We too were super thankful for all of Miss A’s classmates, and wanted to give them a special, “End of School” gift to let them know how much we love them. I knew I wanted something personalized so I went to our favorite kids gift site Frecklebox.com and decided on their place mats. I did a post reviewing their products a while back that you can check out here: Frecklebox Gifts. Since then we have bought several birthday gifts from them and bought some more placemats for the girls, plus they are always running discounts.

Miss A handpicked each placemat, from a number of different themes for each classmate, making the gift even more personal. A dinosaur for Kaleb, ballet theme for Natalie, and so on for each of the 7 children in her class. She was so excited to be a part of the gift selection.

The only gift-related problem with our place mats is that I didn’t know how to wrap them or give them a label. I tried to come up with something witty that included, “I’m glad we MAT” instead of met, but scrapped that idea. Then I remembered I had lollipops left over from Miss A’s birthday party, hooray for my brain that never stops!

So on my drive home from her school, yesterday morning, {yes the morning of the last day of school} I was brainstorming wording ideas for the placemats and lollipops. I came up with some fun wording for the lollipops and added our personal information for her classmates to contact us for summer play. Here’s the image of the card I made:

I found an image of a lollipop and went to town on iPiccy, {which I highly recommend}. I made it black and white and faded the image a little so as not to overpower the words. Then I used a bright, kidcentric font to print our message.

Here are the finished products, I ended up taping the lollipops and cards on the back of the placemats, all the recipients, aka kids were super excited for their one-of-a-kind gift and pose with Miss A for one last Pre-K picture.

This was a GREAT way to end a year of school. I hope this gives you some gift ideas for your end of the year classmate gifts.

What are your children doing for the end of the year? Do you have any unique end of the year crafts or ideas??

Here we go…….

There you have it, my junky junk drawer. What cool or random things do you store in your junk drawer or car console??

Check out these awesome posts:

Long before I became a mom I had been a loyal CVS/pharmacy patron. When I was approached to work with CVS/pharmacy on this and other projects it was an easy choice for me to say, “YES”. I have been a huge fan of their rewards programs, including their ExtraBucks Rewards program and their Pharmacy ExtraBucks Rewards. I have personally racked up several ExtraBucks Rewards to use during my shopping excursions at CVS/pharmacy and know even more people who shop there and leave with bags of free goodies. With Miss A being in Pre-K that means that the whole family getting more sick this year, so that means we’ve used CVS/pharmacy’s prescription services more than ever, and so I say, “bring on the savings!!!!”

With more than 69 million active cardholders, CVS/pharmacy’s ExtraCare program is the largest and most popular retail rewards program in the nation! That definitely speaks for itself. In an effort to continue promoting smart, healthy decisions CVS/pharmacy is offering this NEW Pharmacy ExtraBucks Rewards program in the following select markets: Charlotte, Cleveland, Columbus, Oklahoma City, Minneapolis-St Paul, and Portland-Auburn (ExtraBucks Rewards for non-pharmacy purchases are still unlimited.)

I love this new prescription incentive program because it covers my entire family, doesn’t require me to do anything that I wasn’t already doing anyway, and it’s easy to sign up for.

Basically with Pharmacy ExtraBucks Rewards program you get even bigger rewards.*

• Each enrolled member of your household who’s filling prescriptions at CVS/pharmacy is eligible for the program.
• For every 5th prescription you fill at CVS/pharmacy, using your ExtraCare Card you get $5 Pharmacy ExtraBucks Rewards to use on most items in the store. {Vaccinations during flu season count too}
• Each enrolled member of your household earns their own individual rewards for up to $50 Pharmacy ExtraBucks Rewards per year.

So for a family of 4, like ours, we can earn up to $200 Pharmacy ExtraBucks Rewards per year, that’s pretty awesome!!

*To sign up for Pharmacy ExtraBucks Rewards:

• Make sure you’re an ExtraCare account member (that means you’re the owner a CVS red ExtraCare card). Click HERE to sign up.
• Enroll in the Pharmacy ExtraBucks Rewards program online or in the store, using the store number and ExtraCare number that your family uses and each individual’s date of birth and prescription number.

