2011
Together with Lifestages and Dayton Mall, Kate from Savvy Little Women and I have put together some fantastic sponsors for a great night of encouragement, relaxing, pampering, tasty food, great conversation, and fabulous company!
So, reserve your spot now by "purchasing" a free ticket.
There is a TON of swag for everyone and TONS of prizes to giveaway. The Clubhouse at The Villas at the Pointe is just beautiful and a perfect place for an evening out to mix and mingle with your favorite ladies.
We hope that you are able to join us! This invitation is now OPEN to the general public. Come one and all until it is sold out!
We can't wait to see you and meet some of our amazing readers on July 14th!
Primary Sponsors:
Seconday Sponsors:
Food Sponsors:
Product Sponsors:
Beaute Box
Boogie Wipes
Books & Co
Cake, Hope and Love
CJ's Craft Corner
Cindeloo
COSI
Five Rivers Metropark
Jenna Claire
Lia Sophia
Lulee's Lollies
Mabel's Labels
Mary Kay
Meeno Babies
Pink, Pearls and Pigtails
Princess Tea Room
Semilla
Smashburger
Stitched In Love
Teething Bling
Thirty1Stitches
Thirty One Gifts
Underdoodles
Winans
2011
Last year at this time I had only been blogging for a few months and I went to this amazing Mom's Nite Out put on Tricia from Once A Month Mom and Jenny from Mommin' It Up. I couldn't believe how much fun it was! There were new people to talk to, other bloggers to met, yummy food and exciting giveaways. All great things in my book! There was even an Ultimate Mom's Night Out in July hosted by Tricia, Jenny and Kate. Although sadly I was out of town and didn't get to attend it. But you can read about it here if you want.
This year, Kate and I decided that just the two of us would try our hands at the reigns and throw an Ultimate Mom's Night Out again in July. We have tons of great local and national sponsors and we both get so excited every time we talk about it. We can hardly wait! The party will be on July 14 at 6:30pm at the Clubhouse at the Villas at the Point in Springboro (right near DLM in Springboro). That's in just a few weeks, but ticket sales start on June 28 at 9am. Our event is just for all your amazing MOMs, it's a chance to just get out and relax while meeting other local moms. If you are a mom, or are going to be a mom this event is for you!! We will have fun, food, giveaways and swag bags. Now, here are a few of our incredible sponsors so far:
Primary Sponsors:
Product Sponsors:
Books & Co
Cake, Hope and Love
Cindeloo
Five Rivers Metropark
Jenna Claire
Lia Sophia
Lulee's Lollies
Mabel's Labels
MacTown
Mary Kay
Meeno Babies
Pink, Pearls and Pigtails
Princess Tea Room
The Rusted Chain
Semilla
Smashburger
Stitched In Love
Teething Bling
Thirty1Stitches
Thirty One Gifts
Veggie Tales
Underdoodles
Here is the super EXCITING part for all my readers… Since you all live in the Dayton area we have some spots that are open just for you. That's right!! You can come and hang with Savvy Little Women and myself in the flesh for an evening, how exciting is that?! This is a perfect chance to leave your kiddos at home, nursing babies are welcome, and just relax with some other moms. If you want to come you can get your FREE ticket starting Tuesday June 28 at 9am. Be sure to hurry because when they are gone.. they are gone. I hope to see you there!
2011
So during my bi-monthly scan of iTunes for free kids stuff I found some new FREE episodes of some of our favorite kids shows. We downloaded them onto our iPad and iPhone for vacation this summer. Ok, when I say "we" I mean "me," and when I did it I MAY have used up a little too much memory, so my suggestion is to download them NOW while they are free and then only put a few on your device if you are short on space. Oh, and these are all full episodes, and I don't know how long they will be FREE.
Are We There Yet? World Adventure: Mexico
The Backyardigans: Polka Palace Party
Blues Clue: Blue Wants To Play a Song Game
Dinosaur Train: Armored Like an Ankylosaurus/ Campout!
Dora the Explorer: ABC Animals
Dora the Explorer: Dora Had A Little Lamb
The Fresh Beat Band: Band Together
Go Diego Go: Linda the Llama Saves Carnival
Pocoyo: Make Friends With Pocoyo
Team Umizoomi: The Butterfly Dance
Word World: Runaway O/ Happy Birthday
Want more like these? Be sure to check out our previous post about FREE Dora episodes. It looks like all these episodes are still free too.
