2013 - Page 9 of 16 - Rave & Review

See An American Girl: Saige Paints the Sky this Saturday 7/13 on NBC

I remember when I used to cry during love stories, carried away with whatever misunderstanding brought the lovers apart and on the edge of my seat to see if they would eventually get back together. Now, I cry during kid’s movies – specifically ones that I can see my own children in. These days, the … Read more

Get your Fruit & Veggie fix at Jamba Juice the summer

Are YOU getting enough fruits and vegetables each day? If you’re my daughter, the answer is definitely yes. But, if you’re my son, the answer is probably no. Since he only eats a few fruits and veggies in their raw state, we have to sneak nutrition into his meals just to get him to eat them.

Thank goodness I found out the kid looooooves smoothies. And, not just the fake fruit smoothies you can get at most restaurants, he likes the good stuff, like Jamba Juice. We recently headed to our local Jamba Juice with a $10 gift card from Moms Meet to try out the kid’s smoothies, and both kids were very excited.

Having not been into a full size Jamba Juice store for a while now since we typically visit it at the mall, I was surprised by the fact that they had food as well as smoothies. Since we hadn’t eaten since breakfast and our next stop was the grocery store for something to snack on until I could make an early dinner, I ended up getting a pretzel with cheese Jamba Kids Meal and the two kids split it along with a Jamba Juice Fruit & Veggie smoothie.

Name Art makes personalized art as unique as your little one

With four siblings growing up, you would have thought we’d have a lot of personalized items to help keep everything straight. But, instead of items with our names or monograms, we each had a specific color we always used to help us find our stuff. While the color-coded system was practical, it wasn’t always fun.

After over a decade eating off the blue placemat, out of the blue cup, and hanging my stuff on the blue hook, I really longed for something that was a little more… personal. Because of this, I have made a point to get my kids special items that have their names and truly reflect who they are as often as I can.

Name Art is a New York based company that was started for this very reason. They specialize in truly one-of-a-kind items that help you celebrate each child with unique and personalized gifts. From placemats to fine art prints, Name Art has a great selection of gifts and art that would be perfect presents for your little one.

Our new pets: praying mantis babies

Unable to resist any opportunity for growing things, playing with bugs, or learning about things in the garden, my daughter talked us into buying two praying mantis {or praying mantid} egg cases at the Sorticulture garden festival this year. They were supposed to hatch within a week or two, and quite honestly we had given … Read more

Disney Social Media Moms Seattle Event

During every school break, my Facebook stream is full of friends taking their kids to Disney parks. I can’t help but be a teeny bit jealous because it really hasn’t been possible for us to do a Disney vacation. Of course, I know I will eventually make it there with the kiddos, it just might not be as soon as I would like.

And, then I saw a little blurb on one of my friend’s Facebook feed who was at the Disney Social Media Moms event last year. It was something to the effect of how you only have 18 summers to take your kids to Disney, and it made me panic a bit.

Picture taken from DisneyParksBlog.com

My parents took all of us kids to Disneyland when I was 6 months old. I’m sure it was a blast, but I don’t remember a single thing from the trip. My husband has a similar story as first his family was waiting for him and his sister to be able to ride on the rides, and then their younger cousins. Long story short, they never made it to any of the Disney parks.

In 1999, we finally made it to Walt Disney World together, and we still talk about how magical the trip was. We went on every rollercoaster together, indulged in all the Disney treats and goodies, and spent our evenings at Pleasure Island doing what we could since I was underage at the time.

Circa 1999 in Disney World. I'm second from the left and hubby is on the right. Those two beautiful girls with us are my sisters. Aren't we adorable?

But, it’s been 14 years since that Disney trip and I’m very ready to go again, this time with our kiddos. I am so excited to be able to share that magic with the kids and experience it again through their eyes, as well as all the new attractions that have gone in since 1999 {which, apparently, is A LOT}.

While I can appreciate the idea of waiting until the kids are older and can go on all the rides, I also think there's something really special about a kid growing up Disney. It's like they say, "there's something for everyone" and I don't want to miss taking them in the stage of awe and wonder just because they might not be able to do every single thing at the parks.

And, I’m looking forward to it all: pictures with the princesses, the obligatory Mickey/Minnie ears, kid’s rides and grownup coasters and the magic that happens when the sun goes down and the castle comes alive for the evening. Every. Single. Thing. I don't want to try and find that magical "perfect age" for Disney parks that you hear so much about and instead want to see it as a great excuse to go as many times as we can while the kids are still under our roof.

Last week I got a chance to get in on the Disney action, albeit briefly, when Disney Social Media Moms came to the Seattle area as part of their Disney on the Road tour and now I’m even more excited to get to the Disney parks… any of them… all of them… or even a Disney cruise. I'm not picky.

Ditching the grocery store with Zaycon Foods

Back when I was pregnant with my youngest, I began to detest grocery shopping. It wasn’t that I was too lazy to go to the grocery store; it had to do more with time than anything else. Whenever I did have time in my already busy days of hospitals, doctors, preschool, and work, the last thing I wanted to do was take my almost 2 year old to the grocery store {which always took way longer than it should}.

