YumEarth Holiday Treat Giveaway

We were very excited this year at Halloween to discover that there were several candy options that fit our food allergy needs. The kids were able to have a few snacks from YumEarth Organics in their candy buckets and they were thrilled! I'm keeping these in mind for Christmas stocking stuffers, too...it's always fun to stick a sweet treat in those, as well.

I'm excited to show you these products from YumEarth Organics. They have all natural snacks that you can actually be proud to give your child. This Christmas, let's have a mom conspiracy and give our kids snacks that are actually good for them! Yum Earth offers gummy bears, fruit snacks, organic pops and sour beans, in a variety of flavors.

Organic Pops: Pomegranate Pucker, Wet-Face Watermelon, Strawberry Smash, Googly

Grape, Very Very Cherry, Perfectly Peach, Razzmatazz Berry, Mango Tango

Gummy Bears: Pomegranate Pucker, Mango Tango, Perfectly Peach, Strawberry Smash

Fruit Snacks: Banana, Cherry, Peach, Strawberry

Sour Beans: Pomegranate centers with sour fruit flavors

The founders of YumEarth are Sergio and Rob - just two dads with young children that wanted to be able to give them a diet rich and healthy food for a snack that did not have high fructose corn syrup and artificial dyes. They believe that the YumEarth candies taste better because they choose to use real fruit extracts and only plant friendly ingredients in them. They even handcraft all of their flavors so that they can be sure that they are exceptionally delicious.

With the allergies in our family (no gluten/wheat/oats, dairy, or egg here), we are thrilled to have an option for an occasional snack that is all-natural. 

Visit YumEarth's Website here to order.

Connect with YumEarth on Facebook l Twitter l Pinterest l YouTube

Giveaway

Prize: One reader will receive YumEarth Christmas Organic Lollipops & Christmas Gummy Bears Prize Pack.

By entering below you agree to abide by terms and conditions listed on entry form.

Entry-Form

Disclosure: The participating bloggers did not receive any compensation in exchange for promoting this event, nor are they responsible for awarding the prize. All participants must be 18 years of age older. Open to US residents only! Winners will receive an email from lifeofasouthernmom@gmail.com and will have 24 hours to respond or another winner will be chosen. The Sponsor will be responsible for awarding prizes and shipment. Void where prohibited by law. Limit one entry per household. The odds of winning are based on the amount of entries received and completed correctly. Good Luck and thanks for entering.

Inside Out Joy Paper Bag Puppet Tutorial

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #InsideOutEmotions #CollectiveBias

My kids love Inside Out and were so excited when I told them that the movie had been released on DVD. They've been clamoring to watch it again for months, so it's easy to say the level of joy of our home about this release has been high!

We talk about emotions a lot, so I've loved having this movie to help open up that conversation with the kids. We were excited to stop by Walmart and pick up a copy of the DVD, and some fun new toys from TOMY to help celebrate the film's release!

If you have a preschooler, you probably know that once they decide they like something, they develop small obsessions over certain characters and stories! My kids love being involved in craft projects, so we took the opportunity to put together an easy paper bag Joy puppet with supplies that we mostly already had in our craft stash.

Joy from Inside Out Paper Bag Puppet 
Supplies Needed

-White Lunch Sack
-Sparkly Blue and Yellow Paper (I had a 12x12 sheet of each, but didn't need all of it)
-1 Yellow Pipe Cleaner
-2 Large Googly Eyes
-Star or Starburst Stickers
-Giant Yellow Pom-Pom
-Blue Paper (for mouth, optional)
-Adhesive
-Scissors

Joy from Inside Out Paper Bag Puppet 
Instructions

1. Cut a piece of yellow sparkly paper into an 8.5"x7.75" rectangle. On the back, make a pencil mark just over 1.5" from each edge, at the top. Trim each side from the marks to the bottom at an angle, creating the curve of Joy's dress. Attach dress just under the bag fold.

2. Cut Pipe Cleaner in half. Use tape to attach one arm on each side of the bag. Make sure you tape inside the crease and not on the back of the bag.

3. Decorate the dress with starbursts or star stickers, if desired.

4. Add a yellow "memory" sphere. For mine, I found the biggest, most glittery pom-pom I had and stuck the pipe cleaner arms into it to hold it in place.

5. Okay, this part is tricky but bear with me! If I can freehand cut hair, so can you! Cut a 5.75"x5" rectangle. On one of the 5.75" sides, cut multiple jagged edges (Joy's hair over her forehead). Round off the top, but make sure to include a pointy spike of hair on one side! Attach to the bag with your adhesive.

