The Colorado Convention Center will have 400,000 square feet dedicated to a virtual marketplace. Learn about innovative gardening and home improvement ideas, products and services in more than 1,400 booths. Attend one of the 50 FREE educational seminars and how-to demonstrations for cutting-edge gardening and home improvement ideas.

Families visiting the show will have plenty to make them smile when they are greeted by a variety of four-foot butterflies flying through the air, and a play land of kids, bugs and creatures made entirely from balloons. This fun and playful characters will come to life in the 5,500-square-foot “Blooms, Balloons & Butterflies” Entry Garden presented by Bellco. Town & Country Landscaping of Lone Tree, Colo., is responsible for the design, construction and installation of this unique garden.

A new component for 2012 show is kid-sized playhouses. The Colorado Garden & Home Show worked with Alpine Lumber and local home builders on the construction of four 8’x10’ custom-built playhouses each valued at $5,000. The playhouses will be displayed in feature gardens and other locations during the show.

Three will be awarded to three of five nonprofits. Show attendees may vote for which nonprofit they want to “win” one of the houses. Participating nonprofits include Excelsior Youth Center, Florence Crittenton Services of Colorado, Rocky Mountain MS Center, Ronald McDonald House and Safehouse Denver. The other playhouse will be awarded to one attendee. Attendees may register to win at the entrance of the show and other areas on the floor.

General admission is $12 and children 12 and under are free. For additional details visit www.gardeningcolorado.com.

Contest
Mile High Mamas is giving away 16 tickets to the Colorado Garden & Home Show! Please go here to enter. Contest deadline is February 8, 2012.

Obermeyer  - Clothes That Grow!

(photo: Sheer Bliss Coat in Anthracite)

Alpha Industries - Built to Last!
(photo: Mini McGyver Jacket)

Gordini - Gear Done Right.

Frosty fingers and foggy goggles can quickly ruin a day on the slopes and choosing sunglasses over ski goggles can result in sunburned eyeballs (not fun) due to the glare reflecting from the ground up. Gearing your children up right will not only protect them from the elements but will ensure a great experience for the entire family. Gordini technology takes winter gear technology seriously – effectively balancing the body’s natural heat production with the loss experienced in cold temperatures. Quality ski gear is important…even for our tiny learners.  Don’t risk spending your winter vacation juggling uncomfortable hand warmers and making frequent defrost stops at the lodge.

Origin Snow - Small Business, Big Impact!

This local, family owned company specializes in kid-sized snowboards and equipment. With fresh designs, free demos and a respectful vision for the moral of the sport, this young company is pioneering a new generation of little shredders. Start skill building early and avoid the pain of adult learning – I think I’m still recovering from a Winter Park boarding lesson last season…I’ll stick with skis for a while.

Name Bubbles - Names That Stick…To Your Gear!

After carefully selecting your winter gear, you will want to protect it from the ominous lost and found…and help your children recognize their valuable belongings in the heaps of skis, boards, helmets, coats and other items at the lodge. These fashionable stickers are not only visually appealing, they are amazingly durable – laundry and dishwasher safe – read about by inadvertent home test on this product: Honey, I Shrunk the Sippy Cup.

Contest Winners:

Melody Mascarenaz (Girl’s Obermeyer)
Sabrina Merz (Boy’s Obermeyer)
Laurie Mosshammer (Name Bubbles Package)

Congratulations!!!

CLICK HERE TO ENTER TO WIN a Girl’sSheer Bliss in Anthracite, Boy’s Ketza Pant in Neon Lights Print or Personalized Name Bubbles Package!

Contest deadline is January 29, 2012.

I know! I had no idea they were there either. It’s almost like they sprouted out of nothing.

Well, they kind of did. Brent Christensen started building these magical ice castles three years ago, and brought to life something that was previously backyard fun with his children. Now, he has created 25 foot sires pretty much right next to our outlet mall up the hill. Only a little drive outside of Denver. Crazy!

My family was invited to visit the Ice Castles in Silverthorne right before New Year’s, on a day of 50-degree weather. So, while I was able to take off my coat photographing the place, the crew was worried about melt. Because it is all man-made, icicle by icicle. They grow sticks of ice for building material, add more and more to the structures every day, spray with water at night, and let nature take its course. Which, in my mind, make the Ice Castles a bit of nature-made as well. Case in point, all that warm weather while we were there changed the shape of the castles even in that one day, and as Brent and his staff rebuilt, temperature and snowfall will dramatically change the shape and texture of the icicles every week, for the rest of the winter.

Icicle Farm

Ice Castle Building

I had some really really really good light that day, even if the heat was bad for the Ice Castles.

The other part of the experience is… NIGHT.

