The Blue Zoo

ABBA You Can Dance ~ Review and Party!

noreply@blogger.com (The Blue Zoo) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 19:25:00 +0000

The kids and I just love all the Just Dance games for the Wii. I like them because not only are you playing a game you're getting a workout too! The boys like the dancing games because they get to laugh at how bad of a dancer mommy is... Ha! Oh well, at least it's fun right?

So I knew that we would have fun with the ABBA You Can Dance game. We even had a whole dance party! I tried to get everyone to dress up 70's style... But none of us had any 70's kind of clothes. So we just went with the comfy look. I loaded up on tons of snack foods, we had tons and tons of chips and dips, hot wings, cheesesticks, taquitos, jalepeno poppers, and pies for dessert! You can never go wrong with chips and pie.

I didn't really know how to decorate for a 70's ABBA party. But obviously a disco ball is a must have!

After we all got done pigging out we were more than ready to burn some calories and get our boogie on! I was surprised that I only knew a few of the songs. But even more surprised that my two 11 yr old nieces knew ALL the songs! Apparently all these dance songs are on that Mama Mia movie, that I never saw. I have boys! They aren't interested in musical movies about girly love stuff. Either way - you don't have to know all the songs to boogie down! But if you happen to have a Mama Mia fan, they are going to love this game.

I loved all the little extras that are in this game, like the ABBA videos playing in the background while you dance, the options to have group dances, the different characters you can pick to be your avatar, 25 songs to choose from, the ABBA photos, a way to play with a storyline, AND it has karaoke!! The young girls really really wanted to try out the karaoke but we decided to save it for a later time. It looked really cool though, we just ran out of time!

The kids had so much fun with the group dances. And my 10 yr old really appreciated having the option to pick a guy to be his avatar. He refuses to dance if he has to be a girl!

I finally had to wrestle the controllers away from the youngin's and try the dancin' out for myself! Even though I didn't know any of the songs the dances were fun! My sister and I were cracking up as I was falling all over myself. Coordinated I am not. Gavin took some pics of us and all the ones with me in them are blurry, except this one -

We all just had a blast with this game! If you're still Christmas shopping this would make a great gift for any family. Or get it for yourself and throw a fun 70's party! You can get it right at Toys R Us.

Thank you to Ubisoft for sponsoring this blog post. Please click here to learn more about Ubisoft. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective. All opinions are my own.

Quick And Easy Holiday Dessert

noreply@blogger.com (The Blue Zoo) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 07:40:00 +0000

Thanks to Duncan Hines for sponsoring my writing. There's no limit to the baking possibilities, so grab your favorite Duncan Hines mix and Comstock or Wilderness fruit fillings and Bake On! www.duncanhines.com.

The holidays are a great time to get together with friends and family. Well, really anytime is a good time! But it just seems more special during the holidays. Or is that just me?

I just love getting together with my friends and going out to eat or getting pedicures. Catching up and spending time together even during the busy holiday season is important to me. I like to make goodies and watch Christmas movies, or go shopping together, or even chatting at the grocery store! We're all busy and I'll take what I can get!

There always seems to be lots of chances to get together though. There are Christmas parties galore, potlucks, cookie exchanges, all sorts of get togethers planned during the holidays! Which I love of course! I'm all about the food! People usually do lots of their very best baking during the holidays. So the yummies are especially yummy!

But with all the shopping and the gift wrapping and the parties and the regular day to day STUFF - we don't always have the time to make every little thing from scratch!! Sometimes we just need something quick and easy. But it still has to be just as good, if not better, than something we would make from scratch right? Or maybe you want something super yummy and you're planning on passing it off as homemade! Ha!

Here is a super easy dessert you can put together for your next holiday get together (Or you can just make it for yourself! It's so good you may not want to share!!) -

Prepare a Duncan Hines Triple Chocolate Decadent cake mix according to package directions. I like to use a 9 inch cake pan to bake it in. Let it cool for abut 15 minutes, if you can wait that long! Cut into wedges and top with Wilderness raspberry topping. Then you can either use ice cream on the side or you can use whipped cream. It's up to you. Heck, you could use both!

Mmmmmm, who can resist chocolate and raspberries?? Not me!

The chocolate cake is so moist and when you serve it warm it is AMAZING. No one would even have to know it came from a mix! Plus you could use any fruit topping you want. I bet cherries would be good. But raspberries are my favorite!

There you go, a quick dessert you can whip up the next time you're hanging out with your friends! Try it and let me know what you think!

Remember to check out Duncan Hines' website www.duncanhines.com to find some great recipes for your holiday get-together! I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective.

Assassin's Creed Revelations Review

noreply@blogger.com (The Blue Zoo) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 18:51:00 +0000

My husband is a "gamer". And now my boys are turning into little gamers too. Sometimes I come home from running errands and they are all geeked out - Hubs will be on the PS3, and the little ones will either be on the Xbox or their DS's or their mini laptops playing games on there.

But it does make shopping for my husband a litte easier, because we all know sometimes guys can be so hard to shop for. I can just get him a new video game and he's happy. But, even if you know they like video games, you never know which game to get. Video games can be pretty spendy and there's no way you want to spend that much money on a game unless you know they are going to like it!

My husband has been a fan of the Assassin's Creed games since the first one came out. He has them all for the PS3 and at least one for the PSP. My 10 year old even has one of them for his Nintendo DS. So when I asked my husband if he wanted to help me out with my blog by reviewing the new Assassin's Creed Revelations ALL the boys said yes!

All my boys just love watching daddy play this game. Mostly they like for him to climb tall buildings, like this -

And then they like him to jump off -

I really have no idea why this appeals to them so much. But it really does! And as long as the guy lands in a flower bush or a pile of hay the guy doesn't die. Which makes no sense to me what-so-ever, must be a boy thing! Ha!

So, after my husband played the game for about 10 hours straight, (Not even kidding!) I asked him how he liked it so far.... His reply? "It's good." Chatty he is not. Maybe I should have waited til he was done playing!

I really liked that the graphics are so real looking! There were a couple times I had to stop and watch because the background is pretty and real looking. Not like other games he plays where the background is just kinda blah. I also liked that even though there is fighting and killing - it's not that graphic. There is a little blood splatter, but not enough to bother me. So I let all the boys watch daddy play the game. (Ages 5 through 10.)

This pic is a little blurry cause I was using my cell camera and he was moving. But when you're playing it's VERY clear!

This is what my husband had to say about the game -

Although it is a continuation of a series you wouldn't neccassarily have to have played the other games to enjoy this one. But you would probaby want to! He enjoyed that the basic game play was the same as the previous games, but that they added new weapons and new tools to change things up a bit. The graphics are awesome! There is a lot to do - missions, tasks, storyline. Lots of stuff to do so that you will be playing for a long time. This isn't a game you will be done with in a few hours. (And us wives can decide if that's a good thing or not!) He hasn't heard any cursing yet, and the blood and violence is "mild". (But, of course, it depends on how you play the game. You could just walk around killing anything and everything. But he doesn't cause that isn't the point of the game.)

