And The Cinderella Dress Up Winner Is...

Eliza from I'm Not Just A Home Mom (among others)!!

I had a total of 32 entries in this contest and many of those were two, three, and four entries by some of the same people! Thanks for being so enthusiastic and entering as many times as you could folks. I appreciate it.

So Eliza will be getting the Deluxe Cinderella Dress Up PLUS the Accessory Kit which includes the choker and headband for the special little girl in her life!

Congratulations!

Review AND Giveaway- Little Adventures Dress Ups

Recently I had a chance to talk to one of the great folks from Little Adventures, a company started by two moms who had realized that there was a need for good quality dress up clothes at affordable prices people could afford. The rest as they say is history!

Little Adventures makes some of the best costumes I've seen in a long time so it only made sense for me to do a review for their little Fireman dress up right? I am so glad I did and I can only say that the quality of it is so awesome! Made of quality fabrics this dress up set came with a durable plastic hat, pants with elastic waistband, and a fireman's coat with shiny stripes and badge on it.

I also like how they use wide Velcro strips instead of little buttons or ties that are harder for little hands to fasten. MonkeyBoy can put his outfit on and take it off anytime he wants without having to wait for Mommy to help him. All of their sets are like this and that includes the ones for the little girl's as well.

Each dress up is completely machine washable and dryable. Trust me, these are not going to fall apart just because you wash them. MonkeyBoy's fireman set has already been washed twice and it isn't coming apart anytime soon.

Little Adventures makes capes, princess dress ups, accessories, fireman sets, and many many more! I would highly recommend contacting one of their online retailers (or maybe consider becoming one yourself) and getting one of their great dress up sets for your little boy or girl to use as a Halloween costume and then an ever after dress up.

Oh wait, you noticed the word "giveaway" in the title didn't you? You didn't think I was just posting a review here on LWH without reason did you?

Well since you patiently read the whole review (you did RIGHT??) AND Halloween is just around the corner, how would you like the fact that Little Adventures also gave me one of their Deluxe Cinderella Dress Ups (picture on the right) plus the Choker and Headband set (below on the left) for one of my lucky readers to win?!

The Deluxe Cinderella set is a little girl's dream come true when it comes to a Halloween costume AND Princess dress up! There are no itchy fabrics or underskirts to bother your sweety, each dress comes with completely finished seams and hems, and as I said before the whole thing is machine washable.

This giveaway will be for ONE Cinderella and Accessory Set size 5-7 years but you will have a chance on two of my blogs to win it.

So would you like to know how one of you lucky folks can win this set for your little princess? Well I am going to give you up to THREE chances here to win until October 10th when I will be randomly choosing a winner and then mailing the costume out Priority Mail -

1) Leave a comment on this post telling me what your favorite all time dress up set/costume was as a kid.

2) You don’t need to be a blogger to enter, but if you are blog about the contest, and link to this contest post and Little Adventures. Then email me at sonacreidhereviewsATgmailDOTcom with the URL link to your post. The contest must be in it's own post not attached to the end of one.

3) Write about this contest in a MySpace bulletin telling all your friends about this contest then email me your username there to sonacreidhereviewsATgmailDOTcom

Sorry but this contest is only open to residents of the United States (unless my Canadian readers aren't worried about getting it by Halloween- let me know).

So what are you waiting for? Don't think you can hide the Cinderella pictures from your little princess by passing up my blog. Just won't happen and she will be mad at you for not trying to win! I'll tell on you, yes I will!

psstt head over to Life With Heathens for three more chances to win this!!

PLEASE LEAVE ME A WAY TO CONTACT YOU!! IF YOU DO NOT LEAVE AN EMAIL OR LINK TO YOUR BLOG I CAN NOT CONTACT YOU IF YOU WIN! (MD and AW ladies just leaving your username there is fine)

Review: Kate's Caring Gifts

This yummy review is thanks to Kate from Kate’s Caring Gifts. Last month she sent us one of the Make Your Own Chocolate kits regularly sold on her website to try out and give our opinion on. Since my daughter's birthday was coming up in a few weeks, I asked Kate if she minded me saving the kit until this month giving me a chance to have several girls do it together. She was very gracious and said "yes".

