reviews

personalized baby announcements from hallmark

**This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to our lucky winner, Barbara!**

It is no secret that I love cards. I could easily spend an hour in a card store choosing the perfect cards for everyone. I love sending people 'real' mail. and I LOVE when a sweet piece of non-junk, non-bill, non-credit-card-offer arrives in my own mailbox.

Hallmark.com has just added gorgeous Personalized Baby Announcements to its site. This new line also includes customizable shower invitations, plates and thank you cards – all photo-ready and featuring contemporary new designs.

If I had a boy, I would totally order this one:
 
I love the nest and the little birdies. Its so modern, not super traditional and I am all about this neutral color scheme.

For a girl, I'm thinking this is just gorgeous:
 
What a simple way to highlight a beautiful photo of your baby!  

And as the auntie of three adopted little ones, I love that they include adoption announcements. This one is my favorite:
 
And are you ready for the very, very best part? Hallmark will address your cards, add the postage AND mail the cards on any date you choose. For no extra cost! (Just the cost of the stamps!!) Isn't that amazing!?!? Can I get a collective cheer from the other overextended moms who barely have time to blink, never mind hand address cards!! AMAZING.

My sister-in-law used the gift card Hallmark sent me, since she just adopted two adorable little ones from Ethiopia and wanted to tell the world. She is a super busy mom (with 5 kids ages five and under!) so she was beyond thrilled with Hallmark.com! She loved how easy it was to design her invitation and said that having Hallmark mail her invites for her was the best new-mom present ever!

Use coupon code BABY20 for 20% off of any order from Hallmark.com’s personalized greetings collection (which includes customized greetings birthday, holiday and other special occasions beyond Baby).

Hallmark.com is generously offering a $50 gift certificate to one Thoroughly Modern Mommies reader! Use it to order your own birth announcements or get a head start on your holiday cards! Here's how to enter:
1. Contest ends Friday, September 17.
2. Entry #1: Leave a comment just saying what you would use the gift certificate for.
3. Entry #2: Leave a SEPARATE comment telling me you subscribe to my feed by email or in a reader).
4. Entry #3:  Leave another comment telling me in what way you promoted this contest (i.e., posting about it on your blog or Facebook, Tweeting about it, and/or emailing  friends.
5. Winners will be selected by Random.org, announced back here on this post, and notified via email with further instructions.

disclosure: i received a gift certificate from hallmark.com to facilitate this review as well as a gift certificate for my readers. i was not compensated for this review.

rock n learn phonics **giveaway**

**This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to our winner, Diane! Enjoy!!**

I've been working with Caroline this summer on learning to read.  She has most of her letter sounds down, and definitely can identify all uppercase letters, but she still sometimes has some trouble distinguishing among lowercase and b and p and g and d.  Although, if I cue her with a "that's a B" she can sound out short vowel sound words. We've been using the Kindergarten Level 1 Hooked on Phonics program.  It's been going slow.  Slow and steady.  I'm happy with her progress, but sometimes it is tough to get her to sit down and work through a whole page of words.

I thought it would be nice to try out some new learning to read materials, just to see if there was a system better suited to Caroline. Caroline is quite the singer and dancer, so Rock n Learn Phonics on DVD seemed right up her alley.

The Rock N Learn Volume 1 DVD features 28 lessons, starting with short vowel sounds and beginning consonants with vowels. It progresses through blending consonants (e.g, sh), three letter blends, word families, silent e, consonant digraphs, read along sentences, and read along stories. Volume 2 DVD continues with long vowels, vowel combinations, syllables, ending sounds, silent consonants, rule breakers, and more read-along sentences and read-along stories.  This program covers a huge amount of phonetic material.

So far we've watched the first 10 tracks several times.  The animation, music and characters are really catchy, and I've caught Caroline singing the short vowel song a few times. A-E-I-O-U!  Each individual lesson covers quite a bit of material, so it will be a while before we're ready for the later lessons on this DVD.  Abby, who is an established reader, would still benefit from the later lessons on Volume 2.

