Kids Archives - Saving Time & Money l SamiCone.com

Summer Kids Activities with new Kidventures Book!

May 8, 2013 By sami 3 Comments

Although the weather has been quite tempermental in the past weeks, it should surprise no-one that summer is right around the corner. And if your kids are old enough to play outside, then it’s only a matter of time before you hear them say, “Mom, I’m booooorrrrrredddd!”

That’s why I’m so excited to share my friend (QuatroMama) Jen’s new Summer Kids Activities book: KidVentures: 50 Outdoor Experiences of Wonder, Discovery, & Childhood Memories.

What exactly is KidVentures, you ask?

It’s a practical step-by-step ebook guide for your outdoor summer adventures. It’s chock-full of 50 creative, active, and hands-on learning activities for you and your family this summer along with supply lists, detailed instructions, printables, diagrams, and resources to take each activity a step further!

So what are you waiting for? You certainly don’t wan’t to wait until school is out to snag this treasure. And trust me, if Jen has tested it out on her quadruplet boys and they approve it, then your kids certainly will

Click here to visit KidVentures by Jen Murray

Filed Under: Books, Parenting, Reviews Tagged With: activities, ebook, Kids, kidventures, summer

A Clean Home without the Chemicals: LYSOL® Power & Free™

May 8, 2013 By sami 4 Comments

Susie Homemaker I am not…but that doesn’t mean I don’t try desperately to work for and with my family to keep our home clean.

I’d hate to confess all the hours I spend researching cleaning methods, checklists and DIY formulas in an effort to find clean house utopia.

In fact, just last month I shared on TV some of the best DIY solutions I’ve come across in those pursuits. One of the reasons I propagated such solutions was quite simply because of this: my children.

Although I enjoy having them help me clean, I’ve feared the harsh effects of the chemicals, particularly bleach.

You see, my children are not very good at cleaning just yet (they’re only 7 & 8), but it’s my hopes that if I have them help me now, their future spouses won’t hate me later.

(That, and the fact they both love to spray and wipe anything that stands still long enough.)

So when I learned that LYSOL® created a new, powerful cleaner without the harshness of bleach, I was intrigued.

LYSOL® Power & Free™ Multi-Purpose Cleaner can be used on many surfaces throughout the home. The hydrogen peroxide formula releases thousands of micro bubbles that penetrate to dissolve grease and soap scum.

Oh year, and it kills 99.9% of viruses & bacteria. That’s what I’m talking about.
No harsh chemical residue.
No gloves, masks, or protective eye wear needed.
Simple. Fresh. Clean.

I only intended to clean my bathtub when we started, but once I caught the first aroma of the Citrus Sparkle Zest scent, my daughter and I couldn’t stop: we kept going to the vanity, baseboards, shower, toilet…even the door panels!

I don’t have room here to tell you everything there is to know about LYSOL® Power & Free™ Multi-Purpose Cleaner, but you can check out their Facebook page if you want to learn more about how this product can benefit your family.

As a mom, it’s just nice to know I finally have a powerful multi-purpose cleaner in my cabinet that’s both family friendly and a germ-killer!

What do you love about a clean home? One of my readers will win a bottle of Lysol® Power & Free Multi Purpose cleaner to try in their own home! Comment below to be entered to win!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Lysol. The opinions and text are all mine. Official Sweepstakes Rules

Filed Under: Deals & Freebies Tagged With: clean, home, Kids, lysol

How to Help Kids Handle Hurt

April 10, 2013 By sami

How to Help Kids Handle Hurt One of the toughest jobs I face as a parent is how to help my kids handle hurt. I don’t care whether or not the hurt is physical or emotional (and I know there will be a TON of both of the course of my children’s lives), it breaks my heart as a mom!

Sometimes in an effort to be “SuperParent”, we miss out on being what our kids really need, the parent they’ve always known and loved. In times of hurting, kids don’t want different, they want what they already know. The more you can focus on reminding them of what they know is true, the more they will understand that tragedy is a part of life and they too can triumph over the pain.

In addition to the hurts our kids experience first-hand, there are a slew of others that they will be a by-product of: from things that will literally shatter their world like divorce & family death to learning about the ills of this earth, such as natural disasters and child poverty.

