Couch Critics Pop Up and Win Sweepstakes

So, remember earlier this year when I shared with you all about the new Orville Redenbacher's Pop Up Bowls? Since then, they are seriously the only type of microwave popcorn we buy! We love them and even have some of our friends hooked on them too! ;)

 

So, I just thought I'd share something a little fun going own right now-- a facebook sweepstakes for Orville Redenbacher Pop-Up Bowls on the Couch Critics page! They're giving away a prize every week (up to a $500 gift card!) and you get an extra entry for EVERY friend that you invite who enters!! 

Here's the scoop:

Prize Details (cause that's the BEST part, of course):  

Retailer gift cards will be given once per week over the course of 6 weeks to one random winner. FOR EVERY FRIEND YOU INVITE THAT ENTERS, YOU'LL RECEIVE AN ADDITIONAL ENTRY! 

Instructions for Entrants:

Like the Couch Critics page and tell them at which Walmart you found your Orville Redenbacher's Pop Up Bowls for a chance to win shopping gift cards every week! Store numbers may be found at the bottom of your Walmart receipt or here http://www.walmart.com/cservice/ca_storefinder.gsp 

Remaining drawing dates are:

•   Monday, August 1st
•   Monday, August 8th
•   Monday, August 15th
•   Monday, August 22nd

Find the sweepstakes on the Couch Critics page, here: http://www.facebook.com/CouchCritics?sk=app_209421179072491

Full sweepstakes rules are here: http://apps.facebook.com/orvillepopupwin/contests/102849/rules

Do YOU like Pop-Up Bowls?

Disclosure: This post has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. All opinions and experiences are my own.

Ore-Ida Sweet Potato Fries with Maple-Cinnamon Dipping Sauce #OreIdaFries

 

This weekend, we headed to Sam's Club to stock up on some things we needed, as well as some items for our big California trip coming up! Like always, we found some interesting things we wanted to try, like these Lemondrop Melons! Have you ever heard of them before? Tried them?

We were so intrigued that we had to get one! And, we also decided that we had to try Ore-Ida Sweet Potato Fries by Heinz! They sounded good and I thought they would be something a little different that the boys would like. I often used sweet potatoes for homemade baby food for both the boys, but have rarely served them lately. So, I thought it would be something fun to get! You can check out my Intersect story for our whole Sam's shopping experience with more fun things we found! 
Since we were trying new things, I came up with a different type of dipping sauce to go with the sweet potato fries. And, since the kiddos love the marshmallow/maple syrup/cinnamon type seasoning on them at the holidays, I thought we'd go with a sort of sweet dip!


Maple-Cinnamon Dipping Sauce:

Ingredients:

- approx 1 C plain greek yogurt

- 1/4 C maple syrup (real maple syrup would have been better)

- 1 t cinnamon

Directions:  Mix yogurt and maple syrup. Add 1 tsp. cinnamon. Stir together until well-combined. Eat with your sweet potato fries! 

Super tasty! The kids LOVED it!

Do YOU like sweet potato fries? What's your favorite sauce?

Feel free to share in the comments or on the Heinz Ore-Ida Facebook page!

Disclosure: This project has been compensated as part of a  #OreIdaFries shopping mission for Heinz with #collectivebias. As always, all opinions and experiences are my own.

HGTV: Design Star Season 6

 

A week ago, I shared my excitement about the new season of HGTV's Design Star starting! Did you watch? In case you missed it (or don't have cable like me), you can watch the first episode & get all kinds of info right on the Design Star site. 

So, what did you think about the new designers and their rooms? Anything you liked or really disliked? Do you already have a favorite or least favorite?

I loved the first challenge! It was fun to see them design rooms of the penthouse (holy cow those views! Wow!) and interesting to immediately see who plays well with others and who is a little too bossy (ahem, Cathy & J). Like the judges, I really liked the way the great room and bonus room ended up looking. Nice!

So, based on what I've seen so far--their rooms, their personalities, their design portfolios online, I really like Leslie and Kellie. I'm interested to see more from Megan and Karl as well. What about YOU?

I can't wait to see more! Design Star episode 2 airs tonight at 9/8c on HGTV and I'm so excited to watch! The sneak peak at the white box challenge looked pretty entertaining!

 

Will YOU be watching?

Disclosure: This post is part of a sponsored campaign by Crafterminds and HGTV Design Star.  All opinions and experiences are my own.