Scattered among the songs on both DVDs are interactive portions to allow the kids to practice their skills.  For example, a word will appear on the screen, and there is a pause for the young person watching to try to read it. Then the answer is provided. Unfortunately, the pause isn't long enough for Caroline.  Even though she's been sounding out words all summer, she not fast enough for this DVD.  Even though she's happy to watch the songs, she isn't participating as fully as the intended by this program. 

With that said, the age range for this program is listed as Age 6 and up, and Caroline is only 5 1/2.  I bet in 6 months this program will be exactly the right level of difficulty for her.  In the meantime, she can watch the catchy vowel song and some of the other early tracks and reinforce all those consonant sounds. 

One other thing I really love about this DVD is that they have close-ups of someone's mouth when sounding things out.  As a veteran of speech therapy, I know that kids in Kindergarten are still developing portions of their speech (like r's and f's and l's).  So, watching the mouth reinforces correct tongue placement and sound pronounciation and they don't even realize it!

Summary: We will continue with the Hooked on Phonics for reading instruction and practice because it is better paced for Caroline, but we are definitely going to supplement her reading with this set of DVDs because this program is catchy and fun. This program is simultaneously entertaining and educational.

Rock 'N Learn Phonics is offering a lucky Modern Mommies reader Rock ‘N Learn’s Phonics DVDs (volumes 1 and 2)!! Perfect for the start of the school year!  Here's how to enter: 

1. Contest ends Friday, September 10.
2. Entry #1: Leave a comment just saying you want to win.
3. Entry #2: Leave a SEPARATE comment telling me  what little one you'll be sharing your DVDs with.
4. Entry #3:  Leave another comment telling me in what way you promoted this contest (i.e., posting about it on your blog or Facebook, Tweeting about it, emailing  friends, and/or subscribe to my feed by email or in a reader).
5. Winners will be selected by Random.org, announced back here on this post, and notified via email with further instructions.

Final Note:  Abby has thoroughly, and I do mean thoroughly, reviewed the list of other Rock N Learn products and is literally begging me to buy the Solar System DVD.

Cecila also writes on her personal blog, Searching for CC.

Disclaimer: I was provided a free copy of Volumes 1 and 2 of this Rock n Learn Phonics in order to write a review on my blog.  All opinions are my own.

k'nex - for budding engineers *giveaway*

**Giveaway is now closed! Congratulations to Brandon, comment #57! Enjoy!!**

My engineer of a husband was just about as excited as the kids when we opened a big box to reveal two boxes of K'NEX! My kids love building and creating with blocks and Legos and such, but we've never tried out K'NEX before because I thought my kids were too young!

My son was screaming in excitement when he saw the K'NEX Sesame Street Collection Building Set, designed for ages 2-5. It lets children build and then play with their favorite Sesame Street friends, including Elmo, Cookie Monster and Ernie. We got this Sesame Street Police Car Building Set featuring ELMO, much to my son's delight. His big sisters helped him put it together. The pieces were easy for little hands to handle, being nice and big. And the directions were clear enough for my 5-year-old to follow with minimal questions. He LOVED it! He loved it so much that he insisted on taking it into the bath with him and took a nap with it. Really.

While he played with his police car, the rest of us tore into the K'NEX 400 piece tub. The girls poured over the instruction book that has ideas for 20 different models and decided they wanted to build the swing. We all worked together and pretty soon we had this:

Next, they decided to make the most complicated model in the book. Of course! So we tackled the Ferris Wheel with amazing results:

We loved K'NEX! When we opened the tub up, my 6-year-old daughter said, "Yuck! Boy toys!" But she changed her tune quickly and had a great time playing! K'NEX are fabulous for developing fine motor school, creativity and problem solving. And everything is interchangeable with Legos and other K'NEX sets, so you can really expand your building possibilities with these K'NEX sets!

During the months of November and December, K'NEX (a Philly company!) is donating 10% of online sales on knex.com to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. How awesome is that?

K'NEX is offering a lucky Girlymama reader a K'NEX 400 Piece Tub AND a set from the Sesame Street Neighborhood Collection!! Here's how to enter: 

1. Contest ends Friday, December 18.
2. Entry #1: Leave a comment just saying you want to win.
3. Entry #2: Leave a SEPARATE comment telling me what Sesame Street character is your favorite.
4. Entry #3:  Leave another comment telling me in what way you promoted this contest (i.e., posting about it on your blog or Facebook, Tweeting about it, emailing  friends, and/or subscribe to my feed by email or in a reader).
5. Winners will be selected by Random.org, announced back here on this post, and notified via email with further instructions.

