Category Archives: Holiday

Father’s Day Gift Idea – ‘reasons I love dad’ collar stays from RedEnvelope.com

RedEnvelope Father's Day GiftsI struggle with finding the perfect gift for my husband ever since he made gave me beautifully framed photographs of our kids with a little paragraph he wrote about how great our life is in the middle of the photos, for Mother’s Day. How do you top that?  Well, I try.. every year.  This year I think I’ll feel like I’m at his level of gift giving because I’m giving him these ‘reasons I love dad collar stays‘ from RedEnvelop.com.  These are pretty cool and he will use them, 5 days a week!

The 12 stainless steel collar stays come in two sizes (2 ½” and 2 ¾”) and are tucked beautifully inside a compact travel case made of espresso bonded leather and espresso faux-suede interior.  I had the case debossed with his initials which I know he’ll love. He likes personalized things.  I think it’s because you lose your identity when you have kids so any reminder of who you are, is great!

Messages on the collar stays include “I love you because”…

  • you “helped” me with my homework
  • you checked under the bed for monsters
  • you can “fix” almost anything
  • you gave me piggy back rides
  • you are my biggest fan
  • and more..

Some other bestselling gifts on RedEnvelope.com are the locket cuff linksHere’s To Dad gift basket, and personalizable pocket watch.

For more unique gift ideas for dad and if you are looking for Father’s Day gifts on a budget visit RedEnvelope.com.

About RedEnvelope

Disclosure:  I received the ‘reasons I love dad collar stays‘ from RedEnvelope for review purposes.  All opinions are 100% and were not influenced by compensation.

Alicia Hagan, Editor


New! Mother’s Day Coupon Code: 25% off at Craig Taylor High-End Women’s Shirts

Craig Taylor coupon code offerWho/What: Craig Taylor designs an exclusive line of high-end women’s button-ups, shirt dresses, tunics and knits available in regular and plus sizes. Available in Neiman Marcus and other fine retailers.

Offer: Get a 25% discount on all full priced shirts at craigtaylorshirts.com for the entire month of May.
Exclusive to “The Mommy Insider” readers. Free 60 day shipping and returns.

Use code: MOMMYINSIDER

Offer expires: May 31st, 2011

Notes: Valid on Full Priced “Craig Taylor Shirts” only.

Craig Taylor website

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The Mother of all Giveaways – We’re giving away a Mother’s Day prize package valued at over $300

A winner was chosen – Congratulations Linda!

I know what you’re thinking.. you don’t want to ask your husband for a Mother’s Day gift because it’s just a strange thing to do.  Right?  Or not?  There’s been a lot of hype about mothers asking their husband’s for a gift for Mother’s Day and I understand.. sort of.  My husband and I give each other a card but occasionally he’ll surprise me with a gift on Mother’s Day as I will do for him on Father’s Day.  I think that Mother’s Day gifts are best given by children to their own mother’s, not necessarily between husband and wife.  Anyway.. enough of what I think.

You still deserve something nice for Mother’s Day and…

We are giving one lucky reader the Mother of all Giveaways including these amazing gifts:

Lexli Skincare Starter KitLexli Skincare Starter Kit – $84

Lexli’s 30-Day Starter Kit is an easy, inexpensive way to try our skincare line and make sure it’s right for you. Each kit provides a month’s supply of products featured as a part ofLexli’s Simple 4-Step System. Included in the travel-friendly kit is: Aloe-Based Cleansing Lotion (2 oz.), Aloe-Based AloeGlyC® Renewing Exfoliant (0.50 oz.), Aloe-Based Day Moisturizer with SPF 15 for Normal to Dry Skin (0.50 oz.), Aloe-Based Tone and Balance (2 oz), Aloe-Based Night Moisturizer (0.5 oz). www.lexli.com.

Le Baby Hair Gel – $9.95

lebaby

Spotted recently in the West Village were Sarah Jessica Parkerand Matthew Broderick with their daughters, Marion and Tabitha.  However, instead of SJP turning heads as usual with her unparalleled style, were her daughters, rocking their edgy new hair do’s!   Setting the trend at a young age, the adorable one year olds, are strolling around and working the “spiked hair look.”  (Image to the right is from the New York Post)Help your tyke be a trendsetter on the playground or at daycare by using Le Baby Hair Gel, a product designed for kids that is free of sulfates, fragrances and harsh chemicals.   The lightweight formula makes it easy to spike hair, tackle unwanted fly-aways and tame after-nap hair.  For more information, visit www.lebabyinc.com.