For TODAY only you can get Assassin's Creed Revelations on sale at Amazon!! (<--- Click the link!) Would make a great gift for that hard to buy for gamer in your life.

Thank you to Ubisoft for sponsoring this blog post. Please click here to learn more about Ubisoft. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective. All opinions are my own.

Sam's Club iPad App Review ~ It's Awesome!

noreply@blogger.com (The Blue Zoo) — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 09:25:00 +0000

One of the funnest things about having an iPad is getting to check out all the cool apps available. I'm sure I don't have to tell you that there really is an app for just about anything and everything you can think of! The trouble is that not all of those apps are good. (Nothing irritates me more than actually paying for an app and finding out it really sucks! That's why I usually stick to the free ones.) So when you find an app that really goes above and beyond what you were expecting, it really sticks out. Especially when that app is free!

I really haven't seen very many shopping type apps. And the ones that I did see weren't all that great. I ended up not even using them because they were so user unfriendly and it was just easier to go to their websites. I really wasn't sure what to expect when checking out the new Sam's Club iPad app. Would it be just a regular app with not a lot of options?

No!

I opened the app as soon as it was done loading and I was instantly impressed with the design. It's so bright, colorful, fun and inviting.I couldn't wait to push all the buttons and see what this app could do. First off, I really loved the winter theme! And it will change with the seasons, how fun! Definitely put me in the mood to do some Christmas shopping... ;)

Everything is labeled so well that you can easily click on whichever section you are most interested in. Right smack in the middle is a snow globe that will show you Holiday Gift Guide, underneath you can see the section for new items, in the upper left hand corner is a bright green icon where you can search for particular items. It's all very convenient and very user friendly. My 5 year old has already figured out how to get to the toy section!

Right away I noticed the recipe section. I love recipes so this was right up my alley! The Sam's Club app makes it really easy to see the different categories. Each recipe has a beautiful photo. And it's really convenient that you can email the recipe or share it on Facebook and/or Twitter. Plus you can make a list of all the ingredients you might need with the handy list feature.

Another thing I really love about the new Sam's Club app is that you don't have to be a member to view it. You can explore as much as you want! Of course, after you check out all the super awesome deals, you're probably going to want to get a membership. (I know I did!) Which you can purchase right through the app! Very convenient.

The Sam's Club Holiday Gift Guide will for sure help you with any hard to buy for people in your family. Love that there is a "Value of the Day!" What a great way to save!

Of course, and I'm sure this is no surprise, my favorite section of the gift guide is the free shipping section! I just simply love free shipping. Even though Sam's Club has decent shipping charges, free is still better - right?

Are you lucky enough to have a Sam's Club nearby? I'm not. The nearest one is 2 1/2 hours away. Makes it a litte hard for any impromptu shopping trips. And before this app came out I didn't even have a membership! But now that this app is so easy to use and I have the option to have my stuff shipped to my house or do a "Click 'n' Pull" I knew I just had to get a membership.

Have you heard of this "Click 'n' Pull" thing? Basically you shop through the app, add the stuff you want to your cart, do the easy peasy check out and then you can pick up your order the next day! Someone else will do all the shopping for you, all you have to do is pick it up! Do you know how much easier this is going to make my life?? Since I live so far away this will save me so much time. Now the day before we are going to go to Reno I can make an online order and just pick it up the next day!!! Can we say convenient?!

This app has so many fun things to check out that I realized I still haven't seen it all! I just found this holiday decorating section yesterday. I've always thought it would be fun to have some sort of fancy decorated Christmas tree. You know, all matchy matchy and looking like it belongs in a mall somehwere. So I really loved this step-by-step guide that tells you how to trim a tree, complete with videos and then shows you all these fun "themed" trees. If you see a theme you just can't live without, you can easily see which ribbons and ornaments and such you need to copy the look and add them to your cart to purchase.

Overall this app is easy, fun, free to use, and the absolute best app I've seen from a retailer! This is the app that all the other retailers will be copying. I love shopping (and saving) right from the comfort of my own couch. And I like that this app isn't just about trying to sell you stuff, there are so many different sections. Like the holiday decorating tips and recipes and the events calendar that are so helpful! Plus Sam's Club will have Wi Fi in their stores so you can use the app while shopping.

The Sam's Club app is available for iPad, iPhone and Android too!

Try it and tell me what you think!

** I received product to facilitate my review, all thoughts and opinions are my own. **

I Love Christmas Cards! ~ Tiny Prints Review

noreply@blogger.com (The Blue Zoo) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 19:49:00 +0000

I love Christmas time. The tree, the baking, the decorations.. and the cards too! I've always loved sending out Christmas cards. I remember my mom sitting at the kitchen table, piles and piles of holiday cards and school pictures. I always wanted to help, but I was always too little! For some reason Christmas cards have just always appealed to me. They are all shiny and pretty and sparkly, who wouldn't love them? As soon as I was living on my own I started sending out my own Christmas cards. And now that I have kids of my own I have pictures to share! I used to order extra school pictures so that I would have enough photos to send to all our family and friends. But sheesh!! That gets spendy quick! I can not believe how expensive school pictures are these days!

That's why a couple years ago I started buying the photo Christmas cards. It's so much easier on my checkbook! Plus this way everyone gets lots of cute pics of my kids and I still send the grandparents the "official" school pictures. Makes everyone happy!

This year I am really loving the cards at Tiny Prints! They have a section of trifold holiday cards that I am just ga ga over! I have a big family so I need room for lots of pictures. Plus I'm really indecisive so I can never pick just one or two pictures. Never. It drives me crazy just trying! That's why I am going to order this design -

Front

Back

Do you see how many pictures I can put on this card?!! 12!! LOVE it!

And it's so bright and pretty!

I just love how easy Tiny Prints is to use. They really make it simple to caption your photos, and you can even upload photos directly from your FlickR or Shutterfly accounts! Even Facebook. Isn't that cool?

You really need to check these cards out! Here are a couple of my other favorite designs -

Cute, huh?!

While you're checking out the holiday cards make sure you check out the holiday photo gifts too! They have been having some awesome deals!!

** I will be compensated with Christmas cards in exchange for this review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. **

Do You Have An Alarm System?

noreply@blogger.com (The Blue Zoo) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 07:44:00 +0000

I am a huge fan of the Vivint home automation system... Let me tell you why.....

A really really really long time ago someone tried to break into the house while I was home.

It was late at night, I was home alone. I had been outside smoking (Yes, I smoked! Ew! But at least I did it outside where it was away from my kid.), I had gotten a sorta creepy feeling. But I figured I was just being paranoid because I had been watching CSI. I went in the house, locked the door behind me as always, washed my hands and plopped back on the couch to finish watching CSI.

