I am so excited. The kids and I booked Madison’s birthday party last night (yes, I know her birthday isn’t until January. However, I’m anal. I look to book things early. I mean I’ve already talked to the caterer for Madison’s first communion which isn’t until May. Yes, I know I am crazy).

I have been trying to decide what to do for Madison’s birthday.  When your girl turns 8, it is incredibly hard to find something that is affordable yet fun for the girls!  Madison, who has never taken a dance class in her life, does love to dance around the house, so when we got the flier in her school backpack (many local businesses will give the school things to throw in the kids backpacks.  I don’t mind at all, and it introduces us to new businesses in the area), I knew what we were going to do for her birthday party.  Yes, we booked a party at The Dance Shop.

I got to meet with the owner last night, and she was sooo nice.  They host birthday parties for 12 girls for $200 (it is $5 for every girl after that), and you get a choice of a Hip-Hop party or Ballet.  Madison went with Ballet (which was surprising since I guess most girls her age go with Hip-Hop).  She is so excited.

I love that we are able to help support a local business.  When I was talking about this on Facebook, I’ve already got a couple moms interested in checking them out for lessons.  Since this place is very close to Madison’s school, I am glad that the moms get to check them out.  As for lessons, they have ballet, hip-hop, zumba (I guess these classes are pretty busy!), tap, jazz, and ballroom (think I can get Bill in for this one?).  (You can check out their class schedule here if you are interested.)

I am so glad to be working with them on Madison’s birthday party!  If you are in the Chicago south suburbs, The Dance Shop Inc. is definitely worth checking out!  You can also walk in and register any time you want!

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My family and I are huge LeapFrog fans. We own the majority of their products, and I am always willing to try their new ones! As many of you know, I also like to pass along great products when I see them. We had a little get together with some friends and showed them the new Leapfrog products.

We already had a Tag reading system, but we tried out the new pen. However, we did not have the Learn To Read Series or the Interactive World Map. Personally, I loved the Learn To Read Series. It is exactly what Will is learning in preschool right now, so it is quite complimentary. The Interactive World Map is awesome:

The kids loved the Map Racer Challenge that is on the map. I learned with this game that I didn’t know my geography all that well. Who actually knows where Fiji or Madagascar is? I know I didn’t until yesterday! There are three different levels, so all ages can play without getting frustrated. The kids loved that when you clicked on the airplane it made noise too. There was also a few more games. What I didn’t realize till after everyone left, was that there are two sides to the map!!!!! My kids played with the other side and had just as much fun. I loved that the map is interactive and that my kids were learning. They didn’t even realize it at all! All the kids just thought they were having fun!  Madison thought the map was fun and hard while Alex thought Level 3 was definitely hard!  Hannah thought it was really fun.

We also were able to try out the new LeapPad learning tablet:

Who cares about the kids opinion? I am in love. I can’t tell you how much I love this product. For me, it is the best thing since sliced bread. It truly is. My husband and I both have smart phones. Our kids always want to play on said smart phone. I’ve already had my 4 year old drop said smart phone and shatter the screen. Needless to say, I need a product like this in my home (now granted, if you drop this just right, it’ll shatter said screen too). That all being said, all the kids loved this including my 2 year old nephew Gabe. Yes, my two year old nephew is an awesome player on the balloon popping game on here and beat everybody’s score.

The tablet is for ages 4  - 9.  It has a built in camera and video recorder.  LeapPad offers limitless learning and endless play through their library of 100+ cartridge games, apps, digital books, videos, and flash cards!  You can touch the screen with your finger or the stylus (and it comes with an extra one too!).  Some of the games require you to shake it and even blow into it.  They have games and apps in school basics like math, reading, science, geography, art, music, language, culture, etc.  The skill levels adjust automatically, so kids can learn at their own pace.  Their progress is remembered from game to game.  You can set up profiles for all your kids too!

I can honestly say that I can see the LeapPad being a top item this Christmas. I was impressed with the durability and how both my kids can play with it. My kids love it, and we’ve already taken it on long car trips. My car has never been so quiet.

