DVD Day Giveaway

Today I want to rest.  Actually I want to sleep.  I am exhausted from the weekend and need to catch up on some much needed shut eye.  But I need to do house work too.  5 loads of laundry on a sunless day.  So I am not to sure as to the clothes drying well on the line.  We did our massive Sunday morning feast breakfast with family in for the reunion.  Thus I have some more dishes to wash. Sweeping before the dust bunnies take over my bed and pillow.  Oh you know how the list goes on and on.  Of course Dear Hubby is snoring in the other room too.

But I think I will wind up the week with my latest kiddos movie fest.  Having seen the grandbabes yesterday, I know that I want to share some DVD's with them.  Christmas is coming up soon and I am already thinking of that direction.  Also I have three grandbabes to plan for this year.  My youngest is just starting to walk.  And I know he has become a big fan of the Veggie Tales shows.  Now I could not pick a better video to enjoy.  So for him I have two DVD's picked out.

There is Little Ones Can Do BIG Things Too! of the Veggie Tales.  And 3-2-1 Penguins! with the complete 1st season on one DVD.  This has been on NBC and is part of the Big Idea group that does Veggie Tales.  I love penguins so sharing them with my lil Turtle just makes me smile.  I know his mom is now working so when she gets home as much as she wants to just sit and play life goes on.  With a quick show she can do a load of dishes and pop in some laundry while the Turtle dances around in the living room.  We all need that lil bit of time that we know they are watching a safe program as we do the mad dash through the cleaning.  Veggie Tales also has such great songs to sing-a-long with too!  The bonus features on both show how to draw a character.  The older Grandbabes will like that!  You can watch the trailers for 3-2-1 Penguins and Little Ones Can Do Big Things Too on YouTube.

There is also an all time favorite of The Pound Puppies that is now on the HUB.  I use to collect the lil puppies for my own girl.  Now I can introduce the puppies to my Grandbabes.  I bet that my middle boy will love to see them.  He will be barking along with the pups.  This is the Super Secret Pup Club.  I wonder if the kiddos will try to make their own club house after seeing this one.  If nothing else a blanket over the dining room chairs would make a great big ol dog house to laze in while watching the 5 different episodes on the DVD.  On October 16, 2012, Pound Puppies: Super Secret Pup Club will arrive on DVD from Shout! Factory Kids in collaboration with Hasbro.  The DVD set features five exciting Pound Puppies adventures and also contains  all-new bonus features, includingLearn to Draw Rebound.

If it is not enough then we can add in Disney's Beverly Hills Chihuahua 3: Viva La Fiesta!  Here we have blu-ray, DVD and the digital copy.  So home, car or computer, we are all set up.  I love our own two Chihuahuas and seeig these cavort across the screen just always seems to make me smile.  Come on dogs in lil costumes is always cute.

I want to thank Big Ideas, Shout Factory and Disney for sharing with me and my Grandbabes.  I have some fun sheets to do too.  So I will share them with you too.    We also have a twitter party for BHC 3 that you can win $20 Amazon gift card or DVD movie pack.  If that is not enough I am also giving away a copy of the DVD combo pack below via Rafflecopter.  So pop on down and enter.  Make sure you take the time from all of your chores to sit with the kiddos. Make a movie night or maybe a lazy Sunday for time to play, sing, dance and even bark your way through a good show.



Join us Tuesday on Twitter from 4-5 pm PST (7-8 EST) as we talk about the new Beverly Hills Chihuahua 3 release and how you celebrate your family!

Date: September 18, 2012
Time: 4-5 pm PST (7-8 EST)
Hashtag: #PapiSpeaks
Host: @socialmoms
Sponsor: Disney

Prizes!
They are giving away twenty $20 Amazon.com gift cards and a Beverly Hills Chihuahua 3 Blu-ray Combo Pack to our random winners! 10 prizes will be randomly awarded to participants tweeting an invitation to their followers before the party using the #PapiSpeaks hashtag, and 10 will be randomly awarded to participants tweeting with the #PapiSpeaks hashtag during the party! (Please see pre-party official rules and Twitter party official rules.)

Click to Tweet an invite to your followers for 100 Points and a chance to win!

Learn more about Papi and his latest adventure by checking out the article. Comment below the article for 100 points and a chance to win prizes!  Buy The DVD here.

Two things you MUST do to make the event work for everyone:

1. To view discussions and comments you must set up a #PapiSpeaks search on Twitter.com or on your twitter client (e.g. TweetDeck, Hootsuite or TweetGrid).
2. To make comments and/or replies you must include #PapiSpeaks somewhere in your Tweet on Twitter. This is the only way your comment can be seen by the group at the event.

