Estee Lauder from SkinCareRx

I recently entered a product giveaway from SkinCareRx and won a bottle of Estee Lauder Perfectly Clean Fresh Balancing Lotion. This was a product that I had never tried before so I was anxious to see what it was like.

When I was a teen I had some pretty bad acne. Luckily as an adult I have had it under control, except when I was pregnant with my first. I had terrible pregnancy acne that came on around my 3rd month and lasted almost until the end. So with this pregnancy I wanted to stay on top of things. I have been vigilant about cleaning my face each morning and before bed. I have also limited the amount of makeup I'm wearing to help eliminate some of the oils on my skin.

About the Product

This revitalizing toning lotion optimizes & rebalances skin provides skin with light hydrators & conditioning botanical blend gently control oily zones while soothing dry area prepares skin to achieve best results from skin care that follows leaves skin feeling fresh, comfortable & healthy suitable for normal or combination skin.


I decided to give the balancing lotion a try and I really loved the way it felt. I put some of the liquid on a cotton ball and gently rubbed it on my face, targeting my trouble spots (the dreaded "T zone"). I felt like it went on soft and smooth. I didn't feel oily or dry after using it and my pores felt like they were open and airing out, do you know that feeling? It just felt clean and fresh. I would recommend trying it.

TeenyMates - Review

Are you ready for some football? My husband has been ready for months and is counting down the minutes until the Giants take the field for their first game of the season. He loves his football, so when I learned that Lil" Teammates had come out with a new line of collectibles I had to check them out!

TeenyMates are pocket sized figurines representing all of the major NFL teams. They are about an inch tall an come in a pack of 2 figures. The best part about these guys is you don't know what you're gonna get. Each pack is a mystery and comes with two figures and two puzzle pieces. You get to keep collecting them until you have all 32 NFL quarterbacks and all 35 puzzle pieces. Here's a little more about them:

NFL TEENYMATES FAST FACTS:
1" tall, officially licensed NFL figures for kids and collectors alike, ages 4 and up.
Entering the immensely popular mini-collectible market as the only official NFL figures available.
Amazing detail for such tiny figures.
Great for play, and fun to collect and trade!
Each foil bag pack comes with 2 random quarterbacks and 2 puzzle pieces, adding mystery and excitement to each purchase!
Collect all 32 NFL quarterbacks and all 35 double-sided puzzle pieces.
Plus: 3 hard-to-find rare figures - a Throwback QB, a Metallic Gold QB, and a Glow-in-the Dark QB!
Double-sided puzzle allows you to build either a collector mini-poster featuring all 32 QBs, or a football field display set.
Now available at Target, team shops, and sporting goods, gift and toy stores across the nation!
MSRP: $3.99

My husband was so excited to open up his packs and see who he got. HE was thrilled to see that he received one of the rare figurines - The Metallic Gold QB. But he was slightly bummed when he didn't get the Giants QB. But it gave me an idea... perfect stocking stuffer!!

Now these guys proudly adorn his shelf in his office.

Get Ready for Halloween with WholeSaleCostumes.com

Can you believe that September is this weekend?!?! Part of me is sad to say goodbye to summer, but another part of me is anxious for my favorite season to get under way! Fall is a big deal in my house. My husband can't stop talking about football and I am excited to go apple picking and carve pumpkins. I love the weather and look forward to pulling out my hoodies and jeans. But perhaps the most exciting part for us is the preparation for Halloween!

Ever since my daughter was born we have gotten so much more into celebrating Halloween. We decorate the house and buy tons of candy for the kids. I have even convince my husband to dress up to make the day/night even more fun for our little one.

This year the conversation about Halloween costumes started around June. Yep, we start everything early. She has gone back and forth a few times between a butterfly, a fairy, and a princess. So a few weeks ago I pulled up WholeSaleHalloweenCostumes.com and did a search. I found several butterfly and fairy costumes and a bunch of her all time favorites... the Disney Princesses. Then I opened each one in it's own window and showed her the options one-by-one. This was the perfect way to shop! She did the hard part...narrowing it down to a few selections. And then she very confidently said yes or no until we were down to just a couple.

We had so much fun going through the options and talking about which ones she liked best. And she finally decided that she wanted to be Ariel!

I am very pleased with this costume. It arrived quickly and my daughter was so anxious to try it on! She loves that it has fins and it's very sparkly. I always order a size up when ordering costumes, so I went for the size small in child (which is recommended for 4-6) and it fit her perfectly. She was so in love she begged to leave it on all day. Of course I'm paranoid that it will get dirty before Halloween, so we hung it up until the big day. Then she can add it to her costume box and be Ariel whenever she wants!

WholesaleHalloweenCostumes.com is a great place to shop quickly and easily for the costume you are looking for. They have everything you could imagine for babies, toddlers, kids, teens, and adults. Their website is easy to navigate and search for categories or specific costumes. Their prices seem very fair to me and I was pleased with the quality of this costume. Check it out today and start getting ready! Halloween will be here before you know it!

