Little Tikes Teeter Ball Review & Giveaway (ENDED)

Winning comment is #732!

If you entered and did not win my last Little Tikes giveaway, here's another chance to win a Little Tikes product! As many of you already know, Little Tikes makes amazing toys and furniture for kids. Little Tikes products are so well made that they can survive the rough play of kids and kids can use/play with these products for many years. Seriously, I would know because we actually have Little Tikes outdoor toys that are more than 3 years old and they are still in great condition.

So, in addition to the picnic table DD received to review, she also received a Teeter Ball to try out.

Features:

*Innovative styling with inflatable bouncing bottom.
*Children can bounce up and down as well as spin on this innovative product.
*Kids roll balls around the track in order to score by getting their ball in the hole first.
*Balls in separate tracks race each other for added fun.
*Durable plastic construction for years of fun.
*Two easy grip handles.
*Can be used for indoor or outdoor play.
Weight limit 60 lbs per child.
If you have purchased Little Tikes products before, you know that they come in pieces and it's up to the parents to put them together. When the Teeter Ball arrived and DD saw the photo on the box, she was overjoyed. She wanted to try her new toy right away and asked us to put it together for her. Luckily, DH was home to help me put it together. I, for one, am not great at putting things together. I am the kind of parent who puts the sticker on upside down and I always try to avoid reading instructional manuals whenever possible, lol.

DH actually sat down and read the entire instructional manual on how to assemble DD's new toy. Meanwhile, I kept on telling him that he was doing it the hard way because what he was doing made no sense what so ever. In the end, DH was right. So, my advise is that you really should read the instructional manual for this one. The base (the ball part) was not easy to install. It took the two of us to pop the top onto the base. So, I recommend having 2 people work together to put the teeter ball together.

Once we assembled the toy, it was an instant hit. All of the kids who come over to our house love it. The Teeter Ball is a toy that gets used a lot and played with frequently whenever we host playdates.
The middle of the teeter ball has tracks where you can run small plastic balls (all encased inside the clear plastic top). When the kids bounce, the little balls would get moved around and that's how you can score points-- if you were playing games. DD, however, is mostly just fascinated by how the balls move around when she bounces. I think that the kids have a lot of fun just bouncing up and down.

The pictures were taken on 2 different dates when we hosted playdates at our home. As you can see, the kids love the teeter ball and they really enjoyed playing with it. They could bounce for a long time. Sometimes, they would stop playing it and walk away only to return only a couple minutes later to hop on the teeter ball to play again.

Because the base of the teeter ball is round, it can not stand up on its own. You can either just allow it to fall on its side, or you can lean it up against a wall --which is what we do. I actually like leaning it against the corner of our backyard wall because I noticed that it takes up less space when it's not being used and I like that I don't have toys every where on the ground.

Last but not least, I also wanted to mention I was a bit concerned about how easily the kids could break the Teeter Ball. After assembling the toy, I realized that my fear was unfounded. This toy is just as well made as the other Little Tikes products we already own and I am sure that the kids will be playing with it for many years to come.

To buy your own teeter ball or check out other fantastic Little Tikes products, please go to its website.

Many thanks to Little Tikes. The company has generously offered the 1 teeter ball as a giveaway prize to one of my lucky readers (US residents only please).


How to enter:

In order to enter my giveaway, you MUST be a public follower of my blog through Google Friend Connect. To follow me, click on the "Follow" button on the right hand side of my blog. If you are not a follower and you enter my giveaway, ALL of your comments will be automatically forfeited.

1). Please go to Little Tikes and then come back to tell me about another product you would like to try (you MUST be a public follower of my blog to enter this giveaway, and your profile can not be set at private).

How to earn additional entries (please leave a separate comment for each additional entry):


2.) Blog about my giveaway- with a link back to here, when you leave the comment make sure you include the URL of where your post of my giveaway is. Please do not copy and paste my review over to your blog, please write about why you would like to win this giveaway and provide a link back to this post. The Contest ends July 22nd, 2010 at 11:59pm PST. Blogging about my giveaway earns 2 additional entries.

3.) Add me as a friend on Facebook for 2 additional entries.

4.) Follow me on Twitter for 2 additional entries.

5.) Grab my button and display my button on your blog or website. Then come back to tell me what your website or blog address is, make sure to leave an url address so I can check it. Grabbing my button is worth 5 additional entries. If my button is not displayed on your homepage but it is posted elsewhere, you will not be eligible to win with your additional entries.

6.) Grab my "Summer Haven" button and display my button on your blog or website. Then come back to tell me what your website or blog address is, make sure to leave an url address so I can check it. Grabbing my button is worth 5 additional entries. Please note that my html code is different from the one posted on familylicious, if the button on your site is not my html code, you will not be eligible to win with your additional entry. If my button is not displayed on your homepage but it is posted elsewhere, you will not be eligible to win with your additional entries.