A few minutes went by and I heard the screen door make a creaking noise. I remember thinking it was odd... But I ignored it. My dog growled at the door. Where I was sitting was right next to the door, and when my dog, Vegas, growled I sat up. Then the door handle kinda jiggled. My dog went crazy. Suddenly there was a whole lot of banging on the door and my dog was going insane. I grabbed the phone and called 911.

I was so scared I never even looked out the window to see who it was. By the time the cops got there the guy was long gone. They looked around and never saw a thing. I was terrified. If I hadn't locked the dead bolt.... I don't even want to think about it!

Ever since that night I've been scared to be home alone at night. Which kinda sucks because my husband works night shifts quite a lot. So I would sleep on the couch and I would be up half the night worrying about every little noise I heard. Often getting up and checking the locks. Even checking the windows to make sure they were locked too!

When a girl came by the house several months ago selling Vivint Security Systems I jumped on it. I pretty much knew I was going to sign up before she was even done with her sales pitch. Why had I not thought about getting an alarm system before?! It was like one of those lightbulb moments! The installation was so quick and easy too. Installation was done before dinner time!

Ever since we got Vivint I have slept soooooo much better when my husband is working nights. I can just turn the alarm on and I feel so much safer. I can actually sleep in my own bed! I'm not sleeping on the couch anymore!

How about you, do you have an alarm system? What do you like about it the most?

Are You Ready?

noreply@blogger.com (The Blue Zoo) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 08:16:00 +0000

Natural disasters scare the crud out of me!

Tornadoes, hurricanes, flooding, fires, earthquakes..... It all freaks me out!! I really don't know how other people can live in areas where earthquakes and tornadoes are the norm. Seriously - if I ever happen to be in an earthquake, I'll most likely pee my pants.

And yet, apparently there's a good chance that an earthquake will happen where I live. I guess some fault line runs right through town and whenever California has an earthquake people start talking about it again. I really don't want to think about it. Not that not thinking about it would stop an earthquake... But still. Maybe if I just pretend it isn't a possibility then it just won't happen. Right? Right.

However, since my mother in law used to run our local Red Cross office she's all about being prepared. Heck, my dad even asked me this weekend if I was prepared for any sort of natural disaster. And the answer? Not really. I have a first aid kit ready and that's about it. It's in a backpack though, so it's easy to grab and take with you. Inside there's all shapes and sizes of band aids and bandages, adult Tylenol, kid medicines, Neosporin, New Skin, cold packs, gauze, flashlight, bug spray, sunscreen, etc. I'm sure there's more stuff in there I'm forgetting at the moment. I really should add some dried food, you know, just in case. Extra batteries would probably be a good idea too.

Since I have an emergency first aid kit ready I really should create an emergency food supply bag too. (I can keep them right next to each other!) But it's a lot harder to prepare a bag like that. Band aids last forever, food is perishable. I really need to look into what kind of foods to stock up on. I will need stuff that is going to last a really long time, obviously. Because I know myself, I'm going to forget to check the expiration dates and then an earthquake will happen and all I'll have is expired food. I know I saw some "powdered food" stuff at WalMart. It really sounds awful, but I guess beggars can't be choosers right?? Any ideas? Beans, rice, salt, and things like that can keep for a really really long time, especially if you get one of those long term food storage bins. And to me beans sound way better than mystery powdered food!

Are you prepared? Do you have some sort of kit put together? And how long will it last you? Cause I think you need to have enough food to last each person at least a week. And don't forget the water!! Where do you keep all this extra stuff?

Pipsqueak Boutique Has Really Cute Personalized Gifts For Kids!

noreply@blogger.com (The Blue Zoo) — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 18:19:00 +0000

Sometimes picking out presents for kids can be a big ol' pain! If it's not your kid then you never quite know what they have already or what other people are buying for them. Plus you usually want to get something that will be loved, different, isn't too expensive, and will last longer than a week! It can literally take me hours to decide on a present at the store. Yes, I'm very indecisive.

That's why I am loving Pipsqueak Boutique! They have unique gifts that are fun and kids will love. They specialize in personalized items for little ones. And what kid doesn't love seeing their name on all their stuff?! Pipsqueak Boutique has just about everything you can think of available for personalizing. They have shirts, hats, toys, room decor, books, CD's, even diaper bags! There's something for all the little's on your list.

Donovan just loved this long sleeve T that we got to review. Inside the drum it says "Born to be loud!". (It couldn't be more accurate!) He wore it on Thanksgiving and just thought he was so cool. We both loved just how soft the shirt was. And it washed up real nice! Which us moms know is always important!

You can also get the "born to be loud" shirt in blue and black. And they have lots of other boys personalized shirts to choose from! Plus they have cute personalized shirts for girls too!

These personalized books make great gifts too! I'm thinking about ordering one for each of my 3 youngest. They would think having a story with their name in it was pretty cool. There are books for boys and girls! Everything from camping to Christmas to princesses. But my favorite book is the "Who Loves Me" book...

It's a story that features the names of your family members and friends who all love your child. It just makes for a really sweet story. I think it would be a great gift for long distance relatives! Don't you?

Another fun present would be personalized CD's. Perfect for a mini music lover! And with their name on it, it will be a lot harder for them to lose it! I love the Sesame Street CD, not only is the CD personalized the songs are too. There are 20 songs and the child's name is actually in the songs! How exciting for little ones to have Elmo say their name on a CD?

Want to order something for Christmas? Well, good news! Shipping is FREE!! You all know how I adore free shipping! Most items will be ready and to you for Christmas, but check their shipping policies to be sure before you order.

** I was given a product to facilitate my review, however all thoughts and opinions are my own. **

Over The River And Through The Woods....

noreply@blogger.com (The Blue Zoo) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 07:51:00 +0000

To Grandpa's house we go!

Tomorrow the kids and I will be headed Oregon for the Thanksgiving weekend. (The Hubs has to work.) This is the first time that I will be traveling for the holiday, and let me tell you - it feels weird! Really. I'm not cooking anything. Since I'll be somewhere else I don't have my crazy Black Friday day planned out. And I won't have any leftovers! It's so strange!

But I know we are going to have a ton of fun!

My boys are just so excited to go to their grandparents house. But I don't think they realize just how long it's going to take us to get there - about 9 hours or so. Which, of course, when you have kids making you stop every 20 minutes could stretch out to 11 hours! Or more. Please don't let it be more....

After a long road trip with my 4 boys, by myself, through the Oregon mountains, (Did I mention my boys get car sick?) I should have some very intersting stories when I get back! Ha!

Isn't Tanner just adorable? This is from last year, but he's still cute. =)

Whether you're traveling or staying home we wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving and a very successful Black Friday!

