Playmobil is one of our favorite brands. Their toys are long lasting, creative, and the kids can put together multiple sets to make crazy, fun worlds. Mixing princesses, farm animals, and Santa is only one of the ways my kids have mixed up their sets recently.

We received the Playmobil 123 Large Farm for our use and review, and the kids instantly loved it. I loved it too because they put the whole thing together themselves (none of the little pieces that require my help!), and there were enough people in the set for everyone to have someone of their own. If we had a younger child (aged 18 months +) this would be the perfect set for a family of multiple ages since all the pieces are large enough that they can be sucked and chewed on.(though I’m not sure the older kids would appreciate the drool)

One of our favorite features of the house is how easy it is to fold up and put everything inside. The kids have moved it all over the house by folding up the sides and stuffing everything in the bottom floor. This set would be great for vacation, travel to grandmom’s (especially if she doesn’t have a kid friendly house), or anywhere else you need to keep little hands and imaginations occupied.

Giveaway

You have a chance to win the Playmobil Large Farm set!(retail value: $54.99)

To enter, leave a comment telling me your child’s favorite animal. (one entry per child)

For an additional entry, you can RT this contest via the Tweet button at the top of the post. Leave a comment with a link to your tweet.

Contest Rules:
Must be 18 or over to win.
One winner will be chosen by random.org
Contest ends Sunday, August 1st at 12pm ET.

Good luck!
Kelly

Disclosure: I was sent a Playmobil Large Farm for our use.

I was struggling last night with all the things I either need to, or want to do. Or maybe it was the things I want to do, but also need to do? Anyway…

Instead of doing anything productive I was on twitter. I meet a lot of people who either tool their eyes or stare at me quizzically when I mention the words “social media,” so that inspired me to use my time to share this list of characteristics of social media type people.

10 Characteristics of the social media species (Latin term: amicabiliter interventus sapien)

1. Short attention span.
2. Keeps unusual hours.
3. Likes to talk in 140 characters.
4. Must always have something to type on or will suffer intense withdrawal.
5. Despite an editorial calendar, deadlines and commitments while often procrastinate until the last minute.
6. Says the are working, but really they are reading tweets, blog posts, and Skyping with so-called “friends”.
7. “Friends” are people they’ve never seen in person, and when asked about their friends the social media person will say, “They get it. It’s so nice to be around people who understand.”
8. May slightly misrepresent their appearance in their avatar or profile photo via airbrushing, photoshop or cartoon features. Occasionally will replace avatar with something like a logo.
9. Often starts lists they can’t finish.

How to approach a member of the Social Media species

If you see a social media type in the wild, use the word “tweet,” not “twat”, “twit”, or “twittered,” and be sure to approach the social media species without making eye contact. Also be sure to ask them their handle instead of their name, and what their blog is-this is key to your survival.

If at all possible bring along an iPhone 4 or other smartphone and make like you are typing on it.

Offers of caffeine IVs,  and cupcakes are another way to blend in, but be sure to deliver.

If the social media person still doesn’t trust you mention Old Spice man and his viral videos on YouTube in glowing terms.

You can also pepper the conversation with names like Chris Brogan, Darren Rowse, dooce, and Ree Drummond.

Remember, not all social media people bite, but they all tweet, so be careful what you say.

Have you spotted a social media person in the wild?

Kelly

Disclosure: This is what social media people say when they are paid money.

Staples is offering a free backpack after rebate this week only July 25th-July 31st. (only available in store)

Staples has great deals leading up to back to school, so keep your eye out for their circular, or check online. They usually offer one free item every week, as well as some great 1¢ and 25¢ deals.

More great rebates from Staples this week:

• multipurpose paper for 1¢ after rebate (limit 2 per household)
• Bic roundpoint pens for 1¢ after rebate (limit 2 per household, $5 purchase required)
• Zebra gel pens for 25¢ (normally $4.99, limit 1 per household)
• “Really Useful Little Box” for 25¢ (normally $1, limit 2 per household)
• Highlighter pack also for 25¢ (limit 2 per household)

You can also check out the entire Sunday circular from Staples for more deals, and coupons.

Many thank to Grace Hester for sharing this deal!

Have you spotted any great deals this week?

