K'nex Product Review

THE REVIEW:

A few months ago we received the 1-2-3 Brownstone Building Set from K'NEX. It is part of the Sesame Street Neighborhood Collection. Of course when Sara saw it, she needed to open it IMMEDIATELY.

We had so much fun! We were able to build the brownstone AND Elmo and Cookie Monster. There are 40 parts which was a perfect amount for Sara. Not too much to be overwhelming, but enough to keep her busy. There is also a "Play & Learn" activity sheet with additional building ideas that I loved.

Of course this was a huge hit at our house. Sara loved it because it was Elmo and Cookie Monster. I loved it because of all the great developmental benefits:
* Physical Development: Building supports the development of hand-eye coordination
* Social/Emotional Development: Encourages imaginative play
* Language Development: Talking about what they built and created can enhance your child's language skills
* Cognitive Skills: Sorting and making patterns with the building parts encourages thinking and problem solving skills.



FROM THE COMPANY:
Welcome to the neighborhood! K'NEX building toys inspire creativity, build self-confidence and encourage interaction among children and parents. The possibilities are endless!

The Sesame Street Neighborhood Collection lets children build and then play with their favorite Sesame Street friends, including Elmo, Cookie Monster, and Ernie.

Four individual sets that are designed to coordinate (so you can build the neighborhood) or each is fine being used alone.
* Ice Cream Truck Building Set
* Police Car Building Set
* 1-2-3 Brownstone Building Set
* Police Station Building Set



Thanks to K'NEX and Team Mom for this review opportunity.





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Leslie Patricelli Book Review

THE REVIEW:

Sara Rose was throwing a fit a few days ago. As I was trying and trying to distract her and make her a little happier, I happened to grab Baby Happy Baby Sad by Leslie Patricelli that I had just received in the mail. And I started to read it. And then there was silence. Sara absolutely LOVED it. I read it probably 10 times that first sitting. The next day Hubby called me because he was so tickled- Sara had picked up the book and was pointing to the pages and saying- Baby Happy Baby Sad according to what was on each page. He was a really proud daddy. So needless to say we absolutely love this book and read it at least once a day, usually more.

We also received Higher! Higher! and love that as well. Leslie's books are silly and fun and playful and teach toddlers and children while engaging them as well. We absolutely recommend them to everyone!



About Leslie Patricelli:
* Leslie is the author and illustrator of a delightful series of bright and engaging children's board books and full-length picture books. Leslie's unique and engaging artwork is always bright and accessible.
* All the books star a diaper-clad baby giving a fresh take on everyday activities- from extolling love for a blankie to demonstrating "contrasts" such as big and little, quiet and loud, and yummy and yucky.
* Titles include: Binky, Blankie, BIG Little, Quiet LOUD, Yummy YUCKY, The Birthday Box, Baby Happy Baby Sad, and Higher! Higher!

This post was written for Team Mom.





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Leslie Patricelli Book Review

THE REVIEW:

Sara Rose was throwing a fit a few days ago. As I was trying and trying to distract her and make her a little happier, I happened to grab Baby Happy Baby Sad by Leslie Patricelli that I had just received in the mail. And I started to read it. And then there was silence. Sara absolutely LOVED it. I read it probably 10 times that first sitting. The next day Hubby called me because he was so tickled- Sara had picked up the book and was pointing to the pages and saying- Baby Happy Baby Sad according to what was on each page. He was a really proud daddy. So needless to say we absolutely love this book and read it at least once a day, usually more.

We also received Higher! Higher! and love that as well. Leslie's books are silly and fun and playful and teach toddlers and children while engaging them as well. We absolutely recommend them to everyone!



About Leslie Patricelli:
* Leslie is the author and illustrator of a delightful series of bright and engaging children's board books and full-length picture books. Leslie's unique and engaging artwork is always bright and accessible.
* All the books star a diaper-clad baby giving a fresh take on everyday activities- from extolling love for a blankie to demonstrating "contrasts" such as big and little, quiet and loud, and yummy and yucky.
* Titles include: Binky, Blankie, BIG Little, Quiet LOUD, Yummy YUCKY, The Birthday Box, Baby Happy Baby Sad, and Higher! Higher!

This post was written for Team Mom.





