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Coffee anyone?

Tessa Smith
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My Thoughts on the NEW Keurig 2.0

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I LOVE coffee. It is my one true vice. I have tried to give it up several times and I cannot. We drink a lot of coffee in our home. To the point where, before this amazing invention, we had a full coffee pot brewer as well as a Keurig on the counter. This was because I would have a single cup in the morning (and so would hubby) and another in the afternoon (much needed during nap time). Then nights and weekends we would brew a full pot since we both would have 2 more cups.

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Thanks to the Keurig 2.0 I now have my counter back! I no longer need to have the two appliances on the counter. The Keuirg 2.0 now has a feature where you can brew a 2-4 cup carafe, not just a single cup. It still has the single cup feature, of course, that is what makes it a Keurig, but this added carafe option makes this a much more practical coffee maker.

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The Keurig 2.0 is super simple to use. You just pop in the k-cup (single use or carafe – the holder automatically expands as you put in the k-cup), select the option you want, and hit brew. For a single cup you can select 4oz, 6oz, 8oz, or 10oz. It also has options where you can select “Strong” and “Hot Cocoa/Other.” I am seriously obsessed with this coffee maker. Never has making a carafe of coffee been so easy! You just have to change the filter now and then and fill up the water when prompted. It is perfect for the on the go (or just plain busy) person!

Now, to be honest, we will be keeping our other coffee maker so we can pull it out while entertaining. It makes 10 cups so with a full house, that just makes more sense. However, it will not be living on my counter top anymore, which makes me a happy mama!  Check out my YouTube review below.

I know there is a lot of talk about having to purchase actual Keurig K-cups. I know that people are upset because of the expense. But, to be honest, I give props to Keurig on this!  Once their patent ran out, so did their money maker. From a business standpoint, it is all about return business. Yes, they want to sell their coffee maker, but they make their real money from the coffee because it is constantly consumed and has to be re-purchased. Having a Business Marketing degree, I must say, this was a great move for them. That being said, there is already talk of ways to fool it. I am a loyal customer though, and I will continue to purchase Keurig K-cups. There are tons of varities to choose from on their website – or you can grab them at pretty much any store. I like to order online because as part of their “club” you get coupons and can earn rewards.

I cannot stress enough how amazing Influenster is! They are currently an invite only program – and you do NOT have to be a blogger to sign up! Feel free to contact me if you want an invite and I will send one your way!

#HelloKeurig

I received this product FREE from #Influenster and #Keurig in exchange for my honest, unbiased opinions. All opinions expressed are 100% my own.

#FitMadeFun Day

Tessa Smith
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#FitMadeFun Day with LeapFrog & ClifKids

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I was so so so fortunate this past month! I was selected by MommyParties, LeapFrog, and Clif Kids to host a #FitMadeFun day! For this, I was sent two LeapBands and a bunch of boxes of Clif Kids ZBar Protien bars! I knew immediately that all the cousins would be coming to my house for an amazing day on September 6th! I think I was more excited than they were! I was so ready to play games and have a blast!

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LeapFrog provided lots of amazing tools on their website to make this #FitMadeFun party really special. This included printable coloring pages, a bingo game, a scavenger hunt, a printable medal for the winner, and more! The party would not have been as successful without it!

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Unfortunately, when the day came it was rainy and wet outside. But that did not stop us! We had a fun filled day of dancing like chickens and hoping like frogs! We also did the scavenger hunt inside and played LeapFrog bingo! That was a ton of fun! Basically you pull a card and it tells you to do an exercise – like roar like a dinosaur – then you see if you have that move on your bingo card. The first person to connect 5 wins! Since I was sent two LeapBands and 5 kids came, we decided that whoever won the scavenger hunt and who won bingo would take home their very own LeapBand! Check out this video of us playing on Instagram here!

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The next day was nicer, so we got together again and did more fun outside activities with our LeapBands! The kids devoured the Clif Kids bars as well! They loved them! Thanks MommyParties, LeapFrog, & Clif Kids! You helped create some memories that will last a lifetime! And thanks for making staying fit fun!

