Old School Fun with a Modern Twist - UNO & Friends: iPhone App Review

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Yes, I'm a gamer... A true lover of many different games, from the classic board and card games to everyones favorite favorite digital upgrade - video games. 

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Did I happen to mention that I'm also a busy mom of 2 active daughters and a hard working fiancé, who also enjoys a good game every now and then too?!

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Some of you may be asking yourselves: "How do you juggle all of the responsibilities of parenthood and home, while still finding time for gaming?!" My answer to that is... With Phone Apps, of course! Just about everyone has personal experience with the app world. It's literally an endless world of possibilities and I, personally, can't get enough of my mini-game apps!

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Honestly... Who didn't grow up playing card games with family and friends? When it comes to my old school card game addiction, I couldn't of been happier when I ran across UNO & Friends!! I started playing the Uno app about a year or so ago, on my Windows phone. I loved the app so much that I ended up finding it for my iPhone as well! I love how the actual concept of Uno 
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The addition of campion pets mix things up a bit and add a dose of excitement! They're both cute and quite helpful at times. I'm also excited about the variety of Tournaments available to compete in. And last but not least.... The Houses are like time UNO Sororities/Fraternities! Complete goals to earn points (You don't even have to win a game to get goal points!) Win Boosts, Metals, Tokens, etc! There's always a new surprise and/or opportunity around the corner.... And best of all... *•NEVER CHANGING FROM THE CLASSIC UNO GAME WE ALL GREW UP WITH!!•* All original with a touch of amazing extras that do nothing but make your game play more exciting!!

I love this game more then ever!!! The only thing that I have a minor issue with is the amount of tokens available to get from scratch cards... a 45 minute wait time is pretty harsh! But that's just my opinion.

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Disclaimer: This blog accepts compensation in the form of products and/or monetary for selected posts which will be labeled as sponsored. Please note that I only write about items and/or services that myself or family have had personal experience with or ones that I believe you, my readers, will enjoy and/or benefit from. All opinions are my own and may differ from those of others. 

This post may contain affiliate links.

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Cyber Monday Deals from Across the Web --

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Please view full disclosure for details.**

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•• It's Cyber Monday!! ••
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Don't let these rare Holiday Offers pass you by!

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•• Tea Collection ••

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Be sure to stop by the Cyber Monday Sale over at Tea Collection. Save on a variety of unique clothing styles for kids of all ages!

The perfet opportunity to add some cultural flavor to the kids' winter wardrobe this season. No personalities left out.... Every boy and girl, from babies to tweens, Tea Collection is sure satisfy them all!

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•• Tiny Prints ••

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Save 40% off Cards and Stationery orders
or
Save 50% off orders of $200 or more
Use the code: CYBERMON50 at checkout.

-- Also --

Save 30% off all Gift and Home Décor orders 
Use the code: CYBERGIFTS30 at checkout. 

Promo Code: CYBERMON30

**Offer valid during Monday, November 30 ONLY!!**

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•• Shutterfly ••

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All Shutterfly customers will receive 25% off select merchandise orders!

Use the code: CYBERDEAL at checkout.

**Offer valid on 11/30 Only!!**

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•• Adidas ••

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Don't miss out on the big savings at Adidas by taking advantage of one of the money saving offers below.....

Recieve $15 off any Adidas purchase

$75 or $25 off purchases of $100

$40 off purchases of $150

Use Promo Code: CYBER

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•• Walmart Savings ••

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•*• Xbox One White 500GB Gears of War •*•

•*• Special Edition Console Bundle •*•

Walmart Exclusive!!

Pay just $299

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•*• Xbox 360/4GB Peggle 2 •*•

•*• Value Console Bundle •*•

•*• Pay just $129.96! •*•

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Check out a couple of the

Cyber Monday Deals

I ran across on

Amazon

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Swarovski Elements Snowflake Pendant Necklace

(In Clear and Blue Topaz)

This would be perfect for fans of the 'Frozen' movie or lovers of the Winter Season.

