Besides the typical hanging out at the beach, pool, playing outside, etc… We want ideas to keep our kids’ brains from losing everything they learned over the last school year. They need something educational, but fun. There are TONS of websites out there that your kids can use for just a few minutes a day (they really should enjoy the outdoors) that will keep many things fresh in their minds! I’ve compiled a list of various websites for different subjects that you can check out. Some are free, some are membership based.

Reading:

ARBookfinder.com- Find AR levels of reading books

ABCmouse.com- Pre K- Kindergarten Reading

Book Adventure.com – Free reading rewards program from Sylvan

Education.com- Free activities and printable worksheets

Fairfax Public School Summer Reading List 6-12 grade

Jumpstart.com – Includes membership to MathBlaster math games

KidsBookshelf.com

MagicKeys.com

Raz-Kids.com

Into The Book - K-4 Reading comprehension lessons

ReadingRockets.org- Geared towards beginning and struggling readers. Lots of parent resources

Scholastic.com- Summer Reading Challenge

Spelling City- Summer Program FAQ- No Free Trial, Paid Membership Required.

Starfall.com-  preschool, kindergarten, first grade, second grade, special education, homeschool, and English language development

StorylineOnline.net- Online Streaming Video Program featuring famous Actors/Actresses reading children’s books aloud! Includes accompanying activities and lesson ideas.

Vocabulary.co.il- Online Flash Word Games

Mathematics:

ABCya.com- Reading and Math games for grades K-5

APlusMath.com

FunBrain.com

HoodaMath.com0 Grades 1-6

ixl.com- Math for Pre K- Geometry

MathBlaster.com- Includes membership to Jumpstart.com reading games

LearningGamesForKids.com

MathIsFun.com

MathNook.com

Math Trailblazers – 2nd Grade 

TVOKids.com/games

Quantiles.com- Summer Math Challenge / Math for rising 3-6th graders

XtraMath.com

XPMath.com- eatures fun and educational math games for Grades 5-9.

Science/Social Studies

ACS- Chemistry for Life

Dear Teacher- Social Studies activities

Discovery Education

Highlightskids.com- Great Science Experiments. Explore for other activities too!

kids.NationalGeographic.com

LearningGamesForKids.com

PlanIt Green

Science 4 Us- Early Elementary Science Curriculum

Science Kids

Social Studies for Kids

SwitcherooZoo.com- Play animal games and make new animals!

If you know of any others that you absolutely love, please let me know in the comments section below and I’ll add it to the list!

Have a great summer!!!

This last trip was something else for me. Lots of early mornings, and meetings. One of these meetings in particular, offered NOWHERE for us to charge up. We were in the middle of an arena, and power was not readily available. While we all tweeted out who the next celebrity guest was, some of my friends’ phones were dying. I was lucky though. I had brought my Rayovac Portable Charger with me! I plugged in and I was good for the rest of the morning!

Rayovac has a whole family of Portable Power Products that you can use to keep your phones going, or keep on hand in case of an emergency! I really love how they take regular batteries too. Unlike the rechargeable power packs that also need time to recharge once they’re out of power, all you need to do is stop into anywhere that sells batteries, pop them in and you’re charging up again in an instant! Hurricane season is upon us here in NC, so this would be perfect to keep in your hurricane kit!

Rayovac’s new 2-Hour Power will give you an instant charge for your smart phone of up to 2 hours of additional talk time. This new device comes with a powerful Rayovac CR123A battery, that provides a shelf life of 10 years. No cords needed. It’s perfect for on-the-go , sudden emergencies, or storm preparedness. The more batteries you have the more power you have. Rely on the Rayovac Battery you know and love to give your phone a quick boost of power. Once the battery is inserted, plug it into your mobile device and start powering up right away. Available in micro USB and iPhone.

Rayovac is offering all of you 20% off these products and the rest of the Rayovac website using promo code: POWEREDBYMOMS Valid until end of June. Stock up for your storm kits now!

Products shown were sent to me for the purposes of this post. I am being compensated for my time and efforts in writing this post. As always, all opinions are 100% my own.

This year, we were asked to shop for Man Cave items, and we had fun doing some shopping for Daddy. It was fun shopping for something that he wouldn’t quite expect. We took the Fitness Fanatic and combined it with the Game Room Guy. We found some games to put into the workout room. I mean, games are fun, and working out is fun right? Well, maybe not, but we’re trying here!

We really wanted to get something we could have fun with as a family . We looked through all of the Man Cave options, and decided to head over to the game room stuff. We picked out a Paper Steel-Tip Dart Board, and extra darts, and a portable table tennis set. It’s really neat because you can turn just about ANY table into a tennis table game!

We arranged the room so there was a wall where we could toss darts.. We can set up the table tennis anytime we want to as well!

We had a bunch of fun setting up the surprise for Daddy while he was on a business trip, and he was pleasantly surprised when he saw it.

