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Real Solutions for Real Parents by Autumn Rose Reo

Sharing the Spirit of Santa: The Next Level of the Santa Letter

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Sharing Saturdays

Remember writing out your Santa letter in hopes he would get your wish list and one of your wants would be under the tree or even better, Santa would write back? Whether you want your child to experience Christmas via “snail mail” or through “e-mail” with a video, you’ve got options to keep the spirit alive. And even better, by just believing you can also help others in need. 


Letters from the North Pole – Kids Will Truly Believe When Santa Writes Back
The U.S. Postal Service is helping keep the enchantment of Santa Claus alive with its “Letters From Santa” program. “Letters From Santa” allows you to mail a letter to their child “From Santa,” postmarked from the North Pole.
Here’s how “Letters From Santa” works:
1. Write a letter to your child from Santa Claus and sign it “From Santa.”
2. Insert the letter into an envelope addressed to your child with the return address:
SANTA, NORTH POLE.
3. Ensure a First-Class Mail stamp is affixed to the envelope.
4. Place the envelope into a larger envelope, with appropriate postage, and address the larger envelope to:
NORTH POLE POSTMARK
POSTMASTER
4141 POSTMARK DR
ANCHORAGE AK 99530-9998
5. Your letter “From Santa” will be mailed back to your child, postmarked from the North Pole.
“Letters From Santa” must be mailed to the Anchorage, AK, postmaster no later than Dec. 10, 2012.
Santa’s helpers in Anchorage will take care of the rest!
The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.


E-mailed Video by North Pole Videos
NorthPoleVideos.com offers personalized videos from Santa. Each video includes your desired name, their age and a few special requests like “Be a good boy” from Santa. The videos are free to make and view for 48 hours. If you choose to buy the video to keep all year it’s only $3.99 and you can enjoy 10 additional videos to remind kids to be good to stay on the nice list all year round. 

Believe in Santa with Macy’s: Write a Santa Letter, Make a Wish Come True
with Macy’s As part of its fifth annual Macy’s “Believe” campaign, Macy’s is inviting kids all across the country to believe by writing a letter to Santa. For each and every stamped letter dropped off in a Santa Mail letter box through Christmas Eve, Macy’s will donate $1 to Make-A-Wish, up to $1 million, to help grant wishes for children who have life-threatening diseases.
To participate, bring a stamped letter, addressed to “Santa At The North Pole,” to your local Macy’s store and drop it in a special Santa Mail letterbox.
For each letter received through Dec. 24, Macy’s will donate $1, up to $1 million, to Make-A-Wish. Macy’s will count up the letters and deliver them to the Post Office.
You can even make do a letter online with their Santa letter builder and then print the letter and take it to your nearest Macy’s. Click here to locate a letterbox near you.
See what happens when you BELIEVE?

Light Up Your Legos with LiteBrix

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Wow Mom Wednesday:

The turkey hasn’t even been bought but the Christmas presents are already beginning to build (waiting for someone to wrap them.) While my son has alerted me he wants only one thing from Santa this year (a Thomas the Tank Engine Trackmaster set that is almost impossible to find), I know that he’ll still expect a few other things under the tree. However, since he’s got a LOAD of Thomas already and has also created quite a Lego inventory, where does a mama look for ideas. 

What to get, What to get, What to get.

Designed to shine a light on kids’ creativity, the Lite Brix Super Light Building System from Cra-Z-Art is the next level of building blocks. The light-up building construction sets feature translucent bricks with battery powered LEDs (via a battery pack) that cycles through four different colors.

Your kids can transform their creations into spectacularly-lit masterpieces for daytime or nighttime play, but best of all – these building blocks can work with your other sets (hello, Legos!)

While we got to get our hands on a “Space Trooper”, you can create an entire light-up city, or mix and match and make into tons of amazingcreations with the LITE BRIX systemlike space shuttles, to racecars, fire stations, an airport and more. While I thought I would be able to open up the box and just let him run wild, he did need me to put together the pieces to show him how it worked. My son is 4 though and the box clearly notes ages 6+, however, I did need the directions to figure out how to put it together initially. But once we finished, there definitely was a “wow, mom!” reaction.