CLOSED: This giveaway is now closed. Congrats to our winners.
YOU CAN VIEW OUR LIST OF GIVEAWAY WINNERS HERE.
UPADTE: WE NOW ARE GIVING AWAY 2 SETS OF PASSES!!
Last Wednesday I packed myself, my kids, Once A Month Mom and her kids all into my van and we headed out to COSI to a special preview of their new Dinosaurs exhibit. Suffice it to say, the kids were excited to go. We have passes to Cincinnati Museum and can go to COSI for free, but this was a special chance to see the Dinosaur exhibit up close and personal. Rarr!!
The Dinosaurs: Explore, Escape, Survive exhibit is over 10,000 square feet of dino-rific fun! There are giant robotic dinosaurs, which kind of scared B since he's only almost 2. There was an amazing educational and hand-on maze, and about a dozen computer simulators that let your kids have a hand at being a dinosaur. The computer simulator was by far the favorite part of the exhibit for my boys. They ran from chair to chair trying to decide which dinosaur they wanted to be, until they found the 4 steering wheel car which all the kids promptly sat down it. Although, it left me wondering how on earth that car drove with 4 drivers, it must be pretty hard to get anywhere when everyone is turning their wheel in a different direction. As we drove home and B was sound asleep (because all Moms know that means it was a good/tiring day) C looks at me and says, "Mama, thanks so much for taking letting me go to that cool special Dino thing" and in my book- that is a GOOD day!
Do you have a dino fan in your home? I know since PBS started showing Dinosaur Train that my boys seem to care more about dinosaurs than they did before. Now, here is your chance for them to get up close and personal with some dinosaurs! Well, COSI has generously given us a set of 4 tickets to giveaway.
Includes four (4):
General admission voucher to Dinosaurs: Explore. Escape. Survive. exhibit, Waking the T.Rex 3D: The Story of SUE movie, and all COSI's permanent exhibits.
Main entry: Leave us your best dinosaur sound! Roar, growl, grr- let us hear it! (Be sure to leave your comment on this post so that it gets counted)
Want more chances to win? Well, here are some more ways you can enter, just be sure to leave a seperate/ new comment for each additional entry.
- Follow Deals For Dayton on Facebook, if you already do just leave that in a comment.
- Subscribe to our weekly email newsletter, if you already do just leave that in a comment.
- Follow COSI on Facebook if you already do just leave that in a new comment. Please feel free to let them know that Deals For Dayton sent you!
This contest ends Friday, July 1, at midnight EST. We will use Random.org to pick our winner.
We were invited to a special blogger sneak peek. You can check out the other lovely ladies that were there and get more chances to win on their sites too!
2011
CLOSED: This giveaway is now closed. Congrats to our winners.
YOU CAN VIEW OUR LIST OF GIVEAWAY WINNERS HERE.
Well, tomorrow the first day of summer is officially here and this summer is turning out to be a pretty hot one already! If you are looking for a way to cool off be sure to check out the Kettering Recreation Complex's new and improved water park: Adventure Reef. This 3-acre outdoor aquatic facility was built in 1990 but has undergone a serious facelift this past year. You can find more information about all the changes on their site. They also have several pictures of all the other renovations that are happening around the complex on their Facebook page.
Adventure Reef sits where Water Raves the old water-park was, but they have added an interactive splash pad, a waterfall pool, a water playground, a shaded shelter and two giant slides with their own splash pool. Now since Kings Island a little bit of a drive (and pricy), Splash Moraine closed and all the local free sprayground parks only are able to fit a few dozen kids, the Kettering Rec Center's Adventure Reef with its 1,400 capacity is sure to draw big crowds this summer. Plus with admission for Kettering residents, at only $3 for youths (3-17 years) and $3.50 for adults or for non-residents, $6 for youth and $7 for adults, it seems like a very reasonable option. Besides I love that kids under 3 are FREE!!
