The Friday Five!!

I don't think we've ever been both so sad and excited to have the winter break come to an end. On one hand, we had a fabulous time hosting, dining, exploring, and relaxing. On the other, we all went through various iterations of whatever flu and cold bugs had been going about town and just kind of overdid everything. So the kids happily went back to school on Tuesday and I happily started a January Whole30. We managed to still fit plenty in this week in between our readjusting to normal life. Take a look!

Cooking -- It's only day five of our Whole30, but I must say that we are slaying this round. I have known Joel for almost 15 years and he has never once taken leftovers for lunch to work until this week. We negotiated hard for who would get the leftovers of this Garlic Lover's Beef Stew.

Reading -- I just started a friend's new book: Defending Giants: The Redwood Wars and the Transformation of American Environmental Politics. Brings me back to my Seattle college days when I studied ecology and is a thought-provoking read (especially considering our country's current political climate). The kids have moved on to another Stuart Gibbs series and are on Spaced Out. I can't really remember another author and set of series that has captured both kids' attentions so well -- they insist on listening to it ALL THE TIME. They somehow both snuck in extra audiobook sessions the other night and I didn't notice until the next morning when I went in to wake them up and found the book still playing.

Making -- the kids both got a ton of maker presents for the holidays, but Cam has been loving this loom. At just over $20, it's a bargain!

Wanting -- ummm marble moto workout tights?! How do I not own these already?

Playing -- We are pretty restrictive when it comes to video games in our house, but we bought Kane the Bloxels: Build Your Own Videogame for Christmas and I'm SUCH a fan. You build your own set, storyline, and characters learning about animation, strategy, and a whole other host of great things along the way. Highly recommend!

Winter Game Night In!

Ol' Punxsutawney Phil may not have seen his shadow yesterday, but we suspect there are still a few chilly weeks ahead of us. And that means it's time to think outside the box a little. Head over to the P.S. Blog to see how we kept our family time fresh with a fun winter game night in!

Fave Travel Activities, Games + Toys

Anyone gearing up for a little holiday travel? We're staying put this year, but given how much traveling we've done recently, I've got a good handle on what to bring for the kiddos that will minimize the number of times you have to hear "are we there YET?!" Here are my favorite activities, games, and toys that travel well -- most we have or I've seen in person and are on our holiday lists. Some you might even recognize from your own youth traveling days. You've still got time to stock up before Thanksgiving hits -- happy traveling!

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 

5 | 6 | 7 | 8 

9 | 10 | 11

12 | 13 | 14

15 | 16 | 17 | 18

19 | 20 | 21 | 22

23 | 24 | 25

Bath Games with Munchkin!

Oh we can't even tell you how HAPPY we are that the weather has taken a turn for the warm(ish) out here in D.C. It was a loooooong winter -- filled with lots of indoor activities of which our kids were getting a little tired. And that even goes for bathtime! Fortunately for us, our good friends over at Munchkin just sent over some new bath toys for us to check out. We put our heads together and came up with three fun games to play in the tub -- the kids had such a good time that they refused to get out. Check 'em out and change up your nighttime (or inside play) routine!

Tic-Tac-Toe
An old standby for our crew and the simplest of our three games, we used Munchkin's Bath Crayons to sketch out a game board right on the tile. Instead of Xs and Os (they always argue over who gets to be what!), the kids each picked a color of Foam Bath Learning tiles and used those to mark a spot. Cam is in a big "there are no winners!" phase, so we had lots of ties.

Letter Matching Memory
We then used the Foam Bath Learning tiles to square up a modified game of the classic. I went through the tiles without the kids watching and picked twelve different tiles that contained six pairs of words with matching first letters (e.g., Fish and Frog, Rose and Ring, etc.). I placed them face down on the bathroom wall and each kiddo took a turn secretly peeking at two tiles. If they matched, they won the pair. If not, they had to remember the location and try to pair up another set on the next turn.

They put their winning sets on their own "scoreboard," where they'd written out their names using Munchkin's Letters and Numbers set. Kane reveled in his "win," while Cameron continued to insist that there was no winning.

Who Am I?!
Our most favorite game, however, was our version of "Who Am I?!" Both kids love playing charades, so I knew this would be a big hit. We scrambled the tiles from our memory game, added a few new ones, and then made another "face down" grid of tiles. The first player picked a tile, and without looking at it, placed it photo/word up onto their forehead (they stick when wet!). The other players then had to describe the tile's object without saying the actual word. For example, the kids told me "it has fur and whiskers" and "you really don't like this animal" when I had the tile of a cat stuck to my forehead. It was hysterical to listen to their different clues!

I might not be a fan of cats, but I love that Munchkin's bath toys work so well for many different ages and, with a little imagination, are really versatile. The kids are now intent on coming up with new games using the same toys. Stay tuned!

