Unplug with PinBox 3000 this Summer!

**Complimentary products received in exchange for our honest review.  All opinions are ours and ours alone**

Looking for a fun, screen-free activity for the kiddos this summer?  Check out the PinBox 3000:

Have your kids unplug for a bit and take it old school with Cardboard Teck Instantute’s PinBox 3000 – the first tabletop pinball system made of recycled cardboard! 

A DIY, fun-filled game made of die cut parts and customizable play boards, thePinBox 3000 is crafted with the goal to encourage community play, making, and engagement through kinetic, open-minded and creative platforms made of eco-friendly materials. 

Powered by rubber bands, gravity and you, PinBox 3000 helps bring the “tap-swipe” generation back to the tactile maker experience.

8 year old D and Dad had a lot of fun building the PinBox 3000 and even more fun playing it!  These pictures show the PinBox in action, but as you can see we are still working on adding color and decorative features to it.

We love that it comes with 2 cardboard inserts so you can have a couple of options to choose from for hours of pinball fun!  PinBox 3000 is a great activity for older kids this summer!

Click to find out more about PinBox 3000!

Disclosure: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

Chewy.com June Pick: Taste of the Wild Wetlands Grain-Free Canned Dog Food

**Complimentary products received in exchange for our honest review.  All opinions are ours and ours alone**

Chewy.com is your one-stop shop for all things cat and dog! One of the fantastic products you can find at Chewy.com is from Taste of the Wild:

Taste of the Wild Wetlands Grain-Free Canned Dog Food

What do dogs love more than the great taste of fowl? The great taste of fowl mixed with gravy, of course! Taste of the Wild Wetlands features duck, chicken, quail and turkey for a blend of fowl that provides optimal amino acid nutrition. This grain-free formula provides the excellent nutrition your dog needs with the taste he craves. It can be fed as your dog's sole diet or as a perfect compliment to Wetlands Dry Dog Food.

Jessie inhales this canned food!  It features big chunks of meat in gravy and she cleans her bowl in record time with each can!  I love that it is supplemented with vegetables and fruits, which means this formula delivers extra antioxidants with each serving.  Plus, it is made right here in the USA...can't beat that! 

You can find Taste of the Wild Wetlands Grain-Free Canned Dog Food at Chewy.com for just $27.48 for a case of 12 13.2 oz cans.

Disclosure: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

Crazy Cups June Flavor: Maple French Toast Single Serve Cups

**Complimentary products received in exchange for our honest review.  All opinions are ours and ours alone**

As an ambassador for Crazy Cups, I get to review a different flavor of single serve coffee cups each month.  The flavor for June is Maple French Toast:

Crazy Cups are single serve cups that contain 13 grams of coffee in each cup for a flavorful cup of coffee.  They are compatible with all Keurig K Cups® Pods brewers and other single serve machines as well.   We use an iCoffee brewer and they fit perfectly.  Crazy Cups' coffees are gluten-free, nut-free, and contain no calories.  The cups use cool-peel-recycle technology, making them recyclable after use.  We peel ours back once they're cool, toss the grounds into our compost bin and recycle the cups, easy peasy and eco-friendly.

Flavor description:

Everyone loves coffee. Everyone loves maple french toast. Combining them seemed like a no-brainer to us.

Our thoughts:

Maple flavor pretty much always goes well with breakfast food making this Crazy Cup the perfect addition to our morning meal!  It doesn't have an overwhelming flavor...just enough to create a pleasantly rich, smooth cup of goodness.  Another hit from Crazy Cups!

Click to shop Crazy Cups

Disclosure: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

Book Review: Code 7: Cracking the Code for an Epic Life by Bryan R. Johnson

**Complimentary products received in exchange for our honest review.  All opinions are ours and ours alone**

Code 7: Cracking the Code for an Epic Life

About the book:

From the minute they wake up in the morning, most kids are far too busy dealing with schoolwork, their activities, and their responsibilities at home. In other words, they are busy doing what they are told. But what about what our kids aspire to do? Can we do more to expose our children to a full spectrum of possibilities beyond standardized tests, dance recitals, and taking care of Fido? Entrepreneur Bryan R. Johnson believes we can!

Johnson wrote Code 7 because he believes we can help our upcoming generation take charge of their lives to better the world. Code 7 provides a roadmap for a diverse audience of children and their advocates to start early and make meaning in their lives today.

Code 7 is an inspirational short story anthology inviting middle grade readers to change the world.

 Not only are the stories in Code 7 engaging for children to read, but the book is also perfect for parents and educators to share with kids to address themes of: 

Young people making a difference / changing the world

Determining the values you want to live by 

Being empowered to follow your passions

Service learning and social entrepreneurship 

Identity, self-confidence, and self-esteem 

If you have a middle grader or are a middle grade teacher, Code 7 is a fantastic resource to share with them!

