Moon Dough~ a fun activity!

We recently got a package in the mail from Team Mom to review: Moon Dough. It is a very unique product, and my kid's (plus my niece) had a great time experimenting with it! We got the Moon Dough Barnyard for review, so we got to make a few barnyard animals.

Moon Dough has a very distinctive texture. It is very soft, and moldable. It is almost like you are squishing a marshmallow in your hand, without getting sticky. I like that the Moon Dough is hypo-allergenic and wheat-free.

My kids thought the Moon Dough felt soft and fluffy, like a blanket. The Moon Dough never dries out, so for that...it is long lasting. It is a little messy, so be prepared for some time to clean up. During play, the moon dough can be somewhat contained on the included two themed play mats.
To make the animals, you have to put the moon dough in the top of the barn (in the mold hole). It is best to fill the mold, and make it full of the moon dough (your animal will look best that way). After the mold is full, turn the crank toward the Silo, two times. The Silo will catch the left over moon dough, and after two cranks, a new animal will come rolling out of the barn door. The kids had a great time seeing which animal would come out to greet them. There are four different animals: cow, horse, pig and a sheep. I thought the molds were great!
My niece had a great time playing with the Barnyard Moon Dough! She loved making the animals, and putting them in the barn.
Also included in the Moon Dough Barnyard, is a mold to make a fence and a hay bale. The fence and the hay bale stand upright after it is molded, so it is fun for the kids to play with their animals in a fence, or eating hay.
The animals can also be placed in the fenced in location in the barn. The kids had a great time putting animals in there. Here is a video of my niece using the Barnyard with the Moon Dough.

There are many different colors of Moon Dough: blue, green, white, orange, purple, red, pink and yellow. There are different types of sets you can purchase to play with the Moon Dough: Pizza Shop (SRP$14.99), Barnyard (SRP$19.99), Doghouse (SRP$9.99) and Burger shop (SPR $9.99). You can also purchase refill packs (SRP $4.99).
**Moon Dough is available for purchase at Toys "R" Us, Target, Kmart, Amazon.com, A.C. Moore, Michaels and eToys.**

I was sent a Moon Dough Barnyard to review from Moon Dough and Team Mom. I was sent this product and information in exchange for an honest review. I am not compensated for my time or written review. The opinions in this post are of my own and do not reflect on the company.

Hasbro helps get you geared up for school!

