Wednesday, February 29, 2012
The Torture of Moving With Little Kids
As Spring approaches I can't help but shudder when I think back to my life at this time last year. I think Chinese Water Torture would have probably been more pleasant. Okay, possibly that's a bit extreme but you get the point. My stress level was overwhelming. Why? We (I) decided that we needed to move. Keep in mind at the time we had a two and half year old and a 10 month old baby and we lived in a perfectly fine house on a nice street. I'm pretty sure that everyone in my life thought I was crazy, including my husband and my parents but in my heart I knew that we could be a happier family in a different house. Here were my reasons:
1. Our kitchen was nice, but was too small for a kitchen table. Instead, we ate at bar stools, and the kids had to sit in chairs strapped to the bar. Hubby called it the "snake pit" because the kids were always reaching for his food and getting his shirts dirty. See that small area? All four of us somehow managed to squeeze together every night. We searched and searched for ways to get a table into our kitchen, but it was just too small.2. The bedrooms were all crammed together on the main floor and also VERY close to our TV room and kitchen so after the kids went to bed we were always whispering and didn't feel like we could really kick back and enjoy our evening. Plus, our alarm clock goes off around 5:30 every morning and sometimes the kids woke up and wouldn't go back to bed. This caused a lot of stress for our marriage because when my husband was on call for the hospital, he gets paged all night long so he just slept downstairs often because we were always worried it would wake up the kids.
3. We had a old weird guy living next to us and exactly ZERO little kids on our actual street. I remembered growing up with friends next door and I knew that I wanted the same thing for our kids.
I won't bore you with the all the details of what we went through last February. The short version of the story is that we found a house that we loved and it was a short sale so we got a great deal on it. However, I was cursing myself, Hubby was cursing me, and I'm sure my family were secretly cursing me during the process of cleaning the house and getting it ready to sell, putting it on the market, and then the enormous job of packing. If you have ever tried to keep your kitchen counters spotless with a 10 month old and a two year old, you know what I mean. Plus, when buyers want to come inspect the house at 2:30 in the afternoon, you can't exactly say, "Sorry. My kids like to nap until 4ish and I don't like to wake them up because they'll be cranky later."
On top of everything, Hubby was working terrible hours at that time and got home really late at night (surgery resident) so my parents helped a lot, but the stuff in our house just seemed to keep multiplying. For about three weeks I woke up at 4:30 and ran downstairs and packed as much as I could before the kids woke up.
But then...we moved into our new house...and it turns out that it was all worth it! My daughter made a friend right away and suddenly every afternoon she was thrilled to go outside and play! We found a beautiful kitchen table at a consignment store and our meal times were suddenly my favorite part of the day. Look at that bright sunny room and huge table...plenty of room for everyone and we even get to look out the windows at the birds and the trees while we eat. Not only that, but our bedroom was far enough away from the kids that Hubby didn't have to leave our room to get ready or work. Even Hubby finally admitted that I was right to put us through moving with two small children.I guess the moral of my store is that change can seem overwhelming, but if there are legitimate reasons, it will be worth it. If you don't like your house, move! If you don't like your job, find a new one. Yes, change is hard. But sometimes you can go through two months of pure torture, only to come out better on the other end. It's been almost a year since we moved and every single day I am thankful for the choice that we made. The kids are so happy in our new house, and we are a MUCH happier, and MUCH stronger family.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Stickers Aren't a Waste of Money!
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The Little Mermaid is the latest obsession around our house. We even have to read the book every night and of course I can't skip even one single page. If I try, Munchkin Girl immediately stops me and says, "Mommy! You skipped the page about Ariel's Daddy!"
The good news is there are lots of projects we can do that are related to The Little Mermaid. I saw a tub of ocean stickers the other day and thought it would be a very easy craft for Munchkin Girl to create her own "ocean". I used to think stickers were a bit indulgent...really just a waste of money until my friend and child expert Susan Case helped me realize that stickers can be a really valuable way for children to work on strength and fine motor skills. We've been doing lots of stickers lately and last weekend we went out breakfast and they gave us a plastic case of crayons. Normally Munchkin Girl would have made me open hers, because it was clear plastic and pretty tricky to open, but this time, she opened the package herself without even asking for help! I really think this is from all the sticker practice she has had lately.
