Painting Rocks Gift Kids will love to give

November 29, 2011 superexhausted

Painted rocks make an excellent gift for kids during the up and coming holiday season. Great to give to a relative or special someone. We painted some rocks we picked up on our vacation this summer to give to my inlaws for there anniversary. It was very special because the kids painted the themes of the vacation.

This is a great idea for your kids to do for a holiday gift .

what will you need :

Rocks
Acrylic paint (permanent kind) found at hobby stores AcMoore or Micheal’s- I bought the primary paints (red, yellow, blue, – white , black)
Paint brushes
Plastic plates or old lids for paints , cups for water
Paper towels
Clear gloss spray
old clothes or smock
Newspaper of some thing to protect table

You might want to paint rocks white before you start so that the true colors of the paints come out.

My kids mixed there colors but I put the paint on the plates.. a little goes a long way.once dry the adult clear coats the rocks with spray so they will not chip over time.

Enjoy I painted one too.

Let you little Picasso come out. Rocks are fun to find and fun to paint and better to give. A little natural canvas for kids.

enjoy..Have a handmade holiday

Parenting, Philadelphia, Product Reviews, Travel

Furry Christmas

November 28, 2011 superexhausted

So this past Friday, My family and I were invited to attend the opening day of the Sesame Places Very Furry Christmas. We had a blast. I took my daughter age 6, my son age 10 and his friend. This was the start of a new tradition Sesame place at Christmas. Sesame place was decorated beautiful for Christmas with over 300 trees and characters dress in holiday attire. the has spilling poinsettia pots. The lights were amazing.

They had a lightening of the 25ft Christmas Tree which was a musical with dancing lights on the trees. Very fun my daughter was entranced. They also had 3 Christmas stage shows and the Christmas parade down Main Street. The kids cheered as the parade rolled by.

I got some of the Kettle corn I have to sat it was some of the best I have every had. Great treat in the cooler temps.

My daughter made her list for Santa and got to take her picture with them. Which was great because we got to avoid the mall and have fun at the same time. So it was a real bonus.

If you are thinking what about my big kids. I was worried that the older boy would not have a good time they rode the rides the entire time and asked to come back again. Thanks for Sesame for having us and letting the big boys to be little again.

Sesame Place A Very Furry Christmas are open Friday, Saturday, and Sundays from now till Christmas then for the week of Christmas, Tickets are $19.99 each for non pass holders or 13.99 to add Christmas pass an to 2011/2012 sesame place season pass. Sesame place is so close to Philadelphia 30 from Center city, 2 hours from New York and 2 hours from DC so it is worth the trip for a fun Christmas thing to do. I love the idea of coming in between Christmas and new years be sure to check out the Sesame Place web site.

Disclosure: I did recieve these tickets from Sesameplace for free but the opinions in this post are all of my own.

Parenting, Uncategorized

Ugly Dog Sweaters

November 19, 2011 superexhausted

Dog Sweaters are a great gift for your pooch this holiday season. Because Baby it is cold outside

I found LLyod our 10 week old Doberman sweater in the $2.50 rack when you walk in to Target. They actually call them “Ugly Dog Sweater.” He will out grow it by Christmas so why not have a little fun the time he is little. Yes that is a raindeer.

Grundy I wearing a Martha Stewart from Last Season from PetsMart. I found it was the only dog fleece that fit the unusual proportion of a bull dog. Great fit for Bulldog Dog Sweater. My husband says he looks like he is stuffed in a sausage casing.

Here are some other winners this holiday season

From Baxterboo.com which seemed to have the best selection of ugly dog sweaters.. I am sorry Buddy’s

The last one looks like the shirt swallowed him.. too funny.

How does your dog stay warm this cold winter.

LIfe, Uncategorized

Gift Exchange Idea

November 18, 2011 superexhausted 1 Comment

So I have a Christmas party at my house every year for my husbands family. & years ago when we started we would try to think onf theme. One year is was entertainment. The problem was we would have an issue with not every one like the same thing. So we a few years back I decided to come up with an idea that people can buy a gift that fits all year. We choose based on the letter of the Alphabet, we started with “A” then every year is a different letter..

