Thank you to everyone that entered my Softlips Limited Edition Winter Collection giveaway. I used Random.org to select the winner. . .
Jennifer now has 48 hours to respond to my e-mail with her information for prize delivery or another winner will be selected. Be sure to check out the other giveaways that are currently taking place. Thank you again to Softlips for making this giveaway for my readers possible.
Numerous times in the past, I have admitted to being a Crayola snob. As a teacher, I would specify that students should buy Crayola crayons, markers, and colored pencils. To me, it was worth the extra money up front if they lasted longer, worked better and were high quality. This Mommy also has lots of Crayola products at home for the boys.
When I was asked by MyBlogSpark and Crayola to test out some of their new items for the Crayola Holiday Gifts Spark, I jumped at the chance. One day, we came home to a rather large package sitting on our front steps. When we went inside, it was like an early Chanukah for the boys. Here are NHL (6) and JSL (2) with their new Crayola items.
Crayola Beginnings Color Me A Song:
The Crayola Beginnings Color Me A Song lets little ones draw to the beat of their own drum, trumpet, piano or guitar. This portable drawing and music creation station features a pressure-sensitive board that matches a melody to the artist’s pace. Draw fast, and the tempo picks up. Slow down, and so does the music. Four instrument buttons let kids pick their favorite sound. Color Me a Song was named a “Toy of the Year” by FamilyFun magazine and one of American Baby magazine’s picks for “Best Toys of the Year.” For children 24 months and up; suggested retail price is $24.99.
As soon as my 2 year old son, JSL, saw the package he knew that this was for him. He refused to eat lunch and wanted to get into his seat to test out his new "Doodle" as he called it.
The little guy quickly figured out that pushing the crayons across the top altered the way the music was playing. He liked going in and out of the little drawer to put his "colors" away and get new ones. Here is the little playing. Note that he is so involved he will not reply to me.
What I liked as a parent was that everything was self contained within the unit for quick clean up. We could easily put new crayons inside, paper clipped onto the outside and we were good to go. Another nice touch were the triangular washable crayons that were included. These are fabulous for little fingers that are learning to properly grasp crayons and other writing utensils.
Crayola Glow Station:
The Crayola Glow Station illuminates children’s imaginations through the magic of drawing with light on a large-size glow-in-the-dark canvas. Using a light wand, children can either draw freehand or use stencils and texture sheets to create more realistic drawings. A diamond-shaped tip can be snapped on the end of the light wand for stamping unique starburst designs on the canvas. Drawings magically disappear over time, or can be “erased” by turning on the lights, so kids can create again and again for limitless fun. For children ages six and up; suggested retail price is $29.99.
NHL (6) was very excited to try this toy out. He is fascinated with items that glow. It was still daylight when he tried this for the first time. Even in the day, NHL was able to experiment quite a bit.
NHL liked using the stencils that came with it, the pen to make stars and just writing/drawing various things.
As a parent, I liked that there is a large space for NHL to be creative on. He can practice his writing, math problems (he’s obsessed with this) and loves the fact that they glow. The Glow Station has knobs on the bottom to hang up the stencils that come with it, so it helps with storage. We hope to find a way to secure the Glow Station on the back of NHL’s bedroom door. This will be fun at night to practice spelling word writing while glowing in the dark room.
Crayola Color Explosion Glow Dome:
The Crayola Color Explosion Glow Dome is sure to bring wide-eyed wonder to kids’ faces when the lights go out and they watch their artwork glow and spin on a moving, two-layered dome of light. Kids control the “glow-motion” fun and can dial up slow, medium or warp speed to create a wild, animated scene. For ages six and up; suggested retail price is $29.99.
NHL was really nice, he shared the Color Explosion Glow Dome with me. While he was off using something else, I set this up. I decided to draw an underwater picture and then called the boys over to see what I had created. When NHL arrived he asked to add some items onto the dome. He put some things on and we turned it on to see how it worked together. Here it is in the daylight:
Later on at night, I wanted to check it out with darker conditions. Here is a clip to see the difference:
This is a great creative toy. Lots of fun and endless possibilities. My only concern is buying replacement markers to use with it. I still have to research that a little more since I am not sure if we can use other Crayola markers or not. NHL and I both liked using this together and I can even see JSL joining the fun.
If you head to any store these Crayola holiday gifts and many others are lining the shelves at retailers. Crayola is also running a Give the Gift of Creativity Sweepstakes, where you can enter to win a 7-night Caribbean cruise fr a family of 4 on Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas. Entering this is easy. All you have to do is visit http://www.crayola.com/gifts/vacation and create a Crayola wish list for your child. You can choose from a list of fun wishes like Star Skateboarding, Martian Sleepovers, and Boogie Woogie. Crayola will then recommend an item from their Holiday Gift Guide that corresponds to the wish. You can enter once a day, and an extra entry is also available for those who share the wish list on Facebook.
Giveaway:
Thanks to MyBlogSpark and Crayola, one lucky reader will be able to receive their very own Crayola Color Explosion Glow Dome.
Rules for Giveaway:
To enter, please follow the rules above within the comment section. Contest starts today November 29th and ends at 10:59 EST December 8, 2009. You do not have to be a blogger to enter, but must leave a valid e-mail address for me to contact you for mailing address once the giveaway is over. I will select the winner using random.org and contact you via e-mail. You will have 48 hours to claim the prize. If there is no response, another winner will be selected. Open to U.S. residents only.
