Tag Archives: giveaways

Christmas, Movies, Reviews

Coming Home For Christmas

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viewerI am just going to start this review by confessing: I am a Christmas junkie.  I love it, all of it, the Christmas specials, the feelings they bring, holiday gatherings, decorating, all of it!  The thought of having a perfect Christmas drives me all year long!  This year I have had the privilege of reviewing Christmas stuff- I’m in way up to  my ears with happiness over this one!!!

Now, on to my thoughts!  The movie has a great story!  Having seen probably a hundred Christmas movies, I can honestly say that I haven’t seen this story before!  I loved the story and the message behind it!  The set designers did a great job of making it a believable little town and homes!  The actors could use some work, but then perhaps the fact that they aren’t household names is what makes this special.  The film makes you feel good and even amidst mediocre acting you want to watch, to hear the story, to see it unfold.

Overall, I can’t turn down any holiday movie, good or bad.  This one has a great story, an actual unique one which is a rarity.  While this probably won’t be your new holiday favorite, it is one you will feel good watching.  Personally, I enjoyed it.  I am a sucker for a good Holiday story!

About The Movie

After their parents separate, two estranged sisters who haven’t been on speaking terms reunite in hopes that having a family Christmas all together for the first time in years will bring their Mom and Dad close again. They plan to do this in their old family home… the only problem is someone else lives there now.

The DVD includes a limited edition Norman Rockwell print!

Who is Norman Rockwell?  Rockwell was famous for his famous American culture illustrations and artwork. He was born in the late 1800’s and died in the mid 1900’s.

Director: Vanessa Parise
Cast: George Canyon (Christmas Miracle, Dawn Rider, Man of Steel), Aaron Pritchett, Britt McKillip (Dead Like Me), Carly McKillip (Hot Rod)
$14.99
Available at Walmart
Soundtrack also available featuring holiday songs performed by George Canyon
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Originally posted 2013-11-22 00:01:07.

Music, Reviews

1 Girl Nation CD Review

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img1.2

About 1 Girl Nation

Landing in the space where One Direction meets TobyMac, 1 Girl Nation is an exciting blend of upbeat pop music, with lyrics that are totally focused on living life for God, even while you’re young. 1GN, as they’ve already been dubbed, stars Carmen, Kayli, Kelsey, Lauryn Taylor and Lindsey, five girls with a passion for telling their fans about Christ through their music. Their first single, “While We’re Young,” can be heard on radio stations across the country and their self-titled debut album is available now!

img3.2My Thoughts

Even after reading the description above, I expected to hear something that I really couldn’t enjoy but I was pleasantly surprised.  1 Girl Nation has a sound that reminds me of a mixture of 80’s girl bands, modern day secular music, and a hint of contemporary Christian wrapped up in a praise and worship band.  As their pictures suggest, their music is fun and joyful.  With their primary target audience being pre-teen, teens, and young adults I think 1 Girl Nation should be on their way to the top!  I don’t think it will be long before they are being blasted all over Christian radio stations.  They sing songs that make you feel good but aren’t like the typical music you hear.  It wasn’t far into the CD before I was bobbing my head and enjoying the music.

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Originally posted 2013-11-16 06:23:20.

Non-Profits

World Vision: Helping All Around the World

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IMG_4771What if you truly could make a difference but the catch was you would never actually see the results?  Would you do it?  Would you step out in faith, obeying that call and overcoming your self doubt?  Often donating to charities are this way, you know what their cause is but you don’t ever see result in person.  I feel like that is exactly what we are called to do.  We are to step up and do the right thing, whether we can see a great difference or we will never truly know.  Sometimes, it’s not about anything we thought.

World Vision is a not for profit group that helps children and families to step closer to overcoming poverty in 100 countries, including the US.  There is a saying about teaching a man to fish so that he might be able to provide himself food forever.  I’m sure that you’ve all heard it, it seems to be everywhere!   Through World Vision, you can buy families farm animals, help them with wells, help pay for basic education, or even go literal with it and pay for a fishing kit for someone.  The skills they learn don’t just help them for a year or two, they help the local economies and help families turn desperate situations to journeys of hope.  You can donate any amount, no one will be upset if you can only donate a small amount, as every donation counts.

An amazing gift you can give someone who has everything is a donation in their honor.  You’ll get a little card about what you donated telling the story of how it will help or you can order from their gift catalog and get a free gift by donating to the maximum impact fund.  The gifts that are available are amazing and all are hand made!

We hope that you’ll take a moment this holiday season and donate to something a little more important than lining the pockets of corporations.  Make a purchase that will effect a lifetime, not be put in the back of the closet, lost, or broken.  A purchase that will change lives, perhaps even yours.

Ornament Set

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Originally posted 2013-11-07 00:01:53.

Food, Reviews

Kyvan BBQ Review

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kyvanBBQThe other day I was looking up what foods were well known around the country and realized that it wasn’t just in my head- the South really is famous for BBQ!  That being said, I will happily admit that I am a BBQ fanatic!  I love it way too much not to keep trying new brands when I come across them!  I swear there are at least 4 different types of BBQ sauce in my fridge!  Different sauces for different uses.  😀  Or perhaps my flavor of the day whenever I break them out!

