FREE Pass to Cy-Fair Pump It Up!

So how has everyone been for oh, you know the past few months?

I will be updating the blog, cleaning things out, etc over the next week or so and will hopefully be back to some "real" blogging soon!

But for now, enjoy this Free Pass to Cy-Fair Pump It Up!

You'll have to print the pass out, so click on it and print from there. If you print directly from this page, you will be cursing my name as you will get the many posts along with it!

As you know (or maybe not) we moved to Cy-Fair a few months ago and have been very happy here! Everyone is very friendly and it is nice to have the comforts suburbia and the big city at arm's reach!

And now a word from Cy-Fair Pump it up...

Pop-In Play Open Jump session during the month of January, 2010. Pump It Up Cy-Fair is the ultimate inflatable jump center in the Houston/Cy-Fair area. We pride ourselves in being the safest, cleanest and most fun indoor fun center in the city of Houston! We are family owned and family operated and take great pride in our facility. We would love for you to visit! Our friendly staff will make sure your visit is enjoyable!

Simply print this coupon and bring to our facility anytime during the month of January 2010 and let your child jump for free. Limit one free coupon per customer per visit. Call us at 281.469.4205 or visit our website at http://pumpitupcyfair.com for our Pop-In Playtime hours.

Raise Your Hand For Chocolate Milk

Speaking of milk...

I was contacted by Got Milk and asked to help spread awareness for this new campaign called Raise Your Hand For Chocolate Milk. Here is the deal. There is debate now among schools to remove chocolate milk from school menus in efforts to boost nutritional quality of their meals. The result is less and less kids are drinking milk at all at school. During these developmental times in a child's life, milk is essential in their diet be it chocolate or plain.

Leading health and nutrition organizations – like the American Academy of Family Physicians, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Heart Association, National Hispanic Medical Association, National Medical Association, and School Nutrition Association – recognize the valuable role that milk, including flavored milk, can play in meeting daily nutrient needs. All agree that the small amount of added sugar in flavored milk is an acceptable trade-off for the nutrients provided. In addition, studies show that children who drink flavored milk have better quality diets, do not have higher intakes of sugar, fat or calories, and are not heavier than non-milk drinkers. source: raiseyourhandformilk.com

Here is a pdf file outlining the top 5 reasons to Raise Your Hand for Milk.

I'm a mom of three and all three of them drink chocolate milk. I'm Ok with it! There are other drinks out there like sodas and other sugary drinks that they do not drink because they know they have the option for something better. Luckily (as far as I know anyway) our school here has not booted chocolate milk off the menu but should that happen it would be a cause for concern for me. If you have school aged children I hope you visit the website, sign the petition, and help out in spreading awareness for this campaign. Our kids need us!

Ebeanstalk.com...a place for toys

***Introductory paragraph written by Ebeanstalk

What makes a good toy? A toy called the Activity Bus from Plan Toys who makes safe green toys was sent to me from a toy website called ebeanstalk. Ebeanstalk has toy experts and moms that find the great learning toys and baby toys through a toy testing program. I’ll let you know what I think of the toy now.

This post is literally months overdue, along with the other posts starting at me from my notebook of blog ideas! I received this Activity Bus back in July and handed it over to my kids. They were excited about it when it first arrived and they liked all of the little parts and pieces that came with it. The bus opens up to make a mini class room complete with chalkboard, desks, teacher, and students. Very creative!

I love the design of the bus. It reminds me of the classic wooden toys...something that looks like one of Santa's elves made! The parts and pieces however really didn't stay put. They popped out of place easily and fell over easily. For a my three and five year old, this got annoying. The Activity Bus didn't really grab the attention of my oldest child. She played with the younger two for a few minutes and then lost all interest. This toy is not really made for her age group so that is not a bad or surprising thing.

In all honesty, this is not one of my kids favorite toys. That being said, Ebeanstalk.com does have several toys that I think my kids would like better. All of the toys sold at Ebeanstalk are good for learning and development and there are several neat toys that they carry that I have not seen in stores. One thing I like about the website is that it is easy to navigate through. You can search for toys by several different categories making it easy to find just what you are looking for.

This is a late post, but as it so happens just in time for Christmas! If you've got little ones to shop for this season, this website might be a good stop!