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Bella Sara Miniatures and Treasures Review

Bella Sara is a trading card game where you can journey into the magical home of horses. It is the most successful trading card product ever created for girls. I posted a few months ago about Bella Sara and now I am pleased to be able to tell you about two new Bella Sara Collections:

Bella Sara Miniatures Series 1 Collection:

* Miniatures introduces a brand-new product line of 20 velvety horses from the land of North of North for you to collect, trade, display and cherish.
* It also brings a tangible third dimension to the magical horses of Bella Sara that can also be experienced through trading cards and in online and video game worlds.
* Included in each Miniature pack are one random velvety horse, a random bonus code redeemable online and a full-color checklist

Bella Sara Treasures:
* Treasures is the eighth series in the line.
* Treasures brings a new element to BellaSara.com with more printable activities including bonus codes, coloring pages, wallpapers, a poster and jigsaw puzzles.
* This series features rare jewels, amazing natural wonders, historical artifacts, and fantastic magical items.

Head over to BellaSara.com through April 30ths to enter to win an exciting Treasure Hunt Party of your own!

Thanks to Team Mom for the chance to check out the latest additions to the Bella Sara family.






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Qlubb.com Review

Here is another website to help you keep that New Year's resolution about getting organized. Qlubb is a great service for busy moms!

When you sign up, you get your own homepage, mine is called Derrick Family and I am using it to keep all of our appointments organized. You get a secure, private site, a public webpage, group event calendar with reminders, shared to-do lists with reminders, group invites/RSVP's, file sharing, and more!

Qlubb is the easiest way to get your real-life groups organized and on the same page. Between our children's classrooms, scout troops, religious groups, social groups, book/wine clubs and families, we are constantly running around trying to plan and coordinate our group activities. Too often, organizing is just simply a source of headaches and undue stress.

Just IMAGINE, with Qlubb, you can:
• Easily organize group events and activities online
• Eliminate email back-and-forth
• Eliminate reminders and nags of events and responsibilities
• Easily delegate tasks to members
• Easily create a secure website for your group
• SPEND MORE TIME ENJOYING YOUR REAL-LIFE GROUPS

Qlubb is a must for the busy mommy.





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Parents Critter Conga Review

My mom and I were at Costco a few weeks ago and were checking out the toys. One of the toys that we absolutely loved was the Critter Conga percussion set. It is from the toy line of Parents Magazine.

Well imagine my surprise when we opened up the latest package from Team Mom and it was the exact toy that I had been looking at!



It is fantastic! It includes a leopard conga drum (which also doubles as the storage container for it all!) with a tambourine lid, a antelope slide whistle, snake drumsticks, elephant whistle, bird water whistle, monkey noise maker, giraffe maracas, and a crocodile cabasa and clacker.

Sara LOVES it because it is bright and colorful and makes noise. We love it because she gets to have a good time and improve her motor skills and memory at the same time!





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The Secret Mountain Collection

It is no secret that we love to read. So of course we were so excited when Team Mom gave us the opportunity to review three books from The Secret Mountain publishing group.



They produce amazing illustrated storybooks. Each book comes with a CD filled with music that compliments the story. We absolutely loved them. Sara loved to look at the pictures and the CDs were just wonderful as well.



Our favorite was Dream Songs Night Songs- From Belgium to Brazil. It is the third release from the award-winning critically-acclaimed collection of lullabies from around the world, sung in the language of origin, plus an illustrated bedtime story – in French, English, and Spanish – about an imaginary journey to unknown lands. It all comes together and is just beautiful.

These would make a wonderful holiday gift for any child. You can purchase them directly at the website.





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Baby Bella- A new line of Bella Sara

Bella Sara is a trading card game where you can journey into the magical home of horses. One of the cool things about these trading cards is that they can be brought to life online in Bella Sara's virtual playground for kids.

There are more than 3.2 million users online at Bella Sara. Over 55 million cards have been sold since the game was introduced 2 years ago.

Today, Hidden City Games, the publisher of Bella Sara, is kicking off a celebration of the launch with a 10-day promotion. The website wil introduce Bella's new baby and daily gifts for Bella Sara fans.

Sounds cool, huh? Make sure you head over there to check it out now!

Thanks to Team Mom for the chance to check out the cards.





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Spin Master- Bath Blizzard and Aquadoodle Draw 'N Doodle

We recently received both the Bath Blizzard and the Aquadoodle Draw 'N Doodle mat from Spin Master.

The Bath Blizzard is part of Spin Master's new line called Kid Kleen. It is a line of bath activities toys that are going to make bath time a party for any kid. All Kid Kleen products are safe, non-toxic, wheat-free, tear-free and hypoallergenic.

The Bath Blizzard is amazing! It is a little machine that you put on the side of your tub with suction cups and you turn the little knob and then it is bubble bath time! Seriously, you are going to want this in whatever bathroom you are using because you just might want to use it yourself (seriously, you are going to want to use it). And unlike other bubble baths where the bubbles eventually fade away, with this you can keep turning the knob and getting more bubbles! Endless bubble-baths!

