All posts by Anne Younger

Anne is a 30-something full-time SAHM mom of 5 ranging from 3 to 17 and grandma of 1 who resides in Ashwaubenon (Green Bay) Wisconsin. She started blogging in 2008 as a way to regain her sanity. She enjoys coffee, chocolate, cheeseburgers and vodka along with spending time with her husband and kids.

Holiday

Get Your Holiday Cards and More at Tiny Prints

Anne Younger Leave a comment

It’s that time of year once again and I have been busy getting everything ready around the house for the holidays. In addition to get the house in order, I’ve also been getting ready to send our holiday cards out, finding teacher gifts, and something for the kids to give out to their classmates, as well as a few other items.

When it comes to all of these things, I am happy that I can make Tiny Prints my one-stop-shop.

Large Selection of Holiday Cards

Picking out the perfect card for our family to send out this year, was hard. Tiny Prints has such a large selection to choose from. From picture cards that are personalized, foil-stamped, glitter cards, ornament cards, and more.

This year I decided on doing two cards, a holiday photo card as well as an ornament photo card, along with some matching address return labels.

Pictured above: Keeping it Real Flat Holiday Photo Card in flint and the Keeping it Real Address Labels, also in flint.

Pictured above: Jolly Berries Holiday Greeting Die Cut Ornament Card in milk.

I am very pleased with how great these cards both turned out and I can’t wait to get them out in the mail to all of our family and friends this weekend.

Of course, customizing the cards to fit our needs was a breeze. It took a few minutes to upload our photos, get them in place, and then customize the colors, names, etc. To make things even better for those who don’t have the time to address all their cards, Tiny Prints offers FREE recipient addressing on any custom envelope! All you have to do is stuff and send!

Gifts for Teachers & Classmates

Since Alexander and Ellie are both elementary students, we like to have gift for their teachers as well as something for them to share with their classmates.

This year, in addition to a few items I already have together for their teacher, I thought it would be nice to add a personalized lined notebook for each of them, because, what teacher couldn’t use a notebook?

Pictured above left to right: Tiny Prints Little Notes lined notebook in wild strawberry and Striped Spectacular lined notebook in baroque.

For their classmates, we went with a fun little greeting card for the kids to give out. Tiny Prints has a great selection of kid friendly holiday cards too!

Pictured above left to right: Tiny Prints Mesmerizing Maze in stormy blue and Peppy Penguin in surf (kids) holiday cards.

If you are still on the hunt for the perfect holiday cards for your family to send, be sure to check out Tiny Prints!

Holiday

Family Fun for the Holidays

Anne Younger Leave a comment

The holiday season is here and now is the time to get out and create some great family memories. For our family, we like to find family friendly events in our community to enjoy.

If you are looking for some great, family fun in Memphis, Tennesee this holiday season, just out this great list, brought to you by Wolfchase Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram.

Starry Nights

Pack the entire family into the car and head down to Shelby Farms Park through December 28th and check out over 1.5 million lights on display throughout the park. You can drive through in your car or sign up for a horse-drawn carriage or hayride.

HOURS:

Through December 28th, 2016: Sun-Thu 6pm-9pm; Fri-Sat 6pm-10pm

ADMISSIONS:

Cars
Entry Per Vehicle $20
Run/Walk/Ride Mondays $5; Family $20
Carriage Rides $60

Zoo Lights at The Memphis Zoo

Visit the Memphis Zoo and check out the spectacular holiday light displays, singing Christmas trees, live reindeer, take a ride of the North Pole Express Train and so much more!

HOURS:

Zoo Lights is open daily, beginning December 15th through 30th from 5:30-9:30pm.

ADMISSIONS:

Zoo Lights admission: $7/Members; $9/Nonmembers

Christmas Eve: Zoo Closed. No SunTrust Zoo Lights.
Christmas Day: Zoo Closed during the day. SunTrust Zoo Lights opens at 5:30 p.m.

The Enchanted Forest

Be sure to take some time to stop by the Pink Palace Museum to check out the Enchanted Forrest complete with the festival of trees, gingerbread village, model train, pictures with Santa, and more.