I received these items free in exchange for my honest, unbiased review. All opinions expressed are 100% my own. #FitMadeFun

Our Day at the New York State Fair | #NYSFair

Tessa Smith
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Our Day at the New York State Fair | #NYSFair

 

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We went to the New York State Fair today! We had a ton of fun! The highlights of the day included the dinosaur exhibit where we saw 15+ “dinosaurs” in their natural habitats and got to dig for dinosaur fossils! We ran into Senator Chick Schumer and Ivy got to shake his hand and a photo with him! My oldest won a Lumpy Space Princess stuffed animal in a game and she was so excited! The fresh milk from the rainbow bar is always amazing and so is the giant sand sculpture! Both girls got to feed animals (goats, a zebra, a camel, an alpaca, and so much more!) and pet them at the petting zoo! They even got to ride a pony. It was a successful day for sure! If you have never been and you live in the area (or even if you don’t!), then you need to check it out some time!

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With Senator Chuck Schumer!

 

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Loungin’

 

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She loves the cow ride!

 

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Her prizes from the treasure hunt!

 

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Digging for dinosaur fossils!

 

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Broken Crayons? I Have An Easy Fix!

Tessa Smith
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Make New Ones!

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Do you have an abundance of broken crayons? We did. And my girls avoid broken crayons like the plague! They are always bringing them up to me – my 19 month old saying “Uh oh! Trash!” and my 3 year saying “I cannot use this mommy. It needs to go in the trash.” Sometimes, they break them just for fun. *sigh* The joys of motherhood….

I have been saving the broken crayons and was looking in to those crayon makers but they are really really expensive for what they do. I decided to do a little research and discovered that I can melt crayons in the oven! The only thing I needed to do was figure out a mold for them. Well, at my in-laws house the other day, the girls were coloring and one of the crayons is a circle. It was a favorite of theirs and a light went off in my head – a mini muffin pan!

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So today I unwrapped all the broken crayons, spread them out in a mini-muffin pan, and “baked” them at 275 for about 10 minutes. Then I let them cool and put them in the fridge for about 20 minutes. They popped right out and are a ton of fun! My girls LOVE them!

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Kids Academy Apps for iPhone & iPad

Tessa Smith
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Kids Academy Apps

I just wanted to take a minute and tell you guys about three games that my girls are loving right now! Whenever I search for new learning apps for them, my go-to is Kids Academy apps. They are always entertaining and fun – and the girls learn while they play them, which is the most important part! These apps are all FREE in iTunes! If you have a little one, you should check them out!

Educational Drawing For Kids Puzzle Games
My 3 year old had a blast with this game! Even my 19 month old could do some of the things. They sat and played it for about 45 minutes uninterrupted, which says a lot for these two who are easily distracted!  The puzzles are a lot of fun and well done. I feel like they learned a lot with this app and my 3 year old is getting better with her letters!

All in One Montessori Based Brain Kid’ Puzzles
Kids Academy has done it again! My 3 year old has so much fun playing this game! I think it really does help her learn to write and count. She loves to do the mazes and trace things on the screen! Everything is eye catching and attention holding – which is important for little ones. Even my 19 month old tries to get in on the action now and then! Kids Academy apps are always my go to apps for my littles!

Toddlers learn 123 
I cannot say enough good things about this app! It is perfect for little ones that are starting to learn to write their numbers. I love tracing games and this one is fantastic. It has never frozen on us, and I have tried several others that do. My 3 year old loves this. She is excited to start preschool this year and I think this app has gotten her a little ahead of the game. She loves following the bugs to trace the numbers. Great job Kids Academy!

Support St. Jude

Tessa Smith
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0

Just a quick post about something I wanted to spread the word about! 

Do you want to buy something super adorable AND help out a great cause? Right now if you order from a brand new shop – The NeverlandPirateShop – on Etsy 100% of the profits will be sent to St. Jude! 100%! Even on custom orders (just message her on Etsy!). Catherine creates marvelous works of art on canvas. She does custom orders and currently has two paintings listed as well.
If you do not know anything about St. Jude it is an incredible organization that helps treat children with cancer. They will take care of children free of charge and help them fight this awful, incurable disease. What an amazing charity and how very thoughtful for this new shop owner to donate all her profits!
Please help spread the word on any and all social media!

