Minnie & Daisy BFF Book & Magazine Review + Giveaway!

Posted on 05/17/2013 by TheHarriedMom

Cuddling up with a good book has always been one my favorite things to do. I love escaping into the worlds and lives of the people, either real or fictitious, that I’m reading about. It doesn’t matter if it’s a book that I’m reading myself or one that I’m reading aloud to my kidlets –I start imagining myself as the person in the story and even start reading in their “voice,” which brings much delight to my kids! I ’m thrilled that they also enjoy books and listening to stories.

My kindergartener son recently discovered the many literary and gross delights of Captain Underpants. It’s different from any of the other books I’ve read to them before because it is a novel, with chapters and multiple volumes. So far we’ve read through six of the ten books in the series. Now while my three and half-year old daughter has listened attentively to these books, “Tra La La!,” she did asked me to find a book “just like that,” but for girls.

So we tried out Disney Publishing’s new chapter book series and magazine featuring Minnie Mouse and Daisy Duck.

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Squawk, Paper, Scissors…Crafting With Kids

Posted on 05/15/2013 by TheHarriedMom

“I’m bored!” “There’s nothing to do!” It’s the two phrases every parent dreads hearing from their children. If I left it up to my kidlets to choose what to do, they’d pick watching cartoons and playing video games (at least my son) all day, every day. As much as I love the boob tube, I don’t want them to turn into couch potatoes so I’m always trying to come up with fun activities that we can do together.

A lot of times that means doing crafts, playing games or working on some other type of project. Doing activities are a great way for us to spend time together, talk about life and create fun and happy memories as a family….at least that’s what I’ve heard and ironically, seen on TV (hey, wasn’t I trying to get my kids away from that evil box in the first place?).

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I’m Mom-ing It Forward Today With A Musical Maracas Kid Craft

Posted on 04/29/2013 by TheHarriedMom

Happy Monday! I hope you all had a great weekend. It was beautiful here on the East Coast with sunny skies and warm weather which all tells me that Spring is finally here!

One of the first Spring celebrations is coming up later this week. It’s Cinco de Mayo (the fifth of May) and last week I shared some fun ideas and a yummy recipe from Ingrid Hoffman for Turkey Nachos to celebrate the holiday.

Well, I’m still in a fiesta mood and I’m “muy feliz” to be guest posting today at Mom It Forward with a fun and easy “Musical Maracas” kids craft. To see me and my little senorita shake our homemade maracas, just click on the Mom It Forward logo below – and make sure to leave me a little love there!

Celebrate #CincodeMayo With Family Fun & And A ‘Simply Delicioso’ Recipe From @SimplyIngrid #CokeFiesta

Posted on 04/23/2013 by TheHarriedMom

I love a good party. It doesn’t matter to me whether I’m the host or just a guest at one. I mean, who doesn’t like celebrating with friends and indulging in some yummy food! When The Hubs & I lived in our old house BC (before children) we had a BBQ and pool in our backyard. It seemed like we had a “party” every weekend between Memorial Day and Labor Day for the five years we lived there. We’ve been in our “new” house now for nearly four years and I can count the number of parties we’ve had here on one hand.

With Cinco de Mayo coming up in less than two weeks, I thought it would be a great time to have a little family party and try some Mexican-inspired fare.

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Today We Are All From Boston….Talking To Kids About Tragedy

Posted on 04/16/2013 by TheHarriedMom

I don’t like to get political here, as that is not the focus of this blog, but I did want to share my thoughts about the tragic events in Boston….

As an American I am angry that there was a terrorist attack on our soil, regardless if it was perpetrated by a foreign or domestic source.

As a human being I am both angry and deeply saddened by the loss of any life and the immense hurt of any innocent citizens, regardless if was perpetrated by a foreign or domestic source.

My heart aches for the families and friends of those who lost loved ones and were impacted by this senseless act of violence. I cannot even begin to imagine the pain, anger and confusion that they are feeling, trying to cope with yesterday’s tragic events.