In the nine years I’ve been a parent, we’ve been through our fair share of disasters, both of the child-sized variety and the actual earth-shaking variety. If there’s anything I’ve learned, it’s that my adult-brain rationale is not very comforting to a hurting child.

So I’ve come up with a list of my top three pieces of advice I’ve complied, both from experts and personal experience, to help your kids when they’re hurting. You can read them over on Vanderbilt’s Wishing Well blog…

Filed Under: Family, Parenting Tagged With: hurt, Kids, Parenting, tips, vanderbilt, wishing well

Why I’ll Be Eating at Captain D’s with my Kids: #DsNewLook

April 5, 2013 By sami

I wanted to share with you, my friends, why you’ll soon be seeing me and some of my favorite Nashville bloggers on social media eating at Captain D’s with our kids.

We pride ourselves on being a family on the go and I know that to be true of so many of you as well. I also know one of the reasons you frequent SamiCone.com is to learn how to save money so you and your family can go off on more fabulous adventures together without breaking your budget.

One of the biggest budget-busters when traveling (or any day for that matter) is eating out. As much as we may try to eat the majority of our meals hand-prepared at home, the truth is that many of us find ourselves needing something quick and easy at one time or another during our week. And if I said we only ate local, organic food and never walked through the doors of a fast food restaurant, I would be lying…

So when I learned that Captain D’s wanted to invite a group of bloggers to experience the revitalization of their brand, including a new look In their restaurants to make families feel like they were escaping to their favorite beachside destinations, I was intrigued. Not only that, they’re making every effort to put the emphasis back on the dining ‘experience’ and welcoming atmosphere by creating new seating options so that more families, teams and friends can gather around the same table!

But most importantly, I found out they have teamed up with the National Restaurant Association’s Kids LiveWell program, a nationwide initiative that provides parents and children with healthful menu options when dining out. This means their new kids meals and 3D Kid’s Program now come with a choice of entree with two sides…and with 4 entrées and 10 sides for kids to choose from, that equals 400 potential kid’s meal combinations (including grilled options for both adults AND kids)!

That spoke to me as a mom.

To me, if I am going to eat fast food, I want it to be somewhere that will provide my family with a quality, consistent experience, while also providing a variety of options for all of us.

So while I’ll be walking in with no pre-conceived notions about what my family will find once we get there next week, I am always open to an adventure where I have the opportunity to express my honest opinion to a brand that cares enough to listen.

My family and I are looking forward to our Captain D’s experience on April 8 and you can follow along with our adventure by joining the conversations on Twitter and following @CaptainDs and #DsNewLook.

UPDATE: You will never believe what my kids’ thought of their 3D Kids Meal at Captain Ds…

Filed Under: Restaurants, Reviews Tagged With: blogger, brand, Captain D's, Kids, nashville, restaurant

Home Depot Free Kids Workshop 2013 Schedule

April 2, 2013 By sami

The next Home Depot free kids workshop for 2013 is coming up!

The Home Depot free Kids workshops are such a big hit, not only in our family, but for everyone looking to get the kids out for some hands-on, free fun! These occur on the first Saturday of every month from 9a-12p.

Home Depot Free Kids’ Workshop Schedule for 2013:

*June 1, 2013
*July 6, 2013
*August 3, 2013
*September 7, 2013
*October 5, 2013
*November 2, 2013
*December 7, 2013
The Home Depot FREE Kids’ Workshops usually center around whatever holidays are happening that month and let kids build (and often paint) things like cars, napkin holders, games & more. Every participant also gets a certificate, orange apron, pin and treats when they complete the project!

Filed Under: Deals & Freebies, Events, Kids Tagged With: build, free, home depot, how-to, Kids, workshop

How to Keep Your Kids Honest: 30 Ways in 30 Days of April

April 1, 2013 By sami

If you’re like me (or most parents for that matter!), you struggle with how to keep your kids honest. Since April 30 is National Honesty Day, I wanted to help you teach your kids honesty in a more clever, bite size way.

I’ve come up with 30 Ways in the 30 Days of April to help keep your kids honest. I’ve shared the entire list of honesty tips of on my April Tommy Nelson blog post, but I wanted to share the top 10 to get you started encouraging your kids to walk in the ways of honesty and truth.