How to Make a Calendar Box Keepsake | #DIY

Tessa Smith
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How to Make a Calendar Box Keepsake | #DIY
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Are you trying to think of a cute way to store photos and daily activities to pass on to your children when they are older? I know some moms keep calendars and write something on each day, and some send emails to an account they have set up for their kids. Here is what I am doing for my girls.

I started on January 1st, 2014. I bought a recipe box and a bunch of index cards. I wrote the date on 366 cards (do not forget about leap year) but did not include the year. Then, every day, I write the year and a little something about that day. For example, the one shown we were at Disney on vacation. We had gone to Animal Kingdom and my youngest fell in love with Winnie the Pooh. Sometimes the note is something as simple as “It rained today, we sat down and watched Bee Movie.”. More recently, one stated “The world lost a brilliant actor today, Robin Williams passed away.” I try to keep each note to 1-2 lines. Next year, I will go through again, this time writing 2015 instead of 2014. I will do this until each card is filled up.

Some days have photos or other items behind them. One has an activity page that my oldest completed all by herself and another has a coloring page my youngest did. I know that on my oldest first day of school next month, I will be putting a photo behind that card.

I think this will be something fun to look back on when I am older as well as something for the girls to look over with their children, when they are moms. This could also be done not only with kids but for a marriage as well. I love keeping photos and projects and I love that this is an easy way to store them neatly.

Let me know if you plan to do this or how you store keepsakes like this!

Harborfest 2014

Tessa Smith
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Harborfest 2014

 

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Here in upstate New York one of the biggest attractions of the summer is Harborfest in Oswego. This is only about a 15 minute drive for us and we went last year. We were very excited to go again this year because our youngest is at the age where she will be able to play. We opted just to go to the children’s section. The first thing we did when we got there was let the girls rides horses. They were $5.00 each and they got to ride a “sparkly” horse around for 3 laps in a tiny fenced off area. I suppose it was worth it though because they loved it!

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CMOO 

One of our favorite things about local events here is the Children’s Museum Of Oswego. They always have a fun set up for the kids that helps them learn and play! The girls love to dress up and cook in the play kitchen. CMOO also usually has sensory boxes, kinetic sand, and bubbles. At Harborfest they brought out all the stops! They had huge blocks that the girls used to build bridges and towers. There are always tons of kids over at their setups which is great because my daughters get to meet new friends! The sad part is that they are not a brick and mortar here yet – so we can only find them at events like these.

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We actually just attended a meeting last night where they were creating a mission statement for the museum. They are working on getting a physical building in Oswego and I could not be happier! Since I stay home with my girls, I would love a place to bring them where they can play and explore without having to travel to Syracuse – see my post on some of the attractions at Destiny USA here. (Don’t worry, I have a second one with more Destiny USA attractions coming soon!)

For more information on the Children’s Museum Of Oswego you can check out their website or connect with them on Facebook!

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Wade Live!

As we were leaving we noticed a large crowd at the stage – and they seemed like they were having a blast! When we discovered they were watching a magician (Wade Live), we stopped in our tracks because we all love magic! Right away my 3 year old was super in to it. She was staring at the stage – at one point she just started walking up to it. Now, it might have been because of the bright yellow chicken he had on stage with him, but I think it was the performance itself.

Wade Live does comedy magic and he sure knows how to work a crowd! He is good at what he does and great with the kiddos! My husband is one of those guys that will watch an illusion over and over – then back it up – then watch it frame by frame – until he finds the slight of hand or whatever the “trick” is. And he was quite impressed with Wade’s performance. There are still two illusions he has not quite figured out. And I don’t believe him on one of his “theories” of another trick. Side note, the whole drive home was him explaining to me how everything was done – can’t I just be in awe of the magic for once! I have always been a fan of magicians (always root for them and the comedians on America’s Got Talent!!) so of course, I thoroughly enjoyed the show, but my little ones did too and that was awesome.

