Holiday Giveaway: The Longshots (5 Winners!)

November 30, 2008

*Update*

This giveaway is now closed. Thanks for stopping by. The winners are: Richard T., Susan Varney, Michele P., Anna T., and John Donahue. Congratulations!

Do you remember Keke Palmer, the adorable and talented little girl from the hit movie Akeelah and the Bee? On December 2, she will star alongside Ice Cube in a new, heartwarming comedy by The Weinstein Company and Genius Products entitled The Longshots. Here is a little blurb about this soon-to-be released film:

The Longshots is based on the awe-inspiring real-life accomplishments of 11-year-old Jasmine Plummer who became the first female quarterback in Pop Warner’s 56 year history. Starring Ice Cube as the “coach” and Keke Palmer as the Jasmine, follow the superstar quarterback’s journey as she leads her local football team to the league’s Super Bowl under the coaching of her uncle, a former high school football star.

Directed by former Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst, The Longshots also features performances from Tasha Smith (Why Did I Get Married), Jill Marie Jones (The Perfect Holiday), Dash Mihok Kiss Kiss Bang Bang), Matt Craven (Crimson Tide) and Garrett Morris (“Saturday Night Live”). The DVD will include commentary from Director Fred Durst, 20 deleted scenes and much more.

The Longshots will be available for purchase on December 2 and will retail for $28.95 (standard DVD) and $34.99 (Blu-ray).

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87CHuqZ930Q&hl=en&fs=1]

Win It! I have 5 copies of The Longshots to giveaway! Simply leave me a comment about what inspires you! I highly encourage you to watch the preview too! Comments will close on December 23, 2008 at 10 pm PST. The winner will be chosen on December 24, 2008. One comment per person, please. US residents only. Duplicates and comments not including the above information will be disqualified. Comments are moderated. If you don’t see your comment in a reasonable amount of time, send me an email. Bloggers and non-bloggers may enter. If you don’t want to leave your email address, please be sure to check back for my announcement on the winner. Please note that winners must respond within 48 hours of being announced/contacted or another winner will be drawn.

Want an extra entry? Do any or all of the following and receive an extra entry for each one.

Be sure to leave me a separate comment for each additional entry.

Follow me on Twitter.

Blog about this giveaway. It doesn’t have to be a separate post. Just include a blurb about it when you blog about other giveaways.

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Filed Under Children's Media, Giveaway · 60 Comments

Holiday Gift Idea: You Can Call Me Hoppa!

November 30, 2008

Grandparents hold our tiny hands for just a little while, but our hearts forever. ~Author Unknown

My son is the very first grandchild for both my parents and my husband’s parents. The very first grandchild is special. There was much anticipation and excitement. I remember all of the things we talked about…visits, roles, etc. One memorable conversation was that which detailed what my son would call each of his four grandparents.

I don’t remember much about the conversation. What I do remember is that each of them wanted their own special name. My parents struggled to come up with something fitting and descriptive of their personalities. In the end they settled for the generic “grandma” and “grandpa” because nothing else “fit.” That left my husband’s parents at a loss for a suitable descriptor of the important role they were to play in my son’s life. Eventually they chose “nana” and “papa” to avoid confusing my son, particularly since he would not be seeing them as often.

You Can Call Me Hoppa! The Grandparents’ Guide to Choosing a Name That Fits, is an adorable little book that will warm the hearts of grandparents. When parents choose their child’s name, it is with thoughtful reflection. Why shouldn’t the same be true of grandparents? There are literally hundreds of names that can be chosen to reflect a grandparent’s unique personality and the special relationship he/she has with his/her grandchild(ren). Authored by Lauren Charpio, the book explores names and stories from grandparents around the world. From tradition and culture to modern trends and personal preference, the book explores more names than I could ever imagine for grandparents. My favorite section is those names that evolved from children’s attempts to pronounce their grandparent’s names. The book also features funny, endearing quotes on how grandparents’ names were chosen.

You Can Call Me Hoppa! retails for $24.95 and can be purchased on Amazon.com!

Profuse thanks to the Family Review Network for this review opportunity!

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Holiday Review & Giveaway: Il Divo

November 30, 2008

*This giveaway is now closed. Thanks for stopping by! The winner is Valerie Mitchell. Congratulations! *

Where did November go? It seems like only yesterday we were taking my son trick-or-treating! Lights are up, pumpkin patches have been replaced with tree lots, and carolers are belting Christmas classics while shoppers peruse the latest sales. The holidays are here! And it seems like every station I turn to is boasting traditional Christmas songs. I have to admit that while I like Christmas music during the celebrated week, I don’t enjoy listening to it for the entire month preceding the holiday. I prefer modern variations and new, uptempo, holiday-inspired songs.

