My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic | 4th of July Recipes & New Trailer

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Even though I’ve had three other kids, potty training parties were never a thing…so I was excited to get together with Pampers to bring you this post on How To Throw A Potty Training Party! I had so much fun planning this party for my little guy and his friends! Pampers sent over some goodies to help me get started, including goodie bags for my guests, decorations and matching paper goods for snacks. I couldn’t wait to get planning!
How To Throw A Potty Training Party
1. Pick A Theme: I like color schemes when it comes to parties…and pampers has a bright a fun one! I didn’t go with a character theme for this one, I stuck with the Pampers colors because I would have both boys and girls at my party so it was easier than doing Thomas & Friends® and Dora the Explorer® themed products…plus the kids really won’t notice the “absence” of a cartoon character at their potty training party.
2. Make Goodie Bags: This doesn’t have to be difficult, it can be a lot of fun for a potty training party! Toss in some Pampers Easy Ups, Hand Soap, Potty Training Book, Potty Training Progress Chart & A little something for Mom! In my bags I included some nail polish (theme colored) and some soap that Mom will enjoy as well, because lets face it..we get a little nasty during potty training too!
3. Pick Out Snacks: Toddlers can be picky, but there’s a few things you can set out that you know they will enjoy. I put out some granola bars, fruit bars, yogurt pouches, and Capri suns! It doesn’t have to be a whole lot, they have small tummies and it’s only a snack..not a meal.
4. Have Something Fun To Do: A photo booth is always a hit at any party. And with toddlers, they love to dress up and take pictures of themselves (as long as you show them when it’s taken). Here you can download a copy of my speech bubbles…just cut them out, laminate or use contact paper to laminate then cut that out and put on a popsicle stick or dowel. Since our potty book was about a superhero, we included plenty of superhero capes to choose from for pictures!
Potty training is an amazing milestone for toddlers and parents alike, but it can also be stressful. Spring is the time many families kick-off potty training so they are ready for summer fun and then for the start of preschool. Potty training can feel like an overwhelming process, and when minor leaks or accidents occur, it can be a disappointment. Pampers Easy Ups helps makes this journey a little easier by providing better leak protection than the leading competitor.
We all want potty training to be a positive experience for our toddlers, but leaks, accidents, and switching from training pants to diapers overnight can feel like setbacks. This is why Pampers want to empower our little ones to overcome these obstacles to achieve and celebrate potty training success. Pampers Easy Ups support the diaper-to-underwear transition for toddlers as they have a more underwear-like look and feel while still helping to keep messes off clothing, bedding and other surfaces no matter where accidents happen: at home, on-the-go or overnight.
PAMPERS EASY UPS PRODUCT FEATURES
Fun Thomas & Friends® designs for boys and Dora the Explorer® designs for girls
A more underwear-like design for growing toddlers
Graphics that fade when wet to help little ones learn
Super-stretchy sides to make them easy to pull up and down when using the potty
Available for Boys and Girls sizes 2T/3T through 4T/5T
Pampers Easy Ups work during the day AND night, enabling toddlers and moms to confidently and completely transition from diapers to underwear!
Pampers Easy Ups Potty Training Tips by L. Jana, MD
1. Promote potty learning. Learning how to use the potty takes plenty of time and patience. It’s more than just training; it is a learning opportunity for toddlers and parents alike that should be enjoyable. After all, mastering this concept of “potty learning” with your little one is a big accomplishment and milestone.
2. Team Spirit. It is important to keep in mind that “teamwork makes the dream work,” especially in the case of potty training. You are not only your child’s biggest fan, you are also their potty training coach. Remember to stay calm in the face of potty accidents and encourage your little one to not worry and try again!
3. Be Prepared. Potty training is an unpredictable adventure that you can best prepare for by ensuring you have all practical supplies on hand. These supplies will help you through any obstacle and can help foster your child’s interest and independence – from a step stool (to improve access to the toilet) or potty seat to training pants. That’s why I’m happy to partner with Pampers, whose Easy Ups training pants are designed to help the diaper-to-underwear transition by allowing potty-training toddlers to set aside their diapers and wear something with a more underwear-like look and feel that still helps contain accidental messes no matter wherever they happen: at home, on-the-go or overnight.
4. Celebrate every win. As with any learning experience, young children can learn a lot from both their potty successes and their setbacks. While potty accidents are an inevitable (and admittedly inconvenient) aspect of potty learning, they shouldn’t dominate your day-to-day discussions. Instead, simply help your child learn to cope with and clean up any messes, and focus your attention on celebrating your child’s efforts and successes with plenty of hugs and words of encouragement.
5. Watch for signs of readiness. Just about all children give subtle (and some not-so subtle) signs that they are ready for potty training. These signs of readiness typically include using their words to express themselves, toddling their own way to the bathroom, pulling down their own pants, saying they want to use the “big potty,” and being aware of the sensation of peeing or pooping, characteristically noticeable when young children suddenly stop what they’re doing as they feel themselves start to go. It is also helpful and increases the likelihood of potty training interest when children start to be bothered by their messy diapers, as that can serve as a good motivation for using the potty instead!
6. Start making connections. There’s a lot that you can do to help your child be well-prepared to successfully use the potty long before he or she actually starts doing it. Making up a fun song or reading engaging children’s books about potty training, such as You and Me Against the Pee! (which I co-authored) can go a long way towards making the idea of potty training a more welcome and eagerly anticipated activity. You can take this familiarity a step further by letting your toddler accompany you in to the bathroom when you need to go so that he both becomes familiar with the routine and comfortable with the idea of using the toilet, rather than being afraid of or intimidated by it!
As you can see, throwing a Potty Training Party can be a lot of fun for both child and parent! It really is a great way to kick off potty training! Have you hosted a Potty Training Party? What are your must haves?
Disclosure of Material Connection: This is a “sponsored post.” The company who sponsored it compensated me via a cash payment, gift, or something else of value to write it. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

