Lately William has really been into going to the playground. Since it has been so hot out, it makes it harder to take him on a daily basis. The rare time of day that it is cooler is when the sports teams are playing so parking is scarce and the playground becomes way too crowded. We decided to get him his own swing set or as he prefers to call it "William's playground". We went with a smaller one since he is the only little one and also he still has the majority of the yard to run and play ball.
The good thing is we never have to leave home and we put it by a tree where we can get some decent shade for most of the day. I am also glad we can take potty breaks and get a cold drink when we need it. William is loving his new toy and it's a great way for him to get some of that boy-energy out. It really wears him out with all of that physical play so he sleeps very well at night (score!)
Dwayne and I put the swing set together and it was not as bad as I thought it would be. Of course there was that 30 minutes that was wasted trying to get the ladder rungs assembled. No matter how many times we tried, we just could not get the screws and nuts to connect. I then find a little bag of 4 screws so I decided to open them up. Good move~ turns out that the paper enclosed stated that the directions were not revised with the fact that you needed to use those specific screws and NOT the ones we struggled with for so long. You know Dwayne was rolling his eyes at me and will be talking about me for a long time to come since I was in charge of the instructions.
I have been purchasing toys through eBeanstalk for about 3 years now and I have never been disappointed. We are really big into educational toys for our son. Whether you are looking for gifts for 3 year olds or babies, you will find just the perfect item. I have been looking for something new for William and I am thinking either a puzzle map of the United States or some building toys might be cool. He has really gotten into making castles and houses with anything he can get his little hands on. I also have my eye in this cute Green Toys Tool Set. I can just see William trying to be like his dad! I actually caught him the other day trying to pick up a very heavy hammer. He scared me silly! The good thing is it is pretty easy to find toys for 3 year olds and as well as children of all ages through eBeanstalk. The website is so user friendly and you can break down toys by age and gender. I purchased William the Band in a Box by Melissa & Doug and he LOVES it so much! eBeanstalk carries a lot of well known brands and Melissa & Doug happens to be one of my favorites. I completely recommend eBeanstalk for your toy shopping needs.
I don't know about you but I have been a long time fan of Gain® laundry detergent. It cleans our clothing very well but there is something unbeatable about the scent. It is a great compliment when my kids' friends are always telling them how good they smell and it turned out to be their jacket or t-shirt. Gain smells like a million bucks! Speaking of which Gain has launched the “Smell Like a Million Bucks Contest” to give people across the country a chance to win one million dollars, turning one lucky winner’s dreams into a reality.
To help spread the word about the contest, Gain enlisted the help of alternative rock band, Barenaked Ladies, who are largely known for their hit “If I Had a Million Dollars.” The band has re-recorded a new version of the song, “If I Gained a Million Dollars,” which includes lyrics inspired by the dreams and wishes of Gain fans. Check out this cute video and please don't get mad at me if you start walking around randomly singing "If I had a million dollars". It is very catchy :D
To enter the Smell Like a Million Bucks Contest, visit www.facebook.com/Gain (be sure to "like" the page). Participants must submit a video stating that they “use Gain and smell like a million bucks.” All video entries can be viewed on Gain’s Smell Like a Million Bucks Contest tab on Gain’s Facebook page. Each video will be judged based on the creative score assigned after posting the video and the number of video views acquired. The 25 highest scoring videos will then be voted on by the Gain Facebook community. You can check out some of the video entries here. Your video can be less than a minute. I saw some that were only 10 seconds long! Easy huh?
One winner will be selected and announced on August 2, 2011. Entries will be accepted from May 18, 2011 through July 7, 2011. The top 25 videos can be viewed and voted on from July 18, 2011 through August 1, 2011. Full contest rules and regulations can be found on Gain’s Facebook page.
*This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook. You are providing your information to Procter & Gamble and not to Facebook. The information you provide will only be used in connection with the Contest or in connection with promotional or other activities by Gain. My friends at Gain wanted to share the gift of smelling like a million bucks with Momfiles fans. We are giving away one bottle of Gain® laundry detergent to 3 lucky Momfiles readers!
To enter: *Mandatory- Let us know if you are a Gain user. If so, what is your favorite scent?
For extra entries: ~ "like" Gain and Momfiles on Facebook (leave your name you like us from) ~ (5 entries) Enter the Gain video contest and share the link here. (see contest rules above) ~ Tell us what part of the Barenaked Ladies video you liked the most ~ Follow Momfiles on Twitter (leave your Twitter name) ~ Tweet this giveaway & leave the link to your Tweet(once daily):
Don't you want to smell like a million dollars? Enter to win #Gain laundry detergent from @momfiles http://tinyurl.com/3gd594c 3winners
~ grab the Momfiles button ~ Follow Momfiles via Google Friend Connect
Contest is open to US Residents only and will end at 9:00 PM EST on June 25, 2011. 3 winners will be picked at random and contacted by email to claim prize. Please be sure to leave your email address if you do not have a Blogger profile. Good luck!
I received a product sample and no other compensation was received. All opinions are 150% mine as always.
We all had a great time at the playground today. Dwayne was trying to take a few photos and William did not want to cooperate. Of course if I was a 3 year old surrounded by slides, monkey bars and swings I would not want to stop for photos either! I love these kids! :)
You see this adorable little boy in the picture? He's not so adorable when he is forced to sit in an auditorium that has no music playing or performances. Boring awards ceremonies just are not for him and the 3 other boys that had to be dragged out for being too "active". At least I got to see my Chardie get her award for being the top student for Spanish III Honors. I had to get up outta there and thankfully the high school has a nice courtyard area with a little pond. Next time he is staying HOME! Lesson learned!