Top Ways to Keep Your Kids Honest:

1. Keep them accountable for their actions
2. Listen as they speak to friends & siblings
3. Have them put a penny in a jar every time they don’t tell the ‘whole’ truth
4. Share the difference between manipulation & persuasion
5. Set a good example before them
6. Encourage them when they tell the truth in a difficult situation
7. Ask little ones if they know the difference between right and wrong
8. Explain the difference between ‘telling the truth’ and ‘being honest’
9. Talk about what it means to live an ‘honest life’
10. Discourage telling ‘fibs’

(Remember, you can read my entire list of 30 Ways over on TommyNelson.com)

If you really want a helpful tool to help your kids live our the principles of being honest and doing the right thing, then check out this DVD resource from Tommy Nelson:

Featuring the voice talents of my Nashville ‘neighbors’, Amy Grant & Vince Gill’, this DVD will not only engage pre-school and elementary aged children alike, but also teaches a great message, including behaving well even when nobody is watching, and the biblical lessons from the Parables of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector.

Would you like to win this DVD for your family? Well you can!
Just enter the Rafflecopter giveaway below…
a Rafflecopter giveaway

If you don’t want to try your chances in the giveaway, you can buy “Cocka Doodle Doo the Right Thing” from ThomasNelson.com and use the code SAMIC20 to save 20% off the list price!

Remember, the best way to accomplish the goal of teaching our kids honesty is to show them practical ways to live it out instead of just listening to it! If you want more practical help on how to relate God’s Word to your life, take a look at my devotionals.

How have you taught your kids about the importance of telling the truth?

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Filed Under: Deals & Freebies, giveaway, Kid Tip, Parenting, Tommy Nelson Tagged With: 30 ways, april, giveaway, honesty, Kids, tommy nelson, truth

Nashville Easter Egg Hunts 2013, Red Caboose Park Egg Hunt & more

March 28, 2013 By sami

kids easter Nashville Easter Egg Hunts 2013, Red Caboose Park Egg Hunt & more Today is the day when you’ll find the majority of Nashville Easter Egg Hunts (March 30, 2013), including one of our favorites, the Red Caboose Park Egg Hunt (at the corner of 656 Colice Jeanne Road – just down from the Community Center & Bellevue Branch Library), as well as the Cheekwood Spring Art Hop & the Nashville Zoo Eggstravaganza.

* Red Caboose Par

Starts at 11:15, but egg hunt times are separated by age:
Time:
11:15 – Toddler to Age 3
11:30 – 4 and 5 year olds
11:45 – K through 2nd Grade
12:00 – 3rd through 6th Grade

Free Snacks and Drinks provided by local churches. Also Games, Prizes, Face Painting, Washable Tatoos, Over 20, 000 Eggs

* Nashville Zoo

More than 40,000 plastic eggs will be distributed on the Zoo’s Festival Field for 10 scheduled hunts held throughout the day. Participants can redeem their eggs for exciting prize packs from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m on March 30.

Festival Field Egg Hunt Schedule:
• Ages 2 & under: 10 a.m. OR 12:30 p.m.
• 3 years: 10:30 a.m. OR 1 p.m.
• 4 – 5 years: 11 a.m. OR 1:30 p.m.
• 6 – 7 years: 11:30 a.m. OR 2 p.m.
• 8 – 10 years Noon OR 2:30 p.m.

There will also be a Zoo-wide hunt for larger, golden eggs also redeemable for prizes. Visitors can watch as Zoo animals hunt for special “eggs” hidden just for them. Other activities include Easter-themed games, bounce houses and face painting.

*Cheekwood

Egg hunts will be going on every 1/2 hour from 11a – 4pm (divided by age). Members are free. You can visit the Cheekwood Spring Art Hop website for more details on pricing and entertainment.
Activities include:
• Community Project: Flowers & Friends
• Easter Ears
• Spring Seeds
• Bubbles & Blooms
• Butterfly Rings

I also know there will be a big Easter Egg Hunt at Two Rivers Park in Donelson as well as ‘flashlight’ Egg Hunt taking place at 7PM (yes PM!) in Fairview.

Be sure to check out my 32 Cheap Easter Basket Filler Ideas & Top 7 Tips for Cheap Easter Baskets I shared on “Talk of the Town”.

Where will you be egg hunting this Easter?

