Holidays Archives - Page 21 of 40

Sealed By Santa brings the magic of the season right to your mailbox

From really young ages my kids have been obsessed with Santa. From the first day they see him at local stores, they start asking when they will get to talk with him.

And, it’s not about getting their wishlists in, because they seemed rather confused about Santa in connection with presents until this year when it finally clicked. For years they would come up with random Santa lists or reply that they didn’t know what Santa would want for Christmas and we just thought it was cute. For my daughter, her love of Santa is about the tradition of it, but for my son, it’s about having one on one attention so he can study Santa and ask any questions.

Celebrating #GivingTuesday with kids

Since my last post was about giving thanks for all the wonderful things in our lives, I thought it fitting to also feature #GivingTuesday, a day dedicated to giving back. The idea of Giving Tuesday is a simple one: you simply find a cause and find a way to give. Whether it be time, energy, money, supplies, donations, just give whatever you can.

For us, we like to give back numerous times a year, not just this one day every year, but I never turn down a good opportunity to teach the kids about helping our neighbors, our community, and making the world a better place, so Giving Tuesday seemed like the perfect opportunity. And, this time of year there are so many ways you can involve the kids, so in honor of #GivingTuesday, I thought I would share ideas to get kids involved in giving.

Continue the tradition with the new BeForever line from American Girl

Have you checked out American Girl recently? They just debuted their BeForever line this fall in stores nationwide as well as online and it has girls everywhere excited. We were at the Seattle store the day BeForever was announced to check the line out in person and do one of their many in-store crafts thanks to a recommendation from our personal shopper. I honestly had no idea what to expect and was just going for the craft and event aspect, but I was thrilled when I realized what exactly the new line included.

It’s no secret that we love American Girl and I always talk about how we end up at the Seattle store whenever my daughter gets to choose what we do for the day. But what you don’t know is that we spend most of our time checking out the historical collection and looking at anything and everything that’s new for each of their historical girls.

This time we were met at the store by one of our favorite American Girl employees and told that the line was replaced, and I’m sure I didn’t hide my disappointment very well. She quickly went on to explain that the BeForever line still had many of the dolls we adore as well as a new addition she knew we would be thrilled about.

Friends, welcome back Samantha Parkington.

I’m thankful for…

It's been quite a few years since I've done a thankful post, so I thought I would write another in honor of the Thanksgiving holiday. Sometimes it's more important to rave about the wonderful people and things in my life instead of a product or service I love, so I thought a new updated post was in order.

Getting ready for the holidays? Don’t forget the batteries! {with printable coupons}

You know what's a big bummer? Opening presents Christmas day and realizing that the amazing toy your kiddo has been waiting for all.year.long needs batteries you don't have on hand. Also a bummer: Realizing that there is absolutely no stores open on Christmas day to go get those batteries. So, here's a mom tip for you: Buy those batteries now, instead of waiting.

Pick up a few packages of Rayovac batteries when you're out Christmas shopping and either put them in the stockings or in the gift packages themselves. It may not be the most exciting thing they receive that morning, but a stocking stuffed with batteries is certainly better then possibly forgetting to pick up any at all and seeing disappointed faces come Christmas morning.

Thank goodness for HoneyBaked Ham this Thanksgiving

By now you probably know how much I love HoneyBaked Ham and how it made me into a ham-lover after 3 decades of turning the stuff away. These days I’m always looking for another reason to visit the store near me and load up on their ham and turkey, and the fact that Thanksgiving is … Read more

Create your holiday look effortlessly with the KISS InstaWave automatic curler

I love a good curly hairstyle every once in a while, especially this time of year with holiday parties and birthdays galore, but I swear that every year I get worse and worse at styling a good curly ‘do. I’m fine for the first few curls and then out of nowhere I clip the iron and accidentally turn it the wrong way. Anyone who has ever done this knows that you then end up with that awful crimped piece at the bottom where the clip was holding that no amount of recurling can ever fix. That, my friends, is pretty much my signature “curly” look.

