I only wish I knew about it 10 years ago!

We only really became true Baby Einstein fans last year after I had Zachary.  My sister had talked about the wonder that is Baby Einstein products after her 2nd son was born, but you know – whatever.

Baby Einstein products are incredible. Created by a mom for her baby daughters, the teacher-mom wanted to instill a love and appreciation for classical music, classic art and also provide fun, visually stimulating images for her daughters to enjoy.  Classical music, which has long been believed to help develop your baby’s brain, is a wonderful addition to your home. We have a Baby Einstein dvd or cd on in our house all the time.  The images are fun and FUNNY – the puppetry, the toys, the lights, the animals – all things to stimulate a baby’s mind and provide you with a constant source of teaching and sharing, even with small babies. 

Baby Einstein products encourage you to spend time with your children, not park them in front of the tv while you play canasta on the computer (not that I’d EVER do that ). They also make the perfect Christmas or baby shower gift!  Zachary has fallen in love with his new book, and we both love the newest DVD, which actually helped us fall asleep last night!  My older kids love them as well!  Libby, Anthony & Zachary will sit and play with the dvd playing in the background, as well as sit and watch the DVD with him too!

This holiday season, take some time out to spend with Baby Einstein and your baby.  You’ll create lasting memories for you both, long after the wrapping paper and pretty lights are gone.

There, I’ve said it.  Fortunately, I’m not alone with my addiction. I’ll bet at least a few of you reading this are chocoholics too.  Yeah, I see you nodding your heads.  It’s good to be in good company.  But, something else I have to admit to is I’m a chocolate snob.

That’s right – a chocolate SNOB.  I don’t like cheap chocolate.  There’s very few kinds of chocolate that I actually enjoy.  With my first taste of GOOD chocolate, I realized how much I’d been missing!

So, with those 2 admissions being out there now, can you guess how I reacted when Mom Central asked if I wanted to review Ghiradelli’s new Luxe Milk chocolate bars.  Premium chocolate bar review. . . nahhhh, sorry – not interested.

HA!!!

So, those super women at Mom Central sent me ALL FIVE FLAVORS – my children swarmed me like bees to honey, and tried … TRIED… to rifle the chocolate from me.  It wasn’t pretty.

Ok, so anyway  – after we were done wrestling around on the floor, and they limped back to their rooms, defeated, I sat down and actually read the packaging, went to the website and read about them – and I swear, I did NOT eat them all (at once).

Ghiradelli Chocolate uses premium chocolate and combines them with all natural ingredients to produce such goodness as Luxe Milk Almond, Luxe Milk Hazelnut, Luxe Milk Milk (milk chocolate, not *milk* LOL), Luxe Milk Crisp, and my personal favorite,  Luxe Milk Duet – a combination of milk AND dark chocolate in every bite.  It is heavenly!

Ghiradelli’s new Luxe Milk bars are currently available at your local Walgreens, Wal-Mart, Borders and Linens & Things.  Soon, they’ll be available at Target, Blockbuster and Cost Plus locations.   I am hoping to find at least 1 or 2 (cases) in my Christmas stocking this season!

As soon as I received it, I sprayed it on Anthony’s mattress after I’d stripped the sheets. He’s always having problems with allergies if anyone’s been in there jumping on his bed, because the mattress is ollllld.  After I sprayed it, I let it dry and put the sheets back on before bed.  He hasn’t had a sneezy problem since.

After I saw the difference it had made in his room, I went around the house spraying the couch and curtains – things that I don’t typically vacuum.  It’s made such a big difference!  My 2nd favorite part? It is fragrance free!  I’m VERY sensitive to stinky stuff so the fact that it’s NOT stinky (or perfumed or whatever) is great for me AND my kids.  Yay!

Natural is important to me. I would much rather use things in and around my house that are made from natural ingredients, and Clorox is helping with that too. 

Their new website, 30daystonatural.com, just recently launched and provides you with the tools, tips and ideas necessary to get you closer to natural living.  They also provide you a great shopping list to print to take with you to the store the next time you’re out. 

I made sure to “plant” my daisy as well – to show my commitment to living a more natural lifestyle.

You can also follow the journey of 3 moms as they trade in their traditional cleaners for Green Works products.

Before you go shopping, you really should check out 30DaystoNatural.com and see what you can do to switch to natural.

My thanks to Mom Central for giving me the chance tell you about 30DaystoNatural.com!