If you are thinking he looks familiar, it may be because he made the international news a few years back! He recorded an illusion where he shipped himself from upstate New York to Las Vegas. The FBI actually investigated him since this is highly illegal and UPS got all butt-hurt about it. Crazy, right?! If that does not prove how good he is, I don’t know what will!

After the show, Wade said he would take pictures and sign magic wands that he was selling. Unfortunately, Ivy was just too shy to go up to see him, but she still talks about him doing magic weeks later! If you live in Central New York and are having a birthday party, corporate event, or anything that warrants a magic act, I highly recommend seeing if he is available!

Check out more on Wade at WadeLive.com or IncredibleMagicShows.com – the latter being more for children’s shows. If my oldest keeps taking after her mama, we just might be booking him for a certain someone’s 4th birthday party in June!

A Date with Destiny (USA)

Tessa Smith
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0

A Date with Destiny (USA)

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When we were preparing to move to upstate New York from Sarasota, Florida my husband told me over and over again it was going to be a culture shock. He said there will be nothing around but farms and nothing to do, especially in the winters. He explained that we would have to drive 20-30 minutes to get to any “big box” stores. I was actually excited about this. I always wanted to live in the country. I was really excited to find a home on 5 acres, enough to raise chickens (and hopefully goats next year!). And I was happy to be raising my girls out here.
That being said, I am raising girls. So if they are anything like there mama was when they hit the teenager years we are going to have to have a decent mall around. I lived at the mall with my friends. Every.Single.Weekend. He had told me about the “Carousel Mall” and how it was pretty big and not that far a drive. When we moved up, he said, “Oh yeah. They changed the name to Destiny USA.” My ears perked right up, wasn’t that place HUGE?! Our first trip there, my eyes were bugging out of my head – so much to see and do – this place was amazing. 
It is only 30-35 minute drive for us, so really not too bad at all. We take the girls there a lot. There are so many awesome things for kids to do and I am going to tell you about a few.

WonderWorks

We love WonderWorks! We have been there at least 4 or 5 times now and always have a blast. If we have the time, we will visit there. They have a great area for younger kids which my girls could spend hours in if we let them. There is also a bubble area which is really cool! I think my girls favorite thing there though, is the shadow dance room. They have so much fun running around and dancing in there. They are both free at this time so it is worth going! You can come and go all day, which is awesome. There are some rides that are for adults and older kids so we have not done them yet but they look cool. I recommend you try it out next time you are at the mall. If you have 1 or 2 hours to kill, head to WonderWorks!

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Part of WonderWorks is the rope course. They have a smaller one called Sky Tykes which we have brought my daughter on several times. We have not been on the larger one but have seen it in action. Another great place to spend some time! WonderWorks also has lazer tag, but we have never done it so I can’t say much about it. But who doesn’t love lazer tag?

You can check out the WonderWorks Destiny USA Facebook Page for deals and promotions.

Billy Beez

All I keep hearing about Billy Beez is people saying it is too expensive. Now, let me first say, we are not well off by any means, and this place is very affordable for us. It was $20 for my family of 4. Granted my youngest was free because she is under 2, but still very affordable. And you get to come back all day – your ticket is good from open to close! So go grab lunch somewhere else and do some shopping if you want, then come back and play.
Billy Beez is an indoor playground for kids. There are numerous tubes and slides, a trampoline, scooters, a ball pit, a basketball court, so much I can barely remember it all. They even have a smaller toddler area with smaller slides and activities. My girls LOVE it. My 3 year old is constantly telling me “Mommy. I want to go to the place with lots of balls, scooters, slides…that place!”

After our first visit we noticed they were running a promotion. You could get one “toddler” (ages 2-5) +  one adult 10 visit pack for only $79.99. That is half price. AND it can be used for multiple kids. So when me youngest hits 2 in 6 months, if we have not used all our visits, we can use the card for both of them. What an amazing deal! It would then only be $5 for the other adult & “infant” (under 2). Lots of savings! Be on the lookout for this deal as one of the employees mentioned they were hoping corporate would keep it around for a long time! They also have a similar deal for ages 6-12. I think it was $99.99 for 10 visits.

