Wummelbox – Kids Crafts By Mail ~ Giveaway

May 22, 2013 By jen 17 Comments

This post is brought to you by Wummelbox, however, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

It’s raining, it’s pouring – the kids are board. Again.

What to do? How about one of those cute kids crafts you saw on Pinterest? Shoot, you don’t have the right supplies.

Never fear – Wummelbox to the rescue.

Wummelbox

Filled with everything you need to make several Pinterest-worthy kids crafts, Wummelboxes are the perfect answer to the summer-time-storm blues. From scissors and markers, to fabric crayons and paints each box contains instructions and specific supplies as well as supplies you can use later for other crafts. Delivered by subscription once a month, once you let the secret out about the Wummelbox, your kids will be waiting by the door for the mail man.

And did I mention directions? Each box comes with illustrated instructions to help you put all of those supplies to good use.

Each box is created around a central theme such as Color & Light, Circus or Dexterity. Part of the fun is that you never know what the next theme will be until it arrives. We received a Food & Nutrition so all of the projects inside revolved around food.

Fruit and Veggie Game – Which involved a lot of coloring and then learning about which fruits and veggies grow on the ground, and which grow in trees.
Head Chef – K’s favorite activity allowed her to design her very own apron using fabric crayons. The best part about the fabric crayons is that they wash right out until set with heat (ironed by mom), so there was no worry about getting it on her clothing.
Cookbook – This was a simple activity that K could do 100% on her own, while mom ironed her apron. It was a little booklet for her to fill in a menu for the week with pictures of her favorite dishes and ingredients.
Grocery Store – The final project involved using felt, string and a little stuffing to create felt fruit and then upcycling the cardboard box into a cash register. Using play money included with the kit, K and I took turns buying and selling the fruit she made.

Kids Craft Wummelbox

We both had fun creating together with the Wummelbox. The projects were fun, engaging and educational. Designed for children ages 3-8, they were just right for my 5 year old. Some she was able to do solo, some needed a bit of help from mom. We are both looking forward to our second box arriving any day now.

There are three Wummelbox subscriptions options, which all include free shipping:

Try A Wummel – one-month subscription for $34.95
Little Wummel – three-month subscription for $24.95 per month
Big Wummel – 12-month subscription priced at $19.95 per month

Giveaway

One lucky reader will win a one-month subscription to Wummelbox.

To enter – Please use the Rafflecopter form below to take advantage of your entry opportunities.

Contest ends June 5, 2013.

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Zesty Summer Pasta Salad Recipe ~ Giveaway

May 21, 2013 By jen 15 Comments

Nothing says summer like a cookout and some pasta salad. But when it comes to pasta salads, I am picky. There are so many ways to make a pasta salad I like my pasta salad very light with specific veggies. Years ago, a friend served this pasta salad at a party, and it was the first time I found myself really loving pasta salad. I asked her for the secret and she told me Kraft Zesty Italian Dressing. Since then, this is the only way I make pasta salad.

Zesty Pasta Salad

So when Kraft asked me to share a summer recipe using Kraft Zesty Italian Dressing, I knew exactly what recipe to share.

Zesty Summer Pasta Salad Recipe

1 bottle of Kraft Zesty Italian Dressing
1 Box of Pasta (I use mini rotini)
Italian seasoning
1/2 bag of baby carrots
1 pint of grape tomatoes
1 zucchini
1 head of broccoli
1 mini can of black olives
1 can of artichoke hearts

Serving size – 12 +

Pasta Salad Zesty Italian

This recipe is best prepared the day before.

To prepare – chop, chop, chop! The most time-consuming process is chopping all of the veggies.

Boil the pasta per instructions. Then dump all of your chopped veggies into a giant bowl, and I mean giant! Sprinkle Italian seasoning over pasta and veggies and mix until the entire mixture is lightly coated. Next pour in half of a bottle of Kraft Zesty Italian Dressing and mix well. Set in refrigerator overnight to allow pasta to soak up the dressing.

The next day, add the rest of the bottle of dressing and serve.

What makes pasta salad so great is that if you don’t like one of the veggies listed, feel free to leave it out or substitute.

Pasta Salad Picnic

This summer, get Zesty with Kraft Zesty Italian Dressing and The Zesty Guy. Follow Kraft Dressing on Facebook and The Zesty Guy on Twitter.

Giveaway

One lucky reader will receive a bottle of a zesty Italian perfume, such as Versace.

One lucky reader will win a $50 VISA gift card.

To enter – Please use the Rafflecopter form below to take advantage of your entry opportunities.

Contest ends May 28, 2013.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This post is brought to you buy Kraft, however, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

5 Reasons Every New Mom Needs A Nursing Pillow

May 20, 2013 By jen 10 Comments

This post brought to you by Comfort and Harmony. All opinions are 100% mine.

It is comical how the smallest people (babies) seem to need the most stuff. When I had my first child I discovered that I could live without a lot of baby products available, many of the ones I received collected dust on the shelf seeing little to no use. But then there were some baby products that were used daily, and even some that are used daily for many years. One baby product I could not live without is a nursing pillow.

Yes I nursed my daughters for a long time (13 months with my first and still going strong at 19 months with my second), so that is part of it. But over the years I have found many more uses for nursing pillows than just holding your baby while breastfeeding.