7.) Retweet this review and giveaway by clicking on the "retweet" button on the bottom of this post. (Right next to where you click to leave me comments). After you retweet, please leave me the url of your tweet so I can check. If you do not know how to check your tweet url, please read this post for step by step instructions. You can retweet once a day for 1 entry each time. NOTE: You can only use the "retweet" button once. If you want to retweet everyday, please tweet the following: " I want to win a Little Tikes Teeter Ball @ http://www.sugarpopribbons.blogspot.com/ " for 1 additional entry per day (please leave me the url so I can verify your tweet).

8.) Become a fan of Little Tikes on Facebook and leave the company a comment to let them know that Sugar pop Ribbons sent you for 2 additional entries.

9.) Follow Little Tikes on twitter for 1 additional entry.

10.) Comment on one of my non giveaway posts for 1 additional entry (leave me a comment here to let me know which post it is).

11.) Enter in any of my active giveaways for additional entries. You get one extra entry per other giveaway you enter. So enter 1 of my other giveaways for 1 additional entry or 10 other giveaways to 10 extra entries. When you leave me a comment for your additional entry, be sure to let me know which giveaway it is so I can check.

Read the fine print:

* Lucky winner or winners will be selected through True Random Number Generator.
* If your profile page does not show your email address, please include your email address in your comment. For example: sugarpopribbons at yahoo dot com -- so that I may get in touch with you if you are selected as the giveaway winner.
* Each giveaway winner has 48 hours to respond to my email about getting the awesome giveaway prize to him/her. If the winner does not reply to my email within 48 hours, I will choose another winner using the True Random Number Generator.
* I do contact each winner via email. If anyone is curious about who the giveaway winner is for any of my giveaways, please go back to the original post of that giveaway. Once a winner is selected through random.org, I will post a screen shot of the the number random.org picked. You will be able to see which number has been selected and if you scroll down to the bottom of the page, you can cross check who the giveaway winner is.
*I received a free product (or products) for review purposes. I did not receive any form of compensation from the company. All opinions are my own and not influenced in anyway. My reviews are not always positive, but they are my personal and honest opinions. Other people's views and experiences with the product or products might be different from mine.

The Village Company Sesame Street Baby Elmo Products Review & 3 Giveaways (ENDED)

Winning comments are #12, 183, and 322.

The Village Company has a line of products that is going to make bath time fun for your child. If your child loves Elmo as much as mine does, you will understand why anything with Elmo on it causes my child to scream out of excitement. Of course, the Sesame Street Baby Elmo product line is not just about having a character that many children adore. The Village Company also made sure that parents are getting a line of products that truly work with your precious babies' sensitive skin.

My family received Baby Wash & Shampoo, Baby Bath, Baby Lotion and Baby Shampoo to review. All 4 products are hypo-allergenic, tear free and dye free. They are gentle on a baby's soft skin. They even work well on DD's extremely sensitive skin. In addition to have a very nice pleasant scent, we also noticed that these products leave the skin silky smooth.

Sesame Street bath products have been trusted for over 20 years. As concerned parents, we know that you want to use gentle products on your baby's skin and that's why we think you should try these products.

To buy the products we received to review, please go your local Toys R Us and Babies R Us stores.

Many thanks to Jenna of the The Village Company. She has generously offered 3 sets of products I received to review as giveaway prizes to my readers. Each of the 3 giveaway winners will receive a complete product line that includes the 4 products you see in the photo above. This giveaway is open to US residents only.


How to enter:

In order to enter my giveaway, you MUST be a public follower of my blog through Google Friend Connect. To follow me, click on the "Follow" button on the right hand side of my blog. If you are not a follower and you enter my giveaway, ALL of your comments will be automatically forfeited.

1). Please go to The Village Company and then come back to tell me about another product you would like to try (you MUST be a public follower of my blog to enter this giveaway, and your profile can not be set at private).

How to earn additional entries (please leave a separate comment for each additional entry):


2.) Blog about my giveaway- with a link back to here, when you leave the comment make sure you include the URL of where your post of my giveaway is. Please do not copy and paste my review over to your blog, please write about why you would like to win this giveaway and provide a link back to this post. The Contest ends July 14th, 2010 at 11:59pm PST. Blogging about my giveaway earns 2 additional entries.

3.) Add me as a friend on Facebook for 1 additional entry.

4.) Follow me on Twitter for 1 additional entry.

5.) Grab my button and display my button on your blog or website. Then come back to tell me what your website or blog address is, make sure to leave an url address so I can check it. Grabbing my button is worth 5 additional entries. If my button is not displayed on your homepage but it is posted elsewhere, you will not be eligible to win with your additional entries.

