Celebrate Easter with a Kinder Surprise Scavenger Hunt | #kindermom

A new home, a new city, a new tradition.

Until recently we lived 15 minutes from all of our immediate family so any day that even resembled a holiday included running around to at least one of our family's homes. And truly, family is one of life's pleasures.

But this Easter, on what I expect will be the first of many holidays in our new home, we have an opportunity to start a new tradition for our little family of four.

As a #Kindermom I'm so excited that this year, we will be having a Kinder Surprise Easter. 

My boys love a good treasure hunt and in the past we have simply made a trail from their bedroom door to the living room and allowed the egg hunt to go wild, but this year I have another idea.

In addition to scattered eggs, I'm going to create an Easter Scavenger hunt. My boys are old enough to appreciate such an event, but not so old as to be offended by my poor quality drawings (and I promise you they are poor).

Each boy will get his own 'treasure map' created by drawing 9 sketches of locations around our home (eg. a picture of a chair or the tv) on a piece of computer paper, rolled up and placed inside a toilet paper tube. My boys LOVE to have their treasure maps rolled up, but lack the skills to keep them that way, so a piece of toilet paper roll is the perfect solution.

And their treasures? KINDER SURPRISE! We received this amazing Kinder Surprise Egg Hunt kit complete with a hollow bunny and mini eggs and although I'm cutting it close, you certainly still have time to grab one for your house too.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, my favourite things about Kinder Surprise are:

• They are Peanut-Free.
• They are Gluten-Free.
• Clear allergen labeling.
• They are more about the little toy than the chocolate.

As if I need more reasons to love Kinder Surprise, I am super happy to partner with a company that partners with the Children's Miracle Network to 'Share the Joy'. Kinder will be providing 12 baskets to CMN hospitals this Easter and donating $25,000 to help support this non-profit organization dedicated to saving and improving the lives of children by raising funds for children's hospitals across North America.

How are you celebrating Easter this year? 

Will Kinder Surprise be in your Children's basket?

"Disclosure: I’m part of the Kinder® Mom program and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group.  All opinions on this blog are my own”

3 Simple Ways to Keep Eczema in Check | #EczemaAndMe

The word ECZEMA is practically a cuss word to anyone who is directly affected by the dry, scaly and itchy skin that defines it. If you or your children are affected by eczema you have probably tried a multitude of products and skin care regimes in an attempt to rid it from your lives.

And, just as I know, you probably know, that's never going to happen: eczema's persistent.

Eczema is my reality, just as it is Bolt's. We live with eczema and we make choices every day that may help or hinder our skin condition. As Bolt ages I will give him more freedom to make those choices, because his eczema won't kill him; when he's a teenager who wants to go out without gloves, that will be his perogative, he will be the one who suffers.

But until he can truly grasp the consequences, I rule the roost when it comes to eczema management and here are a few of the hard and fast rules at our house.

1. MOISTURIZE, MOISTURIZE, MOISTURIZE - When you have eczema, there is no such thing as too much moisturizing. If at all possible, cream should be applied to damp skin after bathing to seal in as much moisture as possible. Using a heavy, unscented cream works best before bed and the new Polysporin Eczema Essentials Daily Moisturizing Cream is a great choice. It's accepted by the Eczema Society of Canada, which is high praise, feels thick and rich but absorbs quickly without any greasy residue.
   


2. MINIMIZE THE SOAP - Although its essential that we wash ourselves and our children, there is no need to lather our children up every day with heavily scented or processed products. When I use soap on my children, I tend to use a very gentle, homemade soap but a great alternative is to use a very mild body wash as a bubble bath. The very diluted body wash cleans my children while they play and there's no soapy irritation. My kids love all the fragrance free bubbles that the new Polysporin Eczema Essentials Daily Body Wash creates  in their bath and I love that they are squeaky clean and not the slightest bit itchy.


3. USE CORTISONE as needed - Many parents are fearful of using cortisone on their children, but I know with certainty, that almost none of those parents have eczema. Although, cortisone is a steroid, and should be used with caution, in an intense eczema flare up, nothing will calm the irritation like cortisone and I know this first hand. Although we have prescription strength cortisone in our house, there are times when a budding flare up really doesn't call for such an intense amount of medication. In those moments, the new Polysporin Eczema Essentials Hydrocortisone Anti-Itch Cream does the job. It's also great for managing random itchiness, like the spider bite I got in my eyebrow last week.

