Thomas and Friends Day of the Diesels and Angelina Ballerina The Shining Star Trophy DVD Review and Giveaway

 I LOVED this movie for my son! Of course we are huge Thomas and Friends fans but this movie is wonderful. I loved how it teaches the value of friendship, equality, honesty and hard work. We can all be "useful engines" in this world if we work together. I have watched the whole movie with him a few times. He will sit there and watch it on my lap yelling "Choo Choo" its so sweet. I always know I can leave on a Thomas and Friends DVD and have a worry free mind. I know he is learning good lessons and kid friendly ideals.

DVD Summary:

The Steamies and the Diesels are in for an action-packed movie adventure in this Thomas & Friends Day of the Diesels DVD. There's a huge fire on Sodor and two new firefighting engines – Flynn and Belle – show up to lend a helping hand. When Thomas starts spending all of his time with Sodor's newest heroes, Percy is drawn to the Dieselworks, where he is made to feel special by the master of mischief himself. Diesel 10 has a master plan to take over the Steamworks and the Steam Team is forced to come up with unique ways of dealing with all the mischief.-

Bonus features include Fiery Flynn To The Rescue game, Day of the Diesels karaoke song, Hear the Engines Coming karaoke song, and Steamies and Diesels video
-Format: Widescreen Run time: 58 minutes

My son loves to dance, he did not however watch this movie. I had one of my husbands cousins kids watch it. The girls thought it was a great movie and reminded me of the time Sam and I were in ballet. It was for a short time but it was really fun. Dance is a great way to get kids to exercise. I love that Angelina is on DVD I recall reading the books as a kid. I look forward to when Sam's little girl will be watching these types of movies and wearing a tutu! This DVD would be a great gift for any little dance star.

 

DVD Summary:

Angelina shines brighter than ever in this all-new movie! Ms. Mimi announces that there's going to be a big talent show at Camembert Academy – and the winner will walk away with the Shining Star Trophy. With celebrity guest judge Perry Parmesan deciding the winner, every minute of practice counts. But when Angelina goes out of her way to help her friends find their special talents, she has little time to work on her own routine. Who will take center stage and win the Shining Star Trophy? Watch as Angelina follows her heart to become a true shining star!

Buy it now on DVD $14.98

Rating: NR
Genre: Children/Family/Animated
Age Target: 2-7 years old
Closed Captioned: English
Format: Widescreen
Feature Running Time: 55 minutes



GIVEAWAY

 

Win a DVD copy of Thomas and Friends Day of the Diesels and Angelina Ballerina The Shining Star Trophy

To Enter This Giveaway: 

Is your child a Thomas the Train fan or an Angelina Ballerina fan?

 *Leave a comment answering the question and be sure to leave your email address if its not public in your Google account*

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. 

-Like Angelina Ballerina on Facebook +1 
-Like Thomas and Friends on Facebook +1 

-Follow Frugal Family Tree on GFC ( right hand side) +2

-Like our new fan page on Facebook Frugal Family Tree +1

-Follow FrugalFamTree on Twitter +1

-Share this giveaway on Twitter or Facebook using the Share Button at the bottom on this post. +1 for each share you do. (can be done once a day) This means you have the chance to get 2 extra entries a day.

-Add our button to your blog and leave a link of where it is located +5 (right hand side) 

*Limited to US residents; 18 years old and above. Giveaway starts September 8, 2011 and ends on September 19, 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 provide the item in this review for free by the company or PR firm representing them. The opinions on this item are 100% mine and may vary from others.

A day in the Life of a Housewife Smart and Final #FirstStreetGrand

As a new mom I have been a "housewife" much longer than a Mom. I was used to a sparkling clean house and had all day to make it that way. My how my life has changed since being a mom. Now I have a few hours while my son naps each day to get the daily housework done. With that in mind the products I purchase to make my home clean are even more important than ever.

I have tried many many brand of cleaners. I often find myself buying what is on sale or I have a coupon for. I have to admit I am not brand loyal when it comes to my household cleaners. Then I tried the Smart and Final First Street Brand. 

