Mary Kaye Music Box CD Giveaway Winner

The contest to win a copy of the children’s music CD “Music Box” by Mary Kaye is over and the winner is comment #8 who was Lili11. She’s been contacted and should be getting her CD soon.

Mary Kaye Music Box CD Review & Giveaway- Closed

Almost a month ago I received my first review opportunity when musician Mary Kaye offered to send me a copy of her newest CD “Music Box” before it was even in stores. I gladly accepted and once we received the CD I turned it on for the girls. Princess starting dancing to it right away and Sweet Pea bobbed along too.

We don’t own a lot of kids’ music because I don’t like listening to most of it. But this CD was different, it has an indie-folk sound but with kid’s lyrics. The words are all age appropriate with lots of repetition to help kids learn. Princess didn’t talk very much until she was 28 months so I’m hoping Sweet Pea picks up on language a lot faster. Kids need to hear words repeatedly before they understand them so repeating words through songs or books is a good way to develop their language skills. Each story on the CD is a mini story about things like bugs, hot chocolate fairies and robots.

Mary Kaye has two girls just like me. Unlike me though, she can actually sing. She’s been featured in magazines and had her music played on the radio across the world. She has worked as a professional actress, elementary teacher and drama camp director. She understands kids and the type of music they love.

I obviously like the CD but don’t just take my word for it, here’s two other reviews her last CD Spin your Web received

“Kaye’s voice is comparable at times to contemporary pop musicians such as Tori Amos or Sarah McLachlan, but I doubt you’d hear either of those ethereal divas singing songs about porcupines, pigs, skeletons, soup or blueberries…”
- Kevin Oliver, Palmetto Parent, South Carolina, June 2006

“…I think I’d sum up Spin Your Web like this: imagine if you went to Lilith Fair, and they had a daycare stage. This is the kind of music that I’d expect to hear emanating from that stage…”
- Josh Chasin, A Penny’s Worth, August 2006

Music Box was just released today (July 2) so you can be one of the first to buy “Music Box” online for only $15 or you can enter for a chance to win below

Mandatory Entry
Visit Mary Kaye’s website and listen to some samples of her songs. Let me know your favourite song from the “Music Box” CD (This must be done before any of the other entries
New Mandatory Entry- Leave a comment

Bonus Entries

• Listen to any of her other three CDs and tell me your favourite song from the CD (can be done for each CD)
• Follow me on Twitter and leave your twitter name in the comments
• Tweet about this contest (Can be done daily, leave the tweet url in the comments)
  (Tweet Example: Win children’s “Music Box” CD by Mary Kay @KellyNMom http://bit.ly/m2BKg)
• Subscribe to my blog via RSS (Pink Button on Sidebar)
• Follow me on Google FriendConnect
• Subscribe to this blog via e-mail (2 entries)
• Grab my button (5 entries, leave a comment for each entry with the address of your blog)
• Blog about this giveaway (10 entries)

Contest ends July 16th at midnight and is open world-wide

Reviews and Giveaways

here

Beech Nut Toddler Food Winner

My first giveaway ended yesterday and I’m happy to announce that McVeggie is the winner of two boxes of toddler food.

Cloth Diaper Giveaways

If you already cloth diaper and would like to add to your stash or are new to cloth diapering and would like to test out different cloth diaper brands try entering cloth diaper giveaways online. Below is a list of all the current diaper giveaways I know of. Unless otherwise noted they are only open to US residents. So I can’t win but you might be able to

3 Fuzzibunz Diapers Comfort Joy Designs (June 30th)

1 Happy Heinys Look What Mom Found (June 15th)

3 3Monkeys Cloth Diapers MonkeyToes Reviews & Giveaways (Canada & US, June 10th)

1 AppleCheeks Diaper MonkeyToes Reviews & Giveaways (World-wide, June 18th)

1 Apple Cheeks Diaper From Jolly Mom (World-Wide, June 18th)

If you know of any others that I missed please let me know. Good luck!

Beech Nut Toddler Food Giveaway- Closed

I’m participating in my first Bzz Campaign and was excited to receive a huge box of toddler food to share with my friends. Most of you know Beech Nut makes baby food but now they are also making toddler Food. We received several samples of 7 Grain Nibbles, Biter Biscuits and Yoghurt Nibbles.

I want my kids to eat healthy but don’t always have time to prepare fruit or vegetables, especially when I’m running out the door. I love the fact that Beech Nut has a no Junk Promise. Their products are made with whole grains and no preservatives, artificial flavours or colours.

When my daughter started on solid foods, my husband and I were thrilled to have an excuse to buy Mr. Christie’s Arrowroot cookies for ourselves our daughter. We happily shared with her as well, but one day I took the time to actually read the ingredients. I was shocked to find out that sugar was the second ingredient and the next ingredient was shortening. The Beech Nut biter biscuits are made of healthier ingredients. The closest thing to sugar is evaporated cane juice which is a healthier option than white sugar. They are not as sweet as traditional baby cookies but my kids still loved them.