Disclosure: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

BookCase.Club: Monthly Subscription Box for Book Lovers! June Edition

**Complimentary products received in exchange for our honest review.  All opinions are ours and ours alone**

Maybe it's the teacher in me, but I am a believer that if you provide a fun assortment of engaging books to your young readers (and listeners:) you are instilling a love for reading early on.

BookCase.Club helps you do just that!

BookCase.Club is a one-stop monthly subscription service for book lovers of all ages. Each case contains handpicked books based on your preferred genre.  There are six monthly categories and two quarterly categories to choose from: Paranormal Romance, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Young Adult, Mystery/Thriller, Children’s, Romance, Military History and Cookbooks.  The Children's category recently got a lot more exciting!  It has been turned into Bookcase.Club Kids and the categories have gotten a lot more specific.  More about that at the end of this post:)

Here is an example of the types of books you receive in a Bookcase.Club Kids box:

As you can see, our box included four really great books that my kiddos loved!

The new division of Bookcase.Club is Bookcase.Club Kids.  Each #BCCKids case comes with three handpicked children's books, chosen to ignite the imagination and inspire creativity.   Bookcase.Club Kids is broken down into 5 sub categories based on age: Newborn-2 years, 2-4 years, 4-6 years, 7-8 years and Pre-Teen.  The box we received includes titles from several age groups.  I loved that this month's box included fiction and non-fiction books.

A subscription to BookCase.Club starts at $9.99 + $5.00 s/h per month which is a pretty good deal for books specifically curated to your interests.  Plus, each month, BookCase Club partners with Books For Keeps, and donates one children's book for every active subscription.  Books For Keeps aims to place books in the hands of children who are least likely to have access. This program gives 12 books to every child served just in time for summer. The goal: to keep up their reading achievement outside of school.  

BookCase.Club is definitely our favorite book subscription service...we've never been disappointed by the variety and the quality of the books we receive:)   

Click to shop BookCase.Club!

Use the coupon code ABCD15 to get 15% off of any BookCase.Club subscription!

Disclosure: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

Bump It Off: A Multi-Purpose Wonder Gadget!

**Complimentary products received in exchange for our honest review.  All opinions are ours and ours alone**

Check out this super nifty gadget that is making grooming our pup, Jessie, a breeze:

Bump It Off is a reusable silicone sleeve that fits on your hand in multiple positions, enabling you to concentrate scrubbing power in the palm of your hand or on your fingertips. 

With gentle silicone bristles on one side and smooth bumps on the other, Bump it Off has endless cleaning applications in every room of your home!

We have tried them on a couple of different household tasks, but since we used them to groom Jessie and got such good results, that is pretty much the only job for them now :)  Bump It Off really grabs the hair, but gently, and makes it easy to control Jessie's shedding.  

She doesn't typically like to sit still for traditional brushing, but any time she spies the Bump It Off, she comes running, tail wagging, ready for her "massage" :)  Using Bump It Off gets the job done and as an added bonus, keeps our hands clean...living on the coast with a sandy yard makes for some pretty dirty pups.  We are loving the Bump It Off tool and so is Jessie!

With so many great uses, Bump It Off is sure to be a handy tool in your household too!

Find out more about Bump It Off!

Disclosure: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

Teach Your Kiddos to Cook this Summer with Nellie's Free Range Eggs!

**Complimentary products received in exchange for our honest review.  All opinions are ours and ours alone**

Summer is here and while “summer school” often gets a bad rap, Nellie’s Free Range Eggs wants parents and kids to get into the kitchen and prepare delicious egg-centric recipes during its own “Nellie’s Summer School” this June.

 

Nellie’s is committed to providing better lives for hens, which means better eggs for you and your family! Coming from the first Certified Humane® farm in the country, Nellie’s girls (aka hens) are never caged and have as much, or as little, access to outside as they want. 

Easy to prepare, inexpensive and nutrient dense, eggs are one of the most versatile and nutritious meal or snack options around. Plus, they’re a great first food to get kids into the kitchen and interested in cooking at an early age.

Check out some of these great recipes that are sure to get your kiddos excited to learn kitchen skills this summer:

Breakfast: Toad in a Hole

Lunch/Dinner: Veggie Egg Wrap

Dessert: Pavlova with Summer Berries

So grab some Nellie's Free Range Eggs and get cooking this summer!

Thanks to the fine folks at Nellie's, we are excited to offer one lucky reader a mini frying pan and 2 coupons for a free dozen eggs from Nellie's Free Range Eggs!

Enter below: