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ENTER TO WIN AN OCEANFRONT CONDO or $50,000 CASH!

June 14, 2019 By Marijean Leave a Comment

ENTER TO WIN AN OCEANFRONT CONDO or $50,000 CASH!

Win an Oceanfront Condo and Change Your Life! Vacation Myrtle Beach, one of the largest providers of family vacation accommodations in Myrtle Beach, SC, is pleased to announce the launch of The Great Myrtle Beach Condo Giveaway contest, which features the grand prize of a furnished oceanfront condo at The Caravelle Resort located in Myrtle Beach, SC, valued at nearly $100,000 (or $50,000 CASH, winner’s choice)!!! Other lucky winners will receive a 7-night stay or a 3-night stay at one of Vacation Myrtle Beach’s oceanfront properties.

The newly renovated, oceanfront efficiency condo offers room for up to four guests and includes a fully-equipped kitchen. In addition to its prime Myrtle Beach location, the resort provides convenient access to all of the area’s major attractions, restaurants, and things to do. Families and couples enjoy a wide variety of on-site amenities including an indoor pool, a block-long poolscape complete with a large pool, whirlpool, lazy river, kiddie lazy river, kids’ pool, poolside bar, and plenty of relaxing deck options. In addition to everything you need for fun in the sun, the resort offers an array of dining options as well as an opportunity for rejuvenation and relaxation at its on-site spa.

The Great Myrtle Beach Condo Giveaway sweepstakes is now open for entries.

Click here to enter: https://woobox.com/hsfeoo?source=usfam

For Official Rules and for more information about Vacation Myrtle Beach properties and deals, please go to https://woobox.com/hsfeoo?source=usfam

Marijean

My name is MJ. I have two wonderful children and work part time as well as volunteer at my children's school.

Treat the Man in your Life to an Amazing Gift Basket from TheBroBasket.com

June 13, 2019 By Marijean Leave a Comment

Are you trying to figure out what to get someone who has everything? Father’s Day is quickly approaching, and I was at a loss on what to get my husband who has everything! My kids always make or buy him something that is specifically from them…but I also like to get him a gift to let him know how much of a wonderful husband and father he is. I was contacted by a company called TheBroBasket.com and I was excited to see what they have to offer as gifts for men that have everything.

About Bro Basket:

The BroBasket offers awesome gift baskets for guys! Most of our unique gift baskets are completely customizable and feature their favorite beer, wine or spirits.

I must tell you, I was completely overwhelmed when I viewed their website. In a good way that is. So many awesome baskets to choose from. Whether the man in your life likes beer, vodka, whiskey, gin….there is something he will definitely love.

My husband loves trying different types of beer. When I viewed “The Ultimate Beer Gift for Men-Beer Lovers Gift Basket”, I knew it would be a big hit.

Because what man doesn’t LOVE a BIG tub of their favorite beers.

The Craft Beer:

Three Variety Packs of Four Craft Beers from Three separate breweries = A selection of 12 awesome craft beers!

Our craft beer experts choose what beers come in this to truly make it Ultimate!
So if they don’t like IPA’s, only like IPA’s, or don’t even know what an IPA is…
Not a problem!
If you know the styles of beers they like, just ask us to put those in at checkout, OR get them exactly what they want with our
Customize Your Own BroBasket.

The Goods:

1 – Large Metal Tub
1 – BroBasket Bottle Opener
1 – BroBasket Pint Glass (16oz)
1 – Popcornopolis Gourmet Flavored Popcorn

The Freebies:

2 – BroBasket Coozies
1 – Greeting Card with your special message on it.

$89.95

This basket has everything in it you could possibly want! I was super impressed when I received it. It was packaged so nicely. I love how you can also customize it, my husband really loves IPA beer, so knowing I could add a variety of them to this basket was pretty awesome. The bottles were wrapped so they don’t break during shipping, everything was nice and secure. I experienced no issues when I took the basket out of the shipping box and looked it over.

Checkout process is easy, an adult needs to accept delivery and that adds $2.95 to the price. Shipping is very pricey I must say. If you want a Saturday delivery, you will be charged an extra $9.95 fee on top of the shipping fee. You can pick your delivery date which I think is great. Most weekday dates I checked was about $28 to ship this basket. If you are a last-minute shopper and need the basket within a few days, expect to pay a lot more for shipping.

I decided to surprise my husband with this basket early, just because I was so excited to give it to him. He was thrilled and very happy! He was looking forward to trying all of the different beers. He especially loves the glass that came with it, along with the bottle opener. Bro Basket provides everything you need.