One note to families with younger siblings: our set-up time was best AFTER the younger kiddo went to bed so I didn’t have to worry about small pieces.

Available at Toys R Us stores nationwide and Barnes and Noble.
Prices vary from $19.99


DISCLAIMER:

I received one or more of the mentioned products for the sole purpose of this review. No other compensating was given and all opinions expressed are 100 percent my own. (Accordance with FTC’s 16 CFR Part 255, “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”)


The Cool Way to Do Christmas Cards

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Tech Tuesdays:

“O Christmas Cards, O Christmas Cards, 
How will I ever complete you. 
O Christmas Cards, O Christmas Cards, 

O Christmas Cards, O Christmas Cards, 
How will I ever complete you. 


It’s the last minute, I need you fast, 
Thank goodness this year there’s OfficeMax.
O Christmas Cards, O Christmas Cards, 
Now I can complete you.”

OfficeMax IMPRESS
Did you know your local OfficeMax is not just your place for office supplies, but they also do holiday card printing? Not only are they are cute designs but they are really reasonably priced! (And just to add you can get seals, stamps and more as well!)
OfficeMax ImPress Print Center is offering a GREAT deal on custom holiday greeting now through December 30, 2012.  At checkout, simply enter “CARDSAVINGS” to get 50% OFF PLUS $50 OFF holiday card orders of $200 or more at www.officemaxphoto.com/holiday-store.html.
However, one of you will be the winner of free greeting cards from OfficeMax ImPress from MamaChallenge! All you have to do is register this Rafflecopter (and you even have multiple opportunities to enter) now until November 18, 2012.  
Good Luck!
For more cool options for holiday cards and the giveaway, check out my last post. 
DISCLAIMER:

I received one or more of the mentioned products for the sole purpose of this review. No other compensating was given and all opinions expressed are 100 percent my own. (Accordance with FTC’s 16 CFR Part 255, “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”)

The Cool Way to Do Christmas Cards – Part 1

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Tech Tuesdays:

Can you believe we already are talking Christmas cards? While photographs should already have been done (ours aren’t), but to get cards printed, mailed, sent and delivered before the holidays, you should have orders already done. So basically, we are behind already. Super, right?
Paper Culture 
However, you can consider looking at a service to do all the work for you after you select the invite, but can you really afford that? Yes, you can with Paper Culture.
With their Mail & Message option, Paper Culture will stuff, address, stamp, and send your cards for free (all you pay is postage). All you have to do is upload your list in a spreadsheet or manually insert in your own online address book. And even better, the company vows it plants a tree with each order and prints everything on 100% post-consumer recycled paper.
And best of all, the holiday designs as well as their general stationary templates are clean, attractive, modern and totally “fridgeworthy” (as DailyCandy says of Paper Culture.) From baby shower invitations, baby announcements, bar mitzvah, birthday parties and everything in between, Paper Culture has designs that will work perfect for you.

 I love their fun personalized kids designs to use as thank you note stationery and monogram sets as gifts for this year for my colleagues. You can never go wrong with personalized stationery, especially when it does something good for you by doing something good for the earth. 

Now instead of thinking about whether can you wait until New Year’s to do your cards, download a few photos from Facebook, pop ’em into one of their cute designs, add your name and give ’em your names and address for them to do. You can actually be done in less than hour. And if you act fast (by Nov. 15, 2012), you can even get a 30 percent discount with the code SAVINGS30.