RSVP Now for 100 Points! If you are part of the Social Moms network.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Grandbabes Make Us Happy

It was wonderful to have the grandbabes here this last weekend.  Of course Princess Emma was here most of the time too.  We love hearing them all giggle while they are either jumping around with the Wii or decorating my porch with the sidewalk chalk.  There was plenty of Pink-alicious (a pink colored juice) consumed while we had a baseball game in the backyard.  But of course we also snuggled in and watched A Dolphin Tale.  It was wonderful if you have not had a chance to see it yet. 

On top of all of that there was bedtime stories.  We loved reading 'The Cookie Thief' by Francis Gilbert and Ben Quesel after singing Who Took the Cookies from the Cookie Jar.  The kiddos all loved singing along.  Then we launched into our night time story.  Thomas notices that the cookies are missing from cookie jars all over the neighborhood.  When everyone is doing all they can to have them watched.  Finally Kristina decides to set up a trap to catch the cookie thief.  Thomas wants to help but is reluctant to hide behind the couch where it is dark and small.  With much prodding Kristina finally gets Thomas to move the couch....and wow, there are the cookies.  But who is the Cookie Thief?

We have also been fighting all kinds of sinus problems.  Tissues are running very low here.  So we also enjoyed Cougar Cub Tales "The Sneezy Wheezy Day" by Sharon Cramer.  What a great way to learn that helping each other it makes being under the weather a lil easier to handle.  Reading how brother cub isn’t feeling well and his sister  and brother cub seek help for his cold.  They encounter many silly home remedies. One friend even tells brother cub, “Tickle your nose with the tail of a goose and do it before the next blue moon rise!” they appreciate all of the recommendations help but the final remedy is his sister's love.  I know the kiddos were more than willing to help get tissues for Princess Emma after reading our book.  The Sneezy Wheezy Day e-book is available as a free download on Amazon through Saturday.  What a great deal...go download your copy.

Add in the fun of singing along to the Veggie Tales and you can see we had a full weekend.  This time we had "If I Sang a Silly Song" and "God Loves You Very Much".  Of course College Girl jumped right on in.  She loved Veggie Tales as a teen and is having a blast sharing it with her lil sister Princess Emma and her niece and nephew.  Larry the Cucumber hosts “The Silly Song Telethon” and counts down the top favorite silly songs of all-time... voted for by thier fans!! The fun continues with a surprise introduction of a never-before-seen, new Silly Song chosen by Larry the Cucumber from thousands of fan submissions!  VeggieTales: God Loves You Very Much is a fun and family friendly film featuring stories that demonstrate how God cares for us in all kinds of situations!  It features three fan-favorite VeggieTales stories that teach other valuable lessons about love, Gideon: Tuba Warrior, The Ballad of Little Joe and my favorite Rack, Shack & Benny. The title also includes an all-new “story-song” called Does He Love Me?


I loved my weekend.  I loved my grandbabes.  I loved Princess Emma.  And more so I loved the memories we make every time we spend time together.  Thanks so much to all the ones who send me books and videos to share with them.

Pleasing the Grandbabes

What do you do with two grandbabes in a hot house with only one a/c in the bedroom?  Well you hide in that room all day long.  Thankfully it is only for a couple of days before we go to dog/house sit for a friend.  Where we get to play in the a/c play room upstairs and cool off in the UN-heated hot tub.  Whwe....it will be wonderful.

But in the meantime we are playing Wii, doing puzzles and watching videos.  This week we are going between two very different shows.  For my Grandson we have Season One of Conan the Adventurer.  Inspired by the Conan the Barbarian stories written by Robert E. Howard.  I love this as we celebrate Robert E. Howard days in the lil town of Cross Plains next to where we live.  I find this is a great way to introduce stories to him at such a young age.  It will be great in his preteen years when I start sharing the books Conan the Barbarian.  Have you use videos and comic books as a way to introduce books to your kiddos?  Well this is a fun series of comics from the 1980's that my Grandson is yelling for more already.

Ont he flip side my Granddaughter is loving the songs in VeggieTales Princess and the Pop Star.  With a singalong and learning how important it is to be ourselves.  This is a winner of a show.  I love seeing the kiddos dancing all around my room.  But had to stop them at bouncing on the bed.  VeggieTales has been her since my College Girl was a pre-teen.  A hit then and still going strong. I am so thankful these two DVD's arrived in the mail.  They have been a lifesaver.  I have to say thanks to Shout Factory and Big Idea Entertainment for sending these two DVD's for me to review.  The grandbabes are having a blast with them.