Or, at least it was. I was recently introduced to the KISS InstaWave and it’s changed the way I style hair forever. Not only is it clipless so there’s no chance of ending up with crimped hair, it’s also automatic so all I need to do is rest the hair on the barrel and press a button. There’s literally no way to mess up your hair!

Kindle Fire HD Kids Edition with FreeTime offers entertainment at home or on the road

As someone who is on the go a lot with kiddos, one of the main things I get asked about from friends, family, and readers is about essential gear for family travel. And while my “essentials” list has changed based on the ages of my children, there are a few things that never change. One of those things is the prevalence of tech gadgets. It’s true that tech gadgets can change your life dramatically and make life easier, especially when traveling, but there are also some huge downfalls.

One major concern is being weighed down with technology instead of making life easier. When we’re talking DSLRs, laptops, smartphones, tablets, action cams, and more as well as all the accessories and gear that go along with all those tech accessories, you can easily fill up a suitcase – and that’s before you pack any toiletries, clothing, or footwear.

So, I always say that when traveling, less truly is more. If you can go without a full laptop simply by packing a small add-on keyboard to your tablet, you are going to be a whole lot happier when packing, lugging your tech bag through airports and onto airplanes, and going through airport security – especially when you’re also corralling kids. By pairing your tablet with lightweight accessories and gadgets as well as apps to make your tablet function like a laptop, you can truly ditch the extra weight and end up with a versatile go-to device for everything from reading by the pool to editing work documents.

For this reason I love the Kindle Fire HD Kids Edition that is an ideal tablet for kids but also packed with features to make it perfect for adults, too. A few weeks ago my son got to play with one of these awesome tablets at the TravelingMom-Techlicious Holiday Tech and Travel Show in Seattle #TNTSeattle and he was so sad to say goodbye to it when the time came. Amazon saved the day {and month, and year} by sending us home with one of our own to play with and both kids were quickly smitten.

Beat holiday weight gain with the Jawbone UP24 from AT&T

It’s only the first week of November and I already feel like hibernating for the remaining winter months. It's getting rainy and cold here in Seattle and my living room is feeling awfully cozy with the fire going, so it's easy to just close my eyes and curl up on the couch. But, the one thing that's keeping me going and staying active? It's my Jawbone UP24 from AT&T that helps keep me in line if I'm not meeting my step goal or I'm going over my calorie goal. Did you know that AT&T carries a bunch of tech-savvy solutions for fighting off this season of eating more and exercising less? More than just phones these days, AT&T stores offer a variety of wearable technologies for consumers interested in health and fitness, such as the UP24 from Jawbone I was raving about earlier this year. With activity/sleep trackers, smart watches, pulse monitors, arm bands, scales and much more, AT&T has everything you need to stay within your fitness goals and beat this holiday weight gain. You can see their whole line by clicking here.

Magicforest’s favorite European toys inspire play for all ages this holiday {Moulin Roty wooden toy box set review}

They say that the best gift you can give your child is the gift of your time, and I wholeheartedly believe that is true. I give my children that gift in staying home with them so I can be with them all day long, in cooking for them, cleaning for them, packing their lunches, and trying to include them in many of the things that I do each day. But, the truth is that I could do better about stopping what I’m doing and taking a nature walk or two, swinging at the park, or starting projects with them that they are excited about, and my goal is to simply get better about playing with them at least a few times each day. It’s for this reason that I love Moulin Roty, a French company that makes toys that will inspire kids and adults to play together. How could anyone not want to play with these shadow puppets and stage or these adorable Les Mask’ottes masks?

Brought to the States by European toy importer, Magicforest, the Moulin Roty catalog is the kind of thing childhood dreams are made of. From pretend play and dress up to cuddly friends to snuggle with, as well as imagination inspiring toys that can teach everything from science to making your own toys, the Moulin Roty collection never disappoints.