iTwinsDay: Safari UNLIMITED

Well, Safari Ltd. But there are so many things you can do with their products — unlimited possibilities, as it were. They promote education, exploration, and imagination with all of their products!

Playing with dinosaur toys encourages not only imagination, but also the concept of research.  That they might find out something new that no one has found out before.  So if they have not yet been exposed to the dino itch, or if they have full blown dino fever take some time to play and share with your children this wonderful world of dinosaurs with the amazing toys that help bring dinosaurs to life from Safari Ltd. In addition to dinosaurs, they also have models that show how plants grow under the earth, cracking seeds and all!

For going out to dinner, it’s always a good idea to bring a little something extra, just in case the crayons and the word search on the back of the placemat aren’t doing it for your kids that night. Better too many toys on the table than having to leave with a squalling child under each arm without having eaten anything! Our family favorite are small toys like Safari Ltd’s TOOBS. They come in an easy-to-carry case to take with you wherever you go. I recently brought them out to eat with my daughter and some friends, and they were clearly fully occupied until their food came. They made zoos!

As a parent, imagine the power of this question on your child: “What could happen?”  Some of history’s greatest thinkers were not afraid to ask that question.  At one time flying or walking on the moon would have been considered fantasy.  But due scientists, inventors, and engineers, what was once considered magic, is now reality, and supports the livelihood of millions.  Fantasy play encourages a playful questioning of reality in your children, a skill that will continue to serve them well as an adult, and who knows “what could happen” from that. Safari Ltd. has pirate packs, fairy packs, and even really awesome, incredibly-detailed dragon packs for your budding storytellers!

Safari Ltd. is one of the finest companies we work with. They’re incredibly family-friendly, and best of all, educational and their minis are beautiful to look at. They’ve been creating their products for over thirty years, and are partnered with the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, which allows them to produce authentic, scale-model dinosaur figures in collaboration with their paleontologists. They also promote recycling and a number of wonderful conservancy groups throughout the United States.

So today, enter to win a fun prize pack from our friends at Safari Ltd. Fill out the form below!

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International Children’s Book Day

Since 1967, International Children’s Book Day has been celebrated worldwide around April 2nd, fairy tale author Hans Christian Andersen‘s birthday. This year International Children’s Book Day falls on that special day and allows for us to recognize the benefits of reading to and with our children. These are the books our children learn to read with, learn some of their earliest lessons from, and find the characters that may help them become the people they will be in the future — we should pay attention to what our children are reading every day, and encourage them to read more. There are so many fantastic books out there right now for our young ones to learn from, including a new book by author Kim Heaton Ramsay.

In Will You Be My Friend? Ramsay uses colorful illustrations of Marley Mouse to teach children about acceptance of the physical, cultural and religious differences they see in friends and schoolmates. Marley meets four creatures who are very different from herself and befriends them all despite their variety of differences.

The illustrations are sweet, the story on-point, and the message clear and appreciated. If you’d like your multiples to learn from Marley Mouse, fill out the form below for a chance to win a copy of this wonderful book!

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Wonder Bumpers? What’s Wonderful About These Bumpers?

I’m sure by now you’ve been keeping up to date with our tips and tricks for what you’ll need when you’re expecting and helping your little lovelies sleep, but just in case you haven’t, one thing that always comes up in discussion is crib bumpers. Our friends at GoMamaGo have partnered with us for this week’s #tWinsDay giveaway!

Bumpers are a controversial topic for our members here at Twiniversity. My daughter Anna needed them after her little arms and legs got caught between her crib bars one too many times, and once they were on, she slept like she’d been thrown from a moving vehicle. It was miraculous. Also, pacifier containment! So handy.

We had a discussion on our Facebook page last week about bumpers. Here’s what some of our members had to say:
“We started using the mesh ones because our girls kept rolling around and getting their chubby little legs stuck between the bars.”
“I did! Once removed from my b/g twins crib, my daughter got her leg stuck above the knee…she is skinny weeny but managed to get herself into an awkward position where we couldn’t turn her to get we out….we were forced to saw through the crib!! 😦 it was a nightmare!!”
“I put them in the snuggle nests and they slept on their sides bc that’s what they did at the hospital. When they started rolling around on their own I put up the bumpers.”

iTwinsDay :: Yiftee :: A Little Something For You!

Gift + Nifty + Yippee = Yiftee

Have you been so busy and just realized TODAY is an important date to someone you love; a birthday or maybe an anniversary? Oh No!! What can you do now?! You are stuck at work till 5 or have newborn twins to care for or for whatever reason just can’t go out to get a gift!

That is where yiftee comes in! In just minutes you can send them a personalized gift to their favorite participating coffee house for a cup of Joe, a local restaurant for dinner, or a local fine wine distributor to choose a way to celebrate with their favorite refreshment! All these and MUCH, MUCH more are available with a yiftee gift. And you can do if from your smart phone or  from the web RIGHT NOW!

How does it work?

1. Choose a merchant. Search the Yiftee website to find participating locations in the city and state nearest the recipient. From this list you will find a list of local businesses that participate in the program.