Pictures with Santa
November 19 – December 24
Photo packages: $10 – $60
Photos courtesy of J&B Childress Portrait Art

Enchanted Forest Fridays
Dec. 2, 9, 16 & 23 9am to 9pm
The Enchanted Forest is even more magical at night! Visit when the sun goes down and see how the trees sparkle and shine!

ADMISSION:

Adults: $6
Children/Seniors: $5

Snowy Nights

Head to the Memphis Botanic Garden with the family and celebrate the season with snow and lights in the children’s garden.

HOURS:

December 2 & 3
December 9 & 10
December 16-23
5:30-8:30 pm

Last admission 8:00 pm

ADMISSION:

MBG members $8
Non-members $10
Children under 2 are free

S’mores kits, hot cocoa, and other concessions are available at additional cost.

Child Safety/Recalls, Health

Introduce Your Baby to Peanuts Early with Aralyte

Anne Younger Leave a comment

As a parent, we tend to overthink and worry about everything when it comes to caring for our children. I’ll admit, there are things that were a breeze for me with my first child that weren’t with my fifth, and they all caused me stress over different things.

One thing I always worry about, with all of my children, is there health. Thankfully, we have been lucky in that none of our children have any serious medical conditions nor do they suffer from any allergies.

Over the years, I have noticed that they kids seem to have more and more friends with peanut allergies and I often think, how great would it be if their was a way to decrease the chances of developing a peanut allergy?

15,000 children across the country are rushed to the emergency room each year due to peanut allergies. With nearly 6 million cases of food allergy among children under the age of 18, peanut is the leading cause of anaphylaxis and food allergy-related death.

While recent groundbreaking research has shown that early exposure to peanuts can reduce an infant’s risk of peanut allergy development by as much as 98%, parents are often afraid to try early introduction due to concerns about safety and convenience.

Introducing Aralyte

Aralyte is a safe, structured and data-driven approach to early introduction. As the only doctor-recommended liquid formulation for early peanut introduction on the market, Aralyte is safe for allergic homes and can be administered orally whenever it’s most convenient for families.

Already, leading pediatric physicians and allergists over 200 clinics have chosen to begin using Aralyte as part of their daily practice.

As I mentioned, we have been fortunate to not have a child that has a peanut allergy however I have a friend who is highly allergic that plans on using Aralyte to hopefully prevent their child from developing one too.

Aralyte closely follows the protocol used in the LEAP Study, which showed that early oral introduction of peanuts could prevent allergy development in high-risk infants.

Save 15%

You can save 15% off your purchase of Aralyte when you use the coupon code below. The coupon code is valued at 15% off the cost of the first 3 months, or two weeks, of the Aralyte regimen.

Coupon Code: Aralyte x Megalomaniac

Holiday

Kid Friendly Holiday Fun – Houston Texas

Anne Younger Leave a comment

For me, there is nothing more magical then seeing a child’s face light up during the holidays. I love this time of year because there is so much magic in the air. That is why I love to get my kids out and about for some holiday fun!

Our community puts together some great kid friendly events and so does the city of Houston, Texas. Check out this great list of kid friendly holiday events, brought to you by Northwest Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram.

Santa’s Wonderland

They say everything’s bigger in Texas, and from what I can find, there is no bigger display of Christmas lights then the one at Santa’s Wonderland. Take a hayride and check out the lights, enjoy some live music, do some shopping, step inside a large snow globe and so much more!

For tickets prices, hours and special event information, be sure to visit Santa’s Wonderland online.

Zoo Lights at The Houston Zoo

The Houston Zoo is filled with 2 million lights and each night at 6:00pm, it reopens for Zoo Lights from November 18, 2016 – January 15, 2017. (Closed December 24 & 25)

Prices are:

Value Nights: Member $9.95 Non-Member $14.95,
Prime Nights: Member $14.95 Non-Member $19.95. Kids 1 and under are free.
Online tickets have no additional fees… and let you skip the long ticket line.

Magical Winter Nights at Gulf Greyhound Park

Beautiful lights surround you when you start your magical journey in a world of wonder as magical lanterns glimmer throughout the night. From there you can visit the holiday market square, dinosaur land, and more!

These prices are online only.

