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Just as geeky as any other mommy blog … and just as diaper filled and cheerio smashed – but from Cleveland

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GoldFish Swim School & Giveaway

If you regularly read my blog, or just happened to last february, you may remember that the kids were featured in a news story about a new(ish) local swim school called GoldFish Swim.

Well, we loved GoldFish Swim School and everyone there so much that we’re regulars now.  Yup.  Every week the kids pack up their swimming suits and head off to lessons.

My child that used to scream and yell when we went to our old swim lessons (at a local rec center) now jumps right in,

kicks while beaming from ear to ear and SWIMS UNDERWATER.

And my crazy-wild-child that used to fling herself wildly into the pool with no fear what-so-ever now understands more about water-safety (although she has maintained her enthusiasm).

As a parent, I love how encouraging the entire staff is at Goldfish, I love how comfortable my kids feel there, and I obviously love the kids newly found swim skills.  And the kids of course love having fun … ok, and they love the ribbons they have been awarded at swim classes.

Are you in the Cleveland area and looking for swim classes?  Check out GoldFish Swim School www.goldfishswimschool.com/cle

The GoldFish Cleveland facility is very impressive and features:

  • Year-round swim instruction for children 4 months and up.
  • Small class sizes. (Max 4:1 student to teacher ratio)
  • Indoor swimming pools kept at 90 degrees. (Air temperature kept at 92 degrees!)
  • Experienced staff of Red Cross certified swim instructors.
  • State-of-the-art pool water purification system.
  • Air conditioned viewing gallery for parents to watch lessons.
  • Unique and educational teaching equipment.

 

———————–GIVEAWAY—————————-

And just to make this post even more fun for you, the jazzy folks at Goldfish Swim School are offering a free birthday party ($450 value) giveaway to one very lucky MyGotFam.com reader.  Neato right?!  Yuppers.  To read about all of the fabulousness of their birthday parties (trust me on this one…the parties there look AMAZING), check out their birthday party page.

 

There are a few ways you can enter to win:

  1. Simply leave me a comment here (on this blog) telling me why you’d like to win
  2. Tweet the following “I’d love to have a birthday part at #GoldfishSwimCLE from @mygotfam” (then leave a separate comment on this blog letting me know you tweeted)
  3. Post a link of this blog post to your facebook wall (then leave a separate comment on this blog letting me know you posted this to your facebook wall)

You can enter (each of these ways) once a day until the giveaway ends.This giveaway is open to U.S residents only and all entries must have a valid email address (this is how I will contact the winner… I promise not to get all spammy up on you).  Once a winner has been chosen (via random.org), the winner has 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be randomly selected. This giveaway will end June 21st, 2013 at 12pm EST.

Disclaimer: I was not compensated for this post.  GoldFish Swim provided my kids with 4 free swim classes for purposes of review – but we are now paying customers.  As always, all opinions are 100% mine and mine only.


 

Planning a Move?

{I interrupt this pinterest series to bring you a little (true) story – and a cool discount code}

 

When my husband and I bought our current home we were in a bit of a rush.  Our Lakewood home had sold …and we wanted to find a home that we could move into rather quickly.  Which isn’t to say we didn’t look around for a house that would fit us, because we did (I am not exaggerating when I tell you we walked through well over 100 homes throughout the area).  We were not 100% sure Strongsville was for us (I’m still not) but we knew that we liked this house.  We still do.

But being the tried and true what’s-our-next-step couple that we are, we are still always trying to decide if we want to stay in this house or move.  We have gone through this debate over and over to the point that we’re almost sick of it.  We just couldn’t find a home that we liked more .

Until one day, we found a home.  It was beautiful.  It was just so …. us.

It was the most beautiful century home and had an incredible history.  The home itself had never left one family (it was passed down for generations).  The property’s history was even more fascinating and it’s written history dated back to when the area was in the “Connecticut Reserve.”  It was notably one of the most historic homes in the area.  We were in love with the home.  Everything about it.  Not to mention, it was a very easy and short walk to our best friends house (and in a much more urban setting…where walking everywhere is easy).

