Our Playskool In-Home Birthday Party with The New Let's Imagine Elmo #MC #sponsored #ImagineWithElmo

I wrote this review while participating in a campaign forMom Central Consulting on behalf of Playskool. I received product samples to facilitate my party and review, and a promotional item to thank me for participating.

Liam just turned 5 years old and we wanted to throw him the biggest, best birthday party ever, especially after all of the medical issues he's gone through. Well, he decided on a Nightmare Before Christmas birthday party and that's what we set out to create. In addition, Playskool sent an amazing package of party gear to make the day even more amazing for not only Liam, but all of the guests as well. Liam invited his preschool class for the event and we ended up with about 10 kids in all, along with family members and parents, attending the party. We set up two huge tables right at the front door, so kids could take a look at all of the goodies as soon as they walked in. The first table had assorted Halloween snacks and treats. The other table was dedicated to Playskool, with all of the toys and the new Let's Imagine Elmo!

Now, this party was a bit different than most birthdays because each guest got to pick a toy from the Playskool table. The Let's Imagine Elmo was the centerpiece and something the kids could play with throughout the party. They could choose between:

Stack N' Spin Monkey Gears

Transformers Mixable, Mashable Heroes

But the real star of the party was the new Let's Imagine Elmo!

As a Nightmare Before Christmas party, of course we had to decorate the house from head to toe! Here are some of the treats and crafts we made to make Liam's party extra spooky!

Now for the fun! We also set up a bounce house for the kids and had someone come in to paint faces! In addition, we had a witch hat game and some delicious pizza (Liam's favorite food).

After playing and eating outdoors, we came inside for cake and presents.

As I mentioned earlier, the best part about the party was that everyone got a gift, not just Liam. Thanks to Playskool, all the boys and girls took turns picking out their favorite toy to take home with them. This way, they also had something to play with after gifts were opened.

The Transformer Mixable, Mashable Mr. Potato Head Heroes were such a huge hit with the kids and the smaller children loved the Stack N' Spin Monkey Gears. However, everyone loved the new Elmo Musical Let's Imagine Elmo.

Liam has been a Sesame Street fan for as long as I can remember. In fact, for his 2nd birthday, he chose Cookie Monster for his cake and he wouldn't dare use a potty until we got him an Elmo training potty. When he saw the new Elmo toy, he couldn't wait to play with it. We have many Sesame Street and Elmo toys, but this one is awesome and packed full of fun features. Elmo Let's Imagine has 4 interactive modes that include games, songs, and much more. From the photos above you can see the different hats for Elmo to wear. Each hat magically unlocks different play modes for kids to enjoy. Place the crown on Elmo's head and he is transformed into Prince Elmo for a game of "Prince Elmo Says" (like Simon Says)! The cowboy hat begins a counting adventure, so your child can learn to count to 20! The sea captain's hat begins an ocean sound game, too. Even without the hat, Elmo is still interactive and continues to play with your child. Sesame Street and Elmo are both all about education and imagination. The new Let's Imagine Musical Elmo completely embodies the spirit of Sesame Street! It is an all around fun and educational toy for children that they will love.


There is a reason the Let's Imagine Elmo is on the top of all the Christmas Toy Lists for stores. This is a toy all Sesame Street fans will enjoy! It retails for $39.99, so it is also affordable.

I wrote this review while participating in a campaign forMom Central Consulting on behalf of Playskool. I received product samples to facilitate my party and review, and a promotional item to thank me for participating.

Jif To Go Dippers Makes The Perfect Snack #MC #Sponsored #GetGoing

I participated in an Influencer Activation Program on behalf of Influence-Central for Jif To Go Dippers. I received a sample to facilitate my review and a thank you item for participating.

I wrote about Jif in a previous post and their awesome #GetGoing photo challenge, which has since ended and we hope you had a chance to enter. Now that the contest is over, we want to share some additional Jif fun with our readers. Over the past month, we've had a chance to try out Jif To Go Dippers even more and I wanted to share all of our thoughts about these delicious snacks.

As huge Jif peanut butter fans, I couldn't wait to give Jif To Go Dippers a try. We only use Jif peanut butter and we use it on a daily basis because Josiah wants a PB&J sandwich for lunch every single day. So, when I found out about Jif To Go Dippers, I knew these would be perfect for him.

Since he is now in 2nd grade, they have a snack time each morning to help tide them over for lunch. Of course, teachers do not appreciate parents sending in candy and other sugary items that cause our kids to bounce off the walls. Instead, they prefer us to send a balanced snack that our kids will eat, but that are also nutritious. Jif To Go Dippers are already packaged and ready to place in your child's lunch box or backpack. How easy can it get? No messing with snack bags or other containers. Everything is all in one pack and no other prep is involved.