If you’ve never heard of the hugely popular operative quartet Il Divo, then you’re definitely going to want to check them out. They have an amazingly unique sound, rich in culture and romance. Simon Cowell (the creator of American Idol) brought the group together in 2004. Since then they have enjoyed much success including two sold out world tours where they performed to over 1.5 million people in thirty countries. What is so captivating about this group is their ability to merge language, culture, and music genre to create a POPera of sorts.

Recently I had the opportunity to review their latest release entitled The Promise and The Christmas Collection. Their voices are amazing, the lyrics are inspirational, and they sing in English, Italian, and Spanish! Check out the music video Amazing Grace, which is a featured song on their latest release:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMVxzEueJ6A&hl=en&fs=1]

Both CDs are available for purchase now on Amazon.com.

Win It! One reader will win a copy of both The Promise and The Christmas Collection. Head on over to their site and listen to some of their music (you’ll love it!). Then come back and leave me a comment with the name of your favorite song. Comments will close on December 14, 2008 at 10 pm PST. The winner will be chosen on December 15, 2008. One comment per person, please. US residents only. Duplicates and comments not including the above information will be disqualified. Comments are moderated. If you don’t see your comment in a reasonable amount of time, send me an email. Bloggers and non-bloggers may enter. If you don’t want to leave your email address, please be sure to check back for my announcement on the winner. Please note that winners must respond within 48 hours of being announced/contacted or another winner will be drawn.

Want an extra entry? Do any or all of the following and receive an extra entry for each one.

Be sure to leave me a separate comment for each additional entry.

Follow me on Twitter.

Blog about this giveaway. It doesn’t have to be a separate post. Just include a blurb about it when you blog about other giveaways.

Place my button on your site. If you have difficulty, please let me know.

Profuse thanks to One2One for this review opportunity!

Filed Under Giveaway · 66 Comments

Holiday Giveaway: Build-A-Bear Workshop For Nintendo Wii

November 28, 2008

*This giveaway is now closed. Thanks for stopping by! The winner is Liz G. Congratulations! *

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We are in the South visiting family and wish all of you a wonderful and safe holiday weekend!

By now you know that a Nintendo Wii is at the top of my Christmas list (hint hint, hubby!). If that ever materializes, I’d love to get the new Build-A-Bear Workshop A Friend Fur All Seasons game, published by The Game Factory. This interactive experience is sure to be a hit with the entire family. WIth your Wii remote, players can name, groom, feed and dress their very own bear. Once you’ve customized your bear, join him on adventures to explore islands, meet inhabitants, and help other furry friends. Build-A-Bear Workshop A Friend Fur All Seasons allows full interaction between players and his/her furry friend in a variety of twenty fun mini-games like throwing Frisbees and ice-skating.

The Game Factory, an international publisher of family-friendly and casual video and computer games, will be auctioning off celebrity-built Build-A-Bear Workshop bears, along with autographed copies of the Build-A-Bear Workshop Wii game. These bears and signed games will be on eBay to raise money for the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Southern California. These one-of-a-kind bears were built by celebrities like Tori Spelling & Dean McDermott, the Jonas Brothers, James Gandolfini, Melissa Joan Hart, Bonnie Hunt, Mitchel Musso, Meaghan Jette Martin and more. For more information, please visit the celebrity auction site.

Build-A-Bear-Workshop A Friend Fur All Seasons retails for $39.99 and is available for purchase now on Amazon and a local retailer near you.

Win It! One very, very lucky reader will win a Build-A-Bear Workshop game for Nintendo Wii, courtesy of The Game Factory. Head on over to The Game Factory AND the celebrity auction site and come back here to leave me a comment indicating your favorite product from both sites. Comments will close on December 12, 2008 at 10 pm PST. The winner will be chosen on December 13, 2008. One comment per person, please. US residents only. Duplicates and comments not including the above information will be disqualified. Comments are moderated. If you don’t see your comment in a reasonable amount of time, send me an email. Bloggers and non-bloggers may enter. If you don’t want to leave your email address, please be sure to check back for my announcement on the winner. Please note that winners must respond within 48 hours of being announced/contacted or another winner will be drawn.

Want an extra entry? Do any or all of the following and receive an extra entry for each one.

Be sure to leave me a separate comment for each additional entry.

Follow me on Twitter.

Blog about this giveaway. It doesn’t have to be a separate post. Just include a blurb about it when you blog about other giveaways.

Place my button on your site. If you have difficulty, please let me know.

Classy Mommy is hosting a fab giveaway for a Nintendo Wii!

