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  • Staying Connected to Loved Ones the Cute and Cuddly Way

    Staying Connected to Loved Ones the Cute and Cuddly Way

    This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone.  #CloudPetsForever #CollectiveBias
    Stay connected with loved ones far away #CloudPetsForever #CollectiveBias (ad)

     

    What do you do when you suddenly find yourself away from a loved one for weeks on end? Changing careers became an obvious choice for us as teaching just wasn’t working out anymore. The change, however, meant Mark had to go to 6 weeks of training before being officially hired. 
     
    6 weeks! The longest we’ve ever been apart is maybe 1 full week for him to play with the band at NCAA…and he was not missing me too much during those trips, nor were our kids old enough to really feel the effect of Dad being gone. 
    This, though. This has been tough. We moved 1300 miles for the job, and then he went off a couple hundred more to train. The kids are missing their dad immensely, and I’ve found it hard to go to bed at a decent hour while wondering if I should check the door locks a couple more times just to be sure. 

     

    One thing the kids have loved (and truly I have too), is that we purchased a very basic television plan. While it’s been fun for them to veg a bit while Mom tries to get work/school/cleaning done, I was not expecting the rush of commercials! 
     
    “Mom I don’t know how to make my bed, I need the zipper sheets” – Let me teach you!
    “Mom I’ll never take a shower unless I can have cool lights flashing at the same time” – Take a bath!
    “Mom we’ll pick up our dirty clothes if it’s a basketball hoop!” – Guess you’ll start to smell stinky!
     
    But then. Then there was the one for CloudPets™. A stuffed animal that combined both cuteness with a special way to receive messages from loved ones. And this is what I heard 
     
    “Mom we really need a cloud pet so we can send it to Dad and tell him we miss him”.
     
    My heart, be still. These kids love and miss their Daddy, and gosh darn so do I. So you know what? We went to Walmart and bought the Kitty CloudPet™. The way this works is you don’t actually send the CloudPet™ as one of my children assumed. No you hang out with it at home, download the free app that goes with it, and invite approved (through the parental controls!), other loved ones who may be far away to send messages to your CloudPet™. Oh and don’t forget to grab the 3 AA batteries it will need.  

    Currently CloudPets™ can be found in select Walmart stores, but will soon be available nationwide! We found the pallet display in the kids clothing section of our local store.

    Meet Darth Kitty – the kids had to compromise on a name since one just wanted to call her Kitty, and the other wanted Darth Vader. We had a lot of fun figuring out how to get Darth Kitty set up to receive messages, and then we sent Daddy a special invite to start sending messages. You can watch a video and see just how easy the Set Up is.

     

    After a successful test run of “Hi Girls…can you hear me? Did this work?” message, he moved on to telling them bedtime stories. He can take time whenever he has a break at work to send the message, and then I choose when to send it to Darth Kitty so all can hear together – usually as a special bedtime bonding time. 

    We were getting pretty sad that Dad is missing their first day of school this year. When he was a teacher it was always fun to send them all off together – school and work. But not this year. I’m hoping we’ll find a special message from Darth Kitty next Tuesday morning with some encouraging words that can only come from a Daddy on the first day of school.  

     

    I have a feeling we’ll find with this new job Dad may miss more of the special events then we’re used to. While in the past his schedule has always lined up with the kids, it will now vary from day to night, and include holidays. I’m pretty sure Darth Kitty will be put to good use during those missed occasions. 

    How do you stay connected with loved ones?

  • Holiday Gift Guide: Animal Trackers

    Holiday Gift Guide: Animal Trackers


    I have really had a fun time this year trying out different subscription services on the kids. We’ve found one for Princess R that is just perfect, and now I believe we’ve found the perfect box for Little Prince.

    This boy loves playing pretend, dressing up, and getting hands on with everything. Animal Trackers combines all of that into one box. Plus it all comes in an old fashioned tin lunchbox. I love it so much, and so do the kids.

    Every month you get a new set of activities to learn about a different animal. The first set is more of an overview, with activities like animal matching, sticker scenes, and a ring to hold all the animal tracks you get.