Low heat lights are wired into most of the structures, which put on an amazing display when the sun goes down. I put on my snow pants and just sat there with my camera. What else could I do?

Personally, I feel like night is the most magical at the Ice Castles. And what a perfect thing for apre ski? The place itself is not huge, you spend your time walking around and marveling at the crevices. We stayed at Keystone Resort, which was only 10 minutes away – so I can totally see coming off the slopes and heading there afterwards to catch the light show.

And you can go too!

CONTEST

Mile High Mamas is thrilled to give away FOUR family four-packs of tickets to the Ice Castles in Silverthorne. Please go here to enter. Contest deadline is January 26, 2012.

INFORMATION
The ice castles are located on the lawn at the Town Pavilion, in Silverthorne, Colorado on the east side of the Blue River Parkway. They are less than 1/4 of a mile from the I-70 Freeway.

Monday – Thursday 11:00am to 9:00pm
Friday – 11:00am to 10:00pm
Saturday – 10:00am to 10:00pm
Sunday – Closed
Hours are subject to change based on demand and weather, watch their website for updates.

Tickets are sold on-site, and the prices for entrance are as follows:
Adult one time pass – $10.00
Child one time pass (12 & under) – $7.50
Child under 3 years – Free
Adult Season Pass – $30.00, unlimited use
Family Season Pass- $50.00 + $10 for each dependent child, unlimited use.

Mile High Mamas is taking part in a fun campaign with Nissan over the holidays. On Tuesday, December 20th at 7 p.m. MST, the car company will be holding a #HolidayQuest Twitter party to discus how several parents around the country are navigating the holiday season with a new Nissan Quest vehicle! They will share tips and tricks from surviving the holiday season with their family while giving back to their community and they want to hear your ideas.

And here’s your motivation for taking part. By telling us how you would use a portion of your gift card towards your community and participating in their holiday discussions, you will be entered to win one of five $1,000 gift cards!

Go here to RSVP.

Note: Nissan provided a loan of the Nissan Quest and a contribution to a charity of my choice in my community.

Like many people, we’re on a tight budget this holiday season. So when American Express contacted me with the opportunity to test out their Membership Rewards program while also offering one lucky reader the chance to win a $250 American Express gift card, I jumped at the chance.

Here’s the catch: to enter to win, you just need to share your money-saving or budgeting tips for the holidays. Easy, huh? (Selfish confession: I plan to glean from your fantastic advice).

American Express launched Membership Rewards 20 years ago as a first of its kind program. Today, they offer more than a million rewards from over 500 brands and millions of Cardmembers have redeemed their points for everything from movie tickets to trips to the world’s finest resorts.

Small Business Shopping

American Express is a great supporter of small businesses so I headed down to one of my favorite shopping districts, Olde Town Arvada. The area has unique, delicious fare; it’s tough to beat Manneken Frites (a Belgian fry shop with a huge variety of dipping sauces) and Cheesecake Therapy, a quaint bake shop with a huge variety of cheesecakes in all sizes. I’m also a big fan of Penzeys gourmet spices (I could spend an hour in there just inhaling), Into the Fire pottery studio (check out their birthday party packages and Kids Kamps) and Lovely, a unique boutique carrying affordable, hand-picked fashions for women.

(A sampling of Scruptious' treats)

Some things the kids will love: poop brown jellybeans for a reindeer, Santa, penguin, and a polar bear (named “poolar bear”). Also for Christmas, Scrumptious has gourmet candy canes, Christmas PEZ, and small bulk chocolates in the shapes of nutcrackers, snowmen, and Santa.
If you are looking for non-Christmas themed items, mustaches and bacon are super popular right now and they have a plethora of different styles of mustaches. They also have many bacon-flavored items like toothpaste, toothpicks, frosting, and many others.

Money-saving Tips

Now that I have my small purchases under wraps (literally), I’m reading to delve head-first into my holiday shopping. A few of my tips include:

1) Make a list. Mine was in the form of a spreadsheet for everyone I’m shopping for this season.
2) Research it out. I pretty much live and breathe off of the reviews posted at amazon.com or consumerreports.org and have saved myself many poor purchases! Writing down the products I want to buy also helps me avoid impulse spending, something I’m prone to do (especially for my kids).
3) If you’re not a mall shopper (like me), make sure to take advantage of Free Shipping Day on December 16, 2011. There are over 1,400 companies that are participating including J.C. Penny, Kohls and many more!

Contest

And now it’s your turn! American Express is giving you the opportunity to win a gift card of your choice valued at $250! Please go here to enter to win and share your personal tips for staying within your holiday budget through our entry form, tweets, and Facebook posts. Contest deadline is December 22, 2011. Note: Mile High Mamas is participating in a two-part campaign with American Express.

