Logan's Mario Birthday

One thing I love doing as a mom is to plan birthday parties. I LOVE celebrating anyone’s day of birth actually! Going over board is just something that we get to do once a year. Now that Logan is older, he insists on getting on Pinterest and scouring over all the ideas. Thank goodness for Pinterest. It makes people who don’t know how to craft… crafters and people who are crafters… professionals! Ha!  Creativity has never been easier.

We didn’t have a lot of money growing up. My mom was a single mom to three kids, and working full time. I have so many fond memories from my birthday parties growing up. Except that one time… In Kindergarten when she got me a strawberry cake for my party.  She must have forgotten that I was the kid allergic to them!! I can’t wait to do something like that to my kids and cause them years of therapy! Kidding! Anyways, the parties my mom threw with just a little money were so fun. I remember in 1^st or 2^nd grade she did a whole party with obstacle games outside. I can still remember all the laughs from having to chew 4 pieces of gum at one time and blow bubbles. She made all the cakes. All the decorations. She even painted all of our faces. She was the master of creativity. (She still is!)

Birthday parties have since changed. Remember when you got invited to a birthday and your parents just dropped you off? Now you have to plan (and purchase food) for the whole entire family. Not only are they extremely expensive now, but there’s some sort of “Pinterest” standard now. You begin prepping MONTHS before. (Oh, you know you do it too.) You pin a hundred of the coolest ideas and then you start making decorations 60 days out. We start to focus on what everyone else will enjoy seeing. How can we make people stop in their tracks and say “Wow, she throws the best parties!” or “She outdid herself this year!” I can't help the need to please! :)

To be completely honest…. I will do it again and again. To see the look on my kiddos face is priceless. To watch the excitement that this day is about HIM/HER is one of my favorite things about being a parent. I have been scaling down a little. Picking a FEW things from Pinterest and making everything that I can. Trying to work within a budget for each party is a must now with three kids. (My husband is probably saying “yeah, riiiiiight”!)

Sometimes you can't make everything! I'm so excited I found Loontasic Gifts and Décor. She is a local company who specializes in everything balloons. I can't believe her talent and willingness to make anything you need for your themed party. When I asked about Mario Brothers, I never imagined the final product. Logan loves balloons so he was VERY excited that he could combine both his loves into his party favors. If you are local to the Fort Hood area and want party decorations or favors that have the WOW factor, Dora is your gal. She will take your idea and turn it into a work of art. You won't be disappointed.  

With that being said, I am going to be going back and posting blogs about the kid's birthday parties. Yes, I am about 6 months late with Kora’s. Better late than never is how the saying goes right?

Here’s Logan’s 6^th Mario Brothers birthday party.

Logan and his friends!

He became obsessed with Mario right after he turned 5. I’m not really sure how because he had never played one of the games before, but he wanted EVERYTHING Mario.



He wanted a background for pictures.
 

Fantastic balloon centerpiece from Loontastic Gifts

Party favors with candy inside from Loontastic Gifts

This is our Yoshi piñata after plastic surgery!
I wish I had a before picture. You wouldn't believe it!  



All the Mario Brothers inspired food.

Mario and Luigi fruit snacks!

Even my cousin Zach was happy to see the boys!

L couldn't believe it!

How amazing and talented is Loontastic Gifts
with this door greeter?

We love Mario and Luigi!



Logan wanted Mario shoes, but we couldn't find them
 anywhere so my mom HAND painted some for him!

Usborne Books- Review

Books... How important are they to you and your family?

 

We love books. I started collecting books before I was 18 years old for my future kids. That was over 12 years ago. We need books that are going to last year after year, kid after kid. I don't allow toys during nap time, but I allow books. I don't travel with toys in the diaper bag, but I do bring books. I feel like books are very important in your day to day life. I read at night to relax, to get lost in a fictional world, to learn how to cook, to understand why my child is peeing on the floor instead of in the toilet. We use books EVERY SINGLE DAY with our homeschooling curriculum. We read to get closer to God, to help find ways to strengthen our marriage, and even to learn how to grieve after we lose someone.

 

With all that being said, why don't we invest more into our children's books?