Since I haven't been to Adventure Reef yet (but I'm hoping to get there soon) I decided to go to my panel of experts A.K.A. my readers, and asked several of you what you thought of it. So straight from the mouths of local moms here's what you all had to say:
Erin H- It's a TON of fun... They have a gated toddler area for 4yrs and under that OLDER children are not even allowed in. For mommies with little ones, this is great! They have a splash park, slides, and a water park type area for older kids (3/4+). If you are a pass holder you can get in at 11:30, set up your spot, and get in the pool a good 15min before others.
It gets super busy around 1:30/2ish, but early evening until close it seems the crowd seems to thin out. During break times you can stay in the water with your kids if they are 3 and under. The only down side is that they don't open until 12 (to non members) and close at 8pm.
Tami R- Yes, it is great!! I love the new gated toddler area and the new spray water section stays on even during break time as well! My 2 1/2 year old loved the smaller slides although it was a little crowded she jumped right in!
Jenny R- The gated toddler area is great...if all of your children are under 6. If not, then it's not much help.
Tricia C- Love the toddler area that is fenced in, and I'm so happy that the gross sand is gone. Plus the new regulations about Sunday being for residents and pass-holders is great!
Heather B- I love it! My kids have the best time there!
Wendi C- We really love it, however I do think it will be a bit less crowded/crazy when the big pool opens up in a week or so. I think that will help to free up some space in the other areas of the park.
Tess A- We've been and we absolutely love it. There's something for kids of all ages. Buying a family pass is definitely the way to go. We look forward to spending many hours there this summer.
Lizzie A- I am wondering if the new one is good for little kids??? I loved how the old one had the little pool and slide for little ones and shallow play areas in the main pool...my little one is 3 and hates water on his head so he won't be going near the big bucket if he sees it spill!!!
So, to kick off the first officially day of summer we have a giveaway! We are giving away 13 sets of passes for our readers. That means 13 families will win 2 free tickets each! How fun is that?! If you have a pass already, maybe you can win it for a friend and they can go with you to Adventure Reef.
Main entry: Tell us how you plan on enjoying this summer. (Be sure to leave your comment on this post so that it gets counted)
Want more chances to win? Well, here are some more ways you can enter, just be sure to leave a additional/ new comment for each additional entry requirement that you fulfill.
- Follow Deals For Dayton on Facebook, if you already do just leave that in a comment.
- Subscribe to our weekly email newsletter, if you already do just leave that in a comment.
- Follow the Kettering Recreation Complex on Facebook, if you already do just leave that in a new comment. Please feel free to let them know that Deals For Dayton sent you!
This contest ends Friday, July 1, at midnight EST. We will use Random.org to pick our winner.
Disclosure: The Kettering Recreation Complex provided me with a set of passes. But this post and opinions are my own and not paid for or influenced by the item provided.
I don't know about you but sometimes I feel like with my 2 year old that I stall out on breakfast, lunch and even snack options. I mean honestly, how long is it going to be before he gets tired of cereal bars for breakfast, chicken nuggets for lunch and goldfish crackers for snacktime? When Tricia from Once A Month Mom announced she was working on a toddler ecookbook I was really excited to get some new toddler meal inspiration! So let me introduce you all to: Survive Before 5: Toddler Meals For Your Busy Days. This ecookbook is a step-by-step resource for cooking meals for kids before dinner. We all know that meal times can be a challenge and hopefully this month full of meal plans can help keep the kids happy, and more importantly, mom happy.
The plan includes breakfasts, lunches and snacks. Like all Once A Month Mom menus it contains grocery lists, instructions, recipe cards and labels. There are options for 1 child, 2 children, 4 children, or 6 children. If you have a child that eats more than the indicated toddler portions you can simply count them as an additional child when cooking. Since I have a 2 year old and a 6 year old I just make enough for 4 children so we have enough for both and a little leftover. Here are the recipes that are contained in the one month plan ecookbook:
Breakfasts
blueberry pancakes**
toddler french toast sticks
fruity breakfast burritos
Lunches
homemade spaghetti o’s**
individual mac & cheese cups
corndog muffins
homemade cheesy rice
apple chicken nuggets
individual pizzas**
Snacks
frozen fruit cups
homemade yogurt
peanut butter banana yogurt pops**
peanut butter granola bars**
**Indicates NEW Once a Month Mom recipes not found on the website – 5 new recipes in total!
Here are some additional features:
-A choice of preparing for 1 child, 2 children, 4 children or 6 children.