You can check out the Billy Beez Destiny USA Facebook Page for deals and promotions.

**UPDATE: Right now you can enter to #win a $250 gift card for back to school shopping from Destiny USA! Enter here! This #giveaway ends September 7th!

Those are two of my favorite attractions at Destiny USA. I highly suggest you plan a trip there sometime. Some of the many other places there include Dave & Busters, Regal IMAX Cinema, 5 Wits, Funny Bone, Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar & Grill, and Revolutions. 

Cool Gel N Cap Review & Giveaway

Tessa Smith
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0

Cool Gel N Cap #Review & #Giveaway

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I figured I could write this review of Cool Gel ‘n’ Cap solely on the quality, concept, and price – OR I could just wait a maximum of a week and one of my girls would inevitably bonk their head on something (or each other) and I could throw in the actual application and use of this product. Well, I did not have to wait long before my 18 month old decided to close a door on my 3 year old’s head – ahhhh mom life! My 3 year old only had a small red spot but of course, she thought her world was ending. I told her I had something very special for her and pulled out these boxes. I asked her which one she wanted and she chose Tulip the bunny. I grabbed the ice packs from the freezer and let her help me put them in. I strapped it on her head and she was happy as a clam – or, well, bunny, since she decided to hop around the house and “wiggle” her nose.

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Of course, as she started to feel better she told me that “sissy needed to be a dog”. I told her that her sister did not have a boo-boo or headache so she grabbed a toy and whacked her on the head before I could stop her. Lovely. Her plan did not work though since my little one did not seem phased by it, but to prevent further injury I stuffed Toby the puppy and plopped it on her head. So now I had one girl crawling around barking and another hoping around but hey both girls were FINE! This cap totally did its job, my daughter could care less about the bump on her head.

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Can you tell which one bumped her head & which one is playing along?

I honestly love the concept of these caps. My youngest gets aches and pains (my guess is from teething and growing pains?) more frequently than I would like. She holds her head a lot and says “Ow, Ow” so when she does that now I put this cap on and it seems to help. Whether she is excited about it and thinks it is fun or it is really helping with her headache I cannot say for sure, but I can say that she becomes a happy little toddler fairly quickly. I had mentioned her doing this to her doctor who said to just put a cold washcloth on her head for a few minutes – well this cap is way more practical (and fun!) when you have an active little girl that does not want to sit still for even one minute.

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The Cool N Gel Cap is super easy to use. The gel packs are adorable – Tulip’s have carrots on them and Toby’s have paw prints – you just take them out of the freezer or zap them in the microwave and slide them inside. The strap velcros on and that is that. See? Really simple! They are made from a very soft but strong material. My daughter told me she loves her new hat because it feels nice on her head. Not sure if she meant the cold or how soft it was, but either way, I am happy to hear it. I pulled at it around all the seems and everything stayed together so I think they are really well made.

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Overall, I really like these Cool N Gel Caps. I know we will be using for the inevitable bumps, bangs, bonks, bruises, headaches, and fevers. I am not looking forward to the next fever, however, this will be a lot easier than running back and forth to the sink with a dripping face cloth every 5 minutes trying to get it cold again. I am so thankful to not have to fumble with ice anymore for bumps, deal with it melting way, dropping it on the floor, having the other daughter pick it up and stick it in her mouth… moms, you get me! I hate the idea of medications and putting stuff like that in my little girls bodies so anything I can do to avoid that is a huge plus in my book! And now both girls stand in front of the freezer every morning saying “hat, hat, hat, hat!!” so I think they like them too!

Click here to watch my YouTube Video Review!

Purchase your Cool N Gel Cap (or Caps!) directly from their website here. Connect with Cool Gel N Cap on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, and Google+!

Use the form below to enter to win your very own Cool Gel N Cap! See and enter my other giveaways here!

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#CoolGelNCap

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.
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