I was super excited to try out the brand new Polysporin Eczema Essentials line and I'm happy to report that the products stood up to the standard I expect from Polysporin. Have you tried them in your home?

What are your tips for keeping Eczema in check?

“Disclosure: I am part of the the POLYSPORIN® Eczema Essentials Blogger Campaign with Mom Central Canada and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.”

We had a Crack'n Win Chinese New Year with Kinder Surprise | #kindermom

As a #Kindermom I love seeing the delight on my boys faces when I pull out a Kinder Egg as a special treat or reward and watching my boys share them with others just fills me with pride. I know sharing is supposed to be an inherent trait, but in reality, sometimes its just hard to share all the goodness that is a Kinder Egg.

By a strange twist of circumstances, my boys and I found ourselves in Vancouver for Chinese New Year this past week. Although we were exhausted from the four hour drive from Kamloops, both boys were getting over the flu and Simba proceeded to be carsick all over me as soon as we arrived, we had a great time.

We ate good food and exchanged lucky money and THIS time when everyone pulled out treats (most of which are not safe for Bolt to eat), I pulled out two boxes of #peanutfree Kinder Surprise Eggs and sent my boys to do the rounds. It's amazing how easily Kinder Surprise can cross age gaps; the little ones love them, the teenage girls loved them and the adults, well we happily devoured ours too.

And as we all enjoyed our full tummies and sugar buzzes, we immediately had entertainment for the rapidly fading children. They loved their little animals, cars, puzzles, spirographs and bracelets and suddenly spending another half an hour together seemed totally feasible.

And the three teenage girls in attendance were the ones most excited about the Kinder Crack'nWin Campaign. All the specially marked Crack'n Win Kinder surprises have a PIN that can be entered onto the Kinder Website for a chance to win some great prizes.  There's a Fiat 500 POP!, two family trips to Orlando, over 27,000 family movie nights and 201,000 free Kinder Treats all up to grabs.

Maybe its your turn to be lucky.
Have you entered a PIN to see if you're a winner yet?

“Disclosure: I’m part of the Kinder® Mom program and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group.  The opinions on this blog are my own”

My Fisher-Price Favourites | 20% off Coupon Code

Babies need stuff, way more stuff than I ever anticipated and when you're a new Mom wading through all the options, things can get overwhelming fast. In those moments, most of us reach for something familiar, a name that we recognize, perhaps a product we actually remember from childhood.

Fisher Price Favourites is a list of twelve tried and tested Fisher Price products that have stood the test of time and made the cut as 'Mom Must-Have's, here's the list.

1. Ocean Wonders Aquarium
2. My Little Snugabunny Cradle N Swing
3. Infant to Toddler Rocker
4. SpaceSaver High Chair
5. Discover’n Grow Jumperoo
6. Brilliant Basics Rock a Stack
7. Learn Love to Play Puppy
8. Learn Say Please Tea Set
9. Click ‘n Learn Remote
10. Brilliant Basics Stroll-Along Walker
11. Little People Wheelies Stand ‘n Play Rampway
12. Little People Animal Sounds Farm

How many do you have in your home?

I have recollections of playing with the Brilliant Basics Rock and Stack during my youth in the eighties; its such a simple toy but the bright colours and the sense of accomplishment that little ones derive from stacking the rings make it a toy that kids can enjoy generation after generation.

Although I never owned one, I'm also a huge fan of the Discover 'n Grow Jumperoo; back in October 2011 I had the opportunity to attend Blissdom Canada with 6 months old Simba. That boy was never happier than when he was jumping, bouncing, touching and playing in the Jumperoo. I literally wanted to take it to my hotel room to keep him entertained all evening.

Seriously, does this look a six month old who flew from Vancouver to Toronto to attend a Blogging conference with his Momma?

The other item on this list that is an absolute must-have from my perspective, is the Little People Wheelies Stand ‘n Play Rampway. Bolt received his ramp as a gift almost 4 years ago and between my two boys it still gets used on an almost daily basis.

Personally, I love the car sounds it makes, but I think for the boys the sound features are a distant third.

They love to race all sizes of cars, trains (though they often fall off before they make it to the bottom) and anything else with wheels, letting them fly across the living room floor and having subsequent cars crash into the previous ones.

The elevator however, is perhaps the most coveted feature of all. My boys will fight over who gets to lift the elevator and bring the cars to the top, though Simba generally just lifts it up and down over, and over and over again. Regardless, the Stand 'n Play Rampway continues to entertain day after day and I'm certain when my boys outgrow it, this toy will go on to provide joy to another child for years to come.