*I received a costume free of charge for review purposes. All opinions expressed are my own and have not been influenced in any way.

The Adventures of Chuck and Friends: Monster Rally Coming to DVD

 The Adventures of Chuck & Friends: Monster Rally    

Available on DVD September 4 from Shout! Factory Kids Drivers, let’s get rolling! 

The Adventures of Chuck & Friends: Monster Rally will arrive on DVD on September 4, 2012, from Shout! Factory Kids in collaboration with Hasbro Studios, Inc. Featuring 10 exhilarating episodes and exciting bonus content, The Adventures of Chuck & Friends: Monster Rally  is priced at $12.99.

Join Tonka Chuck, the little dump truck with huge dreams — not to mention wheels! — and his friends as they steer you through one monster rally of a good time! Take an adventure with Chuck’s friends Handy, Digger, Biggs, Soku, Rowdy and Boomer, through mud-splashing, big-tire fun! No matter what obstacles are in Chuck’s way, he knows that with good friends and a little imagination, he’s always going to cross the finish line a winner.

The Adventures of Chuck & Friends series is currently airing on The Hub TV Network in the U.S. and on Treehouse in Canada.
Episodes:
1.    Where There’s A Wheel
2.    Hop, Slip & a Jump
3.    Buffing Up
4.    Daredevil Chuck
5.    Chuck Atomic
6.    Being Biggs
7.    Hide & Seek
8.    Attack Of The Soft Chuck
9.    Legend Of Big Tire
10.  Hard At Work Bonus Features:Also includes a special sing-along!

My Thoughts:
With a little boy on the way I figured now was a good time to start introducing some of the shows that I would consider more "boyish" to my daughter. So we checked out the latest DVD from Chuck and Friends and was very pleasantly surprised by my daughter's reaction. She really didn't think it was for boys. She was totally interested and wanted to learn all of the names of the different trucks and what kind of trucks they were. This bodes well for me.. I hope!

I was impressed with this DVD because of the messages about friendship. These guys are in it together and take on challenges and unexpected barriers to get what needs to be done done. It's a nice show to share with your children.

AZ Books - Review

AZ Books LLC, a leading publisher of innovative and interactive children's books around the world, is pleased to announce its entry to the U.S. market.

There are more than 200 children's books in the AZ wide collection, each of which brings delight to children and surprises their parents. They offer a vast array of children's book products, including pop-ups, electronic books, sound books, talking alphabets and encyclopedias, charming fairytales and musical books aimed at kids from newborn to 10-years old.

"The secret of AZ books is magic: They talk by themselves and ask children questions, tell stories and sing songs. The cleverness comes from the work of their talented creators and advanced technology," says Robert Tod, Vice President, AZ Books.

This well established international brand has product lines that appear in 32 different languages. With a price point under $20 on each book global sales have exceeded 45 million units.

Additional Company and Product Highlights:
.       Product line aimed at kids from newborn to 10 years old
.       New line to the United States with more than 200 titles
.       Worldwide team of 340 employees including designers, artists and editors
.       All product compliant with CPSC and ASTM standards and regulations
.       Niche product line - unique, desirable, and well priced
.       Informative, educational, entertaining, suitable also for early learning
.       Everything under $20 MSF

My Thoughts:
I was very excited to get the chance to check out AZ Books in person and browse their extensive catalog of books. I love the variety that is offered! There is something for every age (up to the suggested age of 10) and there is a nice variety of topics. As I browsed the catalog I was able to make myself a nice little wishlist of books that I knew my daughter and soon-to-be-here son would love. And I was very pleased at the prices that these books are offered at. Quality books at an affordable price!

I received the book, Sounds of the Farm, for review. This is the coolest book! It combines all of my daughter's favorite things. It is all about animals at the farm and what kind of sounds they make. My daughter loves to imitate different animal sounds. But this book is also a pop up.... and has sounds! So she was very engaged with this book and wanted to look at it several times. It's a great book, high quality, and is going to be a favorite for quite a while.

Oransi Fridge Air Purifier Review and Giveaway

My fridge scares me a little bit. I feel like it becomes almost like a black hole. There are things stuffed in there that I don't even like to think about. Once a week I bravely go in and dig through my containers of leftover food and try to identify what it is and when we ate it. More often than not I just resort to tossing it rather than taking any chances. And now that my daughter independently goes in the fridge and helps herself to milk or yogurt... sometimes I am greeted by some sort of spill that has oozed through the shelves and dripped every where.