Ice Cream Clowns with First Street Ice Cream #firststreeticecream

Did you know the third Sunday in July is National Ice Cream Day?! So, it's the perfect time to post about our little ice cream party during our summer fun playdate. The kids had so much fun with this! We got all of our supplies at Smart & Final, using their First Street line (super great prices!). Here was our spread, with one example clown out as an example:

  

I got the cone hats and ice cream ready the night before. While it may have been fun to let the kids create their own hats, it was MUCH easier to just do a couple a varieties in advance!

Here's how:

 

1. Melt 2-3 squares of vanilla bark/candy coating (or white chocolate) in the microwave. Stir every 30 seconds until fully melted. Do not overheat.

2. Dip and roll the open end of the cone in the melted coating. Have the coating go up about 1 inch on the cones.

3. Gently tap off any excess.

4. Dip the coated cones into sprinkles of your choice. Tap off excess.

5. Refrigerate to harden.

For the ice cream, we chose two flavors: 

 

In the especially hot temperatures here, I wanted to make sure that the ice cream scoops were really frozen, enabling the kids to have a little extra decorating time before their clown heads melted away. So, I got some little individual plastic containers and put individual rounded scoops in each one. Then, I put the containers on cookie sheets and placed in our freezer until we needed them. That way, each scoop was pretty solid for making our creations.

 

For making our clowns, I had a variety of options (marshmallows, cherries, frozen blueberries, chocolate chips, chopped nuts, sauces, whipped cream, sprinkles, and colored coconut). I used the colored shredded coconut for the hair. It was perfect for a fun pop of color and SO easy to do. Just put some shredded coconut in a baggie with some food coloring and mix it up! Easy peasy! 

Since I had all of that ready in advance, doing a little ice cream party during the playdate was a breeze! So, after lunch, everyone came inside to make their clown creations (with a lot of help from the moms, of course).

It was so cute to see what they chose, and that they didn't just try to copy my example exactly. Here's what Big Brother made:

One of them even came up with using the marshmallows as ears, so then the rest followed suit. Super cute!

It was hard to get pictures though, because they were SO eager to eat their clowns!

It's definitely clear that they enjoyed themselves immensely and even Little Brother was thrilled with a special treat! :) Mmm.....

We loved our ice cream party and all of the First Street products! When price and taste/quality are both great, it's a win-win! Since we had so much fun with our clowns, and some really great leftovers, we had some more ice cream fun!

Now, how would YOU like to have a First Street Ice Cream Party of your own?

If you visit www.firststreeticecream.com by July 26th, you can enter for a chance to win one of fifteen $100 SmartCash cards (5 winners per week).

And, that's not all! In addition to the above, 3 Grand Prize winners will receive their choice of "The Ultimate First Street Ice Cream Party!" for up to 50 people or a Gift Card in the amount of $1,000!!!! Wow!  

So, make sure and enter to win at http://www.firststreeticecream.com!!!!

Disclosure: This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for #CollectiveBias #firststreeticecream. All opinions and experiences are my own.

HGTV: Design Star

Ok, true confession time...I love a good "reality" show (and a good competitive one at that) but, we don't have cable. <gasp, I know!>

That means, I don't get to see as many of the cool shows out there as I'd like. HGTV's Design Star is one of them! (Thank goodness for episodes on HGTV.com & my parents who let me watch cable when we go to their house! ;) )

Do YOU watch Design Star? 

I love design shows!! I think that all started back in my college days when "Trading Spaces" first aired--and some of my favorites from that show, Genevieve Gorder and Vern Yip, are now two of the judges of HGTV's Design Star! The show is great--full of creativity, a good challenge, and lots of competition! I love it! And, the new season starts tonight at 9/8c on HGTV!

Will YOU be watching? 

Disclosure: This post is part of a sponsored campaign by Crafterminds and HGTV Design Star.  All opinions and experiences are my own.

Summer Fun Playdate #playdateplace

As a Kmart Playdate Place Showcase Blogger, I've been sharing some info about the Playdate Place site for the last couple weeks. Then yesterday, we finally got to have our summer fun playdate! It was a blast and Big Brother was thrilled to have some of his best little friends over! 

With it being an outdoor/summer-fun theme, we opted for a morning playdate with a start time of 9:00am. This was good for the heat and for sun exposure. And, yes, even in super hot Phoenix, we were all able to stay outside rather comfortably (thankfully, our backyard has lots of morning shade, but we have a large covered patio with misters!)

When each little guest arrived, they got some bubbles, bubble wands (part of the Bubble Bonanza pack), and some cute animal squirters we found at Kmart (froggies for the girls and sharks for the boys!). 