6.) Grab my "Summer Haven" button and display my button on your blog or website. Then come back to tell me what your website or blog address is, make sure to leave an url address so I can check it. Grabbing my button is worth 5 additional entries. If my button is not displayed on your homepage but it is posted elsewhere, you will not be eligible to win with your additional entries.

7.) Retweet this review and giveaway by clicking on the "retweet" button on the bottom of this post. (Right next to where you click to leave me comments). After you retweet, please leave me the url of your tweet so I can check. If you do not know how to check your tweet url, please read this post for step by step instructions. You can retweet once a day for 1 entry each time. NOTE: You can only use the "retweet" button once. If you want to retweet everyday, please tweet the following: " I want to win Sesame Street Baby Elmo bath products@ http://www.sugarpopribbons.blogspot.com/ " for 1 additional entry per day (please leave me the url so I can verify your tweet).

8.)Becoma a fan of The Village Company on facebook and let the company know that Sugar Pop Ribbons sent you for 2 additional entries.

9.)Follow The Village Company on twitter for 1 additional entry.

10.) Comment on one of my non giveaway posts for 1 additional entry (leave me a comment here to let me know which post it is).

11.) Enter in any of my active giveaways for additional entries. You get one extra entry per other giveaway you enter. So enter 1 of my other giveaways for 1 additional entry or 10 other giveaways to 10 extra entries. When you leave me a comment for your additional entry, be sure to let me know which giveaway it is so I can check.


Read the fine print:

* Lucky winner or winners will be selected through True Random Number Generator.
* If your profile page does not show your email address, please include your email address in your comment. For example: sugarpopribbons at yahoo dot com -- so that I may get in touch with you if you are selected as the giveaway winner.
* Each giveaway winner has 48 hours to respond to my email about getting the awesome giveaway prize to him/her. If the winner does not reply to my email within 48 hours, I will choose another winner using the True Random Number Generator.
* I do contact each winner via email. If anyone is curious about who the giveaway winner is for any of my giveaways, please go back to the original post of that giveaway. Once a winner is selected through random.org, I will post a screen shot of the the number random.org picked. You will be able to see which number has been selected and if you scroll down to the bottom of the page, you can cross check who the giveaway winner is.
*I received a free product (or products) for review purposes. I did not receive any form of compensation from the company. All opinions are my own and not influenced in anyway. My reviews are not always positive, but they are my personal and honest opinions. Other people's views and experiences with the product or products might be different from mine.

William Bounds PepArt Torch Mills Review

Whenever I have guests over, the first thing they reach for or comment on is my pepper and salt mills when they enter my kitchen. I never imagined that my salt and pepper mills would receive so much attention, but being pieces of art in their own right, they are pretty stunning. I received a set of pepper and salt mills from William Bounds to review and they are great.


The design of these PepArt range of mills was commissioned from a Californian artist and designer, Robert Wilhelm, who took his inspiration from North American Indian totem poles and other artifacts. Made from the best Rock Maple and hand-painted, these William Bounds PepArt are truly works of art that you can display in your kitchen or on your dining room table.

If the fact that they are beautifully made is not enough to entice you to pick some up for yourself, I should mention that they work very well too.

With the combination of the 3-step adjusting ring, unique milling mechanism, high-quality materials and exacting production standards, William Bounds' products are truly in a class of their own. William Bounds have been making some of the world's finest salt, pepper and spice mills since 1964. Their patented milling mechanism works in a way that crushes rather than grinds. The coarseness of the grind can be adjusted by rotating the metal knob at the top of the mill. The mechanism is also designed to work both clockwise and counter-clockwise, meaning that the mechanism will never jam.

After receiving the set of pepper and salt mills to review, DH and I agreed that these are by far the best pepper and salt mills we have ever owned. To buy your own William Bounds PepArt Torch Mills, please visit its website.

*I received a free product (or products) for review purposes. I did not receive any form of compensation from the company. All opinions are my own and not influenced in anyway. My reviews are not always positive, but they are my personal and honest opinions. Other people's views and experiences with the product or products might be different from mine.

Rock-a-Thigh Baby Review & Giveaway (ENDED)

Winning comment is #39!

If you are a mom, you know that kids are expensive. As such, I really like things that really work as well as the companies claim. Rock-a-Thigh Baby sent me a pair of socks to review and I thought it was adorable.

There are a couple of reasons why I think they are so great. First of all, they stayed on! These thigh height socks have cuffs so they stayed up and ribbed panels at the ankle and arch helped keep socks in place. You know how important being eco-friendly is to us. If that's important to you too, you will be happy to know that these socks are environmentally friendly, sustainable cotton-blend textile product made from soft top-quality, 100% "Pre-Consumer" yarn (recycled yarn that is spun from regenerated material recovered from newly made fabrics). How cool is that!

