurumpus! – Read this fun story aloud to children and watch their excitement as they get a glimpse into the life of a dinosaur. Who knew dinosaurs could dance? This book and coordinating plush are available exclusively at Kohls.com only.

NEW ITEM: Down by the Cool of the Pool tote bag – Resourceful and cute, this multi-purpose tote bag is great for the pool, a sleepover or even a trip to the grocery and features a vibrant illustration from Down by the Cool of the Pool – a must have for summer!

All items are ONLY $5.00 each

Kohl’s Cares Cause Merchandise for Grown-Ups

Kohl’s is treating adults to a tasty way to support children’s health and education with two cookbooks that are great for the entire family. Beat the summer heat and treat friends and family to a variety of homemade popsicles featured in POPS! Icy Treats for Everyone by Krystina Castella. Adults can also learn to master the art of outdoor grilling with Good Housekeeping: Grilling cookbook. Each cookbook is available for just $5 – a real value!

In addition to the merchandise program, Kohl’s Cares features the Kohl’s Cares Scholarship Program, which last year recognized more than 2,100 young volunteers with a total of $410,000 in scholarships and prizes; the Associates in Action program, which encourages associate volunteerism and provided more than $10 million in grants last year to youth-focused nonprofit organizations and fundraising gift cards for schools and youth-serving organizations. For more information, visit www.Kohls.com/Cares.

OUR REVIEW:

We were very excited to have the opportunity to review items from the Summer Kohl’s Cares Campaign. We received a plush monkey and two books (Giraffes Can’t Dance and Down by the Cool of the Pool). The monkey plush is so cute…my youngest (3 years old) totes it around everywhere and has deemed it her best friend. The books are also a favorite in our household. The stories are very cute and the illustrations are wonderful. The illustrations make the stories pop to life…my children absolutely love hearing the stories again and again.

I would not hesitate to purchase more from this series…not only because the kids love the books and plush but because all of the profit goes to charity. I actually went to Kohl’s today and stopped by the Kohl’s care campaign Kiosk to grab a tote bag…and to my disappointment the entire Kiosk was empty. So…this must be the hot campaign this summer. I hope my local Kohl’s restocks so that I can get some more goodies real soon! Stop by your local Kohl’s and check out what they have to offer!

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Melissa & Doug Giveaway on Facebook!

Posted by Brande on June 19, 2012
in Contests, Education, Family Stuff, Fun Stuff, Gift Ideas, Giveaways, Kids Toys, Parenting, Seasonal Stuff, Shopping

I’m a HUGE Melissa & Doug fan and wanted to share about this great giveaway! Every week they pick a new winner for a great Melissa & Doug Camp Sunny Patch Product – virtual camp for you and your kids! I missed the first 2 weeks, eek! Forgive me! The sprinkler above was for the week ending the 19th. According to their terms page here’s the weekly line up:

6/21 to 6/26 – Spark Shark Floating Target Game

6/17 to 7/3 – Happy Giddy Bug Net

7/5 to 7/10 – Speck Seahorse Sand Ice Cream Set

7/12 to 7/17 – Winner’s Choice Role Play Costume

7/19 to 7/24 – The Box Girls Camp Bunk Box of Questions

7/26 to 7/31 – Backyard Explorer Role Play Costume

8/2 to 8/7 – Spark Shark Fish Hunt Pool Toy

8/9 to 8/14 – Activity Cones – Set of 8

8/16 to 8/21 – Trunki Prize Pack (includes 1 Trunki Suitcase, 1 Trunki Saddlebag, 1 Trunki Tote Bag, 3 packs of Trunki Stickers)

8/23 to 8/28 – USA Map Floor Puzzle

Let me know which Melissa & Doug Giveaway your kids would love!

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BRAVE in Theatres June 22!

Posted by html404 on June 18, 2012
in Family Stuff, Fun Stuff, Movie Monday, Movies

This is a rare Movie Monday about Brave…

Have you heard of Disney/Pixar’s new movie coming out next week? Have you watched any of the clips? I’ve received several to share but they usually get cast off for something else I have to work on. But today I am sharing one! Do the happy movie dance for me, ok? Ha-ha!

It is about a new princess, Merida, who seems to have a mind of her own. Very strong willed, passionate and courageous.

This looks like it will be quite the movie! What do you think of this hilarious new “Summer Games” clip?

It’s also a bit gross in parts with some little boy humor, eh?

Brave will be in Theaters near you on June 22. Check your local listings. In the mean time be sure to check out the movie’s Facebook page.

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Father’s Day Frosty Weekend & Giveaway!

Posted by html404 on June 14, 2012
in Family Stuff, Fun Stuff, Giveaways, Giving Back/Charity, Holidays

This weekend is Father’s Day! What plans do you have? We do not have anything fancy planned, just a quiet day at home. Simple is our motto these days. However, if you are still clamoring for a gift for dad, perhaps you would like to give a gift that gives back. Wendy’s has something that you and your whole family can do that will also help other families! It has a yummy factor too!

Now through Father’s Day, anyone can help children in foster care find permanent, loving homes. Wendy’s is inviting all of us to help continue it’s Father’s Day Frosty Weekend tradition – for the sixth year in a row! Wendy’s is raising money for Wendy’s Wonderful Kids. This is a program of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, which focuses on helping children in foster care find their forever homes.

Here’s what you need to know:

Who: Everyone! And dad, too!

What: Help Wendy’s make a big donation to Wendy’s Wonderful Kids, the signature program of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption that is dedicated to finding permanent adoptive families for children in foster care. They want to beat last year’s $1.4 million donation! Let’s help them get there!

When: Father’s Day Weekend (June 16 – 17)

How: There are three ways to donate:

1. Buy any Frosty product: On Saturday, June 16 and Sunday, June 17, for each Frosty product purchased, participating Wendy’s will donate 50-cents to Wendy’s Wonderful Kids. (includes the original, parfaits, shakes and floats).

2. Use a mobile-friendly website to check in at Wendy’s: Wendy’s will donate 50-cents for every customer that checks in at Wendy’s restaurants during Father’s Day Weekend (June 16 and 17 only) using Wendy’s special mobile-friendly website found at www.wendys.com/treatitforward.

3. Re-tweet: Now through Father’s Day, re-tweet one of @Wendys special Twitter posts with the hashtag #TreatItFwd—and Wendy’s will make a 50-cent donation. You can follow @Wendys on Twitter at https://twitter.com/wendys.

Giveaway!

Prize: 3 winners will each win a $7.00 Wendy’s gift card!

How to Enter: Simply enter the Rafflecopter choices below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Faith and Family Reviews received a $10 Wendy’s gift card for our family’s use and a $7 Wendy’s gift card for the giveaway as a participant in this Wendy’s campaign through TheMotherhood.

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Annie’s Homegrown – Bernie’s Summer Road Trip!

Posted by Brande on June 14, 2012
in All Natural Products, Animals, Contests, Family Stuff, Food and Treats, Free Stuff, Fun Stuff, Organic, Parenting

Annie’s Homegrown wants your pictures with Bernie the Bunny! They will choose 1 winner each week to win a road trip snack pack. If you one of the early entries you could get a Bernie decal! The contest ends July 31st – Don’t Forget to download Bernie!