For more cool options for holiday cards and the giveaway, check out the next post! 
DISCLAIMER:

I received one or more of the mentioned products for the sole purpose of this review. No other compensating was given and all opinions expressed are 100 percent my own. (Accordance with FTC’s 16 CFR Part 255, “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”)


Let’s Go Brazilian…

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Me Mondays:



No, we aren’t talking that (but if you want to, I’ve gone there, too.)
However, we are talking about Brazilian blowouts. They’ve been around for a while, but basically after this special treatment from your stylist, you can have straight, beautiful hair and minimize your blow drying time to boot. Seemed like the perfect solution to those of us that look like Tina Turner without a blowdryer, flat iron and tons of products, however, the $200-$500 plus price tag and the drama about formaldehyde, has made it a little harder than just making an appointment to your local salon.
So I took it into my own hands and considered two at-home treatments.
Two totally different lines and different price points both promising to make my long locks light, shiny and smooth as well as:
  • Works with all hair types
  • Repairs cuticle damage
  • Regenerates and strengthens hair fibers
  • Restores natural shine and softness
  • Seals hair cuticles
  • Reduces volume and frizz
  • Makes hair resilient and healthy
  • Formaldehyde and sodium chloride free
Best of all, my 30 minute blowdry routine could be minimized to $15 minutes AND no flat iron/curling iron time. With the holidays sucking up all my extra time outside of work and dealing with the kiddos, I needed to get back all the time I could get as well as give me shortcut to look like a million without making me spend that much time to do my hair (or pay someone else to do it.)


The original, the Brazilian Blowout is the line of products that started it all. While you can still can get the treatment professionally administered, the line has provided an at-home product that’s meant to provide at-home users a way to take it into their own hands.   This Brazilian Blowout hair care kit thoroughly cleanses the hair while maintaining vital moisture for increased strength and radiant shine. Combining these hair care products results in smooth, frizz-free and radiant hair.
Approximately $125 and available online at brazilianblowout.com, drugstore.comand others.


Made for every day use. Also recommended for those who have professionally relaxed/straightened hair to keep hair at its best between touch-ups. From the instructions, it looked like an actual treatment that could take up to an hour or longer and a couple of trips to the shower, but the site had lots of instructions and videos to not mess anything up.
Approximately $25 and available at local Walgreens, Walgreens.comand drugstore.com.
Now off to my bathroom to see what I can do to make my hair shiny and beautiful…maybe.

DISCLAIMER:
I received one or more of the mentioned products for the sole purpose of this review. No other compensating was given and all opinions expressed are 100 percent my own. (Accordance with FTC’s 16 CFR Part 255, “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”)

Combine Halloween + Harvest For Hauntingly Easy Holiday Decor

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Wow Mom! Wednesdays:

What’s the best part of Halloween? The photos!
Here’s one of my kiddos – SpiderMan and our Little Witchy Poo! (so funny I couldn’t get them together).


Also, wanted to share this costume…personally one of my favorites – Cinderella. One of my friend’s daughters wore this dress and she really felt like a princess, especially when the sun went down and her dress lit up. Best of all, since the dress had motion-detectors, when she did a “princess spin” the dress lit up with her! It was magical – and even though she didn’t feel up to par for a long night of trick-or-treating, she definitely enjoyed her time in the “dresslight!” And for mom, the lights made it so easy to keep an eye on your child wherever she walked down the street! Perfect for your “princess” all year long. (I’d snatch this one up if you can find it like at Target or Amazon.com.)

Oh the decorations! We went minimal this year on our decorations since I just didn’t have the time to get them all up and then as soon as I did, I’d have to take them down! So we did a fall harvest theme that could extend into Thanksgiving time so mama’s work wasn’t put to waste. Thankfully, with an online trip to Kmart, I was able to get a few fun fall things to make me look like the next queen of decorating (and all for $100!)

$12.49 for this cute pumpkin
$25 for this 3-tier candle display
$20 for this wreath

$12.49 for this floral bundle
$20 floral arrangement

$ 9 for this cute Tablerunner

Happy Decorating! (And stay tuned for more tips, ideas and more!)


