Archives for July 2011

Add Great Flair to Backbacks for Back to School with PakNaks {and a giveaway!}

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Have a backpack from last year that could use a little updating?  Did you purchase new backpacks for your kids this year but want them to stand out from all the other backpacks?  My kids and I have discovered how great Paknaks are at solving those problems.

 We first got to try out Paknaks back in April and they were perfect for updating backpacks and lunchboxes with characters that my kids like.  We enjoyed them so much that after doing a review for them we ended up ordering a few more for each of my kids. Each one of my kids picked out their favorites and we added them to their bags.

Paknaks are so easy to put on and are instant decorations.  PakNak.com has a wide variety of designs such as a dinosaur, ladybug, butterfly, football, monkey, turtle, and many more.  They are all so cute you will want to get several!  No more trying to pick a design your kids will want to use all year. Just pull the design off the velcro and place another one on.  They are so easy to put on just about any item you can think of wanting to add some flair to.

PakNaks are great to tuck in a “just because I love you!” note sent to school, for birthday party favors, or stocking stuffers too!!

If you would like to purchase any of the great PakNak designs you can get 20% off.  Just visit their website and enter PAK20 at checkout.  Don’t miss their free printable coloring pages (as cute as can be)!

Want a chance to WIN 3 PakNak designs of your choosing? Then follow the instructions below to enter. Be sure to leave me a way to contact you should you win.

Mandatory to Enter:
Visit Paknak.com and come back and leave me a comment about which design you like the best (it may be hard to choose just one!)

Additional Ways to Enter (leave a separate comment for each action): 
Follow Mommy Kudos via Google Friend Connect (upper right side of this page).
Follow PakNak on Twitter
Follow Mommy Kudos on twitter
Like PakNak on Facebook
Like Mommy Kudos on Facebook 
Subscribe to Mommy Kuddos via RSS
Subscribe to Mommy Kudos by email
Tweet about this giveaway (up to once daily) and include @mommykudos in your tweet.

Contest ends August 5th at 11:59 PM EST. Open to U.S only.

Disclosure: We were sent 2 PakNaks for free to review in the past and have since purchased many more.  My opinions, as always, are my own.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: ,

"Kindergarten Rocks" T-Shirts, Dresses & Other Great Back to School Items on Sale at Zulily

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 Aren’t these dresses and shirts cute?  I love the idea and you could really get creative and make your own.  If you don’t have the time though Zulily is having a great Back to School sale with some really neat items.  They have backpacks, pencil holders, notebooks, lunchboxes, water bottles, clothing, shoes and accessories all on sale!  They also have some great Calendars that are nicely designed and have room to keep track of activities for everyone in the family.  Below are some of my favorites:

Filed Under: Deals

Making Travel with Kids a Bit Less Painful {A Game to Play with Your Kids}

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Our family does a lot of traveling in the car on LONG road trips.  Think 2 days there and two days back a few times a year.  With 6 kids it can be quite a challenge to keep everyone happy and us, as parents, sane.  Recently I came up with a new way to help keep the peace.  My husband and I tweaked it and now we have what has been a brilliant and fun game that works like a charm.
PREPARATION
First you need a good, sturdy bag.  An envirosax bag or a reusable shopping bag you get from a grocery store will work well.  A couple weeks before your trip (or even last minute if you don’t have the time) start stocking up on fun little toys, snacks, treats, coloring books, travel games, etc… Be creative and get as many things as you can think of that your kids will be excited about.  Next think of a cost to associate with each item in a whole dollar amount.  You can even get little garage sale stickers and label every item with the amount or just remember what you want to “charge” for each item in the bag.  We decided to charge 4 times the actual cost of an item. For example, if a hotwheels car costs $1.25 we priced it at $5.
Next, you will need some play money.  You can either purchase this from a store like Wal-Mart or Target in the toy and game section (maybe even grab the monopoly money out of the box). You can design your own money (get fancy with your family name and logo) or find money online to print out (here is one I like).  You will want to have denominations of $1, $5, $10 and maybe even $20 depending on what is in your “shopping bag.”
PLAYING THE GAME
Explain to your kids that you are playing a new game.  Everyone gets a few dollars to start (we gave $5). Let them know that they must not loose their money because you will not replace it.  Encourage them to put it in a pocket, backpack, cup holder, etc and leave it there until they need it.  Explain to them that by their behavior they can either loose money or receive more money. If they are mean to a sibling, whining, disrespectful, etc… they immediately loose money (you decide what the offense is worth).  However if they are behaving well reward them with more money.  It is important to both reward and take away money often as you see them behaving well or not.
About every 2 hours on your trip pass the “shopping bag” around and let them pick what they would like to purchase.  They will then need to pass that amount of money up to you  (the bank keeper) . We would often pass the bag first to the one with the most money (the one who had the best behavior) but would also change up the order in which they passed it around.  You can do one or two rounds of passing the bag and “shopping.” 
WHY IT WORKS
Our kids were thrilled with this game of ours!  It encouraged great behavior, especially after just a couple of them lost a few dollars because of bad behavior.  After our kids learned what the consequences were they were so well behaved and were very motivated to be extra good to earn even more money to spend on the “goodies.” 
We like to keep this game special just for trips.  If we did it more often I think it would not be as exciting.  On an every day basis we desire to train our children’s hearts to obey as a choice they make.  Ultimately obedience and good choices do bring about rewards but they are not always so immediately gratifying.  A chore and/or obedience reward system like this “game “ may work well but I would require my kids to save for longer periods of time and have the rewards take more time to earn.
This game works best with ages 3 and up.  Our 2 year old didn’t quite get it but wanted to be a part as much as she could. 

Next time you travel give this game a try and let me know how it goes.  I’d love to hear how you tweak it to work with your family.  Happy Travels!!

Filed Under: Uncategorized

20% of One Purchase at Plum District Today Only (Thursday, July 14th)

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Plum District is getting a makeover and you can get 20% OFF on one purchase just for today, Thursday July 14th, 2011, by entering “buhbye” at checkout! 
Plum District is a great deal site with deals for moms, babies and kids.  Sign up here to keep up with their deals.
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$5 off at DealPulp

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DealPulp has just relaunched their site and is now offering a $5 OFF coupon that can be used towards your next DealPulp purchase. Just enter MOREPULP at checkout, and your discount will be applied.

What is DealPulp you ask? It is a deal site that has multiple deals to choose from everyday.  They have had some great deals on things like home goods, jewelry, clothing, chocolate and lots more! Sign up to be notified of their deals here.

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