Photo Drama

I feel like I haven't Momma Blogged in forever! Mostly because this month has been so packed with great reviews and giveaways. I think that holiday shopping is at the top of most of our minds! But another thing that always happens this time of year.... holiday photos.

So that was our mission today. my husband took off from work and we scheduled our whole day around our holiday photos. I scheduled our appointment a month ago so that we would get the first appointment of the day. This way the little one would be chipper and ready to smile for the camera.

We get there 15 minutes early and put her in her adorable Christmas dress. She is dressed like a princess with her dress, tights, and patent leather shoes. She looks adorable! We always have such good luck with her at photo shoots, too! Last year we spent a fortune on photos because every one was perfect. We were ready for this year!

We get all set up in our room and.... melt down. Total and complete melt down like I have never seen before. She wouldn't sit, she wouldn't stop crying, she wouldn't smile, she wouldn't have anything to do with the poor guy with the camera. The only word she could mutter between sobs was "NO." The camera man gave up and wanted to stop. But I wouldn't have it. I needed a good picture... my Christmas cards depended on it!

So I picked her up and tried to comfort her. The clinging begins. She wouldn't let go of me. Who is this kid? My daughter has no problem when I walk out the door and leave her with someone else. Ok, time to give up.

We sat down to view our photos and had trouble finding ONE for the Christmas card. What an experience!

Holiday Gift Guide - Invisible Glass Review

My husband is really hard to shop for. But when I received my box of Invisible Glass samples his face lit up like a child on Christmas morning! It really made me wish I didn't let him see it and had wrapped it up for Christmas!


Invisible Glass was developed with two simple objectives: superior cleaning power and “invisible” clarity.  When you compare Invisible Glass to ordinary “blue water” glass cleaners, you’ll immediately see how quickly it removes even the most difficult grime, making glass virtually “disappear”.

Having a toddler in the house basically means that there are finger prints on everything! We have a sliding class door in our playroom that is covered in hand prints and drool. I find I am cleaning it all the time and am sometimes surprised to see what is stuck to the glass..... smeared yogurt, soggy cheerios... you get the idea. So we are always excited to try new products that will be easy to use and leave our glass sparkling and streak free.

Invisible Glass worked great! We started with the sliding door and with just a quick wipe down all the gunk was gone. My husband then took the very cool Reach and Clean tool and went to work on the car windshields (which I may add have not been cleaned since the summer... yikes!). He came back smiling and said the Reach and Clean made it so easy to clean the whole windshield and get to every corner. He was happy with how streak free it was and how clean it got.

My mother-in-law happened to be here and asked if she could take some of the samples home to let my father-in-law try. She thought this would be a hit with him, too! We may see a lot of Invisible Glass under the Christmas Tree this year!

You can check out Invisible Glass's webpage for more details. You can also follow them on Facebook and Twitter for updates and more information!

Winners!

Random.org has chosen our winners for the Gift from the Jumbies, Aquatopia, and Harry Potter Giveaways!!

Jumbies - #35 Emmy's Closet

Aquatopia - #122 Emmi 

Harry Potter - #5 Krisnyu

Congratulations to our winners! E-mail notifications have been sent. The winners will have 48 hours to respond or we will have to choose another winner.

Thank you to everyone who entered!

Holiday Gift Guide - Disney's The Search for Santa Paws Review

“Someone once told me that the spirit of Christmas is 
embodied in the hearts of children, 

untouched as of yet by the doubts, fears and 
disappointments of the adult world.”

--Santa Claus in “The Search for Santa Paws”

I have always been a huge fan of Disney movies. I feel like they embody the magic of childhood while portraying positive messages. I also love how they are fun for the entire family. The Search for Santa Paws definitely lived up to my hopes for a Christmas movie from Disney. 

 In the movie, when Santa and his new best friend, Paws, discover that the boys and girls of the world have lost the spirit of the season, they take a trip to New York City.  But after Santa loses his memory, it’s up to Paws, a faithful orphan named Quinn (America’s Got Talent’s Kaitlyn Maher), her new friend Will (The Game Plan’s Madison Pettis) and a wonderful group of magical talking dogs to save St. Nick and show the world what Christmas is really all about.  Do you believe in Santa Paws?  Experiencing this sure-to-be holiday classic, full of fun, adventure and a carrying the timeless messages of the holidays, with surely delight the entire family!

