Summaries
Let me tell ya something, we go through a ridiculous, insane amount of yogurt in this house. And with two little ones heading off to kindergarten every day with lunchboxes in hand, it’s important to me to find the best value I can. I’ve tried to buy huge containers of yogurt and dole it out into little containers for the kids, but without fail, the containers never make it home from school. And as much as my kids enjoy the typical grown-up style yogurt, they make a huge mess out of it. When I discovered custard style yogurt, I was in love, and so were my little ones! It’s tasty and fun to eat, and it sticks to the spoon instead of falling in your lap. Bonus: the Yoplait Kids brand of yogurt is available in Dora, Diego, and Blues Clues styles, so the kids love it even more. Want to check it out for yourself? Well, what are you waiting for? It’s only available EVERYWHERE. What are ya, new? Hey, you can even print out a coupon right here and save $1.50. Yay!
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You know, it’s rare to find an artist who stands the test of time like Tina Turner. My mom listened to her music when I was a wee little munchkin in the 70s, and my sister and I listened to her in the 80s and 90s. And guess what? She’s still around! In fact, Tina Turner announced earlier this year that she would actually be touring this fall and winter! You can find out all the details about her live shows at Tina Turner Live. To kick off the tour, Capitol/EMI released Tina! a few weeks ago - it’s a new 18-track CD and digital collection of Turner’s top hits, rare live recordings and two exclusive new tracks.
I received an early copy to review and I immediately turned it over to my sister, who is a HUGE Tina fan. When she noticed that several of the tracks were live recordings, she looked like she smelled an onion. Not everyone’s a fan of live recordings on greatest hit albums, y’know? But - a few hours later, she called me up and said this was her new very favorite CD, and that she LOVED all the live tracks, particularly “Let’s Stay Together.”
More about the album:
In addition to featuring all of the career-spanning hits Turner will perform at her concerts, including “What’s Love Got To Do With It,” “Private Dancer,” “Better Be Good To Me,” “We Don’t Need Another Hero (Thunderdome),” “Proud Mary” (1993 version), “Nutbush City Limits,” and “River Deep Mountain High,” among others, Tina! features two new, exclusive tracks, titled “It Would Be A Crime” and “I’m Ready.”Four concert recordings are also featured, including “I Can’t Stand The Rain,” recorded live at Amsterdam Arena (1996), “Addicted To Love,” recorded live at London ’s Camden Palace (1986), and two that have never before been released on CD, “The Best,” recorded live at London ’s Wembley Arena (2000) and “Let’s Stay Together,” recorded live at Amsterdam Arena (1996).
If you’re a Tina Turner fan, you will want this CD for sure - my sister says so. How about an early Christmas present? You can find it right here. Big thanks from myself and especially from my sister Kim to the Family Review Network for letting us check it out!
Other LaLa Goodness
My kids are very much into music right now, and one of their favorite things to do lately is gather up all the little toy instruments scattered around the house and pretend to be a band. Look, aren’t they just sickeningly cute? They’re fully convinced we’re going to take this act on the road and put out an album. So you can imagine how much fun it’s been for us to review music from Groovy Ruby, an all-girl preteen band put together in 2005 by New Jersey teacher/songwriter Dean Laterra. The songs are original, catchy, and they actually sound…good! Here’s some info from their site:
Think Beatles meet the Go-Go’s…in grade school. Maybe a little Jackson 5, Doo-Wop, and some Ramones thrown in there too. Or how about a cross between Hannah Montana and the Jonas Brothers? That might be Groovy Ruby.
This all original band sings up on your feet, hooky, catchy, feel good tunes that get kids up and dancing. Led by five tween girls, the band’s songs contain messages of friendship, perseverance, and encouragement, amongst other positive themes.