We set a Limit of $15, gift must begin with letter of the year. (D-dish, D-Dog treats, D-dinners card)
Every adult brings the wrap gift unmarked
We all get a number and pick in order of number
Gift are opened as they picked so everyone can see
Anybody with a later number can steal the gift from an earlier person or pick a new gift from the pile (that is where the fun begins)
we do one more swap at the end for people who don’t like there gift to re-exchange

So this year we are to the letter “E” .

Gift Ideas For E

Every Year it is the one think that we all look forward to who is going to hide there gift under there chair so as not to have it scavenged by someone with a better number. The teenagers old take from there great uncles and vice versa. it is a;sp a great idea for office partys. For the little kids each parent brings a book for there kid to open. One year my son cried so I could get the gift off another person.

What ideas do you go for Christmas Holiday exchanges ?

Parenting

New Dog: Doberman

November 16, 2011 superexhausted 2 Comments

In case you have not heard I got a new Friend Loyd a 9 month old Red Doberman. Where as I love Grundy our bull dog. I miss having a doberman after the loss of my precious Hershey 2 years ago, I still miss him all the time he was my boy if you read my post on Hershey you will understand. Plus I really like having a big dog around the house. Dobe is my breed (since my husband introduced me to them). So this is Loyd – potty training going good, he knows how to sit and he is learning to walk on a lead.

I love training a doberman because they are smart.. one of the smartest breeds (#5 on the list). They are great with kids. Graceful breed. If you have ever been afraid of a dobe fear not they are wonderful. Read the lists dobes make great addition to a family. Ask any one who has know a home pet they are trainable it is all in the training, so teach to be nice they will be.

Grundy is liking a friend not too keen on sharing of his bones

I don’t know if he will be a good therapy dog like my beloved Hershey but we will see.

Parenting, Product Reviews

LeapPad Review

November 6, 2011 superexhausted 3 Comments

So we recently had our Learn share, create Leapfrog party. We had 5 adults and 11 kids attend ranging from 3- to 11. One 3 year old and one 11 year old. We received the leappad and leapfrog tag to introduce the product to my friends and learn about the product. I have to say I was really impressed and so were my friends. We have owned many leappad products. My son had a Leapster that was handed down to my daughter. When he got a Digi so we were not stranger to the leapfrog family of products. The leappad: I gave the leap pad to my daughter the night before the party, to learn about it as we took a drive. My daughter is 6 and was able to use the leap pad without any assistance. My guest and I were impressed with the graphics. The Leappad worked the same way an adult tablet of computer tab would work with motion movement, finger and stylus. The leappad had a game called Rolly Polly Picnic where you moved the pad and moved the bug to get food for the picnic think maze ball gave but animated. Another of my daughters favorite was the Twisty Tracks using the styles you tap train tracks with a pen to get to a train tracks to head to a bank. The kids are rewards with short education films. One of the other Leap Pad apps that played to many of the little boys at the party was the Cars game. They boys were entranced by Mater and Lighten McQueens voice and them reading a story . Then once the page was finished they got to play a racing game. I learned from the leapfrog site on Line there are many Character games and apps for the kids to play with. Including Disney princesses, .. and more. So great that your kids can learn from some of there favorite child characters. The leap Pad also played full length video, we watched the Letter Factory on the leap pad. Great for travel, and yes they have a jack for head phones. Another amazing feature of the Leap Pad was the Camera /video feature.. My daughter and girl friends loved the fact that they could record their own TV show themselves. They were recording there parents as well. My daughter kept on introducing the leapster to her adoring fans. My daughter is a true camera hog so this is perfect for her. You can buy a many different apps and also buy an app card for a gift. The application are downloadable or you can buy them at the local toy store. The Leap Pad takes 4 AA batteries to run.