Filed Under: Deals & Freebies, Events, Events, Kids Tagged With: "Nashville Zoo", cheekwood, easter, egg, hunt, Kids, nashville, red caboose park

32 Cheap Kids Easter Basket Ideas

March 28, 2013 By sami

Even though Easter is this week, have no fear! I have 32 cheap kids Easter basket ideas for you that you can easily pull together before the weekend:

Easter Stickers
Sidewalk Chalk
Bubbles
Jump Rope
Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs (my personal favorite)
Easter Book
Coloring Book
DVDs (our kids especially love VeggieTales & What’s in the Bible)
Glow Sticks
Mini Figurines
Coupons for Family Time
Little Stuffed Animals
Homemade Cookies
Flowers from the garden
Markers
Ponytail Holders
Green Army Men
Marbles
Mini Craft Kit (Don’t forget to use a Michael’s coupon!!!)
Fake Tatoos
Family picture in a frame they can decorate
Lost treasures that you’ve discovered around the house (you know what I mean, moms!)
Balloons
Ball
Gum
Play-Dough
Notebook (make your own with paper you’ve cut into fun shapes!)
or Plastic Eggs filled with:
Pennies
Jelly Beans
Scripture papers
Mini Erasers
M&Ms

Now that you have all the best budget Easter Basket Fillers, read my top 7 Cheap Easter Basket Ideas I shared on “Talk of the Town”.

What are your favorite Easter treats to surprise your kids with?

Filed Under: Deals & Freebies, Family, Kid Tip, Kids Tagged With: basket, cheap, easter, ideas, Kids

IMAX Chattanooga Kids Review: “10 million times better than I expected!”

March 23, 2013 By sami

20130323 210840 200x300 IMAX Chattanooga Kids Review: 10 million times better than I expected!
It would be one thing for me to tell you how great my first experience at the TN Aquarium’s IMAX theater was, but I thought it would be much more valuable for you to hear my kids’ review of their first IMAX movie.

About halfway through “Born to be Wild 3D”, my 7 year old son leaned over to me and whispered, “Mom, this is 10 million times better than I expected!”

You see, I can’t exactly remember the last time I saw an IMAX movie, but I’m pretty sure it dates back to the last time Michael Jordan & Bugs Bunny partnered together for a full-length film…

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

The night before going on our first IMAX adventure, I decided to pump my kids up by showing them the Chattanooga IMAX movie trailers on YouTube. However I have to be honest; after watching the previews, my kids weren’t super excited about going to the IMAX.

Sure, the images were beautiful, but my kids were not instantly compelled to spend 45 minutes in a theater watching pretty pictures of animals.

We didn’t realize just how much those opinions would soon change…

We had three IMAX 3D movie choices:
*Born to Be Wild 3D
*Flight of the Butterflies 3D
*The Last Reef 3D

main flight butterflies 300x97 IMAX Chattanooga Kids Review: 10 million times better than I expected!

When our family was first invited to attend an IMAX movie after our day at the Aquarium, “Born to be Wild” came highly recommended. But I really thought my daughter would want to see the “Flight of the Butterflies” because the Butterfly Garden is one of our favorite experiences at the Aquarium’s Ocean Journey. We also thought the images from “The Last Reef” looked stunning, but none of us were compelled enough for that to be in the running.

So it came down to a decision between the first two, but we ultimately decided to go with the original recommendation we got because the story seemed the most interesting and heartwarming.

“Born to be Wild 3D” narrated by Academy-Award® winner Morgan Freeman, documents orphaned orangutans and elephants and the extraordinary people saving these endangered species one life at a time.

BTBW POSTER IMAX Chattanooga Kids Review: 10 million times better than I expected!

The IMAX theater itself is something to behold, but once you put on those 3D glasses and the film starts, that’s when we were truly transported, both literally and emotionally.

I may have cried…

I am not your typical animal person: I’m allergic to most house pets, I get annoyed when I see dogs in strollers in stores and I don’t understand when people alter their travel plans for their animals.

Yet this film moved me.

Watching how these women dedicated their lives to rescuing, rehabilitating and returning these animals to their natural habitat was absolutely inspiring. And don’t even get me started on the stunning visual imagery and moving narration provided by Morgan Freeman.

Throughout this IMAX film, my kids kept leaning over to me and saying, “I’m so glad we didn’t go home early” and “I should have listened to you mom – this is better than I ever could have imagined!”.

