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Review- Dinosaur Train Eggstravaganza

     

     We were very excited for the chance to review another Dinosaur Train DVD.  This one is call Dinosaur Train Extravaganza.  In December we were given a chance to review our first Dinosaur Train Video T. Rex Tales.  Baby Bug was so excited when I showed her the Eggstravaganza DVD.  "Dinosaurs, Dinosaurs" she exclaimed.  I was surprised that she recognized them as it had been at least a month since we had watched the other DVD.  So of course we had to put this new DVD right in and get busy watching the Dinosaur fun.  This DVD comes with 8 episodes.  Most of the episodes deal with eggs and babies.  These are such cute episodes.  I could see how even the most girly girl who has no interest in dinos or trains would still love this DVD with all it's cute little baby critters.  One of my favorite things about this DVD is how short the episodes are.  We try very hard not to let baby bug watch a lot of TV.  I love that she can enjoy one little clip all the way through without having spent an hour in front of the TV.  I love that these DVD's spark children's curiosity for science and learning.  The dinosaurs get kids thinking like little scientists.  This DVD is out in stores now be sure to pick up your copy!  This would make a great Easter present, or a great purchase for family TV time.  

Disclaimer:  I did receive a copy of Dinosaur Train Eggstravaganza for review purposes.  The opinions in this post are my own and are not influenced by the company.

Homemade Bathtub cleaner

Our tub has a very hard to clean texture on the floor.  It was stained fromm the time we moved in.  We tried every thing to clean it - bleach, comet, you name it we tried it.  We did find that oven cleaner did get the stains off but they came back very fast and I did not want to use oven clean on the tub over and over and over it is just such a harsh chemical!!  Today I found my tub cleaner over at this little family and she found this great tip over on pin interest! Gotta love pin interest. 

The magic cleaner is just Dawn dish soap and vinegar in equal parts. I just did 4 oz or each to make 8 oz of cleaner.  I then went and sprayed the concoction all over my tub and started to scrub to my surprise it accutually worked!!  Not only did it get all the stains off the floor it left the sides of the tub shiny it all looks so much better!!  This will be a must have mixture in our house!!

Review- Costumes Wholesale Costume Club

Every Little girl needs to have a large collection of dress up clothes!  I love seeing small ones enjoying a good time of dress up!  I love when little girl's dress up like mommies, princesses, or even cute little bunny rabbits and get a good workout for their imaginations.  

I was very excited when given the opportunity to review a dress up outfit for baby bug.  I spent a longtime looking at all the costumes for toddlers over at wholesale costume Club.

They have such a fun wide selection of costumes.  I had the hardest time choosing one, did we want to be Minnie mouse, super girl, pooh bear, a cute little animal or a classic princess.  

I ended up choosing a princess costume.  We went for a Disney classic, a princess Aurora costume.  Boy were we excited when it arrived.  I think I may have been more excited then baby bug!  The costume arrived and I was very happy to pull out a pink sparkly princess dress The dressed is accented with gold trimming and lots of gold glitter. The dress is a Disney costume and has a cute little aurora pendent on the front of it.  We have been very pleased with the costume.  Baby bug has brought it to me several times to put on her since we got it last week and has even tried to put it on herself a few times, which is a site to behold, she is able to pull it put around her waist and wear it like a tutu.  I love watching baby bug dance around in this costume I can tell it makes her feel special.  This is one that we will be playing with often.

  Disclaimer:  I was given a free costume for review purposes only the opinions in this post are mine and where not influenced by the company. 

Book Review: Sweeter Than Birdsong

Book Review: Sweeter than Birdsong 

By Rosslyn Elliott

From the Back of the Book:

In Westerville, Ohio 1855, Kate Winter's dreams are almost within reach.  As the first woman to graduate from Otterbein College, she'll be guaranteed her deepest wish: escape from the dark secret haunting her family.  But with her mother determined to marry her off to a wealthy man, Kate must face reality.  She has to run.  Now.  And she has the perfect plan.  Join  the upcoming musical performance- and use it to mask her flight.

Ben Hanby, Otterbein College's musical genius sees Kate Winter as an enigmatic creature notable for her beauty, yet painfully shy.  Then he hears her sing- and the glory of her voice moves him as never before.  He determines to cast her in his musical and uncover the mystery that is Kate.  Still, he must keep his own secret to himself.  Not even this intriguing woman can know that his passionate faith is driving him to aid fugitives on the Underground Railroad.  

Aterrifying accident brings Kate and Ben together, but threatens to shatter both their secrets and their dreams.  Kate can no longer deny the need to find her courage- and her voice- if she is to sing a new song for their future.

