hAppy Monday folks! Sorry I've been gone for a few weeks on my hAppy Monday posts, but I'm back today. So, my favorite app today is actually a category. My boys always want to play on my phone and for the most part I don't mind. I would rather if they are doing something on it that it be a little educational if I can help it. That being the case- I have TONS of books on my phone. Here are a few of my favorite ones.

Timmy Tiptoes: This classic Beatrix Potter story with original illustrations is a great way to introduce your kids to this lesser know story. This book has been designed so that it reflects the original styling of this classic children's literature book but in a fun new way.

Three Little Pigs Storychimes: The story of the three little pigs with a few fun changes. Kids have the option to read or have the book read to them. These remind me of the books on tape I used to listen to that said "you know it's time to turn the page when you hear the chimes ring like this, 'ring.'" There are several other Storychimes book available for free.

Cooper's Big Bear Hug: This Hallmark book is meant to paired with the Cooper interactive Story Buddy. It's a tale of a sweet bear that wants to show his mom how much he loves her. You can record your voice so that you can read it to your child, even when you aren't there. The Cooper Story Buddy responds as the narrator reads key phrases in the book. We don't own the Cooper bear, but my boys like the story still. There are also Watson the Racoon and Jingle the Puppy books available right now.

Ladybug's Bookshelf: This is from Ladybug Magazine and comes with one free book called "Three O'Clock on the Farm." You can also buy other books from them to add to the collection. This book is for 2-6 year-olds with clever animations and hidden surprises.

Snow White: This is the story of Snow White in an interactive Pop-up book. Each page can be rotated so that you can see all sides of the page. This book is currently FREE, but I'm not sure for how long. I just downloaded it today and only looked at a few pages, but was impressed with the detail on each page.

There are TONS of great kids books avaiable that you have to pay for, but there are some of my top free ones that I like. And don't forget all the free iPad book apps too.

Join Owlexander, the Park District mascot, for their grand opening on Saturday, April 16 from 10am-12pm at Grant Park on Normandy for their first Nature Literature Trail: Owlexander’s Hoot Route. Children ages 3 – 8 and their adult companions can hike along the storybook trail and learn about Owlexander’s animal and bird friends that live in Grant Park. Children can play active games, solve riddles, and more as they read the story. This is a permanent part of Grant Park. This Nature Literature Trail is a wheelchair and stroller accessible, crushed gravel/dirt path through the woods. Kids ages 3-8 with their adult companion can hike along the storybook trail and learn about the animals that live in the park.

This sounds like a GREAT way to get families more involved together on the trail and outdoors for educational fun. And plus how cute is that owl?! I just want to take Owlexander home with me!

I'm serious... I LOVE free TV episodes on iTunes. Being honest I check at least once a week to see what free shows I can find. And this week I hit the MOTHERLOAD. We are big fans of PBS and the quality shows they have, so I was really excited to see some of our favorite shows for free this week. If you haven't heard about any of these show here is a little breakdown about them: Curious George teaches about math and science for a very young audience, Super Why is about the alphabet and reading, Sesame Street is a melting pot of different educational experiences and Mr Rogers' Neighborhood focuses on where we live and what is around us. Here are just a few of the episodes that I found this week:

Curious George: Curious George Flies A Kite/ From Scratch

Mr Rogers' Neighborhood: You And I Together: A Field Trip to Visit Koko the Gorilla

Sesame Street: Abby Cadabby's First Day of School, Baby Bear's First Day of School

Super Why: The Goose and the Golden Eggs

And I KNOW that Chuggington isn't a PBS show, but my boys LOVE Chuggington and were so excited that there was a free episode of Brewster's Little Helper and Jet Pack Wilson from season 2 avaiable.

I'm linking up over at The Diaper Diaries for Things I love Thursday.

Today's hAppy Monday is brought to you by the letters T and V. My app this week is because I'm too cheap to buy the paper or cable. I never know what's on, or if my favorite shows are new that night or not. So I have What's On? to help me out. You can find out what’s on TV right now, when your favorite shows are on next and what’s playing in theaters! It makes it simple to find something to watch. You can also mark your favorite shows and movies and then see when and where they are playing, push notification reminders for your shows about to start, eve get the latest news on your favorite actors, TV shows, movies and more. I like that I can customize my channel list to only be channels we have, quickly browse what is one, then with one tap I get the details about the show. It's helpful too when we go to my Mother-in-law's house that I have her channels on my phone and check out what cartoon are on for the kids without having to go through every channel. Then I can switch back easily to the channels that we watch when we get back home. Because it's free there are ads but the convenience of the app far outweighs the ad annoyance to me.

Do you have a favorite app that you've found? Please let us know!

hAppy Monday folks I hope you all had a great weekend.