So I'm curious, what are your Fisher Price Favourites? Did they make the list?

Are you interested in purchasing some new Fisher Price Favourites for your family? Head over to to Toys R Us Canada and use special pin FISHERPRICE20 to save 20% off your Fisher Price Favourites purchase before April 30.

Disclosure: I am part of the Fisher-Price Blogger Campaign with Mom Central Canada and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.

Spring Cleaning with Clorox Green Works | Blog Tour Review and Giveaway

There are people that get great satisfaction from spring cleaning, a sense of accomplishment and pride at throwing away junk, organizing and cleaning.  I am not one of those people.  I like a clean house, but making it clean, not so much.

I need things to be easy, a quick spray and a wipe is about my speed, but my conscience also requires that said sprays be safe for my family, for my children and for our planet.  Clorox Green Works fits my needs perfectly.

The entire Green Works line is 95-99% naturally derived, with the remaining percentage accounting for preservatives, fragrance and dyes.  Each product displays a small 'Designed for the Environment' or DfE logo; a designation given by the US Environmental Protection Agency, which indicates each ingredient has been screened for both health and environmental effects and the product contains only those ingredients that pose the least concern among chemicals in their class.  As if that isn't enough, you can find a list of all Green Works ingredients, with explanations of their uses in everyday English, on the Green Works website.

Once the cleaners are deemed 'safe' in my mind, the real challenge begins.  Can Green Works products effectively clean my home with minimal effort on my behalf?

My answer is a resounding yes.  Armed with Clorox Green Works, I have been successfully challenged myself to undertake one 10 minute tidy at a time.  I started in the powder room, which if I'm being honest, smells a bit like pee.  I have a recently potty trained toddler and if you are the parent of a little boy, you know that their urine has a tendency to hit the toilet seat, if you're lucky enough to dodge the pee bullet yourself.

When my Green Works products arrived, I initially gave the toilet seat a quick wipe with a Green Works Natural Cleaning Wipe, which definitely gave a fresher scent to the bathroom, but didn't quite succeed at banishing the urine smell; a little more effort was warranted on my behalf.  Using Green Works Toilet Bowl Cleaner, Bathroom Cleaner and Glass Cleaner I gave my teeny little bathroom the once over and in less than 10 minutes and much to my amazement I had a sparkly clean, fresh (but not overpowering or chemically) smelling bathroom.

One ten minute tidy complete.  Well done me.

Next up, what can only be described a baby food bomb.  Distracted and being pulled in far too many directions, I dropped a full bowl of sweet potato and chicken baby food on the floor, which of course went everywhere.  We cleaned up most of the mess immediately, but about a week later I realized that we had missed the area under the dishwasher.  That food has been caked on for probably three weeks now and I'd been avoiding cleaning it like the plaque.

I allowed the Green Works All-Purpose Cleaner about 5 minutes to soften the baby food before I dove in with a damp rag and started chipping away at it.  Imagine my surprise when it pulled away from the dishwasher with minimal effort; after only a little bit of scrubbing, the baby food had all but disappeared.  I also gave the dishwasher a few spritzes and wipes with the All-Purpose Cleaner and was impressed to see the streak-free clean that resulted, especially given that stainless steel appliances have a tendency to streak when cleaned.

Another ten minute tidy complete.  I admit I am proud that I have now cleaned two areas of my home instead of starting to read 'Game of Thrones', which is what I really wanted to do.  Perhaps there is some pride to be had at cleaning my home.

Surprisingly, I'm excited about my bounty of Clorox Green Works products; the dishwashing soap not only smells delicious, it makes lots of bubbles (which I know isn't actually necessary, but I like it) and gets the dishes squeaky clean.  The Natural Cleaning Wipes are perfect for sticky spills that I find long after the boys have made them and although washing floors is absolutely not my thing, I'm certain that the hubs will have good things to report about the Green Works Multi-Surface Cleaner, which is safe for use on wood.

One lucky Momma Stuff Blog reader is going to win their own Clorox Green Works Gift Pack, make sure you enter using the Rafflecopter after the jump.

Please note you may enter to win a Green Works Gift Pack on other sites participating in this Blog Tour, however you may only win one prize.

“Disclosure – I am participating in the Green Works program. I received compensation as a thank you for my participation. This is a personal blog. The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of The Clorox Company of Canada Ltd.”


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