Playskool Friends My Little Pony Rainbow Dash Friendship Bus

My house is a pony house!  There are so many My Little Pony toys and my kids love them all.  E was so excited when we received the Playskool Friends My Little Pony Rainbow Dash Friendship Bus and Figure 2-Pack from our Crowdtap sampling.  These are the first My Little Pony toys specifically made with toddlers in mind.  They are easier for toddlers to grip and hold, the colors are vivid and whimsical and they encourage hours of imaginary play.

 More pony fun - always an adventure to be had.

Here E is taking her pony friends on an adventure around the house.

Here you can see how easy the ponies are to grip and how they sit in the Friendship Bus.

 Moon Dancer is being placed behind Rainbow Dash.

 The Friendship Bus holds three friends - Rainbow Dash, Moon Dancer and Minty.

 E loves the hearts on the wheels and the heart windows.

 The pink button in front opens the side door (on the other side), and the side mirror shown above can be pulled out or pushed back.

This picture also shows the side door that opens when you push down the pink button on the front of the bus.  There is also a spinner on this side for added fun.

If you have toddlers I would highly recommend Playskool Friends My Little Pony toys.  They are not expensive, durable and lots of fun.  The kids have had so much fun with this bus.  F is also a huge fan!

Big News

We have had a busy few weeks.  Our computer hard drive decided to die so it has taken us a little time to replace it.  My husband is awesome and I am happy to report that I can begin blogging again as our computer is up and running.  I have a few upcoming posts that I am excited about.

And we have some pretty big news!

I can't believe it but we are expecting!  Looks like F will be a big brother.  The kids are super excited.   I haven't been feeling well for awhile and I actually thought there might be something wrong with me so I was delighted to find out that I am pregnant and that is why I have been feeling the way I have.  Fun times ahead indeed.

F's 2nd Birthday - Robot Party

 

 Happy Birthday F!

Today is F's 2day!  Yep, my baby turns 2.  We had a super fun robot party for him yesterday and I couldn't believe how many people were able to make it!  We had loads of fun.

David and the older girls made this fun robot.  F appropriately named him Happy.

 David made a fun robot cake.

Another view

 F is excited

F was almost able to blow out the candles but not quite.  He actually got upset when David blew them out for him.  You kind of had to be there.

I was so excited to find these awesome robot printables for free!  Thank you, thank you Hostess With the Mostess - you rock.  I used them on my drink dispensers, to make the robot chocolates, food labels and various decorations.

We had lots of fun snacks: microchips (various assortment of chips), gears (Oreos), robot chocolates, juicebots, robot liquid fuel, and a fruitbot.

Our Fruitbot

Microchips

Gears

Robot Chocolates

Robot Liquid Fuel

Juicebots

Closer View

 F enjoying a birthday snack.

 E posing with Happy.

We were able to use Happy as a photo opportunity and get lots of pictures of the kids with him.  Sometimes it can be hard with two birthdays in December and two birthdays in January but I think we pulled this Robot party off with a bang.  One more party to go (this month!).

Just Show Up - Life Changing Advice

I have to share with you a powerful book that I just finished, Just Show Up by Kara Tippetts and Jill Lynn Buteyn.  Oh my goodness, it is such a touching and relevant read.  I do want to say that it is a hard read.  There is pain and sorrow yet it is coupled with beauty.  Just Show Up shares the journey and friendship of Kara Tippetts and Jill Buteyn.  Just six months into their newly formed friendship, Kara was diagnosed with cancer.  Jill had a choice to make - she could walk away or choose to walk with Kara through it all.  She chose the later.  Although, it was not an easy choice it was worth it in so many ways.  It was beautiful to read about this journey through the eyes of both women and to be reminded how powerful just being can really be.  I love the honesty and real life shared.  I pictured myself entering these women's homes and sitting beside them on their couch - it felt intimate.  I am sad to say that Kara lost her battle with cancer March 2015; yet through this book her story of resilience, strong faith and an amazing friendship lives on.  This is the true definition of community.

 I love this image.

I think about how many times I might have missed out on an opportunity or walked away when someone needed me because I over thought the situation or didn't see how I could make a difference.  This book inspires me to dig deeper into my own friendships and community - and to Just Show Up!
 
Disclosure: I am proud to be a Family Christian Blogger and Affiliate.  I was provided with my own copy of Just Show Up to facilitate my review.  All opinions expressed are my own.

Compound Word Learning with Fun Socks

I have a fun product to tell you about, compound word socks!  They are a fun, everyday item that can also be used as a learning tool.  Compound word socks by the Gama Family are designed to make learning fun and encouraging as children learn how to structure compound words.  Each sock represents 1/2 of a compound word and when joined together (on your child's feet) the two socks spell out the compound word.

 

I love that each individual sock has pictures to go along with it and then when you put them together they make a bigger picture of the compound word, very creative!

D's new StarFish socks

Out of the package - the design is fun and vivid

On D's feet!

D in her fun socks.

Apart - you can see that the star sock has stars and the fish sock has fish.

Together - when you put them together they also make a starfish in the middle!

These socks are fun, comfortable and there are several designs available.  D likes that you can pull them up to make them longer or push them down to make them shorter.

 Butterfly design

 Rocketship design

There is also a free, interactive app to further your child's learning.  Kids will enjoy playing the word games that were created to engage their growing minds.  D has enjoyed playing this app.  There are three sections: play, gallery and learn.  In the play section when you complete a level it will unlock the next door or level so that you can create more compound words.

 You drag and drop the individual word into the bubbles and then the compound word will be created.  Above you see the words sun and flower.

 Here you see that they created the compound word sunflower.

Once you create a word the icon appears at the top.  When you have created all the compound words possible the bubbles will be full and the next door will be unlocked.  There is one incorrect word in this first section.  D was stuck here for awhile because of this error.  The app thinks that glassesflower is a correct compound word; however, it is not.  Hopefully this can be corrected soon.  The same word is found in the gallery and learn sections.

 Here you can see that the app thinks glassesflower is a word.

 I do like the way the learn section is set up so that kids can view the individual words and the compound word it makes above.

You definitely do not have to use this app to enjoy these socks but it is a fun, free tool to have along with them.  And I think having the app helps justify the cost a bit more.   These socks are available on Amazon for $9.99 a pair and come in a number of fun combinations including ladybug, cupcake, firetruck, rocketship, starfish, butterfly, eggplant and sunglasses to name a few.  The size options are 3YR-5YR and 6YR-8YR.  D is 6 and the 6YR-8YR pair fit her well with some room to grow.

Disclosure: I received the product mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.