If you’re a Mom that values your quiet reading time at night then make sure to put your baby to bed in one of our beautiful baby bedding sets like our zebra bedding styles. All from JoJo Designs!
I am very excited to be included in the November edition of Hot Picks from Haute Moms! Every month these ladies feature posts from each others' blogs so we can all have some fun blog hopping. Below are some fabulous posts from some fabulous ladies so please go check them out!
The holiday shopping season is upon us and it is time to figure out what to get the kiddos. For the past 2 years, I've really been trying to avoid the plastic, flashy, noisy toys that don't last and opt for better quality things. This can be challenging since your major chains carry most of the same things. I don't want any more toys that break easily and will be junk in a year or two. No, I want things that will be educational and also last a lifetime. So when I came across Automoblox, I new I had found a great toy.
Automoblox is a line of high-quality wood, interchangeable cars and they are available in two sizes: original and mini. These cars are meant to be heirloom toys - ones that can be passed down to the next generation instead of thrown in the trash. Not only will they provide hours of fun as your child builds his/her cars but they also provide learning benefits like creative problem solving, gross and fine motor skills and visio-spatial processing. Recommended for ages 3 and up.
We've merged the fun factor of classic car toys with the warmth of natural wood, richly colored roofs and bright rubber tires to create a design system that stimulates creative thinking and excites the tactile and visual senses of children at any age. And by combining the open-ended play of wooden blocks wit the cognitive challenges of shape sorters and puzzles., we've created a play system loaded with the healthy developmental benefits that are so necessary for today's kids.
Automoblox was generous enough to send us 2 vehicles to test out: the T9SE in red and the S9 Sedan in blue.
As a parent, I have to first say how impressed I was with the quality. To test out the durability, my husband decided to toss one across the family room (took me by surprise) and the car emerged victorious. What makes these cars so very fun is the ability to take them apart and reassemble them. Every single part comes off easily and my son enjoys simply putting them back together again. And the little people that sit in your car have little shapes at the base (shape sorting) and each have their designated seat inside the car.
Probably the coolest feature of Automoblox is that if you have more than one car, you can interchange parts and make your own original, fun designs. The possibilities are endless from simply mixing up wheel colors to creating a whole new vehicle. Here are a few that we came up with.
While my son went for a more classic look in the bottom vehicle, my husband created what he called a "stretch limo" in that top one. No matter how you put them together, it sure is fun! For a demonstration of just how easy it is to interchange parts, you can watch my quick, 1-minute video.
Overall, the whole family had a lot of fun with the Automoblox cars. While I am keeping them away from the 2.5 year old twins at the moment (I fear they will lose parts on me) I know that these cars are ones that can be passed down to each one of my boys and that they all will enjoy them .
There is some very exciting news in the Automoblox world and that is the launch of two vehicles: the new T900 Truck and the new Hot Rods. Below is just a rendering of each, but you can see photos of the actual vehicles on the AutomobloxFacebook page. These will be sold exclusively at Automoblox.com should be available to order in early December.
Shop Automoblox vehicles may be purchased directly at Automoblox.com which is currently offering free shipping on orders over $60. Use coupon code ship60 at checkout.
Mandatory Entry Visit Automoblox.com and tell me which vehicle is your favorite.
Extra Entries - Follow me on Blogger or subscribe to my RSS feed - Subscribe via e-mail. Your email must validate or it will not count. - Blog about this giveaway with a link to this post. Must be at least 100 words. Please leave link in comment. - Add my Green Mama's Pad button to your sidebar or add Green Mama's Pad to your blogroll. Leave your blog link. - Follow GreenMamasPad and Automoblox on Twitter and and tweet this giveaway. You can tweet once daily. Leave link to tweet in comment. - Add my Green Holiday Gift Guide button to your blog. This gives you 2 entries so leave 2 comments. - Stumble this post and comment with your ID. - Become a fan of Green Mama's Pad on Facebook. - Become a fan of Automoblox on Facebook.
This giveaway is open to US Residents 18+ only and will end on Friday, December 4th at 11:59pm EST. One winner will be chosen at random using Random.org and will be posted on the Winner's Announcement page. Winner has 48 hours to claim his/her prize otherwise a new winner will be picked. You must leave your e-mail address in all of your comment(s) so I can contact you. I will not share your e-mail address with anyone, it will strictly be used to notify you if you win. Good luck!
Please note that the opinions and views expressed in this review are my own and based on my personal experience with the product. You may encounter a different experience with this than I did. Automoblox provided me with an item for review and is providing an item for the giveaway.
Here are some Green Giveaways that I have found around the Blogosphere! Do you have a green giveaway on your blog that I missed? Well be sure to add it to Mr. Linky down below! You can also submit your green giveaways to me during the week for me to include on Fridays.
With so many companies and products claiming to be "green" or "organic" or "non-toxic" these days, it can be hard for consumers to figure out what to buy. And unfortunately, many of these claims are not 100% true. A very big concern for many of us is limiting the amount of chemicals used and released in our homes. I wonder how many people are unaware that household items like mattresses, wall paints and furnishings release toxic chemicals into our air. To help us pick safer products, the GREENGUARD Environmental Institute (GEI) developed the GREENGUARD Certification Program.
