Crayola "Inside the Crayon Box" Giveaway

Crayola is pretty much synonymous with kids' creativity. I think the 64 crayon box with the built-in sharpener launched many an art career, as well as simply unleashing imaginations all over the world. We recently received a huge box of goodies designed to spur Roo and Jasper's artistic natures, just in time for spring break!

Here's what we found "Inside the Crayon Box:"

 

• My First Crayola Washable Crayons, Markers & Stampers: just the right size and shape for little hands, toddlers can create bright and colorful designs with no caps to lose or no messy ink pads
• Crayola Mess Free Color Wonder Tiny Tube: with over 10 ft of coloring, perforated activity pages, a carry-along handle and the ability to store markers inside, kids can color at home or on the road; markers magically appear only on the special Color Wonder paper, not on skin
• Crayola Crystal Effect Window Markers: turn an ordinary window or mirror into a colorful crystal canvas and create amazing effects on an unexpected surface that can be wiped clean with a damp cloth
• Crayola Washable Kaleidoscope Chalk: experience sidewalk art in amazing new ways, by drawing designs, putting on the 3D Kaleidoscope glasses and watching as creations pop up off the ground
• Crayola Dry-Erase Bright Crayons: a dry-erase drawing and writing tool for kids that´s washable, smudge-proof, odorless, and will never dry out
• Crayola Dual-Sided Dry Erase Board: a two-sided board that makes it fun and colorful to share eye-popping messages or track soccer schedules

The Dry-Erase Crayons with Dry Erase Board and Color Wonder Tube are great for in the car but the kids are especially thrilled with the possibility of making art outside now that the weather is nice. The Window Markers are a lot of fun and the Kaleidoscope Chalk and 3D glasses bring a new element to regular sidewalk chalk.

Win a set for your family! 

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Marvel's The Avengers: LEGOfied

I've mentioned how excited I am about the Joss Whedon-directed Marvel’s The Avengers, which hits theaters on May 4, 2012, but I'm even more excited now that I've seen the LEGO version of the theatrical poster:

I know. Isn't it amazing?! The Marvel Avengers LEGO sets look pretty epic. Look at the hair on Black Widow and the sheer bulk of the Hulk, so cool. I can't wait for fan-directed Avengers LEGO films to hit YouTube! Maybe I'll get my dream of a Whedon-esque musical version, á la Dr. Horrible…

For more information on the toys coming soon in conjunction with Marvel's The Avengers, as well as updates on the film premiere and events, "like" Marvel's The Avengers on Facebook and follow the @Avengers, Marvel’s @Agent_M and the #Avengers hashtag on Twitter.

In accordance to the FTC Guidelines and the WOMMA Code of Ethics, I am disclosing that I did not receive any incentive for posting about this event. I am simply a HUGE fan of Joss Whedon's many, many excellent productions (most of which ended much, much to soon) and an all-around comic geek girl. If they wanted to ply me with Avenger swag, I'd be totally into it but all opinions are, as usual, strictly my own. 

Wordless Wednesday - We Love Critters

Romulus and Remus sculpture at Ca d'Zan (Ringling Mansion) Sarasota, Florida. 

Big fat orange T.Rex at home, Wichita, Kansas. 

Share your own pictures this week at Wordless Wednesday HQ!

Before you leave, have you entered all of my giveaways?

Live a Little: Go Off the Grid

This past week was the kids' spring break and we spent half of it in the car, driving to and from the Florida Keys. Road trips are not one of my favorite things, especially when they last days instead of hours. I grew up in Hawaii, remember? You can pretty much drive around the entire island of Oahu in three hours! I get restless on the open road.

Especially when I am disconnected from the interwebz. That's kind of embarrassing to admit. Our resort had some poky and then non-existent internet service. Which gave me more time to spend watching the kids splash around at the beach instead of running through emails.

True, I came home to over 6000 messages in my inbox. But it was totally worth it. Try it sometime. Live a little. In the real world.

Share your Live a Little ideas every Monday:

Wordless Wednesday - Brave Sir Jasper

Share your own pictures this week at Wordless Wednesday HQ!

Before you leave, have you entered all of my giveaways?

Wizards 35th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray + Book

Way back in the days before I had kids, I was a kid. And much like my kids do now, I watched entirely too much inappropriate stuff on cable TV. I remember Wizards (celebrating its 35th anniversary with the fancy schmancy book/Bluray set shown above, which was released yesterday) being particularly formative when I was somewhere between Roo and Jasper's ages. Kind of explains my love of sci-fi/fantasy and underground comics…






Twentieth Century Fox’s first-ever animated film, created by renowned director Ralph Bakshi, WIZARDS appears in a 35th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray + Book release on March 13 from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. Celebrating its 35th anniversary, the “epic fantasy of peace and magic” stars the voice talent of Mark Hamill (Star Wars Saga). The special edition Blu-ray + Book release is a must-have for fans and collectors, featuring 24-pages of amazing artwork from the film, some of the artwork never-before-seen, and a special message from Bakshi!