Here are some closing comments directly from my kids. First, from my 8 year old daughter when asked what she would say to another kid, like her, who wasn’t sure if they wanted to see an IMAX movie:
“It’s a lot funner than you think, it’s a huge screen, and Born to be Wild is the best (since that’s the one we saw). It was really, really good. It’s about elephants and orangoutangs. It was a great story about how two ladies who raised elephants and orangoutangs and how they released some into the wild because they were old enough. It was very cute and I loved it.”

And from my 7 year old son when asked the same question (as if the “it was a million times better than I expected” comment wasn’t enough):
“I didn’t really want to go because I didn’t think it would be so good… but it was really good.”

Children under 3 are free at the Tennessee Aquarium IMAX 3D Theater in Chattanooga, and if you want to add an IMAX ticket on to your Aquarium ticket, it’s only an extra $6 (Now that’s value!). The theater is about a block away from the Aquarium, so I recommend what we did: get to the Aquarium when it first opens, spend a couple hours there, catch a movie around lunch time, and then you can always return to the aquarium for more fun after the film is done!

Have you ever been to the Chattanooga IMAX 3D theater? If so, what was your favorite film?

Filed Under: Movie, Reviews, Travel Tagged With: animal, aquarium, imax, Kids, movie, ticket, tn, Travel

An Instant First Grade Classic! What’s in the Bible Volumes 1 & 10 Giveaway

March 21, 2013 By sami

I’m not a kid person.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my kids, I just am not great with hoards of small children that are not my own.

I’m not the type of person you’ll see volunteering in the church nursery. (At least not very often; sometimes I get guilted into it in an emergency, but I wouldn’t say it’s my spiritual gift…)

Perhaps that’s why I have such an immense amount of respect for my children’s elementary school teachers. For the life of me, I cannot figure out where they get the patience and energy to deal with those little ones day in and day out.

So when my son’s first grade teacher asked me to “watch the class” recently while she did some makeup testing in the hallway, I froze.

Did I mention this was a group of 19 first-graders?

You’ve got to give me a break; I never even went to first grade! I jumped right to third grade when I was six, so I missed out on the land of napping, macaroni crafting, and doodling.

But how could I say no to this precious, godly woman who has done so much for me and my kiddos.

Then it came to me: movie time!

But not just any movie, mind you. Only “What’s in the Bible” was going to be good enough for this special class. The day before, I had just received the newest What’s in the Bible DVD: Volume 10 introducing the New Testament.

I ran out to the car, grabbed the DVD, popped two bags of popcorn, and poof! Let’s just call a spade a spade shall we? I was the classroom hero for those 50 minutes on that Friday afternoon.

Two things brought a smile to my face that day… well maybe three:
1. I loved hearing the squeals of delight as the movie came on. Normally I would silence the chatter, but all the kids were talking about their favorite character, what song they liked best, and how they were so excited that a new What’s in the Bible DVD was finally out. Adorable.

2. I finally got to actually watch one of these DVDs! Most often, I am listening to it while the kids are watching it in the backseat DVD player. Of course, I always stop to crane my neck for the menu feature (which is my favorite part of the whole series), but then I have to get back to driving. I kept laughing so hard sitting at the teacher’s desk that the kids kept turning! I finally had to muffle myself because I was becoming a distraction to the class

3. This all happened on my son’s seventh birthday (hence why I was hanging out at the school that day) and there isn’t a much better feeling then getting to bring your son cupcakes to school, eating lunch with him, and being the mom that puts the movie on for the class… all in one day. I scored some major brownie points, to say the least.

Watch a trailer of Volume 10

Have you checked out the newest volume of what’s in the Bible yet? Have you seen any of them at all? Well I want to change that for one lucky reader who answered NO to either of those questions. Enter below to have a chance to win both Volumes 1 & 10!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I have personally learned so much from watching and listening to these DVDs, especially as someone who didn’t grow up as a Christian. I can’t wait to help one of you share these amazing and funny resources with your children!

If you don’t want to wait to see if you’ve won, I’m thrilled to offer you this amazing coupon good for $5 off the Volume 10 & Jesus Journal bundle!

UPDATE: Congratulations to our winner, Lana B.!

And EVERYONE can print out these FREE Volume 10 coloring pages

Filed Under: Deals & Freebies, giveaway Tagged With: Bible, dvd, giveaway, Kids, What's in the Bible