Tag: kids

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Girls Gifts My Little Pony & Littlest Pet Shop

My boys are generally the easiest to shop for: Nerf guns and swords to battle each other with rubber coated foam bullets and or Lego’s. Enough said.

My daughter, the girly girl is a bit tougher to shop for since she is at an age where she might be able to play with older girl toys, but still lacks the maturity to enjoy them. However I found that she loves My Little Pony and Littlest Pet Shop. These two appeal to her and her little hands and she is able to maintain them in a way that I am not worried about. The toys themselves do not have any small parts that would frighten me about a choking hazard like some Barbie toys do, and she adores how quaint they are.

Since she is rather petite, theses petite little toys are great stocking stuffers or stand alone toys just for girls.

The Littlest Pet Shop Walkables are a great addition for any holiday gift. Add some motion to any LITTLEST PET SHOP collection with the WALKABLES Pets Assortment! These quirky pets are full of spunk and ready to get up and go. At the touch of a button these pets get going, moving across any smooth surface. Girls can collect up to 12 LITTLEST PET SHOP WALKABLES Pets including a dog, seal, snail, fish, cat, spider and more. Each sold separately. Available at most major toy retailers nationwide and on HasbroToyShop.com not to mention the price is just right for those of you shopping on a budget like myself! Priced at $7.99 MSRP, these little critters are sure to light up any little girls holiday.

The more friends the merrier with the MY LITTLE PONY pony assortment! Girls can expand their pony collection with these adorable MY LITTLE PONY figures, each featuring a unique cutie mark that reflects their personality.  The circle of friends continues to grow as each pony comes with a special animal friend! Each figure in the assortment includes an accessory to tote their pet friend along and a comb for girls to style the pony’s bright, brushable mane.  Eight MY LITTLE PONY pony figures will be introduced in the spring with an additional ten ponies available in the fall. Each sold separately. Available at most major toy retailers nationwide and on HasbroToyShop.com and again, priced just right for those looking to add that last minute gift or pinch those pennies in a rough economy at $4.99 each MSRP.

So for less than $15 total you can add some great gifts under your holiday tree for your little girl this holiday season, I know mine is enjoying her recent addition of the Walkables to her Littlest Pet Shop toy collection and another pony to her My Little Pony toy collection.

“Disclosure: I was provided with a sample of My Littlest Pet Shop and My Little Pony at no cost in order to test the products’ abilities and give my own personal opinions on it. The opinions I have given are mine and may differ from others but were not influenced by the company or the free product provided.”

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Mother Goose Club

Education is an intricate part of any child’s upbringing. From the day our children arrive out of the womb we are educating them; educating them on how to eat, walk, and talk. In addition to walking and talking we like to teach our children to read or have the want to read at an early age. We teach them through songs, reading books to them and as our children grow older, they become more interested in the television and the various shows available to them to watch.

But sometimes as busy parents we do not always censor what our children watch and or learn on TV. I have been a fan of PBS since I was a young child and watched Sesame Street as my learning platform. Now PBS has an even extended platform of various learning programs for all the different learning styles and the ages that watch their shows.

My kids have recently become huge fans of PBS television shows like Sesame Street and recently I was introduced to Mother Goose Club. Featured on PBS stations, the Mother Goose Club is a series of 1-minute educational programs for preschoolers promoting early literacy.  This live-action and colorful program, invites your little one to sing and dance along to their favorite nursery rhymes. Early childhood research has shown that familiarity with nursery rhymes helps young children learn to read and my kids have an amazing memory and enjoy the songs and rhymes.

They watched the DVD and listened to all the CD’s non-stop. In the car, in the house, they couldn’t get enough singing, nursery rhymes and fun playing with each other. I found my daughter, while she was coloring at the table, singing her nursery rhymes and my heart was warmed at how much she enjoyed the Mother Goose Club Super Pack.