I also love the cute designs that Rock-a-Thigh Baby offers. To buy your own thigh height socks, please go to Rock-a-Thigh Baby to make your purchase.

Many thanks to Jennifer of Rock-a-Thigh. She has generously offered 1 pair of socks as a giveaway prize to one of my lucky readers (US residents only please).


How to enter:

In order to enter my giveaway, you MUST be a public follower of my blog through Google Friend Connect. To follow me, click on the "Follow" button on the right hand side of my blog. If you are not a follower and you enter my giveaway, ALL of your comments will be automatically forfeited.

1). Please go to Rock-a-Thigh Baby and then come back to tell me which product you would like to win (you MUST be a public follower of my blog to enter this giveaway, and your profile can not be set at private).

How to earn additional entries (please leave a separate comment for each additional entry):


2.) Blog about my giveaway- with a link back to here, when you leave the comment make sure you include the URL of where your post of my giveaway is. Please do not copy and paste my review over to your blog, please write about why you would like to win this giveaway and provide a link back to this post. The Contest ends July 13th, 2010 at 11:59pm PST. Blogging about my giveaway earns 2 additional entries.

3.) Add me as a friend on Facebook for 1 additional entry.

4.) Follow me on Twitter for 1 additional entry.

5.) Grab my button and display my button on your blog or website. Then come back to tell me what your website or blog address is, make sure to leave an url address so I can check it. Grabbing my button is worth 5 additional entries. If my button is not displayed on your homepage but it is posted elsewhere, you will not be eligible to win with your additional entries.

6.) Grab my "Summer Haven" button and display my button on your blog or website. Then come back to tell me what your website or blog address is, make sure to leave an url address so I can check it. Grabbing my button is worth 5 additional entries. If my button is not displayed on your homepage but it is posted elsewhere, you will not be eligible to win with your additional entries.

7.) Retweet this review and giveaway by clicking on the "retweet" button on the bottom of this post. (Right next to where you click to leave me comments). After you retweet, please leave me the url of your tweet so I can check. If you do not know how to check your tweet url, please read this post for step by step instructions. You can retweet once a day for 1 entry each time. NOTE: You can only use the "retweet" button once. If you want to retweet everyday, please tweet the following: " I want to win Rock-a-Thigh Baby socks@ http://www.sugarpopribbons.blogspot.com/ " for 1 additional entry per day (please leave me the url so I can verify your tweet).

8.) Become a fan of Rock-a-Thigh Baby on facebook for 1 additional entry.

9.) Follow Rock-a-Thigh Baby on Twitter for 1 additional entry.

10.) Comment on one of my non giveaway posts for 1 additional entry (leave me a comment here to let me know which post it is).

11.) Enter in any of my active giveaways for additional entries. You get one extra entry per other giveaway you enter. So enter 1 of my other giveaways for 1 additional entry or 10 other giveaways to 10 extra entries. When you leave me a comment for your additional entry, be sure to let me know which giveaway it is so I can check.


Read the fine print:

* Lucky winner or winners will be selected through True Random Number Generator.
* If your profile page does not show your email address, please include your email address in your comment. For example: sugarpopribbons at yahoo dot com -- so that I may get in touch with you if you are selected as the giveaway winner.
* Each giveaway winner has 48 hours to respond to my email about getting the awesome giveaway prize to him/her. If the winner does not reply to my email within 48 hours, I will choose another winner using the True Random Number Generator.
* I do contact each winner via email. If anyone is curious about who the giveaway winner is for any of my giveaways, please go back to the original post of that giveaway. Once a winner is selected through random.org, I will post a screen shot of the the number random.org picked. You will be able to see which number has been selected and if you scroll down to the bottom of the page, you can cross check who the giveaway winner is.
*I received a free product (or products) for review purposes. I did not receive any form of compensation from the company. All opinions are my own and not influenced in anyway. My reviews are not always positive, but they are my personal and honest opinions. Other people's views and experiences with the product or products might be different from mine.

Kung Zhu Pets Review

My wife was recently given the chance to review a box-full of Kung Zhu pets and accessories. Since I was the one tasked with setting it all up and running the little electronic battle-hamsters through their paces, she asked me to write a few words.

THE KUNG ZHU CREW


The hamsters, on their own, are very much like their more peaceful counterparts: aside from their Special Forces or Ninja Clan branding and the occasional battle scar (one little guy, Thorn, has a bite missing from his ear!), they chirrup, squeak, and scoot all around on flat surfaces and through both Zhu Zhu and Kung Zhu tracks. Their sound effects are a bit different but really, for the most part, they fit right in... it's the accessories that really bring out the differences (more on those in a bit).

