Name Your Tune Personalized CDs Volume 2 is Released just in Time for Summer Road Trips

With families preparing for road trips this summer travel season, they’ll be looking to make their time in the car more fun (and dare we suggest, more bearable). Name Your Tune personalized CDs for kids offer a fun, easy and creative way to keeps kids entertained. Instead of questions from the backseat like "are we there yet?", they’re going to be asking "can I hear my songs again?" Name Your Tune even offers having multiple names on one cd, so that the kids don’t have to argue about which cd to play; one cd can entertain all of the siblings. Celeb parents have already attested to the fun they're having in the car with their Name Your Tune CDs.  

Name Your Tune’s founder Candace Alper said, “Whether it's the short drive to the grocery store, the 40 minute drive to the zoo, beach or theme park or the often dreaded long haul to your vacation destination, ‘Name Your Tune CDs’ will help get you there.”

Name Your Tune is a fun and fresh music compilation with two volumes that are made-to-order and personalized for each child. The child’s name is sung more than 80 times and is the feature part of every song, making each song an instant sing-along, feel-good hit. The tunes are familiar and much-loved classics that the entire family can enjoy together during this summer travel season! Everyone can sing along with the songs that are old and new all at the same time - classics like "Old MacDonald Had A Farm E-I-E-I-O" become "Little Hannah Had A Farm E-I-E-I-O."  Volume 2 includes Five Little Monkeys, Skinamarink, Mr. Sun and the ABCs. Available at NameYourTune.com, people have the option to purchase 1 cd for $20, or 2 cds for $36.

About Name Your Tune Inc.
NAME YOUR TUNE Volume 2 was released in November 2010 and between Volume 1 and Volume 2, there are more than 7000 names in these catalogues. It is one of the most popular children’s releases of a generation, winning broad appeal among preschoolers, parents, adults and grandparents. The award-winning CD is created by Executive Producer Candace Alper, an Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year nominee, and a Top 3 Mompreneur of the Year. Name Your Tune’s Most Popular Names of the Year and Decade story was cited the world over by CNN, Jimmy Fallon, Yahoo.com, National Post, AP, CP and hundreds of websites.

My Take on the CD
This CD was so much fun making for my girls. When it did show up they were amazed to find their names right on the CD itself and they were even more amazed with the fact that their names were included in the CD a ton of times (I didn't count but the company does state it will be more than 80 times).

Beyond this, the music is fin and engaging and the girls simply loved it! My youngest, Diva-PJ was even more excited when she found out that one of her favorite songs, Five Little Monkeys (She loves Monkeys) was on this CD. Let's just say that we have been listening to that song a lot!

Anyway, if you are looking for a truly unique gift for a child that you love, look no further than this personalized musical tribute to your child, you will not be disappointed!

All opinions expressed in this review are my own and not influenced in any way by the company.  Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider. Please refer to this site's Disclaimer  for more information. I have been compensated or given a product free of charge, but that does not impact my views or opinions.  

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Lion Letters Cards - Between the Lions

About these Cards

Alphabet Card Game
These striking full-color alphabet cards from Between the Lions^(R) teach letter and word recognition and phonemic awareness while improving children’s vocabulary. The deck of cards includes instructions for three games: Concentration, Go Fish, and Alphabet Matching. Each of the 26 matching pairs feature: 

·    A letter of the alphabet 
·    A realistic photo of a simple item that begins with that letter 
·    A unique color to assist younger children with matching 

With three ways to match—by letter, by image, or by color—these cards set children on the path to successful literacy learning. Perfect for home or on the go, alone or with a family member or friend, the LION LETTERS: Alphabet Card Game is sure to keep kids busy learning and having fun!   

Rhyming Card Game
Using the Between the Lions® approach to literacy, the LION LETTERS: Rhyming Card Game teaches children the importance of word families and rhyming while they’re having fun! With directions for playing games like Concentration and Go Fish, these cards are perfect for playing with at home or on the go. Each of the 52 matching cards includes:

·    A realistic photo that represents the rhyming word
·    A color border on each matching set to help match rhymes more easily

Easy and portable, the LION LETTERS: Rhyming Card Game is perfect for busy parents who want to have fun and help their kids learn! 


About Between the Lion
Between the Lions was created by award-winning producers of high-quality educational children’s television working closely with literacy experts, reading specialists, and teachers from around the country. The curriculum framework is built on a strong foundation of evidence-based research about how children learn to read. Since before the first episode premiered in April 2000, Between the Lions has been the subject of numerous independent research studies assessing the effectiveness of the series in achieving its literacy goals; these studies have all shown that Between the Lions has a significant impact on increasing children’s literacy. Between the Lions is produced by WGBH Boston, Sirius Thinking, Ltd., and Mississippi Public Broadcasting. 

My Take on the CardsMy youngest, Diva-PJ is getting into learning. She is starting to learn her letters and even some words. We challenge her, and though she is only three she eats it up and seems to love the challenge. With this in mind these cards were welcome additions to our resources. The cards are beautiful, full color cards that jump off the paper that they are made on.

The rhyming cards are good for helping children with simple rhyming skills. With 52 cards in the deck you can do a lot with the cards. There are also two games that you can play with the cards so you have some good options at your fingertips as you are using them, Diva-PJ liked playing Go Fish the most!

The Alphabet cards have the same games as the rhyming cards, but Diva-PJ seemed to like matching with these cards more than the other cards. I cannot say why this was the case, but it was.

All-in-all I was impressed with these cards and so was Diva-PJ. I know that these cards will be with us for some time and they will greatly assist us in her overall education as well.