I was thinking of trying grocery delivery services but was worried about what kind of prices I would be forced to pay as well as quality with someone else picking my food. I was incredibly worried I would be paying premium prices and getting the items they couldn’t push in retail, making delivery not worth it in the end.

Even though I’m not pregnant now, I still don’t get excited about loading both kids into the car and spending an hour grocery shopping, so I was really excited when I first heard of Zaycon Foods on Good Morning America.

Zaycon Foods is a fairly new company started here in Washington State two years ago as a means of offering natural, hormone free meats at bulk prices all across the US. Instead of traditional delivery services, Zaycon calls itself a “drive thru” meat market that allows you to order online and then pick up during one of their many events across the US in a matter of minutes – no unloading kids or searching through the grocery store to find the best deals.

Avocados make everything better {recipes & more}

Anyone who knows my son also knows that he can be a picky eater. Happy to eat only carbs and pureed foods, I have to beg him to try new things at each meal unless I make one of his "approved" foods. But, one item on the approved list that might be a surprise to … Read more

Turn your kid’s drawing into a one-of-a-kind toy with Cryoow!

My daughter has had an imaginary friend since she was about 2 years old. During the past three years, I have heard an unlimited number of stories about “Sheeky Baby” {who surprisingly isn’t an actual baby} and the many adventures her and my daughter have embarked on. But, with as many stories as I have heard, I’ve never been exactly sure what she looks like. That is, until now.

My daughter drew this picture of Sheeky Baby for me this past month, and it all became so clear. Of course Sheeky’s a princess. And, of course she has a dress that matches my daughter; they are BFFs after all.

As much as I adored the picture my daughter drew, I started thinking wouldn’t it be pretty awesome if my daughter had a mini Sheeky Baby she could play with? Almost as if they had heard me wonder, I got an email from a company called Cryoow! asking if I wanted to turn my child’s art into a doll.

Naturally, I said yes.

Cryoow! is short for Create Your Own, and their goal is to take your child’s art and turn it into customized stuffed animals, personalized dolls, and just about anything else your child can dream up. It all starts with a beloved original picture by your child, which you can scan and send to Cryoow with any notes or messages about the design.

From there the artists at Cryoow do their absolute best to follow your child’s drawing – complete with all the quirks and special touches – to make a truly one-of-a-kind doll. Once they have completed all the detailing, including hand embroidery, yarning, and beading, the doll is ready to be sent back to the designer {AKA your child}.

Deuter Fox 30 kid’s pack fosters a love of the outdoors from tot to teen

My daughter likes nothing more than to match hubby and me. While this is completely adorable, it makes shopping very difficult as I have found that it’s almost impossible to find matching items for us that we both really like. In her size we find cartoon characters and excess amounts of pink, and adult sizes don’t go small enough to fit her.

Thank goodness there are companies like Deuter that specialize in both adult and kid’s gear that is the real deal. No frills, no cartoons. But, that doesn’t mean they scrimp on features, in fact quite the opposite.

We got to review the Deuter Fox 30 backpack for our little explorer this month and she was beyond thrilled. She had been eyeing it at REI for quite a while and talking of all the reasons she needed it, so it wasn’t surprising that she was jumping up and down excited when she realized she got to try one out.

While our next serious camping trip is still a few weeks away, we’ve already gotten a ton of use out of this amazing bag. From weekend trips to days out, the Deuter Fox 30 has been a lifesaver carrying the kids gear, their toys, or just the large amount of stuff we seem to require for all-day excursion.

Whenever we can, we let my daughter pack her own stuff in the bag and then she can help carry any gear we have, any souvenirs {AKA rocks, sticks and other treasures} she picks up, and can access her stuff whenever she wants. We also went out and got her a Camelbak hydration pack that can fit right into the Deuter Fox 30 so she can drink through the straw secured at her shoulder all along the trail instead of having to stop for each sip.

Welcome to the world of Mike the Knight

by Susan, editor and reviewer

I'm not going to lie; my kids love TV. Sure, we love playing outside together, and building with blocks, but they are also big fans of the TV. When I was first pregnant, visions of sharing princess movies with my kids danced in my head. So far, I have boys. Boys who are not interested in princesses. Thank goodness for Mike the Knight!

When we first discovered Mike and his friends in Glendragon, I was very happy. It's a very vibrant show that really teaches kids about problem solving, being a good friend, and doing the right thing! "Be a knight; do it right!" is always the end motto – and the one most repeated by my 3 year old.

As a parent, I really appreciate the positive message the show teaches, including some deeper things like equality, accepting all people (or trolls or Vikings) for who they are. Mike, his horse Galahad, and his two dragon friends Sparkie and Squirt have many adventures, and work together to help Mike find the knightly way to handle every situation; including getting along with his little sister Evie!