With a price this low, you can't beat a deal this great. 

•*• On Sale for: $17.55!! •*•

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180 Cosmetics Hyaluronic Acid

And Vitamin C

This would be the perfect gift for any woman, all ages.

Available,TODAY ONLY: 

•*• $9.95! •*•

Disclaimer: This blog accepts compensation in the form of products and/or monetary for selected posts which will be llabeled as sponsored. Please note that I only write about items and/or services that myself or family have had personal experience with or ones that I believe you, my readers, will enjoy and/or benefit from. All opinions are my own and may differ from those of others.

This post may contain affiliate links.

Boys Love Dress-up too + DIY Dress-up Tips

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Playing Dress-Up:

Not to be considered strictly Girls Only ...

Make-Believe is for boys too!

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When your hear a parent talking about their kids playing dress-up, most people automatically think they are talking about their daughters. Dress-up has always been known for being more of a girls activity but that's not always so. When my step-son is over at the house and his sisters are playing dress-up, he wants to play too. Of course he don't want any faerie wings or dresses to wear but a couple years ago he started asking me if I would find him some boy dress-up clothes so he could play with his sisters, So I agreed.

Here's what I figured out about shopping for dress-up clothes, for boy and girls:

I started at the best place I could think of to find dress-up clothes... Thrift Stores! They're always full of a variety of clothing for very little money. Not to mention that unused Halloween costumes often find themselves at thrift shops. That means easy picking for you! 

When dress-up shopping for boys or girls, it's always a good idea to begin the first of November, with Halloween Clearence! Most of the work is done for you, adding personal touches is optional.  Once the trick-or-treating is over, instead of boxing up the costumes, hand them to the kiddos to be enjoyed over and over again instead of just the 1 night!

This is the time to let all of your creative energy out to play, use anything and everything available to make your vision a reality! And remember that no costume idea is off limits! Let your children help with the shopping and designing process for done great bonding fun!! 

Just be sure to have fun and remember that anything goes!

Costume Ideas:

• To make a Cowboy Costume you could use a wore out pair of jeans, a flannel shirt, a brown vest, cowboy boots and hat and maybe a belt. (You can find cow-boy belts with plastic guns at The Dollar Tree)
• For a Mad Scientist you can use a pair of white cloth pants, an over sized button up white shirt (maybe a chefs coat). Add some black framed glasses and a few glass or plastic vases as the potion beakers.
• Be Creative!!  The options are endless!!

You may not find what your looking for on the first shopping trip, check back another day. Each shop you visit will be different then the rest and it's your job to find the diamond in the ruff!

Don't forget the flea markets!

Anything is possible when you get creative!

• If you like the Halloween Costume idea for dress-up clothes, wait until early November to buy the costumes. That's when the stores start their Halloween Sales to get rid of all the extra Halloween costumes and decorations so they can start getting ready for Thanksgiving. You can get costumes for just a few dollars! I like to buy a few of them when they're on sale and put a couple up for Christmas presents. 

My step-son now has his very own dress-up collection without a single girlie touch! We found a cape, things for a fireman, an army man, and a ninja  - just to name s few. He's happy and that's dll the matters! My kids play for hours, running around in their new dress-up clothes.

Watching that boy enjoy every ounce of playing dress-up with his sisters is why I whole-heartily believe that everyone dreams of s different life and playing dress-up is the perfect way to help dreams come true!

 “Dress-up being for Girls Only" is nothing but huge myth.

Boys pretend too!

You can also find lots of retailers on & offline that sale a variety clothing designs to insure each creative idea with the prefect outfit for play!     Make-believe is for everyone....

Boys and Girls, no matter the age!

The local costume store is an obviously great choice to find perfect add-on items to complete the look!

Get creative and use that fabulous brain of yours!!

Anyone up for a dress-up session? 