If you do not want to order a basket that contains alcohol, they have other options such as a protein basket and snacks basket. You can also customize your own the way you would like.

I think this is a really cool idea for gifts to get a man who you cannot think of what to get! There are tons of options to choose from, and the customer service and website ordering that I experienced were fantastic. You will not be disappointed!

One of these baskets would make a great gift for holidays such as: Birthday, Father’s Day, Christmas etc…

To order click here: The Bro Basket

*I received this product in exchange for this review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Marijean

My name is MJ. I have two wonderful children and work part time as well as volunteer at my children's school.

Little Ms. or Mr. Clean— 3 Tips to Inspire Your Children to Become Tidy Adults

June 5, 2019 By Anne Leave a Comment

Children are messy, and parents know this all too well. Maybe as your child grows up, they will just learn tidy habits, but this is not always the case. If they are the messy sort it may be a good idea to teach them a few things so that when they move out to college or their own place, they can keep their space neat and tidy.

Yes, this will be an exhausting task for you at first, but it will pay off big time for both you and your children in the long run.

1. Learn Which Chores Kids Can Do at Different Ages

Some of you may roll your eyes at this because your little Suzie knows how to unload the dishwasher. That is a great start! Now what about the rest of the house?

Many parents are surprised and delighted to learn their children are capable of doing specific chores at a fairly young age. This means your little ones can help clean up the messes they are making.

You can encourage your child to start picking up after themselves as early as ages 2-3. Kids can even begin learning how to vacuum and mop at age 6-8. There are many different suggestions for chores at different ages online.

Of course, every parent knows each child develops at their own rate, but that should not scare you from at least experimenting to see what they are capable of.

2. Mix It Up

It is a smart idea to develop schedules so your child can get certain chores done. Schedules are organized, predictable, and they work. Another thing to keep in mind though is that you are working with children. Children who have short attention spans and get bored very easily.

Since they are still kids, you may need to mix up the routine to keep things interesting. One day have them unload the dishwasher, the next day teach them to vacuum and sweep, then go on to teaching them how to wipe down the bathroom.

This way your children will gain a well-rounded set of skills. As opposed to them becoming master dishwashers that are incapable of doing their laundry as they grow up.

3. Encourage Them

Find what chores your kids enjoy (or dislike the least) and encourage them. Positive reinforcement goes a long way. If your child does not mind vacuuming, encourage them by saying they did a great job. Even the next day, remind them again how good the room looks and thank them for their help.

As parents, it is easy to criticize and correct how children do things. Even if it is not perfect, continue to encourage them. Encouragement should take place more often than correction or criticism.

Even if you have shedding animals and your children cannot perfectly vacuum the floor, continue to encourage them. Freshlycleanhome.com may have some useful suggestions for your hairy home so the task can be accomplished without too much correction or criticism.

Last but not least

It’s always a game of give and take and there may be mishaps along the way. Everything is a learning curve for your child, and they will eventually have those tidy habits down to a fine art. Help them along the way with tips and tricks and give them positive reinforcement, so they don’t give up thinking they are doing the wrong thing.

Your children may be more capable than you trust them to be. It will take a bit of time to become the perfect helper but it will be well worth the trials in the long run.

Anne

I'm a mother of 2 who likes to get involved in too much! Besides writing here I started a non-profit, I'm on the PTO board, very active in my community and volunteer in the school. I enjoy music, reading, cooking, traveling and spending time with my family. We just adopted our 3rd cat and love them all!

Renaissance Kids – 4 Tips for Raising Well-Rounded Children

May 9, 2019 By Anne Leave a Comment

Photo by J carter from Pexels

What does it mean, exactly, to raise a well-rounded child? According to some experts, it means giving your children a good mix of academics and people skills with a little empathy and character thrown in for good measure. It’s difficult raising kids in our all-about-me culture full of computer screens, tablets, and smartphones. For parents like you looking for ways to help your children become the best versions of themselves they can be, we’ve put together the following short list. These tips are sure to help you raise well-rounded children.

1. Encourage Your Children to be Active

Today’s technology encourages children (and adults) to be very inactive. With so much entertainment right in front of their eyes, kids are less likely than ever to get outside and be active. Young bodies need exercise, and as a good parent, it’s your duty to encourage your youngsters to put down their devices and get moving.

An activity that many kids find fun is swimming. If your child doesn’t know how to swim, consider enrolling your family in swimming lessons for adults and kids. Since swimming is such a low-impact activity, kids don’t even realize their exercising. All they know is that they’re having fun!