And while I would love to tell you every detail about the home, I’ll just jump to the point where I tell you that we didn’t get it.  And whomever did buy it deserves the right to be excited about their purchase (which isn’t to say I wouldn’t secretly give them the stank eye glare if I met them).  Although we were/still are crushed.  We had an immediate attachment to the home (you know, that “emotional attachment” you’re suppose to avoid in real estate transactions?).

While we were crushed, we also know that it wasn’t meant to be.  Maybe someday we will move.  Maybe not.  Who knows what the future has in store.  But a few of the reasons I decided to blog about all of this was:

  • I don’t want to forget about this incredible home in the future.  I hope that someday I drive past it and it’s obvious that someone that lives there loves it as much as we did.  And I hope that I smile at it as I drive by… and don’t feel sad.
  • I wanted to tell you about a pretty cool new(ish) company that had agreed to bring you (lovely readers) a great discount (in what was suppose to be a whole blog post about moving and the moving process).

 

I mean, hey, just because we aren’t moving doesn’t mean some of my readers may not be.  Are you considering a move?  Are your college age kids coming home?  Do you know someone moving?  If so, here’s a great discount code for you – from the lovely people at Unpakt.

Unpakt at a glance:

  • First web app for moving services/digital marketplace for moving services/price comparison site for movers
  • Streamlines the entire moving process
  • Named one of The Next Web‘s Top 10 Apps for Home & Work 2012
  • Featured in The NY TimesForbes, TechCrunch, Huffington Post and more
  • Customers can compare Cleveland’s (or whatever location) most trustworthy movers side-by-side

How it works:

  1. Plan - Enter your move basics (where/when/what you’re moving)
  2. Compare – Compare moving companies side-by-side (exact prices, user reviews, services, etc)
  3. Book – It’s really that simple

And you’ll know that you’re getting exact prices from your quote –  instantly. There are no surprises, no last minute price increases and no ballpark estimates. (The only way the price can change is if you add or delete items from your inventory or change your conditions (date/time/etc))

Exclusively for MyGotFam.com readers, receive $50 off your next move with Unpakt.com.

Enter promo code: MGF50 at booking to save. Expires 6/30/13.

 

Disclaimer:

I don’t have much of a disclaimer for ya.  I was not compensated for this post.  I did not receive anything outside of a cool discount code for you fabulous readers.  I do not write about companies unless I think they’re neato.  So there ya go.


Pinterest-Inspired Projects (Post 4): Family Art Gallery

When it comes to artwork, I am not one to buy art.  Some purchased art is ok, but honestly, I’d prefer originals.  The majority of the paintings in my house were painted by…me.  But there are other artists in the house too.

And so I bring you, framed children’s artwork – a post about a family gallery. 

I originally noticed this idea in a magazine years ago.  I honestly can’t remember which magazine, but I know that the frames would open and you could store pictures in them, and “easily switch pictures”.  Well, I like the idea of switching pictures often…and I just don’t find it hard to open a frame and switch out the picture.

I purchased these frames at a local craft store.  They were a little bit more expensive than I usually spend on frames, but I didn’t have to do anything to “jazz them up.”  And they came with the mattes.  So I was ok with their price.

Next we just hung them on the wall (thank you Uncle Trad for your day of hanging things at the MyGotFam household).  Added some putty so they wouldn’t slide around when the kids went nuts in the house.  And boom.  Kid gallery done.

I love having them right in our foyer.  It’s the first thing we see each day, it’s the first thing our guests see.  And we are all very proud of the artwork that they have created.

As the kids grow and produce new artwork (and randomly during season changes), I’ll change the artwork out.

The images I love the most have been the abstract pieces my kids made while using sensory items (because I know they enjoyed every second of creating them).  The top painting (above) was a little fingerprint and a little water color (my kids love fingerprinting).

The bottom painting was painted with fingers, and then added to with tooth picks (if you let your kids use tooth picks…obviously watch them closely).  This painting was done at my son’s school and he was SO proud of it…as was I.  So it hangs prominently in our own little gallery.

I have been pinning more and more ideas for artwork and various fun kid projects on Pinterest each day in a board called “Fun Kid Ideas.”  

I love the idea of creating a family-made-art-gallery.  And can’t wait to add to it in the future.

 

Happy Pinteresting everyone!

 

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