Pillsbury's My Sweet Sunday Moment {Review & Giveaway}

{This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations, Karen Propes!}

Every week as Friday rolls around, I can feel the excitement building for the weekend. Even if we have nothing planned to do, just knowing that I'll soon be able to sit around and relax with my family brings an extra little joy to my day.

My husband and I take turns getting up with the kids in the morning and letting the other person sleep in (such a luxury!) and one of my favorite things to do to make my early day special is to make a fun breakfast. During the week we don't do much more than the typical stuff like cereal, fruit and toast and with my husband rushing off for work it isn't like we sit down and enjoy any time together anyway.

So, when I heard that Pillsbury was promoting their efforts to recapture Sunday mornings as a time to reconnect with family, I knew we couldn't pass up having our own My Sweet Sunday Moment.

When a Pillsbury Doughboy Giggle Doll, blue silicon spatula, blue silicon pot holder, dishcloths and a coupon for Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls arrived, it made waiting for the weekend a little harder than normal. Both Big Sister E and Little Sister B were enamored with the Doughboy Doll and proceeded to carry him around and poke him in the stomach to make him giggle over and over and over again.

Their joy and nonstop laughter over the Doughboy was its own sweet moment, but then Sunday rolled around and it was time to enjoy some family time together with our delicious Pillsbury Grands! Cinnamon Rolls.

When it comes to convenience, nothing beats the place-and-bake ease of Pillsbury. Simply open the container, break the rolls apart and set them into the greased pan.

After smelling the mouth-watering aroma while they baked, I took the Grands! Cinnamon Rolls out, spread on the icing and stood back to admire the goodness that awaited.
Mmmmmm, it was like we were right there at Cinnabon. The icing melted, the cinnamon was sweet and plentiful and the rolls were light and delicious. Even better? Having us all hanging out at table together, smiles all around as we ate these tasty treats and chatted about how we would like to spend the rest of the day as a family. How could I not love a Sunday morning like that?

Right now Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls is making it even more fun to celebrate Sundays with a great promotion and giveaway event. Having teamed up with actress Melissa Joan Hart, one lucky family will win a seven-day "week of Sundays" vacation to California that includes a visit to area theme parks and Melissa's sweet shop, SweetHarts. Fun, right?

All you have to do to enter is to head over to the My Sweet Sunday Moment Contest (hurry, this contest ends September 2nd!) and tell Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls why your family loves Sunday and why you want more of them, easy as that. As an added bonus, everyone who enters will receive a printable coupon for Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls so that you can have your own Sweet Sunday Moment at home now.

Plus, one person will be able to get a head start on spending a little time with a tasty breakfast and their family, because...

One lucky person will win a My Sweet Sunday Moment prize pack from Pillsbury!

To enter to win: Tell me a Sunday tradition that you would like to bring to your family OR how do Cinnamon Rolls help bring your family together?

Extra Entries (available after the mandatory entry above is completed; please leave a separate comment for each entry in order for them to be counted).

1 Extra Entry (per method) if you follow Pillsbury on Twitter and/or Like them on Facebook. 1 more Extra Entry if you leave the following message on their wall: Pillsbury cinnamon rolls are the best! I just entered to win a My Sweet Sunday Moment prize package at Thanks, Mail Carrier: http://bit.ly/c5iYEw
1 Extra Entry (per giveaway entered) - Enter any (or all) of the giveaways running on Thanks, Mail Carrier for the duration of this giveaway.
1 Extra Entry if you follow me on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway by copying and pasting the tweet below and leaving me the link. Tweet daily for an extra entry every day!

WIN a delicious Pillsbury My Sweet Sunday Moment prize pack from #myblogspark and @thxmailcarrier! http://bit.ly/c5iYEw #win #giveaway

2 Extra Entries (per follow method) if you follow me publicly with Google Friend Connect, subscribe to my RSS feed, subscribe to Thanks, Mail Carrier by email or become a fan on Facebook.
3 Extra Entries if you put my cute button up on your blog. Please leave an address where it can be found.
3 Extra Entries if you blog about this giveaway linking back to this post. Please leave an address where it can be found.

