Saturday Special- Purrfect Together: Celebrate the Bond Between You and Your Kitty This September

This is sponsored post. We received cat products in exchange for this post.

September is Happy Healthy Cat Month—and there's never been a better time to show our cats some extra love. Recently, the cat lovers at Meow Mix ran the Purrfect Together Survey, which asked cat parents around the country about their special bond with their four-legged friends. Here are some of the meow-nificent results:

 

83% of cats take naps with their humans

 

This is surprising—and not because 83% of people love napping with kitty. The bigger question is: Who are the 17% of deprived humans who don't get to experience the joy of napping with their cats? 

 

80% of cat parents believe they can interpret their kitty's meows

 

While humans and cats may purr in different languages, that doesn't stop most cat mommies and daddies from understanding what their kitty wants—whether it be some treats, cat nip, or just a snuggle partner.

 

72% of cat parents love to surprise their kitties with treats

 

Speaking of treats, nothing makes a cat happier than some spontaneous, unexpected goodies from the person who cares for them the most.

 

55% of cats love chicken-flavored nibbles

 

Exciting news: Meow Mix has just released a brand new culinary-inspired food made with real chicken or salmon, Bistro Recipes—a classy meal for a classy kitty! Head over Meow Mix's new Purrfect Together web portal [http://bit.ly/meowsterpieces-saysmesaysmom] right meow, and you can download a coupon for $2.50 off any bag of Meow Mix Bistro Recipes. 

 

And that's not all! You need a classy painting to go with that classy meal. On the Purrfect Together portal, you can enjoy the unique experience of converting a photo of you and your cat into a Meowsterpiece—a digital "oil" painting that helps express and immortalize your cat-love on canvas. I did it, and you should too!

 

Now it's time to show me how special your human-cat bond is! Post your Meowsterpiece on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram with the hashtag #PurrfectTogether. Be sure to share your thoughts in the comments below.

 

Wishing a fantastic Happy Healthy Cat Month to you and your feline friend!

Tune in tomorrow for this week's Sunday Scoop.

Funtivity Friday - Paper Clip Jacks

We made up a fun way to play jacks when you don't have any jacks.

What You Will Need

A small rubber ball
Ten small paper clips

Directions

1) Bend the paper clips a little as shown above.

2) Play jacks as normal

Note: Sometimes the paper clips will get stuck together. It is okay to separate them then.

Enjoy!

Tune in tomorrow for a Saturday Special.

New York Hall of Science and How to Be An American

We were given free tickets to the New York Hall of Science for review purposes. Any and all opinions expressed here are our own based on our experience.


Me - The New York Hall of Science was fun. It was truly very interactive. There were all kinds of experiments you could do. There was a thing where you pulled a string up and when you pulled it up it created a huge colorful bubble. The bubble was really cool and pretty.In another place, you could make your own bubbles. It was really hard though. You had to get the soap and the water together and lift it up to make a bubble.  There was a screen where when you moved  it made pictures on a screen. There were fun house mirrors.  There was a room that was tilted so if you stood at the top you could touch the ceiling. They even had actual living birds. There were places where you could do art, but we didn't do any. There was a miniature golf course. I was not happy because we didn't have time to play because we got there too late. I love mini golf. I would like to go back there and play some day. The New York Hall of Science was a really unique and interesting place.


***************************************************************************************************
We were given free tickets to How to Be American for review purposes. Any and all opinions expressed here are our own based on our experience.

Me- How To Be An American was a good show. It didn't really have that much of a plot. These three men were talking to the people about how to become American and about how to go about voting. The things they were saying were not alway true. Like they said "Vote early. Vote often. Vote Tammany." but you can really only vote once. It was funny. Some parts were funnier than others. At one point, they were trying to teach people to how to disguise themselves so they can vote more than once. They took people up from the audience and they put fake beards and mustaches on them. Then, they took the beards off. Then, they took the mustaches off. It was really funny. There were songs. They were old songs. I didn't know any of them before except Yankee Doodle Dandy, and the Star Spangled Banner. They made us stand for the Star Bangled Banner. I never had to do that at a show before. It was an interesting show unlike any that I have ever seen before.

And that's Aurella's view. Tune in tomorrow for Funtivity Friday.

Photo credit: All How to Be An American photos by Ben Stothmann

Where-To-Go Wednesday - New York Hall of Science and How to Be An American

We were given free tickets to the New York Hall of Science for review purposes. Any and all opinions expressed here are our own based on our experience.