Breast feeding – Clearly the number one reason to own a nursing pillow is if you are breastfeeding, but it is equally helpful to hold your babe while bottle feeding. Breastfeeding is hard, especially those first few months, so it is important to give yourself all of the help you can get. Step one a good nursing pillow.
Great-Grandma – I am very lucky that my grandmother lives close by and is able to see her great granddaughters regularly. But she is old and frail, and she didn’t have the strength to hold my baby. Enter the nursing pillow. Propped up by the nursing pillow sitting securely around her waist, I felt confident letting her hold her great-grandbaby. Precious moments I wouldn’t want to miss. (Works equally well for siblings.)
Tummy time – Nursing pillows are the perfect height to prop up your baby for that all-important tummy time. Of course, you never want to leave you little one unattended, but a nursing pillow can be an excellent support in mastering the skill of head control.
Supported self feeding – Not just for breastfeeding, the nursing pillow can also be used to help support baby as she learns to drink from a bottle. (Even breastfed babies get bottles of breast milk.) The curved pillow is perfect to cradle baby for self feeding.
Play time – While the nursing pillow still gets daily use in our house for breastfeeding, it also sees a lot of play time. From sitting with it on the couch to laying on the floor. Both of my girls love to lay around with the nursing pillow.

Mombo

I recently checked out the Comfort & Harmony Mombo Deluxe in Taggies Fashion Monkeys nursing pillow. There are several features of the mombo nursing pillow that make it unique from other nursing pillows:

Firm2Soft - The most unique feature of this pillow is that while the top part that the baby lies on is soft and squishy, the bottom is a firm foam. This offers baby and mom additional support from the pillow.
Unique shape – While the Mombo is U shaped like many other nursing pillows, it is a contoured U. Additionally, because of the firm bottom, the Mombo holds it shape making it more rigid.
Taggies – There are several different slipcover patterns including ones with taggies, which are fun for baby and help encourage tummy time.
Vibration – The most unique thing about the Mombo nursing pillow is that it comes with a vibration device that can be easily slipped into the pillow to provide gentle vibration. (Another great feature for tummy time and play time.)

Every new mom needs a nursing pillow, even if they don’t plan to breastfeed, and the Mombo is an excellent option. Learn more about the Comfort and Harmony Mombo by following Comfort & Harmony on Facebook and following Comfort & Harmony on Twitter. The Mombo is available at Toys R Us.

Mombo pillow

Giveaway

One lucky reader will win a Mombo nursing pillow.

To enter – Please use the Rafflecopter form below to take advantage of your entry opportunities.

Contest ends June 3, 2013.

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Oxygen’s “I’m Having Their Baby” Season Two ~ Giveaway

May 17, 2013 By jen 119 Comments

This post is sponsored by Oxygen, however, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

In season one of Oxygen’s I’m Having Their Baby, fans followed the stories of 12 young women who struggled with unplanned pregnancies and the decision of whether or not to place their baby in the hands of another family.The hour-long docu-series provided an intimate and emotional look at adoption by telling the too-often untold story through the eyes of the birth mother.

The personal stories shared by these women are heart wrenching, and I easily felt myself drawn into their stories. As a mom to two girls, I cannot imagine the overwhelming decision to do what each of these moms believed to be right for their child – to give up that child to be raised by another family.

Following the story of these young girls provides a different perspective to the adoption process. In an open and candid forum, we see the impact this decision makes on the girls, the families and their friends. It also gave me a new appreciation for the struggle that accompanies such a decision.

A year or more has passed since the moms in season one gave up their babies and now Oxygen is sharing a web series that follows up with some of the families featured in season one. Two of these webisodes are below. “I’m Having Their Baby: Raising Nayamah” catches up with mom Jamie and baby Nayamah and “I’m Having Their Baby: Raising Vivienne” catches up with mom Mercedes and baby Vivienne. It is really remarkable to watch the follow up story of these families to see the birth mom’s strength and resolve that they have made the right decision for their baby. It is also interesting to see that both of these families have built a loving relationship between the birth family and adoptive family. I actually watched the follow up series before seeing the original stories of these two moms, and after seeing the follow up felt compelled to watch the original episode.

Get ready for season two by watching both webispodes below. (Don’t worry, they are doing great!)

I’m Having Their Baby: Raising Nayamah

I’m Having Their Baby: Raising Vivienne

/>Season two of Oxygen’s I’m Having Their Baby begins June 12, 2013 10 pm EST/PST. The new season will continue on this path, delving deeper into the lives of birth mothers entering the adoption process, their family and friends affected by their decision and in some cases the potential adoptive couples.

If you missed any of season one, you can catch up by watching six full-length episodes on Oxygen.com/baby. Once you have caught up on season one and watched the rest of the web series, check out a sneak peek of season 2.

GIVEAWAY

One lucky reader will win a $50 VISA gift card.

To enter – Please use the Rafflecopter form below to take advantage of your entry opportunities.

Contest ends June 12, 2013.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This post is sponsored by Oxygen, however, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Whatcha Giving Away? #Giveaway Linky 5/16 – 5/22

May 16, 2013 By jen 2 Comments

You can’t win if you don’t enter! Here are the current giveaways on The Suburban Mom and other awesome giveaways I found online. Feel free to add your own or ones you see. Good luck!

I promote this giveaway throughout the week, so feel free to link up any time. Also if you have a second, please RT the message below for even more exposure. (Hint, I use the same Linky all month deleting only the ones that have expired so you will get exposure as long as your giveaway is live!)

Hey #Bloggers, new #giveaway #linky is live. Add your giveaways and enter to #win tons of great prizes! po.st/Dn5ZXd
— Jen(@SuburbanMomClub) May 16, 2013