Two Monkeys & A Washtub

Monday, January 10, 2011

I know I've been absent...

I know I've been absent....okay, really haven't been around much at all in the past couple of weeks! I've been under the weather and am hoping to feel better soon. I will be announcing the winners from the giveaways that ended on December 30th shortly (thanks for your patience) and hope to get some more reviews, giveaways, and fun stuff posted soon! Thanks for your understanding...sometimes life has to come before blogging :(

Friday, January 7, 2011

Surfin' Saturdays - Join us on twitter this week!

Welcome to the 25th Surfin' Saturdays hosted by Chubby Cheeks Thinks, Two Monkeys & a Washtub, And Then There Were Four and The Coupon Challenge! Each week we will be surfin' a different social network. You will have to check back every Saturday to see where we will be! One week it may be a facebook hop and then the next an email hop! It will be lots of fun and you will get to meet new people and

see old friends as well!

We kindly ask that you follow these simple requests

Follow the hostesses in the first four spots (We will follow you back! Just please leave a comment letting us know that you are following us!)
Please only link up the network that is being hopped that specific week.
No spam please. These will be removed.
It would be wonderful if you are linking up this week if you could add our button to your sidebar or in a post to help spread the word! :) The more people that join, the more fun it will be! (Plus if you add our button to your sidebar you can grab 5 extra entries into any ONE giveaway!)
If someone follows you please feel free to follow them back! If you follow me and leave a comment you are guaranteed a follow back!

This is a new list every Saturday, so please remember to come back and link up!

This week is TWITTER!

Please link up only your TWITTER page!

Thursday, January 6, 2011

It's a rough life in this house...

...why doesn't anyone believe me! I mean geez...I am an only dog that has two little boys to play with me all the time and they even hand me toys to lay on as pillows since most of the time I refuse to play with them. You'd think I was supposed to play or something. Is it naptime yet?

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Starting the year on a clean slate...and what's to come!

If you've read my blog for very long at all, you know that I typically post Finding Me Mondays every Monday, but I haven't for the past couple weeks...that's more because I was frustrated with myself for not making changes. I haven't decided exactly how I will continue, but I think I will make a monthly summary of my weight loss goals and how things are going in 2011.

Every Thursday, I write about Logan, our great dane, his antics and personality! If I've got great pet products for review and/or giveaway, I try to feature those on Thursdays as well. Don't worry, Logan loves to be talked about so he'll stay here!

Every Friday, I write about Cooking with Kids and try to feature kid-tested recipes. I hope to continue this in 2011. I know I've been bad about posting this the past couple of weeks mainly because I've been exhausted with the holidays and trying to make everything just perfect at home.

Saturdays I co-host Surfin' Saturdays and this will continue in 2011. It's always fun, so if you haven't joined, feel free to join us!

I'm still hoping to feature other bloggers every week, but had some trouble with my previous form so I'll be reaching out to some of those that entered information to start featuring bloggers weekly. Don't know which day, but this will start hopefully by February!

I'll continue reviews and giveaways as I get them and hope to have some great feature events as well this year! If you have any amazing products you think I should review, let me know! Thanks for your continued readership and following and looking forward to an amazing 2011! Let me know if there's anything else you'd like to see....I'll try to answer some questions I've received in the past over the next couple weeks too!

The Juno Company Review & a Special 50% Off Offer!

When it comes to letting my kids watch TV and movies, I attempt to make sure that what they are watching is in some way educational yet will keep their attention long enough so that I can put away laundry, finish cleaning up the kitchen, or sit down for just a few minutes. With the large variety of DVD's available for kids, it can be hard to sort through everything that's out there so when I had the opportunity to review for Juno Company, I just couldn't pass it up. The company was founded by orchestral composer/mom, and is all about learning through music. They have a collection of DVDs, CDs, books, and toys. It's a mixture of live puppets and animation, with the puppets having been created with help from the Jim Henson crew. The Juno Company brands have won numerous awards including an Emmy for the Juno Baby series. Furthermore, with an emphasis on doing well by doing good, The Juno Company donates a special music education DVD to a child in need for every product purchased through their One for All program. Buy One. Give One.

We were given the opportunity to review The Day the Music Stopped from the Juno Junior series. I thought the story line was adorable: "When Bunny presses the big red button on Murphy's Shush Machine, she inadvertently silences the town of Harmonia Springs. Juno realizes that, in order to bring life back to the town, she and her friends have to create their own music through melody, harmony, rhythm and – most of all – friendship."

My boys were entertained while watching The Day the Music Stopped. They loved the music, had fun dancing around, and thought the idea of a shush machine was pretty awesome. I'm guessing they will create one to use on each other (instead of silencing the music)! The puppets were adorable and the animation was really great combined with the puppets!

Right now, The Juno Company is offering an amazing deal to readers of this blog! You can visit USFamilyGuide and purchase a $40 gift code for their online store for only $20! Give the gift of music to your kids this year through The Juno Company! You can purchase Juno Company products at Amazon, Buy Buy Baby, and FAO Schwartz.

Disclosure: This post was written for USFamily Guide and The Juno Company. I received a Juno Company gift pack in exchange for my honest opinions on their products. No additional compensation was received.

Friday, December 31, 2010

Happy New Year...and a few New Year's Resolutions too!

We've managed to come up with a few New Year's resolutions...what about you? Have you given up completely? I used to never make resolutions because I never kept them, but decided that this year would be the year that I would take the time for myself and my kids to make sure I follow through with them. It's only fair! So what are they? Well, I won't tell you all of them (you'd get bored), but here are the highlights....

I will put a stronger focus on losing weight...I tried this past year, but didn't put enough effort into it and stayed pretty much at the same point so I will be exercising more and making a dent in the numbers. We will be inviting friends over the house more often! When my husband and I first married, we had friends over almost every other night and at least weekly but since we moved to Texas it just hasn't been the same (so watch for the invites, or remind us to invite you over more). With our schedules and crazy life, we neglected that, so this year it will change! First off, that means cleaning and organizing the house! We will be starting a family game night each week so that it becomes second nature for our boys as they grow up!

My youngest (age 2) said he wants to learn to ride his bike better and move up in swimming classes. My oldest (age 4) said he wants to make sure we take the dog on walks each week and be able to swim the length of the pool! The list goes on and on, but I won't bore you with the details. We tried to make quantifiable goals that once they were completed, we could check them off so it's more of a 2011 to-do list. It seems manageable, it seems doable, and really, that's what counts!

So Happy New Year to you! May all your resolutions be kept this year!