DISCLAIMER:
I received one or more of the mentioned products for the sole purpose of this review. No other compensating was given and all opinions expressed are 100 percent my own. (Accordance with FTC’s 16 CFR Part 255, “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”)

Giving it to You Down and Dirty: The Gross-O-Pedia

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Sharing Sundays: 

When I was growing up, I looked forward to watching Saturday cartoons including a show called Beakman’s World. It was full of tons of information about real stuff and demonstrated in a way that kids could easily understand. Actually the best way to describe it was a “kid-version of Dr. Oz.” I distinctly remember how one episode showed you how scabs formed by using red and white balloons to symbolize red and white blood cells. But it didn’t stop there – he talked about all the things that make you go “huh?”

Don’t have a clue what I’m talking about or remember Beakman fondly? Check out YouTube or you can order him on Netflix.)


Anyhow, my point of this was he did some amazing explaining about things no one wants to talk about but does” like farts, scabs and other gross stuff. While as adults we do our best to be appropriate about the topics, but as kids they don’t categorize it as gross, nasty or whatever. They just want to know “WHY.” 

The Gruesome, Disgusting, and Absolutely Vile Gross-o-Pedia by Rachel Federman is the perfect treat for anyone with an interest in the bizarre or an offbeat sense of humor. There’s a chapter on every subject that you might want to know a little too much about, like bugs, the human body, science, festivals, and even an entire section devoted to farts. (yes, I’ve mentioned that word like three times already.) 


So with Halloween just around the corner and a four-year-old who asks “why” at least a million times a day, this book gives me a reference to explain things to him as well as some great factoids that Beakman would be proud of – 20 years later. 

The Gruesome, Disgusting, and Absolutely Vile Gross-O-Pedia: A Startling Collection of Repulsive Trivia You Won’t Want to Know! 
Rachel Federman 
Skyhorse Publishing

DISCLAIMER:
I received one or more of the mentioned products for the sole purpose of this review. No other compensating was given and all opinions expressed are 100 percent my own. (Accordance with FTC’s 16 CFR Part 255, “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”)


“Eatin’ Good in our Neighborhood” with Healthy Snack Food and TV Dinners (FOR KIDS!)

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Food Fridays: 


While there are several boxes of take out around my house at any given time…I’m happy to report this time the boxes were full of healthy food that was made specifically when my little babe in mind. Thankfully, Bitsy’s Brainfood and Sprout both had mom on the brain because not only was the food good for you, but it was easy to prepare and taste good too. So rather than focus on some of the great places to eat in DFW this week, I’m focusing on the boxed food that made Taylor Rose a happy camper.
Bitsy’s Brainfood
If I ate the number of carbs my one-year-old consumed in any given day…we’ll it would be much worse than it is right now. My little carb queen loves her crackers, cookies and of course, goldfish. Now if I could just get her to eat broccoli, carrots and peas like that, she’d be the healthiest baby in town. Thankfully, someone else thought the same thing and created the magic which is Bitsy’s Brainfood. With letter-shaped snacks (think animal crackers), colorful packaging, cool stickers and characters to spark imagination, Bitsy’s Brainfood makes learning fun and teaches children to crave the right foods.


Bitsy’s Brainfood features:
  • Made with organic ingredients and all natural fruits and veggies
  • Excellent source of iron, calcium, vitamins A, B 12, D 3 and Folic Acid
  • Made with Omega 3 DHA
  • No preservatives, trans fats, artificial colors or flavors
  • Available in Zucchini Gingerbread Carrot, Sweet Potato Oatmeal Raisin, Orange Chocolate Beet and Lemon Broccoli

While I’ll admit the colors were a little different since they were made from natural ingredients and not artificial colors, the Zucchini Gingerbread Carrot crackers were delicious!
Bitsy’s Brainfood are available for under $3 online at amazon.com, freshdirect.comand bitsysbrainfood.com

