Win a FREE Piggies and Paws Print!

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So, if you’ve never heard of Piggies and Paws, you may be asking yourself, WHAT is Piggies and Paws??? It’s a little hard to describe (and unfortunately, I’m not able to use photos of the actual artwork) but basically it’s custom made artwork using your child’s handprint or footprint. We’ve all done cute little crafty things with our kids handprints, but there is definitely a difference between what I can pull off, and what can be done with Piggies and Paws.

My friend, Cheryl, is an independent artist here in Utah and we’ve had a number of prints done by her. We have two in our house, and we loved them so much that we got four more to send to grandparents and uncles and aunts. They’re unique and personal and made perfect gifts. Everyone loved them.

So to get an idea for what you’re getting – go to the Piggies and Paws website. There’s a few pictures on the homepage there, but when you have one of these done, there are TONS of designs to choose from. Seriously. You will have a really hard time picking out what you want!

I also want to mention that you can host a “party” with Piggies and Paws and Cheryl will come to you (within a reasonable distance) to do the handprints of your children and your friend’s children. Hostesses who book in the months of September or October will get your final prints mounted for free. (This might work great at a playgroup get together!) OR – if you don’t want to host your own party, then come to Cheryl’s Open House on Saturday, September 19th from 10am – 1pm or on Friday, October 9th from 5pm – 8pm and you’ll be able to see all the designs that are available.

SO if you would like to win a FREE Piggies and Paws print – here’s what you gotta do:

• Mandatory Entry: Leave a comment on this post. **Make sure you use a valid email address when you leave your comment – this will be the method I use to contact you should you win. (Value: 1 entry)

For more entries you can do the following (For each, leave a comment here telling me what you did)

• Become a fan of the Piggies and Paws Facebook page (Value: 2 entries)
• Follow me on Twitter (Value: 1 entry)
• Book a Piggies and Paws Party with Cheryl (Value: 10 entries!!!)

Contact Cheryl for more information, RSVP for her Open House (and get directions since I won’t be posting her address here), or book a Piggies and Paws party: chodsdon@piggiesandpaws.com

Contest ends September 9th at 10pm MST. There is no purchase necessary to enter the contest. I will be using random.org to choose the winner. I’ll contact the winner via email, and he/she will have 48 hours to respond. After 48 hours, another winner will be chosen. If the winner is unable to receive the prize (ie. You live too far away) another winner will be chosen.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: The free Piggies and Paws print is only valid for prints created by Cheryl. If you live outside of an hour from Sandy, UT you may need to cover travel expenses to have Cheryl come to you. Or you can make the trip to Cheryl during her Open House. There are Piggies and Paws artists all over the country – so if Cheryl is too far from you, feel free to check out the website to find another closer to you. You will not be able to use your free print prize with other artists, but you can still get some cute prints from them!

Being my own cheering section

I think I’m not alone in this, but so often I wonder if I’m doing an ok job with my kids. I guess by the mere fact that it’s a constant concern for me is a good sign. I’m always being critical of myself, always trying to do better… of course the flip side to this is that I’m always being critical of myself… meaning I rarely feel like I’ve succeeded. That’s probably just part of the job of being a parent – you don’t see the final result of your work until you see what kind of adults your kids end up being. And even then it’s not really a final result – because I know I’ve continued to learn and grow even as an adult. But at that point, your work is kind of done. You can’t go back in time and fix mistakes. Not that you’re supposed to be a perfect parent. In fact, I think if your kids see you make some mistakes, it’s not such a bad thing. The lesson you get to teach when you make a mistake is how to deal with it: Tell the truth. Correct the problem. Apologize. Do better next time. Etc.

Anyway, that was a tangent. I felt like I had a success and before I started my regular cycle of parenting-doubt, I wanted to make a note of it. My daughter had her first “real” sleepover last night. (Meaning that it was a friend sleeping over and not just a cousin) I’m not a very good cook, and dinners around here, especially during the week can be kind of scattered – so I was trying to come up with something that would be fun. My plan: make your own pizzas. I got some Boboli pizza crusts, cheese, sauce, and a variety of toppings: sliced olives, pre-cooked chicken, pre-cooked sausage, sliced peppers, pepperoni (I had offered mushrooms too, my favorite, but they were vociferously rejected) and I let the girls invent their own combination. It didn’t take long for them to make the pizzas, but they still had fun doing it. Even Zach got into the act, although for his, I made his pizza and he directed what to put on it (olives and sausage and pepperoni for the kid that usually eats nothing but mac and cheese!!! AMAZING!)

