Living Locally: Win 4 Tickets to Monster Jam®!

Last week I posted that Monster Jam was coming back toPortland on February 13th and 14th, and today I want to share a fun giveaway for all of my local readers! I have 4 tickets available for the February 13th show at 2pm that I would love to give to one local reader. My family and I have been blessed with many fun opportunities through this blog and this year I’d love to try and give back in some way to you.

My Dream Digital Life + a $25 Home Depot Giveaway

Thanks to AT&T for sponsoring this event and giveaway. As always, all opinions are my own.

I consider myself a pretty lucky lady. Not only do I get to attend all of my children's events and do most of my work from home, but I also get the opportunity to go to special media events where I can learn about the latest and greatest things. 

I don't write about all of the events I attend, but wanted to share with you one that I attended a couple of weeks ago and became instantly intrigued by. It was an open house for a product called Digital Life from AT&T. AT&T Digital Life allows you the freedom and convenience to monitor your home while on the go, and if you know me and the kids' schedules, you know how often we are always running around. 

Our First School Garden + A Giveaway!

Thanks to Tree Top for sponsoring this conversation! All opinions are of my own. 

We've been so lucky in our little community. It seems as if there’s always a small group of people willing to go the extra mile to ensure that our kids have opportunities available for them in this small town, whether it be field trips and assemblies at school, sports programs, reading programs, and now – a community garden at the grade school.

I didn’t grow up here, and neither did my husband – we just took a leap of faith when we moved here 8 years ago, and I’m glad we did.

Someone at the grade school worked hard, and we now have a school garden to show for their diligence. While I didn’t attend the planning comity (I’ve been keeping pretty busy with the PTSO these days) I wanted to make sure that I was able to participate with the kids in this program in some way. A few weekends ago we all headed over to the garden site and pitched in with getting the area ready to plant. It was a lot of work and by far the largest garden area that my kids have ever helped with. The best part about it is that it’s right behind our house, adjacent to the grade school, so we will literally be able see the progress and plant growth every day, and will probably help care for the garden in the summer as well.

 After helping prepare the school garden, the kids (especially Noah and Emma) were even more excited to plant our own garden. You may remember that last summer was the first year we had planted a raised garden of our own in our side yard. Noah is just now really old enough to full understand how planting a garden works and the work that goes into making it a success – and all of that comes from hands on education and awareness – it makes it so much more exciting for young kids, and they are more eager to try new vegetables’ after they’ve put the work into caring for the plants.

 Tree Top is a brand that we've always loved because they are located in the heart of Washington’s apple country, and we love supporting local companies whenever possible. Tree Top is a grower-owned co-op that is also rooted in the communities where they work and live. Tree Top has been a trusted brand with top-quality products like juices, smoothies and sauces for over 50 years – and their growers are committed to raising top quality fruits for our families to enjoy. As part of their commitment, Tree Top is partnering with KidsGardening.org to help change the world by growing the next generation – one child, one school and community at a time. For every purchase of Tree Top Apple Sauce pouches, Tree Top donates a dollar to KidsGardening.org to help fund community garden projects across the country! How amazing would it be if all kids had an opportunity like this?

 Not only is Tree Top devoted to supporting KidsGardening.org – but their products are a delicious snack for hungry helpers! Their apple sauce pouches are mess-free, taste great and super convenient for little working hands to consume because you don’t need a spoon!

 We've got about half of our little garden finished at this point and Noah is proud to have his first “garden” barrel of his very own this year.

 Does your kids’ school have a community garden? Check out KidsGardening.org for some helpful educational resources so you can talk to your kids about where their food comes from!

Be sure to enter below for a chance to win a $60 gardening set! 

• The giveaway will be open from April 7, 2015 to May 15, 2015 at midnight PST and will be sponsored by Sway Group.
• Forty winners (from all 40 giveaways) will be selected to receive a gardening set valued at $60.
• Sway Group will select the winners on or about May 18, 2015 and we will follow up with the prizewinners.  No further action will be needed from the campaign participants.

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This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Tree Top

Living Locally: Discover the Dinosaur's Family Four Pack Giveaway!