Set on a post-apocalyptic Earth, this fantasy adventure follows the story of Avatar, the kindly, eccentric sorcerer-ruler of Montagar, a rainbow paradise inhabited by elves and fairies. Avatar's evil brother, Blackwolf, dominates Scortch, a bleak land of goblins and wraiths. When the power-hungry Blackwolf attacks Montagar, Avatar, accompanied only by a spirited young woman and a courageous elf, must enter the darkness of Scortch to save his world. 

Follow Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment on Twitter for more information.

New YUMMY Plush at Kidrobot

Have your cake and hug it, too, instead of eating it… Kidrobot has introduced brand new plush toys to its YUMMY collection designed by Heidi Kenney of My Paper Crane. Now you can have anthropomorphized snack foods ranging from teeny tiny to big and squishy, all without that pesky weight gain!

Proof of huggability:

If you're on Instagram, enter to win the entire collection of in-stock items for you AND for a friend (me! me!!!) by snapping and sharing your YUMMY moments. More info on the Kidrobot blog.

Live a Little: New Weekly Series

I was excited when my good friend Katja asked me to join her weekly blog carnival about living our lives to the very fullest. What a great way to remember to celebrate the awesomeness of the everyday! Of course, this week I am overloaded with too many chores and errands, as usual, so I don't feel particularly celebratory. What should I write about? 

How about the importance of trying something new? Or maybe trying something new, again?

I took a bellydancing class a million years ago when I was in college in Austin. I sucked at it. My punk rock aesthetic did not mesh with the hippieness of  the instructor and I felt clumsy and ugly and lame. Those are my old brass zils pictured. I need to find the other pair because I've recently taken bellydance up again, this time with lessons from my friends Tanya and Marta who are awesome female entrepreneurs as well as being hot badass chicks. They're teaching me about American Tribal Style bellydance, which fuses traditional and cabaret moves with a much more unorthodox attitude. I love it.

I still suck but at least I'm having fun.

Try something you failed at a long time ago. You might be surprised what happens next!

Geography-a-thon 2012

The kids' school has ONE major fundraiser each year, a pledge drive that hinges on how well they perform in the annual Geography-a-thon. Each grade level has specific geography-related facts to learn, i.e. Jasper is responsible for memorizing the continents and oceans, while Roo must also know the 50 States, plus their abbreviations and capital cities.

Potential donors may pledge a dollar amount per correct answer or by lump sum. It's pretty great to watch- I think both kids probably know more about geography than I do by now!




Roo reciting the Preamble of the Constitution, á la Schoolhouse Rock.




Jasper singing "The Continent Song."
If you're interested in donating to Roo or Jasper's Geography-a-thon campaign this year, please drop me a line ASAP. Hey, it's better than having to hawk wrapping paper or cookie dough door to door…

Yes, I know we're missing Maine. We'll find it one day.

Roo shows off her favorite states.

Jasper and Roo both seem drawn to Texas. Go figure!

Seriously, though, if you want to donate even a dollar or two to either kid's pledge drive, let me know. No pledge is too small! We can even take your pledge via PayPal if you'd like! There's nothing to buy and no salesman will contact you… unless you're related to us, in which case you will probably be getting an email or phone call over the weekend. You have been warned!

(Happy?) International Women's Day

The following infographic and video was produced by MissRepresentation.org in collaboration with LoveSocial.org, in honor of International Women’s Day. I hope it makes all of us think a little more about how we can have a positive impact, both as women leaders in our own communities and as mothers guiding future women leaders.

"Inside the Crayon Box" with Crayola and Lisa Loeb TONIGHT!

Creativity matters. It´s a skill that all children can learn and when it´s practiced every day, kids become the critical thinkers, problem solvers, and leaders in the classroom, and they´re better prepared for professions of the 21st century. 

Crayola wants every child to be creatively alive, so they´re inviting parents "Inside the Crayon Box," for a special live chat with celebrities and trusted parenting experts that will inspire and spark ideas to expand your child´s creative thinking. If you find yourself looking for new ways to inspire your children to express their ideas and build their creativity, you´ll want to join us to learn and share!

The first "Inside the Crayon Box" live chat is Wednesday, March 7 at 9 p.m. EST. Join Crayola and musician, children´s author and mom, Lisa Loeb for a 45-minute live streaming video chat on the Crayola Facebook Page. Lisa, best-known for her number one hit "Stay (I Missed You)," will share as personal stories, practical advice and ways she brings a little creative play into every day for her daughter. Crayola wants to hear from you - participants can ask Lisa questions during the event, too! 

Interested in the topics to be covered during the chat? 