The great thing about Jif To Go Dippers is that they come in two different varieties:

Chocolate Silk Peanut Butter With Pretzels & Creamy Peanut Butter With Pretzels

This means I can alternate the dippers for on different days and change it up a bit for him. Plus, some days he may want one for a snack after school. I can pop them into my purse and have them handy whenever we are on the go, too. They are well packaged and, since toting them around in our bags, we've never had one open unintentionally or make a mess. The Jif To Go Dippers will be a constant snack staple at our house from now on and I definitely will not forget them when traveling, too. The holidays are coming up quickly, which means huge road trips for our family. Taking a snack with us means less stopping and I'm all for that, so Jif To Go Dippers will be making the trips with us! Don't forget summer vacations, too. I know that's in the distant future, but these will be perfect for the beach, too. Throw them in the cooler or beach bag and you are good to go.

Have you given Jif To Go Dippers a try yet? Josiah is quite taken with them and has asked for nothing else each night when we pack his snack. He loves both, but, when I asked him which is his favorite, he proudly answered the Chocolate Silk Peanut Butter With Pretzels. The sweetness goes perfectly with the salty pretzels!

I participated in an Influencer Activation Program on behalf of Influence-Central for Jif To Go Dippers. I received a sample to facilitate my review and a thank you item for participating.

Baby Mantra Natural Products Are Perfect For Sensitive Skin #MC #Sponsored #BabyMantra

I participated in Influencer Activation on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Baby Mantra. I received product samples to facilitate my review and a promotional item to thank me for participating.

When my first son was born, my husband and I made the decision to become more eco-conscious and to also try more natural products. Cloth diapering, essential oils and homemade detergents became a part of our lives and we felt great about reducing our carbon footprint. Two years later, my second son Liam was born and this began a time of even bigger change for our family. Liam was a preemie, born 5 weeks early, and while in the NICU we began to see just how sensitive he was (and still is) to his entire environment. The diaper creams, soaps, vitamin supplements added to breast milk, and disposable diapers all caused reactions both inside and outside of his body. From the moment we brought him home, experiments began with baby products to find the ones that were perfect for his sensitive skin.

Liam has very dry skin, which cannot be moisturized with just any baby lotion. The wrong ingredients not only dry out the skin even more, but cause him to break out, become uncomfortable, fussy, and itchy. He also has eczema, another easily irritated skin condition that still flares up often and caused him to itch even more. We realized immediately that our safest bet was natural baby products, so I was very excited to learn more about Baby Mantra!

Baby Mantra is a wonderful certified natural, cruelty-free, gluten-free baby skincare line created by two sisters. Their mission is to provide baby products with safe, environmentally conscious ingredients and packaging! All products are made here in the U.S. and are inspired by all-natural remedies with essential oils.

We received a package of Baby Mantra products to try, including these:

Detangling Conditioner, Calming Lotion, 3-in-1 Bubble Bath, Shampoo +Wash, and Newborn Shampoo + Body Wash. 

All of the products contain soothing and moisturizing natural ingredients along with essential oils, so they not only smell amazing, but also keep the skin baby soft! The boys were so excited to see bubble bath and made sure we tried it that night. As soon as I opened up the bottle, I could smell the lavender, one of my favorite scents that is also known for its calming properties and perfect for babies/children before bedtime. Just putting a bit in the water produced plenty of bath time fun for the kiddos and they also loved the scent.

I love that the 3-in-1 bubble bath, shampoo + wash has multiple purposes! I can wash my babies from head to toe, get them squeaky clean, and smelling yummy. Both of my boys also have dry scalp issues and Josiah's red hair is prone to tangles, so I was happy to see the detangling conditioner. It contains coconut and lavender oil, instantly making Josiah's hair feel silky smooth while not drying the scalp as other products can and have.

After bath time is when the calming lotion comes in and is the perfect touch for keeping skin soft. The shea butter moisturizes along with the lavender oil, which also calms baby for bedtime. This also makes for a great massage lotion, further soothing baby fast asleep.

My silly boys love bubbles!

We have thoroughly enjoyed trying Baby Mantra products and they have been perfect for Liam's sensitive skin. We will definitely continue using them, especially when baby #3 comes along! Are you ready to try Baby Mantra? Their products are available at select Walgreens/Duane Reade stores, Walgreens.com, BabiesRUs.com, and Amazon.com.

I participated in Influencer Activation on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Baby Mantra. I received product samples to facilitate my review and a promotional item to thank me for participating.