Caveman ABC Story Book Review

Since we love books and dinosaurs in my house I though it would be perfect to read an A B C book about a caveman. This is a cool book for any kid and my husband even has fun reading this one to our son.

Caveman ABC Story is a unique way to learn about ABC's. Its more than a this is for that book its a story about a caveman and his day. He wakes up and encounters all sorts of creatures, nature and situations that follow along the alphabet. Its a super cute book!

I know I will be reading this book over and over to my son. I love the flow of the story and the different way of teaching ABC's!

The book ends with the end of the Caveman's day sleeping and snuggling the creatures he encountered during the day. This is great for a bed time story to then tell your little cave boy or girl that its time to get your Zzzz's like the caveman!

You can purchase Caveman ABC Story at the publishers website Sterling Children's Books. You can follow them on twitter and sign up to their newsletter to stay up to date on the newest books.

Here is a cute clip about the book!

The Giraffe Who Was Afraid of Heights Book Review

My son adores giraffes! His best friend is a stuffed giraffe he got for his 1st birthday after feeding them at the zoo. He will not sleep or nap without him and cries when I have to put him in the washer. Since he loves giraffes I try to do my best to find cute giraffe stuff to make him smile. As soon as he saw the book Giraffe Who Was Afraid of Heights he squealed and yelled "Giafe".

I knew he would be excited to read this book. I love when he climbs onto my lap and sits quietly while I read a book to him. Its the only time he is sitting still is when he is reading, otherwise hes a wild boy! 

The book is a sweet story about a young giraffe boy who is afraid of heights so he cannot stand tall as a giraffe should. His Mama and Daddy giraffe send him on a journey to go to see the doctor to help him with his fear of heights. Along the way he meets two other animal friends with their own fears and together they all set out to see the doctor to help them.

In the end they need each others help to survive a wild crocodile and by doing so they each over come the thing they fear the most. Its a wonderful story about overcoming your fears, friendship and kindness. The back of the book there are great facts about each of the animal characters in the story and how they live in the wild. There is a match up game and even a section you can cut out.

You can buy The Giraffe Who Was Afraid of Heights from Sylvan Dell Publishing website.


Sylvan Dell Publishing has many great book for kids about animals, nature and the universe. I would love to have any of their books for my son. We have a few favorites on our wish list like Big Cat, Little Kitty and Meet the Planets.

* I was not paid or compensated for this post. I was sent a free copy of this book for my review by the publisher/PR company. The opinions are 100% mine and may vary from others.

Walk with Nature

This was my favorite pic I took. Its like the future is just ahead of you, you cant see where it leads but its exciting to follow!

There is a restorative quality to being outside among the trees, animals and water. I find when I am feeling a bit too over stimulated by technology that visiting our local river waterway makes me feel refreshed. The way the ground smells right after a rainy day, the plants green with moss and the sound of the river flowing fast makes me feel peaceful. I forget sometimes that we live so close to water. As a kid I always lived fairly close to the Pacific Ocean. No more than a 30 minute drive (thanks Mom and Dad for that!) Now I am not so lucky. We have to drive over an hour in slow traffic to see the ocean but very close by is the American River. Its not the ocean, but its water and nature, for now that will have to do!

Smart & Final and Real California Milk Contest for Southern CA Schools #SmartFinalSupportsSoCalSchools #CBias

We love Smart & Final in my home. Its a great store that you can save on food, household items and even diapers without having to pay a membership fee. Another reason I love shopping at Smart & Final is the First Street brand. One of my favorite products they make is ice cream. For one it taste great but one of the main reasons I like it is because its made with Real California Milk. As a Californian I love to buy the items that promote the use of milk from my state. 

This month launches the Real California Milk seal contest for Southern California schools so I am even more proud to purchase items from Smart & Final that carry the Real California Milk seal. Smart & Final and the California Milk Board are supporting Southern California schools with a contest. You can read more details about the contest on the Scholastic website.

Smart & Final has partnered with the California Milk Board to award Southern California* elementary classrooms, schools and students with up to $2 million in cash, books and other prizes. There are thousands of chances to win — just for collecting Real California Milk seals from the milk and dairy products you buy. *Participating elementary schools in Imperial, Kern, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.

The prizes for schools collecting the Real California Milk seals are:

Besides counting as an entry for exciting sweepstakes prizes, a schools first valid entry earns one FREE Scholastic book. Books will be awarded to the first 50,000 entrants.
After your schools first entry, every set of 100 valid seals submitted earns 25 additional FREE Scholastic books or a $25 school supplies gift card. Please indicate on your information card which prize you would like to receive. See official rules for details and restrictions

The California Milk Advisory Board is going to announce winners in February, BUT Smart & Final is so awesome that they're doing a separate sweepstakes! 

Entrants who go to FirstStreetSupportsSoCalSchools.com and tell why their Southern Californa school should win will be entered to win $500, $300 or $200 to be donate to the school of their choice EVERY MONTH!

For Southern California school teachers here is some more info on where to send you Real California Milk seals to be entered in this awesome contest. If you are a parent living in the participating schools area you can let your child's teacher know about this contest and help your child's class win! The kids will drink more milk products and will have a chance to win great stuff. I think its a win-win way to get more milk!

As a kid I went to school in Southern California I want to help give back to schools in that area. Since I now live in Northern California and no schools here participate I will be and want to encourage other central and northern California families to send your seals to a school that is participating. We will be helping schools and supporting California by purchasing products made right here in our state.

So remember when you are shopping for milk products in California at Smart & Final be sure to look for the Real California Milk seals. They are on milk, butter, cottage cheese, sour cream and many great varieties of First Street ice cream. Including one of my favorites Moose Tracks.

To celebrate this exciting Real California Milk seal contest my son and I had so yummy Real California Milk Shakes! A great excuse to have a yummy treat!

You can find Smart & Final on Facebook and on twitter @SmartFinal . You can help support the contest by searching the hashtag #SmartFinalSupportsSoCalSchools and retweeting the tweets.

*This post has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias

#CBias The opinions in this post are 100% mine and may vary from others.

Snapfish Supports Breast Cancer Awareness Month

In support of Breast Cancer Awareness month, Snapfish by HP announced a partnership with Susan G. Komen for the Cure.  Throughout the month of October, Snapfish will offer exclusive PinkGives personalized photo gifts including a custom card collection from new Snapfish Publisher designers, as well as customizable jewelry, calendars, notebooks, bookmarks and more.

To create personalized gifts for your family and friends, as well as raise awareness of Breast Cancer Awareness month,  can visit www.snapfish.com/PinkGives. For every PinkGives product purchased, Snapfish will donate 30 percent of the proceeds (up to $25,000) to Susan G. Komen for the Cure. 

Snapfish members can also showcase their support for Breast Cancer Awareness Month by sending a note to pinkgives@snapfish.com about their involvement in the cause – whether they’re participating in a local Susan G. Komen race, organizing a fundraising campaign or related party – for a chance to receive Snapfish-funded support as an official photo sponsor for their event. Snapfish will select four winners and will donate up to $1,500 to each event.