I have wanted one sooo bad so I’m shamelessly plugging myself. It’s a popularity contest so head on over and sign up! Then, if you genuinely like me…if you like coming to my blog…vote for me and I’ll give you yet another entry. Of course I have no way of knowing whether or not you did so I will take your word for it because I’m so cool that way! : ) Please don’t just vote for an extra entry! I’d rather you do it because you genuinely want to do so!

Profuse thanks to The Game Factory and the Family Review Network for this review opportunity.

Filed Under Giveaway · 77 Comments

Tis’ the Season to Be Clean! The Giveaway!

November 27, 2008

*This giveaway is now closed. Thanks for stopping by! The winner is Samantha. Congratulations! *

Win It! Weiman and Filterstream have an awesome cleaning prize package to offer one of you fabulous readers! Here is what you’ll win:

Simply head on over to BOTH sites and take a look around. Come back here and leave me a two-part comment indicating a product you loved on both sites (other than the ones mentioned in the giveaway).Comments will close on December 10, 2008 at 10 pm PST. The winner will be chosen on December 11, 2008. One comment per person, please. US residents only. Duplicates and comments not including the above information will be disqualified. Comments are moderated. If you don’t see your comment in a reasonable amount of time, send me an email. Bloggers and non-bloggers may enter. If you don’t want to leave your email address, please be sure to check back for my announcement on the winner. Please note that winners must respond within 48 hours of being announced/contacted or another winner will be drawn.

Want an extra entry? Do any or all of the following and receive an extra entry for each one.

Be sure to leave me a separate comment for each additional entry.

Follow me on Twitter.

Blog about this giveaway. It doesn’t have to be a separate post. Just include a blurb about it when you blog about other giveaways.

Place my button on your site. If you have difficulty, please let me know.

Classy Mommy is hosting a fab giveaway for a Nintendo Wii!

Filed Under Giveaway · 66 Comments

Tis’ the Season to Be Clean! (Part 2)

November 27, 2008

This week is all about cleaning and I have another fabulous product that has been helping me ready our home for guests in a couple of weeks. Now if there is one thing I can’t stand, it’s a dirty, dusty, crumb-filled floor! I recently had the opportunity to test out the DirtTamer Supreme V2400. I’ve never had a hand vacuum and had no idea what to expect. What I do know is that lugging a twenty pound vacuum is not going to be a regular of occurrence.

The DirtTamer is a powerful twelve-volt vacuum that picks up wet or dry spills. That’s right…a vacuum that picks up WET SPILLS! Thank you Filterstream for thinking about us moms! EVERY time I feed my son food ends up on the floor. How nice it is to have a handy vacuum (no pun intended!) at my disposal. If you can believe it, this vacuum has 200% more suction than leading competitors. The DirtTamer has a patented 3-stage filtration system that captures 99.97% of dust, pollen, bacteria, and other allergens down to a 0.3 microns in size. If you have allergies or asthma you definitely want a vacuum with a HEPA filtration system to rid your home of dust mites and pollen which can trigger attacks.

One of the things I really like about the DirtTamer is the dirt finding headlight! I realized that I had been missing a lot of corners. I also found that it works much better than the attachment on my “big” vacuum. I tried the DirtTamer upstairs in our bathroom where a ton of dust had collected (hey…I had to try it on the dirtiest, dustiest place!). You wouldn’t even know there had been any dust there once the DirtTamer had done it’s job. I was a little nervous about trying out a battery-operated product on anything wet, but I mustered up my courage and did it! And it worked! I cleaned up some water I “spilled” just to test it out! Switching from wet to dry is super easy and simply requires switching out the filters. I have to say that I was most impressed by the vacuums tremendous amount of suction. I didn’t expect it to be that powerful (it actually scared my son just a tad)! This lightweight, cordless vacuum is my new best cleaning friend. I’ve got a permanent home for it downstairs, right next to my son’s dining area!

Purchase the DirtTamer V2400 for $59.99….OR…

Win It! Who wants a little help cleaning this holiday season? One lucky reader will win $100 worth of cleaning products courtesy of Weiman andFilterstream. Stay tuned later this week for details! The giveaway is here! Head on over to this post for all the deets!

Profuse thanks to Weiman, Filterstream and the Family Review Network for this review opportunity.

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Tis’ the Season to Be Clean (and Green)! Part 1

November 25, 2008

My husband absolutely insists on having a clean house. I, on the other hand, am not as keen on the actual process of cleaning. Somebody has to do it (i.e. ME!) and cleaning is always so much better when you have the right equipment (isn’t that true in life?).

