My New Haircut by Jeffrey Turner - A Review & Video Feature

My New Haircut: Early Concepts: Shapes

Jeffrey Turner

The 411:

This is a really cute book about a poodle asking the reader what shape haircut they should get. I loved the colorful pages that shows the shape on the Poodle's head and the tail as well as the opposing page which is the same color as the shape and has tiny shapes all over it.  

Perfect toddler book with an introduction to geometry. Perfect size board book for tiny hands. 

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Disclaimer: I received a complimentary product for my honest opinion. No monetary compensation was offered.

Rocks, Gems & Geodes Klutz Maker Lab Review Our Blog Video Review Is Here TOO!

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The 411: 

My daughter and I are crystal, gems and stone collectors. We share stones and head out two times a year to find new ones for our collection so we were really excited to review this kit from Klutz.

The kit comes with 36 stones, a magnifying glass, a colorful book, plaster mix and crystal mix so you can make your own Geode.

We really loved the stones but wish the set up was better. Once you do the Geode experiment you then have two empty areas in the packaging. If the package had a removable part that allowed you to keep the stones in their named compartments that would be helpful. You could cut the empty parts out but then you have the problem with the cover. It will be too large and if you cut it it will no longer hold the stones.

BUT with all that aside the whole set up is pretty cool for kids who love science, stones or experimenting.

We had some trouble with making a Geode and it didn't work out for us but we are interested in trying again.

Did You'll Know You Can Make S'Mores Indoors? I Had No Idea!!!!

The 411:

I love that Stuffed Puff made a kit. Inside the kit you will find a bag of chocolate stuffed marshmallows and graham crackers. If you have yet to have a chocolate stuffed marshmallow you are in for a treat. We LOVE them. While I love S'mores they can be a little high end. It isn't often I run out and buy a box of full size chocolate bars BUT for these S'Mores no chocolate is necessary which makes it economically good for you but also you can now have your S'Mores anywhere.  No more worrying about the chocolate melting before I can even use it to make a S'Mores. It has happened to me at least 5 times in my life. Who doesn't love delicious melted chocolate but it is impossible to make the ultimate S'Mores with melted chocolate bars. 

While I know melted chocolate is not a problem as we head into sweater weather these Stuffed Puffs just makes things so much easier. 

Did you guys know you can make S'Mores inside? I honestly had no idea that I could use my microwave to make a delicious S'More for my kids whenever they are craving them. No reason to start a whole fire for them to roast a marshmallow.    I love my marshmallow burnt to a crisp but honestly it was so good just melting my marshmallow in the microwave. It was like putting Marshmallow Fluff on my graham cracker. So GOOD!

Above is our microwaved S'More and below the classic. They were both delicious! These marshmallows are good in hot chocolate and right out of the bag too BTW. We have gone through two bags in the past week.

A Blast From My Past - Making Plastic Balloons

It is a workout and we eventually opened the sliders and then outside because the smell is extra but it
 was fun!

  

Father's Day Gift Ideas From Gourmet Gift Baskets + Video Review

Just last month I did a Mother' Day review of two Gourmet Gift Basket Gift Ideas. Man how time flies. Father's Day is just around the corner and GourmetGiftBaskets.com has many great items that will bring a smile to any Dad's face. To see the entire selection featuring dozens of great gifts, go here. Meanwhile, the top online gifting company is offering many brand new gifts, including these three very popular items: 

This weekend we received two packages from Gourmet Gift Baskets to try and show you. I have ordered from Gourmet Gift Baskets for years. Whenever I need to send something to my Dad, Grandparents or my Uncle Gourmet Gift Baskets was my go to.  It was easy to find exactly the gift I wanted that would make my family know I was thinking of them and know what they like. 

Dad will love these gifts as much as I did. I am putting everything into a gift basket for my husband for Father's Day. He loves trying IPAs and nuts are his go to snack. So I know he will be over excited to receive it. 

The Dad's Survival Kit definitely will be eaten by my son and I. My husband was not raised on Jerky and doesn't eat anything but chicken so I am kinda excited because we will not have to share. 

We were impressed with the various kinds of Jerky. There were 8 that we have never tried before. So far we have tried the Peppered Beef Jerky by Divine Bovine which smells and tastes to me like the Beef Stick I get from my neighborhood Chinese restaurant. It is delicious. My son loved the Craft Maple Pork Jerky by Big Fork he said it smells and tastes like bacon. 