-Grocery lists for 1 child, 2 children, 4 children or 6 children.
-Customized labels for each of your prepared items.
-Recipe cards containing photographs and some step-by-step photos as well.
We've already have made the individual pizzas and corndog muffins. I was so excited when I found out that both boys loved the corndog muffins! Little B loved them because it was cornbread (and what kid doesn't love sweet cornbread?!) and hot dogs. When I added a little ketchup and he was in toddler meal-time heaven. So if you need some meal inspiration for your toddler, and even young school age kids, be sure to check out Survive Before 5: Toddler Meals For Your Busy Days. The price of this eCookbook is $7.99. You receive all of the resources above in an easy to view (or print) format.
Buy it now! HERE (don’t forget to use the coupon code OAMM599 to get a $2 discount through July 1st, 2011).
2011
Books & Co is having a Summer Reading Program featuring the Junie B. Jones books. Children who read four of those books and present the booklet (which you can get in store) that has been signed by their parents will receive a free Junie B. Jones backpack. This seems like a Summer Reading Program more for older kids, but it still is a great way to get your kiddos reading this summer!
2011
At our home we seem to have the perpetual problem of unplayed with toys or unread books. But as soon as we go to a friend's home, all their toys are the newest and greatest things ever. Anyone else have this "problem"? Well, I decided to have a toy swap with some of my friends. Step2 generously donated a couple Little Helper Shopping Carts for the kids to collect their new toys in, everyone brought toys, books and games that were in good shape, with no pieces missing and for about 2 hours our kids swapped their toys away. Curious how we did it? Here are my tips on how to have a successful toy swap and what to do with all those leftover toys!
Send out your invites:
First decide how many people you want to invite. Do you want to just invite your friends or open it up to all the kids in your neighborhood. Just remember, the bigger it is, the more varitey of books and toys there will be to swap- plus the more you have to share/donate at the end.
Pick your place:
Small swaps can be easily done in a home. Or if you have a local church or community room to use they are great way to guarantee enough space for everyone and everything. I hosted our toy swap in our basement and cleared out any items we wanted to keep so that there was no confusion about what toys they kids were allowed to take and which ones were off limits.
Set some rules:
You can use a ticket system and give each child a ticket per toy. Although most parents are happy to get rid of old toys and not take as many back home. We didn't hand out tickets and with a dozen kids running around swapping toys we had no problems. Step2 sponsored our event with Little Helper Shopping Carts so the kids went around the room and put their favorite items their cart. The Little Helper shopping carts were pefect for the kids, they were able to grab stuff and keep looking without getting loaded down with whatever treasures they may have already found.
Snacks:
You don't have to supply snacks. But what kids doesn't like snacks? Food AND toys.. my boys are in heaven. Plus it apparently takes a lot of energy to look around a room and get new toys, because those kids made quick work of the snacks. We just had "Toy Swap" bottles of water, Twizzlers, cookies, gumballs and M&M's for everyone.
Donate:
With all the leftover toys, you can donate them to a local charity. We donated our toys to Hannah's Treasure Chest in Centerville. We were able to donate 2 boxes and 2 large trash bags of toys, books and games when our event was over. There are several great local charities in the Dayton area; Goodwill, Salvation Army, AmVets and several others, but I felt drawn to donate the items from our swap to Hannah's Treasure Chest. First, the items at the swap were all in good shape, no pieces missing and nothing broken. So I didn't feel bad donating our swap items to them. Hannah's Treasure Chest is a non-profit organization that exists to enrich the lives of children in need by providing clothing, books, infant/toddler equipment and toys. Their main warehouse is located at 124 Westpark Road in Centerville. They use their donated items to help children in poverty by supplying them with things that they need. Their list of clients include social service workers, family advocates, school counselors and church pastors. Whenever my boys outgrow an item I sometimes hate to just "get rid of it," I would rather give it to someone that I know can use it. The problem is that there isn't always a friend or family member in need of what we have when we are looking to give our stuff away. Hannah's Treasure Chest is the perfect way to donate stuff that you no longer need or use, but you want to go to someone that can really use it.