Qlubb.com is a website where you can create your own “club” – and invite whomever you want to be included in it.  I have created my own Qlubb for my family in RI.

I invited my mom, my brothers, sis in law, sister.  Now we all have access to our own qlubb.  Our’s is closed to the public, so no one else can see our messages, photos, etc. It’s just for OUR family.  We can send messages to each other, post photos, events, any important dates.  For example, I’ve added all the birthdays for the rest of the year.  Tommy, my brother, added the new show he’ll be in next month.  I’ve included my trip to Boston next month.  It’s just a great way to keep up with everyone else.

It’s also great for organizing all those school activities that happen for everyone.  Soccer games, teacher meetings, PTA meetings (Do they still have PTA?), even those lovely school fund raisers. I just love how everything is centralized. It’s perfect for keeping track of everyone.

Check it out!

Quote of the Day:
If at first you don’t succeed… make sure nobody finds out you tried!
–Unknown

One of the many responsibilities of being the mother of a little girl is trying to make sure that she grows up in a safe, loving and moral environment.  But with the influence of so much *stuff* that gets thrown at kids today, it’s not easy.  It’s the main reason why we do not have cable  so my daughter  isn’t inundated with ads and commercials for things that are not age-appropriate for her.

In fact, a study conducted by MomTalkRadio.com showed that 78% of moms feel that the majority of dolls, games, shows and websites targeted at little girls are too sexy or inappropriate for their daughters

Age-appropriateness is big with me. HUGE. I refuse to let my 5 yr old wear makeup or “sassy” clothes – regardless of what her friends are doing. And believe me, they’re doing it.  But it’s hard to stay on top of these things.

That’s why, when I was asked to review something new from the people who bring us Precious Moments, I jumped on it. 

Introducing The Precious Girls Club!

“A special world of joy and goodness created just for precious little girls!”

Precious Girls Club is an online world where girls can go and play and learn in a safe environment, while encouraging the virtues that Precious Moments has always encouraged: helpfulness, kindness, responsibility, loving and caring.   It is based on an all new book series for girls.

Their online world looks like it’s going to be a lot of fun.  AND! They’ve made it so parents can go in through the parent side and communicate with their daughter, as well as monitor how they’re doing in terms of the games and activities on the site.   Girls can have their own houses and decorate them as they want, as well as play games,

They’ll also have all kinds of merchandise available to share with your daughter.  Personally, I can’t wait for the charms & charm bracelet!   They’ll also have storybooks, music cds, figurines, water globes and plush toys.  There are also all sorts of fun printable coloring pages, games and crafts for you to download for free.  I can’t wait for it to officially “open”.

You can sign your daughter up now, and be notified when it opens in a few days.

Precious Girls Club is more than a club – it’s a way of thinking, acting and living.

Do you have a Precious Girl in your life? I have 4 Precious Girls Club story books to give away!  A Little Bit of Faith is the first book in this new series that celebrates the special gifts that make each girl precious.

Libby’s Libby’s Libby’s
on the label label label
you will like it like it like it
on your table table table.

We’ve always had that jingle in the background whenever dinner rolls around. Libby’s vegetables were always a staple at our house growing up. My brother & I used to sing the song whenever we saw the can.  After I had Libby, it became HER song.

As a mom, though, more than a song is important to me when I’m feeding my family. That’s probably the best part about canned vegetables. When you rely on a brand like Libby’s, you KNOW what to expect – you KNOW they’ll be fresh, you KNOW it’s quality. I’ve never had a problem feeding my family canned vegetables, simply because I know that they’ll taste great and be good for them.

Thanks to Mom Central, though, now I know about Libby’s "Get Back to the Table" month. This I hadn’t heard about.  With the kids back to school, and all the associated activities that comes with it, Libby’s wants to encourage us to get back to the table together for our meals.  In our house, we eat every dinner together.  The only exception is when Jimmy has to work late, and even then, I’ll hold it off until the kids get annoying.   We eat together every single night. We catch up on the day, share with Jimmy what the kids have done that day.  Anthony will tell his dad what he’s learned that day – and now with Libby starting schooling, she does the same thing.  It’s just a great way to wind down together after the day.

According to Libby’s site, too, when families eat their meals together, your kids benefit SO much!  Studies show that kids who eat dinner with their families five or more times a week are more likely to have higher grades in school.  They also find that kids who eat with their families have an easier time saying no to drugs.  It also encourages them to eat BETTER. What’s better than healthier, smarter, more confident kids!?