Lovable Labels Holiday Address Labels & Gift Seals Giveaway!

noreply@blogger.com (The Blue Zoo) — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 08:59:00 +0000

Some people groan at the thought of Christmas decorations, pictures, baking and cards. Not me! I am alllll about Christmas. I record all the kiddie Christmas shows I can, I bake, I decorate and I spend hours – yes, hours! – picking out my Christmas card.

Then, once I actually decide on a card, it can take me hours to insert the pictures “just so”. Oh, because I always pick a picture type card. Love them!! So, after all this thought and time invested in my Christmas cards why did I never think to get CUTE address labels?! Seriously. It was like the light bulb in my head just lit up when I saw the new Holiday Gift Seals and Address Labels at Lovable Labels! Adorable!

It was hard to pick which set to get! I really liked them all. And I knew that the quality would be great, as everything I’ve ever gotten from Lovable Labels has been!

This red set is just super cute -

But I decided to go with this gold set -

These labels are just perfect! Now when I send out my Christmas cards the envelopes will be cute too! I plan on putting the gift seals on my Christmas cards, but if I have extra I will most likely put them on gifts. Makes sense, right?

As cute as the picture of these labels are, they are way cuter in person! I just love how festive they are! I am so ready for Christmas.

Win It -

Lovable Labels has generously supplied us with a pack of "Gift Seals and Address Label Pack" for one lucky winner! Thanks, Lovable Labels!

To Enter: Go to the Lovable Labels website and leave a comment below telling me which one of their amazing products is your fav! Once you’ve entered by leaving a comment, you can do as many of the optional entries as you wish. Leave a separate comment for each additional entry. Please make sure your email address is visible in your profile or that you leave your email address in your comment. (I need a way to contact you if you win!)

- Optional Entries -

Follow @mylovablelabels on Twitter (1 Extra Entry) – Leave your Twitter name in your comment please.

‘Like’ Lovable Labels on Facebook (1 Extra Entry) – Please leave your Facebook name in you comment for verification purposes.

The Rules – Giveaway ends December 1, 2011 at 11:59pm PST. Giveaway is open to US and Canada, ages 18 and up. The winner will be selected by random draw and will have 7 days to respond to our notification email before another winner is selected. By entering this giveaway you agree to these rules. I was given product to facilitate me review however all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you for entering and good luck!

Carmex Skin Care Review and Giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (The Blue Zoo) — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 08:27:00 +0000

Through the years we’ve fallen in love with Carmex lip balms. And now they have skin care items!! A healing lotion and a healing cream. I was really excited when I heard I was going to get to try these new products. I have ugly, dry hands. I’m always saying they look like little old lady hands! I am always looking for lotions or creams that will moisturize my hands without leaving them feeling all greasy and gross. If you have dry skin I’m sure you know what I’m talking about.

I just have to tell you how amazing the lotion and cream smell! It says “Pleasant Scent” on the bottle, I’m not sure what that is supposed to smell like… But I think it smells ahhhhwesome! There is a little hint of that traditional Carmex smell. But it’s not overpowering at all. The Carmex scent blends right in with whatever other scents they used and the result is absolutely addicting. Seriously, I can’t stop sniffing my hands. You have to try it!

First I tried the Healing Lotion, it has Aloe and Vitamin E to moisturize your skin. This is what I would call an “everyday” lotion. It’s great for dry arms and legs. Plus it says daily use will help keep dryness away! The Healing Lotion is definitely non-greasy feeling. Which is good! Who would want greasy legs? Yuck! This lotion soaks right in and makes your skin feel very soft.

As much as I liked the Healing Lotion…. The Healing Cream is my absolute favorite! It’s a concentrated cream that is perfect for my dry hands. I love it! There are 9 healing ingredients that repair and moisturize even your driest skin. Let me tell ya, it really works! My hands have never felt better. It’s great for my elbows too! These new skin care products from Carmex are definitely items that I will keep buying over and over again.

Try It – Carmex Healing Lotion and Healing Cream are available at Walgreens, CVS and Walmart. The suggested retail price for the full size tube is $5.99. And the small tubes (Perfect for your purse or as stocking stuffers!) are only $.99!

Win It – One lucky The Blue Zoo reader is going to win a kit just like the one I received! The Carmex Skin Care prize will include -

1 Carmex Healing Lotion

1 Carmex Healing Cream

1 Travel size Carmex Healing Lotion

1 Travel size Carmex Healing Cream

To Enter – Please leave a comment below telling me which product you are most excited to try, The Healing Lotion or The Healing Cream. (After you have done that mandatory entry you may do as many of the optional extra entries as you would like. Please leave a separate comment for each entry. Also make sure your email is viewable in your profile or that you leave it in your comment. I need to be able to tell you if you win!)

- Optional Extra Entries -

- “Like” Carmex on Facebook (1 extra entry) – Please leave your Facebook name in your comment for verification purposes.

- Follow Carmex on Twitter (1 extra entry) – Please leave your Twitter name in your comment.

- Join The Blue Zoo via Google Friend Connect (2 extra entries) – Just click that little “Join this site” button in the right hand column.

The Rules – Giveaway ends 11/30/2011 at 11:59pm PST. Open to US residents 18 yrs old and up. Winner will be picked by a random number generator, winner will have 48 hrs to respond to notification or a new winner will be chosen. By entering this giveaway you agree to these rules. I was given product to facilitate my review however all opinions are my own.

Thanks for entering and good luck!

Mr. Bubble Review, Enter To Win Awesome Prize Pack!

noreply@blogger.com (The Blue Zoo) — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 07:04:00 +0000

Since I’m a mom to all boys there aren’t many things from my childhood that I can share with my sons. They sure don’t want to play with Barbie, or baby dolls, My Little Ponies or Strawberry Shortcake. (Ok, well one son may want to play with Strawberry Shortcake, he seems to have a thing for red heads!) I’m so glad that I can share Mr. Bubble bath products with my boys!

My boys have always enjoyed bath time. Luckily I’ve never had to fight with them to get them to take a bath! But things do get boring. And we often turn to fun tub toys and products like bubble bath and spray soaps. Of course my favorite bubble bath is Mr. Bubble! Whenever I pour it into the tub the familiar scent brings back waves of memories. My boys all love Mr. Bubble bubble bath because the bubbles last the entire time they are in the tub! Just like when I was a kid. My boys, who can be very anti-pink, don’t even care that the bottle is bright pink. They just love the mountains of bubbles they know they are going to get!

Every single time we bought a new bottle of Mr. Bubble bubble bath my boys would look longingly at the available for order T-shirts on the back. I don’t know why I never got around to ordering those T-shirts! It just ended up being one of those things I kept forgetting. Hate it when I do that!! Mr. Bubble came through for my boys and very generously made their T-shirt wearing dreams come true by including these adorable T’s in our box of products to review -

See how cute and happy they are?!