2. Choose the friend- via facebook, e-mail or text message.

3. Personalize it with a note.

4. Pay with Paypal or credit card.

Your friend will be notified immediately via facebook, e-mail or text message. They will get a single use digital credit card along with the gift and merchant descriptions and your note. Then they take their smart phone to the merchant to pick up the gift by showing the credit card. The merchant rings up the gift as usual, charging it to the credit card.*

*Note: The recipient has four weeks to pick up the gift. After that, he or she may donate the gift value to charity or the money is returned to your Yiftee account and you can give another Yiftee gift. Any change remaining on the credit card is also returned to your Yiftee account.

So why not try sending a yiftee gift to someone you love. A “hang in there” gift for someone having a bad day, a thank you gift for a that someone who did something nice for you last week, or a teacher who deserves some appreciation.

But don’t forget about YOU!! Today we want to say “Thank You” to our Twiniversity family for being such a wonderful group of people who have come together to be a great support system for parents of twins! To show our thanks we are giving away $10 yiftee gifts to TEN Twiniversity members!

We will choose 5 winners who are Twiniversity members and 5 from Twiniversity GOLD Members (choose which type of member you are in the drop down box).

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iTwinsDay :: Cloud B :: Sleep Sheep

Cloud B has a special place in our hearts as my kids and Natalie’s have their cuddly critter in our homes. We want to share the love and introduce a couple of Cloud B’s cuddly friends if you don’t already know and love them. And we will be sending two families a sleep sheep to help their little ones get some zzzz’s. (One Twiniversity family and one Twiniversity Gold family.) Watch the video to learn more about him and his other little friends like the Twilight Turtle and Gentle Giraffe.

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Meet our Twins of the Day: Valerie and Jane

 

 

Happy Holidays and Happy Birthday Valerie and Jane!

Nominated by: Amanda Stephens (mom)

Age: These twinnies turn 6 TODAY!

Home State: CA

What makes your twins rock!

Jane just completed her second 5K (3.1 miles) and Valerie just completed her first.  They love to run with me and I am super proud of them.  They are very sweet and compassionate to others and when they played soccer this season, they were the biggest cheerleaders for the other kids that scored goals.  Both girls are excelling in Kindergarten and can read and write complete sentences already. People ask if they are identical, however they are completely different.  Valerie is Blond with Blue eyes and Jane is brown with brown eyes.  I am so excited to have them since it took us 10 years to get them.  They are also the first girls born into my husbands family in 5 generations.

What is a recent accomplishment?

Both got trophies for soccer and can’t wait to play softball.

What are a few of their favorite things?

Song: California Gurl

TV show: Strawberry shortcake

Book: Green Eggs and Ham

Toy:  Val- Her Blanket, Jane- Marbles, Snoopy’s brother

Animals: Valerie LOVES tigers and Jane likes dogs.

What do they like most about being twins?

They like having someone to play with and they LOVE to go to Grandma and Papa’s and ride in Papa’s Model A “hotrod”

How have they changed you?

I’m trying to be more patient. I now exercise more so that I can be there to see them grow up. I also lost a lot of weight because they push me to be healthier.

What is your #1 tip for twin parents?

Schedule, schedule, schedule. We let them set it, but we kept to it and it saved our sanity.

Happy Birthday Valerie and Jane! We hope you like these gifts we picked out JUST for you from our friends at Safari Ltd.

For tiger loving Valerie: Wild Safari Wildlife White Bengal Tigress. Complete the family with this White Bengal Tigress, slightly shorter than the male White Bengal Tiger. Our Wild Safari® Wildlife collection features some of the most intriguing animals from around the world. Children love the lively colors and textures, making these toys ideal for imaginative play. Collectors appreciate the intricate hand-painted detail, while animal enthusiasts value the lifelike poses created by our professional sculptors. Safari Ltd® has been designing value-priced collectibles for three generations, wowing animal lovers everywhere.

and for dog loving Jane we are sending her a Collie

Our loyal Collie eagerly waits to play, its ears pointed forward in curiosity. Our Best in Show Dogs features some of the world’s most recognizable and beloved canines. The active, friendly poses are professionally sculpted, and the lifelike colors are individually hand painted, so collectors and children alike will be wowed by the realism of these replicas from Safari Ltd® replicas.

BUT WAIT!!! THERE IS MORE!!!! Since it’s the twinnies birthday we have a little extra to throw in. We are sending them a White Bengal Tiger cub and a Collie pup.

Happy Holidays from Our Families to Your Family!

We need your Twinnies!!!!!

EXTRA!!! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT!!

We are excited to tell you that we have some exciting giveaways for the end of this great year!! So we need help to find twinnies to give them to!! What we need you to do is fill out the form below to tell us about your twinnies so that they can get some of these prizes! We will be choosing 24 twinnies (that’s right twenty-four!) to receive prizes and be featured on our website for a day. We will start choosing winners in 2 weeks so get your entries in before then!

What are the prizes you’re asking? We’re going to keep you in suspense about that! (insert evil laugh) But we guarantee that your kids will love them! 🙂 So fill out this form so we can send your twins some prizes!!