In our house, canned vegetables are a big part of our meals.  I use them as a side dish, of course, but also in the main meals themselves.  I routinely will throw veggies into their mac & cheese for lunch.  We found out, accidentally, that when you combine a can of nice, fresh corn with a can of diced tomatoes and refridgerate it – OMG good!  Libby’s has TONS of recipes on their site to help you make healthy, YUMMY meals for your family.  In fact, I’m making one of them tonight!

Go check out Libby’s site – get your family back to the table – and enjoy the numerous benefits!  (Oh yeah, and coupons too!)

libby’s, get back to the table, product reviews, mom central

The problem is, it all takes a toll on my hair.   My hair gets dried out and yucky looking. If I’ve dyed it, the silver streak in my hair has turned a nasty orange from all the stress. It’s not pretty.  Suave knows that. Suave cares. (Boy, do I sound like a commercial, or what?!)

Suave & MomCentral have asked us bloggers to help you with your summer hair.  They’ve provided these tips to help you end the summer on a high note, at least as far as your hair is concerned. And as moms, we need all the help we can get sometimes!

Help Your Hair Survive the Summer in Style with Tips & Tricks from Suave® Celebrity Hairstylist Luke O’Connor

Shine Through Summer

Chlorine from the pool can quickly turn hair dry and dull.  Look for hair products specially-designed to infuse shine.  Also, blow dry hair from roots to ends, making sure you do not ruffle your hair. By doing this, you’ll keep the cuticle of your hair lying flat, thus reflect more light, and producing more shine.

How to get the Shine:  Suave Vibrant Shine Shampoo and Conditioner is formulated with silk amino acids to restore shine and luster to dull hair for bright, shimmering strands.

Price/Availability: $1.92 – 2.49 at drugstores, mass merchandisers, and supermarkets nationwide

Don’t Let Your Hair Fall when Temps Rise!

Hot summer weather and humidity can cause your hair to lose its shape.  Apply a little mousse to damp hair to add body and help control your style.  For added fullness, flip your head over and blow dry the roots. When you flip your head upright, your hair will be at maximum volume. 

How to get the Shape:  Suave Professionals Extra Hold Mousse helps to lock in style for all-day hold and is great for hair that needs body and control.

Price/Availability: $1.92 – 2.49 at drugstores, mass merchandisers, and supermarkets nationwide

Hold That Look

Heat and humidity can be tough to battle, and here’s where the right hairspray comes to the rescue.  To keep a soft, full, long lasting look, use an extra hold hairspray and keep the can 8-10 inches away from your head while spraying all over.  This allows the fine mist of spray to penetrate the roots and hold the hair in place. 

How to get the Hold:  Suave Professionals Extra Hold Hairspray helps to lock in style for all-day hold and helps to control fly-aways.

Price/Availability: $1.92 – 2.49 at drugstores, mass merchandisers, and supermarkets nationwide

Make Summer Styling Smooth Sailing

Frizzies and fly-aways  suddenly appear during the summer months with humidity at an all-time high.   Achieving frizz-free hair starts in the shower with a shampoo and conditioner specially formulated to fight frizz.  When blow drying hair, again be sure to blow dry from roots to ends to smooth the cuticle.

How to get rid of Frizz:  Suave Professionals Sleek Shampoo and Conditioner moisturizes and smoothes curly, frizzy or dry hair leaving it looking salon-smooth and healthy.

Price/Availability: $1.92 – 2.49 at drugstores, mass merchandisers, and supermarkets nationwide

Fight the Fade

Have color-treated hair?  Lock in your color and keep hair healthy during the summer by protecting your hair with products designed to fight the elements, such as color-protecting shampoos, waterproof gels, and UV protectors.

How to fight the Fade: Suave Professionals Color Care Shampoo and Conditioner has a gentle formula that nourishes and defends hair against harsh environmental elements and helps protect color from fading.

Price/Availability: $1.92 – 2.49 at drugstores, mass merchandisers, and supermarkets nationwide

I tried the Suave Professionals Sleek Shampoo and Conditioner this weekend and really loved how smooth & silky it made my hair. In fact, Libby walked by and ran her fingers through my ponytail as usual and stopped and came back and did it again, commenting on how soft my hair was.  Truly, it was like a commercial LOL

Last night, she asked that I use the same stuff on her hair, and I did – and her hair came out just as smooth & silky as mine!