It’s that easy! Just make sure you use your ExtraCare card each time you fill a prescription or make a purchase at the store to add up your CVS/pharmacy savings.

Remember, the new Pharmacy ExtraBucks Rewards Program is currently available in the following cities: Charlotte, Cleveland, Columbus, Oklahoma City, Minneapolis-St Paul, and Portland-Auburn. If you don’t live in one of the above cities don’t fret, CVS/pharmacy still offers other ExtraCare incentive programs at your local store so make sure you’re signed up. 

Be sure to head to CVS.com and take a look at their current savings and programs!

And now for an awesome CVS/pharmacy giveaway!!! I am giving away 2 $50 CVS/pharmacy gift cards, one now through June 10th, 2012 and one when my Pharmacy Extra Bucks Rewards video “airs” {around mid-June}.

Mandatory Entry {must be done in order to get additional entries}: Tell me What city and state you live in. {hopefully the new program will make it’s way to you if it hasn’t already}

For additional entries:

1. Leave a relevant comment on another post on my website. (1 comment per post, no limit otherwise.)

2. Follow MommyBKnowsBest on Twitter

3. Follow CVS/pharmacy on Twitter

3. Tweet the following: I love @cvs_extra Pharmacy ExtraBucks Rewards! Check out more info & enter to win a $50 gc @mommybknowsbest http://bit.ly/JyijXp (up to 5 tweets a day)

Not an entry because MommyB Knows Best follows Facebook TOS, but we’d love it if you want to follow MommyB Knows Best and CVS/pharmacy (again not an entry but I’d love you forever if you did) click here: MommyB Knows Best Facebook and CVS/pharmacy Facebook

Giveaway ends June 10th, 2012 @12:00 am. The winner will be chosen at random, verified, emailed, and announced in a Winner’s post. The winner has 48 hours to respond to the email from MommyB to claim the prize, if the prize is not claimed within 48 hours a new winner will be chosen at random. You must be a US resident and 18 years or older to enter.

While I was not compensated for this post I have worked with CVS/pharmacy on other paid projects. The thoughts and opinions expressed in this post are based on my personal experiences with the CVS/pharmacy brand. 

This week’s #vlogmom question comes from Tania at PureNaturalDiva.com. Her question is: “What is Your Biggest ‘Character Flaw’ or something you struggle with?” And here’s my answer: {ignore the messy hair, lack of makeup, I was in a rush }

So, are you up for the challenge?? What’s your biggest character flaw or something you struggle with???

Also check out these awesome #vlogmom ladies:

Congratulations Veronica! Check your email!

Peppa Pig is a hilarious preschool cartoon on Nick Jr., that aired in early 2001. Before it previewed here in the states it was a longtime favorite with British kiddos, and I’m not surprised why. Not only is the family, (Peppa the, “star” {obviously}, Mommy Pig, Daddy Pig, and George) comedic, but they show what a family is all about, spending quality time together.

The show features so many different relationships; parent-to-child, sibling-to-sibling, child-to-child, and family dynamics as well. It’s fun to watch the entire family engage in each other’s activities and be supportive.

Peppa’s mom and dad help her build a castle, the entire family goes on bike rides, Peppa and her brother play hide-and-seek, and it all ends in loud snorts of laughter!

Not only do Miss A and Lil’ C really enjoy the show, but I like watching with them as well. We want to instill strong family roots and be present in our children’s lives and the best way to do that for us, is to start now, while they are young.

The only thing I didn’t really care for personally are the “fat jokes” towards Daddy Pig, (he laughs them off, but I could do without) but other than that, we really enjoy watching and learning from Peppa and her family.

What is one way that you and your family spend time together??

Make sure you check out Peppa Pig Monday through Friday at 12:00PM and 12:30PM and Saturday and Sunday at 2:00PM and 2:30PM on Nick Jr. Also visit their website http://peppapig.com and on Facebook.

I was not compensated for this post, however I did receive Peppa Pig products in order to better familiarize myself with the program. This in no way effects the outcome of my post, all thoughts and opinions are my own, yours may vary.