What could be better than a holiday movie that stars the most lovable character (Santa) and a few adorable friends. The combination is perfect. This movie is truly magical and lifts your spirit. Sometimes all you have to do is believe! I love that in the movie only those who believe can hear the animals talk. Paws was my favorite character (and I think my daughter's too since every time she saw him she said woof woof!). But each character (furry or not) portrayed an important message. Whether they were making unlikely friends, helping someone else, enforcing the message to believe, or just being silly... the animals and people were fun. And of course Disney didn't let me down with the special effects. The scenes were beautiful and really brought you into the story. 

The DVD also offers some great bonus features. My daughter loved to watch the music video for Deck the Halls. It's performed by Debby Ryan and is upbeat and fun!

THE SEARCH FOR SANTA PAWS is Available on Blu-ray & DVD November 23rd!

And to help you and your kiddos get excited, why not download some fun activity and coloring sheets! Just click HERE and have a ball!

Winners!

Random.org has chosen our winners for the Gift from the Boogie Wipes and The Christmas Dream CD Giveaways!!

Boogie Wipes - #30 Balancing Mama

The Christmas Dream - #52 Krista, #21 Show Me Mama, #103 Amy

Congratulations to our winners! E-mail notifications have been sent. The winners will have 48 hours to respond or we will have to choose another winner.

Thank you to everyone who entered!

Holiday Gift Guide - Hasbro Games Review and Giveaway

I received a fantastic package of products from Hasbro and some other fantastic companies!

The package included the CUPONK game, a Girl Talk game, a box of Emergen-C, a Spinbrush for Kids, a Scotch Adhesive Dots refill, and a bottle of Purell, Let the fun begin!

CUPONK is a hysterical game! The object is to try and make all these trick shots to get the ball into the cup. When the ball goes in the cup it lights up and makes sounds. As you can imagine this game makes the players very active (prepare to chase the ball... haha) and things can get pretty competitive. I think this would be a great game for kids or adults! It is geared for ages 9 and up and for 1 or more players. This would be a fun one to break the ice this holiday season at some of those family gatherings!

The Girl Talk: Dare Confetti game is intended for ages 8 and up and 2 or more players. First you have to put the confetti that is included out on the table or the floor. Each girl grabs a piece of confetti and makes up some sort of dare for the other players to act out. If the player completes the dare they get to take one of the gems. This seems like it would be a lot of fun for a girls sleepover or play date! There are also 2 other versions of this game.... Sparkle Spots and Sassy Sticks.

All of the other goodies that accompanied these games have been useful in our house! We use a lot of Purell in this house during the winter months. Time to kill those flu germs! Another great way to keep your immune system high is to drink Emergen-C and help keep your energy up. We could all use that during the holiday season.

I love the Scotch Adhesive Dot refill. I have used it for scrapbooking, but I bet it would be an easy tool to have handy when wrapping gifts. And the Spinbrush for kids is so cool! My husband and I both have electric toothbrushes because we had heard so much about the benefits. This toothbrush can be decorated with the cool stickers included and would make a great stocking stuffer!

GIVEAWAY: One Lucky Reader will win everything I received!
 
HOW TO ENTER: Leave a separate comment for each entry and be sure to leave your e-mail address!

MANDATORY ENTRY: Just tell me you want to win!

EXTRA ENTRIES:
1. Enter another one of my current giveaways(1 entry per giveaway)
2. Follow my blog 
3. Follow me on Twitter and tweet (1 entry per tweet - 1 tweet per day)
4. Fan me on Facebook 
5. Grab my button and tell me where it is (3 entries)
6. Subscribe to my blog via e-mail

This giveaway is open to US only.
This giveaway ends on December 2, 2010 at 5:00 pm EST. One winner will be chosen by Random.org and notified by e-mail. Please respond within 48 hours or a new winner will be selected. Good Luck!

Holiday Gift Guide: CSN Stores

Over the years I have noticed that many of my friends have registered for luggage when they were getting married. I'm not really sure why that never occurred to me. I have every kind of glass, dish, pot and towel that you can imagine... but we don't have a nice set of luggage. In fact, I have one old beat up suitcase that I am worried will rip to shreds in a busy airport and my husband has a duffel bag.

I think it's time that I get myself a nice suitcase! We haven't traveled much since my daughter was born, but now I can see family vacations in our near future. Perhaps a trip to Disney World! I think my grandparents would love a surprise visit. And did I mention my brother in law is getting married in Canada next year? Yes, we need luggage.