Giveaway will end on September 24th at 11:59pm CST. Do me the favor of leaving an email address or making absolutely sure it is visible in your profile, I have to have a way to contact the winner. The winner will be chosen by random.org and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to contact me or respond to notification or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is open to U.S. residents only.

A big thank you to Pillsbury for providing information and a prize pack for review as well as for one lucky giveaway winner. This review was made possible due to my membership at MyBlogSpark. The opinions shared are my own and honest and if you really need to see more, click here to see how I roll.

Garage sales: find everything from clothes to toys to furniture. Are you a fan?

Garage sales (also called yard sales, depending on which area of the country you live in) seem to be one of those things that people are either really excited about... or won't go near.

To those of us in the pro-garage sale category, the fact that you can sometimes find the deal of the century for a quarter more than makes up for the idea that it has been used. Toss the clothes in the washing machine, give the toys a bleach bath or scrub down outdoor furniture - once your finds are cleaned up and ready to go, you can sit back and revel in the amount of money that you've saved.

For those that aren't fans of garage sales, I've found that it might be possible to bring you over to the other side of the debate. My sister-in-law was very anti-used items until I talked her into coming along to a few sales to see some prices... as well as showed her the full playroom of toys that we were quickly accumulating for the tiniest fraction of what it would have cost new. A year later she was fully converted into a garage sale junkie.

Then there is the other side of the equation: do you host your own garage sales?

Having recently held one, I do admit that the hours and hours of moving, organizing and pricing really did add up to an awful lot of work. I then had to spend full days out there chatting with people about the possible benefits of one baby sling over another or how well an old set of bedroom furniture might fit in their house. I'm not sure if you need that set of kitchen bowls, do you have too many already? I don't know if your baby will love that certain set of blocks, do they enjoy that sort of thing?

Yes, there were hagglers, but not an exorbitant amount (I was most interested in clearing out the clutter so I had set my prices very reasonable in the first place). There were also some extremely nice people as well, particularly a few moms-to-be who made me wonder how I've already gotten to the point where all of my newborn and infant items were getting shooed out of the house. Where did my little babies go?

In the end, quite a few items were cleared out (including that bedroom furniture!) and I ended up with money in my pocket, so who am I to complain? In fact, we have already come across new piles of things that could have been sold and I've started planning next year's sale... so it looks like my status as a Garage Sale Fan is here to stay.

What about you? Do you run your own garage sales? Do you shop at them? If so, is there one great find or amazing deal that made your day?

GiftZip's Movement to Greener Gift Giving {$25 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway}

{This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations, wigget!}

Last month I was introduced to GiftZip, the easiest and most efficient way to purchase online gift cards, and was really pleased to be able to include them as a part of my Anniversary Bash.

If you need a refresher, the whole concept of GiftZip is simple: browse through hundreds of great sites (or, if you already have one in mind, just go directly the listing), see the various denominations available and click to GiftZip/purchase your gift card.

There is no account to sign up for, no hidden fees or credit card information given, no wasted time searching through excess pages or leaving the house to go to the store. It's all right there and purchasing from the sites you want for family, apparel, entertainment and much more couldn't be easier.

While in the process of learning about GiftZip, the concept also really made me think.

My wallet is filled with cheap, plastic gift cards from stores all over town. Whether they have $3 or $30 on them, I don't even know anymore. They just take up room in there, tucked on top of each other and never getting used, only to eventually be dragged out and (hopefully) put to use.

And then where do they go? Straight into the garbage. According to Plenty Magazine, each year 75 million pounds of PVC (polyvinyl chloride) ends up in landfills due to plastic gift card waste. Just think about that: 75 millions pounds. Yikes!

As well as being bad for the environment, just type PVC into any search engine and you'll find tens of millions of issues why it is known as the most toxic plastic for our health as well. No other plastic contains or releases as many dangerous chemicals and exposure to them puts people at an increased risk for liver damage, reproductive and developmental health issues and even cancer.

All of a sudden giving a gift card as a present doesn't sound like such a great idea anymore.