The Cold One Beer Tower is definitely my pick for dad's. WOW. I don't know anyone who wouldn't love this gift. It comes with 3 boxes each one perfect.

The boxes are adorable and we will be using them to organize markers, pens and sketch pencils on my daughter's desk but you can use them for anything.  The tower was stacked and wrapped with a big white bow and I really felt bad dismantling it before Father's Day but how could I show you guys. 

The smallest box had roasted nuts and salty pretzel, goldfish, etc., treat
The middle box had jerky and 2 cans of IPA 
The large box had pistachios, jerky and a 6 pack of various IPAs.

I cannot wait for my husband to try the ale's and I am totally going to hide the almonds. He will never share those.

Watch the unboxing here

The Cold One Beer Tower is the ultimate beer gift. Your recipient will sit back and enjoy their adventurous side with eight beer choices selected for each of their unique flavors. Paired with six delicious snacks chosen for how perfectly they complement the brew selections along with snacks that include two roasted & salted nuts, three meat jerky favorites (taste tested and approved by our flavor connoisseurs), and a snack mix that could rival any award winner. You can't go wrong choosing this three tiered tower!

You Cannot Go Wrong With Gourmet Gift Baskets For Mother's Day And More #giftideas #mothersday

I love Gourmet Gift Baskets.com truly an amazing company that I  have used many times for gifts to my out of town family members especially my Grandmother, Aunts and Uncles. I never know what to get them for holidays or just an I am thinking of you gift. 

We received two baskets for review and I was thrilled with them both. 

We loved everything in it. My kids cannot eat peanut butter so the Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies were all mine as well as the Dark Chocolate Toffee which I just ordered more of. They are incredible. 


We also received Mother's Day Fruit & Snack Gift Box which sells for $79.99 which comes with the following

I loved everything about this box and the first thing we ate were the oranges. OMG...so perfect. Effie's Homemade Oatcake Biscuits are my nighttime snack with my tea and we have had a wonderful time sharing with friends the rest. 

Ben 10: Out To Launch DVD Now On DVD + Ben 10 Transforming Figure #Ben10 @CartoonNetwork @PlaymatesToys

Join Ben in even more alien adventures with Ben 10: Out To Launch now on DVD. There are 18 galactic episodes from Season 2 of the adventure driven series which aires on the Cartoon Network.

Ben is a 10 year old boy who discovers a magical device that turns him into 10 different aliens that each have their own super, unique super power.  Ben, his cousin Gwen and even Grandpa Max stop the bad guy do whatever they can to help others.

Even with all these abilities Ben still manages to get into some trouble once in a while. After all he is still just a kid.

Check out our Ben 10 Unboxing

Valentine's Day Gifts From Gourmet Gift Baskets.Com - Unboxing and Taste Testing With Goddess #ad

Valentine's Day always sneaks up on me except for this year. My decorations went up in the classroom and the house 2 weeks ago and I have been adding hearts to the kids doors every day stating something I love about them. They enjoy reading them in the morning and sometimes leave notes back to me on the heart I left them. It is very cute and I already know what I am getting them, I just need to pick it up. Hopefully, something special will come my way from the family but if not Gourmet Gift Baskets.com has already given me the sweetest gift basket perfect for Valentine's Day.

They have so many to choose from ranging in price from $19.99 and up. Some even have shipping included. The Teddy Bear & Chocolate Valentine's Gift Basket that was sent to me did.

The basket includes:

The 411:

Goddess and I love the basket. We thought the bear was adorable with it's little paw prints on the bottom. It was squeezably soft and not too big or too small. We love stuffed animals but as a mom I am always thinking where will we put another stuffie. For an adult it is the perfect bear. Cute enough to cuddle but not big enough to take up too much bed space.

Goddess loved the Belgian Chocolates from Annalie's best. There were 4 of them and they were not only tasty but beautiful to look at.

My favorites were the Chocolate Chip Cookies from Byrd's Famous Cookies. They were the perfect combination of buttery, chocolate chip cookies. Delicious.

We also enjoyed the Wafer Rolls by Dolcetto with rich chocolate cream inside them. Goddess has asked that I put one in her lunch box as a treat this week. I put one in my lunch box this week too!

The Chocolate Hazelnut Truffles were amazing.  There was one for each of us. They were so good with a whole hazelnut in each.

