Toydozer Review AND GIVEAWAY!

Read through to the end to find out how to win your own ToyDozer!
Find me a woman who has raised small children and I will show you a woman who has stepped on a small, very sharp toy in the middle of the night. No matter how educational and brain-enhancing a set of blocks, Legos or Tinker Toys are, I can guarantee you that many of these mothers have pitched said toys into the trash; most likely in a feverish, one-foot-hopping, swearing rage.

Enter the ToyDozer. A simple solution for a universal problem. If you want your kids to clean up their toys (the toys that you bought them and encourage them to play with), provide them with a tool to make this process less daunting, more enjoyable and more likely that they will follow through. The ToyDozer reminds me of a deeply-sided dust pan with a scraper that pushes the desired mess inside of it. Scoop and dump, scoop and dump; just like a real bull-dozer!Strangely enough, this product arrived at my house on a day that it was ALREADY CLEAN. Let's just step back and enjoy that sentence for a moment, shall we? Already. Clean. Ahhh...

I thought that this meant that we would have to test it out on a different day. Sadly enough, my 6 year old decided that she needed to test the ToyDozer out THAT VERY MINUTE. She proceeded to dump not only the 2 boxes of building blocks onto the clean floor but also a box of Lincoln Logs, just for kicks (cue head exploding).

Being the understanding mother I am, I only yelled for a few minutes and then maturely huffed out of the room. She built and stacked and made a block outline of herself (which I would totally put a picture of right here if I could find the cord that connects my camera to my computer...). After cooling down for 20 minutes, I returned to discover a very respectable disaster area.

Sigh.

We ToyDozed our hearts out. While she wasn't thrilled with the process of cleaning, it did make scooping the toys up a lot easier. My only concern with the product is that the scooper doesn't attach to the bucket area in any way. I forsee losing the scoop at some point in time. If it could have a latch, hook or slot to slide it onto the scoop, that would make this product perfect, in my opinion. Edited to add: I have just been informed that the ToyDozer DOES have a Velcro attachment for the two piece to stick together but the company is having to adjust the strength of the adhesive that holds the Velcro on. If you order or win a ToyDozer, it is my understanding that your product WILL have a way for the two pieces to attach to each other! Perfect!

It retails for $18.99 and is available exclusively on ToyDozer.com. If you would like to purchase one today, you can use the code BLOGGER20 to save 20%! Or, you can enter to win one on a giveaway here, today!

To win a ToyDozer of your own, please follow the directions below and I will pick the winning comment on April 20.

Do as many or as few of the possibilities below that you'd like, but be sure to enter a separate comment for every entry!! (you may tweet, share, etc. more than once in a day, but please try to space them out with a respectable amount of time. Be honest. Muwah.)

~ Follow ToyDozer on Twitter

~ Follow me on Twitter

~ Tweet about this giveaway being sure to use the hashtag #toydozer and connect with @justanothermom

~ Share this giveaway on any other social media site (Facebook, Google+, etc.) and link back!

* This post is part of a Toydozer blogger outreach campaign. Participating bloggers have been provided with a complimentaryToydozer to review and have been compensated for their time.

Consider Grammarly.com

This may be difficult for you to read. Avert your eyes if you are easily shocked...

I am not perfect.

I KNOW! It's crushing to learn that your idols aren't always what they're cracked up to be, but I never asked to be put upon your pedestal. :)

Considering how it's quite obvious that I am anything but perfect (Thank God. Perfection sounds like torture), it's fabulous to find sites designed to aid those of us who may struggle through Life (i.e. EVERYONE). One website that is worth considering is Grammarly.com. Grammarly, an online grammar checker, goes a step further than your basic spell check and grammar check. Grammarly offers help with those steps, and also for more obscure assistance. Check out this page where it suggests alterations within different sentences to improve the flow and structure of the author's thoughts. Your basic grammar checker doesn't cover that!