**Value Night (Mon-Thurs)*:**

Adult $20

Child (4-12 years old) & Seniors (65+) $13

Weekend/Christmas Week (Fri-Sun & 12/19-12/25)*:

Adult $22

Child (4-12 years old) & Seniors (65+) $15

*Children under the age of 4 receive free general admission to the festival but still need wristbands or tickets if riding the carnival rides.

Unlimited Carnival Ride Wristbands:

Online $20 (save $5 off on-site price)

*Carnival ride wristbands require purchase for all ages. Festival admission required.

Parking:

$5 online or on-site (On-site is CASH ONLY)

Please note: Value Night tickets are only valid on “value nights” Monday-Thursday (except the week before Christmas 12/19/16-12/22/16) and Weekend Night tickets are only valid on “weekend nights” Friday-Sunday & Christmas week 12/19/16-12/25/16. WE HAVE A NO REFUND/EXCHANGE TICKET POLICY*

Totally Random

Piling Up Pieces of Plastic: Top Things to Do with Those Unwanted Gift Cards

Anne Younger Leave a comment

Gift cards are an easy gift to give. They are also easy to forget about once you have them.

Americans spend upwards of 100 billion dollars each year on gift cards, and a fair amount of that money ends up being unclaimed. While many gift cards don’t expire, or at least take plenty of time to, they can be easily misplaced and that extra fifty or 100 dollars that you might have been able to use is gone for good. Fortunately, if you have a lot of gift cards stockpiled, or are the type of person that knows you will forget about them soon, there are still things you can do to take advantage of the remaining balances.

Exchange Gift Cards for Cash

If you don’t want to use your gift cards, but still want to get something for them, then you can look into selling them for cash. There are plenty of websites and companies out there that will offer you cash for nearly any unwanted gift card, like what you would find at Cards2Cash.com.

Companies like this offer you a percentage of the face value of your gift card. It’s better for you to look for a reputable company than trying to sell your cards to individuals over the internet because not only are your payments backed by the business, but you will also nearly always receive a higher percentage. Companies will typically offer you upward of 75% of the face value of your card. Sometimes, if you are willing to accept payment through a site like PayPal, you may receive an even better percentage.

Before you put your card up for sale, make sure to check the balance just in case. This will also confirm whether the card has expired or not, saving you time.

Donate Your Gift Cards

Depending on the type of gift cards you have, there may be plenty of local charities that would love to receive them as a donation.

Many charities like food banks or other drives that help gather food for those in need will gladly accept gift cards to grocery stores or online markets that can help them add to their food supplies. They can even give the individual cards to families who can then redeem the value on the card and purchase the food themselves.

If you want to donate gift cards, then you should do some research on the charity you plan to donate to, or stick with a charity that you’ve contributed to in the past. Unfortunately, there are some scammers out there, so you want to make sure that your donation goes to a good cause.

Another benefit of donating is that your gift cards may be tax deductible at the end of the year. Keep a good record of the transaction and get a receipt, and you may find a way to save money come tax time.

Use Cards to Buy a Gift

You could also use unwanted gift cards as a way to buy gifts for other people. If you receive a gift card from a store that doesn’t really appeal to you, visit their store or website the next time a friend or family member’s birthday is coming up and you may be able to find something that would be perfect for them.

The obvious upside to doing this is that you will receive 100% of the value of the gift card. If you also do a little research and find rebates or coupons that you can use at the same time, you stand to get even more for your money.

Regift Them

If all else fails and you simply can’t figure out what to do with that stockpile of gift cards, you can always give them to other people as presents.

While some people may frown upon the idea of “regifting,” it’s better to put the cards to use than to just let them sit around until you lose them or throw them away. Gift cards are basically free money, so you should do whatever it takes to at least let someone cash in on them.

Just remember who gave you each gift card so you can avoid the embarrassing situation of giving the same one back. If you can, keep a record of who gave you each card so you can be sure that you give each person a card they’ve never bought themselves.

Don’t let unused gift cards go to waste: find a way to use the money.

Lara Pickering is a Mom who tries to be as frugal as she can without scrimping so much that life loses its fun. She writes about a range of lifestyle issues in her articles.