I will say now that I give the Make Your Own Chocolate kit a very big thumbs up on many different levels. As a homeschooler, I can use this kit to help teach not only a very yummy Science experiment but also culture, history, and the impact of what we buy and where we buy it from has on people’s lives. The instructions and stories that are included with the kit are so thorough that you could easily use this one single kit to form an entire unit study around South American studies and life.

This kit also makes a great consumable gift and party idea. If I were to recommend ages, I would say 11 and over for party use and any age as a family project.

We used the kit when my daughter's friend spent the night to celebrate her 13th birthday. It was easy for the girls to understand, follow, and succeed at with very little parental help at all. I think the only thing I had to do was help them decide when to put in the chocolate crystals and then I just made sure the goofballs didn’t mess up my kitchen too much! Everything else was easily handled by the girls and the results were fantastic.

What the girls ended up with were about 12 rich chocolatey little cups. You know the kind you can only eat a few of at a time? Oh yeah, THOSE ones. Let’s just say my first thought was “PMS’ing woman’s dream come true”. Yummmmy!

The Make Your Own Chocolate kit includes organic cocoa butter, chocolate starter crystals, confectioner’s sugar, paper candy liners, a thermometer indicator, the story of chocolate, and of course instructions. On the back of the instructions are several little cocoa facts and a story about a girl named "Lucia" and her family.

As a fun bonus, the company also includes two actual cocoa beans to try so you can experience what cocoa tastes like in pure form. Most children have never even seen an actual cocoa bean much less tasted one. I thought this was an excellent addition to include in the kit.

Kate’s motto is “People and Earth Friendly Gifts” but what she should also include is that many of the products she sells are educational as well. Besides the Make Your Own Chocolate Kit she also sells a Make Your Own Chewing Gum Kit, Make Your Own Gummy Kit, Adventure kits from ImagiPlay (wooden and hand painted), and much more. Plus, most products are organic so you can feel comfortable knowing what you are actually consuming when you eat, drink, or use these products.

To me, Kate’s Caring Gifts is a kind of one stop shop for the environmentally, economically, and socially aware shopper who is looking for chemical free and consumable gifts or products. With all the recent toy recalls it’s nice to know there is a site like this where you can find lead free and natural gifts for children and grown ups alike.

Thank you to Kate for allowing us to try out and review this kit. It was a lot of fun for the girls and something I will definitely be recommending to other parents who want to give something consumable for the holidays this year. Including myself!

EduToy Review- Noah's Pals

Sona Creidhe Reviews was lucky enough to have a chance to review several of the Noah's Pals line thanks to one of Caboodle's founders, Steve King. I say lucky enough because I was truly impressed with what I saw. We received the kangaroo set (Kevin & Karen), the skunk set (Steve & Shelly), the moose set (Murray & Megan), the deer set (Doug & Dawn), and Noah with the two doves (Derek & Delilah).

Each set (one male one female) comes with its very own species card telling you the kind of animal they are, their names, whether they are limited or unlimited editions, their habitat, where they can be found geographically. There is also a chart that lists their gender, length, height, the weight of the real animal, and the animal's footprint. On the back of each card is also a code that you can enter on their website to track your collection and even work towards earning your own Dylan & Danielle Dodo set.

How do you earn the now extinct pair? Just collect all 40 original Pals and the Dodo set will be shipped to you for free. When I say free I mean shipping is included so it costs you nothing at all. Yes, it's a collectible toy that actually rewards you for completing your collection. What a great concept!

Each Noah's Pal is beautifully sculpted to 1:24 scale and I would recommend them as both a child's toy and an enthusiast's collectible. One thing I noticed immediately about the animals was that they were way more detailed and sturdier than any plastic animals we've ever bought for MonkeyBoy. They are also lightweight (making them easy to carry around), handpainted, high quality, lead free, educational, and realistic (which is a must with little kids). MonkeyBoy liked how everything “matched up right” meaning each animal was to scale with the other animals. No huge skunks or mini-deer.

