Good Nights with HALO Sleep Set ~ Giveaway
Baby’s coming! And with him… sleepless nights. For me, at least. He will be sleeping soundly (I hope!).
With my first son, I couldn’t even find a crib set that didn’t come with huge, puffy bumpers. Sure, it’s adorable when everything matches and you have all that softness around the bed. But it’s actually unsafe for the baby. The American Academy of Pediatrics now recommends not using a crib bumper.
Now, HALO Innovations introduces the Safe Sleep Crib SetTM designed to create an attractive and safe sleep environment for babies. “Too often parents ‘overdress’ the crib with quilt and bumpers, both of which can pose a breathing threat for baby,” said Bill Schmid, founder of Halo Innovations.
Their new Crib Set is the perfect answer for moms searching for nursery decor with no bumper.
The five-piece HALOSafe Sleep Crib Set includes a HALO SleepSack wearable blanket, SleepSack Swaddle, two coordinating crib sheets in cotton jersey, and a matching crib skirt. The snug fitting crib sheets add to the safety of the crib set (never have loose bedding with infants in the crib).
Now, I think it’s much better to have TWO sleeping outfits included in a crib set than to have a puffy (unsafe) crib bumper! The patterns are cute – My Dog Sam (pictured above – what my new little one will be sleeping in!), Friendly Caterpillar and more! They come in several color choices to complement most nursery decor.
For more sleep safety tips and product info, “Like” HALO on Facebook, Follow HALO on Pinterest, and Follow HALO on Twitter.
BUY IT: The new HALO Safe Sleep Crib Sets are available on amazon.com and babiesrus.com.
WIN IT: One reader gets their choice of HALO Sleep Crib Set in blue, green, or pink! ARV $115. Enter in the Rafflecopter form below!
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Tot Explorations: Word Play with Magnetic Poetry ~ Giveaway
I really can’t wait to teach my toddler to read. It’s definitely early, but we work on pre-literacy skills all the time.
This week, we have been reviewing a Magnetic Poetry Kit, and I came up with a matching game activity.
I grabbed a few of the concrete noun words from the Magnetic Poetry Kit, and created a chart that had a picture of each word with space below for the magnet.
Then, I asked my son to “find the hat” and hand him the appropriate magnet. He stuck the magnet underneath the correct picture, labeling each one. He got excited to find the right picture to match the word. And even “tested” me by trying to put the word on the fridge upside-down on purpose. We played several times before he got tired of it.
I think this activity would be better for older children who already recognize sight words. Yet I think my son started to grasp literacy concepts that each image has a word associated with it, and that letters / words have to be upright in order to be read.
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I have long used Magnetic Poetry kids in my classroom and home refrigerator to cultivate a love of wordplay… the word tiles are fun to move around, encourage creativity, and are educational at the same time!
We reviewed the First Words Kit by Magnetic Poetry. 140 tiles of the most common sight words and prefix / suffixes. The print and tiles are larger in this kit, making them great for small hands. Packaged in a reusable tin, you have the perfect container for taking your Magnetic Poetry on the go – kids can compose sentences and poems on the inside or outside!
At this age with my son, I found myself wishing for more concrete noun words in the kit, so I could make more little games like described above. This kit had many more suffix ending tiles than I would have expected for a first words collection. It’s intended for ages 4 and up, so we are definitely using it with our son young.
Regardless of which words I personally would have wanted (wouldn’t it be great to create a custom-words kit!!), this Magnetic Poetry kit is a fantastic way to develop your kids’ love of language and poetry! And I guarantee if you stick these tiles on your fridge, even the adults will be creating lines of poetry soon enough!
Magnetic Poetry sells a great selection of kits catering to different themes, ages, interests, including foreign language kits! They even have a magnetic chore chart set, and a few magnetic playset scenes:
All Magnetic Poetry items are well-packaged (perfect for gifts), and reasonably priced from about $8-20. Check their website for frequent discounts and sales!! Like Magnetic Poetry on Facebook too!
If you can’t wait to get your hands on some Magnetic Poetry – you can play online right now! Check out their virtual magnetic poetry games – sooo much fun and you can even email your finished poem to yourself or a friend!