Gifts Galore and Giveaway

It is all a haze for me right now. I have gifts this way and that way. And trying to figure out what to do with the rest of them.  Tomorrow is the trip to the Grandbabes and I am wrapping all around.  Oh, I am going to share with you too!

So let's look at the last of the gifts for a 3 yr old and 7 yr old.  Tell me what do you think about them.  Our 7 year old girl loves to read and I love to give her books.  And it is something my grandmother did with me too.  I am including 'My Best Friend, Abe Lincoln-A Tale of Two Boys from Indiana'.  It has always been wonderful to share the story of Honest Abe with kids.  Teaching them so many moral lessons from a man that has been admired for ages.  In this book we have a fictional best friend that is sharing what it was like to grow up with Abe.  The second extra love here is the illustrations by John W. Ewing.  He has done art work for Disney films including Winnie the Pooh and Jungle Book.  I promise you will not be let down. 

I also have 3 books from Dinosaur Train to share with both children. I just know that they will love these as some of their bed time reading.  Pretty great that their mom does that for them. These are part of Get Caught Reading, a nationwide campaign to remind people of all ages how much fun it is to read. May is Get Caught Reading month, but the campaign is promoted throughout the year. Get Caught Reading is supported by the Association of American Publishers (AAP).

 

The Buddy &  Friends board book, from Grosset &  Dunlap, join Buddy as he travels aboard the DINOSAUR TRAIN to introduce kids to some of his friends. Packed with full-color images from the show, this simple book is a perfect introduction to DINOSAUR TRAIN's many species!  SRP $5.99. Ages 3–5.



A Surprise for Mom!, from Grosset &  Dunlap, is a beautiful picture book that follows Buddy and his siblings as they begin to plan something special for Mrs. Pteranodon on her special day. Read along as Team Pteranodon searches high and low for the best gifts ever! SRP $3.99. Ages 3–5.



Tiny Learns to Fish, from Grosset &  Dunlap.  The first reader in the Dinosaur Train program follows Mr. Pteranodon as he takes the kids to the big pond to teach them how to fish. There's just one problem. Tiny can't catch a fish, and Buddy can't fly, so they team up to catch fish together! This Level 1 reader is perfect for young fans, who are starting to read on their own.  SRP $3.99. Ages 3–5.

I also know how much they love music. Especially since the dad to my grandson is an accomplished musician.  So we put in Star Rock for Kids!  This is a compilation of songs created by Lisa Damiani who is a 1989 Star Search Winner.  (Yeah showing my age there!)  There are songs on here that I would sing along with too.  Weather it be Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy to We Got the Beat to my all time favorite teen angst song, I Will Survive.  So many different eras here sung by kids from the ages 7 to 17 years old.  Of course I am going to have to beat Princess Emma off of this one.  She is such a DIVA singer. 

I shared a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Mickey Mote with the kids at Christmas.  I have another to give them, thus they will have one each.  This one will be with the DVD of Mickey's Great Outdoors.  I love that there is both a DVD in this and a digital copy so they can see it on the computer and portable players too.  We played with the Mickey Mote during the holidays and had so much fun.  Mickey's Great Outdoors is perfect with summer arriving.  I love the idea of camping out at the lake and fishing too.  Did you know that the young ones do not need a fishing license either (but you do!).

I also want to introduce the kids to some of Nickelodeon's original shows.  College Girl's favorite was The Wild Thornberrys.  Watching as this family traveled the world looking for rare animals.  And Eliza (the youngest) has the gift to speak with the animals.  There was so many great lessons learned during her days of Nickelodeon.  Did you have favorites that you watched?  Was it Jimmy Neutron or Hey Arnold?  Mine was the early days when we watched Ren & Stimpy.  I am so happy that I have all of season one on DVD.  The grandbabes love movie time.  And having several shows of the series to help when they are tired and need some down time.  I use that period to get some of my household chores done.

Another of College Girl favorites was the Veggie Tales.  It was a teen youth group show that sparked many sing-a-longs.  Great fun and wholesome entertainment too.  The grandbabes get to have the new Veggie Tales Live! DVD with 18 silly songs on it.  I think the pick-a-song singalongs will be fun to watch with the grandbabes.  Such lil super star!  Now this being a 'live' event (for fake veggies?) we have a whole stage crew that interacts with the whole gang.  And yes they are all there with Larry the Cucumber and Bob the Tomato.  College Girl is hoping that the Song of the Cebu will be on there.  But she would be willing to get up and show off during The Dance of the Cucumber.   I am hoping that I get to hear The Bunny Song.  Did you have any favorites from the Veggie Tales?  You can see a lil of what is to right here.