Kelly

As a member of the Y! Motherboard I was invited to attend a summit in the sunny and COOL Bay area of San Francisco from July 15th-17th. I was thrilled to get to meet so many people I admire, and see the Yahoo campus. I went into the trip excited, and knowing that Yahoo would do a great job putting together content, and fun networking for us, but I was completely blown away by the setting, the information, and most of all the people. I was especially glad to spend time with my traveling buddy and business partner, Julie.

pictured above: Jessica from It’s my Life, Kim from I’m not the Nanny(my encouraging crafting coach), & MJ of Chicagonista

Jeanne, and Amy (our fearless leaders) worked tirelessly to put together the summit, and you could tell, not only did they understand what bloggers need (wifi, plugs, caffeine, and plenty of time to talk), but they also knew things we didn’t like how important a good hotel room can be.

Yahoo Motherboard Summit Sessions

I learned a lot about Flickr (which I will start using more), Yahoo Shine (more on that soon), and so much more. My favorite moment was stopping to talk to the Yahoo accessibility team and learning about how they ensure that all of Yahoo’s sites can be used by people with different disabilities. I was shocked to learn that 7 of 8 people who have disabilities are not born with them. One of the team members was blind, and he told us how shopping for groceries online is one way he can be more independent. I think of it as a convenience, but realized how huge that could be for someone who would otherwise have to arrange for someone to take them to the store. I was also thrilled to learn that as a small site owner by labeling my pictures, I’m not only improving SEO, but I’m allowing someone who can not see the photo to know what it is when they are reading the site. For a much better description, read Tech Savvy Mama’s post on Yahoo’s Accessibility Lab.

Another wonderful session was the online safety session. The session was moderated by Jeanne, panelists included Yahoo’s Catherine Teitelbaum (Yahoo’s Policy Director for Child Safety & Product Policy) and Anne Toth (Yahoo’s VP of Privacy), and Holly Lawerence (Sunnyvale police officer). Catherine showed a video that told the story of a local family whose daughter took her own life after a text photo she had sent to a boy was passed around to other students. It was a sobering story, and really opened my eyes to how connected our kids can be. While my kids are still too young for cell phones, and we constantly monitor their computer use, they are getting older. You can learn more about online safety and kids at Yahoo’s Safely or you can find a media agreement for your kids at Common Sense Media.

I had planned to write up summaries of each of the sessions, but coming home to a heat wave and a houseful of kids made that tough. Instead I’ll direct you to Kimberly Coleman’s smart write ups of each of the Y Motherboard sessions. I really need to learn to live blog. I blame having the attention span of a gnat.

Palo Alto and the bay area

The weather was amazing. I can’t tell you the number of times I had to stop and just feel the wonderful breeze, I am so over seasons.

If I could have moved into the Four Seasons hotel I would have. It was honestly the best hotel stay I’ve ever had. the staff was fantastic, the beds were amazing (I didn’t wake up once), it was quiet, and then there was that bathtub. I had 3 baths while I was there. At home we don’t have a bathtub that’s conducive to relaxing or bathing if you’re over 5 feet tall. I brought home the bathroom goodies from L’Occitane and even purchased the hair dryer that made my hair stick straight, but it’s just not the same. I fear I’m forever spoiled and every hotel stay will be held to an unreasonable standard.

There must be something in the air, or water in the bay area since I had two anxiety causing moments at the airport and the security staff at SFO, and the US Airways team at the gate were AWESOME. Jerry and Tim (I think that was his name) were awesome despite my nerves being completely frayed.

The food (and drinks)

We had an amazing cocktail party the first night, and it was wonderful to get to know new people, and meet some people I talk to regularly online, but the food really was a huge highlight. I wish I had taken more photos of all the deliciousness. I’m honestly not that picky though-as long as I can sit down and eat my meal without having to correct manners or get up to get something forgotten in the kitchen, I’m thrilled. It’s also nice to have an adult beverage (or two) at the end of the day.

Photos from Y Motherboard Summit

Disclosure: Yahoo covered my travel and hotel expenses, and provided us with meals, and some useful swag including the Yahoo Style Book. I was not required to tweet, or write this post, and all opinions are my own.

Today is my birthday. I’m 34 years old.

photo credit: Francis Mayne

I know today won’t be all lounging around, reading a book, drinking fruity cocktails poolside. My life isn’t that way, and I’m ok with that. Instead I’m spending the day cleaning, running errands, working out, and tonight I’ll go on a special birthday date with my hubby. A rare (and expensive!) occurrence.

In place of a birthday wishlist, I’m sharing my life list. Inspired by people like Karen, Maggie, and others I decided to seize the today-on my birthday.