Sometimes I feel like searching online for toys for my son can be a hassle. Do you go with digital toys, top selling toys for 3 year olds, or just stick to the classics? This is where I refer to eBeanstalk for help. We are really big on learning toys for our son and that is what makes eBeanstalk the perfect place online to shop. They offer so many toys for 3 year old boys as well as toys for 3 year old girls that match your child's developmental needs. You can choose items for specific age groups and gender. We have gotten several wooden toys for our son and he has enjoyed them. The quality is outstanding and I can feel good to hand them down to friends or family with little ones once he has outgrown them.
I was browsing through the eBeanstalk site and I really have my eye on this Band in a Box for my son. The first thing that attracted me was that it is a Melissa and Doug toy (my favorite brand) so I know it will be made to withstand the abuse from a 3 year old boy! If you are looking for toys for 3 year olds like I am (or any age up to 12) then I totally recommend you check out eBeanstalk. They make it so easy for busy parents :-)
I am sure many of you are very familiar with the stage that your little ones went through with repeating everything they hear. I listen to William have imaginary telephone conversations and he starts of with hello and you hear him say numerous times "alright and okay". His most commonly used phrases are "oh gosh", "put on shoes and go to Walmop", "take off jacket", "mommy cook food", "mmm, yummy food". Recently we all went on a family car trip and we were having discussion about music and entertainment. Somehow we started talking about the Chris Brown song called Deuces and then about Gucci Mane. First Brie says "Deuces!" and Dwayne follows up by saying "Gucci!" and little Will decides to say "Guccis!" We all tried so hard not to laugh but we all broke down. We realized from that moment that Will is indeed listening to everything we say and we better watch out! We do not want to corrupt him. I have made it a point to only listen to NPR or one of his cd's in the car while we wait in the carpool line or drive around town.
What is the most outrageous or funniest thing your little one has said from overhearing someone in your family?
Dwayne and the girls were playing the game of LIFE together. Sounds like some good, innocent fun right? Hello, we are talking Dwayne here...Why in the world is he trying to pimp his LIFE money?
We were so fortunate to get something so rare for South Carolina....SNOW!! 8 inches of it!! This was one for the record books and the talk of the town. We enjoyed every moment of it from beginning to end. The kids have never seen anything over a dusting to about and inch or two so this was a big thing for them. Although William is too young to understand what snow is, it did not stop him for getting in on the fun. I took so many photos and can't post them all so I chose some of my favorites.
Mr. Snowman is reppin' the University of South Carolina :)
Dwayne has introduced William to the keyboard since the boy loves to stop by the girls' piano and tap on the keys. William took to it right away and loves to play beautiful "music". You should see how his face lights up when you turn the power on. Of course Dwayne has to add a little hip-hop feel to it and play his pre-programmed drumbeats.
William loves it! I think we will put him in lessons once he is old enough to read and write. Look at that face. It is said that music and math go hand in hand so we shall see when the time comes.
Well we have officially joined the Community Center/gym and we are all excited about it. One part that I am most looking forward to is getting William to socialize. They offer free babysitting (up to 2 hours) for exercising parents (you must stay on the campus) and we are hoping he will learn to be nicer to people. He is used to being around mom all day so he is very shy towards strangers. Actually he gets a little bonkers when people approach him. We plan to introduce him to the big room and slowly get to the point that we leave him in there. We are hopeful this might inadvertently spark his speech. He shows he really wants to speak but can't quite get the words out. I sure hope this works!! Wish us luck! Now I have to run out and get some workout attire... can't wait to ditch the extra fluff :)
Today I received a random letter in the mail that was addressed from one of the elementary schools in our school district. I was not sure what it was about since neither of my girls have ever been to that school. It turned out to be an invitation to join a free playgroup once a week for William at a local church that happens to be located directly across from Briahnna's middle school. They offer story time, art & music, rhymes & finger play and free play. It is at the perfect time too, 10:30-11:30 which fits in before nap time. I am going to sign up and maybe it will help William be a bit more social. The great part is if it does not work out after a few times we had nothing to lose. I will let you all know how it works out. I look forward to meeting other parents with little ones Will's age in my area. I think it will be fun for the grown-ups as well. If you a toddler aged child did you attend any playgroups? What was your experience with it?
I think radio has gone down tremendously over time playing really inappropriate things you would never want your kids to listen to. Now the other morning I heard something that was actually the best thing I could have heard in a long time. The radio personality was saying how we were finally going to see sunshine after so many weeks of off and on rain and clouds. He then goes on to suggest that it was the perfect weather for the kids to get out and play. He later corrects himself and says that in fact kids should get off their butts, put the remote down, the gaming controller down and go outside and play something. Kickball, soccer, jump rope, basketball, run, jog...anything to get active! He said that kids these days don't do that any more. It is so true. I am pretty glad that my girls (even at 12 & 14) still LOVE being outside playing volleyball, basketball and whatever else they feel like. You have to beg them to come in some evenings. I think children of today are really missing out on the good stuff. Sometimes as parents we have to get out and play with our children.
The good thing is we never have to leave home and we put it by a tree where we can get some decent shade for most of the day. I am also glad we can take potty breaks and get a cold drink when we need it. William is loving his new toy and it's a great way for him to get some of that boy-energy out. It really wears him out with all of that physical play so he sleeps very well at night (score!)
Dwayne and I put the swing set together and it was not as bad as I thought it would be. Of course there was that 30 minutes that was wasted trying to get the ladder rungs assembled. No matter how many times we tried, we just could not get the screws and nuts to connect. I then find a little bag of 4 screws so I decided to open them up. Good move~ turns out that the paper enclosed stated that the directions were not revised with the fact that you needed to use those specific screws and NOT the ones we struggled with for so long. You know Dwayne was rolling his eyes at me and will be talking about me for a long time to come since I was in charge of the instructions.
In the end, our boy is happy and so are we! :)
