Mad Scientist Birthday Party

When my daughter was about to turn eight this year she really wanted to have a birthday party and invite her friends and since she has really been in to everything science lately, I thought what better way to encourage her than a fun mad scientist birthday party. 

^ The self inflating balloon experiment. I made labels for empty bottles and pre filled them with vinegar and added baking soda into balloons and carefully put them on the bottle top as to not spill the baking soda in the. When the kids got there they could lift the balloon spilling the soda into the vinegar causing a cool reaction. 

^ The slime making experiment was a huge party hit and made a great party gift

A bought the specimen jars off of amazon.com for just a few bucks. 

Then we measured out the ingredients for each kid before the party and let them mix them together and add their choice of food color. Here is an easy slime recipe http://chemistry.about.com/od/chemistryactivities/ss/slimerecipe_2.htm

^her cake was awesome we got it at winco with a space scene they had in their book. Another option is that you can take any photo  and have it printed on icing. 

^ we made Gatorade with dry ice and poured the drinks into cups with the spout to be safe bit the effect was very exciting to the kids. I also made personalized water bottle labels. One for water and one for the vinegar project. 

I also found a set of neon colored test tubes on amazon that I filled with nerds and Petri dishes that I filled with jello and topped with gummy worms to look like a bacteria culture. 

 

     This is one of the funnest birthday parties I have thrown, and with the great finds from amazon and making everything else it really ended up not costing very much in the end. I hope to inspire and if anyone needs the bottle labels template just let me know. I'm happy to share. 

The world of pinypons and my first giveaway

       My kids recently got a chance to test out some new toys provided by MommyParties called Pinypon at least I think they are somewhat new. Honestly I don't think I had heard of them before but my 7 year old knew what they were right away from a commercial she had seen. This came right after Madeline's birthday which is interesting because she had gotten a gift card and when we went to the store we spent an hour trying to find a toy worth the money. Has any one else noticed that a lot of toys now days are just heaps of plastic that look cool but you can't really interact with them and they stop getting played with after a day? Well when we got the pinypon caravan I probably played with it for an hour before the kids got to because there are so many things to it an I defiantly do not mean that in a bad way at all. The only thing I had to do to set it up was apply the stickers for decoration and it was kinda fun. There are tiny drawers inside to store all the dinnerware and other accessories plus a fridge that opens and shelves. The whole toy is interactive and as a parent I want my kids to get my money's worth out of their toys and play with them often and they do with these. The little pinypon people are cool too because you can interchange their hair or face with friends and change the look of the pinypon. We actually had a party with their friends last week and they swapped parts with each other and had a fun fashion show. You should check out pinypon.com for more details and their Facebook page has coupons including a buy 2 figures get 1 free available just in time for Christmas. In the meantime check out the commercials Sydeney insisted on making for my blog because she loved them so much.

OK now for the fun part...... we had two extra pinypon figures left after our mommy party so I thought, who better to give them to than my readers, soooo all you need to do in order to enter is to go to the pinypon facebook page here and like them, then come back here and leave a comment for me. I will choose two winners at random to receive one pinypon each in time to make a great stocking stuffer for Christmas.

By publishing this post, I received free products as part of a promotional program with MomSelect. All opinions are my own

NEON Tiki Tribe kids books

What is Neon Tiki Tribe ?

        It's a series of books geared toward keeping kids 11 and under entertained while also providing real world moral lessons such as school bullies, always telling the truth, not littering, and most importantly not giving up. I like that my 7 year old read, enjoyed and understood these important features of this book series. I always try to tell her that it doesn't matter what people around her are doing or might think of her, because it is up to her to be her own super hero, it is definitely reassuring to have these books back me up as a parent who is adamant about being a good person no matter what, like a TIKI - Thoughtful - Intelligent - Kind - Individual.

