Have you heard of the Kids Bowl Free program? It’s an awesome program where local bowling allies allow kids, 15 years old and under, to bowl two FREE games EVERY DAY from May to August! How amazing is that? And if you’d like to bowl with your kids, you can purchase a family pass for just $24.95, and then you and up to three other adults can also bowl two free games every day! That’s right…every day!

We received a Family Pass for review so we could go check out our participating local alley, Pioneer Lanes. Bowling is one of Donovan’s very favorite things to do, so I was really looking forward to trying Kids Bowl Free. He got so excited when we went last week. As soon as we had our shoes, he ran right up to the lane, grabbed his ball, and bowled!

And even though he’s only three, he bowled his whole two games and half of mine! By the time we were finished, he needed a little help carrying his ball from the ball return up to the lane, but he wasn’t giving up! And he loves waiting to watch the ball pop out of the return machine!

It’s really easy to sign up, too! Just visit the website and search for your bowling alley—allies all over the country participate, so you should be able to find one near you. Then fill out the registration form and purchase a family pass if you want to. You can add up to six children and if you get a family pass, up to four adults. Then, each week, they will send you an email that contains coupons for each day of bowling. Just print your coupons and present them to your bowling alley. Shoe rental fees still apply, but your two games will be free. And, since shoe rental is only $2.50 at our alley, it’s really economical.

And even though he’s too little to bowl, Avery loved it too! We will be going at least once a week throughout the summer. It’s such a great way to get your kids out of the house and away from the video games while they’re out of school. Plus, it’s a great way to get a little exercise in and to spend quality time together! And, even if you don’t intend to go every day, or even every week, Kids Bowl Free will still save you some money to sign up! Even if you only go once!

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My three month sponsored trial of the Weight Watchers 360 online tools has come to an end, and I wanted to take a minute to wrap things up. Overall, I lost about 11 pounds…I could easily have lost more, but I let life and my own lack of discipline interfere. The first month, I lost almost 8 pounds, and I felt great!

The Weight Watchers 360 program is really easy to follow and use. The online tools are user friendly and the mobile app makes it easy to keep track of your points no matter where you are. Each day, you start out with your daily points target, which you try to stay within. If you happen to go over, you have 49 extra weekly points to use at your discretion, and you can earn extra points beyond that for working out. The first month, I was fairly good about staying within my points, and I never used my activity points…hence, the great results!

Month 2 was a bit harder. I had to wean Avery earlier than I intended due to unrelated issues, which was a bit depressing. And I also suffered from some seasonal depression thanks to the awful weather we had here in Illinois (it was the first winter I’d had to deal with in 6 years, and I was not a fan). I worked out less—well, to be honest, hardly at all—and I was not nearly as good about tracking my points. By then end of the month, I’d only lost another two pounds. But, I acknowledge that it was entirely my own fault! Weight Watchers gives you all the tools you need to succeed, but you still have to make the commitment and put in the effort. In month two, I definitely learned that you can’t eyeball it. You’ve got to track every bite.

And in month three, a ten day trip to visit my family, totally derailed my effort to get back on track. It’s really difficult to travel with two little kids and exercise, eat right, and have fun all at the same time. But, despite gaining 4 pounds during my trip and just after, I managed to drop those pounds again as well as an additional pound by the end of the month.

Now, that my trial has ended, I’ve decided to continue on as a paying member to keep working toward my goal weight. So far, I’ve lost 11 pounds, two inches off my waist, and a jean size. Not as much as I had hoped, but again that was due to my own lack of discipline, not the program. During the weeks I stuck with the program to the letter, I lost big and saw great results. And I wasn’t usually starving. I felt healthy. As I continue toward my ultimate weight loss goal, I’ll keep you all updated. But, if you’ve been thinking about giving Weight Watchers 360 a try to help meet your healthy living goals, I definitely recommend it!