However, I noticed something this sticker project. Not all stickers are created equally. First, we started with a book of stickers that I bought because it had a lot of variety. I liked all the choices she would have. However, as it turned out, these were too small for her. She could get the stickers started, but then the head wouldn't come with the rest of the body and she would get frustrated and whine for me to come help her. I could tell this project didn't booster her self-confidence at all. In fact, it was the opposite because she had trouble with almost every one she tried to remove. We had much better luck with the larger, foam stickers. They didn't look like they would be as much fun because they didn't have any detail, but she didn't care. She definitely preferred the ease of the larger stickers and so did I because when she was able to take the stickers off by herself, the project took her a lot of time and she worked quietly by herself while she created her ocean.
So, if you're ever wondering how to improve fine motor skills in preschoolers, go with this cheap craft! Who knows...you might end up with smarter kids!! :-) All I needed for this project was construction paper and the stickers. It took no prep work from me and was easy to clean up!
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PS...I've been nominated for Top 25 Most Creative Blogs on Circle of Moms. If you have a second, I would love it if you voted for me. Just click the button below to get to the site and then find me (I'm about #10 currently but would like to move up!! :-))
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PS...I've been nominated for Top 25 Most Creative Blogs on Circle of Moms. If you have a second, I would love it if you voted for me. Just click the button below to get to the site and then find me (I'm about #10 currently but would like to move up!! :-))
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Easy Craft for my Daughter to Give to New Baby
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My daughter loves babies, whether real or pretend, so she is thrilled that she will be getting two baby cousins this Spring! I'm really excited too (especially since I won't be the one having to get up for midnight feedings haha!)
We traveled to the joint baby shower last weekend and Munckin Girl (3.5 years) was excited to help me wrap the presents so I decided to come up with a cheap craft so that she could give a gift that was just from her. I mixed up a little bit of Elmer's glue and a little bit of water with a small drop of food coloring. Then I cut hearts out of tissue paper. She simply used a paintbrush to "paint on the glue", then it stuck the paper:
Even the little guy was able to participate without making too much of a mess (22 months)
After we finished the hearts portion, we even snuck in some work on letters. First, I traced in pencil and then I gave her a nice fat marker so she could trace over my writing and work on her letters. She was very proud of being the one to write on the gift.
And finally, our finished product...we made two of these and I put them inside our gift bags. During the shower, they let Munchkin Girl help unwrap the gifts and she was so excited when they opened our present and saw what she'd made for them!
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
How to Start Developing Math Skills in Your Toddlers and Preschoolers
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Did you know that only 25% of the human brain is developed at birth? A large part of the remaining 75% of the development comes before age five, through interesting stimulation and activities.
So I know we're supposed to make sure that our kids get plenty of opportunities to learn, but I'm also a realist. I still need to pay the bills, make dinner and do the laundry so for a long time I wondered how in the world I was supposed to find the time to "teach" my young children. Plus, I don't want life to be a grind. I want to enjoy my kids and watch them play and have fun in life but I still have to get stuff done!
Since then, I have spent countless hours researching and experimenting with activities and crafts for preschoolers. It turns out that research shows that kids who are challenged behave better...who knew! Plus, I have found that once I introduced playful learning activities, my kids became more independent, which gave me more free time and made us a more balanced family.
I have teamed up with fellow blogger, former Kindergarten teacher, and author, Susan Case. We are co-writing a book about activities to do with children to keep them busy at home so Moms can still get chores done AND promote healthy learning through play. As we were collaborating on writing, I learned a lot from Susan. One idea I got from her was related to patterning. Here is an excerpt from our book which will be available this spring (this is one of Susan's parts).
