Amanda Mushro — Page 20

Wine, Chocolate, and Fruit Pairings for the Perfect Girls Night!

August 11, 2014 by amushro

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone.

#LoveDoveFruits #CollectiveBias

You know the saying “it takes a village to raise a child,” right? Well I’m a firm believer that in order to survive motherhood, you must have a village, but that village is meant for you as the Mamma and not your kids! Around here, my “village” consists of my support system, my life-line, and the funniest bunch of ladies that I know, my gal pals. But since summer has kicked off, I haven’t seen my ladies because of everyone’s vacations and busy summer schedules. So when I sent out an SOS text that read: Girls Night–let’s make this happen, we finally found a date that worked for everyone. No need for big fanfare, just the essentials: a girls night in with a bottle of red wine, something sweet to eat like a chocolate and fruit paring, and lots of girl talk. I was basically skipping out the door (but carefully because I had wine under one arm and a big bag of Dove® Fruit-Cranberry under the other) because I was off duty and it was Girls Night In!

Oh how I missed my ladies, and in just seconds, there were eight or nine different conversations flying around at the same time. You’ve got to think fast to keep up with us.

Just because we were staying in for the night, didn’t mean we couldn’t get a little fancy with our celebration. Red wine, chocolate and fruit parings are so delicious, and the girls and I were loving Dove® Fruit for this paring. This isn’t the kind of candy you find in your kiddos treat bags, friends. This is whole fruit dipped in creamy dark chocolate. This is the kind of chocolate you savor–maybe while hiding in your closet so you don’t have to share with your kids. It’s just that good.

I like to think that this better for you treat is actually the perfect treat for a Girls Night In, let me explain. Disclaimer: I’m totally making this theory up–just go with it, OK? So, dark chocolate, red wine, and cranberries are all supposed to be good for your heart and health, right? So this is actually a super treat because when sharing Dove® Fruit with friends you’re not only sharing chocolaty goodness but you’re saying “I care about your health” or I’m just saying “I love delicious wine and chocolate and I know you do too.”

As the night went on, the Dove® Fruit and wine disappeared pretty quickly, and since everyone agreed that this better for you treat was the perfect red wine, chocolate and fruit paring, it’s OK to take eat a few more of the Dove® Fruit. And if you are pouring me another glass, I’ll need a few more of these too.

So this delicious candy can be found in the chocolate candy aisle Sam’s Club; however, it has limited availability so be sure to check that your Sam’s Club carries Dove® Fruit. Good news, Dove® Fruit will be adding whole cherries dipped in chocolate later this year. And for the sake of Girls Night, another wine and chocolate paring will need to take place to try the cherries.

You don’t need to wait to get all of your gal pals together to try Dove® Fruit-Cranberry, grab a bag for yourself! I loved the dark wine, chocolate and fruit paring, but what will you pair it with?

Boogie Back to School!

August 9, 2014 by amushro

It's time to head back to school, and I'm teaming up with Boogie Wipes to offer an awesome Back-to-School Giveaway for kids and moms!

Back-to-School giveaway from Boogie Wipes. Three winners will win a backpack and mommy clutch - full of school supplies, gift cards and Boogie Wipes. Ends August 22. Enter now!

Three lucky winners will receive a backpack stocked with school supplies (and Boogie Wipes) and a Mommy Clutch – full of everything moms needs (including gift cards!)

How to Enter

From following Boogie Wipes on social media to instagramming a picture of your favorite Boogie Wipes products, there are dozens of ways to enter – and a few ways to enter every single day.

Back-to-School giveaway from Boogie Wipes. Three winners will win a backpack and mommy clutch - full of school supplies, gift cards and Boogie Wipes. Ends August 22. Enter now!

Complete the form below to get started.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Looking for Great Back-to-School Ideas?

Visit the Boogie Wipes blog for six back-to-school ideas for parents, plus a coupon to save on your favorite Boogie Wipes products.

Good luck!

Giveaway is live Tuesday, August 5, 2014 until midnight on August 22, 2014. US and Canada residents only (excluding Quebec). Three winners will be randomly chosen and notified via email. YOUR BLOG NAME received no compensation for sponsoring this event, and is not responsible for the delivery of the prize. Prize delivery is the sole responsibility of Boogie Wipes.

Easing the Parenting Power Struggle with MomAssembly

July 31, 2014 by amushro

Here are a few things I know about my three-year-old daughter:

1. The type of day she will have can be judged by how crazy her hair is when she wakes up in the morning. For instance, if I see this mop, I know it’s going to be a rough day…for everyone:

2. She has been described as a “free spirit” in dance class (read: has no need for the dance teacher and makes up her own dances). And while she isn’t the best listener when she should be tap, tap, perching, she makes a tutu look good:

3. When it comes to standoffs with her, they are often epic, one sided, and hard fought. I’m talking full on, code red, hide yo’ wife, hide yo’ kids meltdowns. And even though I pull out my Mommy-bag-o’-tricks, she can break me by 9AM. And while I thought age two brought some interesting “quirks”, I was not fully prepared for the tantrums of a three year old.