Why Nursery Rhymes Matter
Helping Children Read. Nursery rhymes help children learn to read. Research has shown that familiarity with Mother Goose and other nursery rhymes helps children develop pre-reading skills, including the ability to detect rhymes. Children who can recognize rhyming words, cat and hat for example, learn to read quicker and more successfully than their peers. This relationship holds true regardless of a child’s socio-economic background or the education level of the parents.
How Do Nursery Rhymes Help? Nursery rhymes are short and rhythmic, which makes them easy for children to learn and memorize. As children hear, sing or read nursery rhymes, they develop “phonemic awareness” or the ability to detect the individual sounds that make up words, a crucial first step in learning to read. Nursery rhymes, especially Mother Goose rhymes, also introduce children to new vocabulary which increases comprehension and benefits learning in all subjects. Most importantly, nursery rhymes are full of colorful characters and stories, which make them fun. The delight children experience as they engage in rhyme activities fosters an enduring enthusiasm for books and reading.
How Mother Goose Can Help Parents. Nursery rhymes are terrific tools for parents and teachers to help get young children ready to read. Spending a few minutes each day reading or singing nursery rhymes with a child is a simple, cost-effective and enjoyable way to promote early literacy at home. The Mother Goose Club website contains a collection of rhymes, including many Mother Goose rhymes, with illustrations, audio narrations, songs and printable coloring pages. Some live action and animated videos are also available. For parents and teachers, the site offers activities and tips on using rhymes to promote literacy at home and at school (Sockeye Media LLC, 2011).

In addition to the shows, books, CD’s are also available, not to mention some online printable sheets for your children to color and have the lyrics readily available for them to learn to read and sing along to. You can purchase all the various Mother Goose Club CD’s, books, DVD’s and coloring books online at the Mother Goose Club store. All items are an average price of $20 which makes this learning gift a wonderful item for your children this year at the holidays or any time of the year. Share in all your children’s favorite nursery rhymes with this wonderful, educational gift.

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My Baby Clothes Boutique

My kids are getting older, but they are still within that stage of little kids clothes, baby clothes, and toddler clothes. Especially my daughter, she is very petite, small, tiny, and thin. The girl eats like a horse but she is rather small and finding the right clothes for her can be rather impossible.

While seeking out the perfect gift for my daughter this year I was approached by My Baby Clothes Boutique and I shopped their site and found some really adorable items including tutu’s and baby headbands that are super cute for little girls. After perusing all the adorableness that My Baby Clothes Boutique has to offer I finally found an outfit, or two, for my daughter. She is dainty and very feminine, but also the type to put on an all pink dress with camouflage tennis shoes. During my shopping adventure I came across the Bonnie Jean Heart Rose Pant Set that screamed Sara!

Like sharing Valentine’s Day just a bit early for her, the satiny rosettes shaped into a heart soften the fleecy outfit perfect for this winter and into the spring. Coupled with a pair of leggings, any young girl is sure to love and strut in this out. I know my daughter was out posing in this one with her pouty face. The price is even nice for what the outfit is, and falls right into this family’s budget when looking for girls clothes.

Now you can have an opportunity to shop at My Baby Clothes Boutique by entering to win a $25 gift certificate to shop for anything they have in store for your son or daughter, they even have baby hats! Here is how you can enter to win:

  • Tell me what you want from the store for your baby or toddler
  • Follow My Baby Clothes on Twitter (worth 2 entries)
  • Follow me on Twitter
  • Subscribe to my feed
  • Tweet this giveaway (worth 1 entry for each daily tweet) Just in time for the holidays win a $25 GC from @mybabyclothes on The Five Fish & @KariewithaK  https://thefivefish.com/baby-clothes-boutique
  • Fan My Baby Clothes on Facebook
  • Fan The Five Fish on Facebook (worth 5 entries, even if you already are a fan!)
  • Promote this giveaway on Facebook
  • Leave a comment on any non giveaway post (worth 2 entries)
  • Enter one of my other giveaways
  • Blog about this giveaway with a link back (worth 5 entries)

Contest Ends November 18th at Midnight AZ Time

As always: No Purchase Necessary, available to US residents. One entry per household. US postcard entries also acceptable if you do not have access to the above entry options, no limit to postcard entries as long as all are received before the close of the contest, email contests@thefivefish.com for your postcard entry details or to use email as your postcard entrance as these entries will be logged by the administrator of the blog. Winners will be chosen by “And the Winner is” Failure to adhere to the aforementioned rules set forth by this contest will result in forfeiture of your entry with no notice. Facebook does not promote, endorse, nor sponsor this review and giveaway and will be held harmless. As always, good luck and enjoy. My opinions herein are my own and are no way influenced by the receipt of a free product, they are an honest reflection of myself and my review of the integrity of the product.

