There five featured stories are “Goggles”, “A Letter to Amy”, “Will I Have a Friend”, “Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge” and our current favorite One Zillion Valentines by author and illustrator Frank Modell.  These stories are all wonderful and are sure to delight! Each story focuses on teaching  children attributes and model things such as friendship, sharing with others, and embracing new experiences.

Project: Loom Twisted Knit Key Hole Scarf
Pattern Source: Twisted Keyhole Scarflette or Scarf Double Knit
by Kristen from Good Knit Kisses

Loom/Tools Used:  Yellow Knifty Knitter Long Loom
Brand of Yarn Used: Loops & Threads Country Loom Yarn
Color Yarn: Kiss Me
Fiber Content: 100% acrylic
Yarn Weight: #6 Super Bulky
Yardage Used: Two 104 yards Balls (I used about 1 1/2) 5 oz. skein
Care Instructions: Machine wash warm, gentle cycle. Machine dry, low heat, delicate cycle.

Finished Dimensions: 4 inches wide and 37 1/2 inches long.

Date Started and Finished:  I started this the last week of December 2011 but wasn’t able to knit to finish it till the end of January 2012.

Project Details: I did a double ribbing stitch through out on this scarf. This came out nice and thick. Perfect for a cool winter day. I really love how it looks and feels! I will be making more of these to  sell on my Etsy Shop  and to gift to family and friends.

A classic love story unfolds in the best Disney tradition as a lovely young pedigreed cocker spaniel named Lady, who lives a pampered life, finds herself falling romantically for Tramp, an amorous street-smart pooch without prospects. Although they have fun together on several dates, including a sentimental spaghetti dinner by moonlight at Tony’s restaurant, their relationship is strained not only by Lady’s loyalty to her human family and their newborn baby, but by Tramp’s devil-may-care attitude that eventually gets Lady in trouble and tossed into the dog pound. However, good-hearted Tramp redeems himself by saving the baby from potential harm and thus wins Lady’s love and the affection of her human family.

Today the beloved classic Lady and The Tramp arrives on Blu-ray Diamond edition for the first time  from Walt Disney Studios. This movie  I remember watching as a child and now I can share this heart warming tale with my own children in this spectacular diamond edition! This is film to be shared and enjoy by both young and old.

So what did my kids think? First you should know that my three and a half year old daughter loves dog movies. In fact, this movie is probably running a close second to another Disney film called Bolt. The cute songs kept my daughter intrigued and the story kept her captivated. I enjoyed watching her expression and was there to reassure or answer any questions she was known to ask during any film she watches.

Keep in mind you might want to save this one till your children are a bit older or I recommend you be there to comfort during any frightening situations. My daughter did get a bit scared when the rat was climbing into the babies room and started crying because she thought the baby was going to get hurt but I told her that the dogs would make sure it was okay.

The run time of this film isn’t too long. I think 76 minutes is a good running time as any longer sometimes loses the interest of children.  This tale is heart warming and teaches children the importance of friendship, love, compassion, and acceptance of others. I highly recommend this Disney classic. I am also really enjoying going through all the special features and learning the history behind with this sweet title!

Blu-ray & DVD Combo Special Features and Bonuses:

Blu-ray Bonus:  

• Disney Second Screen: Inside Walt’s Story Meetings*
• Audio Commentary: Inside Walt’s Story Meetings
• Diane Disney Miller: Remembering Dad
• Three Never-Before-Seen Deleted Scenes
• Never Recorded Song: “I’m Free as the Breeze”

Classic DVD Bonus: 

• Lady’s Pedigree: The Making of Lady and the Tramp
• Finding Lady: The Art of the Storyboard
• Original 1943 Storyboard Version of the Film
• PuppyPedia: Going to the Dogs
• “The Siamese Cat Song,” Finding a Voice for the Cats
• “Bella Notte” Music Video

DVD Bonus:  

• Diane Disney Miller: Remembering Dad
• PuppyPedia: Going to the Dogs

Digital Bonus:

• Diane Disney Miller: Remembering Dad
• Three Never-Before-Seen Deleted Scenes
• PuppyPedia: Going to the Dogs

BUY IT: The 2 Disc Blu-Ray Combo Pack retails for $39.99 in the US and $46.99 in Canada.  Standard Digital for $29.99 US/$35.99 Canada and 3 Disc Blu-Ray Combo Pack for $44.99/ $51.99 Canada.