I posted my Life List on the site. Feel free to read, comment, and if you write your own I’d love to see it! I’m only up to the 70s-but hope to pass 100 soon. I don’t think this will be the kind of list that ever depletes. As things get crossed off, I’ll add more. I hope someday when I’m old(er) and gray I will look back at all the things I checked off and feel a deep sense of satisfaction.

I’m finally learning birthdays aren’t all about the toys, time off, or surprises that rarely come. They are more about knowing your time on this Earth is fleeting, and celebrating life.

Of course I wouldn’t have a birthday without my parents. Thank you mom and dad for making me possible. Without you, and the support of my kind, loving, amazing husband I wouldn’t be who I am today.

Off to blow out some imaginary candles-

Kelly

PS If you’d like to show my some birthday love, please donate to my 5k run for Tanner. I’ll be wearing a tutu and running in Central Park so that lone is worth a few bucks.

If you’d like to support other charities I love, you can donate to Childhood Hunger Ends Here, Red Cross, and Charity Water.

Or you can just leave me some comment love.

The little kids started swimming lessons two days a week for the rest of the summer today. I should have started them sooner, but as a former instructor I know sometimes kids just aren’t ready, and finally all 3 of the younger ones are ready to learn.

photo credit: Philms

While I am a former competitive swimmer, I don’t dream of them being the next Michael Phelps (minus the drug use thank you very much), or Summer Sanders. I want them to be safe.

The kids are doing great on their own-they are all close to learning how to swim, especially my oldest who loves to swim underwater. The littlest one at 2 he would walk into the pool until he was up to his neck and just keep going. I had to be on top of him every second. Now at 4, he’s better about staying where he’s supposed to be, but they still aren’t safe.

At their lesson today I sat by the side of the pool, and watched and talked to them as they took turns with the instructor. While the instructor was halfway up the pool with my oldest, my little guy bounced on the 4th step and fell off too far from the edge to grab a pole or pool edge and pull himself out.

It was all a flash.He couldn’t get back up. He was completely under the water. Silent. Still. Alone.

I knew what was happening. Within seconds I pulled him out without stopping to take off my sneakers. Did I have to jump in? Yes. By the time a lifeguard or his instructor got there he would have been under for 30 seconds maybe more. Too much time.

I’ll continue to go, sit and watch him, and his siblings as they try to swim and play, and take lessons at the pool, but you better believe I’ll have on my suit.

“Approximately 750 children who will drown next year, about 375 of them will do so within 25 yards of a parent or other adult.  In ten percent of those drownings, the adult will actually watch them do it, having no idea it is happening (source: CDC).”

This quote is from a very through, and sobering article on drowning via Mario Vittone called “Drowning Doesn’t Look Like Drowning” Please read it.

Kelly

Unless your last name is Rockefeller it’s likely credit is a necessary evil in your arsenal of personal finance. Even if you’ve dedicated yourself to a cash only existence, credit scores can still effect your life. For instance, did you know credit scores are commonly used by Human Resources departments? If you’re up to your ears in debt, that dream job might just pass you up because of your faulty credit.

Credit Score and Credit Report: What’s the difference?

Your credit report is a list of all current and past debts, including if you have made late payments, missed payments, etc. You can get your credit report from all 3 agencies (TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian) for free at AnnualCreditReport.com. You want to make sure you have credit reports from all 3 agencies, since they differ in their reporting methods.

Why is it important to check your report?

It’s important to check your credit report for errors. You may have a name that is similar to a family member, or someone may have opened an account in your name without you knowing. Once I even found a credit line that was open on my report, even though we had requested that it be closed.

If you have any blemishes in your credit history it’s important to check to make sure they are off your report at the appropriate time. We were also once dinged for late payments, despite a glitch with the credit card company making it their fault not ours.

My recommended method is to check your credit report every 4 months, rotating agencies, that way you have a good chance of catching any mistakes pretty quickly. Since my husband and I share a lot of our debts (both names on the accounts) by running a report every 2 months on one of us I can consistently monitor our credit.

What about your credit score?

photo credit: TheTruthAbout…

Credit reports don’t include credit scores, that magical number that the agencies use to determine your credit worthiness. The difference between under 700 and over 800 can mean thousands over the lifetime of a home loan for instance. Don’t know what’s a good score, an average score, or a bad one? Try checking out this informative post at Bargineering. So, how do you get your credit score?

There are 2 ways to obtain your credit score:
1) Apply for a loan: When you apply for a loan you are sometimes given the info about your credit score, although clearly this is not the time to figure out your score especially since it could cost you hundreds to thousands of dollars.

