Growing Tree Toys Blog Network

You may have noticed this cute little badge on my side bar. This is to show that I'm a proud member of Growing Tree Toys Blog Network. Growing Tree Toys is a family-owned store known for their thoughtful selection of educational toys and eco-friendly toys. You can shop there both online and offline (one block south of Old Main at Pennsylvania State University).

The Growing Tree Toys Blog Network is open to anyone who has a blog. Members get exclusive access to contests, discounts, and sponsorship opportunities (such as product reviews and giveaways). Your may also get featured as Blogger of the Week and receive extra exposure for your site. Sounds like an interesting program? Feel free to fill out the application form here and join in the fun.

Vote to Reunite Mothers with Their Children

In an earlier post last month, I told you about the "Thank You Mom Reunions" contest sponsored by Proctor & Gamble. It aims to help renuite mothers and their children with a generous prize package (one $1000 gift card + one portable digital video camera). Thirty finalists have been selected and it's time to vote for your favorite entry and help pick the 15 winners for this month.

You may vote once per day until 11:59:59 ET June 30, 2010. After casting your vote, you can submit your own entry for the next round of voting in July. Even if you already entered but wasn't selected in June, you are strongly encouraged to enter again in subsequent months. The contest runs through November, so you'll have plenty of chances to win!

Disclosure: By posting this information, I am entered into a contest sponsored by One2OneNetwork to win one of five gift cards. I did not receive any compensation for this post and thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

Summer Reading Tips

Summer is officially here. TwitterMoms and HarperCollins would like to know "How do you get your kids to embrace summer reading?" The first 100 qualified participants in this “I Can Read - Summer Reading” blogging program will receive an "I Can Read!" paperback book while 5 random qualified participants will receive an "I Can Read!" book set consisting of twelve "I Can Read!" featured titles. Got tips and tricks for raising a little book lover? Please share them with your fellow parents, who are eager to foster a love of reading in their children. If you're interested in joining the blogging contest, please follow the instructions outlined here and get your entry in by July 23rd.

Here are a few things I do to encourage my toddler to read:

1. Make a feasible reading list.
It's important to choose the right books for your child--books that are age-appropriate and captivating. For example, babies and toddlers love books with colorful pictures and cute characters. Words in the books should be simple and in large, bold print. Pop-up or touch and feel features are a big plus. You may also want to keep the reading list to a reasonable length. In my opinion, reading a few good books is better than reading tons of mediocre ones.

2. Set up a reading schedule.
If you would like reading to become an indispensable part of your child's life, you may incorporate reading into her daily routine by setting aside 1-2 hours a day for reading. Over time, she'll read not only out of interest but also out of habit. It can be really hard to establish a schedule at the beginning, but your efforts will pay off in the long run (isn't this true for feeding, sleeping and many other aspects of baby raising?).

3. Read to or with your child
Parents are a child's first teachers. Children love to imitate whatever their parents do. You may take advantage of this to cultivate your child's passion for books. For younger kids, read the book aloud slowly and preferably in funny, different voices, point at corresponding pictures, and ask them to read along. You may also turn words into lyrics and sing the book instead (My son does that a lot). For kids old enough to read independently, I think it a good idea to sync your reading schedule with theirs. How would you expect your child to read while you're watching TV or playing video games? She'll be easily distracted and tempted to do things that appear to be more entertaining than reading. Reading to or with your kid is also a great way to bond with her.

4. Encourage role play and storytelling
To make story books even more appealing, let your kid play the story out with you or with other kids. Encourage her to take different roles in the story and perform the way she thinks is right. Show interest in the books she read alone by asking her to retell the story to you. This will help polish her language skills and boost her confidence. My son is too young to tell a full story, so I keep asking him questions like "What happens next?", "Who comes?" "What does he do?" and "Why does he do that?" to help the story flow. Although I already know the story well, I never correct him if he changes any details, and let his imagination reign instead. He always looks very proud of himself after telling mommy an interesting story (OS: Mommy and I read the book together, but she's so forgetful. I know better!)

Please keep in mind that every child is unique. You've got to know your kid's special traits and cater your strategies and techniques to her needs.

Looking for more tips and tricks for summer reading? Check out the widget in my sidebar and see what other moms are doing to get their kids to embrace summer reading.

Disclosure: I wrote this blog post while participating in the TwitterMoms blogging program to be eligible to get an "I Can Read!" book. For more information on how you can participate, click here.

