Sensory Mud- Pinned it, Did it

sensory mud, sensory sandIf your kids like things that feel neat then this is the thing for them! It’s REALLY easy and REALLY cheap to make too! All you need is water and a box of baking soda (which usually runs you less than a dollar). My kids love to feel squishy things with their hands and feet so when I saw this pinned on Pinterest I thought I better give it a try. The original pin just used baking soda and water, but I added a little food coloring to the water prior to mixing and we ended up with some blue “sensory mud.”

Dump your box of baking soda in a bowl and SLOWLY add a few drops of water….seriously all you need is about a teaspoon total. If you add the water to quickly or add to much you end up with soup rather than mud.sensory sand, sensory mud

My kids loved to just squeeze it but there are several other things you can do with it too. You can use different cookie cutters to make shapes in the mud, which was one of my favorite things to do with it. My two-year old used the sensory mud to drive his trucks in and he thought it was awesome! sensory sand, sensory mud

My daughter, a little mommy, pretended to make bowls of ice cream and snow cones with it. sensory sand, sensory mud

All in all it was good clean fun! When you are done you can store it in an air tight container or plastic bag or you can use the moistened baking soda as an abrasive to scrub out your sinks.

Snugg iPad4 Case

Snugg iPad4 CaseWe were recently contacted by the company The Snugg to review their Snugg iPad4 Case. Since Jamie doesn’t own an iPad and we do I had the pleasure of receiving one. I immediately jumped at the opportunity to review this because we were actually in the market for a new case for our iPad. The main person that uses the iPad in our house is our eldest son, lil’ King. He uses the iPad to work on Spanish Immersion classes, reading, and math homework for school. The case that came with our iPad worked fine (and when I say fine, I mean, it was very basic and served a very basic purpose).
Snugg iPad4 Case
Our Snugg iPad4 Case in the mail I was pleasantly surprised by the bright and BOLD color of the electric blue case we chose. My son is a huge fan of blue and he was very happy about my color choice. After soaking in the fantastic color of the case I noticed that this case was made with the utmost quality. These cases are made of leather and the durability of it was evident. With our “old” case we were able to position the iPad in two different ways (completely flat or slightly tipped for screen viewing). The Snugg iPad4 Case gives a variety of positioning of the iPad to offer the optimal view of the screen.

The Snugg offers a lifetime warranty of the case and in all honesty I can’t see a reason you would ever need to cash in on this warranty. They took into account every detail! The Snugg iPad4 Case has a great little tab on the side for your stylus as well as the perfect fit for every button, nook and cranny on your iPad. They really thought of everything! You can even get a great attachment  called the Snugg iPad 4 Car Headrest Mount Holder which allows you to attach the iPad with case to the back of the seat for passengers to view movies and videos.
Snugg iPad4 Case
Taken directly from their site: “If you enjoy using FaceTime or Skype, you’ll love the extra features we’ve added to our iPad 4 cases. By opening the cover and folding it around the back of your iPad, you’ll be able to use your iPad 4 more comfortably thanks to an improved viewing angle. If you want to walk around your house while using your iPad 4, you’ll love the integrated elastic strap which makes it even easier to grip your iPad 4. No need to worry about dropping your tablet accidentally.”

The Snugg iPad4 Case really is a great deal, in my opinion and I am incredibly pleased that they contacted us to review this product. They don’t know it but my twins are getting iPads for their 5th birthdays and I think we might have to make them extra special by getting them a Snugg iPad4 Case to go with them. If you are interested in purchasing your own Snugg iPad 4 Case click on the link here.

Mom Tips to Help Make Every Day Extraordinary

logoEveryday

Samantha Harris, celebrity mom of two and television personality, shares her favorite mom tips to help make your everyday extraordinary.

Tip #1: Schedule your mom activities like an appointment! I like to pencil in workouts, carpool duty and grocery shopping right into my calendar so I can keep my to-do list organized. Seeing it all written down is a surefire way to get it all done and allow you to rearrange as needed.

Tip #2: Make “date night” a priority! As moms, we are constantly juggling many hats and it can be easy to forget to focus some time for our relationships. Ask your relatives or a friend to babysit for a night (and offer to return the favor), then hit the town. Or have a “date in”, by setting up a sleepover for the kids (or putting them to bed early), and rent a movie, make some popcorn and curl up on the couch!

Tip #3: Enlist the kids to help! Chores don’t need to solely fall on mom—I like to get my kids involved by making a chore wheel and set up a completion sticker chart with rewards. Have the kids choose the rewards like which family movie to rent that week or a special activity with mom.

Tip #4: Look for resources that can help make it all a little easier. I rely on the new P&G everyday™ (pgeveryday.com) for tips, tools, reviews and discounts (we all love those!) to help me handle the stuff I need to do so that I can spend more time doing the things I want to do. It’s all about getting back time for those little rewarding moments with your family.

Tip #5: Prep food for the week on Sundays! Sunday is a perfect time to gather the kids to help you in the kitchen and prepare the basics for the week. Chop veggies and fruit and put each into their own container in plain view in the fridge. That way when someone needs a quick snack, it is all ready for eating and you can be confident they are eating something healthy. Great idea for prepping lunchboxes!

This is a sponsored post shared  by us on behalf of P&G.

Birthdays with “The Twin Factor”

Twin Birthday PartyMore often than not I am asked about my twins and how alike they really are.  In a factual sense of the term they are twins: they were born on the same day, from the same mother and they shared the womb. But beyond that they really are quite different (besides the obvious that they are different genders).  They enjoy each others company and they are pretty protective of each other, which I think is adorable, and they are generally a terrific two-some. fraternal twins, twin birthdays

For the first 4 years of their lives I was able to squeak in my own personal preference for “twin-ness” by hosting their birthday parties with themes (prince and princess, monkeys, spring theme and last year was all about the number four). This year, however, it slapped me in the face when it came to their differences. I will admit my heart was a little broken when I realized what was occurring, they were asserting themselves in their own right.  They are in different pre-school classrooms this year and therefore they each got to pick out a birthday cake to share with their friends at school. My daughter picked out the most girlie cake possible with flowers, princesses, and sparkles. My son on the other hand-picked out a cake that was filled with greens, browns, tie dye swirls and of course Scooby Doo.

What’s a type-a, OCD girl to do? I certainly can’t force them to pick out a cake together…and to be honest, I wouldn’t.  But given the fact that they each “needed” a cake for school and then the drama continued with their birthday party, we ended up with FOUR cakes! $90 worth of frosted goodness!

The point? I learned that it truly is OK if they each want their own cakes and in all honesty it makes them happy, thus I am happy!

Twin Birthdays, Fraternal Twins, Twins

If you have twins, how similar or different are they?

Kids Car Wash

car wash, kids car wash, cozy coupe, little tykes

Some of you may remember my post a while back about Making Cleaning Fun.  Well the spring has been sloooooooow to arrive in the frozen tundra and today it finally arrived! The sun is shining and their Cozy Coupe cars from Little Tykes were in desperate need of a cleaning.

We lined them up for the car washing of their lives!car wash, kids car wash, cozy coupe, little tykes

I ran in the house and grabbed a bucket of warm soapy water and a few wash cloths.carwash 006

My daughter decided that the cars needed a little vacuuming before they were spiffed up for spring.car wash, kids car wash, cozy coupe, little tykes

After lots of bubbles and giggles we ended up with three VERY clean cars. Have you ever held a car wash at your house?