It's a scary place in there and it's up to me to try and keep it in working order. But now I have a helper. Now I have a little magic to help keep it smelling fresh even when it's contents may be questionable. Here is a little about the product:

Silent, intuitive and effective in making your refrigerator smell incredibly fresh. Save money - for starters there are no replacement filters and nothing to clean. The air purifier uses 2 AA batteries that require replacement approximately every 45-90 days. Built-in micro processor controls the operation of the air purifier so it will cycle on and off to save battery life. Silent - no fans. Effective in the removal of odors and bacteria to keep your refrigerator smelling fresh and your food fresher. Conveniently fits anywhere in your refrigerator. Attractive neutral color and cool contemporary design. Patented Piezo-electric technology: allows for a high negative ion output to freshen your refrigerator without the harmful side effects of ozone that is found in standard ionizers.

I like the way this guy works. He is nice and small so I can have him hidden in a back corner where he is out of the way. You don't even know he is there. He is silent and just does his job. I noticed that my fridge does smell fresher after just having him in there overnight. I love that I can forget about him for awhile and just check on his batteries around 45 days into it. 

You can learn more about Oransi and the products they offer by visiting their Facebook page or following them on Twitter. 


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Halloween Garland Lights Review

Halloween is right around the corner! This is my favorite time of year. From the time that it starts to get cool enough to wear a sweatshirt I am in full Halloween planning mode. We kick the season off by picking our pumpkins and getting some spooky decorations up all around the house. It's even more fun now that my daughter is really into the spirit of things. She has been planning her costume for months!

I love to pick up things that help make the house look festive without being a ton of work or a lot of money. So I think hanging up Halloween Garland Lights is a great idea! They are easy to hang up and look super festive. Add a few jack-o-lanterns to the front stoop and something hanging on the door and you are all set to welcome trick-or-treaters on Halloween night.

This strand of lights runs 9 feet and has black wire with 300 Amber lights. They can be used indoor or outdoor to add the perfect touch to a Halloween party or just make your house look festive for all the neighborhood kids.

We aren't quite ready to get our house all ready for Halloween, so we tested out these lights inside. We plugged them in and turned off all the lights. Then we made spooky noises as my daughter squealed with delight. She is so anxious to hang these outside and start the fun. I promised we could hang them up on the first day of October. We might as well celebrate for as long as we can!

I was impressed with the lights. The color was very vibrant and glowed a true Amber. I was worried they would look Christmasy, but with the color they definitely looked like Halloween lights and I think they will look awesome with jack-o-lanterns by their side. These lights are very affordable and would make a great addition to your Halloween decor! These lights are also available in multi-color, clear, and red/green for the Christmas season.

Brave is Coming to Blu-ray and DVD!

Brave was the very first movie my daughter saw in a movie theater. She LOVED it and so did the rest of the family. We went with my parents and my sister... so we covered a wide range of ages and everyone walked out with smiles on their faces. It is truly a movie for all ages! We are very excited to learn of it's release date so that we can relive the magic all over again!

THE #1 ANIMATED FILM OF THE YEAR!

Debuts November 13, 2012 on Blu-ray™ Combo Pack

Children's Books by Stephane Frattini - Review

Stephane Frattini has published more than 50 books in France, but is now bringing us two new books through Sterling Children's Books. Stephane currently lives in France, but he spent his childhood living in Africa. There he was exposed to the natural beauty that exists in the wild. He now shares his love of animals with two books, Tushes & Tails! and Who's Looking at you?.

Tushes and Tails!

Awesome animal photos and a lift-the-flap guessing game equal preschool nonfiction fun! Whose colorful tail feathers are those? Who has a striped rear end? Can you recognize these animal butts? These engaging photographs will keep kids guessing. Lift the flap and see what creature it is - and learn fascinating facts about each one, too!

My Thoughts:

My daughter and I had a blast with this book! It is the perfect book for parents to sit down and have some great interactions with their child. My daughter is really good with her animals. We have dozens of books about animals from all over - the farm, the jungle, the forest, the ocean - and she names most of them with no problem. This book brought about a whole new ballgame. She no longer could just have an animal memorized, she needed to know traits about them to help her figure it out. She knows a tiger when she sees one, but does she relate that a tiger has a tail? Or stripes? When seeing only a piece of animal it takes on a whole new level of learning. 

My daughter loved that the book was hands on. She was excited with each turn of the page that there was a new animals to reveal under the flaps. I was excited that there were some fascinating facts for me to share with her about each animal adding to the educational experience.

You can find Tushes and Tails! at Barnes and Noble.

Who's Looking at You?

Whose eyes flash like mirrors in the dark? What animal can see behind itself? The fun, eye-catching wildlife photography in Who's Looking at You? will keep kids guessing. Each page features a new close-up photo. Life the flap to see the animal's identity and learn more about it!

My Thoughts:

This book has many of the same features of Tushes and Tails. It provides and interactive learning experience that definitely had my daughter turning the pages with excitement. But this one is much more challenging! Wow, who knew an eye could tell you so much about an animal. My daughter didn't know as many of the animals by just seeing their eye, but that didn't keep her from being very interested. 

I would highly recommend these books to any parents of preschoolers. We truly enjoyed them and I love going back and rereading to see what she has remembered from the last time.  

You can find Who's Looking at You? at Barnes and Noble.