At this point, we still do not know who did this or why – and I believe that people shouldn’t jump to conclusions and go on a witch-hunt before we have all the facts. However, even when we do have all the facts, I will never in my life understand any type of violence against the innocent. It doesn’t matter if it’s in Boston, New York, Oklahoma City or Mogadishu, Afghanistan, Indonesia or Jerusalem – innocent people do not deserve this to ever happen to them.

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Tiny Bubbles – Review of Little Tikes Bubble Bellies II Bubble Machine

Posted on 04/10/2013 by TheHarriedMom

Bubbles. There are songs, websites and even Pinterest pages devoted to them. Bubbles make me happy, whether they are in the wine or floating above my head. My kidlets love bubbles too. They can go through a huge bottle in one afternoon waving around their bubble wands, or should I say weapons since the kidlets always wind up smacking them into each other in their bubble blowing frenzy!

With the weather finally getting warmer, we were able to have some backyard bubble fun this past weekend. The kidlets had lots of fun and giggles trying out their new Little Tikes Boubly Hippo Bubble Bellies II bubble machine.

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Playing With Chalk

Posted on 04/09/2013 by TheHarriedMom

I know that spring is in the air and that summer can’t be far behind when my driveway starts looking like this, a massive piece of graffiti art! The family is trying to taking full advantage of the warmer weather here in the Northeast by spending as much time outside as possible.

Both of my kidlets are budding artists and one of their all-time favorite things to do is draw with chalk on our driveway. Sidewalk chalk is a great addition to any outdoor play and is an inexpensive activity that the entire family can enjoy doing together. I love how playing with chalk promotes my kidlet’s imaginations, creativity and even helps with their basic elementary school skills (writing numbers, letters & words).

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Learning To Count – Review & Giveaway David Carter’s 100: Lift the Flaps and Learn to Count!

Posted on 04/08/2013 by TheHarriedMom

Counting is a huge milestone for any child as they are starting to learn and grow. Now counting to 10 is “easy breezy,” according to my five-year-old kindergartener son, but what about counting to 30, 50, 80 or even 100? Aside from learning how to count by 1s, my boy is also learning how to count by 5s and 10s all the way to 100. Sometimes he gets confused trying to remember how the larger numbers progress so I’m always looking new ways to help him to practice his numbers.

David Carter’s 100: Lift the Flaps and Learn to Count! is a fun new picture book that guides children to count from one to 100 with whimsical illustrations and lots and lots of interactive flaps!

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Old School Blogging – Marriage, Babies & Bliss Edition

Posted on 04/05/2013 by TheHarriedMom

At 3 pm today, spring break officially started in my house and I’ve got 10 full days of family fun ahead! We’ve got playdtes, outdoor activities, movie marathons and even an amazing trip on the agenda! Even The Harried Mom is taking a spring break of sorts – this week we’re loading up on reviews and giveaways of “fun things to do with kids!”

However, I’m going to start this break off by kickin’ it back old school and joining in again with a new installment of “Old School Blogging.” I really enjoy these posts because they are so entertaining read and I always learn something new about my favorite bloggers!

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The Harried Mom

A Journey Through Life With Kids, Family & Work

Tag Archives: Children

Minnie & Daisy BFF Book & Magazine Review + Giveaway!

I’m Mom-ing It Forward Today With A Musical Maracas Kid Craft

Celebrate #CincodeMayo With Family Fun & And A ‘Simply Delicioso’ Recipe From @SimplyIngrid #CokeFiesta

Today We Are All From Boston….Talking To Kids About Tragedy

Tiny Bubbles – Review of Little Tikes Bubble Bellies II Bubble Machine

Playing With Chalk

Learning To Count – Review & Giveaway David Carter’s 100: Lift the Flaps and Learn to Count!

Old School Blogging – Marriage, Babies & Bliss Edition