*I received a three month trial membership to Weight Watchers 360 Online Tools for review. No monetary compensation was received. All opinions are my own.

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Disclosure: I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias® and Scott Shared Values #cbias #SocialFabric

This weekend, while my husband was out of town for work, the boys and I had a fun movie night thanks to Scott Shared Values and Vudu.com! If you still haven’t heard of Vudu, it’s a great online service that gives you instant access to thousands of movies and TV shows from any smart device—computer, tablet, video game systems, Blu-ray players, smart TVs, or whatever device you prefer! And they’ve teamed up with the folks from Scott to give you a free $4 credit to try out the service. Right now, just purchase Scott Extra Soft Bath Tissue, 24 pack double roll, or Scott Paper Towels 6 pack mega rolls exclusively at Walmart and look for the orange Vudu tag on the front of the package.

I love that this offer is available on products we already use! Growing up in a house with four women, we often had Scott Bath Tissue. It’s soft, but durable, and it seems to last longer than a lot of other brands, making it a good value. Now that I’m an adult with my own family, I’m still inclined to buy it most of the time. And Scott Paper Towels are absorbent and strong, making cleaning up after two little boys just a bit easier. So, I was excited to stock up on Scott and plan some fun with my little guys while their daddy was out of town!

When we got home with our Scott paper products—and some of Donovan’s favorite for dinner, Walmart’s popcorn chicken—I pulled the Vudu sticker off the Scott packaging and logged on to walmart.com/scottsharedvalues to redeem our credit. Just click on the “Get Your Movie Now” button, enter the code on the back of the orange Vudu tag from your Scott product, and either sign in or set up a Vudu account.

It’s really simple. Once you’ve uploaded your promo code, your account will be credited with the $4. Then, just log on to Vudu through the device that you want to watch your movie on. I use our Samsung Smart TV. The app is already on the Smart home screen. I just log in, search for the movie or TV show we want to watch, and rent it. You will see how much credit you have in the top left corner of the screen. And depending on whether you choose to stream in HD or SD, your credit could be stretched to rent two movies! This time, we chose to watch Disney’s Cars. I’d never seen it, and neither had Donovan, despite having several of the toys.

Donovan and I got snuggled up on the couch after dinner to watch while Avery played on the floor. It was fun to just unwind before bed time with my little guys. Of course, Donovan is only three, so he got distracted about halfway through the movie. So, I just paused it and we picked up where we left of the next day. Once you rent a movie on Vudu, you have 30 days to watch it, and once you press play, you have 72 hours to finish it. So, there’s no big rush if the kiddos lose interest. Overall, it was a fun evening.

If you haven’t checked Vudu out yet, I highly recommend it. It’s really easy to use, you can watch on multiple devices from anywhere you have an internet connection, and they partner with great brands like Scott Shared Values to help you save money and have fun with your family. Check out all the photos from our shopping trip and movie night on our Google+ Album. And connect with Scott at Scott Shared Values and on Facebook.

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Allergy season is in full swing here in Illinois, with trees blooming in our yard, buttercups popping up everywhere, and pollen levels way higher than I wish they were. Controlling my symptoms is a daily struggle during spring and summer, so any time I learn about a new product or service that can help make it a little easier, I’m excited. I loved having the opportunity to be sponsored by Allegra Allergy and #SocialFabric to check out Allegra’s new website in partnership with CVS/Pharmacy called www.myallergenius.com.

MyAllerGenius has all kinds of information about common allergy triggers for both indoor and outdoor symptoms, beauty tips to help cope with the signs of allergies like puffy eyes and red nose, and the various types of Allegra that can help everyone in your family feel better when their allergy symptoms flare up. And you can save some money by printing coupons good when you purchase Allegra products at CVS. Save $4 on Allegra 30 count or larger and $2 on Children’s Allegra. Plus, CVS ExtraCare card members can save $6 automatically on Allegra 45 count through the end of May just by swiping your ExtraCare card at checkout.

