Leap Frog's Math Adventure to the Moon

Math is Amber's favorite subject in school.  It's the highlight of her school day (really!).  She has always excelled at math, and I am so glad, because I struggled with that subject in school.

Media can be a great learning tool and Leap Frog is always introducing new toys and products on the market to help make your child's learning fun.  Their newest DVD Math Adventure to the Moon is one such product.

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Jennifer Shaw: Love Broke Through CD Review

I had never heard of Jennifer Shaw and was excited to check out her CD Love Broke Through.

If you are looking for a new to you Christian music artist to listen to, I recommend this CD.

I adore the title track Love Broke Through.

A little bit about Jennifer Shaw:

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500,000 Views for A Good Cause!

I'm not sure if any of you have checked out the Kiss Mob video with Ryan Seacrest below, but I wanted to let you know that Scope Outlast has pledged to donate 50 smiles to one of Ryan's favorite charities, Operation Smile, when the video reaches 500,000 views.

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Songs from the Heart ♥ Celtic Woman

I was recently sent the Songs from the Heart CD by Celtic Woman from EMI Music as part of the Music Moms team, for review.

Rather than just one woman Celtic Woman is actually made up of 5 women; 4 vocalists (Lisa Kelly, Chloe Agnew, Lynn Hilary and Alex Sharpe) and a violinist (Mairead Nesbitt).  The group has sold more than 3.8 million records in the U.S. and has had 7 sold out US Tours!

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muvee Reveal 8 Software

muvee Reveal 8 automatically edits your videos and photos to make the movies you always wanted to make - in four clear steps.

1) Add your video and/or photos.
2) Choose a style.
3) Add music.
4) Click “Play” to preview.

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Healthy Hands Musical Hand Wash Timer Giveaway

While it seems as if the H1N1 virus is now becoming a background topic rather than the forefront of the news, there is always the seasonal flu to be concerned about, and germs from the common cold and other viruses too.

With the holiday gathering hugging, kissing and cheek pinching that will be happening, it's important to make sure that we help our children understand proper hand washing techniques in order to keep the germs at bay as much as we can.

Well I'm always a sucker for any product that is branded with a Disney character but the Disney Musical Hand Wash Timer by Healthy Hands has its own merit, the Disney branding is just an added bonus!

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Ronzoni Smart Taste Pasta and Supermom Video

The holiday season is always so busy.  Concerts, parties, shopping and other activities keep us hopping and out and about for many nights of the week.

It is not always easy to have a healthy meal on the table during these weeks, but I was recently introduced, through Mom Central, to an easy healthy way to get a yummy dinner on the table that your whole family will enjoy.

Ronzoni Smart Taste comes in a variety of different noodles (spaghetti, thin spaghetti, rotini, elbow macaroni & penne), all of which are fortified with calcium and fiber.  I was a bit skeptical before we tried it, because we have tried whole wheat pasta before and weren't thrilled with the texture or the taste of it.

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Myachi Giveaway

What do you get when you combine the play value of toys like Frisbee, yo-yos and hacky sacks?You get Myachi.

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Protect and Travel With Yak Pak - Giveaway

Back in November Google announced that it will be offering freeWiFi in 47 participating airports this holiday season.

So whatever kind of netbook or laptop you travel with, you now have evenmore reason to make sure that your wirelesscompanion is completely protected as you make your way through rogueairport security and terminals filled with unruly adolescents.  You maynot make it through the holidays with your sanity, but that doesn’t meanyour laptop should suffer too!

Luckily, Yak Pak makes an assortment of sleeves to keep your laptopfrom taking a beating this holiday season.  Laptop sleeves madefrom high density, impact resistant EVA foam come in both a 15.6” and10.2” size.  Also registering in at 10.2” is a sleek, neoprenenetbook case to cushion any holiday mishaps.  And of course, all of thesecoverings come in an array of eye-catching patterns that Yak Pak is so known for.

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Oral-B Smile-Stages and Giveaway!

Good oral hygiene is so important to me. I grew up with it not being a priority in my family, and although I was fortunate enough that my parents took me to the dentist, the habits at home weren't formed and due to that now as an adult, I am making sure that Amber takes better care of her teeth than I did at that age.

