Ask a kid to sing the Chipmunk song and "Christmas, Christmas time is here" will resound loudly, but how about Groundhog Day?  (The only day on the calendar that celebrates rodents!)

Today February 2nd, is the day we wait with grand anticipation to see if we are saddled with another six weeks of winter, or if spring in all it's glory will make an early arrival.

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Bakugan: Battle Brawlers is the first video game based on the smash hit Bakugan toys, card game and anime show.  Released October 20, 2009, this has been a raving hit among tweens who play video games.  While this game likely appeals to boys more than girls, Amber my 13 year old daughter (who is decidedly very ungirly), got a chance to review this on the Nintendo DS platform and this is what she said about it:

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Anytime is a good time to party, right?  Amber and her best friend Megan, are always up for partying, and playing their Wiis is all part of the fun.  Since they don't attend the same school anymore, they make the most of the time they get to spend together, and the Wii is usually a part of it, whether at our house, or Megan's.

Over the Christmas break the girls got to spend a couple of days together, and it was with much delight that they reviewed a new Wii game that arrived in our home -- Squeeballs Party.  That is one of the great things about the Wii, is the games like this one that aren't just single person play.

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Like most people I have a ton of New Year's Resolutions.  Most probably will never come to fruition, however staying fit and healthy are a top priority for me.

Twitter Moms has yet another fabulous contest going on for blogging moms, where they are giving away 5 EA SPORTS Active™ Personal Trainers for the Wii.  Share 10 ways your planning to get fit after the holidays on your blog and you could win too!

So here are my 10 ways to help get and stay fit after the holidays.

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Are you by chance looking for some fun Wii games for your family to gift this holiday season?

Well I have two to tell you about that are sure to delight your kids, and maybe even some of the grown ups in your home!

EA Games has a whole line up of family games and Amber was lucky enough to be able to test drive a couple of them.

The storyline for the game is amazing and really fun, Amber's only complaint was that the ending was not quite fulfilling enough for her.

Do you remember playing dodgeball on the school playground? Do the sounds, sights and scraped knees bring back good (or bad, depending on what kind of player you were!) feelings?

SouthPeak Games has brought dodgeball to the Wii at a whole new level. The Pirates vs. Ninjas level.

Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball has a standard play mode against the game or a multi-player mode so you can squash your friends' toons. A fun way to spend the afternoon if you have some spare time on your hands. Pick your side...pirates or ninjas.

So I first wrote about Pirates vs. Ninjas Dogdeball for the Wii here. Then SouthPeak Games sent Amber a copy to play and review.

The game is "stacked" in story mode she tells me, and the odds of winning are ...well...not so good. Which makes it a little disappointing for a 13 year old.

The controls were difficult to master as well. Trying to get the characters to do what she wanted was frustrating. She eventually figured it out but still she sometimes feels that getting the players to perform the actions she wants is a little "iffy".

All in all she says it's a good game, but she has not had a chance to play it against a friend, only against the game. Somehow I think the anticipated victory of trouncing a friend will make the game a little more enjoyable.

And as for who wins? She tells me the verdict is settled and it's the Ninjas!

Welcome to my Saturday post on all things Sleep!! June is Sleep Month here at Three Different Directions, and I hope the posts that I put up, help both you and me to find ways to get a better night sleep!

Today I want to highlight the website Sleep Tonight. Sleep Tonight will tell you all about why you might have a nightly fight with your pillow (and not a fun one at that!), what GABA is and why you should care....(no not Yo Gabba Gabba for you with toddlers), why you need sleep and why you should talk to your doctor for options when your insomnia is overwhelming. While this website is non-branded, you will see an offer on it for a free trial for a sleep aid. However, it has a lot of good information on it about sleep habits and vices that keep you from sleeping.

You really must take a poke at the Sleep Tonight game where you can play as Drowsy Dan or Sleepy Sue - whack sleep impairing activities with pillows and collect good sleep icons to help you rest. It's a lot of fun, and slightly addictive! Leave a comment and let me know if you played, I want to try and beat your high score!!

Has your daughter ever begged you for a pony? Well now you can indulge her fantasy without the mess or the price tag!

Girls 5 and up will love to take care of their own horses on a safe online place, the world of Bella Sara.

Horse lovers can head over to BellaSara.com and sign up (children under 12 will require parental permission), and they will receive a free virtual horse that is theirs to take care of.