Just like the original Zhu Zhu hamsters, you do NOT want to let them run (well... roll) about on the carpet. The instructions warn against doing so for a reason: the wheels will suck in carpet fibers (or hair!) and slow or eventually stop, leaving you performing robot hamster surgery with tweezers and cuticle scissors while concerned children look on.

TOYS, TOYS, TOYS
Wow, that's a lot of accessories. And they all revolve around one thing: crazy robot hamster battles!

RIGHT ON TRACK
The various track sets - Training Ground Alpha, Ninja Snake Pit, Special Forces HQ, Ninja Training Ground and so on - fit together into one huge track, much like the original Zhu Zhu sets do. I'm not being hyperbolic when I say huge, either... you'll want to have plenty of space if you intend to grab them all.

Unfortunately, the track sets do have some of the same troubles the Zhu Zhu ones did. They're easy to put together, but just as easy to take apart... often accidentally during normal use, leaving little gaps for the hamsters to get hung up on. It helps to have an adult or an older kid assemble everything nice and tight before letting the really young ones at it.

The crowning glory of the track sets is, of course, the Giant Battle Arena, where Kung Zhu Battle Hamsters clash in an effort to knock one another over.

GIRD THYSELF FOR BATTLE

There are also armor set and tanks available for the these mechanized mini-monsters. The armor and accompanying "Tablets of Zhu" modify the hamster both cosmetically and behaviorally, placing them into Battle Mode (more on that below).

TANKS FOR THE MEMORIES
The tanks are like the cars of the original Zhu Zhu hamsters but more, well... dangerous-looking. While they retain some of the flaws of the cars (hamsters frequently "ditch" their tanks after a few moments), their additional effects and bits (spinning guns, spring-loaded missile launchers, etc.) allow them to better stand on their own as toys; kids were playing with them even without the hamsters.

IT'S A TRAP!
Lastly, their are the "attack/trap pieces," giant hammers and spring-loaded missile launchers that go off on contact. Their effect on hamster fights is really more cosmetic than anything else, but they CAN add a little spice when attached to the sides of the Giant Battle Arena.

BATTLE MODE!
Battle Mode is what really sets the Kung Zhu Battle Hamsters apart from their more docile brethren. When a Kung Zhu hamster rolls over certain portions of track (e.g. a training ground or arena entrance) or a Tablet of Zhu, their sound effects and behavior changes to reflect that they're ready for combat. They remain in this "fight mode" until they fall asleep (from being left alone to long) or get knocked over (whether by another battle hamster, a curious dog, whatever).

Each armor set - there's one for each Kung Zhu hamster, but you can mix and match with no ill effect - comes with its own Tablet of Zhu. This tablet is what determines the hamster's new sound effects and behavior. For instance, the Dark Jonin's tablet will cause the hamster to emit a sinister little hamster assassin chuckle and "attack" with swishing blade and martial arts sounds, while the Thunder Strike's tablet results in military barking, whistles, and mechanized combat sounds.

Again, certain track pieces will also put the hamsters into Battle Mode, so if you just have, say, two Kung Zhu hamsters and the Giant Battle Arena, you're ready to go.

ROUND ONE: FIGHT!
So, what does Battle Mode do, exactly?

Well, when a Kung Zhu first enters Battle Mode, it plays a special sound effect and pauses, giving its owner time to equip battle armor, modify its position, and so on. When that's all done, a single press to the back sends it off fighting.

A hamster in Battle Mode doesn't retreat when it bumps something with it nose sensor; rather, it "attacks" with armor/track-specific sound effects, spinning around, reversing and charging again, and so on. Basically, it's trying to knock other Kung Zhu hamsters over.

When a hamster in Battle Mode is knocked over, it emits a special (and again, armor/track specific) "defeat sound" and reverts to its original, mild-mannered behavior.

It's worth noting here that the armor sets GREATLY enhance Battle Mode. Without them, hamsters are easily knocked over or even fall over by themselves when zipping along the curved Giant Battle Arena walls. The armor sets stabilize the hamsters so that they can't fall on their own... only by having at least one of its attached weapons knocked off will an armored Kung Zhu hamster be wobbly enough to knock over.

Outside an enclosed space like the Giant Battle Arena, or without their armor, the Kung Zhu pets' Battle Mode isn't all that impressive. But armed and armored and dropped into a suitable space, their zipping, spinning, noisy little robot hamster duels really are a quirky, entertaining sight.