My Thoughts:

Have you ever read one of those books that you just cannot put down?  This is one of those it is a pretty lengthy book of 375 pages and I read it in less then a day.  I loved this story.  Their was a lot of depth to the story.  Their is alot going on it has adventure, love, personal victories.  Kate is such a sweet quite character very different then most leading ladies.  Ben is also not like many leading men in stories.  He is a more gentle aware fellow with a very kind caring heart.  

It was interesting how the story revolved around the underground railroad.  I have not read many books from this time period or region and really enjoyed that about this book.  I enjoyed this writers style the book flowed well and even though it had lots of adventure and lots of turns and twists I was able to easily keep up with what was going on.  This book is a second in The Saddler's Legacy Series.  Even thought it is a second book it read on it's own just fine, for the most part I did not get lost due to not reading the first book.  Their was one part where Ben's father is talking about when he and Ben's mom are courting I think that part would have made more sense had I already read the first book.  I really want to read that first book Fairer than Morning.  I also really hope their is a third book that will come out in this series as well.  I think their was plenty of room left for another book in this series.  I give this book a 5 out of 5 stars it truly is a must read!!  I am sure you won't be able to out it down either. 

Disclaimer:  I was given a free copy of this book for review purposes only.  The opinions in this review are all mine and are not influenced by the company. 

Tot School - A fun day!

Baby Bug and I had a fun day.  

We went to the library this morning for story time.  

She loves story time, The mommies sit in a circle and some kids sit still in mommy's laps others walk around jump dance etc.  Baby bug has always stayed very close to me.  Last time we were there she would walk a few steps in front of me then walk backwards all the way back to me, over and over I could tell she wanted to dance and play like the other kids but she just wasn't sure.  This week she built up the nerve to join in the fun, she did not go really far but she danced and sang with the other little ones.  I really like how our librarian leads circle time, we always start with the same song then have two or three new activities then the groups favorite song wiggle your fingers, then we end with the parachute.  The structure really helps the little ones to know what to expect.  

After circle time we enjoyed the kids computers, the Thomas the train play table and the big box of board books.  Baby bug could stay at the library all day I don't think she would ever get tired of the fun!! 

This afternoon we came home for some valentines fun.  We used some new Mickey Mouse valentines stickers.  Then I pulled out the valentines heart crayons I made last   year we had fun coloring with them.  After that I pulled out some pink play dough and a heart cookie cutter.  I was reminded of how good play dough is for young development.  We made shapes, talked about the color pink, I spelled out her name with it.  Not to mention all the fine motor and exploration as she plays with it. 

Tot School - Fine Motor practice

Baby Bug loves her crafts and she is really getting lots of great fine motor practice as she plays.  

I have a plastic container that I keep all her crafty things in.  She has crayons, coloring books, stickers, and bingo dot daubers in it.  It is great to have it all in one handy place and it helps me to pull it out more often to know everything I need to let her explore is tucked into one little box. 

Allowing your toddler art time does not have to be costly.  Lately I have been letting Baby Bug do her art work in her coloring books.  Tonight she did all her work in a coloring book we got free at Publix.  

We used bingo daubers my sister got her at dollar tree, stickers and crayons.  She had a fun time creating and working her little hand muscles.  

Sticker Tip: If your toddler struggles to get the stickers off the sticker page peel the edges off leaving only the stickers to work from.  As long as your child does not get frustrated peeling her own stickers off rather then you handing them to her one at a time let her it strengthens fine motor skills and requires focus.

The bingo daubers are so much fun!! 

Guylian Artisanal Belgian Chocolates - Review and Giveaway

I have a wonderful Valentines Gift  review for you tonight!!! 

The most wonderful boxes of yummies arrived on my doorstep - Guylian Artisanal Belgian Chocolates

This was an exciting thing to review for sure, who doesn't like to try out some new chocolate?
I had no ideal how big of a treat I was in for.  The box came with a variety of yummy treats for me to sample - Including no sugar added Chocolate Bars, Milk Chocolate Truffles and Dark Chocolate Truffles.   All of these were very high quality chocolate and very tasty.
My favorite was the Milk Chocolate Truffles.  The filling is so wonderful very creamy and rich in flavor.  They felt special, like we were eating some very luxurious.  They come in a few different seashell and seahorse shapes.  The white and brown swirls make for a pretty treat.

So today was the first day in February have you made plans of how you are going to treat that some one special to a special gift yet?  You cannot go wrong with these truffles they are the perfect gift.

You can connect to Guylian on their facebook or through twitter 
I have some exciting news!! Guylian is offering one Learning to be Thrifty Viewer a chance to win some Chocolate of their own.  One view will win a Guylian Artisanal Belgian Original Chocolate Truffles (valued at $14) Box of 22! Yum Yum!!
You Must be 18 years or older and in the US to enter.

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