(dang..no photo of those)

We will definitely, be mailing out one of these baskets and a Valentine's Day Cookie Cake to family out of town.  I cannot wait to see what they have for Easter.

Check out my unboxing and our Taste Test here.

Bring Hogwarts Home This Valentine's Day - Video Review

I know Valentine's is all about the chocolate but maybe you are know a Harry Potter fan that would totally freak out over these two new games by from Pressman.

Goddess and I had a great time embracing our inner Gryffindor in the Harry Potter Magical Beast Game and loved the Pop and Race Harry Potter Tri-Wizard Maze Tournament

Wizards and muggles both agree - these games are perfect for game night! 

Goddess and I made two videos and loaded them onto You Tube. Unfortunately, when I went there just now to grab the codes I only found the first one. The other name is there but next to it, it says Deleted Video. I am not a You Tube expert but I know that I saw the loaded message on my iPad. The next day I ended up deleting old videos and photos and since I knew I had used them in my You Tube videos I deleted the snippets of video that made up both You Tube videos. I am never on top of things like that but for some reason since I was deleting, I deleted. UGH! I went to see if I saved them in my Drop Box folder but I didn't. There was so much so to move over and I guess I had already deleted before I moved others over. I just checked my iCloud and there is a message telling me it is full so they are not there. UGH..So angry. The video was so fun.

Oh well here it goes. 

My daughter and I loved both games. The Harry Potter Tri-Wizard Maze Tournament was a lot of fun. We played it every day this week. It is like all other Pop and Race games. All your plays are on your side of the board. You Pop a die and move the number rolled. The first person to get back to home is the winner. 

The Harry Potter Magical Beasts Game took us a few minutes and a few instructional videos to figure out. I think we were thinking it was harder than it seemed.  You roll a die and move the number of spaces on the die. Your goal is to collect clues by landing on special spaces on the board so that you can get cards and collect magical creatures.  This game takes skill and is not just  roll of the die. Goddess kicked my butt every time.

We played it a few times this week and Goddess hopes to bring it to a friends house this weekend because the mom of the friend is dying to play. I can't wait to play with more people. It was really fun.

2 Great Scholastic Reads Plus Read Aloud

The 411:

This is an adorably funny book. I have read it at least 20 times in the past week and it never gets old.  My preschool class loves hearing about Bob and Shark. The Baby Shark song is really big with my kids and they are riveted by everything shark these days.

In this book, Bob is upset and wants an apology from Shark for eating him. While this is going on they are followed by a film crew as they are filming the underwater show called Underwater Work with Bob. The crew adds to the humor of the story and my class loves hearing different voices for all the characters. 

Written for ages 3-6 but thoroughly enjoyed by all ages.

The second book the kids are enjoying this month is The Inpatient Caterpillar by Ross Burach

The 411:

My preschool class and I love this book. It is so cute. The caterpillar reminds me so much of my daytime kids. In this story the caterpillar learns that there are a few things he must do in order to finally become his ultimate self and it can take a little time too but sometimes waiting is very difficult. We love the little convo the caterpillar has with himself and all the illustrations. To see more of the book watch me read it below.

Crated With Love - Pizza, Chinese Food, Movie Date Night

This is my second Crated with Love subscription box and I love how much detail they include in each box Crated With Love is a subscription box service that sends couples at-home date nights that focus on strengthening your relationship through activities and games to bring you closer together. Each box includes: Four to five date night games, challenges, or activities that focus on strengthening your relationship while promoting laughter

Each box is themed and this one is a dinner/movie night box. I think this is a great anniversary or anytime gift for a couple. It can either be the thing that tells your significant other you are desiring to spend more time with them or that extra special thing you do to keep your already "perfect" relationship, even more perfect.  You can do each box when they come in or you can wait until you have a scheduled "date night" and do it then. It is your date night, your relationship, do whatever you
want.

 

For $19.99 you can get a Story Mode Subscription. You get to decide whether you want to purchase the month by month or if you want to prepay multiple months.

If that is too much for your budget Crated with Love even have a $1.99 monthly plan if you just want to subscribe to the digital package which will give you access to all the games and activities which you can personalize based on your relationship profile.

Twice a week, you will receive an email that includes one Ice Breaker challenge and one Reconnect challenge.  Each Ice Breaker challenge takes about 2 minutes to accomplish and is meant to…well…break the ice! The Reconnect challenge takes about 10-15 minutes and focuses on strengthening a particular part of your relationship. They also include advice and relationship tips from experts and therapists and we will even be answering questions from our subscribers!