We also got to review the foam soap. My twins love using spray foam soaps! However they have very sensitive skin and most foam soaps irritate their skin. We received the regular Original Scent Mr. Bubble Foam Soap and I was a little nervous about letting the boys use it. But they used a ton of it and were totally fine! It didn’t irritate their skin at all. I was so glad!!

It’s really cool how my mom trusted and bought Mr. Bubble products for me and here I am all grown up and buying it for my boys! And …. truth be told – I’m still using it! Shh, don’t tell the boys!

Win It – A special thanks to Mr. Bubble for putting together an amazing prize pack for one lucky The Blue Zoo reader. The winner will receive the following Mr. Bubble products – 1 bottle of bubble bath, 1 bottle of body wash, 1 bottle of foam soap and super cute bath bombs! (Products are pictured below.) Winner will have the choice between the original scent or the Extra Gentle Formula.

To Enter – Please leave a comment below telling me which product in the prize pack you are most excited about trying! (After you have done that first mandatory entry you may do as many of the optional extra entries as you would like. Please leave a separate comment for each entry. Also make sure your email is viewable in your profile or that you leave it in your comment. I need to be able to tell you if you win!)

- Optional Extra Entries -

- “Like” Mr. Bubble on Facebook (1 extra entry) – Please leave your Facebook name in your comment for verification purposes.

- Follow Mr. Bubble on Twitter (1 extra entry) – Please leave your Twitter name in your comment.

- Join The Blue Zoo via Google Friend Connect (2 extra entries) – Just click the “Join this site” button in the right hand column.

The Rules – Giveaway ends 11/26/2011 11:59pm PST. Open to US residents 18 yrs old and up. Winner will be picked via a random number generator, winner will have 48 hrs to respond to email notification or a new winner will be chosen. By entering you agree to these rules. I was given products to facilitate my review, however all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thanks for entering and good luck!

Has Your Husband Upgraded His Wedding Band?

noreply@blogger.com (The Blue Zoo) — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 07:12:00 +0000

I am pretty attached to my wedding rings. I blogged about that before, right? I don’t want to “upgrade”, I don’t want a new design. I’m good with my rings just the way they are. However there was a time a few years ago that my fingers were so fat I couldn’t wear my rings! I wore them on a necklace or not at all. I did consider getting a simple gold band so that people would stop looking at me and my 4 boys with such pity in their eyes! I got lots of “I just don’t know how you do it!” and “Bless you heart!” before I realized these nosy strangers thought I was a single mom. Sheesh. Can’t believe people say that stuff. Well, people still tell me “I just don’t know how you do it!” but that’s a whole other blog post. Instead of getting a new ring for my fat fingers I just decided to lose weight. Problem solved.

Anyways…. the other night my husband mentioned that he might like a new wedding band. Eeek. Really?? Ugh. But it’s not the same!! I guess men just aren’t as emotionally attached to rings. His reason for wanting a new ring is that his is uncomfortable, it’s too thin, and it’s hurting his finger. Umm, I think that means he has fat fingers. He might not want to admit it, but it sure sounds like that might be the problem!

I guess he’s already been thinking about and looking at tungsten wedding bands. Honestly I’m not much of a jewelry buff, and I really had no clue what he was talking about. So I looked it up! As it turns out tungsten carbide rings are pretty tough, I’m thinking this might be a good idea. Apparently these rings can withstand some pretty harsh conditions and still stay shiny and unscratched! Which is good for my husband since he’s always messing with his motorcycle or some other manly dirty thing.

A lot of the mens tungsten rings are really cool looking. There are lots of different designs, with or without diamonds, black and just plain ol’silver.

I’m actually surprised I liked so many of them. But they really are pretty cool. The black tungsten rings are really different, I like the look of them with the silver. I guess if the Hubs picks one of these it might not be so bad. I want his ring to be comfortable. (And we all know he isn’t going to diet! Ha Ha!)

So, what do you think? Would you care if your husband wanted a new ring?

My Life Should Run Like A Computer Program…. Maybe

noreply@blogger.com (The Blue Zoo) — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 07:43:00 +0000

Sometimes it seems that computers make everything so darn simple. Sometimes…. Because other times… eh, not so much! Computers can make our lives so much easier. But if they aren’t working right – Ugh! They can drive you crazy trying to deal with them!!

But, love them or hate them, computers are making our lives easier everyday. A few weeks ago Tiny Town was without internet and cell service for a whole day. The entire town. Can you imagine?? Apparently someone screwed up and hit some sort of fiber optic cable and it totally took out everything. You don’t realize how much you rely on technology every single day until it’s gone. We didn’t have cell service, internet was gone, no banking, and unless you happened to have cash you couldn’t get gas either. It was seriously the weirdest feeling! It was like being cut off from the world.

It’s crazy how one person can make a mistake and knick a cable and an entire town (actually I think it was several towns) can’t get money from the ATM. Crazy and really really annoying!

Still, I think if my life ran like a computer it might go a little easier. If you make a mistake you can just hit delete. Ha! Then it’s like it never even happened. Things not going as planned? Just hit restart and start all over. Perfect! I could use that one A LOT. Productivity software would definitely keep you organized and productive. Another awesome feature I could use in my life. You could even change your wallpaper with one click. Spell/grammar check would be great for any and all conversations and hand written notes. Yep, a constant portable document review gadget would come in handy.

And whenever you wanted to implement some life track changes you could just clear out your memory and start completely over with a fresh slate!

So yea, I know my life is never going to run as smoothly as a computer is programmed to run. And… actually, as often as computers fail us that’s probably a good thing!

Where Is My Flying Car?

noreply@blogger.com (The Blue Zoo) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 06:40:00 +0000

Didn’t you think that by now we’d all be floating around in awesome flying cars? With robots doing all those jobs we just don’t want to do? Like dishes, dusting, vacuuming, scrubbing toilets, dishes, mopping…and maybe dishes again… When I was little I thought for sure by the time I was all grown up I would own a flying car. And at least one robot. I wasn’t expecting a lot… I just wanted one little robot. (Growing up has kinda been a let down.)

Ahhh, wouldn’t that just be awesome??

I would love to have some cool futuristic contraptions in my home to make my life easier. I don’t really see why I can’t have some conveyor type thingy in my kitchen that washes and dries my dishes. And comes with a robot that then puts all those dishes away! Seriously, that would rock my world! I hate dishes. Hate them!

Some companies have really cool machines that do all sorts of stuff. Even large pharmacies have pharmacy automation machines that sort and distribute prescriptions. I don’t really see why I can’t have some fancy technology that sorts all my mail, pays my bills, takes care of my pets, and cleans my house. Oh my gosh, I just had a brilliant idea – a fancy schmancy robot to help my son with his 5th grade homework so that my brain doesn’t spontaneously explode. Ugh, 5th grade homework is the worst. I’d actually rather do dishes!