The eco-friendly and non-harmful alternative, of course, are virtual gift cards and that is where GiftZip comes in. Right now they are running a Movement to Greener Gift Giving and working to educate people on the harmful effects of plastic gift cards and what we all can do to reduce our gift card waste. All they are asking is that you help them spread the word... but that's not all, GiftZip wants to make it fun by offering a giveaway to go along with it.

Yes, that does say Pick Your Own Prize. The lucky winner of their great giveaway will be able to choose between a Kindle, iPod nano, iPod touch, Nintendo Wii or Nintendo DS, how cool is that? You'll find the list of many ways that you can enter and the official rules over on GiftZip's Facebook page.

But, wait! Before you head over there, GiftZip has extended their generosity here as well. To celebrate their Movement to Greener Gift Giving, GiftZip wants to get one person off on the right foot with an online gift certificate to the biggest name of them all...

One lucky person will win a $25 Amazon gift certificate from GiftZip!

To enter to win: Visit GiftZip's FAQ page and tell me something that you learned there.

Extra Entries (available after the mandatory entry above is completed; please leave a separate comment for each entry in order for them to be counted).

3 Extra Entries if you enter to win your choice of Kindle, iPod nano, iPod touch, Nintendo Wii or Nintendo DS in GiftZip's Movement to Greener Gift Giving! Simply visit their Facebook page to find out the details and rules and be sure to comment that Thanks, Mail Carrier sent you!
1 Extra Entry (per method) if you follow GiftZip on Twitter and/or Like them on Facebook. 1 more Extra Entry if you leave the following message on their wall: I'm celebrating GiftZip's Movement to Greener Gift Giving by entering to win a $25 Amazon gift card at Thanks, Mail Carrier! http://bit.ly/bcIFVr
1 Extra Entry (per giveaway entered) - Enter any (or all) of the giveaways running on Thanks, Mail Carrier for the duration of this giveaway.
1 Extra Entry if you follow me on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway by copying and pasting the tweet below and leaving me the link. Tweet daily for an extra entry every day!

#Win a $25 Amazon gift card from @giftzip to celebrate a Movement to Greener Gift Giving! @thxmailcarrier http://bit.ly/bcIFVr #giveaway

2 Extra Entries (per follow method) if you follow me publicly with Google Friend Connect, subscribe to my RSS feed, subscribe to Thanks, Mail Carrier by email or become a fan on Facebook.
3 Extra Entries if you put my cute button up on your blog. Please leave an address where it can be found.
3 Extra Entries if you blog about this giveaway linking back to Thanks, Mail Carrier and GiftZip. Please leave an address where it can be found.

Giveaway will end on September 24th at 11:59pm CST. Do me the favor of leaving an email address or making absolutely sure it is visible in your profile, I have to have a way to contact the winner. The winner will be chosen by random.org and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to contact me or respond to notification or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is open to residents of the U.S. and Canada only.

A big thank you to GiftZip for providing a $25 Amazon.com gift card for one lucky giveaway winner. The opinions shared are my own and honest and if you really need to see more, click here to see how I roll.

Scrubbing Bubbles Automatic Toilet Bowl Cleaner {Review}

I've always said that I must have been destined to have girls because I just don't understand boys sometimes. The endless energy, wrestling and need to hit rocks with sticks at every turn just baffles me. Why is that fun?

Then there is the aftermath of boys. I cringe hearing about the broken toys and the I can't have anything nice mentality... but what sounds even worse? The bathroom. I avoid cleaning our bathrooms at all cost so I can't even begin to imagine having to clean the toilet with boys around. Yeesh.

Fortunately for all of us non-bathroom cleaners out there, Scrubbing Bubbles is known for making great products to help us all have a clean toilet without having to do a lot of work. Their latest, however, takes the cake. The new Scrubbing Bubbles Automatic Toilet Cleaner works to keep your toilet looking and smelling great and the best part? You don't have to lift a finger to have it do so.

I have to admit, I was slightly skeptical when a Scrubbing Bubbles Automatic Toilet Bowl Cleaner arrived at our house. Really? I could just attach it to my toilet and not have to do a thing for a month? It sounded slightly magical to me but was definitely worth a try.