You can also sign up for pollen alerts for your area. I love this feature! They’ll send you an email or text message when a high or very high level of pollen is expected in your area. I love to keep our windows open for fresh air and we try to play outside as much as possible. But, the pollen alerts will help me know in advance which days it would be better to keep the windows shut and plan indoor activities. A breeze through the house just isn’t worth the sneezing and runny noses when I know for sure that the pollen level is too high. As you can see, it’s pretty high in our area this week:

I also like how easy Allegra is to take, and the fact that it has several different options depending on what each member of your family needs. I take the Allegra 24 hour daily during spring and summer to help prevent symptoms before they begin. It’s a small pill that’s easy to swallow. I just take it before bed—my symptoms tend to be worst at night—and it helps prevent symptoms throughout the next day.

On occasion, when my symptoms get really bad, I will take AllegraD to help decongest. It contains the regular Allegra antihistamine as well as a decongestant to help me breathe better. When you’re allergic to all types of mold, trees, flowers, dust, and numerous other triggers, sometimes just the antihistamine isn’t enough. And I’ve tried other brands, but Allegra seems to work best for me. Zyrtec just made me tired, and Claritin didn’t seem to be as potent as Allegra. And Children’s Allegra has been most effective for Donovan so far.

Unfortunately, the little guy appears to have inherited my allergies. Anytime I am feeling stuffy, it’s a sure bet that he is, too. So, I give him Children’s Allegra to help with his symptoms. I give him the liquid version as it’s easier for a three year old to take. And, he says it, “tastes delicious!” So, I don’t have to fight him to get him to swallow it. He just takes his teaspoon full, and we move on.

Overall, I’m definitely an Allegra fan. MyAllerGenius is a helpful website, I’m excited that we’ll be able to save some money this allergy season with CVS coupons, and most importantly, we get some real relief from our symptoms. Check out all our photos from www.myallergenius.com and our CVS shopping trip on our Google+ album, and link up with Allegra on Facebook and Twitter! Plus, join Allegra for a Twitter party on May 14th from 1 to 2pm EST for a chance to win some great prizes. RSVP here: Allegra Twitter Party.

*I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias® and ALLEGRA®. All opinions are my own. #cbias #SocialFabric

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Hello to the readers of The Education of a Stay at Home Mom! My name is Naomi, and I am so excited to be a guest blogger today – not only to share this super easy, super quick craft with you for your home – but for the chance to meet some new friends! My husband and I are in the process of adopting our first child through an international adoption – and in the waiting, I am filling my time with home décor projects galore! You can find MY blog at DelightCreativeHome.com, and find tons more DIY projects, printables, home renovation on the cheap, and even learn a little bit about me.

I am always looking for a cute way to decorate on the cheap, sometimes I walk into someone’s house and they have EVERY wall covered with some kind of picture or artwork, I just don’t have the time to try to curate a collection OR go shopping for something new at the thrift store… so I decided to make something quick and easy to fill a wall in my home.

In order to complete this project, I used:

· Scrapbook paper (.59/sheet – unless you find a sale!)

· Foam core board ($2.50/piece – I only needed one piece for “HOME”)

· Spray glue (I already had, but $6ish)

· Cutting utensil (exacto knife would have been smarter than a paring knife I suppose)

· Scissors

Here are the steps I took to complete

1. Draw out the letters in whatever word you want – depending on how long it is, how many pieces of paper, whatever, you can decide on the size of letters. I decided to use a dinner plate to help me with the “O” – so that kind of decided my letter sizing, making sure they all match the “O.”