Family Game Night - Watch Ya' Mouth 90s Edition Review

 

The 411:

There are so many ways to play Watch Ya' Mouth because there are so many editions and all of them are fun. This is the 90s Edition which features some of your favorite pop culture icons, sayings, bands and more that will have you yearning for some Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch music and so hapy that mullets are no longer a thing. I played with my daughter and then with her and her friend. It was fun because neither of them had any knowledge of what was on the cards which made it easier for me but hard for them.
 

There are 200 cards with 90s themed sayings that will have you cracking up or feeling nostalgic for the days we thought were difficult. Lord! We had no idea what was coming down the pike. This games reminded me how much I loved the 90s.

The game comes with 6 adult size and 4 kid sized although my daughter felt the kid size was still too big for her mouth.  Our only complaint the first day we played was that that mouth pieces hurt our mouth however, I felt that I got use to it while all my daughter did was complain. Her friend seemed to have problems with mouth pain in the very beginning but then was playing along. My daughter who is a skinny 13 kept taking hers out because she said it really hurt the sides of her mouth.  The first day I felt it was really uncomfortable but the second day didn't have too many problems.

The mouth pieces are easy to put in once you get how they should go. We all felt odd with our horse teeth showing but once we got going it was so much fun. We found ourselves even doing our turn with the mouthpiece.

If you love games this is a must have. It is hysterical trying to understand what is being read to you. We used the timer in the beginning then stopped because we just wanted to focus on the game not watch the sands. Whenever we got it we got it no matter how long it took but you can use the timer if that is your thing.

There are no instructions to the game. You can play however you like and we are dying to play this during the holiday when we get together with family visiting from Cali!

Idea: Have a kid free night and get the Watch Ya Mouth Adult Edition. Good times for sure.

See Our Unboxing Of Megalopolis Toys

Megalopolis is an online adult collectible specialty retailer, focused on delivering an exciting online shopping experience, infused with things collectors do and love.  

The 411:

OK guys my daughter and I are true fans of horror and collectibles. We were beyond excited to review some of the collectibles from Megalopolis. FIRST, let me start with the box. The Megalopolis box is eye catching. I saw it the moment I drove into the drive and had zero idea what was in it at the time but I couldnt' wait to open it.  We sat with the box all of about 20 minutes while Goddess finished homework. The moment she ended her homework, we tossed everything off the table and opened the box not knowing what was inside.  You can hear us in the video when we saw the first item. Eleven from Stranger Things is definitely a favorite character and we love everything about the collectible. It is so detailed and looks like a mini Eleven with the socks, pink dress, dirty sneakers, blonde wig, Eggo, mini hands (her hands come off), blood on her face, and huge 80's phone. She is bendable and comes with a stand so you can stand her on a shelf. Goddess claimed her for her bookshelf. I don't blame her, I love her too! We decided we need more of the characters to join her on the shelf.  They have Dustin, Lucas, Demogorgon and Hopper. Love them! They sell for $17.99 and are so worth it.

The Freddy Krueger Madballs Foam Horrorball by Kidrobot sells for $9.99 and is so fun. It combines Madballs with some of our favorite villains. Freddy happens to be my favorite.  There is so much detail on the ball. Freddy's hat, teeth, shirt, gloved hand with the knives and drippy, melted skin have been considered in the creation of this ball. There are 5 other horror villains available if you are into this and I wish I had them all. 

Last but not least is Jason from Friday the 13th The Final Chapter collectible figurine. It is so cool, I can't bring myself to take him out of his box. I love the box too. It is a covered box with Jason inside a cardboard box with a plastic covered front so you can see him and all his attachments.  Two, masks, Saw, Ax, Corkscrew, Clever, Machete, even a tombstone with Pamela's name on it.  Jason comes with a mask that allows you to re-create his fatal wound by sliding the machete into the side of his head.  This is a must have for a true collector of this movie franchise.  

Besides the collect toys and a kick ass box there was purple bubble wrap, tissue paper an Overlord and some stickers for your laptop or iPad. They really put a lot of thought into their packaging and it did not go under appreciated. 

Definitely ordering more from Megalopolis as Christmas gifts this year. Look for them and other items on my Holiday Gift Guide.