We tried out Kyvan and have found a new perfect marinating BBQ sauce!  I made the traditional BBQ for our house- BBQ Chicken.  One of my favorite foods forever, so I know a good one when I see taste it!  Kyvan was delicious!  Soaked into the chicken and made the chicken amazingly good!

The sauce has a solid flavor and it was just amazing, until I cooked it on the chicken.  Then, it was unbelievable!  If you haven’t already, check it out, you won’t regret it!  I’m dying to try their other products!!!  I can’t wait to try it in some other dishes!  I think it would be amazing in baked beans!

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Originally posted 2013-11-04 00:01:57.

Books, Reviews

Audrey Bunny: A Great Kid’s Story Book

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Audrey_Bunny_coverI must really be getting soft these days because Audrey Bunny almost made me cry.  LOL.  It’s such a sweet story!  It reminds us all that those little flaws we fear are sometimes just what other people love about us!  Audrey Bunny is a beautiful story about a bunny who had an imperfection which made her feel like she could never be loved.  A very good reminder of how we are so very loved!

Included in the book is a Parent Connection in the back so that you can interact with your child a little more about the story.  It shares some good talking points and I think that any little girl would love to have this book read to them over and over again!  It will keep you all grounded in knowing that you are special, no matter what flaw you think makes you unlovable you are not!  I think that this story is a great confidence builder and is especially great to help with insecurities!

Audrey Bunny

From best-selling women’s author Angie Smith (I Will Carry You, Mended) comes this sweet children’s book about a stuffed animal named Audrey Bunny who fears her imperfections make her unworthy of a little girl’s love. She’ll learn the truth soon enough, and young readers will learn that everyone is special and wonderfully made by God.

About the Author

Angie Smith is the wife of Todd Smith (lead singer of Dove Award winning group Selah), best-selling author of Mended, I Will Carry You, and What Women Fear, and one of the most popular speakers and blog writers in the country. She holds a Master’s degree in Developmental Psychology from Vanderbilt University and lives with her husband and daughters in Nashville, TN.

 Details

Written by: Angie Smith

Publisher: B&H Publishing

Hardcover with jacket:  32 pages
Release Date: October 1, 2013
$14.99

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Originally posted 2013-10-29 00:01:32.

Food, Reviews

Skinny Pop Review

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We’re just a couple of weeks away from Halloween and there’s one thing that’s on everyone’s mind… treats! Welcome to the Treat Yourself Giveaway Hop, hosted by So Easy Being Green and Viva Veltoro! In this Hop, you’ll find lots of special treats to keep your entering giveaways until it’s time to go out and gather your own!

Be sure to hop around to all the giveaways in the Hop Linky below, and don’t forget the ultimate treat… the Treat Yourself Grand Prize!

We recently took Skinny Pop on a road trip.  From the South all the way to the East coast, well almost.  We were about 3 hours away from the edge of the country to the beginning of the ocean!  Would have loved to go all the way, but we were running low on energy and funds!  We did enjoy our Skinny Pop all the way!  And back!

We are fresh popcorn lovers around the Zoo.  So much so that, after much heavy hinting and a little shameless begging, we got our very own popcorn maker that looks like a smaller version of one that goes in a movie theater.  We tried for a big one, but those are super expensive!  Nothing beats a good movie and fresh popcorn.  You could have guessed that we are picky when it comes to our popcorn.

imageSkinny Pop has amazingly enough lived up to our love of movie theater popcorn without the butter yet held on to the flavor!  I don’t know how they did it, but they did!  The flavor is so amazingly close that I think if it were heated up we wouldn’t be able to tell much of a difference in a blind taste test, aside from the lack of greasiness.

As you can see by the Monkey’s faces, we loved the popcorn!  Skinny Pop is all natural, cholesterol free, zero trans fat,  free of dairy, peanut, tree nuts, gluten and GMO.  With all that healthiness, we can’t help but open up another bag!!!image

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Originally posted 2013-10-17 00:01:53.

Music, Reviews

Block Party: Awesome Music For Kids

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Poochamungas Block Party!

 

Poochamungas – Block Party! is a fantastic album for the kids.  Releasing October 8, 2013, Block Party is a collection of fun little songs that get ya moving to the rock beat.  The songs are cute and catchy and smiles tend to sneak up on you when you aren’t expecting them.  I’m warning ya though, you may find yourself being goofy too as you let the kids jam out to the music!  Listening to the songs you can see that they were once kids who loved rock and roll.  Not the head banging stuff, the genre of classic rock, the good stuff that I heard growing up.  

