Baby dolls, princesses, Barbies, stuffed animals spilling out of the closet… My daughter has all of these and more.  She’s at that stage where she has all the toys she actually wants, but she doesn’t want just clothes or the electronic gadgetry that teens like.

There is one thing she can never have enough of — craft supplies.  She loves getting out the beads, glue, and pipe cleaners and using her imagination.  But I don’t always appreciate the mess that is left behind.  Last year she asked for Beados, and I have to admit, I was hesitant.  I kept thinking of all those itty-bitty colored balls rolling everywhere.  But when she sat down with her set, huge smile on her face, and started to create…I decided we had made the right decision.  (And the tiny beads stayed in their containers instead of rolling everywhere.)  Her favorite part? With Beados, kids can create their own unique characters and designs as easy as 1-2-3.  Kids simply choose their template, add the beads and spray them with water.  No heat, no glue, no mess!  You can even skip the suggested designs and create using your own ideas.

This year the gift of Beados gets even sweeter for the holidays with the Beados Scoop ‘n’ Mix playset, where kids can create all their favorite sweet designs on the candy cart.  My daughter loves using the scoop to get the colorful beads out of the mini candy dispenser.  Her only complaint is she wishes the scoop on the pen had a flip lid she could close so the beados wouldn’t fall out when she tilted it too far sideways.  A piece of clear tape across the top worked perfectly.

The set came with one tray to design on, but we’ve had several other Beado sets, so she pulled all the trays out and spent the next hour creating colorful treats.  Once the creations dry, kids can pop their designs on the lollipop stand or on the shelf to create a tasty display.

Beados are perfect for inspiring creativity, something I look for when shopping for children’s gifts.   They are recommended for ages 5 and up, and since they do contain small parts, I wouldn’t recommend them for kids that still put things in their mouths.  While they are certainly geared towards girls, with their pastel colored beads and pink and purple accessories, if they are anything like my son, brothers will probably want to try their hand at designing, too.

I love when a good craft inspires creative play!  Once all their creations were dried, they set up a miniature sweet shop.  They started off using some of our play money to buy and sell their candy confections.  And then I got out the nickels, dimes and quarters.  They had so much fun buying and selling their creations, they didn’t even know they were working on math as they counted up change.  (Thank you Beados!)

Moose Toys is bringing the smiles this holiday season with their top toys that inspire imaginations and creative play.  Give the gift of creativity this season with Beados.

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of CLEVER and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

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This is a sponsored post, written on behalf of Frisch’s Big Boy.  All opinions are 100% my own. 

One of the things my husband and I try to do is have one-on-one time with each of the kids.  This special time helps us reconnect with the kids.  Last weekend I was excited to have the chance to take my daughter to dinner and then to see The Nutcracker.  It had been a long time since we had gotten to go out, just the two of us.  And I knew she would love seeing the ballerinas.

We started our evening at a local Frisch’s Big Boy restaurant.  If you’ve ever been to Frisch’s you know it’s required to get a picture with Big Boy.

Now, my daughter could live on mac-n-cheese.  It doesn’t matter where we go out to eat, if mac-n-cheese is on the menu, that’s what she orders.   This time around, however, I talked her into trying one of the new $7.99 family value meals.  She was hesitant at first, but before long she was gobbling up the roast beef I had given her and even the turkey.  (This is the same kid that wouldn’t touch the turkey I spent 6 hours cooking on Thanksgiving Day.)

The food was good, but the real reason we were there was the new Peppermint Hot Fudge Cake.  Growing up I remember my dad would sometimes order a Hot Fudge Cake for us to share.  I wanted to share that memory with my own daughter.

You may not know this, but Frisch’s has been the Cincinnati Ballet’s primary sponsor since it very first performance of “The Nutcracker”  in 1974.  It is actually one of the longest-lasting examples of corporate sponsorship in American arts history.  To celebrate this partnership, Frisch’s worked with members of the Cincinnati Ballet to launch the first ever holiday edition of its best-selling dessert.  The Peppermint Hot Fudge Cake is available at its 95 Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana locations for a limited time (until February 7).  And it is, oh, so good!  The Sugar Plum Fairy herself couldn’t have made a more delectable dessert.  