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The Dog Who Saved Halloween

The Five Fish is excited to share with you on this Halloween the review and giveaway of The Dog Who Saved Halloween. For parents you will be happy to hear a flashback of child star names; Joey Lawrence and Mayim Bialik our favorite brother and sister duo from TV’s Blossom.

Everyone’s favorite four-legged friend Zeus (voiced by Joey Lawrence) and the Bannisters are back in The Dog Who Saved Halloween, an all-new adventure jam-packed with family-friendly thrills and chills! When George, Belinda and their kids Kara and Ben Bannister move into a new house – just in time for Halloween! – everything seems to be fine…until they notice eerie glowing lights and strange sounds coming from their neighbor’s house where creepy Mr. Cole (Lance Henriksen) lives with his protective pooch Medusa (voiced by Mayim Bialik). When a black cat suddenly goes missing, George Bannister (Gary Valentine) insists on investigating the matter himself – and ultimately enlists an odd yet familiar pair (Dean Cain, Joey Diaz) to help. But after the trio and Belinda Bannister (Elisa Donovan) get trapped inside the spooky house, it’s once again up to Zeus to save the day (Anchor Bay Entertainment & Grand Communications, 2011)!

My kids loved this movie, not only for celebrating Halloween and the upcoming holidays, but everyone loves a super hero and a dog all in one.  Lots of laughs and slap stick fun in this family favorite. Add it to your family’s holiday collection of movies this Halloween and in time for Christmas where you can celebrate this holiday favorite all year round.

Here is how you can win a copy for your kids this Halloween Day:

  • Leave a comment telling me what your kids are dressing up for this Halloween or what is your favorite part of Halloween.
  • Like this movie on Facebook and follow on Twitter @DogHalloween
  • Like the The Fish on Facebook (Worth 3 entries)
  • Post/Share this giveaway on Facebook (Leave the link for verification)
  • Follow my blog
  • Follow me on Twitter @KariewithaK
  • Tweet this giveaway for daily entries: Celebrate fun all year enter to win @dogHalloween The Dog Who Saved Halloween with @Kariewithak & The Five Fish https://thefivefish.com/dog-saved-halloween
  • Blog about this giveaway (Worth 5 entries, leave the link)
  • Subscribe to my feed via email or to your reader (verified by email)

Contest ends Friday November 17th at midnight Arizona time.

As always: No Purchase Necessary, available to US and Canada residents. One entry per household. US postcard entries also acceptable if you do not have access to the above entry options, no limit to postcard entries as long as all are received before the close of the contest, email contests@thefivefish.com for your postcard entry details or to use email as your postcard entrance as these entries will be logged by the administrator of the blog. Winners will be chosen by “And the Winner is” Failure to adhere to the aforementioned rules set forth by this contest will result in forfeiture of your entry with no notice. Facebook does not promote, endorse, nor sponsor this review and giveaway and will be held harmless. As always, good luck and enjoy.

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Netflix Categories Fail

While surfing through Netflix the other night to find something of substance and interest to watch, to feed the intellect; the hubs and I found this instance to be rather interesting. I cannot say much, I think the video will have to speak for itself.

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Trying to Conceive

As a mother I think that a great deal of misconception surrounds trying to conceive for women. I personally went through my own struggles. From complicated health issues that hindered my ability to conceive to loss. To conceive a child is what some of us consider to be what makes us women. While we are no less human or no less a woman, the yearning for a child for many women is very biological.

Currently I have a friend who has struggled, as I had to conceive. But I feel her story is worth sharing as I wish her all the baby dust and sprinkles in the world as she begins her journey into motherhood.

trying to conceiveHer conception struggles began sometime last year as she made her first attempts at conception. Knowing some early pregnancy symptoms and signs she knew she was pregnant. But as veteran mothers know, the first 12 weeks are always the danger zone. Within the week of sharing her good news with the blessed few, including myself, she was experiencing heartache. My heart broke for her as I watched hers break over and over and I saw her wretched with pain. I saw her come to work and swallow her pain. I knew her pain, I once experienced her pain, but how can you console a grieving woman who so badly wants to be a mother just as I had become. At a loss with her loss I gave her space but shared my pain with her, my struggles as a reassurance she was not alone, to aid in her healing.

