Win $500 (and meet the Rockin' Guitar)

It's funny that LeapFrog sent me this product, because just the day or two before it arrived my boys were pretending to be rock stars-sunglasses, microphones and self made stage with decorations and all. What is is about kids-they love this sort of thing! They were pretty cute rock stars if you ask me. 

So the new guitar was a big hit. Of course, there have been plenty of fights over this Rockin' Guitar and who gets to play with it. So many that eventually I had to put it on top of the fridge for a while. I think they like it? 

If your kid loves this sort of thing you just might win $500. Hey, that sounds pretty good right?! 

It's as easy as this-grab a guitar. You can use this Touch Magic Rockin' Guitar or you can use any play guitar (or even a real guitar if you want to let your kiddo use your real one.) Tell your little one to rock out. Sit back and enjoy. Take a video of it, upload it to LeapFrog and share it on facebook and then have your family and friends vote. And you could win the big prize. (Get the full details here)

Now here's the thing. I am technologically challenged right now. I have no smart phone or fancy digital video camera that will easily allow me to upload a video of my kids' rock show. (And hey, even my simple cell phone went for a swim the other day and is not working.) So I can't show you a video of my kids' show. But I bet you have something that takes video right? And how long is this going to take you? Like 10-20 minutes.

Here's my crazy playing his guitar:

So, what should you do now? Get your kids together, make a video and enter to win. What song will your kids rock out to? My kid's favorites right now-Call Me Maybe or You Don't Know You're Beautiful.

Want the full run down about the Rockin' Guitar? It's similar to the School Bus, but it's a guitar. You hold it just like a guitar and it even has a shoulder strap. Then you strum it just like a guitar too. Pretty cool. See the full details here.

Here are a few guidelines for the contest:


• Try to find a well lit place to record your video
• Keep your video to a maximum of 2 minutes
• Avoid using a camera with low quality movie abilities (like a cell phone)
• Check the video before posting. Can you hear yourself? How's the picture quality?

Be sure to read the full guidelines before you enter and GOOD LUCK!


I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and was given free product by LeapFrog.  The content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

Back to School Bus

(Details about the Rockin' Guitar contest coming next week. You could win $500!)

Could it really be back to school time already?!?! I know some moms can't wait to get their kiddos back to school but for me it's depressing. I love having my kiddos home with me during the summer and I love the more mellow pace of your days.

But alas, school starts for us in less than 2 weeks. My big dilemma this year will be keeping the 4 year old entertained while his brothers are in school. He gets bored without them around. He will be in Preschool 2 days a week but there is still a lot more time to fill up.

I think I will do a letter of the week with him and come up with various activities that we can do together. (Watch for posts about that.)

But you know what else will keep him entertained? This great LeapFrog toy is going to help. I am telling you, LeapFrog toys are always the best toys that we own. We have several other great ones at our house. We just got this one last week and it is a HUGE hit. It's the LeapFrog Touch Magic Learning Bus:

And it's not just popular with with the 4 year old-do you see that little baby hand reaching in there trying to get it away from his big brother?

Ya, baby boy loves it too!

Guess what? His big brothers (ages 7 and 9) love it too. You'd think they would be beyond this, but nope. They love it. Don't you love toys like that? We brought it on our road trip to Denver and it kept kids entertained during the long drive.

It's simple to use-all you have to do is touch it to with your finger. (Hence the name Tough Magic right?)

Other features:

• Teaches letters and letter recognition
• Sings songs like Wheels on the Bus and ABC's
• Early vocabulary learning
• Piano keyboard
• 2 Drum pads
• Animals
• 3 modes-letter exploration, music and learning

It's great. Seriously. It's great. 

Learn more about it and buy it here.

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and was given free product by LeapFrog.  The content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

Bathroom Makeover

We've lived in this house for about 14 months now. When we first moved in I thought that one of the very first things I would do is decorate the downstairs powder room because it's so small and would be a bite sized project. I didn't do it. Even being so small it overwhelmed me.