In the NY Times...

Published recently in the NY Times Fitness and Nutrition section is an article about running with a stroller! A few of my favorite keywords from the article...stroller, running, Stroller Strides ;), and last but certainly not least Texas A&M University (I'm an Aggie if you didn't know)!

A few excerpts from today's article:

Farel Hruska, the national fitness director of Stroller Strides who designed a 5K race training program with strollers, said that many runners feel compelled to keep both hands on the stroller handle, but that it’s not necessary.

“It’s fine to run with one hand on it, but alternate hands,” Ms. Hruska said. “Occasionally swing one arm to avoid shoulder and neck discomfort and to run more naturally.”

...and

A study of five male and five female runners done at Texas A&M University, published in 2005 in The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness, found no increased injury because of stroller use while running. But some runners say that compromising form, pushing too much weight or increasing stroller mileage too quickly can cause problems.

Source: The NY Times, September 30th

You can read the entire article here.

I have been walking/running with my jogging stroller for a while now and I am at that point where I am completely uncoordinated without it. With a jogger in front I can run a straight line, no problem! Without it I feel like a train off the track and end up weaving all over the place! Obviously I need more practice and now that the weather is cooling off (well kind of) I have no excuses!

For Princesses and Fairies!

Bubblegum Tree Photography is offering an amazing promotion for $99 mini sessions...not just any mini sessions! The first is called Urban Princess and your little princess will be outfitted with a beautiful tutu or gown made by Baby Cha Cha for her pictures! This event will be September 30th from 10-1 pm. I am an associate photographer with Bubblegum Tree so I will be available for these fun mini sessions! Also Fantasy Celebrations will be there with a full princess tea party set up! Talk about fun for mom, and fun for kids! My kind of event!

The second event, called Woodland Fairy, will be October 5th from 10-1 pm on Market Street in The Woodlands. I will be there too! Same adorable outfits (and wings), same great photographers ;) , same great price!

These are both a great value! Each person will get a cd with 5 edited photos! With the holidays coming, what better time to have your pictures done and in hand! I promise, your pictures will stop traffic!

To register for your mini session click on one of the following links! Be sure to mention where you saw this announcement!

Urban Princess - September 30th


Woodland Fairy - October 5th





...and here is a sample of my work...with my princess!

Fall is Here!!!

Finally! Fall is here! After months of 90+ degree weather we now have beautiful breezy mornings in the upper 70's! Ah, bliss! If you haven't been out to Stroller Strides yet, ya gotta go! It is great to get out, get some fresh air, and get those muscles moving!

Truly, it is awesome! Come see for yourself!

Coupon Chief - A Gem for Online Shopping

Here is one to file under "nothing to do with fitness", but it is definitely blog worthy!

I was recently referred to a website called CouponChief.com. This site is awesome! Anytime I make purchases online I always do a search for coupon codes. Hey, I say if there is a discount out there (which there usually is) why not use it! Read on for some of the great features of CouponChief.com and see why I considered it "blog worthy"!

Lots O' Coupons
CouponChief.com is the "grand daddy" library of coupon codes! There are hundreds of stores listed and includes everything from clothing stores to home and decor stores. There are even coupon codes for the "big" stores such as Target and Best Buy! You can search by store or by category. It is so easy to find your coupons! You can even create a profile and select your favorite stores and CouponChief.com will email you when new coupon codes are uploaded!

Coupon Ratings
I love attention to detail and this website has done a great job addressing "the little things" that I find very useful. Each coupon code has a rating system where anyone who uses it can not only rate the coupon code, but can also leave comments. Pretty much you won't be surfing through hundreds of coupon codes that don't work!

Pay-2-Share Program
I don't know about you, but my inbox gets flooded with weekly emails (admittedly I opted for) from stores that I love. Most of them have some kind of coupon code in them. CouponChief.com has a program where you can upload your own coupon codes and when someone clicks on them and uses them, you will receive 2% of the sales. You probably won't be able to pay your mortgage with this, but that free cup of coffee or meal sounds great to me!

Its FREE!!!
Did I mention its free to use (even the pay-2-share program)? Really nothing else need be said on this one!

Truly, I think this is a great site that everyone can use! Check it out, pass it on, enjoy!