This week was MY QUESTION, which of course I HAD to answer, and it was, “What television show would you like to be a guest on.” Automatically my mind went to talk shows, I’m not sure why and the fact that I’m a huge fan of this lady anyway. Check my answer out:

I love Bethenny Frankel, so excited about her new show, check out her website for more details and updates: http://www.bethennytv.com/ and who knows, maybe some day I will be a guest on her show, how awesome would that be?!?!?

Now tell me, What television show would YOU like to be a guest on???

Thanks again for stopping by this week and remember to check out these other fun answers listed below and check us out on vlogmom.com

This time, Rubbermaid is headed straight for the recycling and trash, in a good way! Rubbermaid has come out with this handy 2-in-1 Recycler. For a family like ours who recycles a lot {not everything, but a lot} we really love having this recycling system. The Recycler comes in most handy when we have people over.

Recently, I had a few friends over for a play date where we had snacks and drinks. Often times when we’ve had parties or friends over the recyclables and trash end up in one big garbage can, {boo}. However, now that we have the 2-in-1 Recycler it’s easy to let friends know where to put their cans and bottles and where to dump their plates of food. We decided to put stickers on our recycler that would signify which bin was which for our guests so we didn’t have to constantly remind or hover over the recycler, it worked perfect! (Not an actual picture of our recycler since the stickers are a little smaller and not as visible, but you get the idea.)

We love that both bins have thick handles, that make it easy to carry the bins straight to our city regulated recycling bin. DaddyB’s favorite feature is the LinerLock™ in the lower bin so the trash bag stays put, hooray for easy clean-ups.

The Rubbermaid 2-in-1 Recycler also features:

• A Sleek design
• Removable lid
• 5.8 gal sorting bin
• 7.4 gal tilt out bin with Liner Lock™ handles
• Total capacity = 13.2 gal
• Perfect for multi-stream or single stream recycling

I like my 2-in-1 Recycler and think it comes in so handy that I figured you would want one too. So I’m giving away a recycler to one lucky reader!!!

Mandatory Entry {must be done in order to get additional entries}: Head to Rubbermaid’s Trash and Recycling section of their Website HERE  and tell me: What product would you use the most in your own home.

For additional entries:

1. Leave a comment on another post on my website. (1 comment per post, no limit otherwise.)

2. Follow Rubbermaid on Twitter

2. Follow MommyBKnowsBest on Twitter

3. Tweet- using @mommybknowsbest and @rubbermaid linking back to this giveaway. (up to 5 tweets a day)

Not an entry because MommyB Knows Best follows Facebook TOS, but we’d love it if you want to follow MommyB Knows Best and Rubbermaid (again not an entry but I’d love you forever if you did) click here: MommyB Knows Best Facebook and here: Rubbermaid

Giveaway ends May 16 @12:00 am. The winner will be chosen at random, verified, emailed, and announced in a Winner’s post. The winner has 48 hours to respond to the email from MommyB to claim the prize, if the prize is not claimed within 48 hours a new winner will be chosen at random. You must be a US or Canada resident and 18 years or older to enter.

I received product from Rubbermaid in order to complete this review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own, honest opinions, yours may vary.

Lil’ C got her first tooth at 5 months and had her complete set of 20 baby teeth at about 23 months. For us, brushing is super important, and so are all the steps leading up to it. We have a lot of friends Lil’ C’s age and younger and we were able to invite them to our house for a Mam Smile, Baby, Smile party to try out some of Mam’s newest oral hygiene products and play some fun games.

The moms loved playing the word scrambler and trivia game and impressively each of the moms got most of the answers correct. It was hard to name a winner. The kids snacked on some yummy foods while us moms talked about parenting, oral health and getting ready for next steps in our children’s lives.

It was great to get together with some mommas and have a fun play date and learn more about where Mam is headed. Each mom left with a goodie bag filled with Mam products including the adorable Oral Care Rabbit, great for cleaning little one’s gums, a great tool for cleaning first teeth, the Massaging Brush, and some cute First Brush toothbrushes and more.

We definitely will remain a Mam family and continue to tell our friends and family about our great experiences with the brand.

I want to know: Have you ever used Mam products? If so, which ones??