Right out of the box and things were already easy.

After quickly snapping the holder onto the base and inserting the bottle of cleaner, it was ready to go. After clipping the sprayer right onto the rim and hooking the base on the toilet tank (you have the option of setting the Scrubbing Bubbles Automatic Toilet Bowl Cleaner on the floor or hooking it right on the side of the toilet. I opted for the latter figuring curious little hands were less likely to touch it that way) it was then time to check this gadget out.

Scrubbing Bubbles does recommend that your toilet be cleaned prior to beginning use of the Automatic Toilet Bowl Cleaner, but fortunately my husband had just given ours a good cleaning the day before this arrived.

Fully equipped with four AA batteries, all I needed to do was press the button to get things started - definitely something I could handle. After a second or two, there was a whirring noise as the sprayer turned on and the cleaning solution covered the bowl. Not bad, I thought, but how would it do after a few days and weeks?

The results: I'm really impressed with the Scrubbing Bubbles Automatic Toilet Cleaner, even more than I thought I would be. Every eight hours the sprayer spins 360° for full coverage cleaning, even under the rim, and keeps away toilet rings, hard water marks, limescale and just the in-general griminess that I usually find.

I love that there is a motion sensor right on the sprayer so that there aren't any worries about anyone being accidentally sprayed and that the pleasant, clean scent isn't overpowering or chemical-smelling. Instead, I walk into my bathroom and it smells nice and fresh and not at all like I haven't cleaned it in weeks.

The Scrubbing Bubbles Automatic Toilet Bowl Cleaner is available only on Amazon.com or Drugstore.com (not yet in retail stores) for around $26 and includes everything you need to get started. The cleaning solution lasts approximately four weeks and a Refill Twin Pack retails for around $11.

Normally my husband is against gadgets that claim to do the cleaning for you and instead prefers to do things by hand. However, in this case he has already mentioned his plans to purchase two more Scrubbing Bubbles Automatic Toilet Bowl Cleaners for our other bathrooms and is quite pleased to have one less item on his list of things to clean. Who wouldn't be happy to turn over toilet cleaning to someone or, in this case, something else?

To keep up with Scrubbing Bubbles, visit their website or check out their new Twitter page - which is full of giveaways, coupon offers and cleaning tips and advice. They're giving away Scrubbing Bubbles Automatic Toilet Bowl Cleaners as well, be sure to follow them for a chance to try out this great product for free!

(Other than the Scrubbing Bubbles Automatic Toilet Bowl Cleaner that I was sent from Edelman and SC Johnson, I was not provided with anything or enticed to do this review in any way. This review is solely my opinion of this great product.)

innovativeKids {Review} green start Eco-Friendly Books and Toys

In the few short years since I've had children, I have found that there are so many more companies that make amazing products for kids than I would have ever dreamed. What's even better is the eco-friendly direction that some are taking, knowing that moms not only want what is best for their children but are also concerned about the environment that they are growing up in.

So, when a company that is already on a mission to bring the best of fun and learning to children around the world designs a series of high quality books, puzzles, gift sets and more that are earth-friendly and promote the environment all in one... well, how can you not be impressed with innovativeKids and their great green start collection?

Designed to give kids an awareness of the natural world and an understanding of how we are interconnected with everything around us, innovativeKids' green start products are a great way to introduce children to all things eco-friendly from the very beginning.

Designed for ages 18 months to 6 years, not only are green start books and toys good for the environment themselves but include great pro-earth messages in each one. Made from 98% post-consumer recycled materials and printed with eco-friendly ink, parents and children alike can appreciate the inspirational words of loving and respecting our world.

Plus, they're just so darn cute that it is almost impossible to not love these adorable products right from the start.

Right away Big Sister E and Little Sister B couldn't wait to see the Number Hunt Giant Floor Puzzle and the Little Learning Book Tower up close. The bright colors and detailed, attractive illustrations were friendly and inviting and the girls were more than eager to give them a try.