All opinions expressed in this review are my own and not influenced in any way by the company.  Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider. Please refer to this site's Disclaimer  for more information. I have been compensated or given a product free of charge, but that does not impact my views or opinions.  
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Review of Read & Share Toddler Bible

I joined recently a review panel with Thomas Nelson to review some of their books from time to time. The first one that I had the chance to review was the Read and Share Toddler Bible by Gwen Ellis.

One of the things that first jumped out at me with this book was the artwork and the simplicity but meaningful stories that they share within. All of the stories are on the childs' level and make it easy for the child to understand and for the parent to explain. The stories themselves are both from the Old and New Testament so your child wll be able to learn about some of the main stories such as: Creation, Noah, Moses, Abraham, Isaac, Joseph, David, to Jesus’ birth, miracles, death, and resurrection.

I was also impressed as within the Bible itself there are suggestions for parents about how to act out parts of the story or other ways to again help your child better understand the context and the meaning behind the story itself.

The book also comes with a 60 minute DVD that engages your child at a different level.

J-Mom and I tried reading some of the passages to Diva-PJ and with the length of the passages (typically about 3 minutes in length) she listened attentively. She also enjoyed watching the DVD as well.

I would definitely recommend this book to other parents as it provides your child a fun way to gain knowledge about some of the passages of the Bible that we all remember now as parents.
If you are interested in learning more, you can read a few passages from this book here.


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Jelli Bee Baby - Great Products You Should Check Out!

Thanks to Buck Rogers, I won a Jelli Bee Baby Bib for my daughter Diva-PJ! I received the bib recently and let me tell you, this was not any run of the mill bib. These bibs, let alone, are fashionable (as I got to pick out the color and style that I wanted - and as you can see, pick is all the craze.) but also you can choose whether you have a pocket or not, which we chose to do.

These bibs are heavy duty and well constructed with double stitching throughout. I have tried heavy duty bibs before, and many times these bibs are not washer safe and get kind of nasty after a while even when you have wash them. Thus far, from what I can see, this bib will hold up to anything that Diva-PJ send its' way. The bib is also washer safe which is a plus and makes for easy cleanup.

I also have to commend Jane Schwartz of Jelli Bee Baby as she has been a joy to work with and if her other staff are as friendly and easy to work with as she is, you will have no problems with customer service.

All-in-all I would give this bib a two Dad of Divas Thumbs Up! Check out this great company today!

Nature Made Cholestoff

Do any of you remember the commercial that was out a while back regarding a cholesterol medicine that stated something to the effect that you get your Cholesterol from Uncle Ned or Fried Chicken...well they used cute rhymes that I can't remember now. I am a great example of what genetics can do to someone even though it may not look like there is anything wrong from the outside. I have been battling rising cholesterol issues for some time and today was my D-Day to see where my levels were after a 3 month stint. Now I am not saying that my levels are such that I should be taking medicine, at least not yet, but I have been concerned at the rising levels, even when I am eating healthy (rabbit food for lunch as J-Mom says) and a healthy breakfast. My meal with the most cholesterol of the day is dinner. So where does this all come from? Well I hate to point fingers, but it comes from my mother's side of the genetic tree. Again, you would never know it in looking at the very petite woman that my mother is, but she has the same issues as I and works hard to control it without medicine. I have been trying to do the same thing, as I really do not want to be on medicine for this. So what have I been doing...well, I have been eating a healthy breakfast and lunch. My exercise routine has gone out the window unfortunately since Diva-PJ was born. The other new thing that I have been doing over the last 3 months was that I have been taking a new product from Nature Made called CholestOff. This product uses plant stanols to limit the amount of Cholesterol that binds to your intestine walls (thus getting absorbed into your bloodstream). For optimal results you have to take 2 capsules 15-30 minutes prior to breakfast and dinner. The website for the product states that you can take them with your meal, but you will not have the same results. I started to use this after my mother (who has higher levels than I) decided to try this so that she would not have to be medicated and at her next check her levels had substantially decreased...to the extent that her Physician stated "whatever you are doing, keep doing it." Hearing this made me decide to try it myself and I am hoping (as you can guess) for similar results. I have found this product to be easy enough to take and there is no unpleasant taste or aftertaste, and I have had no side effects (though I don't think there should be any). The only problem that I sometimes had was remembering to take the medicine prior to the meal. You truly have to consciously think about taking the medicine and plan ahead of time when your meal actually will be so that you take it in enough time. Also, I will state that the product is not the cheapest, but the way I look at it, if I have to pay a bit more for a natural way to cut my cholesterol, so be it. Also, I have come to find that you can get this product at some of the drug store chains (Walgreens & CVS) at buy 1, get 1....so you can definitely stock up every now and again. Beyond this, once you start buying Nature Made vitamins/products, you can start collecting points that can be redeemed for coupons for money off, so the price altogether can be decreased. I should have the results of my test within a few days so I will have to let everyone know if this experiment was successful or not, but I tend to be uber-optomist, so I am certain that the experiment was successful! I thought I would leave this post today with a few additional links for your information on how you can manage your cholesterol:

• Discovery Health



• Keeping Cholesterol Under Control



• Natural Ways to Lower Bad Cholesterol, Boost The Good, Improve Your HDL Factor and Get Healthy



• Lower Your Cholesterol Naturally



• Natural Ways to Reduce Your Cholesterol 

So how else have you worked to control your cholestrol issues?

UPDATE
Ok... I promised the results so here they are... may I have a drum roll please!
January
Cholesterol - 232
Triglycerides - 77
LDL - 139
HDL - 83
Ratio - 2.8
July
Cholesterol - 207!
Triglycerides - 54
LDL - 116
HDL - 77
Ratio - 2.7


So what does this all mean??? Well..it means that the CholestOff definitely worked, and that if I keep it up and if I start exercising more regularly, that maybe I can get the levels below 200! The only thing I did not like to see was that my HDL lowered and the my Triglycerides went up...go figure!