I have found many great products by #FirstStreetGrand that I had not considered purchasing prior to giving them a try. I wanted to share my day with everyone from start to finish using First Street Brand products. 

My day started out early in the morning with a trip to my local Smart and Final Store. I should have made a list before I left, which is usually standard but we were too excited when we left the house.

When I first arrived I put my sweet boy in the cart, buckled him in and off we were searching for cleaning supplies and packaging from First Street. I have been in the store dozens of times and I have to admit I did not notice the brand until I looked for it. I like that about life. Sometimes we have to look just a bit further to see something that is great that we might not have noticed. 

First we headed to the packaging area that had tons of things like straws, plates, napkins, cups, foil, baggies and practically everything any home would need. We needed foil and baggies for our day. We picked up both for a great price. 

 

Then we headed to the cleaning supplies area. A spot we shop often but this was the first time we were looking for a specific brand. We have purchased the Orange Kitchen Cleaner by First Street and we love it so I had great expectations for the other First Street products. 

I knew I had piles of laundry at home that were in need of a wash we went down the Laundry Care aisle. At first I had a hard time finding the brand but once I spotted a product made by First Street the other ones stood out and I found them quickly. We purchased laundry soap, fabric softener and lavender bleach.

First Street Lavender Bleach

First Street Powdered Laundry Soap

First Street Fabric Softner Sheets

Next we headed to the Bathroom Cleaning supplies aisle. We picked up First Street toilet bowl cleaner, tub and tile cleaner, scouring powder and scouring pads. Our bathroom needed its weekly scrub down from top to bottom. I was excited to see how the #FirstStreetGrand products compared to previous brands I have used.

Before we left we grabbed First Street trash bags, paper towels, kitchen sponges, and orange cleaner.

 The customer service clerk was very nice, greeted us with a smile and even let my little guy help hand him stuff off the grocery belt.

On the way out we forgot we needed a broom  and rubber gloves so we went back in to get some!

After we had all our items, we loaded our First Street products into the car and headed home to start our day. I love that Smart and Final gives bags for your items, unlike some big box stores we shop at!

Now we had all the supplies we needed to start our day of cleaning and cooking. First we stated with the laundry.

I  loved the suds the laundry soap made and got the dirt and grime out of my sons clothing. The bleach was a nice change to the normal bleach we use. The fabric softer made my towels and blankets nice and fluffy. My son snuggled the towel pile before I folded them all. My husband thought the scent was ok but I liked it, not too strong and made everything really soft. 

Next we cleaned the kitchen with the First Street supplies we purchased. When I purchase sponges in bulk  they are usually large ones that I end up cutting in half. I find them easier to use this way and simple way to be frugal and turn 5 sponges into 10! The night before we had juicy watermelons for dessert that left a huge mess. I sprayed the Orange cleaner all over the counter tops and it works great. The smell is wonderful. I scrubbed the counter covered in orange cleaner with my newly cut in half sponge and wiped clean with the First Street paper towels. I liked that the paper towels had a good absorbency and were the smaller squares. The smaller squares make it easier to not grab more than you need. Then we cleaned trash can with the Orange cleaner and put in a new trash bag. The First Street bags were a nice change from the normal brand I use. The First Street ones were thicker and easier to open than my regular brand. I will be purchasing the trash bags again soon!

Next I put my son down for a nap so I could clean the bathroom. The orange cleaner worked wonders on my spotted bathroom mirror. I am teaching my son to brush his teeth on his own so it gets messy in there nightly. The scouring powder and pads were great. A really good price and worked better than the other brand I was using. I loved how powerful the scouring pads are. In our bathroom the sink counter where the soap dispenser sits always has a hard water build up and is a pain to scrub. With the power and pads I had an easy time cleaning it up.

The tub and tile cleaner was good. It smelled a bit like Pepto Bismol but in a good way! Not the normal smell that can often give me a headache but it did require more intense scrubbing. The toilet bowl cleaner worked ok. It required scrubbing unlike other brands I have tried that are a squirt and walk away type. Since time is crucial I would have liked to not have had to scrub the toilet, thank goodness for my rubber gloves.

After I clean the bathroom I always take a shower so I can continue my day cooking feeling clean and fresh!  Its a great reward to shower in a sparkling clean bathroom.