The 35 oversized pieces in the Number Hunt Giant Floor Puzzle were not only cheerful and fun, but plenty durable that little hands could grab them without bending or ruining anything. Big Sister E had a great time helping me put the puzzle together and then even more when we were able to interact with it afterward.

As well as the happy children and animals portrayed gardening, bike riding, playing or just having fun in nature, this puzzle encouraged counting and cognitive thinking as well. Each number between 1 and 10 was displayed with a symbol next to it (for instance an apple or a flower) and that was the number of times that item was shown in the puzzle. Time to search!

On days that we are looking for a little more laid-back fun, both Big Sister E and Little Sister B have been really drawn to the Little Learning Book Tower and the adorable (quiet!) time that it provides. This cute, vertical collection of 10 chunky books has been just the thing for them to share and spend time looking through together (and using as building blocks).

Focusing on the essential learning concepts (e.g. opposites, colors, shapes, animals, etc), there is something about these books that had made all of us happy to see them each time we have brought them out. The words/stories inside are all simple and easy to understand, while the thick, 98% recycled material is extremely heavy-duty and resilient to being flipped, turned and tossed around.

The green start Book Towers do state that they are for ages 2 and up, however, I couldn't find any reason why younger children couldn't have a great time enjoying the endearing pictures and bright colors as well. Both of my daughters have loved books from a very early age and considering the high quality of these, I would extend that age range down six months to one year.

In fact, the combination of the educational value, eco-friendly materials and messages, reusable tote boxes for storage, affordability (both the Giant Floor Puzzles and Book Towers retail for $14.99), quality and flat-out cuteness of all of the green start items would really make them wonderful gifts. The entire line of puzzles, books, gift sets and wrapping paper starts as low as $6.99, so you know you're able to give a present that will last but without breaking the bank.

For a great mix of practical and fun that parents, children and our earth can enjoy, innovativeKids has really hit the mark. They even have a fun section on their website of environmentally-friendly tips and activities to do at home - what a perfect way to extend the fun and learning of these items into hands-on crafts or tips for the whole family!

(Other than the Number Hunt Giant Floor Puzzle and Little Learning Book Tower that I was sent from innovativeKids, I was not provided with anything or enticed to do this review in any way. This review is solely my opinion of this company and these fun products.)

Cleaning for fall? Steam clean your home with 1-800-GO-VAPOR.com

There's always a lot of talk each year about spring cleaning, but what about fall cleaning? I don't know about you, but thoughts of upcoming cool weather and being stuck inside while it snows makes me eager to clear out some clutter and sanitize everything that's left in hopes of warding off a few of the sniffles and colds that will head our way.

But instead of filling my home with chemicals, I'd love a healthy, effective, efficient alternative that can work on almost any surface. Up until recently I wasn't sure what that was, however, now I've been introduced to the world of vapor steam cleaners (and have wondered where they have been all this time).

Offering an extensive line of vapor steam cleaners for home or business, 1-800-GO-VAPOR.com has a carefully tested, top-of-the-line cleaner for everyone. Because all that is required is a little water and electricity, these chemical free vapor steam cleaners are able to clean, sanitize and deodorize almost any surface while safeguarding your health and the environment at the same time.

Having heard reports about the polluted air that we breathe outside, it can be somewhat startling to find out that an EPA study found that the air inside a typcial home can be two to five times more polluted than the air outside. Supermarket chemical cleaners can leave toxic fumes that can linger for days, weeks or even months - not exactly what most moms want to hear for the well-being of their family.

As I wasn't familiar with all of the great vapor steam cleaners out there, I find the idea of one machine being able to sanitize and deodorize things like bathroom floors, food preparation surfaces, carpets, bed linens and much more quite intriguing. They simply change ordinary tap water to a low-moisture, extremely high-temperature water vapor that can then remove soil, grease and built-up filth with ease.

With so many benefits, the major pitfall of owning a vapor steam cleaner seems to be the initial price tag. In the long run you will save money on never having to purchase cleaning supplies, but paying anywhere from hundreds to thousands of dollars does seem a little hard to take (the yellow steam cleaner/vacuum above at left is coming soon for $1,999 and the Ladybug XL2300 shown at right retails for $1,449).