This post may contain affiliate links which fund the My Sparkling Life blog.
If you’re trying to grow your hair out, the wait can seem like it’s taking forever to get to the length you want. There are some tricks that you can try to help it along and help your hair to grow faster.
Get frequent trims. It might seem counterproductive but the best way to help your hair grow is to keep it healthy. You can grow African American hair faster, and help caucasian hair to grow faster by getting rid of split ends which can cause more breakages. Getting rid of the split ends makes your hair look smoother and more voluminous, which can help you make the most of the length you have.
Resist the urge of drastic color changes. If your hair is naturally dark, avoid any dyes that would require bleaching. Bleaching damages the cuticles of the hair, which can lead to more breakage. Breakage is the last thing you want if you’re aiming for longer hair.
Distribute your hair’s natural oils. The oils that are naturally in your hair help to keep it healthy, but they tend to gather at the root, which can lead to oily roots. Distribute the oils throughout your hair so it all benefits. Regular brushing will do this for you. Brush your hair before you go to bed, as well as when you’re getting ready in the morning. Brushing also stimulates the scalp which will help with hair growth too. A boar bristle brush is best for the hair.
Eat healthier. Healthy hair comes from what you fuel your body with, not just the products you use. Protein is the best thing for strong, healthy, long hair, so make sure you eat plenty of fish, beans, nuts and whole grains. If you aren’t getting enough protein, you may experience more hair shedding. Omega 3 is also great for hair, which you can find in oily fish.
Reduce heat styling. Heat styling might make your hair look great, but over time, it can dry it out, increasing the rate of breakage. Try to reduce the number of times you use heat to style your hair. If you’re not going anywhere, towel dries your hair instead of blow-drying it and only heat style when you need to. If you do use heat, make sure you always use a heat protecting spray or serum.
Don’t shampoo your hair every day. Shampooing can strip your hair of its natural oils, so only wash your hair two or three times a week. This allows those all-important oils to penetrate into your hair and make it healthier.
Take a multivitamin. Look for one that is labeled as being good for hair, teeth, and nails. You want something with plenty of vitamin C and vitamin B which both boost hair health. This can also make your skin healthier, as an added bonus. Make a multi-vitamin part of your morning routine.
Finish your shower with cool water. At the end of the shower, turn the temperature down and rinse your hair with cool water. This seals your cuticles and helps to strengthen your hair.

When it comes to Easter, you think eggs, candy and Easter dinner…what about a delicious dessert to end the day with?! This is a cute little cake that would be great for serving at your Easter get together! These darling specialty cakes from GourmetGiftBaskets.com are the perfect treat to follow our traditional Easter dinner. They are moist and incredibly delicious! Measuring six inches across, the Easter Chick Cake is created with rich vanilla cake, topped with sweet yellow frosting, then hand decorated on top, and embellished with confetti sprinkles. Best of all, no baking required! The cake comes frozen and wrapped in cardboard and cellophane to keep everything held together till you can enjoy it. It didn’t take long for it to defrost and ready for us to enjoy!
Gourmet Gift Baskets also features a large selection of Easter baskets, gift baskets, gift towers, fruits, chocolates, wine and so much more. They’ll do all the baking, packaging, and the shipping, while you sit back and enjoy your company.
Follow them on to be first to hear about new products and special promotions!
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