For the next 25 days leading up to Christmas, we need to shop so why not do it online for a great cause that gives back to your child’s school?

You’ve probably heard of General Mills’ Box Tops for Education where you earn cash for your child’s school by clipping Box Tops coupons from participating products (the program has has earned $400 million since 1996). That’s swell if you’re a coupon/box clipper but I’m not. What I am is an online shopper so their Box Tops for Education Marketplace online shopping portal is an easy way for me to give back (without the clipping!)

The Marketplace features more than 175 retailers with categories ranging from electronics to toys to travel from well-known retailers such as Target, Bloomingdale’s and Best Buy, Crate & Barrel, and Gap. The process is simple: enter in your child’s school and become a member of Box Tops for Education. Then, Shop & Earn box tops for your school. It really is that easy. I was sent a $50 gift card to test it out (AND TO GIVE AWAY to one lucky reader!)

With every product listed, it shows how many eBox tops are earned for your school.

Purchases through Marketplace help schools raise funds to keep extra curricular activities, aid field trips and fund school supplies. With each qualified purchase through Marketplace, eBoxTops are donated to a school of the purchaser’s choice. Schools can earn up to 15 eBoxTops for every $10 spent. More than 70,000 schools across the United State participate in the Box Tops for Education program.

I’ll admit I despaired a bit when I saw my school has only raised $18 this year. But then I inspired to read that when North Bay Elementary School lost their playground to Hurricane Katrina, they raised enough money to replace it through Box Tops for Education ($6,800). All this great campaign needs is word-of-mouth for your peers to do their shopping at retailers they already love at Box Tops for Education…and help your school in the process.

Contest

Mile High Mamas is giving away a $50 gift card for you to use at the retailer of your choice at Box Tops for Education. Please go here to enter. Contest deadline is December 11, 2011.

Thank goodness for me, Ryan came along. Yes, we met on TV, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. He not only gave me a fairytale family, but has also shown me the beauty and adventurous life that I was missing out on with my Midwestern upbringing.

Now that we’ve grown to a family of four, it’s important for us to instill the love we have of nature to our two kiddos, Blakesley (2 ½) and Max (4 ½). While Ryan can successfully complete any physical activity he attempts (he just completed a series about endurance events called Inside Endurance, used to play in the NFL and chooses to climb or bike up mountains in his free time ), I sometimes have to try a little harder. The kids definitely have their daddy’s adventurous genes…they are fearless! Max has been skiing since he was two and learned to ride a pedal bike just before his 4th birthday. Blakesley may not end up being a biker, but she is certainly excited about her first year of skiing!

During the warmer months, we frequent our gorgeous local parks, ride bikes, and go for tons of walks and hikes. When the colder months hit though, I like to have lots of activities lined up so the kids don’t get bored or go stir crazy from cabin fever. If Blakesley or Max had it their way, they’d bundle up and head to ski school, the ice skating rink, the backyard to build a snowman or the driveway to help daddy shovel.

If we’re lucky, we’ve already signed up for gymnastics, dance, karate classes, swim lessons, or a planned playgroup. But, on the days that we still need to burn off some energy and it’s just too bitter to be outside, we break out the hot chocolate (don’t forget the marshmallows!) and build forts, play with play-doh, fingerpaint, or even bake some yummy goodies. They’ve definitely become pros at licking the bowl and spoon!

With all this activity, both indoors and out, I always make sure to stay fueled up. We try to eat as healthy as we can, focusing on products that have wholesome real ingredients. And we could not get through our day without snacks. While we definitely have our favorites, I’m always looking for great new snacks for the kids and something that I like as well. Earlier this year, I discovered goodnessKnows snacksquares and they are DELICIOUS. Made with wholesome ingredients fruits, nuts, and grains plus layered in deep chocolate, goodnessKnows has become a staple in our household. They come in a four square serving size that is great to share with others or munch on throughout the day.

I love the winter months. It marks the end of fall and another chapter in my children’s lives. The older we get, the faster time flies so I’m just trying to slow down and enjoy every moment…and in the Vail valley, that’s pretty easy to do.

Contest
Mile High Mamas is giving away a goodnessKnows basket chock full of goodness! Go here to enter to win this basket full of all three flavors (Very Cranberry, Almonds & Berries and Fruity Nuts & Grains) and a goodnessKnows water bottle and tote bag. Be sure to also check-out goodnessKnows on Facebook! Contest deadline: December 2, 2011.

My kids adore stuffed animals but I’ve never taken them to Build-A-Bear.

Talk about a mothering fail.

Though I know they’d love it, cost has always been a factor so it just hasn’t been on my radar. But when I was approached about a similar concept you can do from home, I was all over it. Wuggle Pets are baby animals kids can bring to life by simply adding fluffy stuffing using the Fun Fill Factory, sprinkling in some magic dust and watching as it grows.