A final note: All armor sets are NOT created equal. Looks aside, some of them are simply inherently more stable than others. In other words, certain sets of armor will consistently beat other sets. We encouraged the kids to swap armor between fights so that no one ever had a long losing streak, but still got to stick with hamster they liked the most.

THE FINAL VERDICT
They're cool little toys, especially since they still work with all the existing Zhu Zhu stuff.

If you're looking to start small, I'd suggest picking up a Kung Zhu hamster and a set of armor (or a pair of each)... that's all you really need for Wacky Armored Battle Hamster Combat Action.

The Giant Battle Arena would probably be the next best thing to pick up. You could just stick them in a box, too, but the curved arena walls actually do make for more entertaining games.

Beyond that, it's just more fun fluff!


To buy your own Kung Zhu Pets, please go to Toys R Us or Amazon.com.

*I received a free product (or products) for review purposes from MomSelect on behalf of Kung Zhu Pets. I did not receive any form of compensation from the company. All opinions are my own and not influenced in anyway. My reviews are not always positive, but they are my personal and honest opinions. Other people's views and experiences with the product or products might be different from mine.

More exciting news!

I have received my diamond necklace in the mail and it is beautiful. I have been wearing it with my summer dresses and it looks great. I can't wait to show you what it is, so be sure to check back for my exciting post! I am actually also going to be offering an awesome giveaway prize along with my review. Want to know what it is? Well, you are going to have to check back for that too.. I want it to be a real surprised :).

In the mean time, be sure to check out some cute products I came across. You know, I haven't been wear my diamond wedding ring for awhile now (since I never lost the baby fat I gained from being pregnant). I have been checking out diamond rings online (hoping that my husband will buy me one for our wedding anniversary coming up). What kind of diamond rings do you like? Asscher cut diamond rings, cushion cut diamond rings, or emerald cut diamond rings? For me, I love them all! I am going to be happy with whatever diamond ring I receive. Hint! Hint!

Star Kids Snack & Play Travel Tray Review and Giveaway (ENDED)

Winning comment is #214!

When we visit DD's grandparents, we spent at least 2 hours on the road, so we have been looking for something that will keep her happy and entertain during the drive. DD loves to color and draw, so I thought that the Star Kids Snack & Play Travel Tray would be great for her. The truth is that we actually own a travel tray, but after hearing how the hard tray we were using posed safety issues if there during accident, we stopped using it.

The snack & play travel tray has a strap so that you can buckle it around the carseat. It has 2 large pockets (one on each side) to store things like sippy cups, markers, papers and snacks. Upon using it, we discovered that the tray slants toward DD (because of the soft material that the tray is made off). Because DD does not keep her markers on the tray (she keeps them in the tray's pockets) so we don't have any problems with her coloring supplies sliding toward her. Another possible complain that people might have is when your child is done with the tray, you can't remove it without having adult assistance. While this is true with younger children, DD (who just turned 4) is able to remove the tray by unbuckling the tray and push it onto the seat next to her. As such, I think that if you show your child how to remove it and if your child can unbuckle straps on his/her own, removing the tray during a long trip will not be an issue at all.

All in all, while the previous tray we were using had a hard surface that was a little better for holding things, it is not as safe to use with DD, so we only use the Star Kids Snack & Play Travel Tray now. We think that the minor slanting is a pretty minor problem that we can easily overlook because DD's safety is certainly much more important.

DD enjoys using her tray and we are looking forward to using it this summer for our summer vacation. By the way, because the tray is soft, it is easy to fold up, so we are able to transport it very easily when not in used (I want to mention this because we always thought it was a hassle to transport the previous hard tray we were using).

To buy a Star Kids Snack & Play Travel Tray, please go to its website to make your purchase.

Many thanks to Greg of Star Kids. He has generously offered the same tray we received to review as a giveaway prize to one of my lucky readers (US residents only please).


How to enter:

In order to enter my giveaway, you MUST be a public follower of my blog through Google Friend Connect. To follow me, click on the "Follow" button on the right hand side of my blog. If you are not a follower and you enter my giveaway, ALL of your comments will be automatically forfeited.

1). Please go to Star Kids and then come back to tell me something interesting you have learned about the company (you MUST be a public follower of my blog to enter this giveaway, and your profile can not be set at private).

How to earn additional entries (please leave a separate comment for each additional entry):


2.) Blog about my giveaway- with a link back to here, when you leave the comment make sure you include the URL of where your post of my giveaway is. Please do not copy and paste my review over to your blog, please write about why you would like to win this giveaway and provide a link back to this post. The Contest ends July 12th, 2010 at 11:59pm PST. Blogging about my giveaway earns 2 additional entries.

3.) Add me as a friend on Facebook for 1 additional entry.

4.) Follow me on Twitter for 1 additional entry.