With new toys in hand, the kiddos all headed over to the new kiddie pool & sprinklers! The water toys were definitely a big hit! In addition to the animal squirters, they especially enjoyed the Nerf Super Soaker Scatterblasts, Max Liquidator Monster Blasters, and  Max Liquidator Eliminators.

We even made a water-play craft: Sponge splash balls! (Full tutorial here!) Here are (almost) all the kiddos showing off their creations (and sitting on our awesome new couch from our Kmart backyard mini-makeover)!

There was plenty of other outdoor fun to be had though too--baseball, soccer, bikes, sand, and slides! Even the babies got involved! :)

 

Here's a highlight of some of our favorite new playdate toys from Kmart:

Little Tikes Get Out 'N' Grill Backyard BBQ

Nerf Super Soaker Scatterblast

Fisher-Price GrowtoPro Triple Hit Baseball and the Fisher-Price GrowtoPro Super Sounds Soccer
We got something especially for Little Brother too! The Little Tikes 3-in-1 Trike! This may just be my favorite of all the things we got! We've tried out a lot of trikes and this is by far the best I've seen for the littlest guys (and super nice for parents too with the push handle)! You can see that Little Brother approves! :)

 

After all that playing, an early lunch was definitely in order. We had some fun dinosaur chicken nuggets, chips, veggies & dip, and some watermelon served up on cute animal plates! It was so nice to have some easy foods, so that we could just stay outside & eat.

With it being one of our little guest's actual birthday, after lunch and a little more playtime, we ended our playdate with a fun little ice cream creation party! The kids really enjoyed making their special party clown treats!.

What a great day!

And, remember, you can get a lot of ideas from the Kmart Playdate Place website for planning your own summer playdate. You can also register for their newsletter to get specials and win cool prizes; like right now, there is a sweepstakes for a chance to win $250 towards your playdate party!

What kind of playdate would YOU have?

 

Disclosure: This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias #playdateplace. All opinions and experiences are my own.

Playdate Planning with Kmart's Playdate Place

With the help of Kmart's Playdate Place, we've been getting ready for a playdate at our house (in case you missed the post, you can check out the introduction to the Playdate Place here)! We decided on an outdoor, "summer-fun" theme for our playdate and Big Brother couldn't be more excited!
After choosing a theme, the first order of business was doing some on-line shopping. Playdate Place has some good suggestions for toys and we found some geared perfectly for our age group (1-5) that fit our outdoor theme. Being summertime and crazy hot here (like 119 yesterday!!!), waterplay is a definite must when doing anything outside. So, some water-related activities were on the list.

Shopping was super easy with Kmart.com! I was able to search for various items and even found some great on-line sales. Here are some of the fun things we found:

1. Little Tikes Get Out 'N' Grill Backyard BBQ

2. Bubble Bonanza

3. Nerf Super Soaker Scatterblast

4. Max Liquidator Monster Blaster-Crocodile 

5. Fisher-Price Grow to Pro Triple Hit Baseball  

The convenience of shopping online is great and all the items I selected had a store pickup option.  Within just a few hours of placing my order, everything was ready to go! Super easy! Big Brother wanted to pick out so special items for his friends and I wanted to check out the water-play items in store as well. So, we loaded up and headed to Kmart to pickup our order and check things out. 

Once in the store, Big Brother had no problem finding a plethora of items he wanted to get!!

There were numerous aisles all geared toward outdoor summer play! Just what we were looking for!! 

After much negotiation, we finally made some decisions! Then, we picked up our online order. I was super impressed that they had all of our smaller items grouped together and boxed up for us! So nice!!

The van was packed full with our purchases and it was like Christmas in July once everything was brought into the house! 

The toys have already seen some action and Big Brother keeps asking when his friends get to come over to play with everything! We can’t wait! (*Side note: Yes, I originally said the playdate was going to be this past week, but we had to cancel due to a broken A/C fiasco. So, we had to reschedule for after our trip! And, although you can make out quite a bit from the photos, I'm going to save a few surprises on the details of what we bought for the actual playdate post recap, so stay tuned!)

With the toys and activities decided on, figuring out what food to serve is another part of the planning. Needless to say, we’re looking for kid and outdoor-friendly. Think chicken nuggets, fresh fruit, chips—maybe even some popsicles or ice cream! We also have a really fun and easy water play craft planned that I can't wait to share! So, stay tuned!

What are YOUR favorite food/activities for an outdoor summer playdate?

Disclosure: This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias #playdateplace. All opinions and experiences are my own.