        Interestingly enough these books are written in a dyslexic friendly font making it much easier for kids who suffer from dyslexia to pick up on and read. I gave a set of these books to my sister in-law who is a teacher and she was excited to add them to her classroom library. If you are interested in checking out these awesome books yourself I have a coupon code for 25% off on the Neon Tiki Tribe website just enter PROMO CODE: Tiki300 at check out. It looks like they are also working on an app that I will definitely be waiting to get for my kids to use on my iphone. 

 

By publishing this post, I did receive free products to check out as part of a promotional program with MomSelect. All opinions are indeed my own.

Easy soft taco casserole

If your looking for a super easy and quick recipe using ingredients you probably already have then this is it.

Ingredients :
1 pound ground turkey or beef
1 pack of taco seasoning
1 small onion diced and sautéed
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 can refrained beans
6 flour tortillas
Sour cream

•Sauté onions in skillet then brown the ground meat.
•Add taco seasoning mix and follow directions on packet.
•Mix in whole can of refried beans in skillet and cook for about 5 minutes til soft and mixed well
•spoon thin layer of sour cream on to bottom of casserole dish and spread evenly.
•make a layer of tortillas (I place two next to each other and tear one up to cover the gaps)
•spread a layer of meat mixture and add a little bit of sour cream.
•repeat tortilla layer and end with meat and sour cream layer.
•top with shredded cheese and cook at 350* for 15 minutes.
•let cool then top with desired taco toppings (lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream)
•enjoy

Taking the beauty school plunge

     Since I have settled in from moving to a strange new place I decided it was time for me to help earn some money so I set forth to find a job. I started looking at piercing studios and found out that they aren't regulated here like they were in Texas and most of them were happy to just have an artist do piercings on the side and cheaply at that, which is not how I do things. So then I started looking for something more retail and apparently my having owned my own company for the last several years means nothing on an online application. I got frustrated and started looking at whether or not we could afford for me to go to school and found out I would be able to get enough loans and grants. I was torn between phlebotomy and cosmetology and ultimately decided I could easily open a salon one day and go back to working for myself but I would never open my own blood bank.
     I then found myself torn between a "local" cosmetology school very close to me or going to Paul Mitchell 30 miles away. In the end they weren't that far off in price so I decided perhaps the name of a Paul Mitchell school would be better for me. So here I am all signed up and nervous to start school in 19 days. It's going to be weird being away from my baby during the day and tough since it has been nearly ten years since I have even needed to be somewhere on time that early in the morning. But in the end I think it will be worth it and I will enjoy what I do and hopefully make ok money at it.
    

I went to the winter Marlboro ranch

What an amazing adventure! I don't know if words could even describe the awesomeness that ensued in Montana at the crazy mountain ranch. I've been back home almost a week getting back to reality and I miss the ranch and the food and staff so much. We got up very early to catch our flight to the ranch on the 18th and had a 2 hour layover in Utah where our ranch hats came in handy because we met a couple of people headed to the next flight with us. Then when we got off the second plane in Montana we were greeted with some friendly faces and cowboys hats and taken to a nice room at the airport to sign in and given  yummy sandwiches. Once all the other winners showed up we were all put on buses for the final trip to the ranch. The staff were super friendly and very funny once we passed through the ranch gates all cell phone service was lost. It was like traveling back in time to the good ole days of country life. We were then given keys and shown our rooms. We stayed in a huge beautiful room in the shawmut 2 building (originally built as a hotel for the miners in  Shawmut, Montana and relocated to the ranch in '96ish if I remember correctly.)  where our bed was covered in gifts. I won't go into too much detail on the gifts so all of the surprise isn't lost, but I will say that if you are headed to the ranch don't waste your baggage space with a winter jacket because the ones they give you will keep you very warm so just take sweaters and jeans.
       The next day we decided to take the tour to Yellowstone which took all day but it was well worth it. Our guides were awesome and we learned a lot of near stuff. I would love to take my kids one day but this was nice with a bus full of happy adults and no screaming and fighting and "I'm hungry" coming from the backseat. We got to get out and take lots of photos and we got to take a neat bit of a hike. The next morning we went ziplining which I never thought I would do but since this whole trip was a chance of a lifetime I decided I would just go for it and see how far I could get. Turns out there are 9 zip lines that start "small" then get up to the second longest one in the US. I did 7 then started getting really nervous because of the height part of it. I was pretty proud of myself so I stopped there and met my husband at the last one. Then after lunch we jumped into snowmobiling which was really fun but man was I sore afterwards, so glad that was last and not before having to glide across a valley on a rope with sore arms. So many amazing adventures and never have I been so well fed in my life. If I ever get invited back in the winter I will finish the zip lines for sure and definitely try dog sledding but I would love to go back in the summer and go horse back riding I bet it is so beautiful then. If you won this trip and your worried about if anything costs money DON'T because everything really is payed for unless of course you want to buy something while at the airport or if you take the Yellowstone tour there is a gift shop there that they let you stop in at.
      As far as this marketing plan goes for Marlboro, it certainly works for creating brand loyalty every time I see a pack of Marlboro's I will ALWAYS remember my trip to the ranch and you better believe I will tell everyone near me about how truly amazing it was.