5.) Grab my button and display my button on your blog or website. Then come back to tell me what your website or blog address is, make sure to leave an url address so I can check it. Grabbing my button is worth 5 additional entries. If my button is not displayed on your homepage but it is posted elsewhere, you will not be eligible to win with your additional entries.

6.) Grab my "Summer Haven" button and display my button on your blog or website. Then come back to tell me what your website or blog address is, make sure to leave an url address so I can check it. Grabbing my button is worth 5 additional entries. If my button is not displayed on your homepage but it is posted elsewhere, you will not be eligible to win with your additional entries.

7.) Retweet this review and giveaway by clicking on the "retweet" button on the bottom of this post. (Right next to where you click to leave me comments). After you retweet, please leave me the url of your tweet so I can check. If you do not know how to check your tweet url, please read this post for step by step instructions. You can retweet once a day for 1 entry each time. NOTE: You can only use the "retweet" button once. If you want to retweet everyday, please tweet the following: " I want to win a Star Kids Snack & Play Travel Tray@ http://www.sugarpopribbons.blogspot.com/ " for 1 additional entry per day (please leave me the url so I can verify your tweet).

8.) Comment on one of my non giveaway posts for 1 additional entry (leave me a comment here to let me know which post it is).

9.) Enter in any of my active giveaways for additional entries. You get one extra entry per other giveaway you enter. So enter 1 of my other giveaways for 1 additional entry or 10 other giveaways to 10 extra entries. When you leave me a comment for your additional entry, be sure to let me know which giveaway it is so I can check.


Read the fine print:

* Lucky winner or winners will be selected through True Random Number Generator.
* If your profile page does not show your email address, please include your email address in your comment. For example: sugarpopribbons at yahoo dot com -- so that I may get in touch with you if you are selected as the giveaway winner.
* Each giveaway winner has 48 hours to respond to my email about getting the awesome giveaway prize to him/her. If the winner does not reply to my email within 48 hours, I will choose another winner using the True Random Number Generator.
* I do contact each winner via email. If anyone is curious about who the giveaway winner is for any of my giveaways, please go back to the original post of that giveaway. Once a winner is selected through random.org, I will post a screen shot of the the number random.org picked. You will be able to see which number has been selected and if you scroll down to the bottom of the page, you can cross check who the giveaway winner is.
*I received a free product (or products) for review purposes. I did not receive any form of compensation from the company. All opinions are my own and not influenced in anyway. My reviews are not always positive, but they are my personal and honest opinions. Other people's views and experiences with the product or products might be different from mine.

Daizy Daze Review & $20 Gift Card Giveaway (ENDED)

Winning comment is #206!

I love handcrafted items so when Jamilyn from Daizy Daze contacted me and asked me if I would like to review her products, I happily agreed.

Jamilyn sent me a set of Glass Marble Magnets and Clothes Pin Magnets to review. When I received the package, I was pleasantly surprised that the glass marble magnets were larger than I expected. The images were really cute and the magnets worked really well. I just needed to use one to hold up DD's art work from preschool.

The clothes pin magnets were really whimsical. I have been using these to hold up important paper works from DD's school (summer camp schedule and so forth).

I love something as simple as magnets can help decorate my fridge door and making the pieces of papers appear more organized.

To buy your own handcrafted magnets, please go to Daizy Daze to make your purchase.

Many thanks to Jamilyn of Daizy Daze. She has generously offered a $20 gift card to one of my lucky readers so that you too can pick up some cute handcrafted products from her etsy shop.


How to enter:

In order to enter my giveaway, you MUST be a public follower of my blog through Google Friend Connect. To follow me, click on the "Follow" button on the right hand side of my blog. If you are not a follower and you enter my giveaway, ALL of your comments will be automatically forfeited.

1). Please go to Daizy Daze and then come back to tell me what product is your favorite (you MUST be a public follower of my blog to enter this giveaway, and your profile can not be set at private).

How to earn additional entries (please leave a separate comment for each additional entry):


2.) Blog about my giveaway- with a link back to here, when you leave the comment make sure you include the URL of where your post of my giveaway is. Please do not copy and paste my review over to your blog, please write about why you would like to win this giveaway and provide a link back to this post. The Contest ends July 12th, 2010 at 11:59pm PST. Blogging about my giveaway earns 2 additional entries.

3.) Add me as a friend on Facebook for 2 additional entries.

4.) Follow me on Twitter for 2 additional entries.

5.) Grab my button and display my button on your blog or website. Then come back to tell me what your website or blog address is, make sure to leave an url address so I can check it. Grabbing my button is worth 5 additional entries. If my button is not displayed on your homepage but it is posted elsewhere, you will not be eligible to win with your additional entries.