Great Playtime Ideas with Kmart Playdate Place

Do you love having playdates? We do! And, the folks at Kmart must too because they have a great site dedicated to all-things "playdate", appropriately called: Playdate Place!

 

I was recently introduced to the site and love all the great stuff it contains! Of course, there's a shopping section with all kinds of fun toys suggested. But, it's so much more than just a shopping site! There are special playdate perks, along with a birthday club for the kids!

 

And, what I think is especially great about the Kmart Playdate Place is the blog, with a nice variety of articles featured! You'll find food and craft ideas, as well as planning tips for lots of different playdate activities. I especially enjoyed the articles, "Make Your Home a Playdate Paradise" and "5 tips for a Super-Safe Playdate". They both contain great (and important) tips for making playdates both fun and safe for all involved! 

I'm really excited that we're having a fun playdate next week, using many of the great ideas featured on Kmart's Playdate Place! We're planning an outdoor themed get-together (which will definitely involve water play given the triple digit heat here), some fun food, an easy water play craft, and of course, some fun new toys from Kmart!

So please stay tuned for all kinds of playdate details coming up the next two weeks! In the meantime, you can sign-up for the Kmart Playdate Place newsletter and you'll get playtime ideas, tips, and special deals sent your way!

What kind of playdates do YOU like best?

Disclosure: This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias #playdateplace. All opinions and experiences are my own. 

Cars 2 Review & Giveaway!!

Do YOU have a Disney-Pixar Cars fan in your house? We do! "Car-cars", as he's called it since his early talking days, was Big Brother's first feature length movie (on DVD at just shy of 2 years old!). Prior to having kids (and then, a boy no less), Mr. Mom Endeavors and I didn't really care for the movie much. But, when seeing the excitement on our little guy's face while watching it for the first time, we had a new-found appreciation. He loved it and we loved watching it with him! Since then, we've watched it at least 2.5 million times and all still enjoy it! 

So, the excitement has been building the last few months as all the Cars 2 stuff has been rolling out into stores. Earlier this month, we even braved a hot Phoenix afternoon to have the chance to meet some of our favorite characters during the "Agents on a Mission" Tour! 

Needless to say then, we were beyond thrilled to be invited to an advance screening of the film. We turned it in to an extra special surprise--a special outing with Mommy and Daddy just for Big Brother. Then, a new shirt and two new "Car-cars" really topped it off! Pure joy!

 

With those in hand, we headed into theater, donned our 3D glasses, and waited with anticipation for our favorite characters to race on to the screen!

About the movie:

Star racecar Lightning McQueen (voice of Owen Wilson) and the incomparable tow truck Mater (voice of Larry the Cable Guy) take their friendship to exciting new places in “Cars 2” when they head overseas to compete in the first-ever World Grand Prix to determine the world’s fastest car.  But the road to the championship is filled with plenty of potholes, detours and hilarious surprises when Mater gets caught up in an intriguing adventure of his own: international espionage.  Mater finds himself torn between assisting Lightning McQueen in the high-profile race and towing the line in a top-secret mission orchestrated by master British super spy Finn McMissile (voice of Michael Caine) and the stunning rookie field spy Holley Shiftwell (voice of Emily Mortimer).  Mater’s action-packed journey leads him on an explosive chase through the streets of Japan and Europe, trailed by his friends and watched by the whole world.  The fast-paced fun includes a colorful new all-car cast, complete with menacing villains and international racing competitors. 

Our thoughts:

Say goodbye to Radiator Springs and hello to James Bond, Cars-style! For better or worse, Cars 2 seems almost the antithesis of the original. The innocent charm and serenity of the sleepy little town is replaced with action, adventure, spy gadgets, weapons, shootings, and explosions! If you haven't seen it yet, this trailer gives a good capture of the overall feel:

What could have been improved:

 - Less violence and James Bond-style adult innuendo

 - More racing scenes 

 - More with the original characters in Radiator Springs

 - A little more Lightning and a little less Mater

What we liked:

 - In true Disney-Pixar fashion, the animation was FANTASTIC!!

 - Great scenery and awesome depictions of cities around the world  

 - Some fun new characters (We got a chuckle at 'Brent Mustangburger' and I loved the Royal Family, like 'Prince Wheeliam')

 - Good message about friendship and being who you are (though, it might be lost amid all the explosions)

Overall:

The movie is action-packed with a good spy plot-line, interesting enough to even keep adults intrigued. While I did miss the quiet charm of the first movie, I did love the international travel! Seeing some of my favorite European sites animated so well was definitely fun! And, Big Brother of course, loved it! He did a great job during the movie, followed the plot line better than I expected, and can't stop talking about Finn! That said though, I personally think the violence is too much for his age group. Not having any kids older than 4, I'm not certain, but I'd say Cars 2 is probably best-suited for an above 7 or 8 crowd. 