CSN stores offers over 200 stores to help you find everything you need. So of course they have suitcases! Every kind you could imagine or dream of. 

I really like the rolling suitcases and love that now you can get them in some other colors besides black. I think this purple one would look great traveling Europe with me.

My husband prefers the duffel style. The one shown above also rolls though... kinda cool.


But... considering we have a toddler I think we will need an entire set. You know, one small bag for us and three larger bags for her. I LOVE this set... but the hubby would never go for it....

I think he would make me carry all the bags.

This is the set we are seriously considering. We like that it's not black. The red color will help it stand out. And it seems to have enough pieces... hehe :)

Whatever your style... you will find it at CSN!

Holiday Gift Guide - Pink Princess Review and Giveaway

Pink Princess is a great online site that offers so many choices of beautiful dresses. They have everything you would need for flower girl dresses, Communion dresses, Christening gowns and more! Pageant dresses, accessories and tutu's can all be found on their site. They also have an entire section for Boy Formal wear, as well as shoes for boys and girls.

Pink Princess offers a beautiful selection of holiday dresses. I was fortunate enough to receive one of these dresses for review. It came packaged up beautifully in a plastic garment bag to keep it clean and protected. I took it out of the box and it was ready to be worn. I didn't have to press any wrinkles out or anything!

I adore this dress. I think it looks adorable on my little on. It has a beautiful bow on the back and a cute little flower on the front (that is a pin so it can be worn with or without the flower).

I would definitely recommend you check out Pink Princess's selection. They offer free shipping and free returns on all apparel. They have a variety of products in a range of prices, so there's something for everyone!

 GIVEAWAY: One Lucky Reader will win a $15 Gift Certificate to Pink Princess!


HOW TO ENTER: Leave a separate comment for each entry and be sure to leave your e-mail address!

MANDATORY ENTRY: Visit Pink Princess and tell me one item you love!

EXTRA ENTRIES:
1. Enter another one of my current giveaways(1 entry per giveaway)
2. Follow my blog 
3. Follow me on Twitter and tweet (1 entry per tweet - 1 tweet per day)
4. Fan me on Facebook 
5. Grab my button and tell me where it is (3 entries)
6. Subscribe to my blog via e-mail
7. Follow Pink Princess on Facebook

8. Follow Pink Princess on Twitter

This giveaway is open World Wide.
This giveaway ends on December 1, 2010 at 5:00 pm EST. One winner will be chosen by Random.org and notified by e-mail. Please respond within 48 hours or a new winner will be selected. Good Luck!

Holiday Gift Guide - Pint Sized Productions Review

My daughter absolutely loves books! It's so cute to see her sit down with a book and flip through the pages. She ooo's and ahh's and squeals when she sees something she recognizes! So we have filled her playroom with wonderful board books. The board books give her the freedom to look at books independently because I don't have to watch and make sure she isn't ripping pages.

Pint Size Productions is the only US manufacturer of board books and have brought you hundreds of titles to lots of the best known publishers! They take great pride in their work and care deeply about quality, safety and great customer service!

I recently had the pleasure of working with Pint Size Productions on something that I think is very cool! They offer a great selection of personalized board books. I think this is the neatest thing. It's such a special thing that you can keep forever! And they offer a personalized Sandra Boynton book!

We have lots of the Sandra Boynton books and we love them. So I jumped at the chance to have one personalized for my daughter!

The first-ever customized Boynton board book! Upload the photo and name of any kid you adore, and POOF! In ten days, you will receive a completely unique and thoroughly awesome book—the perfect present for that perfect child. Printed and manufactured by Pint-Size Productions, the one and only board book manufacturer in the United States, fine printer of millions of copies of well-loved Boynton books.

The book arrived and I was so excited to see it! It's truly fabulous. The quality is great! It's a sturdy book with great bright colors. It's a fun book to read with your child and point out the different animals and practice making animal sounds. And then when they get to the end they see something really familiar....THEM! It allows you to upload two photos (one for the last page and one for the back cover). It also allows you to write a personal message for inside the front cover. 

My daughter squeals with delight when she's sees herself at the end of the book! It hasn't gotten old yet! I am going to treasure this book forever!

This would make an incredible gift for a special child. It only costs $24.60 (shipping price included) for those within the US.