What: New York Hall of Science

Where: 47-01 111th St.

             Flushing, NY

Who: All ages

Mom's view: The New York Hall of Science really makes science fun for kids. You will definitely need a long time here. There are so many interactive exhibits for your kids to try. They will be so entertained, they won't even know they are learning. Current exhibits includes an exhibit that shows how math impacts our world, an exhibit on light, and a new exhibit on environmental sustainability. Keep in mind that while some exhibits are permanent, some exhibits may change so if you go you might not see all the same exhibits that we did. Each exhibit is not just a single part but has many different parts to it so if you want to go through them all it could take a while so give yourself plenty of time at the museum. There are even outside exhibits including a Science Playground and Rocket Park Mini Golf. There is also a design lab where children are given the opportunity to use their creativity and imagination.  There are is so much to do at the New York Hall of Science, and it so much fun that the hard part will be getting your kids to leave. For more information go to http://nysci.org/.

********************************************************************************************************

We were given free tickets to How to Be An American for review purposes. Any and all opinions expressed here are our own.

What: How to Be An American

Where: York Theatre
             619 Lexington Ave.
             New York, NY

Who: Teens and up

When: Now through September 25 only!

Mom's view; If you are looking for a show with a linear plot, this is not it. If you are looking for a unique theatrical experience, you may enjoy this show. This is a show where the audience becomes part of the show. You are transported back to 1905 America where you are new immigrants to America, and you are being recruited to support the Tammany machine. The whole show consists of speeches and songs wherein three characters are trying to recruit you and every once in a while the fourth character pops in and tries to keep you from being recruited. Although the show's songs are old existing songs, they are not current and most of them are not recognizable. Most of them are funny though especially in context of the show. On the whole, the show is a lot funnier than it may sound. It is also very relevant. I'm sure its take on corrupt politicians of the past is not so far off from our politics of today. Today's politicians are just not always so overt about how corrupt they actually are. However, hardly a day goes by that you don't hear of some politician being caught doing something they weren't supposed to do. This is not a show for children who probably would not understand it and would be bored. If you are interested in going, don't hesitate. The show's run is very limited. It will only be playing through September 25. For more information or to order tickets go to http://www.yorktheatre.org/how-to-be-an-american.html.

And that's Mom's view. Tune in tomorrow for more about The New York Hall of Science and How to Be An American.

Photo credits: All How to Be An American photos by Ben Stothmann

Giveaway: Win two Yoga Books in the Fall Break Giveaway Hop!

This post may contain affilate links, if you click on a link and make a purchase, we may be compensated.

Welcome to the Fall Break Giveaway Hop hosted by Savings in Seconds

Summer can be a lazy indulgent time. Fall is the time to get back into a regular routines and better habits. It's a good time to start doing things like eating better and exercising more.  A fun way to get your kids to exercise more  is by having them practice all the yoga poses in The ABCs of Yoga by Teresa Power. In this book, Ms. Power provides a yoga pose for every letter of the alphabet and there is a drawing of each as well so you know what the pose is supposed to look like. My daughter and I really had fun trying them all out. For more about that see this post: Funtivity Friday: The ABCs of Yoga. To win a copy of this book along with a copy of its companion book The ABC's of Yoga: A Guide for Parents and Teachers, enter our giveaway. The companion book talks about the benefits of yoga and offers suggestions for making yoga even more fun for kids. The more fun it is the more motivated they will be to keep doing it. For more about the second book, see this post:Tips for Tuesday:The ABCs of Yoga: A Guide for Parents and Teachers

Giveaway 9/21-10/3

Giveaway open to ages 18+ US only

ARV: $40.00

Entry-Form

 Once you have entered our giveaway, click here to enter to win the grand prize, which is graciously sponsored by Zim's. Then, hop around to all the other blogs listed below to see what other great prizes you can win.

Disclosure: Hosts and participating bloggers are not responsible for sponsors and self-sponsoring bloggers who do not fulfill prize obligations.

Tips for Tuesday - Books: The Biscuit Series, Total Package Girl and Will You Won't You Want Me

We may have been given some of the books mentioned below for review purposes. Any and all opinions expressed here are our own based on reading the books. This post also may contain affiliate links, if you click on a link and make a purchase, we may be compensated.

