Two years ago I attended We Day for the first time. I was motivated but completely overwhelmed at the end of the day. I had no clue what We Day entailed and no clue how it would change my life and the lives of friends. We Day is a day long celebration of kids doing good in the world. Inspirational speakers such as Chelsea Clinton, Marlee Matlin, and Henry Winkler and concert acts such as Ciara, Nico & Vinz, and Natalie La Rose make We Day a star studded event full of energy and dedication to change. You can’t buy a ticket, you have to earn it through service and making a commitment to take action on at least one local and one global initiative. WE is We Day, Free The Children and Me to We. Together, our three brands make up a family of organizations that work to empower each of us to make the world a better place. We are all connected. Together WE change the world. There are many different ways to get involved in the WE movement. One is through We Schools. The We … [Read more...]
FARE’s Teal Pumpkin Project™
I was not asked to write about Food Allergy Research & Education's (FARE) Teal Pumpkin Project™ nor am I receiving any compensation for this post. The Teal Pumpkin Project™ is something I personally believe in and thought I would share with my readers. Two years ago I came up with an idea as I read a post my friend Missy (link to all her food allergy posts) had written about her daughter's food allergies and Halloween. I wanted to start a movement called "Happy Alloween" where people could pledge to be allergy safe on Halloween. Obviously, it was only and idea and it did not come to reality. Someone else, however, had the same idea and it did come to reality in the form of the Teal Pumpkin Project™ by FARE (Food Allergy Research & Education). My family does not have any food allergies but I know plenty of families who do. I have heard many friends talk about how hard Halloween is for their children who can not eat candy. The Teal Pumpkin Project™ makes Halloween … [Read more...]
Bentley’s Story Part 2
Last week I wrote my first post in a series called Bentley's Story. It is the story of how we adopted our boxer Bentley. He has been with our family for almost a year and lately I've been feeling compelled to share his and our story. Bentley adored human attention when he first arrived at our house. He still sleeps like this at times! I ended my first post with him joining the transport from North Carolina to Minnesota. Across America Boxer Rescue rescues dogs from all over the US. They have this awesome transport team that drives dogs from the southern states to families in the northern states. I'll tell you more about it in another post. As I said, Bentley was found as a stray and was pulled from a shelter and placed in a temporary foster home. He was in his temporary foster home for one week before joining the transport to us so his temporary foster family gave me little information on him except that he was about 1.5 years old, super friendly, good with other dogs, and … [Read more...]
The Haunting Experience on Highway 61 #MNBloggerBash
This past Saturday I attended my first ever (that I can remember) Minnesota Blogger Bash. It was at Zywiec’s Haunting Experience on Highway 61 in Cottage Grove. Man was it a good time! I am not required to write about The Haunting Experience on Highway 61 nor am I required to mention any other sponsors that were there, but it was so fun I feel like I need to share! Please be sure to read my "things you should know" at the end of this post and enter the giveaway for tickets for you to go see The Haunting Experience for yourself! The evening started off with some socialization with fellow bloggers and pampering by Spalon Montage Woodbury. I got a much needed massage and if you look closely at our pictures, you'll see that the girls and I got colorful hair extensions! We also tasted Zywiec's famous pork chops with seasoning made just for them. I highly recommend getting at least one while you are there! Next we got a lights-on, behind the scenes tour of the haunted houses. … [Read more...]
Fantastic Trip Destination With Kids In Paris
This is a guest post. Views and opinions do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the Toys In The Dryer authors. Images by Moyan Brenn used on the Creative Commons license. It's impossible not to fall in love with Paris, a European city that's rich in history, adorned with beautiful architecture, alive with green spaces and home to world-famous cuisine. With some of the best art galleries and museums in the world, many a cultural day can be spent visiting these institutions. Adults won't even notice the time pass by but there are only so many Monet paintings your kids can look at before getting a little bit bored. Take a look at these great ideas about how to spend time with the kids on trips to Paris. Parks aplenty... The parks of Paris don't only look the part, they play an integral part to the feel good atmosphere of the city. The Jardin de Luxembourg is a great spot for taking a picnic and sitting on the grass or even pulling up a few chairs that are … [Read more...]
Bentley’s Story Part 1 #PedigreeGives #ad
Bentley's Story Part 1 has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and PEDIGREE®. All opinions are my own. Please note, this post is the first in an ongoing series. Unless otherwise noted, this is the only post that is compensated. #PedigreeGives #CollectiveBias If you're a regular reader of Toys In The Dryer, you know that my family adopted a Boxer named Bentley about 10 months ago. I first introduced you to him in a post titled Introducing Bentley. I was so excited about him joining our family that I wrote that post less than 24 hours after he joined us and used crappy cell phone photos. I really knew nothing about him either! Now that he's been with us for a while, I can finally tell you his (or rather, our) story... Bentley's "mug" shot as I call it. This is him in the shelter. Bentley is the 4th Boxer that Hubby and I have owned. Our first three were retired, champion show dogs from the same breeder/handler. Hubby and I had always considered rescue but had a good … [Read more...]