Block Party Playlist

 Around the World

Til the Sun Goes Down

My Favorite Summer Day (Block Party)

Bah Humbug Halloween

Games We Played

Little King

Big Red Fire Engine/Truck

Places You Go

Valentine’s Day

Refrigerator Box

My Little Ballerina

End of the Day

Imagination Train

See ‘Em Live

Fall 2013

September 29 @Schubas in Chicago, IL

October 31 @ Trunk or Treat in Chicago, IL

November 16 @ World Cafe Live in Philadelphia, PA

About the Poochamungas

Taken From Their Website

 Born out of the Old Town School of Folk Music then fledging musician John Joyce went to take some harmonica classes and ended up taking a bunch of guitar lessons. After meeting a bunch of interested musicians(Don, Alton and Pete), mastering 3 chords, writing some lyrics that amused his daughter, a father/ son drummer exchange and finally forming a band! The Poochamungas went on to record Mud, Mommies and Mayhem in 2010 which won a NAPPA Award and played a bunch of gigs (block parties to festivals) the next few years. They have finished their follow up CD titled Block Party (to be released Septembert 2013). Musically diverse rockin’ angst free music is their goal at every show. The Poochamungas believe that good music should know no age and they rock out for audiences big and small. Singing, dancing and general silliness is the rule of the day when this band comes to play!

Learn More…

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Giveaway Ends 10/31

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Originally posted 2013-09-14 08:51:49.

Music, Reviews

Bear Hunt with @thejamtones Review & Giveaway US Ends 10/3

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4PAN1T

Josh and the Jamtones have brought a super fun CD for the kids.  Themed around the title, they have some funny bits of comedy in between hilariously fun songs to keep us moving.  I reviewed the disc in my car on my way to run errands and Ihae to admit that they had me dancing a bit  LOL.  It’s all good though, Iwas having way too much fun to be worried about the staring passer-bys.  LOL.  Sometimes I worry about myself, given all the fun Ihave jammin’ out to the kids music.  LOL.  I’m having a hard time picking a favorite on this one, so you’ll have to check it out and pick one for yourself.  They do a great job getting us to move and with the happy upbeat voices it’s hard not to have fun with them.  I’m adding this one to the list of music to jam to with the little ones!  In case you are worried, it’s not the kind of bear hunt that harms anyone, it’s a loving bear hunt, but you’ll have to listen to understand why!  Put this one on your list and check it out!

Song List

  1. Swing Low Featuring Father Goose
  2. Bear Hunt
  3. Everybody Dance
  4. Pirate’s Life
  5. I Love U Featuring Father Goose
  6. Death Valley Cornfield of Doom
  7. Sunflower
  8. The Snow is Falling Down
  9. Snow Day
  10. Lightning Lake of 1,000 Sea Monsters
  11. Green and Spakkled Frogs
  12. Water is Wide
  13. The Evil Scary Bear From Bear Mountain
  14. Fill It Up

Josh and the Jamtones perform live in various places and most recently performed at the Boston Children’s Museum’s 100th anniversary event!  Plus, you can hear them on the Kid’s Place Live station!  They are available for booking at events even!  You could have them take you on a Bear Hunt at your own party!  Now that would be awesome!  If only I were a little kid…  LOL.  You can see a video of one of their birthday performances on YouTube!  It’s an adorable video!  The kids are obviously having a blast!

Pre-order Josh and the Jamtones Bear Hunt today!!!  You can also find Josh & The Jamtones at their website, twitter and on facebook!  😀

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Originally posted 2013-09-05 07:39:46.

For Your Home

Creepy Crawly Bugs (Toys) #OrkinMan

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OrkinPromoSTILL

The Orkin Home Education Kit includes:

• 2 Orkin Factoids 11×17 Posters
– Poster #1 – The Pollinators
– Poster #2 – The Recyclers
• 1 Orkin bug-finding flashlight • 20 Rubber Toy Creepy Crawly Bugs

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Originally posted 2013-09-01 21:02:56.

Book Tours & Blasts

A Wicked Kind Of Dark

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Author Jonathan K. Benton

Jonathan Benton always wanted to write books, having won first place in a short story competition when he was ten. Inspired by writes such as Ray Bradbury and Stephen King, Jonathan first discovered the crossover genre of literary/fantasy while reading Bradbury’s Something Wicked This Way Comes.

Jonathan grew up in New Zealand, dreaming of travelling to London and finally making the pilgrimage in his mid-twenties. Returning from England, he settled in Australia, the country he now calls home, and decided to take his writing seriously.

A-Wicked-Kind-of-Dark-Cover

A Wicked Kind of Dark

Robert Duncan no longer believes in magic. A mysterious call about a blood moon, however, leads him back to the magical world of his childhood and to Luthien, the beautiful girl with flame-coloured hair, who he loved and lost.

As Robert unravels the secrets of his childhood, darkness enters his life and an ancient evil awakens. To have any chance of defeating the dark forces that would destroy two worlds, Robert must find Luthien before the rise of the blood moon. He must, once more, believe in magic …

A Wicked Kind of Dark mixes vast and spectacular fantasy landscapes with gritty urban reality. A must-read for people of all ages who believe in the power of imagination, and the importance of never losing touch with your inner child.

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Originally posted 2013-08-06 22:16:15.