Seriously, I never thought I’d hear my son say that.  Particularly since he’s so competitive, for him to hear that there are no “Winners” – I figured he’d bow out half way through.  But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Hasbro has released a new line of games aimed at reminding and reinforcing some of those things that we WISH our kids would do.  Skills like LISTENING, SHARING, and COOPERATION!  I know that those skills are things my 5 year old needs more than a little bit of practice in.  Actually, so could the 11 year old! (and the 41 yr old).

When my kids first found out that we had received A.NEW.GAME.mom!, they were so excited!   We received The Pizza Palace Game by Hasbro in the morning’s mail.  I managed to get them to hold off on it for a little while, and after lunch, we set the game up. The instructions weren’t quite clear but we figured it out pretty quickly and played.  It was so much fun!  I would go through my deck of potential pizza toppings, select 3 and then I would give them my “order” – telling them and showing them what I wanted on my pizza.  Then I’d have to turn the cards over and they’d have to remember what I said and then make their pizzas to my order.  As they got used to that, we made it a little more difficult, with more silly toppings (anybody want a slice of ham, pineapple & stinky sock pizza?).  It was so much fun and it encouraged them to actually LISTEN – something that, yeah – ALL kids can use some practice in that!

Along with the game, Noodleboro also includes a really cute story book and a music CD in the game.  After we’d played a few games, I asked my kids to take the cd and book into their rooms and check them out, to let me know what they thought of them for this review.  My son hemmed and hawed and complained.  He wanted to play the gaaaaaaaaame.  Finally, I won he relented and within minutes, I could hear them laughing through the closed door.  The music cd that comes with the Pizza Palace game is loaded with fun, FUNNY and COOL songs on “Noodleboro’s All-Kid Radio” that also reinforce the idea of listening.  They just LOVED it and now I hear them singing the songs from the cd around the house. 

Oh, and also? They found the coupons that came in the box and now they want the OTHER Noodleboro Games! I guess I know what will be on their Dear Santa lists this year!

• The Fun Park Game mirrors every family outing you have ever taken – your child must cooperate and work with you to make decisions about what to do next. Sharing and teamwork becomes creative and exciting as well as applicable to your family’s every day life.
• The Picnic Basket Game reinforces manners, which prove effective to chase away ants and make the picnic run smoothly. From passing the lemonade to sharing the sandwiches, there’s no room for acting crabby and grabby.

Would you like an opportunity to win a Noodleboro game? 

 MomCentral is raffling off 200! games to moms who sign up with this link.   But if you’re not one of those 200, put Noodleboro games on your shopping list anyway.  Just to have a game where your kids cooperate? TOTALLY worth it! Of course, it has NOTHING to do with the fact that Hasbro is located in my home state of RI, either   But seriously, Hasbro is committed to keeping our kids safe, so I think it’s very important to support

My thanks to MomCentral for providing us this great opportunity to play & review Hasbro’s  Noodleboro game, Pizza Palace.

When you walk into a GameStop store, you don’t feel like a fish out of water.  No matter what game system you are shopping for, everything is easily identified throughout the store.  As a bargain shopper, another great thing about GameStop is that they sell “pre-played” games as well, which really helps when you have a kid who likes lots of different things, or has multiple game systems.  As well, GameStop also offers a large selection of PC games as well.  Since I mostly play games on my PC, that works out great for me

Did you know GameStop also sells a wide variety of game systems and equipment? We’ve picked up extra controllers, extra memory cards, power packs – and it’s much more affordable than you’d imagine!  As well, you can trade in your gently used games and equipment for store credit towards other things.

GameStop also has a great website, laid out just as well as the store.  It’s easy to find what you’re looking for, or if you don’t know what you’re looking for, it’s simple to browse and sort games based on game system or even by their rating system.  I personally appreciate that because I don’t allow my kids to play games that are not rated for their age/maturity level.

So, the next time you’re in the market for a new or gently used game or game equipment, GameStop should be your first stop.

It’s funny because as I was driving home last night, I spotted the sign for a new GameStop in town and I got so excited because we LOVE GameStop and currently, we have to drive HOURS to get to the nearest one.  I even called home to tell Jimmy, because I was so excited LOL  With the holidays not too far away [153 days, people!], this is really great news for Santa, too!