Good luck!!

genuardi's new lower prices **giveaway**

This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to #83 Sarah and #63 Lisa!!

I discovered Genuardi's when I moved to Philly almost ten years ago. They are known all around the Delaware Valley for their gorgeous stores, superior produce and wonderful customer service - none of which changed when they were bought out by Safeway. (Whew!)

Now Genuardi’s is expanding its long-term commitment to great quality and value by offering its customers lower prices on thousands of new everyday items across the store.

To help get the word out, they offered several local bloggers a gift card to use to shop at our local Genuardi’s to experience their new low prices and to blog about our shopping experiences. So this week I made my list and headed to Genuardi’s to do some shopping.  There were lots of “new lower prices” signs on items throughout the store. And, of course, the whole Genuardi's experience was just as it always is: high quality, friendly people and terrific prices.

The sales this week were super - I stocked up for Thanksgiving, refilled my pantry and snagged some killer deals. Like free breakfast! This weekend, customers could get a dozen eggs, orange juice, a pound of bacon and a loaf of bread for FREE with the coupons in the ad and a $50 purchase. And I stocked up on brand-name cereal for only $1.50 a box. And the store-brand organic milk is a great price! And the produce was gorgeous as always.

In addition to my own gift card, Genuardi's generiously  offered me 2 $50 gift cards to Girlymama readers. Here's how to enter:

1. Contest ends Friday, November 13.
2. Entry #1: Leave a comment just saying you want to win.
3. Entry #2: Leave a SEPARATE comment telling me your trick to keeping your grocery bill down.
4. Entry #3:  Leave another comment telling me in what way you promoted this contest (i.e., posting about it on your blog or Facebook, Tweeting about it, emailing  friends, and/or subscribe to my feed by email or in a reader).
5. Winners will be selected by Random.org, announced back here on this post, and notified via email with further instructions.

Good luck!!!

closet confidential *giveaway*

**This giveaway is now closed! Congrats to comment #6 Busy Girl! Have fun getting your fashion on!**

  I was thrilled to get an advance copy of Closet Confidential: Style Secrets Learned the Hard Way by fashion blogger extraordinaire Winona Dimeo-Ediger of Daddylikey.

I LOVE it. Its equal parts self-deprecating wit, fashion smarts, and bargain-bin savvy.  This is a great book for every woman who's ever had a full closet and nothing to wear. Not that I ever have that problem. Ahem!

This book is like that stylish sister or friend you love to shop with (who is not afraid to tell you that you can NOT pull off those jeans you're trying on). It is FULL of tips on how to look divine on a tight budget.  I loved her tips on buying the perfect pair of jeans (while retaining one-third of one's self-esteem and half of one's paycheck) and charts on what to wear with what. (Am I the only one with this problem? I finally buy those skinny jeans and then don't know what to wear with them?)

She divides the book into 12 handy chapters covering everything from shopping for jeans to hiding love handles to the ever-elusive "looking good while jogging." Its so terrific to read a fashion book that is realistic, practical and funny!

Dawn Hall is giving a lucky Girlymama reader their very own copy of Closet Confidential. Here's how to enter:

1. Contest ends Friday, November 6.
2. Entry #1: Leave a comment just saying you want to win.
3. Entry #2: Leave a SEPARATE comment telling me your favorite fashion resource - a magazine, website or a celebrity whose style you adore.
4. Entry #3:  Leave another comment telling me in what way you promoted this contest (i.e., posting about it on your blog, Tweeting about it, emailing  friends, and/or subscribe to my feed by email or in a reader).
5. Winners will be selected by Random.org, announced back here on this post, and notified via email with further instructions.

Good luck!!!

***

Obligatory Disclaimer: as stated above, i received a copy of this book to review. i was not compensated financially for this post.

the busy people's fast and frugal cookbook **giveaway**

***This giveaway is now closed. Congrats to Grace, comment #41!***

Today is the launch of the new cookbook, The Busy People's Fast and Frugal Cookbook by Dawn Hall, and I was able to get an advance look.