The other God-sent, kid-focused healthy quick food we discovered was Sprout Toddler foods. In a nutshell, think TV dinners for kids…but wait, you thought they already had those? They do, but if you look past the fun packaging and take a second to look at the nutritional facts, the calories, fat and SODIUM shouldn’t be consumed by anyone, much less, your todds.
Sprout Toddler Mealsare healthy with all natural ingredients, made to help put parents at ease during mealtime knowing they are feeding their children something that is good for them. And even better, with options like Vegetable Risotto with Quinoa and Parmesan, your kids are learning to eat more than chicken nuggets and mac and cheese! Actually my little girl ate better meals than we did with her Sprout meals.
Overwhelmed by how good the food tasted and the variety available, I went to researching and found that Father and Food Network Star Chef Tyler Florence co-created Sprout baby food.  Even better he didn’t create it because a big company wanted to use his likeness, but after watching a friend force some horrible baby food down her poor kid’s mouth, he knew there had to be a better way. So he and the friend joined up and created Sprout.
It’s so nice that I actually have new options for healthy food my kids like and we can expand past Garden Burgers and carrots! 

DISCLAIMER:
I received one or more of the mentioned products for the sole purpose of this review. No other compensating was given and all opinions expressed are 100 percent my own. (Accordance with FTC’s 16 CFR Part 255, “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”)

Making Sick Time a Little More ‘Hoppy’

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Wow Mom Wednesdays:

I received one of those dreaded calls today every parent hates to hear: “Your kid is sick. Come pick him up.”

And when I finally cut through traffic and bolted to his school, I found my little boy pail, sad and pretty dang pathetic (which I witnessed the level of his patheticness each time he hurled into the garbage…which was a score as a mother within itself rather than to land all over me…but I digress.)

He didn’t want food, toys or cartoons, so I knew it was the real deal. So had to do something to make him happy or at least break a smile as I nursed him back to health.

Thankfully, for Angry Birds bandages (which I picked up at Wal-mart this week on a whim) and a softy and fuzzy frog ice pack I was given from Mommy’s Kisses, I was able to “doctor” him up while his tummy sorted itself out. While it is sad to watch your kiddo be sick (I have LOTS of experience with this), it’s the little things like my mom used to do (serving me a grilled cheese with Ramen noodles and a Sprite in bed) that make it bearable – for both of you.  



Do you do something special for your kids while they are sick to make them feel a little better?

DISCLAIMER:
I received one or more of the mentioned products for the sole purpose of this review. No other compensating was given and all opinions expressed are 100 percent my own. (Accordance with FTC’s 16 CFR Part 255, “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Show Your Kids that Storytelling is Fun and Important

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Sharing Saturdays & Sundays:
While most parents intend to spend time teaching and enjoying quality time with their children learning through arts and crafts, unfortunately, it don’t always happen. Too often life gets in front of us and too often we’re too quick to hand them an Ipad (which is hard when you love yours), turn on the TV or tell them to go play. I know I am guilty…not because I don’t love my kids, but that “spending time” seems like it has to be a big ordeal, project or outing and after all the “stuff” that has to be done, you just don’t have anything left.

Author Emily K. Neuburger of Thanks to Show Me a Story: 40 Craft Projects and Activities to Spark Children’s Storytelling makes sharing, learning moments easy for both parents and kids to enjoy with her award-wining book. This guide provides a plethora of easy ways to create a project or game with things you can find around your home in an easy-to-follow format. While many of the suggested ideas may seem as simple as building a list based on word association, it makes it possible for families to have a “moment” without putting much into the prep time and all your time into making a memory together.

Amazon.com describes the book as:

Children love to make up stories, and these 40 creative projects and activities encourage them to free their storytelling instincts. Younger children will love making story stones and a storytelling jar and then using them to create stories of their own, while older kids will enjoy word grab bags, story walks, and journaling exercises. For everyone ages 5 to 12, whatever their reading level, this book has everything needed to spark an infinite number of child-created stories.



 While I have children ages 4 and 1, this book is something we can begin to use sparingly at this age and grow into as we head past our toddler years and even into young adults.

I loved the artwork and the format as it reads like a recipe book – which is may favorite guide to read.

Spend this weekend and even those 20 minutes breaks between one appointment to another with this great reference book for your family library.

DISCLAIMER:
I received one or more of the mentioned products for the sole purpose of this review. No other compensating was given and all opinions expressed are 100 percent my own. (Accordance with FTC’s 16 CFR Part 255, “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”)m

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