Friday, November 27, 2015

Green Kid Crafts: Honest review of a STEM/Arts & Crafts subscription box

Hobo Mama wants you to know she's a professional blogger! Look at how professional she's being!

Awhile back, our family decided to try out Green Kid Crafts, which is a cool subscription box for kids. You get a science & craft kit in the mail every month!

Green Kid Crafts sends your family a box focused on STEM and arts and crafts, full of multiple projects for fun with learning, experimenting, and crafting.

Here I'm giving my unbiased review of the service and showing you what's in a typical box. You can skip to the end for a COUPON CODE to use (perfect gift for the holidays — hint, hint).

Full disclosure here: Green Kid Crafts links are affiliate links. Green Kid Crafts did not sponsor this review in any way, and I paid for my own subscription. I do have a previous advertising relationship with Green Kid Crafts, but that is not current. The end!

First, I'll share my videos if you're a video-watching type. Below those, I'll give a mini written & photographic review if you'd rather have still action.

Here's my video review and unboxing. I give my honest impressions of the service and show you what's in a typical box by going through every project:


Thursday, November 26, 2015

Bzzzz: Building Bristlebots at the Gadgeteers Club



Hobo Mama wants you to know she's a professional blogger! Look at how professional she's being!

We've been enjoying a new find:
the Gadgeteers Club!


A friend posted about it on a Facebook homeschooling group,
and we've been making the monthly trek out to Duvall
for some engineering & technology fun.

Our first time, we made Bristle Bots:


They're like Hexbug Nanos, but made with a toothbrush,
battery, tape, and a little motor.
You and your kids could easily make one for yourselves!

Stay tuned for our post of the next kit,
which was a Minecraft torch.

You'd better believe Mikko was thrilled about that one!

Happy Thanksgiving to you & yours!

Sunday, November 15, 2015

Karsten turns 1

I can't believe it.
Can you believe it?



One whole year since this little guy entered our lives?



And he's growing and becoming so much more capable every day.
Learning words and signs, practicing standing without support,
brushing his hair (clumsily),
brushing the kitties (by poking them in the eye with the brush),
feeding himself off our plates
and laughing uproariously at our mutual jokes.



As Sam puts it, "He thinks he's people!"



We had a little family birthday party for him:

Monday, November 9, 2015

Fitting in fiber is fun with vitafusion™ FiberWell Fit (plus $100 giveaway!)


Raise your hand if you're sure you ate enough veggies today. How many hands are up?

That few, huh?

I love emphasizing whole, natural foods in my diet — but as a busy homeschooling, work-at-home mama of three, I'm lucky if I've remembered to shower this week, let alone had the wherewithal to ensure I've eaten all the fiber I need each day.

Fortunately, I have a little insurance plan. It's called vitafusion™ FiberWell Fit.

With just two tasty little gummies — chew, delight, swallow — I've added 5 grams of soluble fiber to my day. Done!

Fiber has a prebiotic effect on your gut.* It also, you know, supports regularity*. We all know that's important!

Not only that, but vitafusion™ FiberWell™ Fit includes 6 B vitamins, the kind that help your body metabolize the food you eat to create the energy you need to run your jam-packed life.*


 


You can easily take vitafusion™ gummy vitamins on the go!

Now, I don't know about you, but I'm rarely without something to do. I'm doing a load of laundry here, taking my sons to the park there, nursing the baby, working on our home business, amusing the cats, helping the kids learn … and, on top of that, I'm trying to fit in five miles of walking each day. I consider it my evolutionary right to walk a whole bunch, plus — well, I just plain love it.

So here's a fabulous bonus about vitafusion™ FiberWell™ Fit: I can take my vitamins on the go! You don't need a glass of water, or to try to swallow some huge horse pill. You just pop two in your mouth, and they're easy-to-chew gummies.

Did I mention, too, that they're delish? I've been limiting added sugars and grains, so I love that they're gluten-free and sugar-free, contain no high fructose corn syrup, and use only natural fruit flavors and colors derived fruits, vegetables and plants. And they're still totally yummy!

That's because vitafusion™ understands that being healthy can also be a whole lot of pleasure, and vitafusion™ is proving it through their philosophy of "healthy fusion." Try it out, and make taking your vitamins a satisfying, enjoyable part of your daily health routine!

 

 

 

Buy it!

 

You can find vitafusion™ gummy vitamins at club, mass, drug and grocery stores nationwide including Costco, Walmart, Target, and Walgreens. Find more information at www.gummyvites.com.

If you're looking for a brand for your kids, I highly recommend L’il Critters™ as well. My kids love them! L’il Critters™ gummy vitamins have no high fructose corn syrup or synthetic (FD&C) dyes, and they're gluten free.

You can find vitamins, minerals, and other dietary supplements from vitafusion™ and L’il Critters™ to meet your health needs through every stage of life. There are products tailored to meet the specific health needs of children, men, women, pregnant women, and those 50+.

 

Win It!

 

To enter for the chance to win a $100 Visa gift card, comment with an answer to this question:

 

How many servings of vegetables did you eat yesterday?

 

 

I received free product and payment for this sponsored post. All opinions are 100% mine.

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

 

  

Entry Instructions:

No duplicate comments.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

1. Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post

2. Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: “#SweepstakesEntry”; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post

3. Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post

4. For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older (or nineteen (19) years of age or older in Alabama and Nebraska). Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. The notification email will come directly from BlogHer via the sweeps@blogher email address. You will have 2 business days to respond; otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 11/9/2015 – 12/31/2015

Be sure to visit the vitafusion brand page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ posts!

 

 

 

Saturday, November 7, 2015

STEM fun at the B&N Mini Maker Faire this weekend! #BNMakerFaire

Hobo Mama wants you to know she's a professional blogger! Look at how professional she's being!


I want to let you know about a fun, educational, & interactive event going on all weekend:

the Mini Maker Faire!

Mikko and I have gone for several years now to this event created by Make Magazine, but this is the first year it's at Barnes & Noble stores nationwide, making it super easy to get to — and FREE! (Best part!)

So I wanted to share so you get a chance to attend. If you have a mini inventor or scientist or gadgeteer in your house (like our future engineer — I'm calling it!), you'll have a great time.

Here's a little video diary of the joy we had yesterday:


The fun continues Saturday & Sunday at a Barnes & Noble near you, so find the full schedule of presentations and DIY opportunities at your local B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/h/makerfaire