I’m really thinking car companies need to get on this flying car thing. Just think of all the space we would save! And traffic jams wouldn’t suck so bad in a flying car! Who would even care if there was a traffic jam? Because – seriously, you would be flying. Who could complain about that?!

While the powers that be get to work on making me a flying car I would also greatly appreciate some sort of “material handling system” that washes, dries, folds and puts away my laundry. That would just be the best thing since the invention of shoelaces. Because I am literally drowning in laundry!! With 6 people in our family I am constantly fighting the laundry battle! Most weeks I lose.

So, what about you? Are you ready for robots and flying cars??

If It’s Not One Thing, It’s Another

noreply@blogger.com (The Blue Zoo) — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 08:13:00 +0000

Here I was all behind… behind in blogging, behind in cleaning, behind in ..um .. life in freakin’ general!!

And then I had a plan. I sat down and made myself a nice little schedule. A schedule that had time for cleaning, exercising, and even blogging! I was feeling pretty damn proud of myself. For some reason getting organized makes me feel a little holier-than-thou, even though I know there’s no chance in hell I’m going to stay organized. But it’s always good while it lasts, right?

This particular holier-than-thou attitude was particularly short lived……

First - my husbands laptop breaks. Normally that wouldn’t affect me and my laptop, but The Hubs gave the computer Dr the charger that we both use! Yea, thanks babe. So basically I went a week without using my laptop. (Yes, I know I could have bought another charger… but I didn’t realize how long the stupid thing was going to be gone!) I used my iPad to answer emails, but for whatever reason only about 1/2 of those emails actually made it the recipient. Who knows where the hell the others went to?! Now, I’m behind in blogging and still behind in emails. Wonderful. Actually I’m even more behind in emails because now I have to double check all the emails I sent out to see IF they made it! Joy. Just joy.

And then ….. Just when I think I’m going to catch up on any of my online stuff. My kids all start getting the flu. Oh yes. Tanner got it first. It was horrible. We had eaten a ton of food at our fave mexican restaurant then, in the middle of the night, he spewed off the top bunk all exorcist style. Seriously, this kid can puke. It took Hubs and I over an hour to clean up most of it. (I was gagging the whole time. I don’t do puke well. Gross!) And then the rest of the next day for me to finish cleaning it up. Donovan got it next. Poor little guy couldn’t even hold water down for 2 minutes.

We were good for a couple days, and I was almost caught up on all the puky laundry…. I thought for sure no one else was going to get sick.

Ha! Yea, right. Of course I got sick. Gavin and I both did. It was terrible. I seemed to get it even worse than the kids did. Or maybe I just whine more…. All I know is that as sick as I was, as much as I threw up, I didn’t lose a damn ounce! Ugh. The only good thing about getting the flu is at least losing a pound or two! And I didn’t lose even an ounce?? So. Not. Fair. Stupid flu.

I’m right back to where I started. Behind in all my housework, behind on blogging and waaay behind on my emails. So much for that schedule this week! Every single time I think I’m going to get ahead, life smacks me.

Oh – and on top of all that, I am still planning Donovan’s birthday party for this Saturday. Somehow I let him talk me into inviting his whole class. Somehow I even convinced myself this was a good idea. Seriously, I don’t know what is wrong with me sometimes! I took the easy way out this year, I ordered his birthday cake from WalMart. I can’t believe how excited he is to get a WalMart cake. **Insert giant eye roll here** Doesn’t he remember the awesome Batman cake I made last year?

Maybe I should have titled this post “A Really Long Whiny Post About My Life And Puke”… It seems like maybe it would have been more honest….

Hopefully I can get some major blogging done in the next few days and I'm hoping that next week I can get back to my cleaning schedule. It’s based on doing a little bit everyday so that you don’t feel like you are drowning in housework and yet your house is still clean enough that if someone shows up unexpectedly you don’t have to slam the door in their face. Any suggestions are welcome!

Now that I’ve been blathering on and on – tell me, what has been going on with you?? Have you gotten the crud yet this year? Have you done your Fall cleaning? Do you have a cleaning day, or schedule, or what?

Happy 5th Birthday Donovan!

noreply@blogger.com (The Blue Zoo) — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 08:08:00 +0000

I had a bunch of stuff I wanted to get done ….. One of which was to make a little post with some pictures wishing my youngest a happy birthday. But once I started looking at his baby pictures I couldn’t seem to stop! I just really can’t believe he’s 5! I spent the last 3 hours just looking at all his baby pictures wondering – where does all the time GO??

It doesn’t seem that long ago that I peed on that stick and two bright pink lines popped up. I was pretty darned surprised, I was still breastfeeding Seth and Tanner for crying out loud! (Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t get pregnant when you’re breastfeeding! ha!)

I didn’t really have time to be pregnant. I had a rambunctious 5 yr old, twins who were constantly breastfeeding and needing a diaper change….. I was exhausted as it was. I don’t remember very much of my pregnancy. Except that I was HUGE, and could still pack the twins on my hips. And I totally thought he was going to be a she.

But as we all know, he was (and is) definitely not a she! If he had been a girl he was going to be named Emily. But, even though we had known since I was 20 weeks along that he was in fact a he, we still didn’t have a name picked out for him when he was born! Poor Donovan was nameless for almost 2 days! The Hubs and I do not agree on names. Finally I was just like, “I am NOT bringing this baby home unnamed. So you better agree to a name before I just pick it myself!!” Don’t mess with a hormonal mama.

Wasn’t he just the cutest baby ever?!!

Oh…. you thought your baby was the cutest baby ever?

Nope!

Just kidding… (sorta…. not really….)

But really – Strangers used to go out of their way to tell me how gorgeous he was. And he would smile and coo, it was like he knew what they were saying! He knew he was the cutest baby ever and he was going to milk it for everything it was worth!

Now though…. Since he’s turning 5 and all… He can talk. And he does. A lot. He says whatever he’s thinking.

All. The. Time.

He will tell strangers if he thinks they are fat, if they “look” scary (Which is usually if they have crazy hair and/or make-up.), if someone gets too close to him and they smell – he isn’t too shy to tell them they need a shower!

It is SO embarrassing!

He barks at old ladies at WalMart. He growls. He asks me questions I don’t want to answer, like “How do babies get in bellies??” and “Why does my pee pee get big??”

I never know what he’s going to do or what he’s going to say! This kid is definitely keeping me on my toes!! Naughty little booger.

And still, as naughty as he is ….

He’s my baby!

I just can’t believe my baby is 5. My boys are growing up so fast!! For some reason this birthday is just really hitting it home. He’s 5. That’s really really really not a baby.

Today I’ll be taking him to get cowboy boots cause that’s what he wants the most for his birthday. And next weekend we’ll be doing a big Spongebob party. He wants to invite all the kids in his Pre-K class. That’s 20 kids! 20!! Plus all his cousins, there are about 8…. Plus grandparents, aunts, uncles… etc…. I may not survive! This could be my last week here on Earth…. Wish me luck! Feel free to send wine to help me through this difficult time… Or maybe you could just bake me an awesome Spongebob cake!!