    We also got the Zebra pack. Prince L was kept entertained for a long time with the Magic Nuudles Zebra. A little water, and the nuudles stick to the paper with no mess! Not only was it fun. but I was impressed at his color recognition, in matching the white and black nuudles to the stripes.

    All the kids got in on playing the matching game. I encouraged them to make the different animal sounds when they made a match. Anyone know what sound a hippo makes though??

    Princess R took over the Zebra mask, but that was OK with Prince L since he didn’t care for anything in his face. It worked perfect to add to her Zecoura Halloween Costume as well.

    Isn’t that fun?? The Animal Trackers have a whole set of masks to go with each pack. They are really well made too which had me impressed, and the kids having a blast.

    The Animal Trackers Subscription would make a great gift to any young child this Christmas season.

    Make sure you check out all the other fun ideas in our Holiday Gift Guide.

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    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.

  • Backyard Tourist: Museum of Natural Curiosity

    Backyard Tourist: Museum of Natural Curiosity

    Before we left Utah my parents took us out to the new Museum of Natural Curiosity at Thanksgiving Point. Oh, what a fun place that is. I watched as my children’s natural curiosities came to life in the world around them. This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated when you click on and purchase through them.

    We went to the Museum of Natural Curiosity on a Saturday morning which may not have been the best time since that’s when everyone else went, but it was still so amazing.

    Upon first entering, we headed to the basement to check out the tower of climbing madness. Thank heavens my brother, and parents were with us. We would never have kept track of the kids in there. I probably would have had a panic attack otherwise. Also in the basement is a toddler area, some fun side carnival type games, and then there was the Chamber of Courage.

    A pitch black tunnel you must navigate through by touch, a few hand holes filled with who knows what – I did not participate here, but I think my brother had some fun taking the kids through the tunnel.

    After awhile the downstairs was just too much for Lincoln and me, so we headed upstairs to a water room. Oh we could have hung out there the rest of the day and this little boy was going to be in pure bliss. From the natural landscaping table to the whirlpool of water – any little kid that loves water and sand will have fun here. Once we started drinking the water though, I decided we should move on.

    There were three other rooms, but we only made it to one more. In here we found trains going around the ceiling that we could control from the train room. A huge building block room. And of course a stage with dress ups for the kids to put on their own play.

    Finally we headed outside where we found a zipline that the kids just absolutely loved. We were a little nervous Princess R might fly off the end, but she didn’t. What a blast. Head to 4:22 in the video to see the Zipline

    If you ever have the chance to visit Lehi, Utah make sure to check out the Museum of Natural Curiosity. You will not regret it.

    Find more things to do in your backyard


  • Squeasy Snacker {Giveaway}

    Squeasy Snacker {Giveaway}

    2 giveaways in one day?! What was I thinking? Oh that’s right, that I love you guys! Seriously though, I’ve been thinking how I want to bring you more posts that you like, and I KNOW you all love a good giveaway. I’ve personally been looking for something to take snacks on the go, but keep them mess free, and I think these Squeasy Snackers just might be it. 
    Scroll on down and enter to win some!
    Practical Parenting recently tried Squeasy Snackers, and this is what they had to say:
    Squeasy Snackers are a new favorite product for our family! I love how budget-friendly they are compared to pre-packaged kids snacks. We make our own smoothies and shakes almost on a daily basis, and before we got these my 2 year old typically ended up with some down her shirt. But no more!
    My kids love the fun, bright colors and will eat pretty much anything I put in them. What’s great is the unique design with no-spill insert allows them to be used with both thicker and runny liquids. So far we’ve filled them with fruit smoothies, chocolate protein shakes, apple sauce, fruit/vegetable juice, and yogurt.
    Squeasy Snackers stand on their own for easy filling. A pitcher with a lip or funnel work well for transferring the food to the snacker. When it comes to washing them, I found hand washing them using a bottle brush works great. Then I leave them out to dry till we use them again.

    My kids and I are big fans of Squeasy Snackers! They’re handy for snacking at home, on-the-go, or as a side in a lunch box. Squeasy Gear is available for purchase in 6 oz and 16 oz sizes at SqueasyGear.com. 