Keeping Kids Busy on Summer Road Trips with Free MobiStories

This is a guest post written by Beth Feldman, Founder of RoleMommy.com

I'm sure you've been there before. You've packed snacks, shoved your luggage, roller blades and tennis rackets in the trunk, jerry rigged the bike rack to the car, gassed up and are finally ready to hit the open road. What you may fail to anticipate however, is the bumper to bumper traffic you'll be sitting in while your kids pester you from the back seat with the dreaded question - Are We There Yet???

As a road trip warrior, I've got some great game and gadget options that'll keep kids of varying ages entertained as you traverse the highways and byways of our glorious country. So what's the secret behind a smooth summer road trip with your family? Here's our Fave Five:

1. Nintendo DSi XL - We received a complimentary DSi XL to review when it was first released this spring and my kids have been fighting over it ever since it arrived on our doorstep. So what's so great about about the DSi XL? Well, the screen is way bigger than the traditional DSi, there's also built-in educational software including Dr Kawashima's Brain Training: Arts Edition and a comprehensive dictionary - which my husband loves since he's a walking thesaurus - but more on him later. There's even an option to create your own digital short movies complete with audio...I've even created a few Peanuts movies of my own since I'm proficient at stick figures, Snoopy and Woodstock. As with the Lite, XL owners are also able to download games through the Nintendo DSi Shop and create and share photos - which my kids happen to love!!! Of course, there are also plenty of game options - including the brand new Mario Party 8 for DS , Atari Sandlot Sluggers, Style Savvy and one of my personal faves - Scribblenauts!

2. Bring Books to Life with Your iPhone, iTouch or iPad - Whenever my kids are completely bored, they ask me to hand over my iPhone so they can download apps to pass the time away. But thanks to the folks at MobiStories, I now have the upperhand! If you want to really knock your kids socks off, then try out the latest innovation in children's book technology with the debut of The Marvelous Toy - a digital and musical children's book now available on MobiStories on PC's, iPhones, iTouch and the iPad. Your kids will be mesmerized as they touch the screen and the images are literally brought to life in front of their eyes. Plus, in addition to their latest release, Mobistories offers a host of downloadable picture book options for kids ages 2-10.

3. A DVD Double Feature - Turn your laptop into a movie screen or better yet, pick up an inexpensive DVD player you can strap to the back of your seat so that your kids can catch their favorite movies - incidentally, "Alice in Wonderland" was just released this week on DVD and in my house, "The Tooth Fairy" is a current must-see (at least a dozen times or more). And hopefully, if you're not driving, you can grab a seat in the middle, whip out a bag of popcorn and watch right along with them. Another option, take the quiet time to read on your Kindle, iPad or crack open a good book...now that's a novel idea!

4. Mad Libs - If your kids are proficient at potty words (ie. poop, fart, etc), they will have an absolute blast filling in the blanks to the age old road trip conversation starter - Mad Libs. We actually gave these out at my daughter's birthday party and they have taken up permanent residence in our car. Funny, but when I used to play with Mad Libs way back when, I thought my stories were hilarious too.

5. The License Plate Math Game - I have to give credit to my husband on this one. Whenever we're in the car, he will encourage the kids to add the numbers in a license plate and whoever gets the answer quicker, wins the points. They do the same thing with the alphabet - they look for every letter in the alphabet and call it out as a car is whizzing by. Obviously, the driver should not participate in this game, but my hubby can't help himself - he's very competitive.

One more week to win an iPod Touch! Visit this link, re-tweet the road trips post and then leave a comment offering your own road trip survival tips. We'll share your tips with the team at MobiStories and they will ultimately decide the winner of an iPod Touch! The contest runs throughout the month of June and we'll select a winner on July 5. Runners up will receive a $25 iTunes card as well as an autographed copy of The Marvelous Toy signed by Grammy award-winner Tom Paxton.

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by the Role Mommy Writers Network. For more information visit www.rolemommy.com.

MobiStories has also generously offered TWO FREE digital book downloads for my dear readers. Just follow these simple steps to get free downloads to your PC:

1. Go to mobistories.com
2. Click on Summer (in the Ages 2 - 4 category)
3. Click on Add to Cart and then add Celebrating Michelle Obama
4. Enter code RTW0710 in the Coupon Code Box and submit your order.
You may watch this How To video for detailed instructions.

Hope you and your kids will enjoy the free books and good luck with the contest! Feel free to share your MobiStories experience with me on this post.