2. Let Your Child Find His Own Passions

It’s common for parents to push their kids, especially when it comes to things you’re passionate about. However, it’s important to remember that just because you enjoy something doesn’t mean your child will too.

Let your kids figure out what they love to do – be it playing a particular sport or writing poetry. Whatever they discover they love to do and are good at, be encouraging and be proud. Their passions may not be yours, but they’re passions all the same.

3. It’s Okay to Let Them Quit – Sometimes

Quitting is often associated with failure, but that isn’t always true. For instance, when your kids are young, it’s important to expose them to many options so they can figure out what they like to do. If your son is begging you to play tee-ball but then, after just three practices, realizes he doesn’t like it, it’s okay to let him quit and move on to something else.

If you have older children, however, it’s important to teach them that quitting isn’t an option if they’ve committed to something that affects others. For example, if your daughter is part of a baseball team and wants to quit mid-season, she needs to know that quitting isn’t an option since her team is counting on her to do her part. Be sure she understands this before she commits to the team so she’s less likely to want to bow out early.

4. Offer the Right Kind of Praise

Praise is a powerful tool as it helps build character. Unfortunately, many parents have taken praise to a new materialistic level. Kids want to do well. They love to hear they’ve done a great job. Verbal praise is all that’s needed to let your child know they’ve made you happy. Don’t resort to gifts or treats when your child does well. Instead, offer an exuberant high-five or a few words of encouragement to keep them striving to do their best.

Raising well-rounded kids is simultaneously harder and simpler than you think. You go into the whole parenting thing with high expectations but soon discover that it takes a lot of effort on your part to grow those precious babies into people you can be proud of. Use the tips above to help ensure you’re raising well-rounded kids.

Anne

Mini Master Chefs – 6 Essential Kitchen Skills to Teach Your Kids

May 6, 2019 By Anne Leave a Comment

Image by laridra from Pixabay

There is no age limit for a good cook. Children are now competing in televised cooking, and baking competitions creating dishes and treats that many adults could never assemble. If you don’t need a mini Master Chef but would like to get your child more comfortable in the kitchen, below are six essential skills you can teach them.

1. How to Use the Stove

Your child may have been fascinated by the stove since they were a toddler, but around age six you can start teaching them how to cook with it. Help your child with turning the stove on and off and explain the various levels of heat available. While you are there, make sure to enlighten them about the correct position of handles so that they avoid heating them up or knocking them over. When they start cooking, increase the odds of a successful meal by providing the best cookware available.

2. Measuring Ingredients

Learning how to measure ingredients correctly is something some adults have never done, but an essential skill if you want to teach your child how to follow a recipe accurately. Liquids are measured in a different way than dry ingredients, and some ingredients you pack down into a measuring spoon while you gather others lightly. You can begin to demonstrate how to measure each component when your children are as little as three.

3. Knife Skills

It is essential that children not only understand how a knife should be used but also develop the appropriate respect for the tool. At about age five, you can begin to teach your child how to hold a soft fruit such as a banana with a claw-like grip to keep their fingers out of the way while cutting with a forward-rocking motion. During your training sessions, you can also explain how knives should be carried and by whom they should be used.

4. Meal Planning

Help your child get a healthy understanding of food by allowing them to plan meals as early as seven years old. Explain that a meal needs to include a source of protein, a type of carbohydrate and a vegetable or fruit, then allow them to assemble their own lunch to start with. As they become more comfortable with the concept and grow older, challenge them to plan a meal for your family.

5. Grating, Zesting, Kneading, Folding

By age 8 kids should be able to distinguish between the types of actions a recipe calls for and perform them safely with the required tools. Work with them through both cooking and baking, asking them what the different instructions mean and how to perform them. The more repetition, the better.

6. Recipe Math

Around the age of 12, your child should be comfortable with math concepts like addition, multiplication, and fractions. Invite your little math whiz into the kitchen to help you double a cookie recipe and practice all of the different math equations that challenge contains. Once they feel comfortable, try cutting a recipe in half. Teaching your child that recipes are not static will allow them to become more adventurous as they approach recipes because they will understand that they are flexible.

Your child may never aspire to be the next Master Chef, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be competent in the kitchen. Don’t be afraid to show them how to use the stove, measure ingredients, perform the various actions a recipe calls for, and the correct way to use a knife. If you encourage them to plan meals early and help you with recipe math, they will be unstoppable!