Get a Melissa & Doug 25% Off Coupon When You Take the North "Poll"

Melissa & Doug want you to tell them which of their educational toys you think is the best! Just click on the image below to place your vote in the North "Poll!" You'll Get a Melissa & Doug 25% Off Coupon** to use at MelissaAndDoug.com just for voting!

Max & Ruby Bunny Party!

Max & Ruby Bunny Party is hopping to the Keswick Theatre on Saturday, April 30 and I was offered a special ticket discount for my readers!

Max & Ruby, the beloved Children’s Book collection and Nick Jr’s # 1 Rated Television program comes to life on stage. Max & Ruby: Bunny Party is an exciting musical adventure that celebrates the universal nature of sibling relationships.


Max & Ruby, brought to you by Koba Entertainment, are planning a surprise party and they have a lot to do during the 70 minute lively theatrical adorned with exquisite costuming and rich colorful sets.

Click here for the 1PM Show


Click here for the 4PM Show

Enter promo code: EASTER and get $5.00 off per ticket!

 
For more information on Max & Ruby visit: http://www.keswicktheatre.com/

Or email: orders@keswicktheatre.com
 
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My daughter went to see the Berenstain Bears show at the Keswick a few months ago.  She absolutely loved it!  They did a fabulous job.  She absolutely loved the theater.  She still brings it up and can't wait to go back!

ThreeJars

I was given an opportunity to use the site ThreeJars for a while and review it.  I thought it would be a great opportunity to teach my six year old daughter, Noodle, about money.  She currently doesn’t get an allowance and probably doesn’t know a thing about money.  She knows it exists, she knows we go to work to earn it, but it really doesn’t mean anything to her.  She doesn’t even really ever see money change hands.  We usually use our debit cards to pay for everything.  I rarely carry cash.

So we sat down together one night and talked about money.  I told her that she could earn money by doing chores around the house.  I told her it’s called an allowance.  We then talked about a website we could use that would help us keep track of it.  She’s into computer games right now, so I thought that might help motivate her.

We went to www.ThreeJars.com and set up an account.  It was so easy.  I quickly set up my account, then reviewed some of the information they provide.  There are many helpful tips including what amounts may be appropriate for different ages, allocation tips, chore suggestions.  We breezed through setting up how much money she would get and which chores she would do.  Noodle seemed very excited to get started.  She even went and marked Friday as Pay Day on her calendar.

We then set up Noodle’s part of the account.  She gets her own login ID and password.  She can view how much money she has in each of her three jars – Save, Spend and Share.  She can send me messages asking to make more money by doing special projects.  I really like the fact that anytime she changes anything or makes a request I get an email either letting me know or asking me to approve it.

All in all, I think ThreeJars is a great website and a great resource for parents.  We will continue to use it.  I do think at this stage, Noodle is a little too young and we aren’t fully utilizing all the aspects and benefits of the site.  She still needs me to help her navigate the site, read a lot of the site to her and help her send messages, so I’m not sure she needs her own login at this point.  It would probably be much better for kids about 2-3 years older than Noodle.  It is nice to be able to have the conversation and lessons on money flowing when we log on together.  For that reason, I consider it a very valuable tool.

**Disclaimer:  I was provided an opportunity to use and review ThreeJars thanks to CecilyK at www.CecilyKellogg.com

Review: ABC City Guides for Kids

We received a few of the ABC City Guides for Kids to check out.  As soon as they came in the mail, the kids were super excited to see them.  These cute guides for children go through the alphabet with a photograph (sometimes more than one) for each letter representing places in the city for kids to see.

The first one they wanted to look at was to Orlando City Guide.  We go there just about every other year, so they were excited to see some of the places they recognized.  We also picked out a few new places we didn't know about to go visit the next time we head to Orlando.

We also found many places we would like to visit (and again didn't know were there) in Lancaster County, PA.  We are thinking about planning a trip to Dutch Wonderland, and maybe taking a ride on the Strasburg Railroad.


The girls absolutely love looking at these books.  They will sit and look at the pictures often prompting conversations about things we did while on vacation or what they would like to do on another vacation.  The books are the perfect size for little hands.  They would also fit nicely in a purse or day bag to take along with you.  They are great for toddlers, preschoolers and young children.  We love them and will be picking up the Philadelphia one soon!

Our New Favorite Read: Mommy's High Heel Shoes

It's not often that a book catches the interest of both of my girls at the same time, unless of course they are fighting over who had it first. The other day, I received a really cute book, that they both  absoultely loved!  It's called Mommy's High Heel Shoes by Kristie Finnan.  As soon as I pulled it out of the packaging, my girls were immediately drawn to it.

The illustrations are so cute. We spent a good hour reading the book and finding the ladybugs, cupcakes and hearts that are hidden on each page. We were also excited to find a local farm featured in the book. Noodle, my older daughter, has been there a few times in the fall for pumpkin picking and was happy to tell her little sister she had been there before.

I love how this story points out all of the different shoes a mom wears, or the different jobs she has.  As a working mom, I know what it's like to wear all of those different shoes.  It's so fun to see the girls trying to walk around in my shoes and pretend to be Mommy.  We related so well to this book, it brought up lots of discussion about things we do that the family in the book also did.  It was nice to see the parts of the book that the girls got excited about and how those parts reminded them of things we did in our daily life.

Noodle, has been carrying the book around since it got here and flipping through it.  I love that she is starting to read and is taking an interest in doing it herself.  Beans would like to carry it around too, but a few too many books have met their demise in her unsupervised hands.  So instead, Beans and I sit and look for ladybugs, cupcakes and hearts together.