This post is brought to you by Munchkin, but all content and opinions are my own. Munchkin rids the world of the mundane by developing clever, innovative solutions that make family life safer, easier, and more fun. You can find Munchkin products at Munchkin.com, Target, 
Babies’R’Us, Walmart, and Amazon. It’s the little things! For more about sponsorship and Not-So-SAHM policies, please head over here. 

Holiday Giveaway for the Procrastinators! (over)

You know who you are. Still need to pick up a few items for the holidays? Well we've got you covered with a little help from The Land of Nod. We're gearing up for the cold weather that's sure to come (although it was 55 in DC again today!) and arming ourselves with lots of indoor activities that still get the kids moving and keep their brains engaged! To help you do the same, one lucky reader will win BOTH the Beanbag Toss Up Game and Don't Let the Blocks Drop Game from The Land of Nod.

To be eligible to win, you must:

1. leave a comment on this blog post telling us who would be the lucky recipient of the games, and include your email so I can get ahold of you; AND
2. like Not-So-SAHM on Facebook (if you haven't already). 

I will pick a winner on Friday, December 19th at 10 am EST. 

Good luck!!!

This giveaway has ended. Congrats to SugarB for winning the games! 

Easy DIY Halloween Activities

It's here, it's here! Happy Halloween!!! If your kids are anything like mine, their excitement for today has been building up for quite some time and they are all ready with their costumes, just waiting for the green light to trick-or-treat. I love the whole crazy thing, but then .... sugar crash city. The begging for more candy while melting down from the whirlwind. So I thought I'd pull together some super easy (FREE!) printable activities that you can have at the ready for the post-sugar crash lull before bedtime. Hope you and yours have a spooky, fun holiday!

1 / Super cute paper cute Halloween dress up dolls.

2 / Love this spooky thaumotrope toy. 

3 / A giant haunted house coloring sheet.

4 / Put that candy to good use with a little game of bingo.

5 / If you can't get this pin a bow tie on the skeleton game printed out ahead of time, just print out a regular size at home.

6 / A scary cats game for the younger kiddos.

7 / The Pre-K set will like this pack of Halloween activities.

8 / Try these shadow makers in the glow of a jack o'lantern.

9 / A set of three Halloween Mad Libs. 

Miscellaneous Madness: Number Hunt Bingo

We've got an alphabet treasure hunt on our Summer Bucket List this year, but turns out that we both need a little more work on our numbers than our letters. We'll definitely still get to the alphabet hunt, but mom thought a Number Hunt Bingo might be a fun thing to do around the neighborhood first. So she put together a set of rainbow bingo cards for us and rounded up leftover stickers to use as "markers" (we've got quite the collection of random stickers, don't you!?). We had so much fun hunting around outside -- we were particularly fueled by the fact that mom said she'd give us 5 cents for every card we completed (by getting four numbers in a row).

If you don't live in a city where numbers are abundant outdoors, you could totally do this inside your home. And mom said she plans on keeping a set in the car for us to use when traveling and shopping (grocery stores are FULL of numbers to find). Mom is collecting each of our respective completed cards in envelopes. We'll add up how much we've "won" at the end of the summer and each get to purchase a present. Of course, you don't have to bribe your kids with money -- that is if your children are the total opposite of us and find learning to be an end in and of itself.

Just CLICK RIGHT HERE to download your own set of bingo cards. Happy Hunting!

Miscellaneous Madness: Thinkfun Games Review + GIVEAWAY!!!

This post was sponsored by Thinkfun. We received free versions of the games we played in return for writing an honest review. The opinions in this post are our own.

As many of you know, we had a bit of a rough winter filled with much too much time spent indoors. So by the time "spring" started to show its face, we'd started to grow tired of our go-to games. We were SUPER excited when Thinkfun asked if we'd be interested in reviewing some of their brand new and recently re-released games. We picked out two for the 5+ crowd: Rush Hour, Jr. and Zingo! Word Builder and loved both of them.

Rush Hour, Jr. -- designed for children aged 5 - 15, Rush Hour Jr., is a fabulous logic game with varying levels of difficulty wherein the player solves a puzzle to unblock a traffic jam of cars and get the ice cream truck on its way. Both Kane and I play a similar game on mom's iPhone, so we picked this one up right away (and seemed to like that it was more tactile). It took a little restraint to remember not to lift the brightly-colored vehicles up off the board, but we thought it was fun to "drive" them around and rescue the ice cream truck.

Setting up the puzzles took a bit for me, but is just another part of the problem solving involved. We've been pretty good with taking turns and have made our way through most of the beginner cards so far. Mom likes that the game works for many different skill levels (even she had some trouble with the more difficult cards!) and that it could be portable -- it comes with a nice mesh bag for the pieces and the playing board is pretty compact.