It was a magical evening.  We bonded over a piece of Frisch’s Peppermint Hot Fudge Cake, and I was able to watch my daughter’s eyes light up as she watched her first ballet.  Those are memories we will never forget.

This was a sponsored post written on behalf of Frisch’s Big Boy.  All opinions are 100% my own, and the Peppermint Hot Fudge Cake is 100% delicious.  

The post Frisch’s and The Nutcracker, a Perfect Christmas Pair first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

As much as I hate to rush summer, I have to admit, I get a little excited seeing the rainbow of spiral notebooks, markers, and pencil boxes appear for back to school at Target.  I have a serious school supply addiction, and I just have to check out all the goodies.  It seems the kids have caught my love for school supplies — our cart got full pretty quickly this year!

(This post was sponsored by WaterWipes as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central. I received complimentary products to facilitate my review.)

When it comes to back to school shopping, we always pick up plenty of spiral notebooks.  How can I resist when they are only 17 cents each?  We use them for spelling work, journals, and even for drawing in the car.  Markers and glue sticks are also such a great deal this time of year, that we always stock up.

One more thing I like to have on hand for school?  Wet wipes.  Moms know how versatile wet wipes can be.  They are perfect for wiping down sticky hands after using those glue sticks.  My son can’t stand having glue on his hands, so I always keep a package in our school area so he can clean up fast and we can keep learning.

I also keep a package in our “on the go” bag, because we love taking school outside whenever possible, and water isn’t always available to clean off hands.

Wipes are also great for cleaning crumbs off of faces from those cookies that my son decided we had to have for school.  When wiping off little faces you don’t need all those harsh chemicals that some wipes have.  WaterWipes are 99.9% pure Irish water and 0.1% grapefruit seed extract.  And I love that WaterWipes are so durable — you can wipe off chocolate covered faces, then turn the wipe over and continue with the colorful marker on those little fingers.  When you’re a mom you want your kids to be happy and healthy.  I love that you can find WaterWipes at Target.  When you’re shopping with kids you don’t always have time to read about all the choices.  WaterWipes makes it easy; they are the safest wipes available.

Other Back to School Posts You May Like:

• How to Save Money on Extra Curriculars
• Back to School Craft
• Questions to Ask When Picking a Preschool 

The post Target Card Giveaway: Back to School Shopping with WaterWipes and Target first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

Hearts pounding, I watched my kids as they held tightly to the handles of the yellow raft that was racing down the water slide.  It had been years since my husband and I had gone to Kings Island.  This was our children’s first taste of the excitement, and we were spending the day together in Soak City waterpark.

This post is sponsored by Cedar Fair Entertainment Company in conjunction with Blog Meets Brand, and I have been compensated for my participation.   All opinions are my own.

When it comes to family fun, Kings Island  has something for everyone.  There are over 8 roller coasters to thrill even the most daring member of your family.  Planet Snoopy has rides for the younger crowd.  And then there is Soak City — with over 35 water slides to cool you off on a hot day.

This year Soak City introduces Tropical Plunge, featuring 6 different water slides to choose from, including 3 slides where the floor literally drops out beneath you and sends you careening down 7 stories of twisting water slide.

As my husband was enjoying the twisting Tropical Twister tunnel slide, I took the kids over to Splash Landing to enjoy the kid-friendly water slides.  They were hooked!  Once we conquered the little slides (Mommy rode a couple of the kiddie slides, too), we grabbed inner tubes and raced down Thunder Falls.  Then it was time for Zoom Flume, a water slide with a raft big enough for the whole family.

If you live in Ohio, or you’re traveling this way, make sure Kings Island and Soak City waterpark are on your list of stops.  If you don’t have season passes, buy your tickets online and save a whopping $21 (because every dollar counts when visiting an amusement park).

Somewhere between floating on tubes along Splash River and jumping the waves of Breaker’s Bay, my son tugged on my hand and whispered, “Mommy, this is like a vacation.”   I’d say that’s a great way to start summer break off right.

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Brightly colored Lego bricks cover the living room floor.  The half-completed masterpieces have been left behind as the kids start playing with another toy.  Sound familiar?  It seems that with all the toy storage ideas you will find, parents are always looking for the best way to store those Lego blocks.  (This is a sponsored post for Pley.  All opinions are 100% my own.)