I'm ready to go to the Marlboro Ranch

   It's the start of a beautiful new year isn't it?  In a recent post I talked about how I was notified as a winner in the Marlboro rock the ranch sweepstakes. Well I got my plane tickets today via fedex and just so unbelievably excited and anxious to get going on what I fully suspect to be an adventure of a lifetime. I will be catching my flight to Montana  on the 15th of this month at 6:30 am with a 2 hour layover in Salt Lake then on to the Bozeman airport where they will gather all the winners and take us to the crazy mountain ranch. In the package I received today I got my tickets, two personalized luggage tags, a gift card to cover the check baggage fee, a check for $750 to cover taxes, hats for us to wear so we can identify other winners at the airports, and contact cards with phone numbers because cell phones don't work at the ranch, and for once I'll be fine with that. I also got my activity itinerary which shows  I will be zip lining on the last day. I am really excited to try it but also very afraid of heights so I'm glad it's last. 

I know my girls are going to miss me, especially Madeline because she has been waking up in the middle of the night a lot lately and she will cry and crawl in bed saying she needs me, it will be hard when I'm not there for her but she will have her oldest sister here who she likes a lot. Of course with the recent holidays and the fact that school doesn't start again where we are til January 9th! I can't wait to get out of the house for a bit of me time with my husband. When the kids start bickering or making a huge mess before I am done with a two hour cleaning spree I just keep telling myself just a few more days now....I do love my family though :)  

The folks at Marlboro sent us some free luggage to pack for our trip too! They are really nice big red duffel bags on wheels. Now only 6 more days till we take off for Montana. I better get to packing.

link back to my first post

Oral B Stages and Winnie the Pooh

     Recently I was given a chance from www.mommyparties.com to host a party sponsored by Oral-B Stages. 

So that is precisely what I did today. We opened our mommy party box that contained Oral-B stages 1 and 2 toothbrushes, Oral-B Stages Pastes, Bottles of Disney Lavender Wash, Disney’s Winnie the Pooh Movie DVD, Winne the Pooh Movie Playdate Invites, Recipe & Activity Ideas, Balloons, Popcorn for guests, and guest gift bags.

So I invited some of my mommy friends that I have recently made here that have children about Madeline's age and set up a little movie theater in the sun room with all of our tiny chairs and Madeline passed out the popcorn to her new friends. The kids had a great time playing with the balloons and watching Winnie the Pooh and they were super excited to see that their new toothbrushes also had the Winnie the Pooh characters on them. The moms said they love the Oral-B Stages toothpaste and that is what most of them already buy because it works and tastes great especially for picky children and the fun Disney characters on the packaging make it all the easier to get the kids excited to brush daily. Everybody also loved the Disney Daily Renewal naturals baby wash in lavender and Chamomile which is just wonderful for a relaxing bedtime bath.