Amber was sent two packages of Bella Sara trading cards to review in connection with Team Mom. The Bella Sara trading cards are how you add more horses to your stable in the online world. At about $2.99 a pack, it's significantly cheaper than that pony ☺. Each package has a card with a code that allows your child to choose a horse to add to their collection and horseshoe currency that enables them to buy things to furnish their online cottage.

BellaSara.com also has games, puzzles, coloring pages, desktop wallpapers and other fun things.

The cards themselves are much like other trading cards, fun to collect and along with the virtual horse and horseshoe currency, come with a card of tattoos and a card of stickers.

New this month to the Bella Sara trading cards is Bella Sara Royalty. This is the 9th series in the line. Wow, 9th in a series, that shows just how popular this franchise is! The Royalty series allows children to experience the royal realms and fantastic castles in the magical land of North of North.

Amber said the website was easy to navigate, and she had no problems getting her horse from the codes on the cards. There is some reading required so younger kids may need a little help. The graphics are enchanting and colorful.

My 13 year old, while trying to stay low keyed and feign too much interest in the Bella Sara cards and website, was heard saying "oh cool" and spent more time playing with her new horses than she would probably admit in public ☺.

Bella Sara trading cards are available at retailers all over North America.

Please Read **About Reviews at the bottom of the page.

Win it!

I have a Bella Sara Prize Pack featuring Royalty, Miniatures and Treasures collections to give away to one lucky winner. To enter:

Stop by Bella Sara's Amazon web store, come back and mention in the comments one of your favorite products from the site. That’s it! (This must be completed before any extra entries will count).

To earn extra entries, you may do one or all of the following. Each one counts as an extra ticket but you must leave a separate comment for each one.

* Subscribe to my feed via email or reader

* Mention this giveaway on your blog with a link back here and to Bella Sara

* Follow my blog publicly

* Follow me on twitter and tweet about this giveaway

* Place my button in your sidebar

This giveaway is open to ages 13+ US Residents only. It will end at 11:59 pm cst June 16th. The winner will have 3 days to claim their prize after they are e-mailed. Good luck!

Thank you to Team Mom and Bella Sara for this great review opportunity!

There is a new arcade-style videogame for the Wii, Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball, featuring those iconic characters in that quantifying playground game of dodgeball. Using a ball to tag opponents out of the game, Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball changes that "innocent" (I don't know about you, but I never found that game innocent at all!) childhood game of dodgeball into an action packed, mind-blowing battle between Pirates, Ninjas and other eccentric groups of characters. Teams include Robots, Aliens, Monsters and more!

Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball is rated E 10+ and is available at major retailers nationwide. For more, visit www.SouthPeakGames.com.

Check out the video trailer for it! My bets are on the ninjas (I just think they're quicker on their feet), but I'll get back to you on that!

I'm coming out of the closet. The gaming closet that is. I'm admitting to you all that I am a gamer. I've denied it (even to myself) for a long time, but honestly when I'm raiding WoW four nights a week, it's time to admit the addiction. (For those of you who did not understand the previous sentence, breathe a sigh of relief ☺).

In any case there are times I want something, shall we say stress free to play. Zenses Rainforest (for Nintendo DS) from The Game Factory, was sent to me to play and review, and I have to say for a casual gamer this fits the bill.

First off, although I am now a self proclaimed gamer, I cannot use a joystick or control pad well. It's true, I fail at that. A mouse and keyboard or a touch screen are preferable to me. That's where the Zenses Rainforest game shines in my opinion, no keypad controls needed, the games (there are six of them) are all touch screen based.

While these games are designed in a relaxing theme of rainforest pictures and sounds, you are not mindlessly wasting time, as many of them require you to think abstractly to accomplish the level. This isn't brain surgery though, so you aren't under any pressure! There is a particular game I was drawn to in this set, where you have to match up flowers in a certain combination in a grid for maximum points.

The games are visually appealing and the music that accompanies them is very soothing. I like how you can go to the Zenses microsite and download the mp3 soundtrack from this game.

Zenses Rainforest and its counterpart Zenses Ocean are available at retailers for an arv of $29.99.

I'm sensing that on our long flight home from Barcelona next year, this game is going to get a lot of play time, providing of course that the battery on our DS holds out ☺.

Please read **About Reviews at the bottom of the page.