 

Envyderm Lash RegrowthEnvyderm Lash Regrowth Serum – $99.95

We all know the wonders of mascara well; in fact, most of us feel naked without it. But breakage, thinning and damaging of the lashes are mascara’s little known drawbacks.  Fortunately, EnvyDerm, a groundbreaking new nonprescription formula eyelash growth serum is here for our eyebatting rescue.
“Through meticulous research and development, scientific advances, professional expertise and the understanding of a customer’s well-being, EnvyDerm is changing the world of beauty,” says Nadia Smith, President and Founder of EnvyDerm. “At EnvyDerm, we provide consumers with the best eyelash care products to enhance their natural beauty.”  One should begin to see the lash line becoming thicker, fuller and healthier looking in as little as 2 weeks!  In a clinical study, users saw a 25 percent increase in eyelash length during this period.  www.envyderm.com

Beanstalk SnackTimeBeanstalk Express Snack Time Survival Kit – $49.95

Welcome to Beanstalk Express, the home of the world’s first snacktivity game, The SnackTime survival kit. At Beanstalk Express, we’re parents too!  And like you, we also envisioned raising fruit-and-veggie loving eaters, avoiding processed foods and “just saying no!” to drive through windows!  But then something happened along the way … We had kids! After enduring the preschool battles with picky eaters and around-the-clock requests for sweets and goodies, we realized what was missing when it comes to inspiring our kids with healthy habits that will last …Food marketers have been making junk food fun for decades. So what if we made healthy choices just as much fun?  We decided to try it … and it worked! When you empower children with the ability to make their own choices, amazing things happen!  At Beanstalk Express, we make healthy fun!  And in the process, they become habit! www.beanstalkexpress.com

The Bar MethodThe Bar Method DVD & Onesie – $20

Master teacher Lee Potter in her third trimester with twins adds her own special wit and playfulness to the Bar Method’s pre-natal workout, a long-standing and popular class at its flagship studio in San Francisco. Lee leads you through this 45-minute long series of gentle, safe and challenging moves, including free-weight work, thigh exercises, standing seat-work, and abdominal strengthening exercises performed while propped up on pillows. Lee’s fellow performers are Hannah Blue, co-owner of the Downtown San Francisco studio and Lauren Dunning, a teacher at the Downtown San Francisco studio, both appearing in this DVD in their second trimester. As Lee puts it, this DVD “will help you feel strong during your pregnancy..www.barmethod.com

 

The Book “My Beautiful Mommy” – $19.95

My Beautiful Mommy

Young children are naturally curious – they’re full of questions and excited to learn about the world they live in.  However, as times change, children’s curiosities have addressed more complex and sensitive issues, often at younger ages.  In today’s American culture, more than ever, answers can increasingly be found in children’s books.  Everything from divorce and global warming to potty habits and how to deal with a death in the family, children’s books have tackled it all.  Dr. Michael Salzhauer, a Miami board-certified plastic surgeon and father of four, has taken the reins on a very hot topic and wrote “My Beautiful Mommy,” the first ever children’s book that addresses plastic surgery. www.mybeautifulmommy.com

Dermacyte Eye Complex – Price: $95

Dermacyte Eye Complex

Dermacyte Oxygenating Eye Complex is a smooth, delicate treatment to refresh, hydrate and restore the appearance of youth to your eye contour area. It is designed to enhance the skin’s hydration, elasticity and smoothness while protecting it against environmental stress. Dermacyte Oxygenating Eye Complex is a gentle marriage of modern technology and nourishing emollients extracted from avocado essence, oat kernel, sunflower oil, the calming High Ash, a tree indigenous to European forests rich in antioxidants, Vitamin C and seeds from the Pacific Northwest Meadowfoam plant among other nurturing ingredients. It provides a lightweight solution with its patented technology, a powerful oxygen-carrier developed to infuse oxygen for a fresher appearance and overall improved complexion.  It immediately imparts a cool, moisturizing effect while also reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. These effects along with skin brightening and anti-irritating benefits deliver a lighter and healthier feel to your skin. www.dermacyteUS.com


How to enter the giveaway:

To enter, leave a comment below telling me why you want to win.  Would the prize be for you, your mother, a friend?  Which prize is most exciting to you and why?

This giveaway is open to U.S. residents ages 18+ only.  No P.O. boxes. Entries accepted until 11:59 May 8th, 2011.

Extra entries:

Alicia Hagan, Mom Blog editor

 

Talk about Embarrassing! Don’t try to leave your child at preschool when it’s closed.

It doesn’t work.

Mornings have been stressful around around here lately between my 4 year old fighting every outfit I put together for her, she is really picky about socks so we go through about three pairs each morning trying to find the perfect pair, she’s been having to poop right before we walk out the door to go to school, and I haven’t been feeling so hot for a little over a week.