Only a few weeks left until school starts up again, well at least in central MN. I know my sister started school already in her state. Kids are gearing up, getting all their supplies, new backpacks, lunch totes, clothes, and more. I wanted to highlight Hasbro's products that are available to help your kids get ready for school with flair and fashion. These items are great for the traditional students, as well as the home educated.
Caleb is going to be a Kindergartener this year, and he is so excited to learn! I am home schooling him this year, and we are going to have a great year. He has the new Bumblebee Transformer backpack from Hasbo, and the Transformer's lunch tote. The backpack is very spacious and has two pockets for storage. On each side of the bag there is two mesh compartments for storage (like a water bottle). The straps are adjustable, and there is a hook strap to hang the backpack up. Inside both pockets there is a couple pockets to keep pencils, or something similar. Transformer back has an ARP $14.99. Sold at Target.
I think the colors on the backpack and tote are very colorful, and fun designs. The lunch tote is very spacious, as well, and wipes clean. One zipper keeps your child's lunch secure, and together. Transformer lunch tote is licensed by Zak Designs, and retails for ARP: $7.99-$9.99 Sold at Target, Meijer, Brookshire Grocery, AAFES, Hy-vee, Winn-Dixie, Publix and Unified. Transformers water bottle matches great with this set, and it fits perfectly into the Transformers lunch tote. Also licensed by Zak Designs, the water bottle is ARP: $2.99. (sold at the same stores).
For your little princess, Littlest Pet Shop has an adorable lunchkit available, and my daughter loves this little bag. She is so excited to take it on our field trips, or trips to the park. I am home schooling her in pre-school this year, so we will be using her new Littlest Pet Shop lunchkit. I love the bottom zippered portion of this lunchkit, for storage of water bottles, or a thermos. The top of this lunchkit, from Hasbro, is very roomy for your child's lunch to fit. Adorable design on this very girlish tote! ARP $9.99 Sold at Target, Toys R Us, Office Depot, Meijer, HEB and Academy.
For those rainy days, your son could use a stylish umbrella. This is a great umbrella, and totally made for boys! Transformers are all over this umbrella! My son was absolutely thrilled to get this umbrella, and he loves sitting under it on the rainy days. I really like how this Transformers umbrella matches the backpack and lunch tote, too. ARP $5.99 Sold at Burlington.
Want to surprise your son or daughter with a new little greeter in their room on the first day of school? Hasbro has a great selection of wall peel and stick appliques. These self-adhesive decals are easy to peel and to apply to the wall. The peel and stick characters stay on, but leave the paint on your walls. Kids can remove the stickers, and place them how they want on their walls. I think these decals are a great way to spruce up a room, and doesn't require you to paint. ARP$12.99 Sold at Target (Transformers are sold at Walmart and Kmart, too).
Boys can gear up in Transformers on their shirts and briefs for their school attire. ARP$7.99 (T-shirts). ARP$5.54 (Fruit of the Loop briefs) both sold at Walmart.
Girls can wear dazzling T-shirts with fun sayings and adorable Littlest Pet Shop characters. ARP$7.99 (T-shirts) Girls can match their tops with LPS undergarments. ARP$3.99-$8.00 for a 3-pack; and $7.99-$16.00 for a 7-pack. Available at Walmart, Target, JCPenny, Kohl's and Meijers.
Your little girls can freshen up with fun toiletries with Hasbro branded Bubble Bath and toothpaste. My Little Pony Bubble Bath is scented with Sweet Berry and the My Little Pony Orajel toothpaste is fluoride-free, and is designed to help train your child for proper dental care. ARP$3.49 Sold in grocery stores, CVS, Target, Walmart and Toys R Us.
Want to make school lunch or snack time fun, but also another great opportunity to learn? Sunshine Cheez-It has a new line available: Scrabble Jr. baked cheeze-it crackers. These are great snacks, tasty, and fun to write words with the tile-like crackers. Each cracker has a different letter, and so it is fun to create words. It is also fun to eat your words! :) My kids love finding different letters, and we work together to make words. I love using these Scrabble Junior Cheez-It crackers to teach my Kindergartener the letters, the sounds they make, and early reading skills. Great homeschool hands-on activity to do with food!
It is so much fun to wear socks that have designs, colors and themes. My son loves to wear fun socks, and he was thrilled to see there were Transformers on his socks. I will have to get some more of these socks, because Caleb wears them everyday! Payless sells these socks for ARP$5.99 (set of three).
I love to encourage my kids toward imaginary play. I love products that will engage their minds, and help raise up their creativity. Hasbro has a few great play tents, and I am so glad that we got to review these! First of all, the Mr. Potato Head Spud Hut is a really fun product! This play tent comes with 10 different interchangeable accessories (eyes, mouths, noses). I was amazed at how many different faces the kids could create (up to 36 faces). The kids had a great time checking out the Mr. Potato Head when they fixed his face.
The Mr. Potato Spud Hut was easy to assemble, with only two poles. The fabric is very colorful, and soft. I really like that this play hut has two fold up doors on it, so kids can get in and out easy.
Being a home schooler, this is a great project to pull out for my kids to have unstructured play time. They are learning about our body parts, being creative and using their imaginations. My kids like to "play house" in thier hut, too. I love listening to their conversations.
My kids tried to make themselves into Mr. Potato Heads, and were giggling the whole time.
They have a blast in the Mr. Potato Head Hut, and our family recommends it! Super fun, and hours of play! ARP$24.99 Sold at Kmart and JCPenny catalog.
Another fun play tent from Hasbro's Entertainment, and my daughter's favorite, is the Littlest Pet Shop Clubhouse. This is a really big tent, and my kids can all stand up in it without hitting their heads! (40 inches in height, and 30 inches in length). Very spacious!

Inside the LPS Clubhouse there are little see through pockets where kids can put their LPS pet, and then they can be apart of the scene. This Clubhouse play tent is easy to assemble, too. There are two sheer curtains, and they can be tied to the side for easy viewing.

My kids love the new play tents, and I am sure many play time hours will be spent inside and outside these fun new hideouts. The Littlest Pet Shop Clubhouse ARP$24.99 and is sold at Target and Kroger.
I hope these suggestions will help you in your last few weeks of school shopping...or just some fun ideas to encourage your children to work hard on those grades! :)

I was sent a selection of products from Hasbro, including the products mentioned in this post, in exchange for a honest review. I am not compensated for my time or written review. The opinions in this post are of my own and do not reflect on the company.

