Baby Einstein Baby Lullaby Discovery Kit Review

 

Before my son was even born I knew I wanted him to watch Baby Einstein. I read a lot about them and moms seemed to love them. The music and colorful images seem to be very entertaining. I previewed a few of them while I was pregnant and was so excited for when he could watch them. He loves the World Music and Old MacDonald DVDs and claps when he sees the trademark caterpillar and tune before the movie starts.

When our Discovery Kit arrived I was excited to see it was Baby Lullaby. My son LOVES music. The great thing about the Discovery Kits are they include a DVD, a CD and a book. I couldn't ask for more in the way of entertainment for him. He had me look at the pictures with him before I pushed start on the DVD. He saw a cat picture and shouted "CAT" this is his new favorite word. Then we watched the DVD while he held onto his book. He swayed and smiled while he watched. He really did enjoy himself. I like letting him watch it knowing he is seeing visually stimulating colors and pictures. He stared and watched until he seen CATS! He looked back at me then at the TV and yelled CAT! He pointed and made sure I noticed that he seen CATS! It was only a small part of the DVD but he was jazzed about it. When the kittens were shown up close and yawning he squealed! When the DVD was over he yelled and gestured to me to put it back on, it was so cute. 

 The second time he watched he sat on the floor with his book in one hand and his favorite stuffed giraffe. He started to get sleepy from the soothing lullaby and he curled up on his pillow pet and fell asleep. He looked so peaceful and the soft sounds of the music were soothing to me as well. While he took a nap I left the DVD playing with the music in the background while I used my computer. When he woke up we listened to the CD while we played with his drum. It was nice to have the CD playing while he pretended to be apart of the music. I know I will be using the CD for nap time to help him fall asleep or in the car when he wants to hear music.

 We have always been fans of Baby Einstein but now with the new Discovery Kits are more of a reason to buy the brand. They would make a great baby shower or birthday present for a little one. 

You can find the new Baby Einstein Discovery Kits in stores February 22, 2011 at Target, Borders, Amazon and the Baby Einstein website. You can pre-order the Baby Lullaby, Neptune's Ocean and World of Rhythm Discovery Kits on Amazon.

The Discovery Kit trailer is available to watch on YouTube.

To find out more about Baby Einstein Discovery Kits you can follow them on twitter and facebook. Often time sales and discounts are posted there.

**I received this free Discovery Kit through a LBi/Baby Einstein program. However, all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own and no other monetary compensation took place.

Presidents Day Brain Quest Quiz

Since Monday is Presidents Day I know most school children will be home and with the weather across the USA most of us will be inside. To celebrate the holiday Brain Quest has made a Presidents Brain Quest Special Edition Its a  fun trivia game you can play online with your kids. It was really fun to see what answers I got right. They even have a section for challenging a parent or friend. We are big on trivia around here so we love to see who gets the most answers correctly!
You can also have your kids send a Presidents Day e-card to their friends and family. I am sure those two activities will keep your kids busy for a while while teaching them at the same time!



** I was not compensated for this post. I have worked with Workman Publishing in the past and wanted to share this fun activity.

Progresso Soups New You Review and Giveaway

 This year I declared I will not be on one of those commercial diet plans that require me to sign up and pay them for food or advise. I have lost weight on my own before size 24 to size 10 just simply by of course daily exercise and making smarter food choices. If it means I can't just eat anything to be healthy that's fine by me.  

I always am weary of new "diet" foods since often times they are full of artificial sweeteners or other ingredients I have never heard of. Thankfully there are foods that have been on the market a long time and actually taste good. Like Progresso soup!

I have always been a fan of soup. Its easy to heat up and makes you feel all warm and comfy when you eat it. My two favorite soups are the Santa Fe Style Chicken and the Beef Pot Roast. 

They are filling but only 80 calories per serving. They make a great lunch or pair with a sandwich for dinner. I love to have the zesty Santa Fe Style soup with a grilled cheese sandwich, especially on a rainy day like today. 

  

When the package arrived with our soup and workout gear for us to review my husband immediately declared dibbs on the clam chowder. For a minute I was going to challenge his declaration until I read the label. It contains shrimp and crab which I am allergic to. I love that the label was clear and in bold letters what it contained as far as allergens. Thank you Progresso for the labels!

The soup was all great and the workout gear we received was awesome. The kit included a yoga mat, a water bottle, headband, and aerobic bands. This was so great because my son has been doing the cutest thing ever! When I get on the floor to do sit ups he gets down there with me and does his baby version of them. He sits down puts his legs straight out and bends over at the waist and grunts when he does them. It is just the silliest and sweetest thing ever! Lately he has been trying to push me off the workout mat so he can do his sit ups on it like mommy does. When I got out the yoga mat My Blog Spark sent in our kit his little eyes lit up and he clapped. I rolled it out for him, put on the headband and he started his workout. It was so adorable. I am thankful he is mimicking a good habit like working out. He also tried the veggies from my soup and loved them! He always wants to be doing what his Mama does and I love it! 

The Work Out Baby!

Right now Progresso Soup is having a Facebook Contest called Souper You. I have entered it and encourage other soup fans to as well. I plan on replacing my lunches with a less than 100 calorie soup! I am sure this will effortlessly help me lose weight.

There will be 3 winners and the prize includes:

Grand prize winners will be awarded a trip for two to New York City from May 20th-22nd. The prize includes roundtrip airfare, a two-night stay in an NYC hotel, a full makeover, a guided wardrobe shopping spree with a personal consultation at a New York City department store, and $1,000 in spending money. 