**Right now you can purchase Lady and the Tramp (Diamond Edition Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo in Blu-ray Packaging) on Amazon.com for 22.99! It’s not to late to surprise your special Valentine with this spectacular movie!

We are huge fans of the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse over here and it’s no surprise that the I Heart Minnie DVD has quickly become a brand new favorite in our home. My daughter loves all the characters and is really enthralled with how the team works together to figure things out! My son who recently has turned one is also starting to pay attention when we watch the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse . And be warned the the theme song is going to get stuck in your head! Good thing it’s a pretty cute song.

This Mickey Mouse Clubhouse DVD, much like the others, focuses on making learning fun. There’s things like shape recognition, colors, problem solving skills and counting. My daughter also really liked that the DVD cover itself had activities to keep her happy on the reversible cover . How fun that not only can she watch a show that she loves but she can figure out mazes, and do other fun activities such as color how she’d like the featured cover to look and there’s even a place for her to write her name on who the movie belongs too.

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Disclosure: This review is 100% my opinion and has not been edited or reviewed by anyone. I was not compensated in any other way for this product review.

My Little Pony Friendship is Magic: The Friendship Express DVD is going to be released for your viewing pleasure on February 28. In My Little Pony Friendship is Magic: The Friendship Express, the benevolent Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria, selects unicorn Twilight Sparkle for a very important assignment – to learn about the most important magic of all: friendship. With her new friends, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, Twilight sets out on amazing adventures, and they all learn what it means to be true friends.

There are five episodes included on this two hour collection featuring magical stories focused on the importance of friendship. Episode titles include; Friendship is Magic part 1, Friendship is Magic part 2, Over a Barrel, Hearth’s Warming Eve and The Last Roundup. My daughter loves her friends and is always talking about them. I appreciate titles such as this one that encourage and display characteristics we all should take to heart to be a good friend!

You can pre-order My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic: The Friendship Express on Amazon right now for 9.99 which is a great deal! Any with Easter coming up soon, this  DVD would be a great for any little girl receive in their basket!

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How about a chance to win your very own DVD copy?

a Rafflecopter giveaway

What’s not to love about the latest set of collectors bills from Swagbucks just in time for Valentines Day? The collectors bills are worth a variety of amounts of reward points and if you collect them all, you’ll earn an extra 14 bonus Swagbucks to use toward free stuff! The bills come out at midnight PT on Monday and will be available only through Search until 11:59pm PT on Valentine’s Day.

I love Swagbucks and can’t say enough about it! For instance you could be winning really big. Last month I put my reward points toward gifts cards and reaped the benefits big time. I just received my 20.00 order from the gifts cards I redeemed to Alice.com and I also earned 25.00′s worth of money toward Amazon.com which I used to purchase a few fun things for my kids and myself!

Don’t forget, today is Friday and that means it’s a Mega Swag Bucks Day!  That means an increased chance of getting bigger amount of Swagbucks!

I made molded crayons this week from my daughter’s broken pieces of crayons! I got the idea from multiple pins seen on Pintrest.com. I love Pintrest, because I can find things I want to do right away and I can share my inspiration with others. An awesome site that I recommend everyone to join! I’m going to share below what I did so that you can too!

Tools You’ll Need:

1 Popsicle Stick for Stiring the melted wax
1 Tin Can for melting the crayons in ( I would recommend using multiple cans for each color you are melting but I only had one at the time)
1 Chocolate Shape Tray ( I picked up a seashell one from my local craft store for about 1.00 using a coupon!)
1 Pot for for heating the Tin Can up and melting the wax.

 How to…

Gather all broken crayons and make sure the wrappers are taken off. You can get the kids to do that part because if your child is anything like mine, they are the reasons all the wrappers are missing anyways. Then have your kids sort the crayons by colors  into your tin cans.  The next part is something that you’ll probably want to do instead of your child depending on their age.