Me - Today I am recommending The Biscuit series by Alyssa Satin Capucilli. It is about a dog named Biscuit. They are great books for little kids. They are very easy to read which makes them great books for kids that are just learning to read. Little kids that like animals especially dogs will particularly enjoy them.

Mom - Today I am recommending two books:

Total Package Girl : Discover the Ultimate You For Life  by Kristi K. Hoffman is a book meant to empower young girls. It teaches them how to be their best selves by believing in themselves and taking charge of their lives and surrounding themselves with people who enhance their lives rather than detract from them among other things. It also talks about things like eating healthy and having a fulfilled inner life. When faced with the world of their every day lives which may include such harsh realities as mean girls, bullies, and peer pressure, I don't think that it is always so easy for young girls to be their best selves and do what is best for themselves and make the right choices even if they have read this book. However, the book does provide a guideline to aim for and shows that is possible to do these things and if reading it motivates a girl to make even small positive changes in her life that is a good thing.

Will You Won't Me Want Me is a novel by Nora Zelevansky. It is about a Marjorie Plum a former high school queen bee who as an adult suddenly finds her life falling apart without a boyfriend, without a job and without an apartment. Then, she moves in with a new roommate, ends up in a relationship with her high school crush and gets a job and her life seems to be heading in the right direction. However, when Marjorie becomes a tutor to a young girl named Belinda,  and gets a new job, and can't stop thinking about her boss her life changes again and she has to find out what it is she really wants for herself in life and not what everyone expects her to want. At first it was a little hard to get into this book because it seemed a little wordy and Marjorie didn't seem like a very likeable character. She just let things happen to her and did not seem very proactive in her life. However, the more I got into it the better I liked it. Marjorie became more likeable the more she took charge of her own life and the more she grew as a character, and the book became more enjoyable to as a result. In the end, it was a good entertaining read.

And that's our view. Tune in tomorrow for Where-To-Go Wednesday.

Kids TV Shows

Me -When I was little, I watched a lot of kids TV. My favorite show was Dora the Explorer. Then, I hated Dora. I also used to watch Barney and Sesame Street. I still like them, but I don't really watch them any more. My favorite show then was Doc McStuffins. I was in to that very briefly.I also liked Jojo's Circus.  I couldn't wait to see the Littlest Pet Shop show, and when it started I was into it for a while. I also liked to play with Littlest Pet Shops. I also liked to watch other shows. I liked Pound Puppies. I liked My Little Pony. I liked Strawberry Shortcake. I liked Clifford. the Big Red Dog. I would pretty much watch any kids show that was on except for boy shows because I am not a boy.

Mom - Over all, I don't mind most kids shows. My older daughter used to like Barney. I hated it when my stepson was little, but I grew to tolerate it, by the time my girls came along. We even took Melia to a Barney live show once when she was little. She also liked Caillou. He was a little too whiny and his parents seemed a little too perfect always having all the solutions to all his problems and never losing their temper. Another show she watched was Clifford the Big Red Dog except she called Clifford "Coochie" and Emily Elizabeth "Emily Ebsileth." I loved the Clifford books when I was a child (although I only remember there being one or two then). Both of my girls loved the Clifford books too. Melia also enjoyed JoJo's Circus and Sesame Street. I watched Sesame Street when Kermit was still a part of it, and there was no Elmo.

My younger daughter also enjoyed Barney and Sesame Street, but her favorite show was Dora The Explorer. In fact, I thought invisible Dora was going to become a permanent member of our family until she finally gave up Dora when she became briefly obsessed with Doc McStuffins. However, it was not as bad as her Dora obsession was.

Luckily neither of my kids were ever into The Wiggles or Teletubbies both of which I always hated. I also never liked Wow Wow Wubbzy  (which both my girls liked) and Yo Gabba Gabba (which they only liked briefly). Most other children shows I don't mind that much although I like some more than others. What I do mind about children's shows are these 24 hour networks for young children like Disney Jr. and Nick Jr. While I do agree that there should be programs later in the day than just in the morning like there used to be, there is something wrong with children's show being on as late 10:00, 11:00, 12:00 at night and at the predawn hours when children should be sleeping.

And that's our view. What's your favorite kid's show?

Tune in tomorrow for Tips for Tuesday.

photo credits:
photo credit 1: The Little Red Monster via photopin (license)

photo credit 2: Barney via photopin (license)