Pop on Pals

Spin Master has come out with a new toy line called Pop On Pals. I was sent the Amusement Park Play set to review from Spin Master and Team Mom. My kids were excited about this toy even before I opened the box.
The Pop On Pals Amusement Park has a roller coaster, car, detachable lower piece to the roller coaster, a girl, and three pieces to mix and match her outfits. Changing the pieces is easy, you just press down on the pal and the mix and match rings pop on.
My kids liked pushing the buttons on the roller coaster to make the sounds and the Ferris wheel go around and around. On the amusement park, there is a bowling pin knock down (with sounds), strongman striker (strongman hit), Ferris wheel, and dragon swing boat ride, along with the roller coaster.
Pop On Pals is geared toward ages 2-4 years old, and this is perfect in the age category of my kids. I have three little ones, and they all enjoy it (age 19 months, 3, and 5).
The Pop On Pals are made to switch the outfits and pieces around to make "new" people. So, with the amusement play set the little girl goes from a plain blue outfit, to holding a hammer to play one of the games. She can have her outfit put on to show her hands up in the air while she rides the car down the roller coaster, Ferris wheel or the dragon swing boat ride. Amusement Park Play set comes with three attachable pieces.
My kids really had a great time checking out the Pop On Pals, but I know I would need to get a few more people to add on to this set to prevent some quarrels. One thing I would recommend is offering another Pop On Pals play set to attach to this roller coaster so the roller coaster can keep on.

The Amusement Park Play set for Pop On Pals is retailed at $34.99, and you can find this online or in stores like Target, Amazon, Sears, Toys R Us and more. There are several Pop On Pals packs and play sets to choose from, including: Pop On Pals Pet Pack, Pop On Pals Pal Pack, Pop On Pals Ring Deluxe Ring pack, Pop On Pals 2 n' 1 Vehicle Set, Pop On Pals Pop and Go Airplane, Pop On Pals Pop and Go School Bus and Pop On Pals Amusement Park Playset. For more information visit PopOnPals.com.

I was sent a Pop On Pals Play set to review from Spin Master and Team Mom. I was sent this product and information in exchange for an honest review. I am not compensated for my time or written review. The opinions in this post are of my own and do not reflect on the company.

My kids!!! I love 'em SO much!!

I wanted to share some random photos that I took about a month ago... I think they are so cute~ of coarse they are of my four kids...THE CUTEST kids in the world!

Cole~ he is so happy and good-natured! He is currently crawling (and fast), and pulling himself up on things. He is pretty proud of himself. He "grew out" of the Amby Baby hammock and he is almost out-grown from the swing (sniff, sniff). He has officially graduated out of the bassinet, and is now in the crib (when not in our bed). He is eating baby cereal, and we grind up a lot of food with our Food Mill, too. We aren't too concerned with giving him lots of variety with his foods. He started clapping about a month ago, but now he can make the clapping sounds~ TOO CUTE! He also can go from crawling, laying on his stomach, to sitting up. It is so amazing how fast he is going these days! Cole just turned 7 months old. My baby is getting so big!

Caleb loves to dress up in the super hero ninja outfit. He is so funny, and keeps us laughing. He loves to draw people ~himself~ with crayons and chalk. He loves to play outside, and ride his bike. We really should take off those training wheels and let him go. He is my "ping-pong" ball, as I call him, because he is always on the go and loves to be doing something. He loves to learn new things, and can't wait for home school to start. He will be a pre-schooler this year. Caleb just finished Soccer with Community Ed. He really enjoyed the sport, and learned some great aspects/skills for the game. He is a sports nut, and we are going to let him try different ones to see which ones he likes best. It is good for him to put some energy into his sporting likes.

Future Fire fighter? If he has anything to say about it, Yes...he will! He wants to be like Dad!

So excited and full of expression!

Want a cowboy hat on? Ummm...not so much!

How about Dr. Seuss? This one is so cute on you!

Nathaniel has been really enjoying his summers. He is really getting into the "social years" with his friends. I think he has spent more time hanging out with his friends then he has at home. That is OK. I know that those friendships are so important! Nathaniel really enjoys being outside catching frogs, toads, salamanders, worms...you name it. He has always enjoyed the outside creatures that God has made. He has a pet Salamander~ "Sally" that he has had in an aquarium for 4 years. Nathaniel also enjoys his Pokemon cards, game boy, and his other video games. We also really enjoy our family game nights. Mostly it is Nathaniel, Terry and I playing the games after the little ones go to sleep. this is great one on one time that we get with Nathaniel. I will be homeschooling Nathaniel again this year, and we are looking forward to a good year, and the may Lord be with us! :)

Need a court jester? Caleb fits the position excellently!

I love this photo of Madelyn and Caleb.