Then create a makeshift double boiler by filling a saucepan with water & set your cans, filled with crayons, inside. Bring the water to a boil and then down to a simmer, stirring every once in awhile with your Popsicle stick.

Once the crayon wax is melted, you’ll be ready to pour them into your molds! Make sure to use an oven mitt or potholder so you don’t burn yourself because things can get hot! Simply pour the wax into the mold. You can mix things up by adding two different colors and swirling around or you could add one color wax let it dry and pour a different color to finish the design.  Solid crayons work perfectly fine too!

I was surprised how fast the crayons cooled off! These slide right out when they are cool enough. I really enjoyed doing this and am looking forward to finding more fun mold shapes to make crayons out of. I think for my daughter’s birthday I’ll make some special crayons. I even found a Unicorn Candy Mold on Amazon that I know she’ll love! Possibilities and combinations are endless, I’ve seen rocket ships, cars, lego blocks, crosses, hearts, and so much more!

Have you ever made your own crayons? Share your experience with me here!

Creative and uniqueness fills every page of this darling hard-cover little book. I found myself tickled with the thought and sentiment that went into creating such a sweet a story about what a baby may dream about. The photography in this book is really nice and fits well with each corresponding page resembling a scene a baby may dream up. Photo props cleverly include things like blankets, shirts, a clothes line, stars made from fabrics, and more to create the scenes.

Through out the book you’ll see scenes of baby being a butterfly, astronaut, a book worm, a mermaid, and more! I really love the thought that went behind it all!  This book would make a fantastic baby shower gift, a possible muse for a budding newborn photographer, and a sweet book for a parent to share with their children. My kids ages 3 1/2 and 1 years old like this book. And it hasn’t faltered in making me smile yet!

You can purchase When My Baby Dreams for $9.32 on Amazon.com and it’s eligible for free super saving shipping too.

Disclosure: This review is 100% my opinion and has not been edited or reviewed by anyone. I was not compensated in any other way for this product review. Special thanks to Amazon for sending this book to my family to review.

Farmer Jason and Buddies Nature Jams  has 16 original songs on CD and includes a bonus DVD that features four fun music videos! The booklet that comes with the CD is very colorful and features really colorful eye catching illustrations for every song! Many guest artist sing along with Farmer Jason such as REM’s Mike Mills, Cheap Trick’s Tom Petersson, Iris Dement, Alison Brown, Suzy Bogguss, Brandi Carlile, Terrance Simien, Webb Wilder, Todd Snider, Tommy Ramone and Hank Williams III, and more!

Farmer Jason and Buddies Nature Jams has  been a huge hit with my children ages nearly 4 years old and a little over 1. My son loves the song Dison the Bison and whenever it plays he’ll go round and round in circles. And my daughter keeps asking when we’ll be able to go hiking at one of our local parks again. I admit I’m itching to get back out explore nature more myself too. The songs are fun and I really like that before each song plays that a background information discussion is added which is a great education aspect!

I encourage you to check out Nature Jams for yourself and pre-order your own copy today! And while you are at it, check out Farmer Jason’s newest record label  myKaZootv, which just launched [http://www.mykazootv.com], a new 24/7 interactive kids’ entertainment channel. myKaZootv features hundreds of kid-friendly  music videos, including several from Farmer Jason and his buddies. We invite you and your family to enjoy the fun, day or night, at: http://www.mykazootv.com.

**Fun fact: This CD has just won a Dove Foundation “Family Approved” seal and “five doves” -www.dove.org! **

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I’m excited that two of my readers are going to get the chance to win the following things;

A copy of Farmer Jason’s brand new CD  Nature Jams  (Value: $15)

One official MyKaZoo kazoo! This quality blue metal kazoo will provide kids with
hours of play-along fun, and it sports a myKaZoo logo (Value: $5)

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Disclosure: This review is 100% my opinion and has not been edited or reviewed by anyone. I was not compensated in any other way for this product review.