WIN IT: One reader wins the Magnetic Poetry First Words Kit AND the Kids’ Kit set (which has smaller tiles and 320 words!) for their family! ARV $34. Enter in the Rafflecopter form below!
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Mother’s Day Gift Guide: Lavazza Espresso Point 850 at CoffeeCow.com ~ Giveaway
Mamas need coffee!!! We are always running on less sleep than we probably need. We could all use a little coffee break!
At CoffeeCow.com, you can find a large selection of coffee makers and pods/capsules for brewing machines. Any of these machines would make a great Mother’s Day gift!
As a huge coffee lover, I’ve been enjoying learning how to use my new Lavazza Espresso Point 850 machine. Lavazza is a leading name in coffee, and this machine is designed to make creating a cafe experience fun and easy for your family.
This Lavazza brewer takes special capsules that are pre-measured with the right amount of espresso grind. Drop in a capsule, lock in the handle and brew your espresso with the push of a button. You have to push the button again to stop brewing, which allows you to adjust the strength of the brew. Cleanup is a breeze because you just throw out the capsule and don’t have coffee grounds to wipe up.
Cappuccino is much trickier and even after making many cups of steamed milk, I will admit disappointment with the results. Press and hold the steam button until it lights up, then put the steam wand into the milk and open the steam valve. You have to hold the wand at JUST the right angle to get the froth to build up – the instructions say to immerse the wand halfway but this does nothing, what you need to do is tilt the mug sideways a bit, and let the bottom of the wand bubble the milk at the top of the milk.
Still, you are not going to get that stiff foam that holds like at a coffee shop… I found the froth fizzled within a couple minutes. And if you use too much milk,the steam won’t adequately heat the milk, so you end up with lukewarm coffee. I am hoping I will keep learning how to perfect the steamed milk aspect of this machine!!
One other thing to remember is you MUST let the brewer heat up for fifteen minutes otherwise your espresso will not be hot and you will not have enough steam.
I liked how the water reservoir in the back is generous enough to make several cups of espresso, so that is good for if you make after dinner coffees for guests.
My hubby refinished an old dresser for me so I could create a coffee bar to include my new machine!! Doesn’t it look lovely? Please stop by for coffee soon!!
WIN IT: Get your own Lavazza Espresso Point 850 to enjoy!! ARV $149.99. Enter in the Rafflecopter form below!
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Mother’s Day Gift Guide: A Heart Like His by Beth Moore ~ Giveaway
Give the gift of some quiet time to a mom this year… I always enjoy receiving a new book to read.
Lately I’ve been reading A Heart Like His, by Beth Moore – best-selling author, teacher and founder of Living Proof Ministries. Moore has several books and Bible studies you may have heard of, such as Believing God, that have been used by women and Bible study groups worldwide.
In A Heart Like His, Moore gives a feminine perspective of the life of David, both as boy and king. It’s a commentary-style devotional book, great for daily reading as the chapters are short and to the point.
She takes us through the books of I and II Samuel, fleshing out in conversational tone, how a man like David, so much like any of us, could also be called the friend of the one true God. How did this bond develop? Moore gives thought-provoking side trips into the backstory of David’s life, discussing influencers like Samual and King Saul in how God shaped David’s path.
The back of the book has several review questions for each chapter, so you can have moments of reflection after each chapter. I’ve been enjoying this book as it’s easy to follow and has developed my thoughts about a Biblical character we can learn so much from!
The new edition of this book is available May 1, 2012 for $14.99 at various retailers. It also features an excerpt from Moore’s “David: Seeking a Heart Like His” Bible study.
WIN IT: One reader wins a copy of Beth Moore’s A Heart Like His book – you’ll really enjoy reading this or giving it as a gift! To enter, just leave a single comment telling me your recommendations for other great faith-based or gift-worthy books you’ve enjoyed getting / giving! I love adding new book titles to my wishlist!
GIVEAWAY RULES: Open US / Worldwide. 18+ to enter/win. Winner will be emailed directly and have 48 hours to respond to claim their prize! Ends 11:59 on May 8, 2012. Fulfillment handled by Shelton Interactive.
Thanks to Shelton Interactive for offering a review copy and giveaway prize of this book! All opinions are my own and 100% honest.
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