6.) Grab my "Summer Haven" button and display my button on your blog or website. Then come back to tell me what your website or blog address is, make sure to leave an url address so I can check it. Grabbing my button is worth 5 additional entries. Please note that my html code is different from the one posted on familylicious, if the button on your site is not my html code, you will not be eligible to win with your additional entry. If my button is not displayed on your homepage but it is posted elsewhere, you will not be eligible to win with your additional entries.

7.) Retweet this review and giveaway by clicking on the "retweet" button on the bottom of this post. (Right next to where you click to leave me comments). After you retweet, please leave me the url of your tweet so I can check. If you do not know how to check your tweet url, please read this post for step by step instructions. You can retweet once a day for 1 entry each time. NOTE: You can only use the "retweet" button once. If you want to retweet everyday, please tweet the following: " I want to win Daizy Daze $20 Gift Card@ http://www.sugarpopribbons.blogspot.com/ " for 1 additional entry per day (please leave me the url so I can verify your tweet).

8.) Comment on one of my non giveaway posts for 1 additional entry (leave me a comment here to let me know which post it is).

9.) Enter in any of my active giveaways for additional entries. You get one extra entry per other giveaway you enter. So enter 1 of my other giveaways for 1 additional entry or 10 other giveaways to 10 extra entries. When you leave me a comment for your additional entry, be sure to let me know which giveaway it is so I can check.

Read the fine print:

* Lucky winner or winners will be selected through True Random Number Generator.
* If your profile page does not show your email address, please include your email address in your comment. For example: sugarpopribbons at yahoo dot com -- so that I may get in touch with you if you are selected as the giveaway winner.
* Each giveaway winner has 48 hours to respond to my email about getting the awesome giveaway prize to him/her. If the winner does not reply to my email within 48 hours, I will choose another winner using the True Random Number Generator.
* I do contact each winner via email. If anyone is curious about who the giveaway winner is for any of my giveaways, please go back to the original post of that giveaway. Once a winner is selected through random.org, I will post a screen shot of the the number random.org picked. You will be able to see which number has been selected and if you scroll down to the bottom of the page, you can cross check who the giveaway winner is.
*I received a free product (or products) for review purposes. I did not receive any form of compensation from the company. All opinions are my own and not influenced in anyway. My reviews are not always positive, but they are my personal and honest opinions. Other people's views and experiences with the product or products might be different from mine.

Great Start of a Fun Summer

DD started summer school last week and to kick start a fun filled summer we were busy doing a lot of fun things. Since we are unable to go to Disneyland on Tuesday because of blocked out dates, we ended up doing something that's just as fun as going to Disneyland. My friend Julie was so sweet. She hosted a pool parties and invited us (and our friends to attend). Julie got there early to set up balloons and we were the first ones to arrive. DD was really excited about spending the day playing in the pool.

I thought the water was a little too cold for me, but clearly the kids had no problems jumping into the pool.

DD had a lot of fun playing in the pool.

She is not a swimmer yet, but I am hoping that the swimming lessons will help :).

Just hanging out...

After spending a couple of hours playing in the pool, we had lunch, and Julie had something else fun set up for the kids. Can you guess what the kids were waiting for?

Waiting with anticipation.

Did you guess it? Julie got a pinata for the kids. There is nothing more fun than beating candy and toys out of a pink castle :P.

What do you think? Maybe a future softball player?

Each kid got to give the pinata a firm beating. After sometime, the kids realized that maybe it was not so easy to beat the candy and toys out of it. Can you see the boredom on their faces? ROFL!

Finally, one of the older kids tore it open so the younger ones could get to the toys and candy. Here's a photo of DD trying to get her loot.

The kids at the pool party (minus the infants).

After a fun filled Tuesday, we were excited to go to the beach club with our friends on Thursday. While DD was at school on Wednesday, I went to the toy store and picked up a few toys for the kids to play with there. One of the things I picked up was a pack of water guns (5 of them for $5.99). Probably one of the best purchases I made -- although we ended up coming home with only one of them, lol. Apparently the other 4 mysteriously disappeared while all of us were eating lunch.

Yes, the girls love their water guns!

Yeah, I did not enjoy having water shot at my face while I was trying to take photos of them.

Baby E.

Since the water guns disappeared (most likely picked up by other kids there), our kids ended up playing with the sand.

So happy together!

Between the 4 of us (Nancy, Lara, Nikki and myself) we have 7 kids and 2 infants. I could not believe how well everyone played together. Although the babies just sat there and did not do much, the older kids (preschoolers) behaved so well. No one got hit, no one hit anyone, no one screamed or yelled, and no one cried. It was one of the nicest playdate I had in a long time. It was so clam and relaxing that I almost forgot that the kids were there, lol.