2) Use a website to get your credit score: There are several options that cost from free to over $30.

One site that makes it easy to get your free credit score, and sign up for credit monitoring is CreditScore.com. They offer a free trial that is outlined on the front page of their site. You can sign up for the free trial and cancel at any time. Should you choose not to cancel (or forget to!) you will be charged $14.95/month for credit monitoring. I’m sure most people don’t want to pay that much for credit report monitoring, but it does offer a few benefits.

Benefits to credit monitoring:

Most of us have a lot to do, and little time to do it. Despite organizers, computer calendar software and the ubiquitous post it note, you will likely forget to check your credit report regularly. While we were getting ready to move-remodeling, painting our old house and shopping for a new one, I completely forgot to check our credit reports and scores. We checked it originally in February, but when it came time to close on our house in July there was a ding on our reports. I mentioned it above, it was the credit card company’s fault, but we didn’t catch it in time. That meant our rate shot up about 1%, and there was nothing we could do but wait. It was removed from our report, and we did refinance, but we could have saved a ton of money and time by signing up for to receive a monthly credit report.

While it may not be something you need all the time, at time it does make sense to have someone else do the work for you, delivering your report right to your inbox.

If you can’t be trusted to cancel your free trial, and don’t want free credit monitoring I also recommend trying CreditKarma.com. In place of a free trial they offer ads on their site, with details on banks and credit cards that can save you money.

When was the last time you checked your report and score?

Kelly

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post, but all opinions and experiences are my own.

Have you heard of Coupon Cactus? Not only do they offer awesome online coupons, but they also offer cashback for 1000s of places to shop. Everything from electronics at Best Buy to airline tickets are featured. If you think coupons aren’t saving you enough, then their cashback offers will make it worth your while. Coupons are available without logging in. To earn cashback on your purchases, simply create a login.

How could you use Coupon Cactus?

Let’s use my family as an example. We’re planning a vacation later this summer to the beach. We need towels, bathing suits, and a few summertime clothes. We can purchase bathing suits from Land’s End (1.5% cashback), a few things for the girls from Justice (40% off and 2% cashback), and Banana Republic (25% off and 1% cashback). Say we budget $100 in items/per store, with coupons and cashback we’d save $65 and earn $3.45 cutting our total spending to $231.55 or an overall discount of 33%! Not too shabby.

Next we need a place to stay. Looking through the hotel deals-I have a ton of options. If we book somewhere like Airfare.com we can get 20% cashback! What if we decided to use Marriott? They offer 2% cashback, but I could also purchase giftcards to pay for my stay and earn an additional 2% back. Add in the discounts that are being offered (or even use your points to pay for the stay), and your savings could be significant.

Now we need things to do, and food to eat while on vacation. We could get groceries delivered from Peapod and save $15 with a coupon, and earn $4 cashback.  There are also deals and coupons on attractions and amusements nationwide.

The options are limitless. My favorite way to use Coupon Cactus.com is to us it in conjunction with another discount. You could buy Restaurant.com gift certificates using this 70% Off discount code: FRESH PLUS get 6% cashback via Coupon Cactus! Coupons and cashback for purchasing an Entertainment book, shopping with BuyWithMe, and more. Saving and earning money couldn’t be easier!

Have you ever used Coupon Cactus? Will you consider using them now that you know about their cashback offers?

Kelly

Disclosure: I was compensated for the time it took me to write this post.

June 24-26th I spent 3 of the most enjoyable days of my life in Park City, Utah. I’ve never been to Utah, nor have I ever had a desire to go. Now that I’ve been I long to go back.

EVO is a social media conference: the evolution of women in social media, that totally knocked my socks off. I was a conference “virgin” until EVO, and I can say that it will definitely be hard to top it until EVO ’11. Jyl from Mom it Forward, and Rachel from Today’s Mama thought of everything. They were amazingly energetic despite the lack of sleep, and the last minute snafus I’m sure happened behind the scenes. I will admit to having a seriously critical eye for flaws, it’s not something that I love about myself, but I embrace it. It was apparent to me that Jyl, Rachel and their team of volunteers took care of everything. Their attention to detail, and thoroughness is what impressed me most about the conference.

The venue was gorgeous. I never knew the mountains of Utah were so pretty at this time of year, and I was so happy to experience it at a time when the weather was so perfect. The staff at The Canyons couldn’t have been any nicer or more attentive. The food was delicious. I also won a free massage, so my take on things may be slightly biased.

