Merry Christmas 2011

I've always loved this scene from the Peanuts Christmas Special. Enjoy!

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas Eve

Remember the reason for the season.

Merry Christmas!

Oral B Stages & Crest and Oral B Pro-Health FOR ME Review

We came, we ate, we watched, we talked about brushing and we had a ton of fun.

I invited over some of my mommy friends and their children. We had a chance to watch the movie "Cars 2" and munch on popcorn and other goodies. While the kids watched the movie, us moms had fellowship--the most important thing this time of year!! We talked about oral hygiene and talked about the pros and cons of toothbrushes, toothpaste, flossing, etc. The younger girls and boys LOVED their Disney Oral B Stages toothbrushes. With beloved Disney characters, we all agreed it encourages them to brush. 


One of the fun facts was that you should start taking your kids to the dentist by the age of 2. Most of the moms didn't know that. There were also very few who know that you should start brushing teeth/gums by about 4 months of age. Also, did you realize that even young children are allowed to use toothpaste? The most important thing is to make sure the portion size of your toothpaste is small enough. The size of a pea is a good rule of thumb to follow. 

The little ones also got a sample of the Cars 2 Gummy Vitamins. They were yummy--and good for you. I tried them too and decided they sure taste better than the multi-vitamins I had to take when I was a child. 




Since I also have tweens and teens, we also got samples of the Oral B Toothbrushes that are Stage 4 for the older kids and Crest Pro-Health FOR ME toothpaste. The older kids like the toothbrushes with the cool designs on the toothbrush. I have discovered that my tween and teen  prefer how clean their mouth feels when using the Pro-Health for Me toothpaste. They like the updated look of the packaging that is more appropriate for an older child. We also tried out the flossers. The little ones thought the Disney Princess and Cars flossers made flossing more fun. The older kids liked how easy their "FOR ME" flossers were to handle. 


There was a flashcard game included and I used it to help giveaway some of the other prizes at the party. Overall, we had a fun time, we learned better ways to care for our children's teeth and we got to watch a movie and socialize. What a great day!

Be sure to check out Oral-B Stages online!
http://www.oralb.com/stages/

You can also "Like" them on Facebook!
http://www.facebook.com/oralb

Be sure to follow  @OralB and @Crest on Twitter

Thanks again to Mommy Parties!
http://www.mommyparties.com/

Thanks to Mommyparties, Oral B and Crest, we had a great time getting together. 

Disclosure: All products were provided to me at no charge by Oral-B, Crest and MommyParties in exchange for hosting a party and sharing these great products. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Happy Thanksgiving from our house to yours. Here's a great song Matthew West created for KLOVE Radio. 

Enjoy--and Gobble Gobble!!!

Winner: Mickey Mouse Band Aids

Congratulations to Tiramisu. She won the Mickey Mouse Band Aids.

Remember the Xia-Xia Giveaway ends tonight and...

If you drink coffee--be sure to keep an eye out on this blog this weekend. I've got a review and giveaway that you're gonna love!!!

The Newest Addition to our Family

Could it be a girl???

Maybe it's a boy??

Ready to find out???

It's a...

Honda Odyssey. 

My former van was starting to show its age and needed some major repairs. We had reached that point in time where it was better to take the money and get a newer van.

It's a black Odyssey with the Navigation Pack (which means the back up camera that I like because I have a hard time seeing out the back window in reverse). There's also the optional eighth seat which is critical in our carpool endeavors.

We hope to have many years and lots of adventures together. :-)

Heelys Roll into Our Home

My boys have wanted Heelys for quite a while, but I wasn't sure they would really enjoy them so I've always waffled on them. When Heelys contacted me about a potential review, I jumped at the chance. I got a pair of Heelys for Nathan to try out. He was so excited when they came in the mail. He couldn't wait to put them on. He picked out the style called "The Edge" which is a navy pair of shoes with yellow trim. 

Now, keep in mind, Nathan has worked hard during OT to gain strength in his limbs and to improve balance. He's doing so well now, but Heelys is a new challenge for him. He is learning how to balance himself on his heels while rolling. He does better right now if he holds his scooter handles and keeps the scooter between his feet. It gives him more balance to make him roll faster. He's now working on rolling without his scooter. (He wouldn't let me take pictures of him using the scooter, so don't ask.)


I got great news from Heelys that I can share with you. Heelys is throwing a Black Friday special!!! Between November 25--November 28, buy any pair of Heelys, get a second pair for $25. Or buy a Nano and get a pair of shoes for $25, and get free ground shipping on all orders! Head over to Heelys.com to take advantage of this great deal.

Also, be sure to check out the Heelys Playbook which includes safety information. There are also some how to videos and videos showing how to do tricks in your Heelys. Check out the videos at the Heelys site. 




Nathan gives Heelys an enthusiastic Thumbs Up!!

Disclosure: I was provided a pair of Heelys for this review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

DaGeDar Coming to Nintendo DS - Review

 Have you heard? DaGeDar, the popular ball bearing racing game is now going to be available on Nintendo DS and DS Lite. If you aren't sure what DaGeDar is, please see my original DaGeDar Review where I shared all about these Ball Bearings from the 33rd Dimension. My kids all loved the original DaGeDar and they were thrilled to get to work with a demo of the new Nintendo DS Game.


The game consists of 30 different ramps and numerous DaGeDar online balls--including some new ones--that you can race. The springs and power-ups give you even more ways to speed along the track to the finish.