GREENGUARD Certification Program is an industry-independent, third-party testing program for low-emitting products and materials. The first GREENGUARD Certification was awarded in the fall of 2002. In 2005, GEI announced the GREENGUARD Children & Schools standard, which evaluates the sensitive nature of school populations combined with the unique building characteristics found in schools, and presents the most rigorous product emissions criteria to date. To date, more than 170 manufacturers across various industries offer GREENGUARD Indoor Air Quality Certified® Products.
All GREENGUARD Certified products are listed in the GREENGUARD Online Product Guide, an indoor air quality (IAQ) resource that is provided at no charge. The guide features products, which are regularly tested to ensure that their chemical and particle emissions meet acceptable IAQ pollutant guidelines and standards. GREENGUARD Certification is a valuable tool for architects, designers, product specifiers, and purchasing organizations that want to locate, specify, and purchase off-the-shelf, low-emitting products for indoor environments. GREENGUARD Certification is a voluntary program available to all manufacturers and their suppliers.
Did you know that the indoor air quality inside our homes is anywhere from 2-5 times more polluted than outdoor air? Children's developing brains and bodies are particularity at risk from all of these chemicals and with them spending on average 85% of their time inside, well that is far too much exposure to toxins. By using products that are certified by GREENGUARD, parents can rest easy knowing the products have met stringent chemical emissions standards and know they are taking the right steps to reduce the indoor pollutants within their own home.
The GREENGUARD Children & School standard is one of the most stringent in the world and takes into account the special sensitivities of children. The standard requires that all products be tested for thousands of chemicals and that they meet rigorous health-based criteria for all volatile organic compounds (VOCs) including formaldehyde and phthalates. More than 200,000 products produced by over 225 manufacturers contain the GREENGUARD Certification marks.
The GEI makes it easy to find GREENGUARD Certified products with a search on their website. You can either search by category or by keyword. For example, I searched for "crib" and I received results for several certified crib mattresses and cribs. You can also find a diverse group of items like The Freshaire Choice Paint and Anderson Hardwood Floors.
Are you pregnant and looking to set up a safer nursery for your new baby? The GEI recently unveiled a special nursery using all GREENGUARD certified products. Below are some pictures of the nursery. Certified products from AkzoNobel, Anderson Hardwood Flooring, BonaKemi, Eclipse Shutters, Fleetwood, Georgia-Pacific Gypsum, Herman Miller, Knoll Textiles, National Gypsum, Naturepedic, Owens Corning, Q Collection Junior, Rubbermaid, Sherwin-Williams, Stanley Furniture - Young America and Teknion were included in the nursery. (Click on each photo to enlarge).
So the next time you are looking to make a purchase for your home, take into consideration how your purchase will affect your indoor air quality and your family. Make sure you look for products with the GREENGUARD Certification logo!
When my uncle gave me all of my cousin's old hockey equipment (reuse baby!) earlier this year, we jumped on the chance to enroll William in a Learn to Skate/Intro to Hockey program. I mean all the equipment fit perfectly so the only thing we had to pay for is the "course", we couldn't pass up the opportunity. Now luckily, the rink is down the road from us, but it is still crazy early in the morning. Saturdays at 7am and Sundays at 8am. 8am is not bad, but 7am is hard.
So this past weekend was the 4th week of hockey. He has been getting so much better every week. He went from refusing to even get on the ice to getting right out there and participating. Then this past Saturday we had a little regression. My husband took him solo because really, for me to drag the twins there that early and then make them wait an hour is pure torture...for me. But William had a melt down and is yelling at daddy and refuses to participate. When they get home, my husband is so frustrated he tells me I have to take him alone on Sunday. I'm doubtful that this is going to go well because I cannot go out on the ice with him like my husband does. Can you imagine a big fat pregnant woman out on the ice?
Sunday morning we head out to the rink. We get to the parking lot and I realize I have to carry the huge, heavy equipment bag across the street and inside. Great. So here I am waddling along the road as little kids whizzed by with their bags on wheels. Smart kids. Must get one of those. We make our way over to the locker rooms to get him geared up - all of which are packed with kids and parents. I squeeze my fatness in there and we make our way to an open spot on the benches. Here I am squatting and barely keeping my balance while unloading all this stuff and then trying to get it all on my 4 year old. After a few minutes I lost feeling in my feet and had to switch to kneeling instead. Eventually I lost all feeling in my legs as well. Oh and lets not forget the multiple times I was stepped on by other kids and hit in the head with equipment bags.
OK, we get him all set and we walk over to the ice. I am dreading this moment, fearful of the whining that is going to ensue because daddy isn't here to go out on the ice with him. Very much to my surprise, the exact opposite happened. The kid got out on the ice all by himself and never looked back. He participated in every drill and did awesome. I just stood behind the glass and watched. Which by the way, standing in a cold hockey rink for an hour at 35 weeks pregnant is not very smart. My feet, legs, everything really, were killing me by the time I was done. But it was all worth it, watching my little man out there. Look how cute!
So guess who will most likely be bringing him to future hockey sessions? It should get really interesting as I get closer to my due date.
I am very excited to be included in the November edition of Hot Picks from Haute Moms! Every month these ladies feature posts from each others' blogs so we can all have some fun blog hopping. Below are some fabulous posts from some fabulous ladies so please go check them out!
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