    Squeasy Snacker Giveaway
    Practical Parenting, via Squeasy Gear, is giving away a set of three (3) Squeasy Snackers FREE to one (1) lucky winner! Good luck!! 

    Disclosure: This blog was not compensated for this post nor is responsible for fulfillment of this prize. Prizes will be shipped by the individual sponsor listed (Squeasy Snacker). This giveaway and post are not affiliated, endorsed, or sponsored by Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, or any other social media platforms. If you have any questions, please contact Debi with Practical Parenting. 

    Practical Parenting received a set of three Squeasy Snackers in exchange for her review. She only promotes products she recommends, and as such, all thoughts in this review are honest and her own.

  • How to use Fabric Softener to create Magical Mornings

    How to use Fabric Softener to create Magical Mornings

    This shop has been compensated by #CollectiveBias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. Follow #FastDrySaveTime to see how other bloggers are using the new Suavitel Fabric Softener
    What’s the recipe for a Magical Morning? 3 simple ingredients that include incredible scents, soft clothes, and more time! Thanks to Suavitel’s new Fast Dry fabric softener I’ve been able to create some pretty fun mornings lately. 
    When I did our first load of laundry in this house, it took 3 cycles before the load was sufficiently dry. 3 TIMES!!! I just was not OK with that. Since we had just moved, and took 3 days to drive out here, I really needed to do laundry, and I needed it done as fast as possible. Unfortunately I wasn’t seeing an end in sight after only getting 1 load done that first day. 
    I spent a lot of time over the next couple of weeks checking on the clothes in the dryer, finding odd places to hang still wet clothes, and finally sending Mark out to see if he could figure out the problem. As it turns out, the set up is just all wrong, and our dryer vents upwards. This had caused a huge blockage of lint in the middle of the vent pipe. Mark got the blockage cleaned out, but we couldn’t do anything about the direction of the vent. Of course it doesn’t help my feeling of being rushed that we also share our washer and dryer with the downstairs neighbor.
    When we were walking through Walmart one day, looking for treats for Princess R and Little Prince, when we also came across Suavitel’s new Fast Dry Fabric Softener. Fast Dry? I had to try it obviously. The scent – Magical Morning Sun – also pulled me in, because I needed some magical mornings with my littles that didn’t include trying to dry our clothes, and make sure everyone had clean clothes before school started. 
    This child! Her facial expressions totally crack me up. Even I don’t get that excited about doing laundry. The bright colors had her sold though – so much so, that we may have come home with a couple of bottles….
    Now that we had our fabric softener, it was time to get cracking on creating the perfect magical morning. It use to be, after we dropped the older two off at school we had to hurry home and check the laundry. Now? We take our time, because I know there’s no rush. The dryer can wait. 

    When creating our magical morning, I looked to Suavitel to see what ingredients I might need. Similar to what makes this fabric softener so great, our magical morning consists of the same ingredients.
    You will need:
    Soft Clothes – Your mornings can’t be Magical if you’re stuck in stiff or static-y clothes. So make sure you put on something soft before creating magic. It will be the best kind of magic. We like to use the best fabric softener to get the softest clothes. 
    Incredible scents – Next look for some incredible scents. One of the kids favorite things to do is stop and smell the flowers. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about our walks, it’s that the longer we spend smelling flowers, the more magical the rest of the day seems. Of course if you want to have a magical morning at home, you can just get those scents on your clothes. 
    Lots of time – Finally, you will need lots of time. Who wants to interrupt smelling flowers with running home only to do more chores. Come on, we all want to spend more time creating magic, so make sure you have the time! For me, I find more time by finding ways to cut time spent on chores like laundry. Suavitel claims to save you 30% of the time normally spent waiting for those clothes to dry (also saving you on energy costs, double score!)
    What’s your recipe for a Magical Morning?
  • Crafting with Crafters Crate

    Crafting with Crafters Crate

    I received product to facilitate this review. Opinions are 100% my own

    I have to admit something to you all.