From the manufacturer:

Battle it out with your friends or race evil spirits alone; DaGeDar’s virtual raceway will keep you playing for hours. With more than 30 fast and furious raceways, you’ll be looping, dropping, climbing, and banking your way to the end with fury, but watch out for the blocks and gaps in the raceway!  Featuring 100 collectible balls and special, limited edition characters, you’ll have a blast collecting and trading your favorite DaGeDar items.  Whether playing alone or sharing with a friend using the game’s single card download option, the action-packed world of DaGeDar will keep you hungry for more racing, collecting and conquering of evil spirits in a unique 33^rd dimension world. 

Additional DaGeDar game features:·         Collectibles: Unlock and collect up to 100 DaGeDar racing balls, for collectible and trading fun! Special limited edition, cool characters available too!
·         Unique Race Abilities: Each ball carries abilities of Acceleration, Top Speed, Defense and Attack modes.
·         Rewards: Earn DeGaDar points at the end of every race for special rewards and bonuses!

All three of my kids tried the demo game we received and all thought it was really cool. Since it was just a preview, they couldn't access the collectibles and couldn't unlock more tracks and levels. This really frustrated them because we have a highly competitive family. They all agreed that it was fun to have a way to take DaGeDar on the road and they really enjoyed playing it in the car on some car trips. 


From their commentary and my own (failing) attempts to play the game, we found that when we were at home, we'd rather play with the real DaGeDar ball bearings and race them down the ramps. Anytime we were away from home, the Nintendo DS DaGeDar game was a wonderful way to have the opportunity to play the game without taking the toys and gear with us. 


With the game being released just in time for the holidays, you might want to consider this for all your DaGeDar fans. 

Disclosure: I was allowed to use a preview copy of the game for a limited time in order to write this review. No other compensation was given for this post. 

Family Photos 2011

Rebekah and Nathan reminding me...

It DOES take two to tango. 

Rebekah, age 5

Nathan, age 9

Andrew, age 14

The mischievous faces of Rebekah.

Nathan is serious...and quite GQ looking.

Andrew--my first baby--growing up so fast. 

He's gotten to be so handsome.

I love this picture of Sean and I. After 20 years of marriage, he's "Still the One" for me.

He didn't catch my musical reference before so I needed to put it here for him to hear.

Some of my favorite lyrics are, "You're still the one who can make me laugh,

You're still the one who's my better half,

We're still having fun and you're still the one."

Finally--some family photos.

And a few more of the kids being silly. Rebekah wouldn't stop kissing Andrew.

Hope you enjoyed the 2011 edition of Family Photos.

Thank you, Veterans!

For our veterans, I can think of no other words to say today beyond Thank You.

For your sacrifices, for your service, our family is eternally grateful.

Thank You, Veterans!

CLOSED: Collectible Mickey Mouse Band-Aid Tin Review and Giveaway

Band-Aid® Brand currently has a Limited Edition Mickey Mouse Collector's Series Tin available. I had the opportunity to receive and review this tin. It's pretty sweet! 

First off, the front of the collector's tin looks like this:

And the back side looks like this:

And I think they wondered why I was so excited to get this review. I mean, it's Band-Aids. We've used them for years and their brand is my favorite when it comes to picking adhesives bandages. But--does anyone remember what my 'kids bathroom' looks like?

Here's my kids bath:

and I'm about to purchase some floating shelves for my assorted Mickey Mouse Bathroom Items. So I know where my tin will find it's home. 

Then, we looked at the assorted designs on the band-Aids. They look like this:

If you would like to order your own Band-Aid Limited Edition Mickey Mouse Collector's Series Tin, please go to this site.  In addition, you can “Like” the Facebook page and submit your best (worst) fashion malfunction story for a chance to win amazing prizes by Cynthia Rowley. 

Would you like to win a few 

Mickey Mouse Band-Aids to try out?

Xia-Xia Review and Giveaway

Have you heard about the new cool toy called Xia-Xia (pronounced shah-shah)? These are colorful, collectible hermit crabs. They celebrate Carnivale every day. Each Xia-Xia comes with a shell that holds a treasure inside (two friends).

There are several playsets available for Xia-Xia crabs. And there's a carry case available to store your crabs and accessories inside to take to a friend's house.

Here's the playset showing all the crabs.

We invited all the neighborhood girls over to play Xia-Xia with us. It was cool out, but supposed to be the last nice day for a while. They insisted on playing outside on the porch. Who am I to argue?

Me taking pictures out the front door as they played away.

Even Nathan wanted to have a Xia-Xia to play with. He picked blue since it's a little more manly than all the pink and purple ones. 

.

Rebekah showing off the dolls that she made the mommies of the crabs. They play in the playhouse, too.

Overall, I couldn't believe that the girls kept playing and playing. I wasn't sure it would hold their interest all that long. They were playing for more than two hours and would have kept going, but it started to rain and moms called them home. They've been over a few times since then, carrying their Xia-Xia's and joining in for more fun.

The crabs do move and walk. We tried to get a video, but they didn't really want to stop playing to let me in with my camera.

I asked the girls some questions about Xia-Xia and here's a few answers:

What did you like most? Shells, designs and how they look

What is your favorite playset (Rio de Trio Village, Copacabana Playset or Confetti Cottage)? They chose the Copacabana because it has a slide and balcony.

Do you like the Little Friends that come with Xia-Xia? YES!! That was the girls' favorite part. They loved the penguin, ducky and cupcake the most.

All in all, they had a great time learning about Xia-Xia and still play with them. 

Would you like to win a Xia-Xia character and a bonus decorative shell pack? 

One lucky reader will win a character and a bonus decorative shell pack. If you are reading this in your email or on Facebook, be sure to visit the site to register to win! (Contest ends 11/18.)