If your a shopper, there’s no better time of year to snag some fantastic deals! Right now during the Glamulet pre-sale event, you are able to get your hands on brand new charms that have not been released yet!
About the company:
The Charms Brand Glamulet was launched in 2014 to offer to every woman a new range of trendy and elegant quality jewelry at an affordable price. Glamulet believes that every woman should be allowed to express herself and to feel pretty. Each woman can mix and match the charms and make a special piece for someone or herself.
The Pre-Sale Deal :
Head to their pre-sale page here & score up to 50% off your order if you are fast enough & buy now. The earlier you buy the more the discount will be. Plus if you use my code – sparkley15 you will get an additional 15% off. Which means you can buy more! Items will ship November 20th so you will have them in plenty time for the holidays!
Here are a few charms that are available to choose from :
As if the sale wasn’t enough, there’s more! 100 lucky winners will be sent a set of pre-sale charms worth $75 for entering in the giveaway below!
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
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When it comes to the holidays, we try so hard to teach are kids the true meaning. But sometimes it gets lost in all the commercialized products and excitement that goes along with them. Egglo Entertainment has the perfect solution for focusing kiddos on the true meaning of the Easter holiday!!
About
The Light shines in the dark and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:5
Making sure the children entrusted to your care have the eternal gift of God’s love and salvation is a worry for every Christian.
The Egg-cellent Easter Adventure is a one-of-a-kind interactive storybook that focuses on the TRUE meaning of Easter! The idea is simple: the glowing eggs represent the light of Jesus and children search in the dark for the eggs to connect with the idea that Jesus is the light of the world. Transform an average Easter egg hunt into a powerful interactive ministry tool. Send your kids on a glow-in-the-dark egg hunt with Egglo heroes Hardy, Anastasia, and Pascal where children discover that Jesus is the greatest treasure of all. With the Egglo program children physically engage in the spiritual concept that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the light learning this powerful lesson they will remember for the rest of their lives. Don’t wait to use Egglo Eggs to teach the kids in your life about Jesus.
Thoughts
I really really appreciate the Egglo Entertainment efforts at keeping the Easter holiday meaning alive! Egglo Entertainment offers a line of products that will make teaching your kiddos about the true meaning of Easter a lot of fun.
The Egglo product line includes glow-in-the-dark Easter eggs, a book, an audio book, Scripture Scrolls, stickers and more. You can buy all parts of the Egglo product line separately to cater to your needs. These would be great for celebrating at home or larger celebrations at church or Sunday school, daycare, Vacation Bible School and more!! Egglo Entertainment products can be adapted to work with any age, but I would say ages 5-12 would be ideal so that the message gets across, although glow in the dark eggs are fun at any age!
Egglo sent me a pack of eggs, the adventure book, the curriculum, Easter stickers, Easter character stickers, scroll stickers, and scrolls. Before we started the hunt we read the Adventure book and discussed the meaning of the Egglo eggs and Easter. To get the eggs ready, I had them in the window the whole day soaking in the sunlight! I put one of each item into the eggs, and hid them around the house.
Our Egglo eggs stayed super bright for at least 30 minutes. Like I said I used the sun, but you can use incandescent light as well, but sunlight is recommended for the best results. There was residual glow for a really long time after the egg hunt, at least and hour or more! They loved the tiny little scrolls! I think they were their favorite trinket in the eggs..They are really cute miniature scrolls with shortened Bible verses on them.
The kids actually continued to play even after the excitement of the early egg hunt wore off…The book, The Egg-cellent Easter Adventure was great too. It was a little long, (so my 4yr old didn’t stay too engaged with me) but had a great message. The kids loved the vibrantly illustrated pages and the characters that they could relate to. I loved that they connected the Easter egg hunt to the gospel of Jesus! It kept the kids entertained for sure while teaching such an important lesson!
The program guide is downloadable and would be great for churches or group events. The guide has lots of ideas for activities, decorations, and snacks as well as instructions and printable favors. You could easily use this curriculum guide to make your celebration of Easter one the kids will remember for all the right reasons.
The Egglo Entertainment Pinterest page is chalked full of fabulous ideas for celebrating the Easter season with family and other ways to use your glow-in-the-dark eggs.
Follow Them On
WIN IT!! Egglo is giving one Mom of 4 Boys reader the chance to win a Egglo Prize Pack including everything that I received!
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

YEA! Fall is here, it’s my favorite time of year. Time for cooler weather, yummy smells and delicious food. What food reminds me the most of fall? Pumpkin! Today I’m going to share an Old Fashioned Pumpkin Honey Bread recipe with you…I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
1c Honey
1/2 c Butter (softened)
1 can (16oz) Pumpkin
4 Eggs
4 c Flour
4 tsp Baking Powder
2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
2 tsp Ground Ginger
2 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Ground Nutmeg
In large bowl, mix honey with butter until light and fluffy.
Stir in pumpkin.
Beat in eggs, one at a time until thoroughly incorporated.
Sift together remaining ingredients.
Stir into pumpkin mixture
Divide batter equally between two well-greased 9×5 loaf pans.
Bake at 350*F for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.
Let loaves cool in pans for 10 minutes; Invert pans to remove loaves and allow to finish cooling on racks.
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