6. Attach giant eyes with adhesive.

7. Cut a 4 1/2"x1 1/2" rectangle from the plain blue paper. Round off one side in the shape of a mouth and attach under the paper bag flap with adhesive.

And there you have it! These would be cute for a birthday party - let kids make a puppet of the character whose emotion they feel the most. Hopefully at a party, you would have a lot of kids wanting to make Joy!

You can grab your own copy of Inside Out at Walmart. Have you seen the movie yet? How do you talk with your kids about their emotions?

Read and Share 5 Minute Bible Stories {Children's Book Review}

Disclosure: I received a sample copy of this book to review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Around here, we never say no to a good book, I have to admit, though, that when I'm feeling especially tired, I am not a fan of the storybooks that have more words than they have pictures. Don't get me wrong - I love reading with my kids and I'll read them any book they bring me from our collection - but if I'm already in danger of falling asleep on the couch, I need a book with an upbeat pace to keep me engaged! Read and Share: 5 Minute Bible Stories is one of our newest titles, and it is perfect for bedtimes when we're all feeling sleepy.

This is a collection of stories retold by Gwen Ellis and illustrated by Steve Smallman, from the publisher Tommy Nelson. The book is split by Old Testament stories and New Testament stories. Each story is just two pages long, making it perfect for bedtime (each kiddo can pick one or two stories) or for a reading marathon (the stories are short enough that I don't mind reading half the book in one sitting)! The highlights of the Old Testament stories include Creation, Noah's ark, Abraham, Moses, Ruth, David, Esther, and Jonah. The New Testament features stories of Jesus' birth, John the Baptist, Jesus' parables and miracles, His death and resurrection, the early church, and a picture of Heaven, via Revelation.

Each story includes the Bible reference for the text the tales are from, as well as a comprehension question to engage kids in the story. The illustrations are engaging and often prompt my kids to ask further questions about what is going on in the story.

This one is already well-loved in our collection and I'm sure we will read it cover to cover many, many times!

Thanks to BookLook Bloggers for my review sample of this book. I received no compensation for posting a review and all views expressed are my own.

Win a Brand New Laptop! #UpgradeWithIntel

Disclosure: This post is for my participation in the "Upgrade with Intel" Program. All opinions are my own. 

Do you need a laptop upgrade? There's a deal on the Dell Inspiron Black 15.6 Laptop at Walmart - and it's more affordable than you might think.

The Dell Inspiron Black 15.6 Laptop features:
-15.6" LED-backlit touchscreen with HD resolution
-720p webcam
-3-in-1 memory card reader
-Bluetooth 4.0
-1 x USB 3.0 ports, 2 x USB 2.0 ports, 1 x HDMI port, 1 x headphone/microphone jack, 1 x RJ-45 -Ethernet port
-4-cell battery for up to 6 h 33 min battery life

Head to #UpgradewithIntel to enter a contest to win a laptop of your own. Click the photo above and you'll head to the contest entry (note that comments on this post don't count). Once you're there, select the contest tab, then (in 400 characters or less), share how this laptop would make your life more amazing. One entry per email, per person, complete Terms & Conditions are found on the site.

What would you do with a new laptop?

$100 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway from DC Kids & Batman Unlimited

Disclosure: Thanks to DCKids and Warner Bros' for sponsoring this post. Keep reading for a $100 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway!

Everyone loves Batman, right? He's a classic character and has always been a favorite around our house. If you have a fan of the caped crusader in your house, you may want to bookmark the DC Kids YouTube channel to keep in the loop of all the latest Batman Unlimited episodes!

The series features Batman and his crime fighting squad battling it out against the cyber robotic animals to keep Gotham City safe. The YouTube channel makes it easy for our kids to watch their favorite DC characters, on-demand, and from any device.

For even more fun, there is an extended online experience on the website where kids can play games, download free printable activities, read comic books, and more.

Giveaway

One person will win a $100 Amazon Gift Card from DC Kids and Batman Unlimited. This giveaway is open to US readers only. Winner will be emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or prize will be forfeited.

To enter the giveaway, follow the instructions in the Rafflecopter form below (you may need Javascript enabled to see the form and it may take a moment to load)! Once you complete the first entry, the other options will open up so that you can complete them as well. All of the "extra entries" are optional - you can do just one, or as many as you want! Winners will be contacted by email. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Disclosure: Thanks to Warner Bros' and DCKids for sponsoring this post. All opinions expressed are my own. For more information, you can read my Giveaway Policy and my Disclosure Policy.