On May 16th and 17th Discover the Dinosaurs will be in Portland! Discover the Dinosaurs is a traveling hands-on exhibit featuring up to 40 different animatronic and museum quality dinosaur replicas. There's a 20 foot T-Rex, life size Triceratops, and Stegosaurus. The kids are allowed to get up close and touch the dinosaurs!

The Exhibit Only Admission includes the Dinosaur Exhibit, Dino Dig, Dino Den, Dino Theater, Dino Coloring area, and Scavenger Hunt.

The Exhibit Plus Admission includes the Dinosaur Exhibit, plus unlimited Dinosaur Rides, Mini Golf, and inflatables! (Gem & fossil mining, and face painting are available for an additional charge). 

School age children LOVE dinosaurs, and Discover the Dinosaurs engages the imaginations of kids to learn, hands on activities (they can actually ride on the back of a dinosaur!) With all of the fun activities the kids will be entertained for the day at Discover the Dinosaurs!

The Exhibit runs Saturday May 16th from 9-9 and Sunday May 17th from 10-7. Admission for 13 years and older is $20, Seniors 65 + is $18. Children ages 2-12: Exhibit PLUS is $25, Exhibit only is $18. Children 1 year and under FREE.

I'm so excited to partner up with Discover the Dinosaurs and giveaway a family four pack of tickets to TWO readers! Enter below and share this fun contest with a friend...or two!


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~Melissa
Disclaimer: We received passes to Discover the Dinosaurs, no other compensation was received. All opinions are my own

4 Things to Clean Before Christmas + A Big Giveaway!

Thank you Bissell for sponsoring this post and giveaway!

Okay, I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not the best house cleaner. Don’t get me wrong – it’s not that we live in a total disaster, but with three kids and all of their activities, plus a party time job, part time business, and everything else that comes up – well, sometimes the dishes don’t’ get done, and the garage is quite frankly – a mess.

One thing I think I have mastered though is what the most important things to get cleaned are. A lot of you will be having guests over during the holidays, and with so many things to accomplish in just a few short days like last minute shopping and baking, well, cleaning is probably the last thing you want to do! Even though we’re not going to be having company this year, I certainly don’t want a disaster in my house over the two days that we will all actually be home together – with no schedules. After all, there will be plenty of wrapping paper and toys to take over the living room – they don’t need any competition.

I've got a little checklist that I've created (because I’m obsessed with lists) to remind myself on what need to be done over the next couple of days, and I thought I’d share it with you.

The Kitchen – There’s going to be a lot of baking to finish up on and so it’s important to start off with a clean work space so it doesn't become overwhelmingly messy when the cooking frenzy is finished. Wipe down the cupboards and counters, sweep and mop, and clean out the refrigerator so there will be room for all of those holiday leftovers.

The Kid’s Rooms – Presents are coming into the house, and so it’s time to go through old toys and make room! My kids also happen to be little ‘collectors’, from paper scraps and candy wrappers (that they’ve snuck) to rocks and random puzzle pieces…it’s can get messy VERY quickly…so I’ve gone in with garbage bags and Lysol and am nearly finished with this massive task.

The Bathrooms – Simply because I don’t want to have to mess with them on our days off together, but this is especially important if you are having company. Make sure it’s stocked with enough towels, toilet paper, and scented candles. 

Your Carpets – Think about it – presents are being opened, everyone is going to be sitting around eating, playing board games, and relaxing – on the floor. I know as the unofficial present-passer-outer, every year I spend 90% of Christmas morning on the floor, and it’s so much nicer when it’s freshly cleaned! I like using Bissell Scotchgard Protector because it is a great stain repellent - and I'm super excited to give you the opportunity to win not only some Scotchguard Protector Carpet Cleaning Solution, but how about a Bissell Upright Deep Cleaning Machine ($199 value!) to go with it!!!!

Bissell is giving away 3 Upright Cleaning Machines To readers from a few selected blogs, and it's really easy to enter to win!

To enter the giveaway:

1.  Visit the Bissell landing page to check out your new cleaning machine.
2.  Come back here and leave a comment stating how the Bissell Upright Deep Cleaning Machine with Scotchguard Protector Carpet Cleaning Solution would make your life easier.

Bissell will randomly select three winners from the comments found on participating blogs.