2. Cut out the shapes with the exacto knife – I used scissors to clean up icky edges and weird paper tears along the way – as you can see, they aren’t super pretty anyway

3. Step outside, or use a well-ventilated area to spray the spray glue on the tops of the letters – make sure you are on an already icky surface or you cover it with something, spray glue doesn’t always go where you want it to

4. Put a whole piece (or if smaller letters a smaller rectangular piece) of scrapbook paper on each the sticky spray glued letters – smooth it out

5. Cut off the excess paper as desired with your scissors, if you cut up right along the edge of the foam board it will probably last longer, I cut mine with a little shape to them, so it might start to curl sooner, but for $10 – I have cheap wall art and can change it out whenever I feel like it!

Done!

Again… here is my cute décor – I am going to attach them to the wall with something sticky like those pull off tabs from 3M or maybe even glue a thumbtack to the back and shove it into the wall.

Thanks so much for reading! Again, feel free to check out my blog for TONS more DIY projects and of course a few home renovation ideas too! DelightCreativeHome.com

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My boys are biracial and have unruly hair. Donovan’s hair is really thick and curly with a tendency to be very frizzy. And Avery’s hair…well, it hasn’t decided what it wants to do yet. Some of it’s bone straight, parts are super curly, and the rest is just crazy frizz. Regular kids hair products were just not working for the boys, and I’d even tried using my shampoo and conditioner for them with limited success. So, I was excited when a friend pointed out Mixed Chicks to me. It’s formulated especially for multi-racial hair and has a special line just for kids. So, we decided to give it a try. They sent us some samples of their kid’s shampoo, conditioner, and leave-in conditioner.

Here’s Avery’s hair before Mixed Chicks. As you can see, it’s…nuts.

But, after Mixed Chicks, it’s much more tamed. It still tends to get a bit crazy by the end of the day, but even then it’s much softer, shinier, and healthier than before. And his scalp, which has had issues off and on with cradle cap since he was born, has been better, too. As he keeps growing, we’ll see what his hair decides to do. Donovan’s was much more consistently curly at 8 months than Avery’s is, so I’m not sure how it’s going to grow. But, Mixed Chicks has really helped make it more manageable…and at least I can get some decent pictures without crazy hair sticking up everywhere when we take our family pictures later this year!

Mixed Chicks has worked well for Donovan’s hair, too. His hair is really curly, and we tend to keep it fairly short so it doesn’t get too frizzy. But, we let it grow a little lately and used Mixed Chicks on it. It really helps define his curls, adds shine, and reduces the frizz dramatically. So, we can grow his hair out a bit more without it being such a pain to deal with. And the products don’t make their hair sticky or oily. They absorb completely for a soft, natural look and feel.

Overall, I was really happy with the products and will be purchasing it for everyday use in the future. If you’re little one has unruly curls—or if you do! They’ve got adult products, too—I definitely recommend giving Mixed Chicks a try. You can find it at Target stores nationwide or on their website here: Mixed Chicks.

*I received the above item for review. No monetary compensation was received. All opinions are my own.

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I also love that green smoothies are kid friendly. Donovan loves smoothies and has no idea that the smoothies I’ve been giving him lately are full of nutritious veggies as well as yummy fruits. And even Avery has gotten to try a little bit of smoothie here and there with positive results.

For the month of April, we are taking part in the Simple Green Smoothie Challenge to drink one green smoothie every day. At the end of the month, I will take stock of how I feel, including the health of my hair, nails, and skin. All the great nutrients in green smoothies are supposed to improve overall health as well as physical appearance. They send out weekly emails with recipes, tips, and encouragement. But for day 1 of the challenge, we made up our own smoothie recipe and plugged it into the Recipe Builder on Weight Watchers to see how many points it was…just 3! And it has a good dose of protein and electrolytes, which makes for a great post-workout drink thanks to the Greek yogurt and coconut water we used. The texture of this smoothie is really cool and frosty thanks to the frozen grapes and is a nice alternative to the more common berry smoothie. Here’s what we did:

White Grape Peach Green Smoothie
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups frozen peaches
1 cup frozen grapes
1/2 ripe banana
1 cup Dannon Oikos Vanilla Greek Yogurt (you’re welcome to use another brand, but this is the brand we used to calculate the points)
15 oz Coconut Water (if you don’t have coconut water, regular water will work just fine and lower the points value to 2)
Fresh baby spinach (roughly 1 1/2 cups)

Directions
Place your frozen peaches, grapes, banana, Greek yogurt, and coconut water in your blender. Fill up the rest of the blender all the way to the top with spinach. Put the lid on and blend until all the spinach has been well processed and your smoothie is nice and smooth.