So I know we're supposed to make sure that our kids get plenty of opportunities to learn, but I'm also a realist. I still need to pay the bills, make dinner and do the laundry so for a long time I wondered how in the world I was supposed to find the time to "teach" my young children. Plus, I don't want life to be a grind. I want to enjoy my kids and watch them play and have fun in life but I still have to get stuff done!
Since then, I have spent countless hours researching and experimenting with activities and crafts for preschoolers. It turns out that research shows that kids who are challenged behave better...who knew! Plus, I have found that once I introduced playful learning activities, my kids became more independent, which gave me more free time and made us a more balanced family.
I have teamed up with fellow blogger, former Kindergarten teacher, and author, Susan Case. We are co-writing a book about activities to do with children to keep them busy at home so Moms can still get chores done AND promote healthy learning through play. As we were collaborating on writing, I learned a lot from Susan. One idea I got from her was related to patterning. Here is an excerpt from our book which will be available this spring (this is one of Susan's parts).
"When children sort and pattern, they actually learn mathematical skills. Children begin sorting things at an early age. In fact, according to some researchers, young children spend over 40 percent of their time sorting objects into sets, counting objects, or exploring patterns and forms. You don’t have to buy expensive computer games or use explicit mathematical instruction for your child to learn math. They are doing it naturally. Take advantage of teachable moments and extend their learning. Provide materials for them to feel, manipulate, sort, and count. First, they will be interested in the texture or form or movement of an object. Then they may line up a row of cars, eventually putting an object beside each car (matching and one-on-one correspondence). They are learning about more and less; smaller and bigger; and conservation. You don’t need to buy anything special. Play math games with whatever interests your child: dolls, action figures, marbles, cotton balls, or swings at the park. Count trees as you take a walk. A parent’s role is to provide opportunities for growth but also to let children expand their learning in their own way. Listen and watch. You will be amazed at how much time children spend enjoying math discovery—which is helping them acquire reading and science skills during the process.”
So, one day I was looking for a rainy day activity. We set up a sensory bowl with lots of colorful objects. We used pom poms, rocks, colorful Popsicle sticks, and several other items we had around the house. The kids were immediately intrigued.
Then I set up bowls for sorting the pom poms into different colors. I put several of the same color into a bowl to show them what to do. First they stayed busy just feeling and moving the pom poms. Then they began to sort them by color into the bowls.
We did that for a few minutes, and once they lost interest in sorting I let them take the lead. That's the thing about these types of games. I didn't push sorting because I didn't want to make it something they didn't enjoy. Instead, I sat back and let them create what they wanted. Pretty soon it turned into a pouring game, which is also great for fine motor:
Then, by the end, they both started making "soup". They asked me to get out spoons and they spent about 30 minutes soup, baking the soup in the pretend kitchen, etc.
For me, this was a huge success. First, it kept them busy for over an hour, which is kind of the whole point, right? Second, they practiced their sorting and patterning, then they practiced fine motor, and finished up with some good imaginary play. After all, playing is a child's work.
If you enjoyed this post, you will love our book! Susan and I teamed up and released The Happy Mommy Handbook: The Ultimate How-to Guide on Keeping Your Toddlers and Preschoolers Busy, Out of Trouble, and Motivated to Learn in July, 2012. If you have ever tried to cook dinner while your kid clings to your leg and cries, this is the book for you! As we did above, we give you a Mom's point of view and a teacher's point of view, so that you can do activities that not only keep the kids busy, but also keep them motivated to learn and develop their natural curiosity. Kids behave better when they are given challenging projects to work on, which will in turn give you more free time to do the things you really need to do, like washing dishes, paying bills, and relaxing so that you can be a better Mom!
Did you enjoy my post? Please vote for me by clicking here...Thanks!!