This holiday season I’m so proud to be able to open our very own home for the first time to friends and family. Now that means I’ll have to break out the vacuum, mop, and cleaning solutions! Of course I’ll be cleaning “green” this season and thanks to Weiman, we’ll have shiny floors that our guests can eat off (although I promise, mom…we’ll get a kitchen table very soon). Perfect Planet is Weiman’s environmentally friendly line of cleaners designed to be safe for you, your home, and the environment. Featuring natural vegetable and plant-derived ingredients, these products are as effective as they are safe. The Perfect Planet line has been certified by the EPA Design for the Environment Program which means you won’t find petrochemicals, heavy metals, ammonia, formaldehyde, solvents, alcohols, bleach, volatile organic compounds and phosphates. The packaging is recyclable and the solutions are biodegradable. I can’t think of a greener way to make a cleaning solution!

Recently I tried both the Floor Cleaner and Floor Polish on my laminate floors. I started with the Floor Cleaner which is designed to clean and protect hard surface floors while removing dirt, dust, grease and smudges. My laminate floors were super shiny after using the Floor Cleaner and I really didn’t think I needed the polish but I thought, why not? I’m not going to hold anything back for my future guests! I didn’t think my floors could get any shinier but they did after using the Floor Polish. The Floor Polish is designed to shine and protect most hard surface floors, strengthening the floor and leaving a streak-free, shiny finish that resists dirt, scuff marks and scratches. Perfect Planet surprised and impressed me with it’s effectiveness. Because I only use safe, eco-friendly cleaning products, I’ve done a ton of research and product testing to find a company whose products do what they claim to do. In the past I’ve found that “green” cleaners don’t always clean! I liked not having to dilute anything. My time is limited which requires simple, effective solutions. I also liked the fact that there was no smell. I used to associate a clean house with the smell of Pine-Sol. I now know that VOCs are the offending culprit in those types of cleaning solutions.

You can purchase Weiman’s Perfect Planet line of products for less than $5.00 each! To find a retailer, please visit the site.

Win It! Who wants a little help cleaning this holiday season? One lucky reader will win $100 worth of cleaning products courtesy of Weiman and Filterstream. Stay tuned later this week for details!

Profuse thanks to Weiman, Filterstream and the Family Review Network for this review opportunity.

Filed Under Giveaway, Going Green, Product Review · 1 Comment

PTA Movie Night Live

November 24, 2008

I have always thought highly of HP and it’s products. I most recently had the privilege of working with them on a prior review campaign and this week I’d like to tell you about a very special project that confirms once again the type of company HP is.

PTA and HP have partnered together to offer PTA schools an exclusive showing of DreamWorks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda (timed perfectly with the DVD release). PTA Movie Night Live is one of the largest nationwide movie night events created for schools and it’s only going on through November 26. Thousands of schools across the country are joining in to offer families the opportunity to enjoy free, safe entertainment in the comfort of your local school.

In support of the new National PTA Video Store, a secure online resource for families to browse and purchase age-appropriate enertainment, PTA Movie Night Live is offering families the opportunity to purchase $20 PTA DVD cards. Ten percent of the proceeds will go to local schools.

Head on over to the site or call 1-877-PTA-Video to find a location near you!

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Totin’ the Toddler Tote!

November 24, 2008

This week we’ll be traveling to the south for Thanksgiving! Traveling with a child can actually be quite stressful if you’re not armed with the proper equipment. And I’m not talking about clothes, food, and diapers. When you’re stuck on a plane with limited mobility and breathing room, it’s important to get creative because children just get bored. Childhood boredom is most visibly displayed as fussiness and irritability.

That’s why we’re bringing the Toddler Tote with us! Not only is this toy entertaining, it’s educational. This portable, geometric-shaped assortment of Lauri Crepe Rubber shapes and animals can help your child learn his/her colors, animals, shapes, and numbers. It’s versatile and as your child gets older, you can use it to teach him/her broader concepts such as matching, sorting, and creative storytelling. The primary colors used are bold and vibrant and the shapes are perfect for enhancing the development of fine motor and eye-hand coordination.

My son’s favorite activity was placing the pegs in the two vehicle shapes. We’re definitely totin’ this toy with us on our five hour plane ride to Birmingham.

The Toddler Tote retails for $16.99 and is available for purchase on NMCtoys.com.

Profuse thanks to Parent Reviewers and NMCtoys.com for this review opportunity!

Filed Under Product Review · 1 Comment

Totin’ the Toddler Tote!

November 24, 2008

My son’s favorite activity was placing the pegs in the two vehicle shapes. We’re definitely totin’ this toy with us on our five hour plane ride to Birmingham.

The Toddler Tote retails for $16.99 and is available for purchase on NMCtoys.com.

Profuse thanks to Parent Reviewers and NMCtoys.com for this review opportunity!

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