The Aquadoodle Draw 'N Doodle mat is also super cool. Why, you ask? Because it is a mess-free doodle mat! Yep, that's right- mess-free. You just fill the re-usable Aqua Pen with water to create all sorts of fun pictures, and it disappears when it dries out. Sara had a good time just pressing the pen to the mat. And pressing the pen to the mat. And pressing the pen to the mat. I must say that with all the stuff that I have to clean up after her, having something that I did not have to scrub clean was REALLY nice.

Thanks to Team Mom for giving me the chance to try out these cool items!

Bath Blizzard:

Rating
Appearance- 5
Customer Service-5
Cost- 5
Quality- 5
Functionality-5
Overall-5


Aquadoodle Draw 'N Doodle mat:

Rating
Appearance- 5
Customer Service-5
Cost- 5
Quality- 5
Functionality-5
Overall-5





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Sesame Street Knex- Elmo

We LOVE elmo in our house. Sara has tons of Elmo toys, stuffed animals, books, an Elmo nightlight. So we were thrilled when we recieved a KNEX Elmo building set from Team Mom to review.



We got Elmo and his piano building set.

At first I was worried that Sara was a little too young since it says 2+ and she is 17 months old. But she LOVED it. We took it out to play the first day and I would build Elmo and his piano and she would pull it apart and laugh hysterically. Like it was the funniest thing. Ever.

We did that for a couple days and she started to try to put the pieces together herself. It was really cool to be able to see her figure out how to connect things. She can't connect Elmo like she wants to, so we are working on that. But she is able to stack the blocks for the piano. She likes it so much that we brought it to my mom's (my mom watches her during the day while we work). It has been a few weeks and she is still playing with it all the time.



The package includes 47 pieces that you can use to build Elmo, his piano, Dorothy (his goldfish), or anything else you want. It also came with some "Play & Learn" activity cards that have fun interactive ideas for parents and kids. One side has alternate building ideas and the other is fun facts and activity suggestions.

In addition to Elmo, there is also Cookie Monster, Ernie, Bert, Oscar, Grover, and Abby Cadabby. I am pretty sure we are getting Sara the Abby Cadabby Knex set for the holidays.

Thanks to Team Mom for the opportunity to review this awesome toy.

Rating
Appearance- 5
Customer Service-5
Cost- 5
Quality- 5
Functionality-5
Overall-5






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Cabbage Patch Kids are turning 25!!!

This fall, Limited Edition 25th Anniversary Cabbage Patch Kids will be hitting store shelves for a limited time only. This is the first time they’ve been at retail since their debut in 1983.
Each and every Cabbage Patch Kid is a one-of-a-kind replica of an original ’83 doll, made with the same sculpts/molds and materials.

I love Cabbage Patch Kids. My brother and I each had a bunch of Kids and Pets when we were younger. I think I actually had about 6 or so. For some reason a few years ago I decided it was time to get rid of a bunch of "children's stuff" so I sold all but one of them on Ebay.

I was beyond excited when I found out that I was going to be getting one since I am a Team Mom member.

When we got it in the mail, I was so excited! I took her out and showed her to Sara Rose. And I ran downstairs to get Henrietta (the one that I kept) so I could show her to Sara as well.

Here are Henrietta and Trinidad, just chillin.


You can also go to the Cabbage Patch Kids website to register your adoption, play games, and see pics of Kids.

Thanks to Team Mom for giving me a sneak peek at the Cabbage Patch Kids! We love her!

Rating:
Appearance- 5
Customer Service-5
Cost- 5
Quality- 5
Functionality-5
Overall-5




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The Banana Splits Are Returning (and a Giveaway)!

Do any of y'all remember The Banana Splits? It is a vintage cartoon that came out in the 60's. (Now, I must say that I was not around in the 60's so I don't actually remember them but it looks really fun.) The four characters, Fleegle (a dog), Drooper (a lion), Bingo (a gorilla), and Snorky (an elephant), were fun animal characters that brought music, fun, and comedy to kids.



Well, they are coming back! And I have been checking out their website and it seems like it should be fun (well fun if you are a kid or a big dorky adult like me). On September 2, 2008 the Cartoon Network will begin to feature their music videos and comedy shorts between 9 am and 2 pm. If you don't want to wait until September 2, head on over to their website right now! You can see cool videos, hear great music and even become part of the club!


To celebrate the re-launch of this classics kid's show, I am giving away a limited edition (only 500 in existence), Banana Splits toddler t-shirt size 4t, made with organic cotton.

To enter, leave me a comment letting me know what you love most about their return. As always, you can get an extra entry by signing up for my feed (make sure you leave a comment letting me know that you are signing up):. I will pick a winner on August 27.


Thanks to Team Mom for giving me a sneak peek at the Banana Splits and for the cool t-shirt to giveaway!




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