After my shower my son was awake from his nap and it was time to sweep the floors before I made dinner and dessert. I used my new First Street Broom and my son was more than happy to help!

 

Next I used my First Street Aluminum Foil to make fish sticks and sweet potato fries for dinner. The foil felt a bit thinner than our normal brand but was a better price and since we use it then toss it being thinner was not a problem.

 

After enjoying our dinner I decided to bake one of my favorite Pillsbury Peanut Butter cookie recipes from the cookbook my mom gave me when I moved out. It has my favorite Chocolate Chip cookie recipe in it too! I used the foil for the pan to bake my cookies on. The cookies finished baking a bit faster with the thinner foil but that just meant cookie time even sooner! We used the First Street baggies we purchased to store our brown sugar in since I accidentally ripped the bag when I opened it. After we baked our cookies and they cooled we stored some cookies in our First Street baggies so we could take some to the park in the morning.

I ended my day as a happy housewife having a clean home, a good dinner and yummy cookies to eat all while using my First Street brand of products!

You can read my ThisMoment post on my experience here.

Smart and Final stores are having a celebration in honor of their 140th Birthday by giving away great prizes.

Smart and Final is giving away 10 $200 American Express Gift Checks, 10 $100 American Express Gift Checks, 20 First Street bags filled with First Street products and $50 SmartCash cards. The promotion starts September 7th - 20th! You can enter the giveaway at http://www.FirstStreetGrandEvent.com website.

The details of the giveaway are:

Anyone who purchases at least one participating First Street item at their local Smart & Final will receive a unique code on their receipt. They must then go to http://www.FirstStreetGrandEvent.co and enter their code to enter to win!

I am definitely going back to Smart and Final to buy more Orange Cleaner, Scouring Pads and Powder and Trash Bags later this month. I will be entering the #FirstStreetGrand giveaway with my receipt code. Fingers crossed I win something!


*This project has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for #collectivebias.  The opinions in this post are 100% mine and may vary from others.

Oh See?!?

My son has started to talk more. Its so darn cute! My baby is trying to be a big boy. His new favorite thing to say other than NO! is "Oh See". He points to stuff and says "Oh See" with such a joy in his heart. I think he got that from me. He is trying to say "Do you see?" I say that to him often apparently a bit too often!

He made his first official sentence last week using "Oh See". We were sitting at the table looking at a catalog of birthday parry supplies. I told him to look at the pictures and show me which one he wanted for his birthday. He is turning 2 in November and I am excited to think of what I can do for his big day.

As we flipped the pages he was quiet and looking. Then as soon as I turned the page he spotted Thomas the Train. He pointed to the pictures and yelled, "Oh See Oh See Choo Choo!"

It was sooooo cute! He loves Thomas the Train and for his 1st bday he had a Thomas cake. It looks like he might be having a Thomas themed party for this year. As he might say, "We will ....Oh See"

Rebates to Save Money or Get a Free Product

As a Frugal Mom I find almost any way I can to save money. Rebates that allow you to get something for UPC or other codes is a great way to get s free product for something you already intended on purchasing.

Send in your Earth's Best UPC labels for cute stuff. There are a few options here is one of the products you can get

Earth's Best and Guess How Much I Love You™

This tender story, written by Sam McBratney, illustrated by Anita Jeram and published by Candlewick Press, tells a tale of Little Nutbrown Hare and Big Nutbrown Hare, who try to measure the immeasurable—their love for each other. This best-selling story is perfect to share with those you love "to the moon—and back." To receive Guess How Much I Love You fill out the Earth's Best Offer Redemption Form and send us 12 Earth's Best UPCs from any Earth's Best Products along with a check or money order for $1.95 (for shipping and handling).

Here is the form to print, fill out and send in with your UPC labels.

Purchase Kimberly-Clark products with Disney* Pixar CARS 2 codes, enter Codes here until 9/30/11 and redeem for great CARS 2 gifts until 10/31/11 Look for the Cars2 Stickers on select packaging.
You can read more about this offer and participating products on the website here.

We buy Huggies and Scott so I will be on the look out for the marked packages.