What they say about it:

• Perfect recipes for any cook with little time and even less money.
• Dawn Hall shows home cooks how to prepare simple and fast food that’s as healthy as it is easy on the budget.
• Every recipe is low-fat, budget-friendly, seven ingredients or less and prepared, start to finish, in 30 minutes or less.

What I say about it:

I like that it contains all types of meals – appetizers, breakfast, brunch, soups, side dishes, breads, main meals, desserts, beverages, salads, and so on. The book is set up for quick browsing and easy meal prep.  For example, recipes are sectioned off by how long they take to prepare. She also includes a wonderful sidebar section for each recipe with a supply list for the meal,  a divided grocery list for the meal, and recipe suggestions to complete the meal along with a timeline to help you get that meal on the table. Its well-organized and easy to follow.

I did wish that she used less packaged and processed foods. I know they can be faster and cheaper, but tend to not be as healthy. However, you could easily substitute fresh or unprocessed ingredients and modify the recipes as you wish.

Overall  this is a great cookbook full of recipes you will actually make. If you like Sandra Lee or Rachel Ray, you'll like this! It would make a good gift for a busy working mom or a college student navigating the kitchen for the first time. 

Dawn Hall is giving a lucky Girlymama reader their very own copy of The Busy People's Fast and Frugal Cookbook. Here's how to enter:

1. Contest ends Friday, October 23.
2. Entry #1: Leave a comment just saying you want to win.
3. Entry #2: Leave a SEPARATE comment telling me your favorite fast and frugal meal.
4. Entry #3:  Leave another comment telling me in what way you promoted this contest (i.e., posting about it on your blog, Tweeting about it, emailing  friends, and/or subscribe to my feed by email or in a reader).
5. Winners will be selected by Random.org, announced back here on this post, and notified via email with further instructions.

Good luck!!!

***
Obligatory Disclaimer: as stated above, i received a copy of this cookbook to review. i was not compensated financially.

elyria sterling's new temple street collection **giveaway**

***This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to DesignHER Momma, comment #31! Enjoy your gorgeous earrings!!***

Elyria Sterling's recently launched jewelry line, the Temple Street Collection,  is a fabulous mix of modern and traditional. Clean lines, classic sterling silver, white sapphires and freshwater pearls and versatile enough to wear with everything from jeans to black tie.

Some fun facts:

• This collection draws its name from Hong Kong’s Temple Street Market, representative of the influence of both the traditional and contemporary that defines modern-day Hong Kong.
• Made with sterling silver, conflict-free white sapphires and Chinese freshwater baroque pearls.
• The melding of modern and traditional is beautifully exhibited in the collection's signature pieces, with looks that run the gamut from classic to abstract.
• Elyria Sterling's Temple Street Collection is priced from $35 to $750.

How gorgeous is this? I've been looking for a "statement ring" and this would be so versatile. Do you see how they are all individual rings that you can stack? LOVE THIS! I would stack two Wyndham Street sapphire rings and two Wyndham Street bands. Wouldn't that be pretty?

And how fabulous are these Opium Earrings: "The Opium Earrings are sterling silver arcs with 12mm baroque Chinese freshwater pearls. They are approximately 2" long including the pearl and are for pierced ears."

Absolutely classic - a must for every woman's jewelry box:

Elyria Sterling is giving Girlymama readers a chance to win a pair of Opium Earrings! Here's how to enter:

1. Contest ends Friday, October 16.
2. Entry #1: Leave a comment just saying you want to win.
3. Entry #2: Leave a SEPARATE comment telling me your favorite  item from the Temple Street Collection.
4. Entry #3:  Leave another comment telling me in what way you promoted this contest (i.e., posting about it on your blog, Tweeting about it, emailing  friends, and/or subscribe to my feed by email or in a reader).
5. Winners will be selected by Random.org, announced back here on this post, and notified via email with further instructions.

Good luck!!!

***
Obligatory Disclaimer: I did not receive any products or payment for this post.

allchildrensfurniture.com: much more than furniture *giveaway*

***This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to our winner, Megan from Mommy Esquire! Enjoy!!***

I recently was contacted by the wonderful people at AllChildrensFurniture.com to do a giveaway of one of their many amazing products. How could I say no to that? But it was an impossible task - there were literally hundreds of amazing products to choose from!!