Monday, February 20, 2012
A fun Alternative to Eating Out
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Going out to dinner with little kids just really isn't that fun. It always SOUNDS like a good idea, but then when you get there, you have to order the second you sit down, you never get to actually finish your dinner because you're so busy corralling everyone and handing out crayons, and inevitably you leave a huge mess, which makes you feel terrible. So last Sunday, we decided to try something a little different for some quality family time. We made our own pizzas! I don't really love letting the kids make MY meal because I'm a bit of a germ freak, so this was perfect. They each made their own and we made our own. Then we all at them together.
First, we spread the pizza sauce:
Then we spread the cheese.
The only problem with this plan was that they were both ready to eat the pizzas immediately after we made them. They had trouble understand they had to be COOKED first. We had about ten frantic minutes, with Little Buddy yelling, "Ready? Mommy? Ready????"
I think the next time we might have to make them earlier in the day, when they aren't ravenous.
Still, it all turned out to be very fun and they really enjoyed eating what they'd made!
Friday, February 17, 2012
A Game for Kids to Play Together
Poor Little Buddy. He's done crafts about butterflies, caterpillars, ponies, etc, and he does enjoy them but they aren't very manly. I am always trying to think of an easy craft that a two year old boy will enjoy.nnThomas the Train is very popular in our house and we have dozens of books but I haven't been able to think of a craft for him....until now!
I put out some long butcher paper on our wood floor in the kitchen. Then I drew a "racetrack". Munchkin Girl sat on one end and Little Buddy sat on the other. Once I showed them what to do, they spent almost all day (on and off of course) pushing Thomas back and forth and back and forth...to each other. If I'm being honest, being two years apart is rough. They do spend a lot of the day fighting and screeching over toys so I was thrilled to find something they could actually play together, without fighting.
Then later, we turned it into a picture game:
My babysitter is very creative and a few days after we drew the original track, I came home to find this...an entire city! Trees, a school, a swingset, a church, all kinds of things! She said the kids sat with her for over an hour and watched her draw the city onto the street. We finally had to pull the paper up because it started ripping, but this turned out to be one of the most fun games we've played and home and not only was it an easy craft, it was a cheap craft...All we needed was butcher paper and and masking tape!
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Valentines Day Scavenger Hunt
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Hubby really does have good ideas sometimes. He remembers when he was growing up and every Valentines Day his Mom would have a scavenger hunt and he really wanted us to do it this year. Luckily for us, I'm a sleep-deprived dingbat (see previous post on this subject haha) and we forgot to give them some of their Christmas presents, so we had a great prize for the end of the hunt.
I just put a clue under her doll pillow to start and from there each clue sent her to a new place. Little Bro tagged behind.
Next clue, under Lego Table
Finally! Found the chairs! So excited!!!!
And at last, making sure all the Princesses were represented equally.
We did enjoy this game a lot and will try to make it a Valentines Day tradition. Knowing me, I'm sure I'll keep forgetting Christmas presents every year, so it shouldn't be a problem!
Monday, February 13, 2012
My Little Pony Craft
I love re-using toilet paper holders. I know. I'm a giant nerd. Munchkin Girl has been really enjoying playing with her My Little Pony toy lately so we decided to make some of our own. We simply wrapped pink construction paper around the outside, then we got out our googly eyes, pipe cleaners, etc.
A few things really surprised me...Little Buddy isn't even two yet so I didn't think he would really enjoy this project, but I hate to leave him out so I told him he was making a monster and gave him a tube as well. I was really focusing on Munchkin Girl and it didn't look like he was doing much over there but he was quiet so I just let him do it thing. I figured he wasn't coordinated enough to really make anything.
When I finally went over to inspect his work, I was shocked to see this:
He was holding one of those tiny eyes in his hands and using the glue to put a tiny dot on the eye! Honestly I'm not even sure Munchkin Girl could hold that little googly eye herself. Then he was coordinated enough to actually glue it on! Look at all those eyes!!