Price wise these sets are a very good deal. I found them on Amazon.com for anywhere from $2.98 for the skunks we got (Steve King's favorite) to around $20 for other animals. If interested, you can also purchase the wooden Ark for around $40-$50.

The only bad point I can think to share is that the doves and skunks are quite small so I would not recommend them for any child under 4 at the youngest. I definately would not have the smaller animals in the same house as an infant or toddler but all the normal sized animals should be fine.

The homeschooler in me loves the fact that we could use the animals in our studies. The Red Kangaroo set could be used with a unit on Australia or marsupials, the Moose could help with a unit on Canada, Dalmatian dogs could be used with a unit on fire safety/firefighters, seals could be used in a unit on the arctic, and the giraffes could be used for one on Africa. The possibilities are endless!

We plan on getting more Noah's Pals as soon as possible. In fact, I've already let family and friends know that these would make a great gift idea for my little guy for both his upcoming birthday and Christmas.

EduBook Review: BOB Books

We recently received Set 1 of the BOB Books by Mrs. Bobby Lynn Maslen for our enjoyment and review. The BOB Books are for those children just learning to read and make sense of the sounds of letters. I have heard of the books before but never had the chance to actually take a firsthand look. Now I'm so glad to have had this opportunity because I learned alot about my 4 1/2 year old and how he likes to learn.

What I like about these books is the simplicity that goes back to the "Dick and Jane" books some of us use to read in school. The stories in the BOB Books contain repetitive sounds and words that enable your child to easily memorize them and read them to you no matter where they see or hear the sound or word.

When I opened the first book I was honestly surprised because I expected the usual kiddie story with short words and ended up finding stories that to be honest wouldn't make alot of sense to most adults but were perfect for my little one. I was weary as I read the first book to him but when he started laughing and said "Mat and Sam sat on each other!! MOVE IT!!", I knew he "got" the concept. After reading the book twice he has already learned how to sound out and sight read the word "sat". WOW.

I could only find one thing wrong with the books and that was the lack of color where a color was described. Like the red hen was white and so was the pink pig. This began a whole discussion on why they weren't colored right and how do you know the pig is pink with my son. Nothing gets by that kid I swear!

The BOB Books Set 1 for Beginning Readers includes an Introduction Card, 12 books, and a nifty little box to store them in. The cost of this set of books is fantastic and I know I've spent more on a non-educational book before so you honestly can't beat it. We will be buying the other sets in the near future.

I would recommend these books to anyone with a child ages 3-6 to help with beginning reading. As a homeschooler I've found that is usually the age group that uses books like these and finds the most joy in them.

So check out the BOB Books and while you're doing that please read the Meet The Maslans page on their website. It's a wonderful little story and don't they look like a lovely couple? So much talent in one family too!

EduDVD Review: Time For Manners

Holly Beth Moncher’s "Manners Gang" recently sent us three of their educational DVDs for review and I seriously can’t thank them enough for doing so.

Time for Manners is a DVD geared towards children ages 2 and up that uses the puppet characters Tara and Tyler (twins), Wesley, and the perky half-clock Merlin Manners to teach young children about the use of proper manners. The DVD includes such things as saying "please", "thank you", "excuse me", and inside versus outside voices.

How do they manage to teach this? Simply by using catchy tunes such as “Time For Manners” as well as repetition in their songs and messages so the child can remember/memorize the new skills and be able to use them when appropriate.

Their DVD “Table Time” works along the same lines as it teaches your child how to behave during mealtime, how to have a good conversation, and learn setting the table for meals. The third DVD “American Manners” teaches patriotic concepts like the Pledge of Allegiance, history, and respect for the flag. I’ll be honest and say we only watched a few minutes of it because it’s not really our kind of subject matter. It looks fine though for those who want their kids to learn to be more patriotic.