To enter visit Progresso Soup Facebook page and click on the Souper You tab. You can also find a couponn for $1.00 off a can of soup.

BLOG GIVEAWAY:

On lucky reader can win your very own work out kit and progresso soup by entering my giveaway. The prize pack will include:

VIP coupon for a free can of Progresso soup

a yoga mat

water bottle

set of aerobic bands

sport headband and two sport wristbands

Here is how to enter the giveaway.
MANDATORY Entry:
Tell me how you will incorporate Progresso Soups into your healthy living plans.

*Leave your email address at least one of your comments so I can contact the winner.

Extra Entries: Can be done after leaving a comment for mandatory entry.
If the extra entry says 1 extra entry leave 1 comment and 2 extra entries leave me 2 comments and so on.

-Visit Progresso Soups website and tell me your favorite soup +1
-Follow this blog on GFC (right top corner) +3
-Follow this blog on Twitter +1
- Like The Coupon Queen Bee on Facebook +1
-Like Progresso on Facebook +1
- Enter any of the current other giveaways during the Valentine's Day Event and leave a comment on which giveaway you entered. +2 for every giveaway you enter.
-Blog about this giveaway and leave me the link +5

*Limited to US residents; 18 years old and above. Giveaway starts February, 19 2011 and ends on March 10, 2011 at midnight PST. Winner will be emailed and has 48 hours to respond before another winner is selected. I was not paid for this giveaway or post. I was sent a free Progresso Pack from MyBlogSpark filled with soup and a workout kit that is pictured in this post. The giveaway will be provided by MyBlogSpark to one of my lucky readers.

Silence is not always Golden

Have you ever heard the saying"Silence is Golden". I know it can mean different things in situations, I used to say it all the time before I had a baby. The sound of nothing but just a few faint birds in the distance was so soothing to me. Now I have learned as a mom that silence means someone is up to something! Last night while I was folding laundry in the living room I noticed I did not hear the wildness of my son. Usually he is banging on something, squealing about something or just yelling as loud as he can then laughing for fun. I looked down the hall to see he had opened his bedroom door and then his closet door. Before this he was not able to open doors so I had not worried about him running up and down the hall. I went into his room and found that he had torn the pages out of several books. I gasped, since books are like gold to me lol. He stood up and handed me one like he does when he wants me to read one. I figured it was my fault about the books so I scooped him up and read him the book with the missing pages and had to make up the parts that were no longer there.
Lesson learned silence means hes up to something! We went to Babies R Us this morning and purchased the door handle covers that make it so he can't open doors anymore. I highly recommend them if you have a curious little one like I do.
Here is the link if you want to see what they look like:
Twist and Grip Knob Covers

Monkey Brains Oatmeal and Granola Bars Review

I have heard a lot about the new products out there containing prebiotics and wondered if they tasted good. I love to be healthy but hey its gotta taste good too! Thankfully I had one of my readers tell me about a company Monkey Brains. They make Oatmeal and Granola Bars. Monkey Brains products do not contain HFCS, preservatives or additives, basically its real food!

We had the opportunity to try all the products they make and we loved them. Of course we each had our favorites in the house. The fact that the logo is a wild monkey made my husband and I laugh since our little boy is one. We have monkey costumes, monkeys on his clothes, a monkey pillow pet and his favorite fruit is bananas. I knew these snacks were for us!

After I took this I cut up into tiny pieces for him to enjoy.

 We first tried the Monkey Granola Bars. We had them for dessert the night they arrived in the mail. My son LOVED the blueberry vanilla bars. He ate one and guzzled down some milk and gestured for more. Thankfully the bars are low in sugar so I could have one of each and my favorite was the Banana Peanut Butter Chocolate. It was so good! My husband thought they were a little rich and said they should make a banana nut flavor. He liked the Strawberry Vanilla the best. Good thing they make different varieties since we all have such different taste preferences in our house! As I type this review my son is munching on a Strawberry Vanilla Bar and it smells so good!

The next morning for breakfast we enjoyed Monkey Brains Oatmeal. Again I made one of each so we could all see which ones we liked best. My little boy is a great little review since he wanted more of some flavors and others he did not want more of. Of course he loved the blueberry oatmeal, he eats everything blueberry! Suprisingly he liked the Raspberry flavor, he usually won't eat raspberry anything. I liked the Maple Brown Sugar Oatmeal the best and have had it for breakfast everyday this past week. My husband agreed with out little guy on blueberry being his favorite oatmeal. I gave a sample pack to my mother in law and she enjoyed all the strawberry ones the most.

The best part is I can tell my son not to monkey around when he is eating them, it seems to crack me up so much. Thankfully I tossed a few bars into our diaper bag because we were out and about yesterday and I was getting a headache from not eating enough and after one Monkey Bar I was feeling better and was able to continue on our errands for the day! I would recommend getting these tasty snacks and oatmeal for the little and big monkeys in your life!

Monkey Brains offers a sample pack on their website with one of each of the granola bars and oatmeal flavors for $1 plus the cost of shipping. A great way to try it before you buy a whole box.

You can find Monkey Brains Granola Bars and Oatmeal at Whole Foods, Krogers, Food Lion and online at their website. They are coming soon to many more stores. If you shop online you can save 10% on purchases over $15.00 by using the code "Friends".

If you would like to keep up on sales and discounts or other Monkey business you can follow them on twitter or facebook.