What do you think? Have you tried (or heard of) a vapor steam cleaner before? Would the ability to rid your home of germs, bacteria, dirt, odors, allergens and more convince you to pay a hefty price tag?

(This post was sponsored by 1-800-GO-VAPOR.com but now that I've learned about vapor steam cleaners, I'm interested in hearing about any personal uses of them!)

Friendly Friday: August 27th

Welcome to Friendly Friday!

Remember, YOU can host the link list on your blog, too! Just click "Get the code here..." at the bottom of the list. The code is different every week, so be sure to get the new code when hosting Friendly Friday on your blog. Hosting the list is a great way to get even more traffic to your blog and make Friendly Friday more beneficial for everyone.

Thanks for joining the Friendly Friday celebration hosted by Xenia at Thanks, Mail Carrier, Christi at Frugal Novice and Charla at Healthy Home Blog! We invite you to join us every Friday to make more friends in blogville, get more blog followers and follow other great blogs out there.

To join in the Friendly Friday celebration, include your link in our list, follow the hostesses in the first 3 spots and then start blog hopping! Visit other blogs on the list and comment to give them some blog love. Then take a minute to follow them through Google Friend Connect - this is a good way to keep up with other blogs, but also lets us show support to each other! Please DO NOT list your giveaways here, links must be to either your homepage or your Friday posting with your blog title. All others will be deleted.

When people comment on your blog and let you know they're a part of Friendly Friday, return the favor and follow them back. This way everyone gets traffic and followers out of participating, and it's a win-win situation. We would love for you to also grab our Friendly Friday button and post it on your blog and/or in a post - the more bloggers that find out about Friendly Friday and participate, the better!

Spotlight on Friendly Friday Followers!

We love your participation and want to show it! In addition to gaining followers, each week we'll select three blogs at random and will feature links and a write-up for those blogs in the content of next week's Friendly Friday post. There are so many seriously wonderful blogs out there, and this will be a great way to highlight some of those each week. Say hello to the lucky chosen 3 for this week (and feel free to stop by and give them a little extra love):

Tatum at Tatum's Family Reviews is a stay-at-home mom to three children, and she and her husband have a strong devotion to family and their kids. She has a chronic illness that she views as a blessing rather than a curse. Tatum hosts a lot of giveaways (and has some great back-to-school giveaways going now!)

The Dinner For Two Project was inspired by the blogger's mom - it is about "exploring and exploiting the fulfilling potential of food and easy entertaining within intimate relationships to enhance and strengthen those ties by creating special shared experiences." There are a lot of great recipes you could make with someone you care about to enhance your relationship.

Jen at Born 2 Impress is mom to a little girl, and runs an Etsy store where she sells handmade baby accessories like knit hats adorned with flowers. She hosts tons of giveaways - and be sure and check out her special events, including the Mommy & Me Born 2 Impress event that ends next week and the Everything Home event that starts in September!

Now that you know about these 3 wonderful blogs, it's time for you to join in! Add your link below and we'll see you back here every Friday! And don't forget, you can grab the code to share the link list on your blog, too.

All three hostesses appreciate followers through Google Friend Connect AND Twitter and we'll follow you back - just leave a comment with your URL and/or Twitter username. Have a great weekend, everyone!

Winners! And now I'm NOT wondering...

Apparently I was completely mistaken.

Not only are you reading the winner posts, but you like coming over to check to see who won that week's giveaways (made even more fun when it's you, of course). More than 50 of you weighed in through comments and emails about your thoughts on having a separate post versus updating the original giveaway with the winner's name and the overwhelming consensus? Don't change a thing.

I'm so appreciative that you all shared your opinions, it really does make a difference. I always want to hear them, so if you have thoughts on other aspects that you like or think should be changed, let me know! I've said it before and I'll say it again: this blog wouldn't be possible without you, so thank you!

Enough with the mushy stuff, right? Just get to the last two winners from the Anniversary Bash? These are two great prizes, so I agree that it's time to pick some numbers...