I feel a special connection to these young singers anyway, since my oldest daughter is the same age as most of them. And here’s the best part - they do lots of live events! How great would it be to get out there to one of their shows, and let these young ladies inspire your own kids to rock out? Here’s the video for their song Change…
I have a houseful of girls (and a little boy!) and I’m always looking for good music for them to listen to - this is a GREAT CD, full of songs with good, positive messages. Consider passing the word along to Santa that this would make an excellent stocking stuffer! It’s only $15.00 and you can get it online right here. Is your kid lucky enough to have his own MP3 player? It’s also available as a digital download. Hook it up, mama!
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Hey, mamas. Winter’s coming! Want to get your hands on a free sample of Purell Hand Sanitizer? It’s all yours, just click here: FREE Purell Hand Sanitizer!
I personally love this stuff. I keep it in my purse at all times, because nothing heebs me out more than public restrooms, and if the sink looks disgusting, I’d much rather squirt some of this on my hands and the children’s hands and not even fool with the sink at all!
Other LaLa Goodness
A couple of months ago, my girls got to check out a really cute new toy - it’s Sesame Street’s own Ernie, made out of K’NEX! We adore Sesame Street and we like K’NEX products too, so we had a lot of fun with this. K’NEX has several different Sesame Street Building Sets available - my favorite one is Super Grover, natch - and they retail for around $10.99 each. Other, more elaborate sets are available too - I noticed a set that pairs up Bert and Ernie and another with Cookie Monster and Hooper’s Store.
Each character can be constructed in various ways, and the coordinating pieces can be stored in their own custom canister. The arms and legs have hinge points too, so you can (carefully) move your little characters around once they’re all put together. We had lots of fun with this!
My review is coming pretty late here - we received this at the end of the summer, as you can see by the pictures of Nikki and Lexi in shorts and tank tops! Unfortunately, illness has kept me away from writing reviews for several weeks. But I’m getting my gallbladder out very soon, which the doctors are going to yank out of me K’NEX style, quick and easy. I’m looking forward to getting past all of that, so I can get back my regular ol’ life!
If you have little Sesame Street lovers, this would be a great gift, and it’s small enough that Santa could easily stuff it in a stocking. I wouldn’t mind picking up a few more of these sets for that very purpose! You can find them online at the link above or in stores right now!
Other LaLa Goodness
Check out this weirdo crazy cool thing I got to review recently:
It’s called the Slendertone EnerVive. It’s this little contraption that zaps your muscles with electronic pulses via these sticky pad things you place on your skin. The product was accompanied by a detailed map showing exactly how to place the pads so you don’t injure yourself. Some of the selling points of this system:
I was a little weirded out by the idea of this. I mean, I’m not at all opposed to poisoning my body with leftover Halloween candy, but intentionally zapping my muscles to relax them just seemed crazy and weird. But, I tried it. And let me tell ya - the only play this machine will be getting in this house is from me. There is no possible way Paul could use it - the pads are the stickiest thing I’ve ever seen in my life. Naturally. I mean, they have to stay on your body! Your hairless body. Persons with body hair need to steer clear of this thing.
But, I used it, and I think it works. It didn’t really come naturally to me, but I figured it out. I tried it on my lower back, where I have 99% of my debilitating back pain. It felt kind of creepy. Not in a bad way, just like, WHOA! Okay, I guess it’s supposed to feel like that. Carry on. And afterward, I felt pretty good. There are little pre-programmed uh, programs you can cycle through with a hand-held button thingy, like the massage chairs at the pedicure salons. It’s easy to use.
And hey, Christmas is coming! You probably know someone who likes stuff like this a lot, I’ll bet. Possibly someone really into fitness, or gadgetry. Check out the Slendertone site for the EnerVive and other cool products. And, a big thanks to Role Mommy for sending this thing to me to review!
Other LaLa Goodness
You may have noticed I’ve been conspicuously absent from this blog. I’ve wanted to post about all of that for a few days now, but wasn’t sure what to say about it. The audience I have here is slightly different from the readers I have at my regular blog, and I’m not always sure how to word things for a more varied crowd. But, I figure you deserve an explanation, so I’m going to give it a go.