Time passed and she tried yet again only to be faced with the same result, loss, grief, and the emptiness that she may never become a mother. I saw the despair, I could feel her despair, I once experienced this myself, and again I offered my friendship and experience as a consolation that conception can suck, but she is not alone.

However  her loss became a sounding strength as she became more determined to find the root of her struggles of which she did and did so with some success. She found answers, direction, and a healing path. She recently just found she was pregnant, without jinxing the impeccable news, she has not shared with many people, and I will not share her name because I would hate to jinx this for her as well. But my intent is to share that conception is not always a joyous event. Women struggle each day, but with struggles and heartache can eventually yield the joy and love every woman who is trying to conceive deserves.

Please cheer, pray, light candles, whatever your methodology may be for my dear friend as she travels through the next seven weeks to the path of glory and surviving her first trimester into the coming days of motherhood. I have been honored to get her every other day results with her blood work as her levels climb at awesome levels. My personal hope is she is cursed blessed with twins and she experiences all the joys, laughter, struggles, and growing pains of any parent.

Our journey to motherhood should not be met with such woe and sorrow, but the reality is that we are thrown a curve ball. How we act upon that curve ball is whether we step back from the plate or we take a swing and run for the bases.

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A Kids Point of View – Week 2

If you haven’t seen these posts before please enjoy.

This will be a post every Monday to jump start the week. I was inspired to do this weekly post when I found that my kids had gotten hold of our Sony Cybershot Camera and needless to say there are some very incriminating, informative, and even down right hilarious and frightening photos that my children have captured. I hope you will enjoy these brief moments in time, captured by my children when they thought no one was looking.

In honor of Halloween this month these will be some spooky and even frightening photos.

Enjoy!

Your photographers are:

Grant – eight years old

Seth and Sara – three and a half years old.

 

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A Kids Point of View – Week 1

This will be a post every Monday to jump start the week. I was inspired to do this weekly post when I found that my kids had gotten hold of our Sony Cybershot Camera and needless to say there are some very incriminating, informative, and even down right hilarious and frightening photos that my children have captured. I hope you will enjoy these brief moments in time, captured by my children when they thought no one was looking.

In honor of Halloween this month these will be some spooky and even frightening photos. Enjoy!

 

Frightening Photo of Neighbor Friend Dropping a Deuce in Our Bathroom

Your photographers are:

Grant – eight years old

Seth and Sara – three and a half years old.

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Dawn of the Dead

Yes the title of this blog is a direct reference to a movie surrounding zombies. The Chad and I are huge fans of horror flicks and zombie movies are some of the best (*cough…worst) movies around. I mean anyone who is anyone has seen a B rated zombie movie and laughed, or you got hooked on the A&E series, or maybe your kids talk about zombies with their video games (*cough…not my house).

But there is one thing that I will attest to with zombies, despite their total non-existence, is that I know they are attracted to noise. Lots of loud, obnoxious, even just muffled noise, zombies are attracted to noise like a moth to a flame. So I am going to ask you of a large favor in the event that one day our world were to ever become overrun with brain eating, flesh munching, scavenging zombies.

But let’s look at this noise issue. Seriously my kids are prime zombie dinner. I kid you not, from the moment my Seth-en-stein is awake his lips are a running and he is on his way to verbally vamoosing you, honestly the words leave his mouth so fast you can hardly answer the first question he vomited your way let alone the next. Up next is Little Bitty who is the house manager and has a shrilling scream that would break the most finest of crystal if the right pitch allowed, so come on zombies….we are just sitting ducks waiting for you just on these two alone. Finally we have The Boy and The Dog….mind you the dog snores worse than any human. In fact someone asked me what the rumble was….I had to confess it was my English Bulldog snoring…no rumble. I am left now with the boy who if you asked him to be quiet would argue the art of being quiet just for sake of debate.

In the event of a world zombie domination

AVOID MY HOUSE!

Yes, avoid my house because my family will be the first victims because my children cannot shut the fuck up for more than one point one milliseconds. The fighting, screaming, whining, crying, carrying on is going to be a zombie magnet and we can guarantee to be zombie dinner. Thank you and best wishes.