    I’m not a big crafter. I WANT to be one. I love creating things. I just don’t do it very often, I walk through a craft store and get overwhelmed, and the things most crafters have on hand constantly you’d be lucky to find in my house.

    I sometimes feel bad for my kids, because I know they want to craft more. I believe it would help them be more creative individuals as well. Crafting can help them learn to solve problems; think outside the box.

    These are all things that don’t necessarily come easy to me. I do try though.

    That’s why when I heard about Crafters Crate, I was pretty excited. Yes I know, you see crate and you start thinking – here goes, another monthly subscription box. YEP! That is just what this is, but for crafters, and I would say more specifically for wannabe mom crafters like myself. Obviously Princess R was pretty excited as well – it meant real crafting time!

    Crafters Crate comes with everything you need to make a number of different crafts. We got a crate of some fun summer crafts, and we still haven’t finished them up yet (ok we did move, we’re getting to them!).  The girls were fighting over the fashion sandals, so I had to make a mom decision, and then let the other girls pick their next favorite to create. Mostly though, we worked together on all of them.

    Right in the middle of wrapping Princess V’s sandals with twine, some friends stopped by to see if we could play. So together they wrapped and wrapped and wrapped those sandals, while Princess C and her friend put together the flower necklace.

    So what did we finally think of the Crafters Crate? The kids loved having crafts that they could do virtually mom free, and although I loved I didn’t have to put any of it together for them, I was also sold on the sanity saver treat included. Shh, I may have snuck this out of the crate before any of the kids ever knew it was there!

    Sine I love you all so much, and Crafters Crate wants to love you, 
    we’ve got  a discount code!
    Use HOMEMAID for $10 off your order of any Crafter’s Crate subscription
    I was just looking over at the site again, and am kind of bummed I didn’t get in on Septembers crate. They had a Swashbuckling theme going on, complete with a spyglass, treasure box, pirate booty, and even a book!

    Connect with Crafter’s Crate
    What’s in your craft closet that I should put in mine?
  • AlternaVites Kids Giveaway

    AlternaVites Kids Giveaway

    I’ve told you all about my picky kids right? Sometimes I look at my oldest and wonder whether she actually eats anything. It’s like watching a bird pick at her food, tiny little pecks here and there. Now I do know she eats, her lunch always comes home empty from school, and if I make the right thing, she’ll clean her plate. But I do worry about getting the right vitamins, so we’ve turned to kid vitamins periodically to give a little boost. I was excited to learn about these new powder vitamins, that might make getting those nutrients just a tad easier into my kids.

    Two lucky winners will receive a month supply of alternaVites Kids FREE! 

    Practical Parenting was recently given the opportunity to try a sample of alternaVites Kids, and had an awesome experience! Read her review.

    alternaVites offer essential vitamins and minerals in powder form so there’s no need for chalky chewable or sugary gummy varieties! alternaVites Kids come in two great flavors, Strawberry Bubblegum and Raspberry Cotton Candy, and are intended as a dietary supplement for kids 4 years old and up.

    For additional fun, download the alternaVites Kids activity packet. 

    Good luck!!! 

    If you would like to purchase alternaVites, they can be ordered online at alternaVites.com. Starting this week they will also be available at your local Walmart! Check for store locations, and print a $2 off coupon!

    Disclosure: This website was not compensated for this post. My website/blog is not responsible for fulfillment of this prize. Prizes will be shipped by the individual sponsor listed (alternaVites). This giveaway and post are not affiliated, endorsed, or sponsored by Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, or any other social media platforms. If you have any questions, please contact Debi with Practical Parenting.

  • Elsa and Anna Hairstyles from Frozen

    Elsa and Anna Hairstyles from Frozen

    This post contains affiliate links

    Are your kids still obsessed with Frozen?  Mine are, though we definitely aren’t watching it as frequent anymore. The songs, clothes and hairstyles are still a big hit however. I was thrilled when I came across these easy tutorials for Anna’s and Elsa’s hairstyles!  Check them out, and then visit Zulily for their current Frozen Sale.