During the holiday season, where sugar sweets and chocolates are abundant and the gatherings often turn into late nights, often our children are laid in bed without their teeth getting brushed.

On October 22, Oral-B Stages hosted an event in New York City with Dr. Jennifer Salzer to talk to parents and children about children's oral care.  An informational video with tips from Dr. Salzer was created as a result and I think that you will enjoy watching it.

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Fantastic Mr. Fox Soundtrack Video Premiere

Are you per chance going to the movies this weekend?  Maybe you're planning to take the family to see Fantastic Mr. Fox?

Well maybe your Thanksgiving weekend doesn't include going to see a "fantastic" movie, but perhaps you would like to celebrate with a fantastic soundtrack....
An adorable music video featuring the song “Let Her Dance” by the Bobby Fuller Four set to clips from the film Fantastic Mr. Fox. Watch the video now, courtesy of AOL Music!

If you like the sound of that, you might want to pick up the exclusive deluxe version of the soundtrack, which includes 2 bonus music videos, on iTunes http://bit.ly/FanFoxOST.

Have a fantastic day!

Sweet & Sassy Gifts for the Tweens & Teens

Here are a couple of gift ideas that are sure to please the tweens and teens that you need to buy for this year.

Yum Drives are a perfect stocking stuffer, or an easy and light mailable gift.

These Jazwares products come in all the "flavors" the kids (okay grown ups too!) like best.  Hershey's Milk Chocolate,

Krackel, Mr. Goodbar, Twizzlers and Bubble Yum.

Available in 1 GB and 2 GB models, there is plenty of room for the kids to store their homework photos, music and other digital files on.

I think the Bubble Yum branded one would make an extraordinary "sweet" gift for those wearing braces, who are otherwise banned from chewing gum!

I received the Hersheys one to review.  I opened it up and placed it in front of Hubby's PC.  He is a chocoholic and tends to inhale any type of chocolate within his reach.  It was quite funny to watch him think it was an actual Hersheys Miniature and thanked me for getting him a chocolate for a snack ☺.

Depending on the storage size Jazwares Yum Drives retail between $14.99 to $29.99.

The sassy part of this review comes to you via Hasbro's I-Dog Amp'd. 

This guy is "awesome sauce" or whatever those youngsters are saying these days (I'm sure my phrase is so last week). 

Plug him into the MP3 player and watch him go.  A written description really won't do, so here's a video of Amber showing off her new "pet".

I-Dog Amp'd is available at retailers nationwide and has an arv of about $34.99.

I received both the Jazware Hershey's Chocolate Yum Drive and the I-Dog Amp'd at no cost to myself prior to writing this post.

Do You BELIEVE? Giveaway * Macy's Make- A-Wish Foundation

You've heard it about a million times I bet. "Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus".  But do you know the story behind the phrase?

It all started with a letter from Virgina O'Hanlon to the New York Sun Newspaper in 1897, in which she was seeking advice on whether Santa Claus truly existed.

The editor responded with that now well known phrase "Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus", and a whole lot more.  Visit the Macy's Believe website to see the rest of his answer.

This holiday season Macy’s BELIEVE campaign is inspired by Virginia's letter and the editor's response.  If you visit a Macy's location you will see letter-writing “Believe Stations” where children can send a note off to Santa.  For each letter received, Macy’s will donate $1 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, up to $1 million.

On Friday, December 11th, Macy’s will celebrate the first National Believe Day to recognize and reward acts of kindness and generosity from coast to coast. Also that day, CBS will premiere a new original animated special called, “Yes, Virginia.” on that same day, at 8 p.m. ET.  Check out the trailer.

Macy's is also holding a contest.  Tell them why you Believe, and you could win a trip to the 2010 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  View the details HERE. You could also win a $500 Macy's gift card by voting for those already entered (once per day), so even if you don't want to submit an entry for the trip contest, in the spirit of the season, you could help someone who does.

So have your kids write their letters to Santa, bring the stamped letters to Macy's and drop them in Santa's special letterbox.  Then Macy's will take care of getting them to the post office to mail to the North Pole.  Just think that you can do something you may have been doing anyway (writing Santa letters), but by taking the extra step of dropping them off at Macy's you could be a part of raising up to $1 million dollars for the Make-A-Wish Foundation!  There is even a downloadable template for stationery to get you started.