I am impressed with all the Leapfrog products we go to try out. I highly recommend them all!

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Simba, Mufasa, Nala, Timon and Pumbaa are back and better than ever this fall when Disney’s “The Lion King” roars into homes for the first time ever in Blu-ray high definition and Blu-ray 3D! The Oscar®- and Golden Globe®-winning film’s highly anticipated home entertainment debut kicked off October 4 in celebration of the epic animated movie’s Diamond Edition release. I have a nephew who is in love with this movie, so needless to say that my sister was sooooo happy to see it be rereleased! Subway was also excited so through October 30, every purchase of a SUBWAY FRESH FIT FOR KIDS™ Meal will include a FREE reusable meal bag featuring iconic Lion King movie characters and a coupon for $5 off the purchase of The Lion King Diamond Edition Blu-ray Combo Pack at retail. How cool is that?

Since I am such a fan of The Lion King and Subway, I have arranged for one lucky reader to win their own Subway prize pack. In it, you will find a Subway Lion King kids meal bag stuffed with a $25 SUBWAY Card AND The Lion King Diamond Edition Blu-ray Combo Pack! Here’s what you need to do:

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You may remember my recent experience with the Chiquita crushed fruit snack product!  We did a ton of landscaping in the yard, and as a reward, we had some Chiquita crushed fruit snack product.  To quote my 4 year old, “it’s so yummy in my tummy”.  Since I enjoyed the Chiquita crushed fruit snack product so much, I took on the mission to replace my normal snacks (you know, Doritos and Cheetos) with Chiquita crushed fruit snack product.  I’m in love with the Strawberry Chiquita crushed fruit snack product, so that is the flavor I used.  The first thing I noticed is that they are filling.  You aren’t hungry after drinking a bottle of Chiquita crushed fruit snack product.  You can’t always say that about a bag of chips.  I’m all about making small changes in my life to be more healthy (since I am not a huge fruit fan).  I love how easy it is to get a great drinkable snack!  It’s just as easy to grab a Chiquita crushed fruit snack product than it is anything else that isn’t as healthy!

Chiquita crushed fruit snack products are made when Chiquita bananas are crushed together with another fruit like – Mango, Strawberry, Blueberry, Pineapple or Acai – to create a delicious drinkable snack. Here’s my #CrushedIt experience (shopping trip and sharing it at a barbeque).  The Chiquita crushed fruit snack products were a huge hit!  The overwhelming favorite flavor was strawberry with mango a very close second.  My father-in-law loved the pineapple Chiquita crushed fruit snack product.  He even came up with a couple of ways to mix it up (like adding chopped ice to it).

The Chiquita crushed fruit snack products are a great hit at my house and with others.  I recommend trying Chiquita crushed fruit snack products!

This project has been compensated as part of a #CrushedIt mission for Chiquita. #CollectiveBias

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• #CrushedIt Giveaway! ($25 Dominick’s Giftcard!) (mythoughtsideasandramblings.com)

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I’d love to remodel my kitchen.  However, Bill won’t let do any big money changes until the kids are older (and can’t wreck it.  Though I don’t know why he doesn’t think they can wreck it when they are older!).  Instead, I keep making cosmetic changes like adding an island kitchen cart (or was it a drop leaf kitchen cart), redoing the counters, buying new cutting boards, etc.  I’ve cleared out the garden window, so instead of holding knick knacks, I can actually put some flowers in there!  We are moving the pictures and the artwork in this room too.  I have hung some of what the kids made at school in one corner of the room.  The other items that were on the walls have just been moved around.  I am even looking at the cupboard paint that I saw on TV.  I can’t decide if painting my cabinets would be a good idea.

My cabinets stink.  They are tiny (which is why we have 20 other places in there that we store stuff).  To put plates in, you actually have to turn them!  The stain job on them is bad and did I say I hate them.  However, I can’t decided if we paint the fronts to make them look better that it won’t look dorky.  I hate to spend the time (and money!) doing it to have them look terrible or worse than they do already.

Does anybody have experience with cupboard paint?  Does it look cool?  What changes have you made in your kitchen?

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