If you are always looking for great deals on local restaurants, salons and spas, and other businesses in the area then you need to be checking out Groupon. You can purchase their local daily deals online or you can download the Groupon app. The thing I like about the Groupon app is that not only can I buy Groupon's on it, but I can also use them off of it. I don't have to waste my time printing out the coupon, I can just show it to them on my phone and voila, it's done. Plus it helps keep track of all your purchased Groupons by location, date, and expiration. Daily Groupon's are available in over 160 cities currently, so if you have friend's or family in another city it's nice to check them out also for any good gift idea/deals. This app is also available for Android and BlackBerry devices plus phones with mobile web capabilities.

Want to know about Groupon? Be sure to read our previous post.

Head to Sephora inside JCPenney for a FREE deluxe sample of Sephora Collection 7-in-1 Full Action Mascara. Don't forget that there is a Sephora inside JCPenney at the Dayton Mall now. Just be sure to print off your coupon and bring it in with you when you go. I think I could use a free mascara sample for my birthday.

While supplies last.

hAppy Monday folks!

Do you have more customer loyalty, rewards or membership cards than you know what to do with? You know… Kroger, Panera, Toys R Us, CVS, Sephora… the list goes on. Our app this week is CardStar. CardStar is a simple way to organize all your cards all in one place. All you have to do is choose the merchant, library, hotel, gym, etc and enter your card information.

It's so nice to have all your cards in one place instead of having to bring all the tiny plastic cards EVERYWHERE. Most stores are able scan the bar-code off your card too. There are the few times that they can't actually scan the barcode but they can still enter in the card number off the app. Either way, the value of NOT having to carry around all those tiny cards that I'm constantly losing is worth that small issue. It's the perfect marriage of customer loyalty cards and your mobile device. Here is the exciting thing I realized about CardStar while writing this post. When you load certain cards (ie- my Sephora card in the picture) it will show you deals that might be available from that store. Just click on the Deals button on the far right and check out all your deals (see how mine shows "4" on the Sephora card). Then follow the directions to use the deal provided. Some of the deals are even exclusive to CardStar app users. My Regal Theaters card gives me advance ticket purchasing capabilities when I show them the card on my app. This app is also available for Android and BlackBerry devices.

Do you use CardStar? Or maybe you have another favorite app that you can't live without. Let me know and I might write about your favorite app next!

Guess what?! My birthday is this week! YAY! I've been getting in LOTS of birthday emails over the past few days. So I've got a few NEW birthday freebies that I've added to the list. So be sure to check out all the birthday freebies you can get for your birthday too. My favorite new birthday deals?

Joey Eric: $10 off your next purchase

ele Cake: Free sandwich and cupcake

Want more awesome birthday deals like this? Be sure to check out my list! Do you know of any other birthday deals? Be sure to let me know and I'll add it to the list.

hAppy Monday everyone! It's time for week two of our hAppy Monday segment.

Next up is Ziplist. Ziplist helps you manage your grocery list in one convenient place. Your family members can even look at your list and add to it when they need items too. It can be synced onto your computer making for quick and easy changes. You can add your recipes to it and it will put the ingredients into your grocery list. Plus, say you find a recipe on your favorite cooking site that you like, you can click the ZipList Recipe Clipper button and it puts the recipe into your recipe folder in ZipList. It can sort your list by store and you can put in details including things like: price, quantity, size, aisle, coupons and more. Also, when you add items to your list and start typing the item name it gives you an product option list so you don't have to type out the entire product name.

My favorite feature on Ziplist is it's ability to go through my list and when I "check" an item it becomes hidden. That way when I'm going through Meijer half distracted by my boys I can still keep track of my grocery list and what I have left to get. I also like that I can sort my items by store and then if I haven't sorted an item it shows up in my "All Store" lists. Another thing I really like is that if you have those items that you always buy every week you can create a Checklist and easily drop it into your grocery list. Ziplist really has helped me make grocery shopping trips much more efficient. This is also available for Android devices.

Do you use ZipList? Tell me about your experience or if you have another favorite app tell me about.

The newly renamed Disney Jr channel has a new show called Jake and the Neverland Pirates. I downloaded it already and it's really cute. There are two boy pirates, one girl pirate, a parrot and don't forget Captain Hook and Smee. They work together to tackle problems and find an answer. C likes to play dress up and after watching the show he promptly dressed up as a pirate. I forsee him asking me a to help him make a map in the near future. Because what is a pirate without a map? I grew up watching musicals with my Mom and really liked the cute little songs. I always like catchy little songs, so I see those getting stuck in my head! "Captain Hook and Smee are cute in their cluelessness and they help remind kids that life isn't always easy, and kids have to sometimes overcome problems.

So, while watching the show I immediately recognized Smee's voice. Did any one of you watch the old Disney cartoon where the bears are cleaning up trash in the park? "That's the way it's done, it's a lot of fun, putting papers in the bag." The park ranger is Smee's voice- now, this had nothing to do with the show but made me remember all the cartoons I loved when I was little. Disney really does do a good job of creating shows that kids love.

Have you watched the show yet? What is your impression of the show? Be sure to download your free episode before it's gone. I'm linking up over at The Diaper Diaries for Things I love Thursday