• Why Does Creativity Matter? Creativity is not about who´s the best artists or becoming an architect. It´s a way of thinking that encourages kids´ original ideas and develops their confidence.
• Growing Up Creative. Lisa will share stories about growing up in a home where creativity was encouraged.
• Simple Tips. Easy Ideas. Like most moms, Lisa juggles a lot. She´ll share simple, easy ways she sparks her daughter´s creativity as part of their daily routine.

If you miss the Crayola "Inside the Crayon Box" event, it will be posted at the Crayola YouTube Channel. 

In accordance to the FTC Guidelines and the WOMMA Code of Ethics, I am disclosing that I did not receive any compensation or promotional materials for posting this information, I simply thought my readers might be interested. It was provided to me by Crayola via MyBlogSpark.

Five Tips for Working at Home, Successfully

This is a guest post by my friend Kate Canterbury, a fellow Midwest dweller and ex-Austinite. Kate is also the mother of twin girls, a charming conversationalist and a branding and marketing consultant. She maintains a home office but admits to Skype-ing from bed. You can read more about how she is doing it all (some of it well) on her personal blog The Guavalicious Life. She currently works as a brand expert for Print Ninja.

Last year I started working at home part time. And by that I mean I added on a professional job to my full time work at home job of cleaning, cooking, and being my kids’ indentured servant. Since my girls had finally gotten a regular preschool and therapy schedule, I thought it would be a breeze. After all, I was already maintaining a successful local blog and a somewhat regular personal blog.

Boy was I wrong. Twelve months in, the disaster of my home, the ten pounds I had gained and my gray roots proved it. Something had to change. So in January, I stopped all personal blogging, finished up my current contracts and concentrated on getting my house and life organized.

What a difference! Now that my house is in order and my schedule organized, I have a clear mind (and space!) to work in.    

Define Your Hours: When you work from home, the temptation is to put things off to take care of the “emergencies” that crop up. That’s how I ended up working until two in the morning every night. Now my family, friends, and the girls’ school know that I am just not sitting at home eating bonbons, I am working from 9-12 and 1-4 and cannot be disturbed during those times.

Keep a Separate Work Space: My home has always had a lovely home office waiting for me. But for some reason I had decided it would be better filled with everything I didn’t know where to put. I am not going to lie, those things got moved to the guest room instead of disappearing. But now I have a defined space, with a door that shuts. This not only pleases my accountant (hello write off) and me (hello clear mind) but is a clear signal to my family that on Saturday morning I am doing paperwork, not finding their lost stuff.  

Learn to Say No: Stand in front of a mirror and say this ten times out loud: “Unfortunately I am going to have to say no; I just don’t have the time in my schedule.” I’ve learned that if I don’t preface it with “I’m sorry” or “I wish I could” people don’t try to guilt me into it.

Outsource, Outsource, Outsource: A lot of the work I do is also done by agencies and firms in town. To compete with them I have stepped up my game. Sure I don’t have in house printing like they do, but I do have an amazing online print firm that allows me to upload my custom design. Now I have high quality booklets for an incredibly low price. And I can produce anything from notepads to catalogs for my customers.

Constantly Network: The temptation when you can work in sweatpants is to just stay behind the screen. And while I do do a lot of networking on Twitter and Linked In what has brought me the most business is getting out of the house and talking to people. Look into organizations like Social Media Club. Call your local news outlets and let them know you are a resource in your area of expertise. And never stop talking! I met one client in line at the grocery store.  
I would love to hear what your tips are for keeping sane while working at home. Networking with my fellow work at home warriors is what keeps ME sane!

In accordance to the FTC Guidelines and the WOMMA Code of Ethics, I am disclosing that Kate promised to buy me a beer the next time I see her. Man, I have to institute these tips ASAP!

Wordless Wednesday - Turning 8 and Getting Glasses

Share your own pictures this week at Wordless Wednesday HQ!

Before you leave, have you entered all of my giveaways?

Game of Thrones DVD Out Now

I am a wee bit obsessed with Game of Thrones, so today is truly a day to celebrate. Season One is finally available on DVD! Squeeeee!!! Okay, there would be more cause for celebration if I hadn't already preordered the DVDs and I could just go out and buy a copy instead of waiting to come in the mail. Whoops. I'm consoling myself with watching bits and pieces online. Here are a few teasers to whet your appetite.





I am so excited for Season Two, premiering on Sunday, April 1st! 

It's going to be the longest month, ever.

Perhaps you might like to look at a fashion spread featuring the actor who plays Jon Snow while you wait. Even the Simpsons are obsessed:

Générique Simpsons : parodie de Game of Thrones

In accordance to the FTC Guidelines and the WOMMA Code of Ethics, I am disclosing that I did not receive any incentive for posting about this. I am simply a HUGE fangirl of this excellent series. In fact, I'm almost done with the fourth book in the series it was based on. If HBO wanted to ply me with swords and golden dragons, or a visit to the Wall, I'd be totally into it but all opinions are, as usual, strictly my own. 

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