If you've never checked out AllChildrensFurniture.com, you simply must. It is not just furniture: they have all of your favorite brands of toys & gifts for kids, like Melissa & Doug, KidKraft, Little Tikes and more!

Look at this adorable KidKraft Red Retro Kitchen for only $129. Really.

My boy would LOVE this Busy Town Train Table with 145 piece train set. At only $144 with free shipping, its a total bargain!
 

These are amazing: MAG Super Magz 130-piece magnetic kit. My kids have played with these and they are fantastic. "Magz has been known to enhance children's understanding of geometrical shapes and because it is a construction toy, children can tap into their imagination to conjure up different structures." I am a huge fan of imagination-driven toys and these are wonderful.

AllChildrensFurniture.com is giving Girlymama readers a chance to win MAG Super Magz 130-piece magnetic kit! Here's how to enter:

1. Contest ends Friday, October 9.
2. Entry #1: Leave a comment just saying you want to win.
3. Entry #2: Leave a SEPARATE comment telling me your favorite KidKraft item on the site.
4. Entry #3:  Leave another comment telling me in what way you promoted this contest (i.e., posting about it on your blog, Tweeting about it, emailing  friends, and/or subscribe to my feed by email or in a reader).
5. Winners will be selected by Random.org, announced back here on this post, and notified via email with further instructions.

Good luck!!!

disney on ice: 100 years of magic! *giveaway*

***THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED. Congratulations to comment #8 - Amy from Our Family in Phoenixville. See you there!!***

Join the celebration as 65 of Disney’s unforgettable characters from 18 beloved stories come to life in Disney On Ice celebrates 100 Years of Magic!

I have vivid memories of going to see Disney on Ice as a child. Now I cannot wait to take my own kids and watch them be as awed and excited as I was. They are going to DIE when they see all the Disney Princesses! And The Lion King, a current favorite in our house. Not to mention characters from Disney Pixar's Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, and Toy Story films and, of course, no Disney experience would be complete without classic characters like Mickey and Minnie!

Thanks to Mom Central and the Feld Family Activator Program my family will be there opening night for Disney on Ice. To say that my girls are super-dooper-crazy-excited would be the understatement of the year! They loved - LOVED - the circus this spring and now this! (I apologize in advance if you are sitting in front of us... you may no longer be able to hear because of their high-pitched little girl squeals at seeing their beloved Disney characters in real life!!)

If you have little people in your life, you don't want to miss this show! And Mom Central is offering a super discount: use the coupon code MOM at www.ComcastTix.com in the promotional box — for four tickets for $44 for Monday through Friday matinee shows, and $4 off Friday night and weekend shows.

Mom Central  is giving Girlymama readers a chance to win 4 tickets for your family to attend opening night in Philadelphia on October 14th at 7 PM! Here's how to enter:

1. Contest ends Friday, October 2.
2. Entry #1: Leave a comment just saying you want to win.
3. Entry #2: Leave a SEPARATE comment telling me what Disney character your family will be most excited to see in the show.
4. Entry #3:  Leave another comment telling me in what way you promoted this contest (i.e., posting about it on your blog, Tweeting about it, emailing  friends, and/or subscribe to my feed by email or in a reader).
5. Winners will be selected by Random.org, announced back here on this post, and notified via email with further instructions.

Good luck!!!

all join in! *giveaway!*

I recently got to preview a new album for kids called All Join In by Kelly Loggins. My kids totally loved it!! Its been in my cd player for two weeks and I'm not sick of it yet. (Which is pretty amazing for a kid's album, am I right, moms?) It has some terrific songs on it - and they are giving Girlymama readers a chance to download some songs from his new album for FREE!

This link below will direct you to a site that has a music player with 4 songs from the album on it to preview. 

 http://wdig.vo.llnwd.net/d1/walt_disney_records/Kenny_Loggins/Microsite%202/

After listening,  just answer a couple quick questions about your thoughts on the music and then an email gets sent to you with a link to download 4 FREE digital songs (MP3s) from "All Join In".