Most days I can handle the tantrums, and I’ve learned what does and doesn’t work for her

Stern Mommy voice works.
Idle threats do not.
Bribary works sometimes but the spoils must be worth her while.
Negotiating is worthless
Tantrums are always worse when she is tired or we have to get out the door in hurry

Because we all want a happier house, I’m learning that the best offense is a good defense. So I’m looking for ways to make life in this house a little more peaceful.

There is no doubt in my mind it that it truly takes a village to raise a baby; however, I really think that village is for us as moms, not just our kids. So I’m so glad to have found MomAssembly and to have them as part of my village.

We’ve all been to tons of parenting websites, right? And I’m sure your searches were the same as mine: some good info, some bad info, some REALLY bad info, and lots information from people that have no idea what they’re talking about. However, at MomAssembly, I have access to over 70 hours of expert parenting videos taught by nationally-renowned experts. When I was checking out the videos on preschoolers, the newborn and infant videos covered so many topics like sleep solutions and feedings that would have been really helpful when I was a new mom. They even have videos just about our health and well being, because if no on takes care of mom, this ship is going down!

Because my house is a madhouse, I can watch videos on my computer, notebook, or my phone and can switch back and forth because the video player always starts where I left off, not matter what device I’m using. Don’t you just love when technology just makes your life easier?

When I saw a course called Parenting Without Power Struggles: Raising Children Without Bribes, Threats, and Negotiations or Meltdowns, I assumed they created this course just for me. Turns out, lots of moms are in the same boat. I LOVE the ideas I’ve learned in this course and already it’s making a difference in how we deal with tantrums. Here is a clip from part of the course:

The ladies behind MomAssembly have really created something special here, friends. Jill Spivack and Jennifer Waldburger have nearly two decades of experience as family and parent educators. They are the co-founders of Sleepy Planet Parenting in Los Angeles, where they offer guidance, support and community to help moms address the entire constellation of parenting interests, including everything from sleep, feeding, and child development to sibling issues, marriage and refining one’s individual parenting philosophy

So listen, mom, join this village and let MomAssembly help you. For only $7.99/month or $3.99/month the whole year, you’ll have over 500 classes and over 50 downloadable handouts & workbooks at your fingertips. And you can add up to 4 family members and caregivers to your account for free. Not sure you can commit? That’s cool, because both options come with a 7 day free trial. Most videos are under 10 minutes, so take that ten minutes to hide from the kids, maybe drink your reheated coffee and get some great tips for surviving this motherhood gig.

How about trying out MomAssembly for a month for FREE? My first ten readers who sign up will get a month trial for free.

Click here to sign up

*Please note that you actually have to sign up for a plan and enter your credit card – but the card will NOT be charged until the end of your free trial. You will receive an email from Jill or Jennifer notifying you that you are the winner!*

While I was compensated for this post BELIEVE me, I can use all the help I can get raising my kids and all opinions are my own!

Get Ready for Preschool with Disney Junior

July 29, 2014 by amushro

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone.

#Ready4Preschool #CollectiveBias

Friends, I’m not doing so well. I’m preparing myself for an empty nest. OK, that’s a bit dramatic. I’m not really going to have an empty nest, but I’m going to have two kids in preschool this fall. So while they aren’t really flying the nest, it feels like an empty nest to me. With my son headed off for five day Pre-K and my daughter two days for preschool, I’ll miss them like crazy, but I’ve been assured I’ll find plenty to do while they’re at school (the piles of laundry that have overtaken our house, perhaps). But to be honest with you, I’m a bit nervous and I’ve started to panic a bit with the idea of my daughter heading off to preschool. Is she ready? Does she know all of her colors? What about her shapes? Oh no, does she even know her letters? Yikes! You know, the whole second kid thing where we just hope they learn from osmosis from the first kid? So when I came across the Disney Junior preschool learning activities at Walmart’s Back to School aisle, I knew I could make sure my gal was up on her preschool basics with a little help from her Disney Junior favorites.

This week we’ve been at the beach with my family and I brought the Disney Junior Preschool Learning Activities along. I used some of our down time to try out the Learning Schoolhouse Activity with my gal and my niece, who is also making the leap into preschool in the fall.

They loved playing school and they got LOTS and LOTS of practice sharing while taking turns putting up the magnets and using the dry erase markers. Sharing, now I know that’s a skill she needs at preschool.