I’m a little burned out. I’m not feeling well. If you’re a reader at my main site, you’re probably aware of the health concerns I’ve been dealing with lately. Honestly, between the almost-daily headaches and the endless worry I’ve completely burdened myself with, I just can’t hang. I still have a stack of fine products sitting here on my desk to review. If one of those products is yours, please email me and we can discuss when your review will post. If you entered the Music Month contests, hang tight. I’m going to re-run that whole thing when life smooths out for me a little bit. I’ve got a ton of music sitting here to tell you about and to give away, and it’s not going anywhere, so stay tuned.
We’re going through some crazy shit over here at the Casa de Chaos, even more than usual. I’ve got my fingers crossed that things will even out a bit once we get into November and December. I’m not even doing Christmas at my house this year, can ya believe that? So, stick with me, folks. It’ll all work out.
Other LaLa Goodness
Yay! Fall is here! And, it’s almost time for Halloween! All this month, you can get in the Halloween spirit with all your favorite shows on Nickelodeon, Nick Jr. and Noggin! During the week of October 27th, you can catch Halloween-themed episodes of Go, Diego, Go!, Ni Hao, Kai-lan, and Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! On Friday, October 31st, Nick Jr. will air a Halloween marathon from 9:00 a.m – 2:00 p.m. (ET/PT) with spooky episodes of preschool favorites including: The Backyardigans, Dora the Explorer, Go, Diego, Go!, Max & Ruby, Yo Gabba Gabba!, and The Wonder Pets! And on Sunday, October 26th at 3 pm (ET), you can see a brand new episode of Pinky Dinky Doo on Noggin.
Do your kids like to play games online? Log onto NickJr.com! They have brand new games for Halloween, including the “Backyardigans Trick or Treat Game” where kids can dress-up the Backyardigans in spooky and silly costumes. You can find lots of other great things on the site too, like step-by-step instructions for making Nick Jr. Halloween costumes and Jack-o’-lanterns, plus dozens of Halloween-themed kids activities, kids coloring pages, crafts and more.
If you can’t bear the thought of missing a single minute of Halloween-themed programming, here’s the run-down:
(All Times ET/PT)
Monday, Oct. 27, at 9:00 a.m. - Go, Diego, Go! “Freddie the Fruit Bat Saves Halloween!” (PREMIERE)
Tuesday, Oct. 28, at 9:00 a.m. - Ni Hao, Kai-lan “Ni Hao, Halloween”
Wednesday, Oct. 29, at 9:00 a.m. - Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! “The Ghost of Wuzzleburg”/“March of the Pumpkins”
Thursday, Oct. 30, at 9:00 a.m. - Max & Ruby: “Max’s Halloween”
Friday, Oct. 31 – Halloween Marathon
9:00 a.m The Backyardigans: “Scared of You”
9:30 a.m. Go, Diego, Go!: “Freddie the Fruit Bat Saves Halloween”
10:00 a.m. The Wonder Pets!: “Save the Black Kitten”
10:30 a.m. Dora the Explorer: “Boo!”
11:00 a.m. Ni Hao, Kai-lan: “Ni Hao, Halloween!”
11:30 a.m. Yo Gabba Gabba!: “Halloween”
12:00 p.m. Go, Diego, Go!: “Freddie the Fruit Bat Saves Halloween”
12:30 p.m. The Backyardigans: “Monster Detective”
1:00 p.m. Max & Ruby: “Max’s Halloween”
1:30 p.m. Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!: “The Ghost of Wuzzleburg”/“March of the Pumpkins”
Sunday, Oct. 26, at 3:00 p.m. Pinky Dinky Doo “Pinky Squeaks”/“Are You My Mummy?” (NOGGIN)
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A big thank you to the 300+ people who entered this contest! Here’s the winner of the Karito Kids doll…
BECKY GRAYSON
Congratulations, Becky! I’ve already emailed you, and you have 48 hours to get in touch with me in order to claim your prize. Huzzah!
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