Top it off.....we have one to giveaway! Yeah sure enough. You can share this with your kiddos too. Just leave me a comment with you fav veggie tales song. And make sure I have a way to contact you when you win!  My fingers are crossed just for you....oh and you too....oh and way way way in the back there.....yeah, you too!


All opinions expressed in this review are my own and not influenced in any way by the company. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider. I have been given a product free of charge, but that does not impact my views or opinions.

Play Date

With my internet going up and down, on and off and soon I think I am going to chunk it out the door, it is time to find something that makes me smile.  So today I am going to play!

First I wish to remind you that you have a chance to win 1 of 3 Chicken Soup for the Soul: Shaping the New You books right here. Easy, Smeasy. Just click and comment!  Make sure you do that as there are few entries.

I have Princess Emma here today since her Poppa and the Other Mother have to make a long trip to get to a doctors visit.  I imagine we will be together til way past bedtime tonight.  So we plan on finger painting, coloring, dancing (we always like to dance) and playing games on the Wii.  But of course we have to have some times to sit and cuddle too.

Our first part is that we are going to read You are a Gift to the World.  It is a flip-sided book.  I loved these as a kiddo.  You know that  both sides tell a story so you get two books in one.  The hardcover of this book is coming in April but we have the big soft version right now.  I am hoping that Princess Emma gets one of the pages down pat.  That is where it says that a hug is the best gift in the world.  She has been playing a game with me lately where she is withholding her hugs from me but not everyone else.  Such an imp!   So I want to share what this book is telling us.  She is a gift to the world, especially my world.

This book was written by Laura Duksta who also did I Love You More.  But what I find a kinship is that Laura writes these books for children so they know they are the most special (okay bad English) people ever.  As a child she suffered from alopecia areata where she lost all of her hair.  Of course this was very hard for an 11 year old to take.  And it changed her life in many ways.  Well currently you have seen my shaggy headed Dear Hubby.  Well that shag is there for a reason.  He is growing his hair out, because mine never seems to grow, to donate to Locks of Love.  They make hair pieces for alopecia patients.  He has been growing his hair out for a year now and only has about 2 more inches to go before he can donate the required 10" minimum. 

Next we are going to dance through the video Veggie Tales Happy Together!  I am so excited.  You see College Girl loved Veggie Tales when she was teen.  I remember many a Veggie Tale party with the youth at church.  This one is about family, friendship and faith.  I can't wait.  I can just imagine Princess Emma dancing a jazzy number to Larry sings the blues.  And she should be wearing her new Dinosaur Train footed pajamas too.  So that way we can dance, keep warm (chilly here) and not slip n' slide too much.  Did your kiddos watch Veggie Tales?  What was there favorites?  Gosh we had stuffed toys and ones that talked.  Oh but you was not allowed to bring a veggie tray to a screening party as that was just cannibalism.  I also wanted to let you know a VeggieTales Valentine Candy Card Kit is available now exclusively at Walgreens. The kit is only $2.99 and includes 30 cards and lollipops, plus one special teacher card.

Then later in the afternoon for a quiet time we are going to start watching Seasons 1 & 2 of ReBoot.  We have all 26 issues of the first two seasons of this Saturday morning favorite.  Well it was a favorite back in 1994 with The Boys that lived with me.  The Boys were 6, 4 and 2 back then.  And we had so much fun reliving the adventures on ReBoot.  Did your kiddos watch this one?  Oh it has gone on to become a big favorite for gamers and kids of all ages too.  But it was were we all lived in Mainframe and fought off the super virus Megabyte and Hexadecimal.  Yeah a very early 90's time of life but one I am happy to revisit.  This is being released March 1st of this year if your interested in getting your own copy.  Pop over to Shout.com and see all the cool shows they have.  It is like revisiting your childhood.  I know I have found so many good shows there that I want to share with Princess Emma and College Girl.   I am wanting the Twilight Zone series while Dear Hubby is crossing his fingers for Mystery Science Theater.  Yeah, we are reliving our youth through the kiddos here.....thank goodness!

I want to say thank you to all who have provided me these dvd's and books to enjoy.  I so like doing the reviews on them.  Of course I am not paid for this but you know the fun of sharing with Princess Emma and my family is payment enough.  Don't you think?