Play More & Save More by Renting Your Child is Next Lego Set

**This post contains affiliate links, I may be compensated if a purchase is made after links are clicked.**

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Great Deals on LEGO Subscriptions Available Through Pley

Does your kids have an obsession with LEGOs? Did you know that Pley.com allows kids of all ages to rent LEGO sets?! This new way of receiving LEGOs is actually saving hundreds of dollars each year in toys that are being enjoyed  instead of neglected. Pley creates a sharing economy that reduces waste and enhances kids cognitive skills. Be sure to check out the great deals Pley has to offer on their monthly LEGO subscriptions!

Rent unlimited LEGO® toys for your kiddos today!

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Enter the Masterbuilt Butterball Turkey Fryer Giveaway from A Freebie Empire

How would you like to Win a Masterbuilt Butterball Turkey Fryer from A Freebie Empire?! Click the banner below for more details on how to enter!!

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Witches Broomstick Cookie Recipe

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-Witch's Broomstick Cookies-

Recipe & Photo Source

Yes.... The time has come to start searching for the perfect costumes and start making plans on how your going to keep the kids from getting candy sick! HALLOWEEN IS NEAR! To get things started, I decided to share these adorable Witch's Broomstick Cookies, that I ran across recently, with you. They're super simple to make and a big hit with the kids!!

Makes 20ish cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 tablespoons cream or milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
20 pretzel rods, about 5 inches long
2 teaspoons butter
2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/3 cups white chocolate chips, melted

Directions:

• Heat your oven to 350ºF
• Combine brown sugar, butter, cream & vanilla into a medium sized bowl. Once combined, stir in the flour and salt.

• Mold dough into 1 1/4-inch balls. (About 20ish balls is the norm)

• Place pretzel stick onto ungreased cookie sheet & press each dough ball onto the end of your pretzel sticks.

..... View more .....

View Full Witches Broomstick Cookies Recipe

Disclaimer: This blog accepts compensation in the form of products and/or monetary for selected posts which will be labeled as sponsored. No matter the compensation, I only write about items and/or services that I have personal experience with and believe my readers will enjoy and/or benefit from.
All opinions are my own and may differ from those of others.

#Free Green Kids Crafts Trial Kit - Plus Giveaway

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*** Limited Time Offer ***

Do your children enjoy making crafts, drawing and simply being creative? Most families interduce their little ones to arts and crafts pretty early and their interests for creativity simply grows with age. 

GreenKidsCrafts is a favorite subscription service of many parents, and here's why... Their monthly boxes include fun and educational activities that are created to inspire, entertain and help to teach earth-friendly habits to our kids!! They're amazing and kids LOVE them!

For a Limited Time Only you can receive a FREE Trial Kit!!!
What's better then letting the kids test out the fun before actually committing to a subscription! Very RARE! 

- You don't want to miss this amazing opportunity -
Surprise your kids with their very own GreenKidsCrafts Trial Kit today!

Educational Fun, promised in each box!!!

**Reserve your Trial Kit today! **

While your at it: Enter the
Sensational September Giveaway!!
Ending Soon!!

Free Bingo 2: iPhone App Review

Every now and then I get random, outta the blue, cravings to play Bingo... I can't explain it, the urges are unexpected & strong. (I'm a game fanatic w/ a slight addiction to the oldish ones that shaped my childhood.) Through out the past year, I've tried an extreme amount of Bingo apps. Sadly, it seems that 99% of the time I end up disappointed... It seems that after playing for a bit actually enjoying the app, which ever version of Bingo I happen to have at that moment, to quickly realize that I have no more tokens/tickets or whatever else used to "pay" for each Bingo board. With most of the Bingo games I've downloaded onto my iPhone, stocking back up on game tokens has meant that I had to purchase them with actual money and I don't have the extra cash to toss out for games like that. Which is the main reason they all got quickly uninstalled. It's aggravating because it's extremely rare that my Bingo craving is satisfied enough to be happy!!! A gamers worse nightmare!!