Then later in the evening, despite my fears of a catastrophic mess, we opened up the “Make Your Own Bubble Gum Flavor” kit Rachel got for her birthday from one of her uncles. It was a little messy (especially when you broke out the food coloring) but not nearly as bad as I was expecting. And the kids had an absolute blast doing it. They each made two different types of gum. Her friend even thanked me for letting them do the project saying it was so much fun.

Score 1 point for not-so-perfect-mom!!! 😀

Birthday Extravaganza Day One

Don’t you love how kids birthday’s just seem to drag on for days. First there was the planning of the birthday party (we’re going to Cowabunga Bay for her birthday party this weekend), since that plan was finalized she’s been asking when we can go shopping for party favors (not until the day before the party! Won’t know who’s even going until then!), then there’s the actual birthDAY (today), then there’s the playdate with the friend who wanted to go to the party but couldn’t make it (but still wanted to see her). LOL! For a stretch there, we did a party every year for her (this was easier when we lived near family). But since we moved, it’s more of a challenge since a party means inviting non-family; kids that Rachel’s friends with that I don’t know from families I’ve never met. Add in that her birthday takes place during the summer, I don’t have addresses for any of her friends from school, and of course the school doesn’t give out that information – and birthday parties take on a whole new challenge.

The last two years, we’ve just done a nice dinner out and let her invite a friend to come with us. With more kids in the neighborhood that she’s become friendly with, finally we have a handful of kids we can invite. (No need to worry about addresses with them because Rachel can hand deliver the invitations!)

Maybe because of how much easier it was to do a party when family was nearby, but since we’ve moved I’ve definitely felt like my birthday party throwing abilities are sub-par. I’m thrilled that we can finally do more this year. Even though I know this is not the case, I still worry that she will try to measure how much I love her by how big a deal her birthday is. It’s totally silly and totally unrealistic. Of course no birthday party I could ever throw for her could compare to how much I love her.

Internet Safety

Ugh. So my daughter, who previously had been content on sites like Webkins, Disney and Noggin, has now discovered the world of YouTube and music videos of her favorite singers (Selena Gomez, Hannah Montana / Miley Cyrus). We monitor her usage as carefully as possible. She knows not to talk to strangers, even online. We keep her computer next to ours so we’re aware of what she’s doing and where she’s going. And of course, we’ve discussed with her the various dangers and levels of appropriate content we’re comfortable with. But I know this is just the start of a whole world of issues.

I probably walk more on the dangerous side anyway by including pictures of my kids even in the header of this site, but when I made the blog public again, I toyed with the idea of using pseudo-names but I just couldn’t keep that going. It’s not natural for me and just wasn’t going to work. I don’t expect to blog about the details of their lives to the extent that I used to. And you will probably not find many pictures of them other than the ones at top. It’s a fine line.

In any case, what steps do you take with your kids to ensure their safety online? Do you let them have access to YouTube? Where do you draw the line?

iPhone Applications for Kids (Part I)

Just about a year ago, I bought my iPhone. I have loved (almost) every minute having it this past year. I was a Mac fan even while I was still using a Windows machine, and finally made the switch to all Apple last year. At first, I was extremely protective of the iPhone and the thought of actually handing it over to my kids to let them play a game on it – it was madness.

Welllll….never say never. It’s amazing what one will do to entertain your child. There’s a number of apps (many of them free) that are great for kids. Some of them, I’ve even loved playing myself. Whenever I can, if there is a free trial version of a game, I’ll usually download that first to see if it holds their interest long enough to make a purchase worthwhile. In some rare cases, I’ve just gone ahead and splurged and just bought a game because it looked cool from the description (usually at a pricetag of $1!! Big spender that I am!)

I thought I’d share some of my favorite downloads. I’m constantly finding and downloading new applications (Yes, I have QUITE a few pages of apps on my phone!) so expect another post like this sometime in the future (shorter next time I promise). So assume this post is part one.

1) Solitaire City (Free trial | Full version)
Ok, maybe this one is more for me but I can see older kids liking this game. I think the concept may be too hard for the real little kids, though. I got the free trial, and it became one of my favorite games on my iPhone. I went ahead and bought the full version to have access to all the other versions of solitaire, but the same one that is included in the free trial is the one I still play the most.

2) Airport Mania (Free trial | Full version)
In this list, you’re going to quickly find out that my favorite game genre is the what they call time management games. You have to do something for X Y and Z in such an order before A B and C walk in the door, or X gets pissed and leaves, etc. So this is a time management game with airplanes. Landing them in sequence, unloading and loading passengers, fuel and or repairs for the airplane.