She is all girl, through and through! She can run in heels! She loves her dress up clothes and shoes! Thanks to my friend, Anna, she has put many hours into this basket of fun! Madelyn is 2 1/2 and she is such a sweet little girl. She is so loving and sweet. Her love language is very much : Touch. She loves being held, cuddled, hugged, kissed, and she is our nightly co-sleeper. She is getting the last of her baby teeth (finally) and she is growing everyday. She is very petite but she holds her place in this family. She loves playing with Caleb, and doing art projects. She is my little organizer (I think). When she is playing with her toys or dolls, she lines them up all in a row. I always know if she was playing with something...especially crayons or blocks. Madelyn just finished gymnastics. She loved it so much! I think she was meant to do gymnastics. Funny story: We were finishing up the class one night, and I asked the instructor if she could do the splits and show Maddie. (Obviously I can't do them...LOL). Anyway, the instructor was showing her and started to go down to the mat. So, Madelyn copies her, but instead Madelyn goes all the way down into a Chinese Splits! We couldn't believe it! She is a peanut, flexible, and spunky. She is my princess~

Dress up day!

Today we had a dress up day! I am trying to compile a box of "pretend play" clothes, accessories, shoes...you name it. I loved playing dress up when I was little, and I want to haveit available for my kids! It really sparks their imagination! I love watching my kids play and have so much fun! They spent so much time getting into different costumes, and playing the part. I have a feeling we will be doing this tomorrow, too! Do you have costumes for your kids to play in? What do you use?

Madelyn loved being a blue M & M! I told her I wanted to eat her! :)
Madelyn was being a bear here, and she growled at me.
Such a little doll!
Of coarse Madelyn LOVES to be a princess! She danced around the living room in this costume.
Caleb was Tigger, Madelyn was a princess (with angel wings on her back) and Cole didn't have his costume on. This is such a cute photo of my 3 little ones. Nathaniel was at school. I know I have a fire fighter costume that was Caleb's for his first Halloween. I may just have to get that out and try it on him...but it will probably be a bit big.
I held the camera away from me to get this picture as Madelyn was trying to get me. I think I captured a great facial smirk!

RRRRRRRROAR!
Isn't he the cutest Tigger you have ever seen?

Fun "girly" toys now available!

Madelyn had her 2nd birthday party this weekend (with the Grandparents) and she was very curious about one of her gifts. Every time she walked near the gift, it moved and babbled. Her brother, Caleb was quite curious as well, and almost opened it up himself!
Here are some pictures of her opening her gift:

Caleb wanted to "help" her out. He wanted to open all of her gifts.
She was really excited to see the little baby inside her gift!
She couldn't figure out how the baby was crawling and making baby sounds.
I think she was trying to get the baby to look at her.
She was having her new little baby kissing her new little puppy. She is really getting into pretend play at her age, and the Little Mommy Scoot so Cute doll from Fisher Price is fun for her to "be the mommy" to. The Scoot so Cute dolls are perfect for ages 2 and up, and retail for $27.00 from Fisher Price. She crawls, coos, giggles, and makes a spitting sound. She is pretty quick across the floor, and starts crawling from a motion sensor. Scoot so Cute doll is a fun toy for your little girl to play with and pretend to be mommy to.

Are you looking for a gift for your daughter's birthday, or for her to give to her friend?Polly Pocket Designables Perfect Party Bag makes the perfect present for the birthday girl! Polly Pockets are a popular hit for girls ages 4 and up. Madelyn is a little young for Polly Pockets yet, due to the small parts, but I am sure she will enjoy them in a few years. The new set of Polly's: Designables Perfect Party Bag has 25 pieces, including a birthday cake, invitations, decorations, and more! The packaging is a fun on-the-go tote with a floral handle. There are two different totes containing either Polly or Lila (dolls). Available for $17.99, ages 4+ You can find them online, or at a local retailer like Target or Walmart.
Polly Pockets also have other fun sets available! Polly Pocket Designable Doll Packs would be a fun gift to put in the Easter basket! Polly Pocket and her friends Chrissy, Lea, Lila, Shani and Kerstie bring the trendy, stylish and polly-tastic fashions to every girls Easter basket! Each doll pack includes a doll and super-chic interchangeable outfits and, at only $5.99 each, they’re a perfect, affordable alternative to all those sugar-laden sweets! Available for ages 4+.
Polly and friends will love to shop and play in the new, multi-level Polly Pocket Designables Courtyard. The girls can dance the night away in the disco, visit the glam shopping boutique and shop til they drop or visit the scrumptious café – the possibilities are endless! To make it ever more Polly-fabulous, the Courtyard glows with a light up feature! The Polly Pocket Designables Mall Stores lets girls build their own Polly world, their way, and features shopping at its best to include the Glamour Shop with Polly, Candy Shop with Crissy, Electronics Shop with Lea, Fashion Boutique with Lila, Sports Shop with Shani and Music Shop with Kerstie. When attached to the Designables Courtyard, the individual Mall Stores will each light up. The Desingables Courtyard is available for $25.99 and the Designables Mall Stores are available for $13.99, both are ages 4+.