Bissell will announce the winners Monday, January 5th, and the winners will be notified through a response to comments. You will have 5 business days (by 01/12/15) to submit your email address and claim your prize.

Good luck!

Also,  click the image below for a $1 off coupon.

~Melissa

Happy Halloween + A Werther's Orignial Treat For You!

Full Disclosure; I was sent samples and a promotional item as a thank you. As always all opinions are 100% my own. 

How was everyone's Halloween? I can't believe it's over already and that November is literally minutes away. I'm kind of bummed because I just feel like I could get into the spooky cheer today as much as normal - for a number of reasons. Anika has been gone at outdoor school this week and just got back today at 1 pm - so she didn't get to carve pumpkins with us last night. Our small town had a big football game tonight, which is fine except that it put a damper on all of the trick or treating celebrating. 

Yesterday Noah had his Halloween party, and this afternoon Emma had hers. They all got sugared up on anything you can think of that was colored orange and then all played bingo in their costumes. I had a little Greek Goddess on my hands. 

After school got out we all got ready and headed over to Noah's preschool/ church for a Harvest party where there were games, food, bouncy houses, and hayrides. My little Goddess, Minnie Mouse, and Ninja Turtle had fun. 

We then came home and did our usual trick or treating in our cul-de-sac. I was worried that I may have actually bought too much candy because it just didn't feel as busy and alive as it normally does - and not as many of our neighbors were participating in the fun (thanks to the football game!) but by 8:30 when we turned the lights off, we still somehow had 310 trick-or-treaters that had walked up our porch. 

I know the kids will still be coming down from their sugar high over the next couple of days, but I had a little treat I want to share with you! Werther's Original recently sent me a bunch of goodies to try - including their new Caramel Popcorn. I was actually going to take some pictures to show you, but my family got a hold of them and literally inhaled them - all FOUR bags. Yeah, they are that good. Werther's also has new Caramel Apple filled candies which are my favorite! 

Werther's has an Unwrap The Magic sweepstakes going on right now where they are giving away a trip to  Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fl. for the 2015 Epcot Food and Wine Festival! How fun would that be? You can enter to win at: www.werthersmagic.com 

In the mean time I'm giving away 2 Werther's Original product coupons so you can head to the store and get 2 free bags of deliciousness for yourself! 

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~Melissa

Living Locally: Sky High Sports Family Fun + Giveaway!

Disclaimer: We received passes to Sky High Sports to review, no other compensation was received. All opinions are my own. 

Happy Friday everyone! I hope you get some time to relax and enjoy this weekend! I have a fun giveaway to share with you today! The kids had been begging me for months to take them to Sky High Sports - an indoor trampoline fun center - but it was just something that I filed away as a "to-do" someday, and then a couple weekends ago while we were out visiting pumpkin patches I decided to surprise the kids and stopped by on our way home. 

They were just a tad excited.

I made sure that I signed the waivers online first so I wouldn't have to worry about that when we got there. We entered in to the large building and my kids let out a little gasp of anticipation. There were multiple areas with different activities for them to play on - sections for all ages to jump, certain areas for just younger children, a basketball bouncing area, a foam pit - and all of the sections had their own attendant supervising everyone.

There were also video game stations, plenty of vending machines to purchase cold water (we definitely needed it!) and then an area called Kids Adventureland, which is a fun area full of activities for children 12 and younger (Anika thought she was pretty cool because she slid by being 11).

If you wanted to make an afternoon of it, there's also a snack bar and seating for lunch. The building has plenty of seating for parents and anyone else who's not jumping (or just needing a break) with many very comfortable leather couches....and massage chairs. There's even an area with a TV and lounge chairs so dads can keep up with whatever game is on TV.

Needless to say the kids (and I) had a great time and they've already begged me on multiple occasions to go back there and had a birthday party (there is one private jumping area that is available for private parties). 

If you're local, Sky High Sports is located in Tigard, but they also have locations in California, Illinois, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Washington - and I've got some FREE passes to give away! Normally you see a "Family 4 Pack" giveaway, but since I have a family of 5 - I'm giving away 5 1 hour jumping passes away! These passes can be used at any Sky High location and will be mailed directly from me to you! Good luck!

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~Melissa