Disclosure: This post was written as part of a program for MyBlogSpark and Crayola. Crayola provided me with the free Beginnings Color Me a Song, Color Explosion Dome, and Glow Station. They are also providing the Color Explosion Glow Dome for the giveaway through MyBlogSpark. No other compensations was given. The opinions expressed in the review are my own feelings about products reviewed.
Dear NHL & JSL,
On Wednesday night, we took you to a hockey game. There was a deal that we just could not pass up. What you both may not know is that for many years Mommy had season tickets for our local hockey team. I traveled near and far with my friends to watch and cheer on the team. I miss those days a lot, but am so happy to watch both of you experience hockey now.
NHL, this was the first time that you remember being down by the ice to watch warm ups before the game. We did this when you were really little, but no doubt you do not recall that. You got to see your friend down there and the three of you had a blast watching the team skate by, bang on the sideboards and toss pucks to some of the other kids.
Then JSL was in his glory. He watched the entire post warm-up ice cleaning by the zamboni. According to Daddy you would not leave the area until it was completely finished. For each stoppage in play during the game you kept saying that the game was over. We finally realized it was because you wanted the zamboni to come back out.
Between the periods JSL watched as the zamboni went round and round. He kept waving and his smiles got bigger and bigger each time it went by our end of the ice.
NHL was funny because you were very concerned with the rough behavior of the players on the ice. Once you realized that penalties were being called you were ready to toss most of the players in there for anything. You will quickly learn that fighting is part of this sport and so is bumping each other on the boards.
Hopefully we will get to more hockey games soon so you can both watch the hockey players and zamboni do their thing.
Love,
Mommy
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If you want to participate in Dear Kid Saturday, head on over to Cutest Kid Ever by clicking on the button below.
I have to admit, I do not think I have ever gotten up before the sun comes up to go to Black Friday sales. My mother never did it, so I never caught the bug. Sure, there are things that interest me, but I am not into fighting crowds of people hounding the same deal of which there are not enough to satisfy the masses. I would rather stay home, cozy and warm in the house. My hubby works today, so the boys and I will stay home and do something special together. If we venture out it will likely be to a quiet lunch location and maybe the newly library.
On Thanksgiving I did head out shopping. I pulled out the newspaper and looked at the CVS and Rite Aid ads. A few things were very interesting to me because they were free or 99 cents. NHL was up and watching the parade while JSL and TechyDad still slept. I went to CVS first. The items I bought were close to $50 on sale, once I used my ECBs (which were expired, but this store accepts them), my total was $3.50 for the tax.
I could have done a little better had my coupons not disappeared. Still this was a great deal and I still have almost $35 of ECBs to use for another CVS visit. Oh and the candy was free with ECB and needed so I would not forfeit additional ECBs that I had to use.
After this I went to Rite Aid and had my $5 coupon from Fall Spending. I almost bought NHL the $20 Guitar Hero for the Nintendo DS, but my trusted friend that works at a gaming store said it was not a good plan for a child. So it was a no go. I spent just about $20 on sale items – my coupon. Of the $14 that I spent out of pocket, $12 will be coming back in Rite Aid rebate. The cost of the Hot Wheels cars was $3, so this was a fabulous deal, even without my missing coupons.
So, I bought all of the above items for under $7 out of pocket! It was so nice and quiet in the stores Thursday without many bargain hunters. Sure, I would love some of the deals on Black Friday, but I will enjoy the day home without the crazy stores. Now to see if there are any Cyber Monday specials.
My question this week:
Will you or have you already gone out to shop this Black Friday? What are your favorite places to go to? Please feel free to share the deals that you got.
BTW – Be sure to check out three giveaways that are going on right now: Softlips Winter collection, Movie Moments Prize Pack (4 movie tickets and cereal), and Sweet Ones Prize Pack. Another one for the kids will be coming soon (hint – it will be a Crayola product).
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Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the MckLinky there if you are participating.
Aloha #76
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. I hope that you have a wonderful Thanksgiving meal with your family and friends. Today, the boys and I will be going to my Aunt S and Uncle M’s house to have dinner with many members of our extended family. My parents will be there, but sadly my brother and his family will not. Luckily we will see them in a few weeks for Chanukah. Since TechyDad has to work tomorrow, we were not able to be with his family.
Yesterday, JSL and I went to visit the first graders for their Thanksgiving dessert party. When it was time to eat some of the goodies, we went to NHL’s seat. His teacher even set up a place for JSL to sit down. Here is the cute Thanksgiving item that NHL made yesterday before we got there:
All of the kids enjoyed the sweet items that were sent in. They quickly and quietly gobbled up most of the things that were offered.
Once they were finished reading the kids were told to go and read a book while others cleaned up. NHL and JSL went to the main rug. The little guy seemed at home and wanted to join the first grade.
Seriously, JSL did not want to leave. He had taken on the role of teacher of sorts and the kids kept going to him.
We had a nice time visiting and celebrating with the kids. JSL enjoyed seeing the kids that he knew from last year and NHL loved having his little brother there (me too – I think).