Do these DVDs work? For my 4 ½ year old the answer is definitely “yes”. The songs, puppet friends, and chance to learn manners appealed to MonkeyBoy immensely. After watching the DVDs only twice he was walking around the house looking for as many opportunities to use his manners as he could find. After two weeks of watching the videos every other day (at his request), his manners have improved greatly. We’ve even started a weekly Good Manners Day where MonkeyBoy can earn stickers to put on his shirt every time one of us catches him using good manners.

If you are having a problem teaching manners to your child then I definitely recommend getting these DVDs. Yes, after awhile the music will get on your adult nerves but the kids love it which means a few quiet minutes for you as they watch.

You can find the Time for Manners, Table Time, and American Manners on their website- Time for Manners website (with free shipping!) along with a few other cute gifts they sell.

*I have not been monetarily paid by Time for Manners to give this review. My only compensation is being allowed to keep the DVDs after writing my review*

Cell Phone Review: Kajeet

When Mom Central and MotherTalk offered to let me review the Kajeet pay-as-you-go cell phone for kids ages 8-14, I was extremely excited. My 13 year old daughter has been wanting a cell phone like all her friends but Mom is a grinch and always says "no". This review seemed like the perfect time to let her explore and find out what cell phones are about. I also figured it would give me a chance to consider getting her one in the near future.

As it turns out, I think I am the only one who reviewed Kajeet that thinks it isn't worth bothering with. Maybe it was just the phone we received (which was the LG-225) because those who received the Sanyo Katana seemed quite happy. All I know is that the phone we got is definitely not something I would have ever paid for. EVER.

I never like to write a negative review and I actually put off doing this review for days hoping to find more good than bad to say but in the end, I just couldn't.

So we were sent the LG-225 flip phone and from the beginning we realized that it wasn't a very good quality phone. The Speakerphone, Customizable contact list with picture ID, ringer ID, and up to five numbers (plus e-mail address) per contact features seem to be fine. The Camera that is also a feature is a whole other deal though.

The camera takes some of the worst pictures I have ever seen on any camera. Every single picture we took came out fuzzy no matter what angle we took it from. Who wants fuzzy pictures? I know I don't like cell phones that take bad pictures and considering how much tweens and teens love taking pictures, why bother if the kids can't see them? It also says you can take up to 100 pictures with the camera yet we couldn't get past 24 so the math is a little off on that one.

This particular phone comes with NO games whatsoever. Yes, you can download a few free ones from the Kajeet site but that leads to my next problem with it...

The Kajeet service has a few great features but there was one HUGE turn off for me which was, before I could even activate the phone I had to give Kajeet my credit card number. I'm sorry but if I buy a pay-as-you-go phone then I definitely do not want to have to give out my credit card information! I understand that it's for the Configurator and Navigator features but still, no thank you. For that hassle I could just add my kids to my own cell phone plan and be done.

Kajeet also charges you a 35 cents per day or $10.50 per month fee whether you're using the phone or not. I'm not sure if this compares well with another phone or notWhat if I ground my daughter from the phone for a month? I'm not paying for what I'm not using when it comes to pay-as-you-go. That's the whole point- paying as I go not they go. Now if you go on vacation somewhere that it won't work they will suspend service for you but what about times like I stated above? Are they going to turn off the phone whenever I ask for whatever reason I ask? Probably not and it's not worth a $10.50 fee every month to me.

I commend Kajeet for the idea they have in place and for the Configurator and Navigator features they have set up. I think it's a concept that could end up working out quite well.

As for the LG-225 phone, it isn't worth the $69.99 they want for it in my opinion and I would never have paid for the phone or the service. We definitely won't be continuing with anything more than what we received to review when it comes to Kajeet.

I'm sorry to Mom Central and Kajeet both for not being able to give a positive review but I would have just been lying to be nice if I had. Thank you though for the opportunity to review this phone and see if it was a good fit for our family. I appreciate that.

*I have not been paid by Mom Central, Mother Talk, or Kajeet to give this review and my only compensation is being allowed to keep the Kajeet phone after writing my review*