 

For my son's 3rd birthday party I asked all of his guests to bring books as gifts. Kids have so many toys. They play with them for awhile and then it's on to the next cool gadget. Books can last forever. They help our kids use their imaginations. They help them learn about such a wide variety of subjects. If your child is a die hard Mario fan... (Had to bring him up!) you can search and find books about him to keep your child interested. Books make up such an important part of our intellectual being! Books stimulate our brains! I don't know about you, but after so many years of "Mommy Brain" my brain needs some stimulation! Ha!

 

I even have books from when my older sister was a child. Books over 30 years old.

 

So, when I was asked to do a review on Usborne books I probably screamed a little out of excitement. I enjoy reviewing products that I LOVE. I enjoy doing reviews even more of products my kids LOVE. This was a very easy decision for me.

 

I know you're probably thinking what makes Usborne Books different from going to "WallyWorld" and buying some. First off, you would be supporting someone local. I love that! This is a direct sales company that strives on a personal experience when choosing your books. The books are high quality and very educational. (Win Win in my opinion!) They also offer over 2,000 books to choose from! That means it doesn't matter what age group you're looking for... They carry it!

 

So, we were given TWO books from Tanya, who is an independent consultant for Usborne Books & More. (She's the best!)

 

She picked:

"Baby's very first touchy- feely animals book" by USBORNE (Enter our giveaway at the bottom to win this book!)

"Secerts of the Seashore" by Carron Brown & Alyssa Nassner.

 

The touchy-feely book is perfect for my girls. K can read it, identify every animal, make the sound, and NOT destroy it! She loves pop-up and touch books but tends to be rough on them. She did great with this book since the different types of materials are made into the pages. We even shared the book with S who loved to drool and chew on the pages. It is still in one piece and being read daily. I also love that before each animal it lists an adjective describing what the child is feeling. I don't know how many 2 year olds are saying Velvety and Furry, but mine is! There are also no sentences in the book which make books hard for K to sit through the whole thing. Fun colors and chunky pages made this a favorite in K's opinion.

 

Then we got to explore the second book. Oh my, I am in love!!! If there is any activity that speaks to my kids, it's FLASHLIGHTS! What a great way to draw in children a little longer when it comes to reading.

 

I could go on and on about this book, but I wanted to share a little video of L reading it. Remember... he is only FIVE!!!

//www.youtube.com/get_player

 

This was such a fun way for us to sit down and spend time together while still learning. L is just learning how to read, so this also gave him a challenge. Which every mom likes! We incorporated this with his homeschool lesson about sea life. In the back there is a "There's More" page that lists ideas for the kids to do while out exploring. It encourages the kids to become more hands on when at the beach. I feel like this book will be something fun we can reference several times during our school year. The illustrations are super cute and the lettering was easy to read. Not enough pages to overwhelm them, but just enough to make an in-depth story time. L now can draw sea anemones!

 

After L and K looked at the catalog I let them make a wish list. I then talked to L about what he wanted for Christmas and to my surprise BOOKS were all over his list! This is one proud momma.

I decided to open up a party under Tanya incase anyone was interested in ordering from her. L and K would love to earn a few more books to add to our growing collection.

 

Here is the link if you're interested in seeing what Usborne has to offer. They have more than JUST books. Tanya is VERY helpful and fast when it comes to answering your questions. Ordering is quick too so these would be prefect for Christmas!

 

Her Facebook page is Reading Under the Usborne Tree.  Please 'like" her page and show her some love! She deserves it!

 

WHO LOVES FREE BOOKS???? Enter our giveaway here:

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/7d670e7d1/" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

If you have any questions for me please ask away! I am happy to give you honest feed back. If you're interested in me reviewing one of your products please email me at mallorysessions@Hotmail.com for more information.

 

 

 

*I do NOT accept compensation for reviews other than the actual product I am testing.

 

 

 

Usborne Books- Review

Books... How important are they to you and your family?