Happy Halloween! (And Check Out The Cool Rockstar Zombie Costume I Made!)

noreply@blogger.com (The Blue Zoo) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 06:31:00 +0000

I love Halloween! I always have. Costumes and free candy? Best holiday ever! I'm so glad I have little monsters to take trick or treating. Mommy always has to do a candy "safety check" you know. Funny how all my favorites look suspicious and should be set aside...... For me later! Haha!

Here are my little candy getters -

Tanner had to use this costume to go to Spook Night last weekend. But really he's going to be the Green Lantern. (We had to wait for it to ship, I should have ordered sooner! Oops!) His Green Lantern costume lights up and everything! But this Jack Sparrow skeleton pirate costume was a big hit at Spook Night. In fact, these two guys in particular LOVED this costume! Tanner liked their nerdy costumes too..... But then I had to explain that they weren't dressed up. Those "nerdy" clothes were their REAL clothes! (They were Mormon missionaries!) I about died laughing.

Seth absolutely loves this Wolverine costume with claws and everything.

Donovan just had to be Captain America. He's pretty cute! But this costume is kinda a pain in the butt. The eye holes were SO far apart. Who makes a costume for kids with the eye holes on the SIDE of the head?? Luckily daddy saved the day and just cut the holes bigger. But still, weird!

And Gavin decided to be a Rockstar Zombie. He saw a picture online, and for some odd reason I was like "I can make that." Which IS kinda odd... Because I am not a crafty kind of person. I have NO sewing skills what-so-ever. I can't even sew a button!

I think it turned out pretty damn good! I'm all sorts of proud of myself. I went to the thrift store and got some old jeans, cut them up, spray painted them some, and wiped fake blood all over the front of them. I even added some black safety pins here and there for some added detail. I also picked up the jacket at the thrift store for $3! I hot glued some bolt nut cover thingies (I really have no clue what they are called, they just looked cool so I got them.) to the shoulders and a couple in the front, I spray painted the sleeves a little, to make it look a little dirty.

And I even managed to spray paint a guitar on the back of the jacket! I cut a guitar shape out of newspaper and used that as a stencil to spray paint it on. I can't believe it worked!

Anyways, enough gushing about the awesome jacket I made..... Because I also did the make up! Pretty good huh? I just followed the directions from one of those WalMart kits. Then we spray painted his mohawk black and blue, and borrowed a spiked necklace from an uncle who went through a gothic phase.

I just love this costume!

What has been your favorite costume? Did you make it or buy it?

Have a happy and safe Halloween!!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Our First Trip To A Pumpkin Patch

noreply@blogger.com (The Blue Zoo) — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 17:52:00 +0000

Can you believe that my boys had never been to a pumpkin patch?? I couldn't believe it when someone told me there was one only 1 1/2 hrs away, and I had never heard of it before! I've lived in Teeny Town for quite awhile, how did I not know? Crazy! So a couple weekends ago, while The Hubs was gone hunting, I loaded up the kids after soccer and off we went to the pumpkin patch. The drive ended up being a little further than I thought, but we had a ton of fun!!

We made our very own scarecrow -

The boys named him Bobbie Frank -

It's a farm so they had animals and such. The boys thought this turkey was pretty cool.... Until it gobbled. Gavin about crapped himself! He jumped so high, I was dying laughing.

We went on a hayride out to the pumpkin patch area and picked our pumpkins.

All the boys got to ride in this "cow train".

We got lost in the corn maze! That was my first corn maze and we did pretty well. At least we didn't have to call anyone to help us get out!

They have this awesome pumpkin tower. It's huge! And at night they light the whole thing up. I told my boys we could stay and watch them light it up, or we could go to Dairy Queen and have dinner. They chose Dairy Queen, and I'm glad cause I got a pumpkin pie Blizzard!! Yummy!

We'll definitely be going back next year. I'm glad we went and now we have a new fall tradition. Do you have a local pumpkin patch? I've always thought it would be fun to own and operate a pumpkin patch. But I have a "black thumb", everything I try to grow dies. Except tomatoes. I can grow tomatoes like crazy! But I hate them. Anyways, I'm glad I found a pumpkin patch farm that isn't too terribly far away.

Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Friends You Love Monday Blog Hop ~ Meet Jessica @MyTimeAsMom

noreply@blogger.com (The Blue Zoo) — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 07:13:00 +0000

The Friends You Love Blog Hop is all about meeting new blog friends and getting to know people better. Today I'd like you to meet Jessica from My Time As Mom. Jessica actually lives about 2 1/2 hours away from me, close enough for a visit... but we actually didn't meet until we both flew to San Diego to attend BlogHer! Isn't that funny?! We were both so busy I didn't get a chance to visit with her long enough. But hopefully we'll get to hang out soon! Jessica loves Twitter and you can always find her on there chatting with her friends and helping people. She also hosts VlogTalk every week. Click the link for more details! She really makes vlogging look fun. Today she's sharing a video of her girls with us, it's sweet, cute, and short. Perfect! After watching make sure you head over to her blog and say hi!

Building the Bonds of Sisterhood

My girls are about 5 and half years apart and as this video will show you they are finally starting to bond as friends instead of just as sisters.

It warms my heart.

Godiva Coffee Giveaway ~ From Friends You Love

noreply@blogger.com (The Blue Zoo) — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 05:32:00 +0000

I live on coffee. My day just simply doesn’t start until I’ve had at least 2 full cups of coffee. So I was more than happy to hear that Godiva was partnering with Friends You Love this year! Coffee and friends just go together!

I adore Godiva chocolates so I knew I was going to love Godiva coffee. And I totally did!

Everyone seems to be heading to their favorite coffee places to enjoy their yummy fall coffee specials, like pumpkin. I was very jealous! Until Godiva sent over some Pumpkin Spice and Caramel Pecan Bark.

Mmmmm, the Pumpkin Spice is delicious! It is literally the best pumpkin coffee ever. I like it better than my local coffee shops pumpkin coffee. Add just a couple Splendas and some of my favorite fat free French Vanilla creamer, and it’s perfect! Plus it has less calories than one of those fancy coffee shop drinks!

The Caramel Pecan Bark flavor is good too. Very smooth, and also tastes good with my favorite creamer! It has a rich caramel flavor with a nutty touch and a hint of chocolate.

Plus I just love the way both coffees made my house smell like fall!

Click here to get a great Godiva coffee coupon. And even better Godiva is giving one lucky The Blue Zoo reader one package each of Pumpkin Spice coffee and Caramel Pecan Bark coffee!

To Enter – Leave a comment telling me which flavor you are most excited to try! (Please be sure that your email address is in your comment or visible in your profile, I need to be able to tell you if you win!)