This morning was no different.  My daughter cried about her outfit, she had to poop right before we were going to leave then to add salt to the wound, my husband told me that we needed to drop money off at my son’s school for his school photograph – ASAP.  What? What?

So I was running around like a mad woman, trying to get my 4 year old ready for school, fix her breakfast, fix her lunch for school, fix her hair, then I find out about the school pictures.  I had to hunt down a check and make a decision on which photographs we wanted to keep..which I absolutely suck at – decision making.

Finally, I get through all of that.  My daughter is dressed.  Her lunch is packed.  She’s going to eat breakfast in the car.  Then she has to go to the bathroom again.

That’s when I remembered that my husband and I agreed that maybe she shouldn’t go to school because she ran a mild fever last night, has been coughing, and having this ‘poop issue’.  But all that was going through my head was that if she stays home..

  • She’s going to sit in front of the TV all day while I work, which I HATE
  • She’s going to want my attention (all day) and I have a ton of work to do
  • She’d be happier at school

So, we get in the car, I tell her that she doesn’t have to go to school, we go to my son’s school to drop off the photographs and check, then I say “don’t you think you’d have more fun at school than at home today?”.  She looks at me with her sweet little eyes and says “Yes, Mommy.. I think you’re right”. Huh, did I hear that right? She agreed to go to school?

Hooray! She’s going to school!

I can get some work done?  I hit the gas pedal like nobody’s business (her school is across the street from my son’s school so I probably got up to 25 MPH), parked the car, got her out, and my daughter said “look mommy, it’s the mayor!”.  I looked up and saw a man dressed in a suit, carrying a bible.  My daughter goes to a pre-k inside a church so I didn’t think anything of it.  But I also noticed that there weren’t ANY other cars around. Strange for being just a few minutes late to school.  There are usually a few stragglers in the parking lot at 9:15.  The “Mayor” asked me if my daughter goes to the preschool there and I said Yes.  He said “Oh, I’m so sorry, there’s no school today.  No one told you?”  Are you freakin’ kidding me.. is what I do not say out loud.

My daughter looked at me very sadly and we walked back to the car.  At that moment I realized that I was going to have to come up with things for her to do while I worked.

That’s about when she stepped on the Wilton Chocolate and Easter Candy Molds on the floor in the car.  Ding! Ding! Ding! We have something to do! Thank goodness the molds didn’t break!

Making Easter chocolates with my daughter

She did really great for about an hour (watching TV) then broke down and asked me to play with her for about 20 minutes straight until I broke down and said OK.   I reached a comfortable stopping point with work and got the Wilton’s chocolate candy and molds out and we got to work. She LOVED making chocolate candies and it’s such a quick, easy, and mess-free project that I think we’ll make chocolates for every holiday now.  I just hope someone eats them!

What Easter traditions do you have?  Do you have a favorite chocolate candy recipe? Do you put Oreos or other goodies, in your chocolate candies?

Have you ever taken your child to preschool only to find that it was closed?  What did you do?

 

Alicia Hagan, Mom Blog editor

Get Your Free Downloadable Decorated Egg Holder Template Just In Time For Springtime And Easter Celebrations

Dinosaur Train Easter Egg printableIf you are still looking for printable egg holders for those Easter Eggs you are about to decorate with your kiddos, here is a cute one from PBS’s Dinosaur Train (pdf file).

Get more free Dinosaur Train printables here.

About Dinosaur Train

In “Dinosaur Train,” young viewers join Buddy the T. rex and his adoptive family of Pteranodons on whimsical adventures through prehistoric jungles, swamps, volcanoes and oceans as they unearth basic concepts in natural science, natural history and paleontology. The Dinosaur Train is a colorful locomotive, customized to accommodate all kinds of dinosaurs, and it has the ability to visit the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous worlds, while the train’s Conductor, a knowledgeable Troodon, provides passengers with fascinating facts along the way. DINOSAUR TRAIN is a Parents’ Choice Recommended TV series, and its accompanying website received a Parents’ Choice Silver Award and a prestigious 2010 Prix Jeunesse Award. PBSKIDS.org/dinosaurtrain welcomes more than 2.4 million visits each month, offering engaging content designed to continue dinosaur exploration beyond the television series, including printables, games, and a dinosaur field guide. Parents, caregivers and educators can find resources and activities to extend the series learning at PBS Parents (PBSPARENTS.org) and PBS Teachers (PBSTEACHERS.org).

Alicia Hagan, Mom Blog editor