I’ve been there.

It all started with a simple plastic drawer storage unit.

The three inch deep top drawers were perfect for the smaller sets, like Lego cars and Mixels.  The two deep drawers at the bottom held the larger creations.   All the Legos had a home, and it was awesome.

And then our Lego collection grew.

The drawers got more and more crowded.  The Lego Friends tree house my daughter spent days building was too tall to fit in the drawer and had to go on top of the stand.  Christmas came and the Frozen castle (so cool, by the way) wouldn’t fit.  And I was tired of my son’s huge helicopter set always getting broken and having to help him fix it.

We had outgrown our Lego storage.

After a bit of scratching our heads to think of a new solution, we came up with this idea.

My son agreed that he wasn’t really using the train table anymore, so we moved it out to the living room and turned it into a Lego table.  Under the bed storage units hold extra pieces and sets not being played with.  The top is perfect for the really big sets.  And the kids love being able to keep their Legos set up, ready to play.

There is just one problem I can foresee.  My kids are just 6 and 8.  We have many more years of Legos ahead of us.  I know we will outgrow this solution, too, if we’re not careful.

That’s where the Pley company comes in to play.  (Yes, that pun was intended.)  You can control that Lego clutter with the help of Pley.  

The Pley company offers access to over 400 different Lego sets.  As a bonus, they even have hard to find sets and sets that have been retired.

How does that help reduce the Lego clutter?   The Pley packages get delivered to your door and when the kids are done playing, they can return them for a new toy.  This will greatly reduce the amount of storage space needed to house all those Lego sets, some of which don’t get played with once they have been put together.

Besides having access to a variety of toys, kids also learn the concepts of sharing and reducing waste for the environment.  Bonus!

Those brightly colored bricks will be in the living room for a long time.  And parents will continue to search for the perfect Lego storage solution.  But with the Pley company, you don’t have to worry about outgrowing that storage solution faster than your kids outgrow their clothes.

Check out the Pley website for more information and start controlling your Lego clutter today!

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This month I’ve been honored to be one of the book reviewers for Multicultural Children’s Book Day.   The MCCBD team’s mission is to spread the word and raise awareness about the importance of diversity in children’s literature. All young readers need to see themselves within the pages of a book and experience other cultures, languages, traditions and religions within the pages of a book.

One of the two books we were graciously given to check out for MCCBD was Princess Rosie’s Rainbows.  My princess-loving little girl and her brother both loved this book.

Princess Rosie’s Rainbows — Book Summary:

As a princess, Princess Rosie could have anything she wanted, but toys and and games didn’t mean anything to her.  Princess Rosie was only truly happy when there was a rainbow.  Her parents try everything they can to give her a rainbow that won’t disappear.  People from all over bring a variety of rainbows, but none make Princess Rosie happy.  Then a wise woman from a faraway village comes and teaches Rosie that rainbows are always with her in her heart, just as everything we truly love stays with us.

What we loved about Princess Rosie’s Rainbows:

Beautiful Illustrations — To say Kim Jacobs’ illustrations are beautiful would be an understatement.   They are gorgeous!  The pictures are full of detail and fill the entire page.  They are guaranteed to pull you into the story.

Global Awareness — The images used in the story reflect a variety of cultures.

Relatable Story Line — Princess Rosie’s problem is something that even adults can struggle with.  It may not be the desire to always see rainbows, but society often leads us to believe that it is by having things we will be happy.

Powerful Lesson — The story teaches children that physical possessions aren’t what bring us happiness.  When Princess Rosie learns that she can be happy because she holds the rainbows in her heart, the reader discovers true happiness comes from within.

Book Activity for Princess Rosie’s Rainbows:

There is a simple activity at the end of the book where you and your child can create your very own rainbow, just like the Royal Astronomer did for Rosie.  This is such a fun science activity to do on a sunny day!

After reading the story, and trying the included science activity, we created our own rainbow.  Keeping the wise words of Becca in mind, that what she loved was always in Rosie’s heart, we decided to craft a rainbow of hearts.

For complete directions for this activity for Princess Rosie’s Rainbows, check out our Rainbow Heart Garland post.

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