This week I finally did it. It's decorated! Decorating's not my forte. It's hard for me. But here's it is:

I went with a nice blue color and bright green accents with a little grey thrown in there. I bought all new hand towels, rug, trash can, etc. and then added some fun extras.

You want to know what held me up the most? I wanted to find a little cupboard to put in there since it has just a pedestal sink. It took me forever to find what I was looking for.

I got this guy on craigslist and refinished it. I had to sand out some water damage and replace the knob. The cupboard itself cost $35 and then I bought paint and the new knob, so it was probably $50 total. I like how it turned out.

Next, I (and when I say I, I really mean hubbie) built some simple shelves using these plans. They cost $4.07 for the wood and then I just used white paint we had.

Oh, and those frames? I bought white frames and just painted them. Then I took some photos that I had and grey scaled them and added the color.

Just as I was getting on the computer to find some cute printables to put in my bathroom my friend posted this one. Perfect! I printed it and painted a frame for it as well. Love this quote!

All in all I think I spent around $150 to decorate this bathroom. Not too bad. It was completely empty before.

Now, to make my bathroom completely guest ready (cause Granny rolled into town that very day), just threw this new little baby right on top of my cupboard:

Kleenex Hand Towels. They're new. Want to try them yourself?

Join the 14 million people who have already joined the Clean Hands campaign by using Kleenex Hand Towels, and click here for savings and more!     

I was selected for participation in this campaign as a member of Clever Girls Collective.

Hot Pink and Ruffles-Do Over Moment

Once upon a time there was a little girl. She was the first and only daughter of her loving parents, lived happily in a nice home with several younger brothers and was well cared for. She had a very happy life.

One day her grandmother took her shopping. Stopping at a cute, pink, ruffly dress and admiring it, the grandmother dreamed of the cute 3 year old girl wearing just such a dress.

 Image Source: Baby Bellisimo

Sensing the grandmother's thoughts, the 3 year old girl pronounced to her grandma "If you're thinking of buying that for me Grandma, don't. It's ugly." Sighing, the grandmother put the dress back on the rack and moved on.

You see, this little girl was something of a tom boy (and certainly had strong opinions about what she would and would not wear). Pink and ruffles and dresses were not for her. Playing sports, wrestling with her brothers and wearing jean with big holes in the knees were more her style.

As her mother raised 4 younger brothers and no other daughters, she often begged the little girl to wear something "girly" but the little girl frankly refused.

And then one day, something happened. The little girl grew up. She was an adult now. Suddenly she found herself with a new favorite color. Hot pink.

And suddenly she dreamed of wearing a flouncy, frilly, pettiskirt.

 Image Source: Vintage Gypsy Mama

But alas, it was too late. Adults don't wear flouncy hot pink pettiskirts. At least not respectably.

And so now I, (yes, this little girl is me) and left to make cute baby girl dresses for baby girls that don't exist in my family:

And I get my ruffles in with cute aprons:

And on that one special day of the year I do get to add a little flounce to my style:

But mostly, I think I missed my chance for pink frills and ruffles. If I could get a Do Over, perhaps there were be more pink pettiskirts in my life. Can't you just see me twirling around in my hot pink ruffly skirt? My mom might faint.

What's your Do Over? Something you'd do differently if you could do it again? Maybe a bad haircut or outfit? Hobby you missed out on in life? Frog you wished you never kissed? Let's hear it! Come on, you know you want to share.

Frigidaire wants you to avoid those "Do Overs" at least when it comes to dishes. (Sounds good to me!)

The Frigidaire Gallery™Dishwasher gets dishes fully cleaned the first time, so there are no dish do-overs. Nearly half of adults admit to re-washing and/or re-drying dishes after the dishwasher cycle has been completed. To prevent dishwasher do-overs, Frigidaire® is stepping in with its new Gallery® Dishwasher featuring the OrbitCleanTM Wash Arm, ensuring dishes are cleaned right the first time.

I was compensated for this post as a member of Clever Girls Collective. All the opinions expressed here are my own.