From telling time, letter recognition, and site words, we were able to create little learning centers for the girls to try and then move on to the next activity.

The smaller learning activity packs were actually perfect for travel because they come in a resealable bag. These are definitely going into our car for long commutes. Since you can write and wipe off your answers, both kids will get a lot of use out of these activity packs

And my heart almost exploded when my daughter started working on her letters. Big sigh of relief, she does know her ABCs! See, I’ve been doing something right!

Since my son is a typical boy, he likes to be on the go ALL THE TIME. Getting him to sit still long enough to write his letters is torture for him. So we’ve learned to be creative, and I was thrilled to see he really liked the First Words Learning Activity packet. He picked out site words and copied the letters with dry erase markers, and I liked how everything could go right back into the packet until we were ready to play with it again.

We found our Disney Junior learning activities in the Back to School aisle at Walmart. Not only do they feature some of our Disney Junior favorites like Jake, Sofia, Mickey and Doc, some of the learning activities were under $5! Mamma really likes that!

Here are the Disney Junior learning activities you’ll find at Walmart:

Learning Schoolhouse Activity
Counting Learning Activity
First Words Learning Activity
Rhyming Learning Activity
Alphabet Learning Activity
Numbers Learning Activity
Colors & Shapes Learning Activity

Preschool ready? Well, my kids are, but I’m a different story!

Five Parents You’ll See at the Pool this Summer

July 15, 2014 by amushro

Headed to the pool this summer with your kids? Be on the lookout for these five parents. You’ll see them for sure. I’m #1–how about you?

Did I miss anyone?

Listen to Your Mother– The Videos are Out!

July 9, 2014 by amushro

Night after night I would watch the honest and brave women walk up to a microphone and share their stories of motherhood. I would laugh and cry with them and say over and over “Me too!” Watching the videos for past Listen to Your Mother shows inspired me to be brave enough to share my own story. I agonized which piece to read, made edits–then took those edits out–and added a few more changes, and took the plunge and auditioned for the Washington DC cast. Weeks later I was pacing the floors refreshing my email every three seconds until the email came from the producer Kate–“You’re in!”

Honestly, I cried and let out a scream that sent the dog racing out of the room (very fitting–you’ll see in the video). Then I panicked. My piece was my usual humor and parenting fail post and so many pieces I had watched online were so heart wrenching and brutally honest. What if my reading didn’t add up to those women sharing such personal stories?

My fears of not measuring up were put at ease when the director Stephanie told the cast how each of our stories served the greater purpose of telling an entire story and taking the audience on a ride full of ups and downs, tears and laughter, sympathy and empathy, and the perfect blend of motherhood.

I love this show. I love the women in this show with me. I love Stephanie and Kate for choosing me. I love this story. And I love that I get to share Listen to Your Mother with you.

While you won’t need the tissues for this reading, I hope it makes you laugh and you watch the videos of the DC cast and the other cities!

This is Three and a Brown Owl Animal Hopper Giveaway!

July 7, 2014 by amushro

There is a laundry list of things I get wrong when it comes to parenting: veggies at dinner…sometimes, too much iPad time, and always eating my kids’ dessert when they aren’t looking. But there is one thing I always do right, and that, friends, are birthdays. Birthdays in this house are a big deal. A BIG, BIG, BIG deal. I’m a firm believer that if your Mamma doesn’t make a huge fuss over your birthday, then who will? Now I’m not talking about some crazy party that the final bill could rival a wedding, but a day that is filled with so much joy that the birthday baby is just ready to burst with fun, love, cake, and pure birthday bliss. It’s cupcakes for breakfast, being sung the birthday song at least 25 times, and blowing out candles on a really fabulous cakes while wearing a special birthday outfit, and a party that screams “It’s My Birthday and It’s All About How Awesome I Am!” After all, this fabulous girl is three!

When my gal was nearing the end of her ~~terrible twos,~~ twos and we were looking ahead to three, it was time to start planning. One thing that I love about my fun, fearless, and fierce Little Mamma is that she loves what she loves. While she can sing every song in Frozen (just ask her and she’ll do it), her first loves are Mike and Sulley from Monster’s Inc and the Minions from Despicable Me. Three is a big birthday, so there’s no need to pick just one–so we went with all three of her favorite characters as the inspiration.

And what would a party be without a cake? When we have birthday cakes, we go for fabulous and delicious from the amazing Whitnee at Cake to Crumbs Bakery. She creates extraordinary and super yummy cakes every year for my kids. We didn’t have a single cupcake or piece of cake left–bummer, right? But that just shows how delicious her cakes are, and seriously, can you stand how adorable! Usually the birthday girl gets an icing flower on her piece of cake, but my gal requested Sulley’s eye–gross but fitting.