I guess I don't give him enough credit sometimes. After he finished his monster, he kept yelling, "Grrrrrr" and was so proud of his creation. When Daddy came home, he yelled, "Loo ut I did!" (Translation: Look what I did)
The other thing that really surprised me was the stickers that Munchkin Girl put on the ponies. I had seen something on Pinterest that I tried to re-create. I know that putting stickers on a page is very good for fine motor skill, so I tried to draw a star and have her put star stickers all around it to work on fine motor. Putting stickers on a page is one thing, but to try to keep them in a straight line requires A TON of concentration. However, she wasn't at all interested in that. Some kids probably would have been, but Munchkin Girl just wasn't interested in it.
My friend and author Susan Case from Kindergarten for Teachers and Parents has explained that children learn best when doing something that is interesting and meangingful to them. This was really clear to me this day because she was suddenly interested in putting the stars in a straight line...as the mouth of her Little Pony! She worked hard and it took her all of about ten minutes, just to get the stickers on, but she finally did it and was so proud!
After we finished the first pony, she wanted to make a "baby pony" and we got to do it all over again!
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Saturday, February 11, 2012
My Kids Crack Me Up Sometimes
Having kids is really fun sometimes. Don't get me wrong. We don't laugh every second of every day, but sometimes they really are funny. I've been writing down some of my favorites lately:
1. Mommy, my potty is coming out sooooo fast!!! (She was very proud)
2. Mommy, you ALWAYS wear jeans! (It's true, I do.)
3. Mommy, this guy looks funny with his hair sticking up like that! (She was referring to a picture of Conan. Keep in mind she simply found the magazine sitting on the table so her comment was totally unprompted by me. Frankly though, she's right. His hair is completely absurd)
4. Mommy, I need some Goldfish it the car! If I don't eat, I'll get too skinny!
5. Mommy, your shirt is on inside out! (And it was. I'm glad she noticed)
6. Mommy, is Carter coming with us to the beach? Oh good, then I'll have someone to play with!
My personal favorites:
7. Carter is the cutest thing ever!
8. God Bless everyone in the whole wide world!
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Learning Letters the Sensory Way
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After my first baby, I quickly realized that life was all about milestones. People don't mean to put pressure on you, but they are constantly asking, "Has she rolled over yet?" "Is he walking yet?"
The problem is that if your little one ISN'T doing something, you feel ashamed and worried that your little one is behind. Now that Munchkin Girl is three and a half, I'm starting to feel the pressure about learning the letters. My friends tell me how their child knows the letters already and I have tried to get her interested, but she just isn't. Since I don't know anything about teaching, I started with what seemed logical to me: I bought some flashcards with letters and pictures. She was about as interested in those as she in in cold peas for dinner. Then I bought a cool easel with magnetic letters and we tried to learn them that way. Again, she ran away from me and I was left wondering what I could possibly do to get her interested in learning letters.
I am lucky that I have made a good friend through my blogging network and she is a very knowledgeable Kindergarten teacher. She advised me to use sensory activities to teach letters. I was sure it wouldn't work, but I tried it anyway.
For this project, our materials were simple: Elmer's glue, construction paper, and sprinkles. Some people use glitter, but I read somewhere that you should NEVER use glitter with little kids because it can get on their hands and then if they rub their eyes it can damage their cornea. Instead I used the leftover green and red sprinkles from making Christmas Cookies last year.
I simply wrote out a name on the paper with glue, then I let them sprinkle it to make the word come to life for them. I was utterly amazed at their reaction. They were both intrigued and they kept begging me to do more until I ran out of glue!
They adored pulling the finished product out the pan to see what they had created. That's the babysitter's name, Renee. They call her Nene. After we finished, Munchkin Girl was sooo excited to show Nene she had done her name!
After my first baby, I quickly realized that life was all about milestones. People don't mean to put pressure on you, but they are constantly asking, "Has she rolled over yet?" "Is he walking yet?"