I am a member of Child’s Play Party and received Mam products in order to host the party. This in no way impacts my opinions on the Mam brand, all opinions expressed in this post are my own, honest thoughts.

Five Movies and Four Years In the Making

The Avengers assembles an all-star team of super heroes in a fun and entertaining movie. Marvel’s been laying the groundwork for this movie for years as supporting characters have been in cameos and after-the-credits scenes of four different movie franchises. Government agents Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury), Clark Gregg (Agent Coulson) have worked there way into subplots for several years now. We’ve also seen Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye) in Thor and Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow) in Iron Man 2. For geeks like me who’ve been following this closely, the payoff is a long time coming and the product more than delivers. If you’ve been following the movies, it was cool seeing how the writers have weaved Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor‘s plot lines together.

Fine For People Who Haven’t Seen the Other Movies

While it’s been neat to watch the crossovers come together, you don’t need to have seen every movie in these franchises to enjoy The Avengers. Through the great dialogue and character interactions you can quickly pick up the character’s personalities, motivations, and a bit of their back story.

The Plot – Surprise! Aliens Want to Invade Earth Again

The Avengers are brought together by a potentially World-ending, but also pretty tired threat. Thor’s evil brother Loki wants to help bring about an alien invasion. While that’s a clear and present danger throughout, and its the reason Nick Fury assembled the group, getting them to work together proves to be just as much of a challenge as the villain’s maniacal plot. There’s nothing new or all that interesting in the threat itself. There’s plenty of action, but The Avengers is more of a character driven story and the real interesting part is how the characters handle the stress of war and attempt to work together.

The Story Telling – Everyone Gets Their Moment, Everyone

A piece that will be overlooked by many was the awesome story telling. As a writer and follower of the movies, I really appreciate the seemingly impossible product. It was incredible that Joss Whedon and Zak Penn were able to tell a story with an ensemble of characters where pretty much everyone got to shine at some point. Amazingly, with such a large cast, none of the main super heroes completely took a back seat. The writers found an interesting way to involve everyone equally and still keep the story moving AND still insert plenty of action. For example, take Scarlet Johansson’s character (Black Widow). Usually in a movie like this she’d be the focus of some romantic sub plot or be the heart of the team. Her character Black Widow is feminine, but also an integral part of the team, that has plenty of action scenes and a major role in the plot.

What Makes Avengers So Great – The Dialogue As Egos Collide

At the end of the day, The Avengers was just a very entertaining movie. I wasn’t surprised that I enjoyed the action sequences and battles, but I was pleasantly surprised by the humorous dialogue that kept the plot moving and had the packed theater rolling at times. Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man) carries many of the comedic moments, but everyone produced a chuckle. Unlike the X-Men movies (which I loved), The Avengers has a much lighter overall tone. There’s no social commentary bubbling under the surface. So, the writers have fun with the characters as they poke fun at each other, their costumes, their origins, and challenge each other mentally and physically.

Verdict – Great Characterization Lifts Avengers Above Just Another Super Hero Action Movie

As a former comic book geek that doesn’t miss a super hero movie, I loved the battles. As in comic books, there are even plenty of good guy vs. good guy fights. And the story makes the motivations for those brawls pretty believable. Of course, there’s also a massive showdown (seen in the commercials) with the alien army. That battle, like the rest of the movie, includes more great dialogue, characterization, and humor at times.

From the trailers many may think The Avengers will be another Michael Bay-esque mindless, explosion-a-thon, but that’s not accurate. Unlike many big action movies where you don’t really care about the characters, with The Avengers, the audience will connect with and root for an unfrozen WWII super soldier (Captain America), a billionaire, playboy, genius (Iron Man), a god-like warrior from another World (Thor), and a fugitive scientist that turns into a big green monster (Hulk). I highly recommend The Avengers to any fan of action movies, super hero movies, or just big, fun Summer blockbusters! Head to the theater, sit back, relax and prepare to be thoroughly entertained.

Note – The 3D was good, but I don’t think it was worth the extra cash. I typically only pay for 3D movies that were actually shot in 3D (like Avatar). When I see it again, I’ll be seeing it in 2D.

I received tickets in order to review this movie, however, the opinions expressed in the post above are my own. Your opinions may vary.