Always knowing exactly what she wants, she wants, she picked her party location at Pump it Up where kids jump for joy on six HUGE inflatable. As soon as we arrived for her party, she was off and bouncing away, but Hubby and I did get to sneak a quick picture of her

Early on in our birthday party circuit, I learned that party favors can be a bit of a waste and simply annoy the parents of the party guests. So this year I went for simple and found these adorable Sulley hats. I wasn’t sure if the kids would even like them, but couldn’t stop laughing when I saw all of the party goers eating their pizza and wearing these adorable hats. Here is my main man who worked up a sweat jumping and needed a little apple juice.

The best part of this birthday party was my birthday girl’s face the entire day. Pure Joy! She bounced her little heart out, blew out her candles on the first try, and crashed the minute she hit the car on the way home. Always a good sign of a great birthday party.

Since my gal loves to jump and bounce, she was thrilled when the nice people of Brown Owl sent her the Elephant Animal Hopper to bounce her little heart out and in celebration of my gal’s birthday, they are giving away an Animal Hopper to one of my readers!

As soon as we handed her “Rocky” the elephant, she was off and bouncing. She even started singing a little song all about “Rocky.” The toy was really easy to inflate and watching this crazy lady play proves it’s durable. Added bonus, she can even play with “Rocky” outside, and since the cover is removable and washable, we don’t have to worry that “Rocky” looks dirty and gross. What a perfect gift for a kiddo on the move!

Want one of your own? My readers will a get 15% off when buying (they are normally $39.99) by using this code: OLJFRZFJ

Click here for Rocky the Elephant or here for Carlos the Frog

Find Brown Owl Toys on Facebook too!

You can win one too! Enter here for your chance to win. The contest ends 8/10/14. Good luck!

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Pressure at the Pediatrician’s Office

July 1, 2014 by amushro

Having a sick kid is the worst, but trying to get an appointment at the pediatrician’s office that doesn’t run into lunch, nap, school pick up, or a time that has you waiting in the “sick kid” section of the waiting room longer than you were in labor with your sick kid, means you better get those fingers ready and dial the pediatrician’s office the second they open up!

Your turn! Share when you were feeling the pressure!

How to Turn A Scary Storm Into a Camping Adventure with Duracell

June 30, 2014 by amushro

*This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone*

#PrepWithPower #CollectiveBias

I love everything about my neighborhood: my house, the street I live on, the neighborhood pool, the dozens of playgrounds, walking trails, and lakes that fill the spaces between houses, and the downtown with coffee shops, restaurants, and a movie theater all in walking distance. Yes, I love my neighborhood. But the one thing I don’t love about my neighborhood is that when a summer storm comes sweeping through, our neighborhood is pretty much guaranteed to have no power. Sometimes its just for few hours, but with severe summer storms, the power outages can last a lot longer. When you’re a mom, you have to be prepared for everything, and I’ve gotten really good at being prepared for these storms. With a little help from Duracell batteries, I’ve found ways to turn a scary storm into a fun camping adventure.

Preparing for a storm for myself and preparing for a storm for my kids is very different. For me, I need to make sure we have lots of light, power for my cellphone, a radio to hear weather updates, and backup batteries for everything. So if I know a storm is coming, I check to make sure I have everything in my Mom’s Storm Safety Kit:

The kids are a different story. Storms can be really scary for little ones. Actually, they can be scary for all of us. So we turn power outages into camping adventures! Because I’m not really the “outdoorsy” type, the closest my kids will make it to camping is in our basement, and they are perfectly happy with their makeshift campsite (for now,at least!) Here is what they need for their camping adventure:

If the lights go out during a storm, we grab our Storm Kits and head to the basement. During those hot summer months, our basement stays nice and cool and is a perfect place to wait out the storm. With their little camping lanterns in hand, we put up the their tent and roll out their sleeping bags. Their silly little giggles crack me up, and even though they probably won’t stay in those sleeping bags too long, I can’t imagine two cuter campers.

Since we’re all a little uneasy with severe storms, we just skip the scary stories, and we try to make each other laugh with the silliest story

Inside the tent we play card games by the light of our lanterns. I wonder who is winning this round of “Go Fish”?

Now I might not be an expert camper, but I do know you can’t camp without S’mores! No power? No problem! Because I was sure to add a Sterno canister into the kid’s Storm Kit we have some yummy S’mores to devour. Now if I could just get the kids to stop touching each other’s marshmallows…

Once our bellies are full, we play a few rounds of hide-and-go-seek with our lanterns, make shadow puppets on the wall, and use that battery-powered radio for a dance party with our glow sticks and necklaces. If the power comes back on, great! If not, no big deal because we are having too much fun to care if we have power or not! Good thing Mommy stopped at Walmart and stocked up on Duracell batteries because we have a lot more “camping” ahead of us!