No doubt though, as Cars 2 races into theaters this Friday, June 24th, car fanatics will be thrilled to see Lightning & Mater on the big screen! 

GIVEAWAY (now closed)!  

Winner: 

 

Congrats to lucky comment #18! Gretchen hope you're little guy LOVES this awesome Cars prize pack! 

Do YOU have a little Cars fan that would love some new gear? To celebrate the release of Cars 2, Disney is giving one lucky Mom Endeavors reader a prize pack perfect for your favorite little racer!! 

1. Simply leave a comment telling me if you plan on seeing the movie (or, if you've seen it already, share what you thought of it)!

Get extra entries (leave a separate comment for each):

2. Subscribe to Mom Endeavors on Google Friend Connect (see widget on the left side bar)

3. Follow Mom Endeavors on facebook and/or twitter (and share about the giveaway if you're so inclined)

4. Like Cars on facebook

if you're already following, thank you, just make sure you leave a comment & let me know!!

(up to 4 entries per person)
Limited to US & Canadian residents only. Giveaway will end on June 28th at 10pm PST. Winner with a valid entry will be selected at random using random.org. I will email the winner and post the winner on the blog. They will have 48 hours to claim their prize (make sure you leave your email address or that it is attached to your profile).

Disclosure: I saw this movie at a free press screening at the invitation of Disney.  Thank you, Disney! No compensation was received.  All opinions and experiences are my own and your opinion of the movie may differ from mine.

A Ridemakerz Father's Day!

Did you do anything special for Father's Day over the weekend? I strayed away from our more normal/homemade presents and surprised Daddy & Big Brother with a fun experience! Thanks to Amy at Dealusional, I found out about a sweet Buy One, Get One Free Ridemakerz deal for Father's Day (and happily shared all about it on facebook)! As soon as I saw her post, I knew that's what we'd do for Father's Day! And, it was a HUGE hit!

Have you heard of Ridemakerz or seen one of the stores?! We hadn't until recently and Big Brother was immediately enamored. It's basically like the "Build-a-Bear" experience, only it's all things cars!! We're very lucky to have one here in the Phoenix area, as there are only 5 around the country (2 of which are at the Downtown Disney areas in Anaheim and Orlando)! You can find all the locations here. Additionally though, we do know that there are mini-Ridemakerz stations at the new interactive Disney Stores! 

As part of the experience, you start off by picking the car body and there are LOTS of choices!! It's a tough decision...do you get a "real car", or Lightning McQueen, or Mater, or a firetruck?!

After much deliberation, Big Brother ended up with a flashy green Dodge Viper and Daddy picked  himself out a sleek black corvette!

 

After you've selected your car of choice, you can select upgraded sound chips (all cars comes with a standard chip), pick out your tires, and even fancy rims if you like! There are even all kinds of cool accessories & decals you can add on! In fact, there are apparently at least 649 million possible combinations! 

 

Once you've made your basic choices, now comes the really fun part--getting to put together your own car!! This is SO cool! They have little stations and use functional little drills reminiscent of the pneumatic wrenches that real pit crews use! Super cool!

 

You can choose to make the car remote control (which we opted for) or leave it a standard push car. Either way though, the lights and sounds are so fun! Big Brother's Viper even has red hood lights! :)

After everything is assembled (and you've added on any additional accessories that you want), then you're done! You even get a fun carrying cases to bring them home in, plus a little screw driver that looks like a key to open the battery areas when needed!

Look at the excitement on Big Brother's face!! He absolutely loved it and couldn't wait to try out his new ride! There was a nice open space right in front of the store and there weren't too many people around, so we had to try everything out! Our friends from Our Crazy Boys even joined us for a few minutes! 

 

This was a less than traditional Father's Day present around here, but one that was SUPER fun and I think will be remembered (and enjoyed) for a long time!! The "boys" have loved playing with the cars since we've gotten them! If you have boys (big or little) who love cars, I highly recommend you check out Ridemakerz if you get the chance! 

Did YOU do anything unique or extra-fun for Father's Day?

Disclosure: I am not affiliated with Ridemakerz and was not compenstated or given free product to write this post. We simply had a great experience and wanted to share!