The 7 Grain Nibbles are like miniature rice cakes. They are a bit messy so we don’t take this travelling with us. But I like feeding them to Sweet Pea in her high chair. They keep her entertained while I make dinner and it’s nice to have something other than cheerios to offer her. They come in two flavours: Sweet Potato and Mixed Veggie

We recently took a bag of the Yoghurt Nibbles to the park. Princess loves them and they keep her occupied while we’re strolling around. She was even nice enough to share with her sister. We tried the Berries and Cherries type but i’m sure she would have loved the Strawberry Banana kind too.

Win Beech Nut Toddler Food
As part of the Bzz Campaign they encourage us to share with other moms. I’d like to offer you a chance to test these snacks as well. One person will win a box of the 7 Grain Nibbles Sweet Potato snacks and a box of the Biter Biscuits. This contest is open to Canada and US. Contest will end June 8th.

Entries: You can do any or all of the following things to get an entry. Be sure to leave a comment for each separate action you do.

1. Leave a comment about quick snack ideas for kids, favourite features about the Beech Nut toddler line or anything somewhat related
2. Follow my blog
3. Subscribe to my blog
4. Follow me on twitter @KellyNMOM
5. Retweet this contest or blog about this giveaway
6. Add me to your blog roll

I’m a Winner!

I won my first contest! I won the Aurora Photo Editing program in a giveaway hosted by Staci at Momma’s Gone over the Wall. After a quick download, I started editing some photos. It’s amazingly easy and intuitive to use. I didn’t need any instructions at all. As soon as I opened it, it imported all my photo files into the program. Then I picked one and started editing. There is no need to create a extra copy of your photo since it automatically saves your edited file as a new file with an “au” at the end. It also shows you exactly what your photos will look like before you change anything. And you can press a button at any time to see the original photo.

One of the best things about the program is the relight feature that “turns on the light” in pictures. You can see an example at Momma’s Gone over the Wall.

I thought I had a pretty good picture of the girls from Easter when I started but with a little bit of added crispness, color warmth and strength it turned into an amazing photo. I can’t believe how much better it looks. Another great feature is that it fixes red-eye with just one button click. There is no need to drag rectangles over every person’s eyes manually with this program.

Before

After

I’m so glad I won this. There a few other giveaways for Aurora that are still open if you’d like to win it for yourself
Potamus Prefers (Ends May 15th)
Two of a Kind, Working on a Full House (Ends May 20th)

You can also purchase it for only 19.99 (50% off) at Aurora or download a free 7 day trial of Aurora.

What’s the best thing you’ve ever won?

Free Princess DVD from Fisher Price

Fisher Price is giving away a Free DVD about Princesses. It’s only a 12 minute DVD but you don’t even have to pay for shipping and handling. It looks like these Princesses will be better role models than traditional Disney characters who need to be rescued by charming princes. Their website says that the Princess Sirina and her friends will use their unique strengths to work together.

Click here to request your Free DVD. Sadly, this offer is only offer to residents of the US and be prepared to wait 12-14 weeks! So I wouldn’t tell your daughters about this yet otherwise they will be asking where their DVD is for the next 3 months. By the time you actually get it, you’ll probably have forgotten you ordered it and it’ll be a surprise for everyone.

Hoover SpinScrub Floormate Contest

While I’m not a huge fan of cleaning, I do appreciate anything that can help me get the house clean faster. One task that takes so long that I avoid doing until it desperately needs to get done is mopping. Which means taking the time to sweep, mop and then wait for it to dry, all while keeping the girls occupied and off the floor. Luckily there is an easier and faster solution.

One of the blogs I like to read, Life Starring Ellie and Eve, is giving away a Hoover SpinScrub Floormate! This handy gadget vacuums, mops and dries! There’s no need for a mop and bucket and there is no switching between tools. With the drying option we can get back on the floor even faster. Which means the girls can start dirtying up the floor again even sooner.

Click here to enter the Hoover SpinScrub Floormate Contest

Dress-Up Princess Toy

Do you remember the paper dolls that came with paper clothes? They were inexpensive and fun to play with but flimsy and easily torn. With a baby in the house that will eat any paper she comes across I didn’t think that one of these would last long in our household. Luckily, my husband came home one day with a surprise gift for his little princess. Princess Eliseis a sturdy wooden doll who is magnetic. She comes with multiple outfits that Princess loves to play with. There are dresses, skirts, tops hats and gloves to attach. Her favourite is the pink outfit the doll came wearing. As a toddler, Princess finds it far easier and quicker to change the outfits on this doll than a regular doll. Thanks to this toy, Princess has learned the importance of matching and outfit coordination. Although, one day I’ll have to explain to her that outfits are allowed to be different colours.

It’s fun for adults to assemble the outfits too. Even my husband wanted in on the action and was showing Princess the different outfit choices. I was pleasantly surprised by the cost too. I figured that such a high quality toy would be rather expensive in comparison to the regular manufactured plastic toys. It turned out be less than $15 and can be found for as low as $10 on Amazon.

This was my first time using Melissa & Doug Products and I like the line so much I’ve bought other toys. I love the wooden construction and the fact that it is a family business. You can order this toy and other toys from the Melissa & Doug Website but I found that the prices were consistently lower online at Amazon.