There are so many more ideas for Father’s Day gifts at Walmart, and online at Walmart.com! There’s something for just about everyone, from the Rock Star to the Hunter and Motor head… Walmart has you covered!

Check out what we got, and learn more about other gift ideas by checking out Walmart’s Man Cave Spark Studio!

Rubbermaid has these new bins out, called the All Access Storage Bin, and I’m hoping to use these to make it a lot easier to find what I’m looking for. The All Access Storage Bins have a clear, drop down door that lets you see and access what is stored inside. They are very easily stacked to make the most of space, no matter what size you get, and they’re great for organizing closets, children’s toys, craft rooms, laundry rooms, offices, garages, dorm rooms and more. I have a few ideas for how I’m going to use these!

I figured the best way to put these to use was to organize my office/craft room. The Medium bins were perfect for storing my class textbooks. I know exactly where they are, which is awesome since I have to grab a bunch of them quickly as I leave for classes. The Large bins worked perfectly to hold my fabrics and yarns, and all of my yarn needles and crochet hooks. The drop down door is super convenient!  I can see exactly what is inside the bins, and if I need to get into one, I can open up the side door to quickly grab pens, or something small that I don’t want to dig for. I also like the fact that they are totally stackable, and I don’t have to unstack everything to just look inside the bins, or to get to things.

The Rubbermaid All Access Storage Bins come in three sizes:

Small (11 gallon/44qt) All Access Storage Bin
- 2 for $25.94

Medium (14 gallon/56qt) All Access Storage Bin- 2 for 29.94

and Large (16 gallon/64qt) All Access Storage Bin (not avail online)

They are pretty cool! Check them out!

The house is always in need of something pretty, and just a few days ago, Better Homes & Gardens sent me their Bombay planter in Red Sedona. It’s a really cool planter! It looks like it’s made of ceramic, and painted with a high gloss red, but it isn’t. It’s lightweight, and sturdy, and won’t break if I accidentally drop it. The color is awesome, and  it’s even better that I don’t have to worry about moving it around! The only problem… How was I going to fill it? My mission was to use only plants from Better Homes & Gardens, and make it look pretty! I accepted that challenge, and was off to my local Walmart to find some pretty plants!

When I got to my store, I was easily able to find the pretty annual flowers in their Better Homes & Gardens plastic pots. They were all pretty shallow rooting plants that will crawl and cascade over the edge of the pot. I grabbed a bunch of them in varying colors and thought they’d look really pretty in our front yard.

My next mission was to figure out how I’d put these plants into the planter, but not have to fill the entire thing with potting soil. This particular planter was very tall, and to fill it up with soil, would make it very heavy. I asked for some opinions, and was told to fill it with styrofoam packing peanuts, or something non-biodegradable. I contacted my local shipping store, and found some! It was now time to plant!

First, I filled the planter about 3/4 of the way up with styrofoam packing peanuts. This would help fill the planter, but also allow for good water drainage. Next I put down a layer of potting soil, filling it to just under the top of the planter. Then.. I planted all of the plants and watered them! I think they turned out super cute!

My Better Homes and Gardens Bombay Planter runs $22.96. Much less expensive than a similar ceramic one, and it’s a lot easier to deal with in many ways. The plants were all less than $4 each, and very pretty!

If you’re looking for some really cool planters, or even some cute plants to brighten up your home, check these out at your local Walmart store!

Ok, raise your hand.. How many of you have ever yelled at the kids for running around outside in their socks… without shoes??? I’ve done it several times. The last time, it was still wet outside from one of our awesome rain storms, and they had walked through mud… Dark, Wet, Sticky, Mud. I freaked. Of course they got in trouble since they’ve been told several times to either wear their shoes, or take their socks off. They took their socks off, and left them at the door. Fine, but now what was I supposed to do with these nasty socks? I tried washing them, but the stains didn’t budge. I was really ready to toss them but then I remembered that  Clorox provided me with a couple of bottles of bleach, and I really needed to take care of this blog post!

First thing I did was wash a load of white clothes on the washer. I did add some Clorox Bleach to the wash as directed. When I took the clothes out, the large group of clothes were very bright white, but the socks still needed some work. Now that they had been through a wash cycle, and had loosened the soil, I set up a sink with hot water, and poured a little bit of bleach into it. I then soaked the socks in it, and agitated it a bit with my hands. I let it sit for about 20 minutes, and went back to rinse them off. They looked fantastic. They’re not new socks, so I didn’t expect them to be perfectly white, but I did like how well they cleaned up. Check out the before and after!

Clorox has a new campaign called “Bleachable Moments“, and Clorox would like to hear YOUR bleachable moment, whether with kids, pets, food, etc. What are some of your craziest bleachable moments?