The problem is that if your little one ISN'T doing something, you feel ashamed and worried that your little one is behind. Now that Munchkin Girl is three and a half, I'm starting to feel the pressure about learning the letters. My friends tell me how their child knows the letters already and I have tried to get her interested, but she just isn't. Since I don't know anything about teaching, I started with what seemed logical to me: I bought some flashcards with letters and pictures. She was about as interested in those as she in in cold peas for dinner. Then I bought a cool easel with magnetic letters and we tried to learn them that way. Again, she ran away from me and I was left wondering what I could possibly do to get her interested in learning letters.
I am lucky that I have made a good friend through my blogging network and she is a very knowledgeable Kindergarten teacher. She advised me to use sensory activities to teach letters. I was sure it wouldn't work, but I tried it anyway.
For this project, our materials were simple: Elmer's glue, construction paper, and sprinkles. Some people use glitter, but I read somewhere that you should NEVER use glitter with little kids because it can get on their hands and then if they rub their eyes it can damage their cornea. Instead I used the leftover green and red sprinkles from making Christmas Cookies last year.
I simply wrote out a name on the paper with glue, then I let them sprinkle it to make the word come to life for them. I was utterly amazed at their reaction. They were both intrigued and they kept begging me to do more until I ran out of glue!
They adored pulling the finished product out the pan to see what they had created. That's the babysitter's name, Renee. They call her Nene. After we finished, Munchkin Girl was sooo excited to show Nene she had done her name!
They were sad when I finally ran out of glue, so we put them all on the kitchen table and I pronounced each name for her so that she could see what she had spelled. I used her friend's and grandparents names so she was totally intrigued. By the end, she could pick out each name and I even heard her telling Little Buddy later, "See? This spells Paaapppaaaa. Don't worry, little buddy, one day you'll be able to read like me."
I have asked Susan to explain more about why this worked and give some extra info on how to teach kids to read, in there is anyone out there who is teaching-challenged like me.
Teacher Thoughts on Sensory Letters
by Susan Case, Teacher Blogger, and Author:
Why are Little Munchkin and Buddy spending so much time learning these glittery letters? Because it is a fun, interesting, hands-on, relevant, playful activity. They are involved and participating in the production and tactile exploration of letters. Children are wired to learn using their five senses. They enjoy touching and participating in the process of forming letters. The are playfully learning through an activity that respects their developmental stage.
I have asked Susan to explain more about why this worked and give some extra info on how to teach kids to read, in there is anyone out there who is teaching-challenged like me.
Teacher Thoughts on Sensory Letters
by Susan Case, Teacher Blogger, and Author:
Why are Little Munchkin and Buddy spending so much time learning these glittery letters? Because it is a fun, interesting, hands-on, relevant, playful activity. They are involved and participating in the production and tactile exploration of letters. Children are wired to learn using their five senses. They enjoy touching and participating in the process of forming letters. The are playfully learning through an activity that respects their developmental stage.
Developmental Stages and the Children's Thoughts while Learning Glittery Letters
- Physical: I’m happy my mom isn’t making me look at those flat cards while she makes funny sounds. I like touching these shiny, bumpy, sticky things.
- Emotional: Mommy sure gets excited when I’m playing with these letters. She keeps pointing to them saying my name and PaaaPaaa’s.
- Cognitive: I think I saw these same kind of lines and circles in that book she keeps reading to me. She sure is happy when I make sounds like she makes (phonemic awareness).
- Social: I love being with my mom doing messy things. She’s wonderful.
Put away the flashcards and get out the sensory materials if you want to teach your child letters. Young children learn by sensory/motor integration as they explore and discover new things in their world. They want to be involved physically in the learning experience by feeling, not just seeing non-dimensional flat surfaces such as paper and screens. Of course, books are wonderful for children to learn as it increases their vocabulary and interest in reading. And letters can be learned from books, television and computers. But children need balance in learning through the use of a variety of tools and teaching strategies.