It doesn’t end there. Kids can choose their pet’s personality with personality charms, birthmarks and birth certificate and backpack clips so they can transport them wherever they go.

Wuggle Pets are recommended for ages 4 and up. My kids are ages 5 and 7 had already heard of them from TV and were great ages to assemble their Wuggle Pets (be warned: the stuffing could get messy for younger kids). I was worried the assembly process would be complicated (I’m a sewing failure) but there is a marvelous zipper at the back. My kids loved the creative process and quickly took ownership of their Wuggle Pet.

I loved the lack of sewing. But I already went there, didn’t I?

The 12-piece Starter Kit retails at $19.99 and the individual kids are available for $7.00. Kids can collect a clever raccoon, a bashful bear, a magical unicorn, a cuddly puppy, a funny monkey and a playful pony. My Starter Kit came with the puppy and unicorn.

Contest

Want to win a Wuggle Pet for your child? Go here to enter! Contest deadline is December 2, 2011.

VTech Toys have come a long way since my kids were born. Their first “computer” was VTech’s Tote & Go Laptop that they still enjoy several years later.

VTech’s V.Reader makes the old Tote & Go look positively archaic. This is the best-selling e-reader for kids in the world, with the recommended age range 3 to 7 years old. I was sent a V.Reader to review and give away and here are a few of our observations.

Features I love as a parent:

*This interactive e-reader is now equipped with updated software and increased internal memory.
*There is not a large learning curve to figure it out.
*It teaches core reading skills with a large color touch screen.
*The corners were rounded and had rubberized plastic for added protection.
*The V.Reader comes pre-loaded with the story book “What’s That Noise” and fun applications You can also download VTech’s Learning Lodge Navigator for additional software.
*A USB cable to connect the V.Reader to a computer is provided so parents can monitor their child’s reading activity and create completion certificates as progress is made.
*Connect V.Reader to your computer to download additional stories for more learning.

Cons::
*It goes through batteries very quickly. Buy an AC adapter for it, but one is not included.
*Cartridges are sold separately. This can get pricy at $19.99 a pop, which was likely the reason VTech dropped the price of the unit from $9.99 to $49.99. Download the cheaper digital versions online.

What my 5-year-old son loved about it:

*Selecting a personalized avatar to personalize his V.Reader.
*The fully animated stories with story narration and interactive reading games. (I loved that each line of the story is read aloud and can be followed on the screen).
*The reading games that helped him learn more about rhyming, syllables, lowercase and uppercase letters, and reading comprehension.

What my 7-year-old daughter loved about it:

*My daughter loves to draw and she thought the Art Studio’s drawing and painting activities were cool. (Note: for added interactivity, creations can be saved to an SD card and shared with friends and family).
*For older kids, there are difficult categories of activities including phonics, vocabulary, and word recognition games.

Contest
Mile High Mamas is giving away a VTech Toys V.Reader (a $49.99 value!) Please go here to enter. Contest deadline is November 30, 2011.

Windex® made its debut in 1936 during the Great Depression. By adapting to changing family needs and lifestyles, this iconic American brand has stood the test of time.

Sure, Windex® is most famous for its “blue bottle” and fresh, clean scent, but when was the last time you checked your grocery aisle? The Windex® line of products has grown to include:

o Windex® Original Glass Cleaner, Windex® Original Glass Wipes, Windex® Crystal RainTM, Windex® Multi-Surface products, Windex® Electronics products, Windex® Foaming Glass Cleaner, Windex® Mini concentrate refill pouch and Windex® Outdoor products.

Needless to say, I have many of these products handy to help clean and give my home that awesome shine. Windex® has been a household product in my family for years and is considered a family tradition when it comes to cleaning. To celebrate their great success story as America’s No. 1 Glass Cleaner, tell me about some of your favorite family traditions for a chance to win the Windex® Family Traditions Prize Pack! I have five prize packs to giveaway that will include a variety of Windex® products along with other great items to help you cherish and celebrate your family traditions, including:

• Windex® Original, Windex® Multi-Surface Vinegar, Windex® Original Glass Wipes, Windex® Outdoor All-in-One Glass Cleaning Tool and Windex® Electronic Wipes
• $50 Gift Card to help carry out your family traditions
• Video Camera to capture family traditions and create memories
• A photo album to hold your cherished photos

CONTEST
Please go here to enter to win this great prize pack. Also, don’t forget to check out the official Windex® Facebook Page to learn more about the history of Windex® in America and share your shining moments and favorite family traditions.

NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT POST OF ANY KIND IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A PURCHASE OR, PAYMENT WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING.

RULES

* This post is sponsored by Windex®, but my review and opinions are my own.