My girls have been having a great time building and creating with the Melissa & Doug Wooden Workbench from Gummy Lump and I can't blame them. I love high quality, classic toys that inspire so much imagination and creativity! The lucky person who will soon have their own beautiful workbench is...

Congratulations, Karine Traverse!

I'd love to give you all a Flip Camera, particularly a really cool custom one from CafePress, but unfortunately they didn't have an extra one or two or 3000 lying around. So, the one very lucky winner of this amazing prize is...

Congratulations, ruthhill74!

Thank you so much to everyone who entered these and all of the giveaways during the Anniversary Bash, I'm so glad it was such a success and I couldn't think of a better way to have celebrated this milestone. Here's to another great year and an even bigger and better party next July!

Aeromax {Review} Kids' Imaginative Play Gear

One day I'm going to keep track of which toys are actually used out of the shelves, bins and stacks of them in our play room. They do all get taken down and played with once in a while, of course, but I really should do a better job of weeding out the not-so-popular ones to make room for the items that are consistently a big hit.

On that note, I could probably remove just about everything and leave one big room filled only with objects for imaginative play and Big Sister E and Little Sister B would be overjoyed. First and foremost in that room? The top quality, affordable and extremely entertaining gear from Aeromax.

I'm not sure Big Sister E could have gotten the Fire Power super soaker fire hose filled up and on her back any faster than she did the first time she saw it. With an easy screw-off cap, filling up the 1-liter tank was quick and easy and the backpack design (with adjustable straps) made it a cinch for her carry it hands-free. Plus, as the Fire Power only weighs two pounds when filled with water, there was no cause for me to worry about having to help or listen to complaining.

Just the opposite, in fact. Right away Big Sister E knew that pumping the handle would cause the spray of water to shoot over to "put out" a fire and she couldn't wait to save the day. Considering the Fire Power had a range of over 30 feet (and it really did shoot far) and the ability to be changed from a single stream to a slightly wider spray, I knew immediately that our entire yard was going to be safe and protected by my little firefighter.

Up, down, back and forth - Big Sister E had a great time even spraying behind her. I didn't keep track of the exact number of times she was able to spray before we had to stop and refill (Aeromax lists up to 60 with each fill up), but it was plenty enough that I was able to sit back and relax while she had a great time with her Fire Power and her imagination. This truly took our times pretending to be firefighters to a whole new level!

When my girls aren't putting out fires, they are often creating stories that center on real life and what they might be when they grow up. Big Sister E has been a teacher, librarian, bus driver, police officer, firefighter (of course), pilot and much, much more. One profession that often comes up, particularly after visits and checkups, is that of a doctor.

Wouldn't you trust these two doctors to make the best health decisions possible for you?
Aeromax's new line of My 1st Career Gear is not only adorable and allows kids to be all that they want to be, but each piece is completely affordable as well. For only $10.95, these outfits are high quality and detailed while still being simple and easily accessible. I love that this shirt can just be slipped on right over their clothes and the Velcro tabs ensure that no one has to wait for Mommy to help with zippers or snaps.

The drawn-on pockets on the My 1st Career Gear Dr. (Pink) are extremely cute and the clear pocket window would be perfect for a card showing a name or can be used as an actual holder for accessories. Big Sister E went right to work discussing how she was going to take care of her patients and make sure we all weren't sick... including herself.
Whether your child (or the lucky recipient of a great gift!) wants to dress as a Chef, Police Officer, part of a Road Crew or more, Aeromax makes it enjoyable and affordable. For more detailed dress-up costumes and accessories, they also offer a full line of Get Real Gear that includes everything from tutus to pilots to the cutest little mail carrier that would be a big hit around here.

For modern, realistic, high quality costumes, toys and accessories for boys and girls that are sure to entertain, Aeromax has the selection and styles for kids of all ages and ordering right online is convenient and easy. With the ability to be played with year-round, inside or out, any of their great options are sure to bring imaginative fun for hours on end and years to come.

(Other than the Fire Power and My 1st Career Gear Dr. (Pink) that I was sent from Aeromax, I was not provided with anything or enticed to do this review in any way. This review is solely my opinion of this company and these fun products.)