Makes approximately 40 ounces, 10 ounces per serving. Store leftovers in an air tight container in the fridge for up to 24 hours.

*I received a 3 month membership to Weight Watchers 360 for review. No monetary compensation was received. All opinions are my own.

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It’s spring break this week here in northern Illinois. So, we invited one of Donovan’s friends over to decorate some Easter eggs. And while we were at it, I sampled a Starbucks Delicious Pairing from Walmart. If you haven’t heard of Delicious Pairings, keep an eye out for the display next time you’re in the bakery section of Walmart. Above the case with the donuts and pastries, there should be a sign that says Starbucks Delicious Pairing and has recommendations for invigorating coffee blends that pair perfectly with The Bakery at Walmart’s tasty confections. (But, if you can’t find the display, you can always stop by the coffee isle to grab some grounds and then head over to the bakery to pick up a snack!)

For this snack, I picked up the Caffe Verona blend along with some Bakery at Walmart Chocolate Chip Cookies. Caffe Verona is a dark roast that’s recommended to help enhance the flavor of chocolate and caramelized sugar…and it smells great!

And if you’ve never tried any of The Bakery at Walmart’s cookies, cakes, or pastries, I definitely recommend them. Like everything at Walmart, they’re priced right and they taste great. The Chocolate Chip Cookies come in a small box that can usually be found near the donut case and are just one of many varieties of cookies available.

I used my single cup coffee brewer’s reusable cup to brew up a cup of the Caffe Verona while I set up all the egg dyeing kits for the kids to use. We had lots of fun dyes, stickers, and markers to make some pretty eggs. And the coffee made the house smell delicious! Caffe Verona is a very dark roast, so it has a very robust aroma and a slightly bitter flavor. I lightened mine up a bit with some milk, which made it pair perfectly with the cookies. The coffee didn’t need any sugar when eaten with the cookies, so it was like having milk and cookies with an extra kick! Both the coffee and the cookies are great by themselves, but together they really bring out the chocolate flavor in both. You’re left with the sweet, lingering flavor of milk chocolate to savor even after you’ve finished your treat.

And this pairing works great for play date snacks when paired with some fruit—what kid doesn’t like chocolate chip cookies? Donovan and his friend had a blast coloring their Easter Eggs. And it looks like the weather is going to clear up and finally be spring-like for Easter day, so we can hide their eggs outside.

For a three year old, I think he decorated some very pretty eggs!

Overall, it was a successful play date—and Starbucks Delicious Pairings was a successful snack!

*I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™. #cbias #SocialFabric

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I absolutely love tea! I usually drink at least one cup a day, especially in the colder months of the year. It warms me up, is calming, and tastes great without adding calories to my diet. But, with Easter coming up, I decided to try something new with tea—dyeing Easter eggs with Bigelow Tea!

So we headed to Walmart to pick up a few things we needed for our experiment. The tea section has a lot of choices, but we stuck with Bigelow tea. I’ve never tried it before, but it was competitively priced and had a number of varieties to choose from. I ended up picking Earl Grey, Constant Comment, Orange Spice, Green Tea, and Vanilla Chai. I figured we’d get a variety of colored eggs out of those.

Next we stopped by the Easter aisle for a few more festive egg decorations. And we picked up some vinegar, alum (a pickling agent that helps boost dye colors), some eggs, and a few other items we needed at home.