I won the 2012 Marlboro "Rock the Ranch" sweepstake!

      Omg! Omg! Omg! This is the biggest win I have ever had, way better than the atari I won last year. Yesterday morning between getting two different product party packs (which I will post about later) and a box of free cookies from bzzagent.com delivered by my wonderful mailman who probably dislikes me because he has to carry large boxes to my door every other day, I got a knock on the door from the fedex man who handed me a large urgent express envelope.....I wasn't expecting this....when I opened it there was a pretty envelope that said The Marlboro Ranch Pre-Trip Documents on the front and inside was a letter saying Congratulations you are a potential winner for a 4 -day/3 night ALL expense paid trip for you and a guest to a ranch in Montana! 

     There were all kinds of forms and release forms to fill out and have notarized and a prepaid express return envelope. This all sounded too good to be true and 5 minutes after opening it I had to rush to the dentist for an appointment making me wonder if it was true which made my deep cleaning seem like it was taking forever. When I got home I did some quick research and realized this is for real. I quickly filled out my paperwork and had my husband fill out his guest forms then we went to a notary (where I mumbled a lot and looked like a stroke victim because they had numbed one side of my mouth at the dentist) and signed it and then strait to the fedex store and sent it back. 

      Now I just have to wait 2-6 WEEKS for them to confirm my age and info then set up my flight and trip info. I have seen a lot of the people that are winning the 2012 Marlboro winter ranch trip got an email with an rsvp number. I didn't get an rsvp email I remember getting a postcard type ad in the mail with a reference number on it to enter the sweepstake that I remember calling in and thinking I'm not gonna win but it's worth a try eh. to be continued.....

....... CONTINUED ........

       The first letter said that the background check could take up to 4-6 weeks but luckily I didn't have to wait that long. I got my second set of forms exactly two weeks from the day that I had gotten the first and sent it back. And of course I also got this delivery mere minutes before my second dentist appointment. Upon opening this fedex envelope I found a letter of congratulations along with more forms to fill out asking me to rank which activities I would like to participate in most. These activities are zipline adventure, snowmobile intro, snowmobile adventure, archery adventure, and dog-sledding. I am so afraid of heights but I also really want to do the zipline adventure for some reason. When in Rome I guess. The other form asked about my smoking preferences and hat, shoe, and jacket sizes. From what I have heard from previous winners they hook you up with some great gear. This is awesome for me now that I live in Idaho with snow that I am so not used to or prepared for so it will be great for me to get some good cold weather gear that I really didn't want to spend the money on for myself. ( I really have to stop wearing flip flops to take my daughter to school in the mornings now that it is getting down to 16* but old habits die hard.)
     In my letter it says I will be departing for Montana on January 15, 2012 and returning January 18, 2012 and I should receive my plane tickets and a check for $750 to cover the taxes from winning by the beginning of January.  EEEEKKK! I am so excited! This is really a dream come true to be able to take a vacation like this with my husband and not have to worry about any cost.
      For those of you that are reading this because you got a letter delivered CONGRATS and I found a facebook page here for the 2012 winter winners to get together and share and ask each other questions........ TO BE CONTINUED...............

Spooky Halloween Tortilla Chips

It's almost Halloween and I am planning for my daughter's third birthday party. I just did a practice run on a party recipe that I will be using this year along with my mummy dogs. These are my spooky tortilla chips and essentially this is a great idea for any holiday or occasion because they are so easy and cheap to make into any design.

All you need is :
a cookie cutter
package of corn tortillas
3 tablespoons oil
1 tablespoon lawry's season salt
1 teaspoon paprika
salt

mix oil, season salt, and paprika in a small bowl
cut out your shapes and align on a cookie sheet in a single layer then brush or spoon and spread the oil mixture onto both sides of tortillas then bake at 375* for 5-10 minutes until crispy then ad a pinch of salt to taste. These are great for dipping.