Other Sensory Learning Exploration Ideas With Letters
- Print letters on cardboard or paper. Lower case letters are best to learn first because most reading is done in the lower case. Pour sand, rice, sugar or popcorn kernels over the letters and let your child find the letters to trace with their fingers. Or you could make block letters out of fine-grain sandpaper for your child to find and trace. While your child traces a letter, say the sound. Put a few letters together and blend the sounds. Of course, a child’s name is the most important word in the world. So begin with the letters in their name.
- Children love making letters in shaving cream and this will erase crayon marks and germs.
- Make letters out of Fuzzy Sticks
- Put magnetic letters on a cookie tray
- Buy blocks with bumped up letters
Children are curious and playful by nature. They are wired to learn by hands-on manipulation of objects. If you give children developmentally appropriate activities, they will stay with the task longer, retain more, and have good memories. You will be their hero for providing such wonderful opportunities for growth. You will have fewer behavior problems as your child will be emotionally, physically, socially, and cognitively challenged and content. Slow down, relax, and enjoy your child. Play and feel like a kid again while they become smarter and happier.
Susan is the author of Kindergarten: Tattle-Tales, Tools, Tactics, Triumphs and Tasty Treats for Teachers and Parents. Her blog address is http://kindergartenbasics.blogspot.com/
If you enjoyed this post, you will love my book! Susan and I teamed up and released the book in July, 2012. If you have ever tried to cook dinner while your kid clings to your leg and cries, this is the book for you! As we did above, we give you a Mom's point of view and a teacher's point of view, so that you can do activities that not only keep the kids busy, but also keep them motivated to learn and develop their natural curiosity. Kids behave better when they are given challenging projects to work on, which will in turn give you more free time to do the things you really need to do, like washing dishes, paying bills, and relaxing so that you can be a better Mom!
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Monday, February 6, 2012
V-Day Playdough pretend "cookies"
She used a lot of fine motor and strength to manipulate all that Playdough into each heart shape and it took quite a bit of time (at least 30 minutes). We have been working on coming up with ways to make her fingers stronger since she still struggles a little with holding the pencil correctly.
When she was finished, she had to take it over to her "oven" for all the cookies to bake. Gotta love a little imagination time on top of fine motor skill!
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Giveaway for 5 Star Urgent Responder ($99 value)
Hubby introduced me to OnStar when we first started dating. He had this really cool Tahoe that was pretty new and OnStar was pretty new at the time too. I loved the idea that if I ever needed to, I could call them and they would know exactly where I was to come help me. Unfortunately my ten year old Toyota Paseo didn't have this option. Shocking, I know!
Now you don't even have to have a fancy car. There is a new device, called a 5 Star Urgent Responder. This little device is a special headset and allows you to call them anytime in an emergency. They will detect your location and can even conference in family members. They use a GPS locator to find you.
They have offered to give one of my readers a free handset, registration, and one month registration for free (a $98 value). I happily accepted because as a Mom with two little ones, I am always nervous that I'm going to be stranded somewhere and my phone will be dead.
I will notify the winners via email only and this giveaway is open to US Residents only, 18 and older. The contest will be done on 2/28/12. I cannot be held responsible in any way, as I am not the sponsor and I have not tried out this product. I received no monetary compensation for this giveaway. Good luck!!
I will notify the winners via email only and this giveaway is open to US Residents only, 18 and older. The contest will be done on 2/28/12. I cannot be held responsible in any way, as I am not the sponsor and I have not tried out this product. I received no monetary compensation for this giveaway. Good luck!!
To find out more about the offer and the company, you can go to:
Or watch a video on YouTube:
I received the product mentioned above free of charge for editorial consideration, and I’m also eligible for additional incentives. However, all opinions expressed are 100% my own.
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Thursday, February 2, 2012
Good Old Fashioned Hide And Go Seek
Oh, the afternoons can be so long in the winter. This week we started playing an old favorite we had forgotten about for a few months: Hide and Go Seek!
This is Munchkin Girl's favorite hiding spot.
She giggles the whole time and is always surprised when we find her. Sometimes she even helps Little Bro get in this position and then they're both giggle and wait for us to find them. Sometimes winter isn't so bad!
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