3) Arcade Claw (Free trial | Full version)
Like the arcade game without the headache of feeding the machine endlessly while you continually just miss getting the super cool elephant stuffed animal.

4) Balloon Animals (Free trial | Full version)
I really like this one – kids “blow” the balloon up (by blowing into/at the iphone) then you shake the iPhone to twist the balloon into an animal. We only have the free trial on this one because it only comes with 7 animals if you buy it. (The free one only comes with one.) The description says it’s “packed with various animals” – I don’t really consider 7 to be “packed”… 15-20… maybe that’s packed. 7? Not really. Also, the game is about $2 (yes, I know, we’re getting nit-picky).  If they lowered the price, I’d buy it. OR if they added A LOT more animals, I’d buy it. In the meantime, my kids are still amused by the one that comes free.

5) Bug Squash (Free trial | Full version)
This one is a big favorite with them. Pretty simple game, bugs run across the screen – you need to squish them by touching them on the screen. We bought the full version on this one to get access to more bugs and get rid of the nagging in the free trial to upgrade. It’s worth it. My one complaint with this game: My son really isn’t playing a game here – he just likes squishing the bugs. For him, I wish they had an “endless mode” that would just keep the bugs coming until you said you were done.

6) Bugs! (Free)
This is like Bug Squash – with the endless mode – but without the variety you get in Bug Squash. BUT it’s free. 😀

7) Cooking Mama (Free trial | Full version)
We have this game on the Wii and my daughter loves it – we got the trial version and then the full version for the iPhone. You have to do certain things to cook a meal – and the better/quicker you do them, the higher you will score.

8 ) Crazy Hotdogs (Free trial | Full version)
Another time management game – cook hotdogs, don’t burn them (it makes the customers angry) give them to your customers before they get tired of waiting and leave.

9) Diner Dash (Free trial | Full version)
Time management – seat customers, take their order, get their food, clean the tables and get the next set of customers in before they leave hungry.

10) Crazy Penguin Catapult (Free trial | Full version | Free trial version 2 | Full version 2)
Apparently there is something extremely entertaining about catapulting penguins. At least to my kids. Should I be worried? 😉

11) Pocket God (Full version)
This is one of those games I just had to risk it. As of this writing the game is only $.99 which is an amazing bargain for the amount of content they already have in the game. It seems like every other week they add a new “episode” (which you get as a free update after you buy the game) with new stuff. I don’t even know how to describe this “game” really – there’s pygmies on the island, and you can pick them up and move them around… or fling them into the distance into a volcano. Do that enough times and it will rain lava on the rest of the pygmies. A shark swims by, pick it up and it tries to eat the pygmies. Or in another scene, there’s a dinosaur egg that if you pick up and drop enough times, a dinosaur appears and eats pygmies that get too close to it. Latest episode has a dodo bird that flies overhead. Touch the dodo bird to drop… uhm… droppings on the heads of the pygmies. Just crazy random stuff.

12) Sally Spa (Free trial | Full version)
Cute time management game – my daughter loves this one. Send customers through a round of various spa services.

13) See ‘n Roar (Free)
My son loves this one. A wheel you spin with various animals on the wheel. When the arrow lands on an animal – you hear the sound it makes.

14) Supermarket Mania (Free trial | Full version)
Time management game – stock shelves in a supermarket, pick up dropped groceries. Watch out for theives, etc.

15) TanZen (Free trial | Full version)
Fun game with tangrams. When I first bought this game – it was missing a few features they’ve since added. Most notably a “hint” feature. (You’ll need that one the tougher puzzles!) 😉

16) ToMaCow (Free trial | Full version)
Another one that I don’t even know how to begin to describe the randomness. Aliens come to attack your farm, and you must try and kill them… with a hose that sprays… tomatoes.

17) What would you chose? Party game (Free)
I found this game through my niece (who is 13) and who giggled endlessly at the questions.

18) Dress Chica (Free)
Chica is a chicken puppet from the cable TV show PBS Kids Sprout, and in this application you get to dress her. Who knew putting clothes on a chicken would be so entertaining!

20) Kids Four (Full version)
I don’t know, maybe even the $.99 is still too much for what the app does, but my son really does like it. There’s four mini games – pick letters, shapes, colors, and numbers.

Also – don’t forget the applications that come with the iPhone (or at least the latest version of iPhone OS software). Voice Memos and the Camera are two of my son’s favorite apps. He especially loves recording himself singing. (Ironically, if I tried to get him to sing so I could record it, he’d probably refuse, but because he’s doing it himself, it’s fun)

(See Part II here for 15 more iPhone applications for kids)