  • When Books Predict your Future

    Earlier this year I read my kids the book “Addie’s Dakota Winter”. Little did I know by the end of summer we’d pack our bags, sell off most of our furniture and make our own move to the Great Plains State known for it’s winters.

     

    Of course after holding on to this book since I was a child, and then reading it to my kids, I decided it was one we could get rid of. I’ve been on a downsizing mission this whole year, but perhaps I should have held onto it. Oh well, someone else may get lucky enough to read it and then find themselves heading out to this beautiful, although cold, state.

    We thought we could make the drive in a mere 2 days. After all, it was only supposed to take 14.5 hours. That’s 7 hours a day, easy peasy…..
    The kids and I loaded up one car, and Mark jumped in the truck. We made it not quite out of Utah, when I start seeing tire tread falling off the truck tires. I called Mark on our walkie talkies, and we pulled over. Sure enough we needed a new tire.

    Unfortunately the nearest town had no tires in our size. Our next option was stay over night and hope they could get one in sometime the next day, or continue on another hour+ to Evanston, Wyoming. So we continued on. We were lucky, very lucky! Along this next stretch another tire completely blew out, yet Mark handled it well and we made it to Evanston where we bought 4 Brand New tires to complete the rest of the trip; as well as adding another day to our move.

    Along our trip my kids had some fun things to say. If you ever plan to drive 900+ miles with your small children, remember to bring a long a pad of paper and pen. After that long in a car, they’re going to have commentary on the scenery.

    Kids “Where are we now”
    Me “Wyoming”

    a few hours later
    Kids “Where are we now”
    Me “Wyoming”

    with a break at Martins Cove to run off some energy by pulling handcarts!

    and a few hours later again
    Kids “Where are we now”
    Me “Wyoming
    Kids “STILL?! Wyoming doesn’t end?”

    Finally we made it out of Wyoming and into South Dakota.

    Chloe “There are no clouds in South Dakota?”
    Me “huh? of course there are clouds in South Dakota. Just none right now”
    Kids “no clouds!!!”
    Me “that is kind of a big sky without a single white puff in sight”

    Finally we make it to North Dakota
    Kids “YAY! There are clouds in North Dakota!”
    Me “well look at that…the clouds are back….”

  • Learn French with WhistleFritz

    Learn French with WhistleFritz

    * I received product mentioned for review purposes. All opinions are my own.

    Immerse your kids in French with Whistlefritz

    About a month ago I introduced you to Whistlefritz and their immersion program through song and dance. My kids still love to turn on our Allons Danser! music and dance around while singing along in French. I loved it so much, I wanted to add to the excitement and get the DVD to go along with it
    Not surprisingly, my kids enjoy the DVD even more than the CD. Why? It is more interactive, and helps them correlate the words they’ve been singing with a visual of what it actually is. Simple things like Bonjour, with a wave of the hand and now they understand that it means Hello!

    Isn’t that fun? I love seeing Prince L join in as well, just by watching his sisters. They really are learning a lot, and hopefully will be able to have simple conversations in French with their cousins by the end of the summer.

    I truly believe learning another language can benefit anyone. Whether you’re a young child, or an adult, there are benefits to learning a new language. As a child, it helps expand your mind to learning and knowledge. As an adult, you will have more opportunities to work with worldwide companies. If you want to travel, you can do so comfortably knowing you can get around in another language.

    It’s not all just about benefits though, learning a language can be just plain fun too. After a few rounds of Whistlefritz, we went back to watching some Disney movies – like Frozen. Well, one of the first screens that come up on our Blu-Ray is the language option. My kids begged to watch it in French. Well, why not I said. We’ve done it a few times now, and I have to admit, it’s helping bring back a lot of my French skills, and is teaching my kids new words too. Since they have the whole movie memorized in English, translating it from French is becoming easier for them. However, their favorite line from the French version is the most similar to English


    “Chocolat!”

    Watching well loved movies in another language is a great way to get your kids and maybe even yourself, excited about learning another language. Some of my favorite films are foreign – The Scarlet Pimpernel and Cyrano De Bergerac. 
    Do you have a favorite Foreign Film?