To thank my readers for helping them out in the Believe campaign, Macy's is giving two of my readers a $25.00 gift card to Macy's.

To enter this giveaway tell me what your child(ren) will write on their letter to Santa that you are going to drop in a Macy's Santa letterbox to help raise money for Make-A-Wish Foundation.

For extra entries do any or all of the following leaving a separate comment for each entry. (the  main entry must be done first)

1. Subscribe by email or reader to Three Different Directions.
2. Blog about this giveaway with a link back.
3. Follow me on twitter and tweet about this giveaway leaving your tweet link in the comments, Copy and paste: "Macy's will donate $1 to Make-a-Wish Foundation, for every letter to Santa mailed at their stores up to $1 million http://bit.ly/1MJvaw" (you can do this once a day!)
4. Become a fan of Three Different Directions on Facebook

Open to US residents, ages 13+,  ends November 28, 2009 at 11:59 pm cst. Winner will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. Email must be in comment or available in profile.  By entering this giveaway you are stating that you have read my **About Reviews and my Privacy/Rules statements and agree to them.

I received no compensation from Macy's or M80 their media representatives to post about the Macy's Believe campaign or host the giveaway on my blog.

Draw Star Wars The Clone Wars Book Giveaway

Grab your lightsaber (okay, just your pencil) and get ready to draw!

In a book not so far away, you will master the art of drawing all of your favorite Star Wars The Clone Wars characters.

Klutz's Draw Star Wars The Clone Wars is what you definitely want to get if you've ever wanted to draw your favorite characters from the show.
The book is amazing in the way that it allows you to draw the characters and practice to get them just right.

There are pages where you can try tracing, like this

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Aliens In The Attic DVD Giveaway

Comedy is waiting for your family in the new 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment DVD and Blu-Ray 'Aliens in the Attic'.

It’s summer vacation, butthe Pearson family kids are stuck at a boring lake house with their nerdyparents.  That is until feisty, little, green aliens crash-land on theroof, with plans to conquer the house AND Earth!  Using only their wits,courage and video game-playing skills, the youngsters must band together todefeat the aliens and save the world -- but the toughest part might be keepingthe whole thing a secret from their parents!

Favorite actors like Ashley Tisdale and Austin Robert Butler for the young viewers and Doris Roberts and Kevin Nealon for us "older" viewers.

Amber and Hubby laughed hilariously at the slapstick mind control.  And one can't help but love the little sister and her sock monkey.  Amid the comedy hi-jinx there are even a couple of lessons learned.

We watched this with a group of Girl Scouts this past week-end and the middle school/high school aged girls (and their troop leaders!) enjoyed it too.

This PG DVD is family approved by the Dove Foundation, which always is a plus in my book.  Movies approved by them mean that if I am unable to watch with my daughter and her friends, I can pretty confident that it is alright for them to watch on their own.

Some of the DVD and Blu-Ray bonus features include

• Introduction to the film by Ashley Tisdale
• Gag reel (always a favorite in our home)
• Meet the Zirkonians

And More!!!  The Blu-Ray includes a digital copy of the movie so you can watch in on a laptop or upload it to your Ipod too!

Take a peek at a trailer

Special Ops Media on behalf of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment sent two Aliens in the Attic DVDs, to giveaway on my blog.

To enter this giveaway  tell me what your favorite alien movie is.

For extra entries do any or all of the following leaving a separate comment for each entry.

1. Subscribe by email or reader to Three Different Directions.
2. Blog about this giveaway with a link back.
3. Follow me on twitter and tweet about this giveaway leaving your tweet link in the comments, Copy and paste: "Win the new Aliens in the Attic DVD at http://bit.ly/surLN" (you can do this once a day!)
4. Become a fan of Three Different Directions on Facebook

Open to US & Canadian residents, ages 13+,  ends November 25, 2009 at 11:59 pmcst. Winner will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will bechosen. Email must be incomment or available in profile.  By entering this giveawayyou are stating that you have read my **About Reviews and my Privacy/Rules statements and agree to them.

I received a complimentary Blu-ray edition of Aliens in the Attic for the purpose of this review from Special Ops Media.