Leapfrog TAG: The other system that was sent to us for the Leap Share create party was the tag system . The leap tag system was also a fun hit the kids including the older kids could not put it down they. We were not unfamiliar with the tags system but new to us was the world map. All the kids and the adult conjugated around the map. The one side was a game where you located the country they other was the country were you learned facts and Phrases in the countries native language. My daughter kept on say Bonjor Mommy every morning. My 11 year old son learned location which helped during schools geography lessons. Both the parents and kids loved the fact side of the map. And the borders of many countries have changed. The kids also used the leap frog book which are great for teaching kids how to read. My daughter has used the leapfrog tag book to read every morning in her room since the party. We had a great time at the party the kids love the leap frog cupcakes, leapfrog gelatin with gummy worms, and froggy grapes. The kids loved the party and most all the leap frog products. To check out more photo from my leapfrog party Disclosure: I received all the leap frog products from leapfrog for free for this part. The opinions stated in this post are of my own.

Parenting, Photography

Halloween in over Wordless Wednesday

November 1, 2011 superexhausted

My daughter went as a Butterfly Barbie, My son was Link from Legends of Zelda

She looks so grown up…but she still wanted to be Barbie

All night every asked him if he was an elf or peter pan..my son talked to every person and started a conversation talking to all the home owners. For me

I love Halloween it is perfect day..

you get to dress up and be whom every you want to be
candy
no Halloween holiday let down- next Thanksgiving
people who never get visitors get them on Halloween
parents get to watch pure joy in their kids (helped sugar)

Uncategorized

Alpha Buyer The Power of Group Buying

October 27, 2011 superexhausted

So this past week my friend invited me to lunch to learn about Alpha Buyer. Lately, I have been juggling alot with the family, sports, my business, and blogging. I have been feeling the superexhausted by the amount of thinking I have to do for other people. I am in charge of all the bill paying for my household and like most moms many of the purchasing decisions are made by me. In fact, US moms make 80% of the purchasing decisions in the United States.

So what is Alpha buyer? They are group buying for your utilities. Services that you are buying regardless like electric, gas and oil. Giving you the power of a large group buying= savings. Alpha Buyer does the research, the negotiation, then you piggy back on their knowledge and deal, for free.

Alpha buyer is also unique because it has a user friendly platform and the amount of wonderful services included in there programs/deals. The deals are made with savings in mind, if the utility company drops the price, after your deal is made, under the contract, they will allow one price adjustment to the new lower price.(in most cases) So Alpha Buyers got your back covered.

Alpha Buyer also keeps track of your deals, make sure you are aware of the when they are expiring. Alpha Buyer language is simplified into something a real person can understand. I do not have the time to digest all the fine detail of my utilities contracts, really who does? So Alpha Buyer does it for me, telling me where I can save using their services.

Here are some other benefits to using Alpha Buyer:

Bills still come through the utility companies.
Sign up for the deals during a 2 week period 1^st and 15th, deal might also be extended. So no crazy daily emails
Free Service no cost to you (alpha buyer makes their money from utilities because they want a large group sign up , easier in bulk)
Cost Tracking software included for free alpha buyer service.
Alpha buyer personnel know and understand utilities- getting you the best deal for your bills.
Price adjustments may be included in the deal
refer a friend and get $20
Alpha Buyer Buying Service is only currently offered in PA and NJ
Saving you money- pennies add up fast..and it is free

The idea is to save, and the buying power of many gives you that option. I can’t wait to see what other areas Alpha Buyer will expand into and make simple in my life. According to the luncheon: Cable, Internet, Phone, and Cell Phone are all in Alpha Buyers sights for group buying savings in the future.

I can’t tell you if Alpha Buyer is right for your family but, I am looking into it for mine. Too check out more information about Alpha Buyer and see if it is right for your family.

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post I have been paid for this post but the opinions in this post are of my own.

Crafting, Parenting

Unity Day Anti Bullying

October 26, 2011 superexhausted

So today is Unity Dance Day to stop bullying. Childhood bullying is a really issue in our schools. Last year we had a incident with a child on my sons sports team. The mom refused to admit that her son bullied my son till, her son admitted hitting my son with a wet towel and picking on him. Prior to her sons confession, the mother was kind enough to say to me “No wonder why your son is they way he is, look at how you are.” As she pushed me into a face to face confrontation with the 2 boys. Apparently, the apple does not fall far from the tree. We all have been effected by bullies and our kids will be too .. it is time for it to stop!

Bullying has accepted as normal and part of growing up. Bullying should NOT be the norm and our children have the right to feel safe and respected for the unique individuals they are. So Dance for Unity and help to stop bullying.