 

We love books. I started collecting books before I was 18 years old for my future kids. That was over 12 years ago. We need books that are going to last year after year, kid after kid. I don't allow toys during nap time, but I allow books. I don't travel with toys in the diaper bag, but I do bring books. I feel like books are very important in your day to day life. I read at night to relax, to get lost in a fictional world, to learn how to cook, to understand why my child is peeing on the floor instead of in the toilet. We use books EVERY SINGLE DAY with our homeschooling curriculum. We read to get closer to God, to help find ways to strengthen our marriage, and even to learn how to grieve after we lose someone.

 

With all that being said, why don't we invest more into our children's books?

 

For my son's 3rd birthday party I asked all of his guests to bring books as gifts. Kids have so many toys. They play with them for awhile and then it's on to the next cool gadget. Books can last forever. They help our kids use their imaginations. They help them learn about such a wide variety of subjects. If your child is a die hard Mario fan... (Had to bring him up!) you can search and find books about him to keep your child interested. Books make up such an important part of our intellectual being! Books stimulate our brains! I don't know about you, but after so many years of "Mommy Brain" my brain needs some stimulation! Ha!

 

I even have books from when my older sister was a child. Books over 30 years old.

 

So, when I was asked to do a review on Usborne books I probably screamed a little out of excitement. I enjoy reviewing products that I LOVE. I enjoy doing reviews even more of products my kids LOVE. This was a very easy decision for me.

 

I know you're probably thinking what makes Usborne Books different from going to "WallyWorld" and buying some. First off, you would be supporting someone local. I love that! This is a direct sales company that strives on a personal experience when choosing your books. The books are high quality and very educational. (Win Win in my opinion!) They also offer over 2,000 books to choose from! That means it doesn't matter what age group you're looking for... They carry it!

 

So, we were given TWO books from Tanya, who is an independent consultant for Usborne Books & More. (She's the best!)

 

She picked:

"Baby's very first touchy- feely animals book" by USBORNE (Enter our giveaway at the bottom to win this book!)

"Secerts of the Seashore" by Carron Brown & Alyssa Nassner.

 

The touchy-feely book is perfect for my girls. K can read it, identify every animal, make the sound, and NOT destroy it! She loves pop-up and touch books but tends to be rough on them. She did great with this book since the different types of materials are made into the pages. We even shared the book with S who loved to drool and chew on the pages. It is still in one piece and being read daily. I also love that before each animal it lists an adjective describing what the child is feeling. I don't know how many 2 year olds are saying Velvety and Furry, but mine is! There are also no sentences in the book which make books hard for K to sit through the whole thing. Fun colors and chunky pages made this a favorite in K's opinion.

 

Then we got to explore the second book. Oh my, I am in love!!! If there is any activity that speaks to my kids, it's FLASHLIGHTS! What a great way to draw in children a little longer when it comes to reading.

 

I could go on and on about this book, but I wanted to share a little video of L reading it. Remember... he is only FIVE!!!

 

This was such a fun way for us to sit down and spend time together while still learning. L is just learning how to read, so this also gave him a challenge. Which every mom likes! We incorporated this with his homeschool lesson about sea life. In the back there is a "There's More" page that lists ideas for the kids to do while out exploring. It encourages the kids to become more hands on when at the beach. I feel like this book will be something fun we can reference several times during our school year. The illustrations are super cute and the lettering was easy to read. Not enough pages to overwhelm them, but just enough to make an in-depth story time. L now can draw sea anemones!

 

After L and K looked at the catalog I let them make a wish list. I then talked to L about what he wanted for Christmas and to my surprise BOOKS were all over his list! This is one proud momma.

I decided to open up a party under Tanya incase anyone was interested in ordering from her. L and K would love to earn a few more books to add to our growing collection.

 

Here is the link if you're interested in seeing what Usborne has to offer. They have more than JUST books. Tanya is VERY helpful and fast when it comes to answering your questions. Ordering is quick too so these would be prefect for Christmas!

 

Her Facebook page is Reading Under the Usborne Tree.  Please 'like" her page and show her some love! She deserves it!

 

WHO LOVES FREE BOOKS???? Enter our giveaway here:

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/7d670e7d1/" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

If you have any questions for me please ask away! I am happy to give you honest feed back. If you're interested in me reviewing one of your products please email me at mallorysessions@Hotmail.com for more information.

 

 

 

*I do NOT accept compensation for reviews other than the actual product I am testing.