The Rules – Giveaway is open to US residents age 18 and up. No purchase necessary to enter. This giveaway ends 10/29/2011 11:59pm PST. Winner will be chosen by a random number generator and notified via email. Winner will have 24 hrs to respond or a new winner will be chosen. I was given product to facilitate my review, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Gettin’ Skinny Friday ~ Find Healthier Versions For Your Fall Cravings!

noreply@blogger.com (The Blue Zoo) — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 17:13:00 +0000

I don’t know about you but when the fall season hits I start baking like a crazy person! I love pumpkin and I just can’t seem to control myself. I want pumpkin pie, pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin cake, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin bread, pumpkin EVERYTHING.

Last night I gave in to my craving for pumpkin cupcakes. I attempted to make Cream Filled Pumpkin Cupcakes from Taste Of Home, however as you can see from the picture I kinda screwed up on the cream filling. Trying to save some calories I substituted light cream cheese instead of butter and shortening. The whole cream filling thing was a disaster, but the cream cheese glaze I ended up with is amazing!! Although by the time I added lots of powdered sugar to thicken it up I’m not really sure how many calories I saved! Oh well, the cupcakes are delish!!

Which is kinda the problem…. All I want to do is eat a whole plateful of these darn cupcakes!

So, my official Gettin’ Skinny advice today – Just start with a healthier recipe to begin with! Then you won’t have to feel all sorts of guilty for eating 3 or 4 cupcakes like I do! (Ok, you still probably shouldn’t pig out on cupcakes like I do…..) But you’ll still get to satisfy that baking urge and those fall cravings. I like to use Eat Better America.com for healthier recipes. You can pretty much find a healthier version of anything you want to make there. Which is what I should have done when I decided to make pumpkin cupcakes to begin with! (mmmm, but those cream filled ones look amazing!)

So what are you craving this fall? Do you go crazy for pumpkin like I do? How do you make recipes healthier but in a way that still makes them taste good?? (And don’t tell me that applesauce trick! You know - where you leave out the vegetable oil in recipes and use applesauce instead. I’ve tried that, it never works!!)

** No, no one asked me to mention Eat Better America. It really just is a good site I recommend. **

Move Over Hugh Jackman, I Have THE Cutest Wolverine Ever!

noreply@blogger.com (The Blue Zoo) — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 05:41:00 +0000

I love Halloween. It’s one of my favorite holidays. Actually… I pretty much love all the holidays! Even St Patrick’s Day. Who wouldn’t love green pancakes and leprechaun tricks? Anyways – back to Halloween. My boys love Halloween. I think all kids love Halloween, you get to knock on stranger’s doors and they give you candy. Obviously kids adore Halloween. (And so do I because as soon as the kids go to sleep I get to pick through the candy and get all the best stuff!)

But before anyone gets any candy, costumes must be picked!

My boys are all about the costumes. Sometimes it can take awhile for them to settle on a particular costume and sometimes they know exactly what they want to be months in advance!! And since I live in Teeny Town, I rely heavily on online sites to make all their costume dreams come true. And CostumeSupercenter.com has tons and tons and tons of costumes to make things easier for this mom. I especially like that they have LOTS of boys costumes! It seems that girl costumes are always easy to find, but not so much boy costumes.

My little Seth had his heart set on being Wolverine this year, and Costume Supercenter did not disappoint!

The colors are much brighter than my cell phone pics are showing. Seth loves the muscle chest, and the fact that the mask doesn’t cover his whole face. Isn’t he just the cutest Wolverine you ever saw?

But what he really loves are these claws! With boys and Halloween – it’s all about the accessories! Seth is all about these claws. I have a feeling he’ll be wearing this costume long after trick or treating… claws and all! Luckily I can see that this costume is high quality and he’ll be able to play in it for a really long time. And that is actually really important to me and my kids! They love being able to wear their costumes over and over.

I’m glad that he picked Wolverine, it’s definitely my favorite X-men Halloween costume.

If you’re looking for an awesome costume this year, you should definitely check out CostumeSupercenter.com! You will not be disappointed in the quality of the costume you get.

** I received a costume in order to facilitate this review. All opinions and thoughts are my own. **

Post It Note Tuesday ~ Zombie Style

noreply@blogger.com (The Blue Zoo) — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 07:52:00 +0000

Today I’m linking up with my good friend Kristin at Only Parent Chronicles for Post It Note Tuesday. Post It’s are fun and super easy! (Just like Kristin!! Hahaha! I’m totally joking!) Kristin is actually a rock star. On top of running Post It Note Tuesdays she is the brains behind Friends You Love, and on top of that she is trying to plan a wedding! See? Total rock star!

So, I’ve never heard of the show The Walking Dead before, have you? The husband wanted to watch it so we just spent the last 4 hours catching up on old episodes so that we can watch the season premiere that we TiVo’ed. Let me tell you – That is a lot of zombies!! I can’t even imagine what my dreams are going to be like. Nightmare city!

And since I had zombies on the brain I put together some zombie style Post It Note’s for you! I got them all from this zombie website.

And my absolute favorite -

Ha! Love it!! If you want to make your own Post It Note’s go visit Kristin for the directions! (It’s easy!)

Need Books For College? {CampusBookRentals.com Review}

noreply@blogger.com (The Blue Zoo) — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 06:58:00 +0000

My youngest sister just started college this year. And the biggest complaint I heard was how expensive the books for her classes were! It’s insane how much they charge!

After checking out CampusBookRentals.com I really wish she had known about it! She could have rented her books online! Probably would have saved her and my parents some money. You can save up to half the price it would cost you to buy the books by renting them! HALF. That adds up to some pretty awesome savings. Plus I really love that if you decide to buy the book all you have to do is pay the difference from what you’ve already paid in rental fees and the price the book was when you initially rented. Seems simple to me!

Wanna see how it works?

It really seems like they are making the process as easy as can be. I mean, you can even write in the books! (I did that in high school once, it was not appreciated.)

One thing I would be worried about are late fees. Cause you know you’re going to have to return the books eventually, unless you buy them. I am always and constantly late. (That’s one of the reasons I pay for Netflix, no late fees!) So I checked out Campus Book Rentals late fee policy, and they say they are very flexible! If you tell them you are going to miss your deadline they will work with you! Pretty cool, huh?

On top of giving out awesome deals on college text books, Campus Book Rentals has also teamed up with Operation Smile. In case you aren’t familiar with them, they change children’s lives by performing cleft lip surgeries. It’s simply amazing work they are doing!! And Campus Book Rentals has committed to donating enough to cover 1,000 of these life changing surgeries. For every book rented they will be donating a portion of the profit to Operation Smile with the goal being changing 1,000 lives!!

Follow Campus Book Rentals on Twitter, and on Facebook too.

** I will receive a gift in exchange for this post, however all thoughts and opinions are my own. **