Once we were home, I hard boiled our eggs and brewed up a mug full of the Earl Grey, Orange Spice, Green Tea, and Vanilla Chai using two tea bags each. Then, I added a splash of vinegar to each mug and 1/8 teaspoon of alum to help make the dyeing process faster (natural egg dyes take longer than food color based dyes). Then I dropped in our eggs.

As you can see, with the alum and vinegar to boost the colors, we got a nice rich purplish green from the Orange Spice, a light yellow from the Green Tea, and brown from the Earl Grey and Vanilla Chai. I let the eggs sit in the tea for about an hour. And while I waited, I made myself a mug of the Constant Comment Tea—Bigelow’s signature blend. It was rich and flavorful, and great with a splash of milk in it. I will definitely be adding it to my evening tea flavor rotations.

And, because waiting an hour for the eggs to dye, isn’t exactly kid friendly, Donovan had some Easter fun with more traditional egg dyeing supplies. He absolutely loves to dye eggs! He paints them, uses markers, sticks stickers, and dips them in dye—a whole dozen all by himself!

After an hour, and once Donovan’s interest in his eggs had waned, we pulled our tea eggs out of their mugs. The results were really interesting. The Vanilla Chai and Earl Grey both produced eggs of a light brown, while the green tea gave us a mustard yellow egg that was really pretty. But, most surprising of all was the Orange Spice egg. It came out a deep, dark, mottled green!

Since dyeing the eggs, I’ve also sampled each of the teas, and each one has a great blend of flavors. I even liked the Vanilla Chai, even though chai is not generally one of my favorites. It’s mildly sweet and the vanilla offset the chai enough so that it’s not overpowering. We will definitely purchase Bigelow Tea in the future.

Check out all of our photos from our shopping trip and Easter egg dyeing on our Google+ album. And connect with Bigelow Tea on Facebook and Twitter!

*I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This content has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias® and Bigelow Tea #CBias #SocialFabric #AmericasTea

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Take a look at the quilt top I made! This one is for Donovan. It’s a queen size quilt that we will give him this coming Christmas when we move him out of the nursery and his toddler bed and into his big boy room, which has a queen bed in it. I think it looks great so far!

I really love the fabric I chose. It’s the blue, green, and gray colorways from Moda’s Simply Color line. The colors are bright and happy, and the patterns are fresh and fun while still being boyish enough. I wanted something that was cute but not kiddie so he wouldn’t out grow it and want something else as he gets older. I think it really brightens up the room. Plus, it was not hard at all to make!

This pattern is called a “Jelly Cake” because it’s made with Moda precuts–in fact, a Jelly Roll and a Layer Cake. You cut each 10″ layer cake piece in half and sew a 10″ strip of a jelly roll on each side of the layer cake half-piece. Then, trim each block so it is 9 1/2″ square. Once you’ve got enough pieces, you just alternate them as you sew your rows together. Then, sew one row to the next until you’re done! If you sign up for the class, the course materials have the full pattern as well as sizing information and how many jelly rolls/layer cakes you’ll need for the size quilt you want to make.

This is just the top. I still have to put the batting backing and binding on. I was going to put some borders on it, but after putting it on the bed, I don’t think I will. I’m just going to add another row to the bottom of the quilt to make it long enough. I like the way it looks with just the pattern, no borders. So, I’ll just back and bind it, and leave it at that!

I haven’t decided yet if I will attempt to machine quilt it myself or send it to a long-arm quilter to be done. It would be way cheaper (like $180 cheaper) to do it myself, but I’m not sure I have the skill to do a quilt this size yet despite taking Quilting Big Projects on a Small Machine with Ann Petersen at Craftsy. The class was great and the techniques seamed really easy, but I’m still hesitant. I’m going to try a quilting a baby quilt I’m working on first, and then see if I feel up to tackling the queen. I will probably end up trying to quilt it myself, and if it doesn’t work out, I’ll take it to a long-armer.

But, I’m really happy with how it look so far! What do you think?

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