Our toy swap was so much fun. The kids had a great time getting new toys and all the parents had a good time just being able to hang out. Toy swaps are a great way to clean out your closets and empty out some toy baskets plus it is a great way to teach your children about sharing with others. We all have things that we no longer use and this is a great way to teach our children about helping others out by donating items they no longer play with to someone that will appreciate it more. So next time you feel like the books and toys are taking over your home maybe grab a few friends and have a toy swap.
Disclosure: Step2 provided me with the Little Helper Shopping Carts. But this post and opinions are my own and not paid for or influenced by the item provided.
2011
The great thing about summer is that it brings the fun of outdoor Farmers Markets to the Dayton area. You can find locally grown produce, organic meat, bakery items and much more! They always have a great selection of food and other items. It's a great way to help support local farmers and businesses in the Dayton area. Plus if you ask any farmer's market die-hard shopper they will quickly tell you that what you can buy there is unlike anything you can ever hope to find at a grocery store. So now thanks to some of our amazing readers we have a list of several local farmer's markets. If you know of any others please feel free to leave us a comment and we will add it to the list.
2nd Street Market
Location: 600 E 2nd Street, Dayton
Dates: Year-Round
Hours: Thursday & Friday 11am-3pm
Saturday 8am-3pm
Closed on Christmas and New Years
Centerville Farmer's Market
Location: 892 S. Main Street, Centerville
North of the intersection of State Route 48 & Spring Valley Road
Dates: May 26- Oct 27
Hours: Thursday 2:30-6:30pm
Greene County Farmers Market
Location: North Allison Avenue in Xenia, next to Aldi’s
Dates: Tuesday during the summer
Hours: Tuesday 9am-1:30pm
Location: Five Points Shopping Center parking lot
2239 Tarbox Cemetery Road
Dates: Thursday during the summer
Hours: Thursday 2-6pm
Location: Beavercreek Kmart shopping center on Dorothy Lane
Dates: Saturday during the summer
Hours: Saturday 8am-12:30pm
Sugarcreek Township Farmer's Market
Location: 4333 Feedwire Road, Kettering
Dates: May 20 - October 28
Hours: Friday 3-7pm
Tippecanoe Farmer's Market
Location: 3rd and Main Street, Tipp City
Dates: June 11- Sept 17
Hours: Saturday 9am-12pm
Wegerzyn Market at Moose Lodge
Location: 2110 E. Central Ave, Miamisburg
Dates: July 5 - Oct. 25
Hours: Wednesday 1-6pm
Shiloh Church
Location: 5300 N Main St, Dayton
Dates: May 7- Oct 15
Hours: Saturday 7am-12pm
Thanks Lizzie, Brandi, Melissa, Veronica, Amber, Rebecca and Cindy!!
2011
Need some help encouraging your kids to read? Or maybe you have a few bookworms in your house like me and would love to "reward" their love of reading. Seriously have you ever seen a cuter bookworm?! Well, now that summer is here there are several summer reading clubs/programs going on in the area. Here are a few of the ones that I know about that are currently going on. Be sure to sign up early so that your kids can take full advantage of the programs. Libraries want to encourage EVERYONE to read and have programs for teens and adults also.
Barnes and Noble
Dates: May 24- Sept 6
Summer Reading Club
Books & Co
Date: While supplies last
Junie B. Jones Backpack Summer Reading Club
Chuck E. Cheese
Dates: Year Round
Reading Rewards (Food purchase required)
Dayton Metro Libraries
Dates: June 1- Aug 1
Summer Reading Programs
Sign up at your local branch
Greene County Libraries
Dates: June 1- Aug 1
Kids Program- ages up to 12
Teens Program- ages 12-18
Adult Program
Sign up at your local branch
Half Price Bookstore
Dates: June 1- July 31
Feed Your Brain Summer Reading Club
Washington Centerville Libraries
Dates: June 6- Aug 1
Baby/Toddler Program- 0-24 months
Children's Program- Preschool- 5th Grade
Teen Program- 6-12 Grade
Adult Program- 18 yrs and up
Summer Reading Club
Sign up at your local branch