Black and Decker sent us some tools to help us get our plants in the ground and growing! The tools that we received are very colorful, and even though they’re meant for the grown ups, my girls loved them! They’ve actually been excited to get outside and work on the gardens, which is awesome, because I always forget to water them! I’m horrible, I know! I just went outside to check our garden, and I must say that I’m proud of my family, and how they’ve really worked together on it. The tomatos and pepper are thriving, and we have some flowers on the squashes, and watermelon! I can’t wait for salsa and grilling later on this Summer!

All of these Black & Decker tools are available at your local store, or online at Walmart.com. They are all very affordable, and easy to use! They come in bright colors that are fun to mix and match! They have a great warranty (Keep your receipts!) and if they make the kids more excited to help out.. then awesome!!!

We received:

* Black & Decker 9 Pattern Water Wand

• 9 patterns
• Patterns: jet, mist, soaker, flat, vertical, shower, cone, fan and center
• Flow control shut-off for easy adjustment
• Ergonomic design nozzle provides superior comfort and ease-of-use
• Comfortable foam grip
• 3-year limited warranty

* Black & Decker 8 Pattern Spray Nozzle

• Ergonomic design nozzle provides superior comfort and ease-of-use
• 8-pattern spray head with soft ring for easy adjustment
• Patterns: shower, jet, vertical, flat, full, fan, cone and mist
• Flow control shut-off for easy adjustment
• 3-year limited warranty

* Black & Decker Mini Shovel

• Tempered steel head
• Rust-resistant
• Strong, lightweight steel handle
• Comfortable, soft, non-slip grip
• Durable
• 10-year limited warranty

* Black and Decker Telescopic Cultivator Hoe

• Durable, heat-treated head
• Rust-resistant, powder-coated finish
• Soft grips
• Lightweight steel handle extends from 25″-37″
• 5-year limited warranty

*Black & Decker Bypass Pruner

• iFlon blade coating
• Molded ABS handles
• Ideal for trimming live growth
• 5-year limited warranty

If you get a chance to check them out, let me know what you think!

Walmart projects that they will hire more than 100,000 veterans over the next five years.

Most of these jobs will be in their stores and clubs, but some will be in the distribution centers and Home Office. They will look different for different people, and of course Walmart will hold veterans to the same basic hiring criteria as everyone else. Walmart promises that they will do their very best to place veterans where they want to be.

 G.I. Jobs calls Walmart one of the Top 100 Military-Friendly Employers . An organization with a commitment to life-long growth and development, Walmart encourages you to apply yourself to better the company and advance as far as you want to go. Our work environment balances structure with autonomy and variety, provides ongoing training for specific career path development, and offers unmatched opportunity for those who wish to join something bigger.

If you, or someone you know is getting out of the military, or recently got out, and are looking for a job, check out what Walmart has to offer!

For more information:

Learn more about Walmart’s commitment to bringing jobs back to the US.  www.walmart.com/americanjobs

Learn more about Walmart’s Veteran’s Welcome Home Commitment.

Creativity can be mess free! With Crayola Color Wonder Mess Free Coloring, Coloring with markers can be done on the kitchen table, on a white carpet or on the go in a plane, train or car. And now through the end of the month, Mess Free Color Wonder Licensed Activity Sets are on Rollback at Walmart!

Walmart gave me $15 to head over to my local store and grab a couple of Color Wonder kits for my girls to try out. I let them pick out whatever kids they wanted and these are the two that they chose.

They wanted to open them up as soon as we got home, they were so excited to try out their kits, especially the metallic colors! We were all very surprised just how “Metallic” their pictures were when they colored on the special Color Wonder Paper. They immediately started making “cards” for a birthday party we were going to later in the day. One of my girls even made a little picture for Memorial Day. She was very proud of that one… I am too!

Walmart has a huge variety of Crayola Color Wonder products online and in your local stores, and they are all on Rollback until the end of the month! It’s a great time to stock up for those Summer road trips, or just for fun around the house! Keep the kids’ imaginations going, while saving your sanity and not having to worry about silence meaning they’re coloring on the walls and furniture!

Rit sent me three colors to play around with, and we were very excited to work on this year’s tops with these dyes.. especially since two of them just happened to be their favorite colors! We went off to Walmart to pick up some white tank tops for only $3.96 each! 

First we started with the Purple color. Following the directions on the Rit Dye Website, we got it done, and then used the Pink dye. It was actually very easy to do, and it was fun to see how it turned out. With dye, you never know exactly how it’s going to turn out, but the girls were very happy with their results!

My girls loved them so much,  that they wore them to school the very next day! We still have some dye left over, so we’re just looking for other ideas! They loved the Ombré effect so much, we might be doing this to some curtains for their rooms, and maybe even some bed sheets too! The possibilities are really endless, and it’s so much more fun when you make it yourself!

Have you ever done any fabric dyeing? If not, you really should give it a try! Walmart makes is totally affordable with Rit Clothing Dye being only $2.87 a bottle! You can stock up on colors and just have fun with it! It’s a great outdoor project for the Summer when the kids are home, and they LOVE seeing their own creations!