These are just a few of this years “Twinnies of the month” winners. The next winner could be your twins!!!

 

 

 

 

*** NOTE: We do not sell or distributed any info that you provide to us here. We will only use this info as stated above.

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*** NOTE: We do not sell or distributed any info that you provide to us here. We will only use this info as stated above.

Game Night Fun!! Giveaways!

Looking for a new game for your next family game night? Then check out Dabble. Looking for something to play in your spare time (yeah right) the check out dabble your phone or tablet.

If you like Scrabble or Boggle, you’ll love Dabble. Dabble is simple yet challenging. It rewards players with quick wits, a large vocabulary, and perfect spelling. The goal of the game is to spell out five separate words with just 20 letters as quickly as possible. The trick is that the five

words must be comprised of a two-letter, three-letter, four-letter, five-letter, and six-letter word and you have to do it in five minutes.

It’s a great learning tool for kids and fun for the entire family (ages 10 and up) or you can play with your friends from you phone or tablet.

We have 3 games AND 3 codes for iPad AND 3 codes for iPhone to giveaway to Twiniversity members this week to add to your family fun! (The app is free to play with your friends on Android app here or the Kindle Fire app here.)

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John Deer Monster Truck Review and Giveaway!

Are your kids big into tractors? Mine are. Living in the mid-west we pass tractors on the road all the time as well as see them pass by in front of our house. If they hear the rumble of a tractor they run to the front window to watch it pass by. Not to mention that they always want to go ride on the tractor at their Grandpa and Grandma’s house.

So what do you get when John Deer meets Monster truck? Well Tomy Toys has showed us exactly what you get with their Monster Treads line of toy tractors. Our three year old twin boys got to test this toy out and they love it! Tonight they were driving it up and down ramps in the back yard. Then when we had to come inside they made a ramp by placing their mattress off their bed so they could continue to play with it longer.

There is a push button to activate monster truck sounds that are not obnoxiously annoying. It shakes a fair amount to give a good illusion of a running engine. It requires 3 AAA batteries that are included.

The only thing I wish was different is that when you press the button that it would drive forward a bit for a couple seconds. There are remote control versions of the monster tractors as well and I think as my kids get older I may have to get one of those. Your kids will have so much fun with this toy indoors and out!

The “Treads” are available at Toys R Us and Walmart but today we also have one to giveaway to one of our readers!!! Enter below and we will pick a winner Friday.

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Mabel’s Labels Giveaway!!!

Do you have a hard time keeping your twins things apart? Are there arguments over who’s things are who’s? Do you want to make sure your children’s things don’t get lost at school or daycare? Then you need labels! Mabel’s Labels are great for this! Their labels are waterproof and dishwasher safe so they always stay looking fresh.

Let’s see what our Mom Squad has to say about their labels.

Talitha McGuinnes- “Since receiving my labels, I love now knowing that there is never a question of which item belongs to whom. As with any twin set who has identical items, there are always arguments and fights over “that’s mine” without ever really knowing. Have a backpack or lunchbox? There’s a tag for that. Have a pencil box, folders, and pencils? There’s a label for that. There are labels for shoes and clothing, too, which really comes in handy for camps, sleepovers, or for the twins who still wish to dress alike (but clearly want their property respected!). Best of all, these labels are also dishwasher and microwave safe, as I use the labels on my son’s cups for school and don’t have to worry about them peeling off in the wash. These labels make any twin territorial fight a problem solved!”

Jill Marcum- “I love that Mabel’s Labels are are bright and colorful! I can put them on anything since they are waterproof, even dishwasher safe! I put them on the books and toys that the boys love to take with along with them on outings so that if left behind at someones house or in someones car, they will easily find their way back to us. I love them so much that I am ordering some with our family name on them to use on other items as well.”

Natalie Diaz- “I’ve been using Mabel’s Labels for YEARS! I remember the first time I saw them. A fellow mom of twins in preschool had her children’s sippy cups labeled. We talked about how they were dishwasher (and even microwave) safe. I was amazed. Since then we have been hooked. I wrote a previous article about using them on EVERYTHING from my kids shoes, to pencils, to book bags, school books, soccer balls (they stayed on), clothing, and even shampoo bottles! I admit it, I was a little jealous of my kids, so I started using them myself! I have a label on my phone, my keys, my favorite notebook and the kids even put one on my computer mouse.

Our family spreads the love every year and instead of a small gift from the store for my friends kids, I buy them each a set “Loot Bag” labels. I shipped them off with their holiday cards and just added an extra stamp. This year I plan on buying more for the kids birthday party attendees. I’m saying goodbye to the small bags of candy and silly toys and saying hello to something the kids and parents will appreciate. ”

Now is your chance to win a double pack of the Ultimate Back to School Combo pack- This includes 40 Skinny-Minis, 50 Tag Mates, 16 Shoe Labels and 2 Teeny Tags. The winner will be e-mailed a code for 2 free combo packs with free shipping. This code is only good till September 28th so you must use them before that date.

Have a great week!

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