Leanne, Author at Rave & Review

Galt Toys Playnest & Gym: the perfect foldable and portable activity center

If you knew any of my children as babies, you know how much they hated to be set down on their backs. All three of them were the happiest, smiley-est babies until you would dare set them down flat on their back as experts recommend. Needless to say, “back is best” is not a common phrase around here.

But, what’s a busy mom to do that sometimes needs use of both hands and can’t wear her baby 100% of the time? She gets this: This, my friends, is a happy baby in the Galt Playnest & Gym – Farm. This educational and colorful multi-sensory activity center gives me the perfect place to set baby down without having to listen to her increasingly louder objections. I dare say she even {gasp} enjoys the Playnest, and I hope this love continues to grow during all the stages of play.

This peaceful moment brought to you by Galt Toys.

Make any day magical with Pacific Play Tents

If I were designing the perfect childhood toy, it would have two major components. First, it would inspire imaginations to encourage make believe and storytelling. Second, it would be open-ended so it could be played with in numerous ways, which means it would be played with often and be a beloved toy for years.

Take the Painting Teepee from Pacific Play Tents for example. This clearly isn’t just a high quality teepee, it’s a childhood haven. As you can see, it's the kiddos fort.

Celebrate the power of play with the Gymboree Hop ‘N’ Roll collection

I know play time for children is vital as it helps them learn about the world around them in ways I can’t teach them in a book, so I always make play time a priority. From unstructured playtime to working together to create a talent show, a fairy garden, or a circus, we fill our days with as much play as we possibly can. So, I was a little taken aback the other day when I told my kids I wanted them to wear play clothes if they were going to be out digging in our backyard and they both looked at me like I was crazy. “Do you mean dress up clothes?” my daughter asked. Clearly, they aren’t of my generation where we had two categories of clothing: play clothes and fancy. To my kids, everything is play clothes, even if they really shouldn’t be. We’re talking fancy holiday dresses year-round at the beach and white button-up shirts and dresses while gardening. After looking through their closets it became really clear that they could both use some new “play clothes” for summer that would allow them to swing on monkey bars, skip rope, and do all the other things kids should be doing all day without worrying about restrictive clothing getting in the way.

Meet the beautiful Samsung Galaxy Alpha from AT&T

Love the iPhone styling but just don’t love the iPhone? Join the club.

Introducing the Samsung Galaxy Alpha, the sleek and smart Android phone that has the best of both worlds. I will admit I’ve had a mixed history with Android in the past as I love my Android tablet but I can’t quite give up the functionality of my Windows phone and how well it pairs with my PC, but that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate the Galaxy Alpha design and all the premium features built in.

AT&T Samsung Galaxy Alpha

Did you read our review of the Samsung Galaxy Alpha? The sleek and smart Android phone is not only beautiful, it's also full of impressive features that can keep any tech-y happy. The Samsung Galaxy Alpha really nails the sleek and modern look with a crisp 4.7-inch Super AMOLED HD display that delivers HD clarity and rich colors paired with a gorgeous metal frame.

On siblings and love

Did you know today is National Siblings Day? In honor of the holiday, I thought I would share some thoughts on siblings and love.

Siblings: Talking About My Generation

I am one of 5 children, all born relatively close in age and all unusually close. Growing up, there was always someone to play with and although we fought like brothers and sisters do, our fights were short-lived and we all made up easily. During different times in my life I’ve alternated who I’ve been closest with, and because of this I have developed a strong bond with every single one of them.

Throughout the years we’ve all chosen to live relatively close together {although this won’t be true for long – sob, sob}, and we’ve chosen to remain friends even through the ups and downs of childhood, teenage years, and now into adulthood. When something big happens, they are the first people I turn to. And, when one of them needs me, I will drop everything to help.

Turn that stress into something positive with RESCUE #StressLess2BMyBest

Believe me, I know stress. So, when I got an email asking me to share a peek into my world as a working mom of three young kids and give some tips about how I deal with stress and how RESCUE can help in a sponsored post, I was all about it.
What kind of stress, you ask? How about the time my newborn cried every single time I set her down, or the time my coworker was moving clear across the country and I was covering her shift during the move, or the time my beloved camera stopped working in the middle of a shoot and I couldn’t get it to work again, or the time I had stacks of financial, legal, and tax paperwork to go through all on a deadline and was dealing with numerous calls, emails and texts with people asking for the paperwork.

And, all of that I just mentioned? That all happened today while I was trying to get work done and take care of three kids. But, to make things worse, I couldn’t even ask my husband for help because he was busy working extra shifts and dealing with our rental property that was leaking in three different places because our renters were neglecting it. A day in the life of Leanne, people, a day in the life.

Of course, there's also days that look more like this. I was literally playing in fields of flowers with my sweet babies.

What not to bring to bed to improve your sleep

How would you describe your bed? If the words “haven” or “perfection” aren’t part of the description, then you should definitely listen up. If you really think about it, most people spend about a 1/3 of their lives in bed, which is more time than they spend doing just about anything else. Knowing that, doesn’t it make sense to make your bed as amazing as possible?

But, the truth is that most people are not getting nearly enough sleep. Whether they’re suffering from insomnia, stressed about work/money/life, they are chronically busy, or they are parents to kids of any age {because no, it does not get better after the newborn stage}, sleep deprivation comes in many forms.

Since we're talking beds, I thought I would share my all-time favorite picture I've ever taken of a bed. Even in my post-wedding haze when I was deliriously exhausted, I was admiring how huge our honeymoon suite was and I came up with the idea that hubby and I should jump on the bed in our wedding day finest and capture it all with the self-timer. The result was this picture, which we then sent out as thank you notes after the wedding.

Where we were: Washington State tulip festival with kids

Every year we go see the tulips with the kids, and this year we decided to go even earlier than normal after hearing that the tulips were out even before the festival "official" opening. And, I'm really glad we did. Almost no crowds to deal with, great weather for pictures, and beautiful blooms in just about every field rounded out our trip to see the tulips at Roozengaarde in Mount Vernon, Wa.
Here's just a few of the 200+ pictures of our trip up to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival this past weekend.

Non-candy Easter treats from Corolle dolls

My kids really aren't big on candy, which makes me really happy. Sure, they get the occasional treat at school or during holidays, but I never load up on holiday candy because it just takes up space in my pantry after the kids forget all about it. Since I already know what happens when they get bags and baskets of treats, I'm always thinking of creative things I can give them in their Easter baskets, and I always think Corolle first.

If anyone thought that having a real live baby of our own would diminish the kids' love of all things Corolle, they were wrong. Baby dolls are a very big deal around here and show no signs of going anywhere anytime soon, so I love the idea of getting them each a little surprise in their Easter baskets that can add to all the doll play and make it even more fun.