Zooligans Giveaway

I'm so excited  that Our Broken Road is able to be part of this Zooligans giveaway event! Read on to learn more about these cool shoes and how you can win one for your little animal lovers too!! What little kid wouldn't just love them!?I know mine would!! :)

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When Mady was learning to walk I had been buying her the critter themed soft-soled shoes and loved how they let her feet muscles develop without the restrictiveness of a traditional shoe {google it if you are unaware that this is important - you'll learn more than I could ever post here}, and she loved the critter styling! I was a bit disappointed to find that, when she outgrew the soft-soled types, there was very little to graduate to - and nothing with her beloved critters on them. Then Zooligans contacted me! Finally a cute and whimsical shoe with a super flexible sole for ages 1-5 {shoe sizes 4-12}!! Did I mention cute???? Mady loved them at first glance, when I showed her on the computer. I tried to stear her towards selecting the darling little Panda but she wanted the Bunny, Kitty, and the dog versions, then narrowed it down to the just as darling Kitty. And they have really cute details - like the wild cat print on the inside. :)

There is a critter for everyone in their line-up - boys and girls alike will love them!

I mentioned that four-way super flexible "Paw-Flex" sole - you can see that here. Try that with a traditional shoe. Not gonna happen. Each pair also feature ultra-soft breathable leather uppers, a roomy toe box, and did you notice the bottoms? Your kids will! I love these and so does Mady! And they are PINK! :)

The shoes arrived quickly and with a minimum of packaging which is important to me. We also love the box design - it turns into a pet carrier for your child's favorite stuffed animal {or just keep the shoes in the box - for awhile kids will prob love putting their shoes to bed and you will be able to easily find their shoes!} Love multi-purposing! And, of course, they remind you that cardboard is recycleable - when your child is done playing with the box please add it to your recycle pile. :) {Do you know what happens to our trash? After you enter the giveaway, Google that one too - it was a bit of an eye-opener for me. Especially the parts about the trash islands out in the ocean. ick. Please recycle folks!}

Mady loved the little critter keeper and promplty made it a home for her bat and doggie beanie toys. Another fun feature is that each pair of shoes comes with a tag that features the animals name as well as a fun and eductional story so kids can learn about the animals characteristics and quirky habits.

The Zooligans line was born from the creative team of longtime footwear designer and former toy designer, Joel Rusnak and his wife Cheryl Andonian, a creative marketer and brand builder. They teamed up with MA based Klas Shoe company to bring the shoes to the marketplace The combination of Rusnak and Andonian’s own brand building expertise and their playful approach to design and product combined with the solid footwear sales and distribution experience of the Klas team creates great potential for this new brand, even in these dicult times in the marketplace. Who can resist a shoe that looks you in the eye and smiles?  Parents Magazine just announced Zooligans as one of their top ten favorite products in their June ‘12 issue.

Keep reading because... I know you don't want to miss the giveaway!

Great company, great shoes, happy child. :)

Zooligans has kindly offered up a pair of their shoes to one lucky winner! Of course the winner will get to choose which critter design and size.

Thanks Zooligans!!

Zooligans are available atshoebuy.com and other fine realtors and... this is exciting! They are now available at Nordstroms.com! and some new critter designs will be coming out for Spring '13 - these will hit shelves in Jan.

 They are also available from Zooligans at their website: 
 http://www.zooligans.net/buy.html

Connect with Zooligans!
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/zooligans/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/zooligans
Twitter: @Zooligans
Website: www.zooligans.net

Prize: One pair of Zooligan shoes - winner's choice of style and size.
US residents 18+ only please. 
See other terms at bottom of Rafflecopter widget.
Winner will be notified by email and have 48 hours to respond.
Giveaway will run 22 August 2012 - 08 September 2012

Much appreciation to my partner bloggers who are listed on the widget - please show them love! Thank you!

Good Luck everyone!

a Rafflecopter giveaway







Disclaimer: This blog received no payment for posting this event, nor is it responsible for shipment of prize. The prize will be shipped from the sponsor.

Giddy over gardens!!

I am simply giddy.... yes that uncontrollable urge to just giggle with excitement!!!! :) As you know, we have spent our summer fine tuning our little fairy garden and recently shared it on the Magic Onions blog for their fairy garden contest.... The results were announced today and WE WON!!!! Out of 121+ gardens - we won!!!

Never in all my imagination did I actually think we would win... have you seen these amazing gardens?! I am so honored to even be listed with them, and feel so lucky to be a part of the winning gardens. The girls heard me squeal and came running thinking I was hurt! lol Now, they too are excited to get our next Living Craft magazine. While we didn't win a toy, or anything fairy related, they know that they will only benefit from me getting my FAVORITE magazine...the ideas, stories and patterns are AMAZING!! :)

Sorry to be purging my excitement onto all of you but I just can't help it!! Imagine my poor husband when he gets home and has to hear me gush all over again! :) You know our love of fairies... so this means so much to us!!

I have a feeling there will be some new fairy magic happening in our house soon so stay tuned! :)

Never stop learning!

Everyone these days are talking about summer break and how great it is to be out of school... the girls keep getting asked if they are enjoying their break and the girls just look questioning to me as if they don't understand the question! lol I guess that is the joy of homeschooling. My kids don't understand so many of the socially expected terms and rules associated with public schools. You see, for us, learning doesn't stop just because the temperatures are rising (everywhere else in the country anyways! ha!)... Summer "break" for us just means that we get to take our learning outside more, that we get to do more hands on things and that we get to take part in things like the summer reading program at our local library! :)

Each summer we chose a subject to study and then we run with it!! We read about it, do crafts about it, find things to do hands on, make snacks.... you get the picture! :) Last summer it was volcanoes (complete with a trip to Mt St Helens!) and this summer it is all things associated with Chickens and Eggs!! Boy have we been learning about that all first hand!! lol This summer has truly been a whirl wind of chicken activity at our house and from my 5 year old all the way up to DH, we have been enjoying the process every step of the way!!


 Now, I must say, this learning topic isn't something that is new to us. For any new readers, it is something that started about 2 years ago with the move to a new state. We just happened to luck in to a house in the country that already came with a coop that was complete with chickens!! We were over the moon to say the least!

Last spring we added to our chicken flock by getting and raising chicks from our local feed store. What an exciting day it was to bring those little guys home in a little box with air holes! If you've never does so, you would never believe how LOUD those little things can get!! lol















And then earlier this spring we decided that the next step of this adventure was to attempt to hatch out some eggs of our own!! A dear friend was kind enough to give us an old incubator she wasn't using and within a few days of getting it we were off and running!!  I have no words to describe what an amazing experience that was. To get to candle those eggs (almost nightly!) and watch them grow and eventually even get to witness a miracle!! What a blessing this journey of learning has become!





Which brings us to our most recent endeavor, raising chickens for meat!  Never in all my wildest dreams/nightmares did I ever think I would want to do this or be ready for it in any way shape or form!

And then thanks to our loving hen Mert, we have gotten to experience a broody hen at work! :) She hatched out 12 chicks and even let us witness parts of these little miracles...

I will be forever grateful for the amazing summer of learning that we've had. There has been nothing flashy or showy about the time we've had... just a fun simply summer of nature, learning and everyday miracles..