Zingo! Word Builder -- intended for the K-2 grade crowd, this game of fill-in the blank Bingo is just a bit above both of our skill levels. Cam wouldn't sit still for it, but I liked sliding the Zinger forward to get the letter tiles. Each Zingo card is designed to accommodate two different skill levels (beginner on one side and more advanced on another) and each player can pick whatever side best suits them.

I'm not quite to the spelling phase, so mom let me slide the Zinger to get the letters and then she'd tell me the words I could spell with them on my card. I'd then try to find the beginning letter I recognized and finish spelling the word with the tile. Mom loved that the game provided an interactive and fun way to get me to focus on letters and that she could tailor it to my skill set now, while still having room to grow into it.

AND ... Thinkfun is giving away one of their new or recently re-released games to a lucky reader (U.S. readers only) -- your choice! You can pick one of the two games we reviewed, or from these other great games: Move & Groove, Last Letter, Zingo! Timetelling, Hoppers, or Square by Square. 

Enter by either liking our Facebook Page and following the prompt below OR commenting on this post through the prompt below. Extra chances to win by doing BOTH! 

The contest will run to Sunday, April 20th. Good luck! THE CONTEST IS OVER. CONGRATULATIONS TO CARA H.! 


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Not-So-SAHM Top 10 Toys + Games Under $20

We don't normally review or recommend commercial items -- we love a good DIY project. But the weather (or, more accurately, the threatened weather) this winter has forced us inside a lot while mom actually needs to get some things done. So we've found ourselves investing in a bunch of nice, but not overly expensive, items that will hold our interest for a good amount of time. And that are often small enough to travel with us for dining out, which we've also been doing a fair bit -- it's often one of the ways we get out of the house even in inclement weather!

No one is paying us to do so, but we thought it would be helpful to share our top 10 favorites under $20. We know so many of you are in the same situation! (And if you're not, don't tell us). So here they are. Stay sane without breaking the bank. Enjoy!

1. Pentominoes and Pattern Cards -- pentominoes are a set of 12 shapes that can be combined in various puzzles and patterns. Mom originally bought us this set and some pattern cards after we became obsessed with the "Wright 3" series. While touring the Robie House in Chicago, we also each picked up a 3D set, which we also love. If your kiddo likes puzzles and math, this is a perfect somewhat portable game.

2. Pantone Color Cards -- for those interested in art and design, these cards are a great way to introduce color and design to your kiddos while playing a super fun hide and seek game. Mom bought ours at the Building Museum. They are oversized, but sturdy and we've still traveled with them.

3. Modern Artists Go Fish for Art -- we picked these up on one of our visits to the Hirshhorn and LOVE them. It's a small set of cards that can be used in games of varying levels of difficulty, up to full on go fish. We particularly like trying to find pairs of similar things (subjects, color, feeling, etc.) and the game includes a booklet with information about each artist as well.

4. Story Cubes -- Grammie B gave these to us last year and they are well loved. You'd be surprised at how even the younger set picks up on the idea quickly and we love to come up with super funny, elaborate stories at the dinner table. We've got the basic set, but there are a few different variations.

5. Wonderboard Play With Shapes Magnet Set -- Mom couldn't find a great online pic to do it justice, but this was another purchase from the Hirshhorn and Kane is obsessed. He even likes to play with it while he watches his "shows" and build things that go along with what he's watching. Cam likes the bright colors, too. The double-sided board is still compact enough to bring with us -- although we have to be careful not to lose the magnetic pieces.

6. Eric Carle Lacing Cards -- Cam picked these out, but we all love them. Kane follows the pattern and Cami insists she "can do whatever she wants." Whatever. They've been the focus of a lot of our time and forces Cami to use her pincher fingers, which she doesn't really like to do when gripping a pencil, so mom doesn't really care.

7. Melissa + Doug Puffy Sticker Sets -- these sets are a slightly more temporary version of the Melissa + Doug magnetic dress-up sets and much smaller, which is great for bringing them on the go. They do actually last a while if you are careful enough to keep the stickers on the scene. Cam obviously favors the mermaid one. Kane likes the pirates. And mom thinks the chipmunks are adorable.

8. No Stress Chess -- we started playing this last summer and both of us have really progressed. We can even play a game against each other. Well, at least for a few minutes before we start bickering over pieces. An uncomplicated version of the game, players learn the basics by moving whatever piece is on the card they draw. The cards visually describe how the piece can be moved, so those who can't yet read can still learn easily.

9. About Face Card Game -- this game is so addicting. You rearrange four tiles of found object photographs into a seemingly endless arrangement of faces. Super silly and creative.

10. Bath + Beauty Products -- what can we say? Cam is a girly girl and mom tries to roll with it. She spends a lot of time playing in the bathtub with various bubbly concoctions and begging mom to let her wear makeup (which mom doesn't let her do outside of the house). Her favorites include: fizzy colored bath tablets, glitter lip gloss, and a sparkly powder pouf.