**Lucky for me, I believe I may have finally found the Bingo App to satisfy my cravings once and for all!!!** 

Though I'm not saying there's not any flaws...

We'll get to them soon enough.

Below is my personal opinion of the iPhone game app: Free Bingo 2.

From one phone gamer to another......

When I ran across Free Bingo 2, I figured it was going to be just like all the other Bingo's I've downloaded in the past. Not really caring, I figured I'd simply play for a little while and when I ran outta tokens, or in this case diamonds, I'd uninstall the game as I did in the past. If I remember correctly, the game begins with either 20 or 30 diamonds. Each Bingo board cost 2 diamonds a piece to play, with a max of 4 boards per round. If you choose to 3 or 4 boards, you're only able to see 2 boards at a time. To view the other boards you'll have to click an almost see thru arrow located near the bottom right of your boards, and click it again to go back to the top boards. The Bingo balls are ran across the top of your screen and if your phone volume is turned on, the voice can be quite loud. (I don't normally keep my game sounds on when playing apps due to them annoying me and everyone else around me.) Now is when my mixed feelings come... Unlike other Bingo games I've downloaded in the past, if I don't have the number being called, I have to wait the full amount of time given by the game between ball selection. Anyone who's played Bingo before knows how annoying and time consuming this can be. With Free Bingo 2, there's a button on the right side on the boards (below the time gauge) that you can press to quickly receive the next number! That option has to be my favorite of the game! The downfall is that if your boards match the current ball number selected, and you don't mark it before a new number is called, you loose that mark and it don't count as a bingo... You'll still be able to mark it but the dot color is red and no Bingos using that missed number will count in the end... Not really fair if you ask me. Another way that Free Bingo 2 is different from other Bingo games is that you don't actually call Bingo when you get 5 in a row, like we're a use too. Instead, you play all 70 balls and get rewarded for the total amount of Bingo's you were able to get. I'm actually not upset about that way of playing due to my continued frustration during other games where I'd end up with no Bingos when either the time went out or the selected amount of Bingos chosen for each round were quickly won by other online players. With Free Bingo 2  you're not playing with other online gamers in a race to finish first, you're simply playing by yourself... for the fun of playing the game. My one final complaint (which only makes two total for the whole app) is the ads..... No one likes the interruption of adds popping up in the middle or at the end of rounds. I will admit that Free Bingo 2 has way to many ads and can get quite annoying at times. But if you can overlook the ads and quickly for your numbers, this app is will be very entertaining.

I'm happy to say that I won't be uninstalling it anytime soon! 

Interested in downloading this game onto your iPhone?

Visit App Store

Search: Free Bingo 2

You should see the app on your screen with the option to download!!

ENJOY!

 

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Disclaimer: This blog accepts compensation in the form of products and/or monetary for selected posts which will be labeled as sponsored. No matter the compensation, I only write about items and/or services that I have personal experience with and believe my readers will enjoy and/or benefit from. All opinions are my own and may differ from those of others. 

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Fun and Simple Halloween Crafts for Kids

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This time of the year is a favorite of mine, one reason being the opportunities available for some good ol' family bonding with arts and crafts! My girls love being crafty bit finding the time can be tough sometimes but during holiday seasons, we make time.... It's more then worth it!

How do you make time each other within your family? 

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Try some of these fun Halloween Crafts with your kiddos to create some lasting memories as well as amazing DIY Halloween Decor!!

Click the title link above each photo to view full instructions. 

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*•Black Paper Cats•*

*•Newspaper Pumpkins•*

*•Fingerprint Fall Trees•*

*•Soda Pop Monsters•*

*•Scrap Paper Autumn Wreaths•*

*•Itty Beady Spider•*

*•Scrap O' Lantern•*

*•Washi Tape Pumpkins•*

*•Beaded Jack O' Lanterns•* 

*•Yarntadtic Spiders•*

*•Halloween S'mores Treat•*

*•Halloween Party Poppers•*

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