And the speakers? Oh, the speakers. I only feel bad that I couldn’t clone myself and be in 4 places at once during the sessions.

There was the heart wrenching, honest and funny opening keynotes from lovely ladies including Heather Spohr (The Sphors are Multplying), Stephanie Qualio (Noshtopia), Niri (Mommy Niri), and Wendy Sachs which started the event off on the perfect note.

I learned so much from the amazing panel on storytelling with the lovely Laura (Kirtsy), Catherine (Her Bad Mother), Maya (MeMeTales), and  Alexandra (Modern Kiddo) on the craft of storytelling. I love that they all came to storytelling from a different place, and their own paths.

I wrote a whole post about the amazing lessons I learned from Ghennipher Weeks, Liz Strauss, and Carol Roth in the social media in business session. They were all sharp, gorgeous, and funny.

Another favorite session was Sales and Monetization with Stephanie Smirnov, Stephanie Schwab, Neil Chase, and Naomi Hirabayash. They seriously packed hours of content, and useful advice into about an hour.  Each of them had their own brilliant take (based on their experience) on what works, and what doesn’t, and how to best approach monetization.

I also loved the morning keynote from Jon Sinclair and Andrea Howard, both producers at Oprah, who discussed new media and old media. There were so many smart things they both said, but I loved that they really understood that we don’t consume media in the same way anymore and they have to adapt to the changing times. One interesting thing they shared was how they can now use social media as a tool for vetting guests. They no longer need to have extensive interviews because most of their guests have websites, twitter accounts, and Facebook pages.

There were some common threads that ran throughout the conference.
Be authentic.
Know your message.
Know your audience.
Adapt.
Value yourself and your time.
You are not your numbers.
Appreciate what you have.

The closing keynote by Brene Brown (Ordinary Courage) and Karen Walrond (Chookooloonks) was about authenticity. I really could have listened to them talk for hours. Their presentation was moving, personal, and funny. It left me feeling high on life and the possibilities. Karen’s passion and talent for photography have helped me refind my passion for photography as a hobby and Brene’s passion for her work in worthiness and courage is amazing. Just thinking about them inspires me!

Another feature of the conference was the venue. I was completely hooked on the scenery. Utah is gorgeous at this time of year. Simply beautiful. So while we sat inside and learned and dug into social media, we came outside to the most glorious cool, sunny weather with the amazing mountains surrounding us.

The closing party was held at the fantastic Park City Mountain Resort, and was so much fun. The resort has an Alpine Slide, Alpine Coaster, Zipline and more for summertime fun. The Bush’s Beans sponsored food was delicious, and of course the company was fab.

Did I mention the zipline? There was a big kerfuffle in the beginning of the night-not enough tickets to go around. I was totally bummed, but as chance would have it right at the end of the night (5 minutes before the lift closed) I headed up the mountain with Maya, Amy, and Laura, and we took a chance. There was no line, and 2 guys who like their jobs a little too much. I was nervous, and asked if I was all buckled in, and the guy said, “I guess we’ll see!”, and then opened the door. Thankfully I am not prone to panic attacks!

I wish I had video, but I was too scared to think of that. You can see Amy’s videos of the Death-Defying ride, and the aftermath.

I can’t wait for EVO ’11.

Kelly

This summer has been…interesting.

I have all 4 kids home (for the most part), am doing a bit of blog conferencing, we have some vacation planned, and am trying to institute more time for me.

While I should be embracing the summer, spending days at the pool, and making playdates for the kids, I’m not. Life has been like an airplane circling an amazing destination, waiting to land. I’m waiting for the next thing I have to do, the next email, the constantly growing to do list that isn’t moving.

Today I’ve been waiting for inspiration for my Mom Monday post- I had planned to write about body image, and then fitness, and then I don’t know but the words wouldn’t come. So I did what any twitter addict would do, I sent out a tweet.

“I am aimless today. This is not good.”

Within a minute Pam Slim replied:

“@centsiblelife: aimless is good. embrace your inner lack of compass.” via Twitter

Pam’s right. Instead of sitting here trying to get inspired I’m going to go see where life takes me today. Likely to the floor to play with my 4 year old. Maybe to watch a movie with my girls. Possibly to help my 12 year old start something new. We’ll see.

One thing is clear-I don’t do nothing often enough, and with this idea of letting go in my system, I may just be spending more time making playdates, swimming, and just being.  In other words: living life.

Kelly