One unique feature that I intend to employ with my own homeschooled children will be the the help it provides in avoiding plagiarism (either unintended or purposeful). Grammarly can assist in checking for originality and generating citations. My eldest is nearing the high school years and needs to improve his report skills. Writing with the assistance of Grammarly.com sounds like a whole lot easier than typing on an electric typewriter like his mom used to do...


*disclaimer: This is a compensated post but all words remain my own.

Magic Whiteboard Review

As a homeschooling family, we live within our school rooms. The kitchen is the main desk, the backyard's the playground and every wall in our home is where my kids display their school work. It can be a little overwhelming at times to not be able to "get away from school." I try to make sure the school books and supplies are stored in the office so that we can have parties and friends over without having SCHOOL shoved in our faces.

One product we recently reviewed which fits nicely into that plan is the Magic Whiteboard. It's not a traditional whiteboard, with a solid form that eats up precious space. The Magic Whiteboard is a roll of plastic sheets that uses static cling to temporarily adhere to any flat surface.My family has been loving the freedom that this allows!

I stuck a sheet to the family room wall and Corinne and Evan used their dry erase markers to create a birthday poster for Justin's party. When the party was over, they moved it to the hallway for random art creations. The next week, we took it down and brought it to our homeschool co-op where we stuck it to the wall during our 3-legged race so that Justin could create a bracket system to find the ultimate champions.

Versatile and durable? Yes. We've only used 2 of the 10 sheets in 1 month (and that was only because my dear husband didn't know it wasn't trash and threw one away!).

The best feature of the Magic Whiteboard is that it is SO small and lightweight. For presentations which you will need to write as you talk, it's perfect. I haven't had a situation where we needed a project written up in advance and then transported, but we did fold up our bracket sheet and bring it home and the drawing was still in great condition.

Check out their website to find more information on the Magic Whiteboard!

Disney Live! Winner...

And #12 is Samantha! Congratulations, Samantha! I hope you and your little ones enjoy the show!

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day at the Emerald City Theater

Emerald City Theater presents yet another lovely children's production!

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day is live on the Apollo stage from now through June 13. Tickets start at $13 for children and $16 for adults OR you can use this code, TERIBL, to save 20% off all full-priced children's tickets.

My family and I have attended several Emerald City productions and have enjoyed them all. They're a great way to introduce your children to live theater without the fear that their youth will disturb other patrons or that the material will be above their comprehension or maturity. Alexander and the... Day is a story about a boy who is just having ONE OF THOSE DAYS. You know the type of day I am talking about. My kids can't wait to see it when we attend in April!




Tickets are subject to availability. Service charges and handling fees will apply. This offer is not valid on previously purchased tickets or in combination with any other offer. Not valid with other promotional offers or gift certificates. Discount applies only to full price child tickets.

Disney Live! ticket giveaway!!

Disney Live! is presenting a new show called Three Classic Fairy Tales, coming to the Rosemont Theatre on March 16-18. You can purchase discounted tickets for Non-VIP tickets using the code MOM at the Ticketmaster checkout. This code is valid for these shows:

March 16 10:30 am

March 17 11:00 am & 5:00 pm

Opening Night Fri. March 16 6:30pm performance tickets are just $10!

OR, you can enter below to win a family pack of 4 for the Friday, March 16^th @ 6:30 pm or Saturday, March 17 @ 5pm performances (your choice!)

Ways to enter:

~ Comment with who you'd like to take (1 entry)

~ Share this giveaway on Twitter, 1 comment/entry for every Tweet, as many tweets as you'd like! Please use the hashtag #ChiDisneyLive3FairyTales and link back.

I've seen a few Disney Live! productions and they've all been very well done. If you have a princess loving child in your life, this is definitely something you'll all enjoy!

This is a speedy fast giveaway so your chances of winning are awesome. I'll pick the winner on the night of Sunday the 11th, so get busy entering ASAP!!

Comments are closed. Winner will be announced later tonight....

Winner Winner!

The winner of the Home Run Inn giveaway is #8, Rita, from ChiTown Cheapskate! Congrats and enjoy!