Let's Get Beautyfix and A Special Treat

Given the number of various beauty products out there on the market, do you often feel at a loss as to which ones are the best fit for yourself? If so, Beautyfix is here to help! Beautyfix.com is an exclusive beauty club dedicated to matching you with the perfect products. Every season, a panel of beauty experts will put together the Official Beautyfix Selection through an extensive review process. The Selection is made up of the most innovative and effective products available on the market handpicked by the panelists. Each club member will then receive personalized product recommendations based on her own beauty profile. Striving to integrate beauty influencers, consumers and brands through the web, Beautyfix provides a revolutionary solution for people looking for the best products to fit into their beauty regimen.

Beautyfix has kindly invited me to a free trial of their membership along with a customized Beautyfix kit consisting of 8 great products plus a bonus luxury Beautyfix Cosmetics Bag. The sign-up process started with a beauty profile survey asking questions about skin care, hair care and makeup, the answers to which were used to help the experts determine the best product matches for me. After providing my shipping and billing information, I was given the opportunity to choose 8 favorites from a fabulous selection of full-size and deluxe travel-size beauty products, all recommended by the Beautyfix expert panel based on my specific skin care needs.

Take a look at my first Beautyfix Kit:

• Amarte Aqua Veil Pure Hydration Serum 2.2oz.  ($44.10)
• Cures By Avance Age Defyer Eye 0.5oz. ($50)
• 3LAB Perfect Cleansing Foam 3.4oz. ($55)
• Chella Enzyme Exfoliating Crema Mask 2.5oz. ($60)
• Canyon Ranch Your Tranformation Balance Light Weight Moisture 1.7oz. ($75)
• iQ Derma Clear Remedy Acne Treatment Lotion 60ml. ($65)
• iQ Derma Glacial Hydrating Mask 1.7fl oz.  ($35)
• Raw Natural Beauty Ambiaty Cream 1oz. ($59)
• Beautyfix Large Cosmetics Bag 1 piece
• Welcome to Beautyfix Postcard
• Beautyfix Catalog 2010

As dry skin is my #1 skin care challenge, products with moisturizing or hydrating features dominated my list of best matches. The first thing that grabbed my attention was the generous size of these products. The whole kit is priced at only $49.99 including shipping and handling, no doubt the best deal you can get for such a nice package. In fact, I did a little research online. Had I bought the same products individually from Amazon, Dermstore or the manufacturer's online stores, I would have paid $443.10 (Check out the links above if you have any doubts about the figure)! That's an insanely huge saving of almost $400 that Beautyfix is offering to their members! Woot!

Guess what? As a reader of my blog, you're privileged to receive an exclusive saving of $30 off the already very low Beautyfix membership price. Simply use coupon  BFIX2 at checkout and you'll be able to sample the best in beauty for only $19.99+FREE SHIPPING!!!*

All the products included in my kit are of premium quality--both innovative and effective. I love them all. Each single product deserves a separate review. But to prevent this post from getting overly lengthy, I'll just focus on my favorite from the kit: 3LAB Perfect Cleansing Foam. This is the first 3LAB product I've ever tried and I'm deeply impressed with the magic it has worked on my face. It's the best cleanser I've used! It has a rich, creamy texture, with a fresh lavender scent and Vitamin E microbeads, which gently exfoliate before they dissolve. My skin feels extremely clean and comfortable after use. True to its claim, the product deeply cleans my face without over drying. It has visibly improved the condition of my facial skin, making it softer, smoother and look younger. Another nice thing about the cleansing foam is that only a tiny amount of it is enough to create rich foams and has the job done. The 3.4oz tube may last several months depending on individual usage. Also worth mentioning is that 3LAB Perfect Cleansing Foam is part of the Official Beautyfix Selection, meaning it has won the seal of approval of beauty experts!

If you're interested in learning more about other products that come in each Beautyfix kit, please visit Beautyfix's products section for all the details including expert and consumer reviews of each product.

Incredible discount on hot beauty products is not the only perk Beautyfix has to offer. Members are rewarded with a $25 gift card to Glow.com** for completing two or more product surveys. Members also have exclusive access to editorial features, panel interviews and video demonstrations to learn the features and benefits of the products and how to work them into their current routine.The Beauty Buddy System rewards members for referring new ones to the club. For every friend that joins Beautyfix the referrer will receive a $10 credit. For those who register 5 friends, their next Beautyfix kit will be FREE!


As a special treat for those who take the time to read my long review and check out Beautyfix, I'm giving away the $25 Glow.com gift card I received for completing product surveys. Simply leave a comment and tell me which product you're most interested in trying from Beautyfix. I'll draw a winner once I get ten comments on this post. You'll have a 1/10 chance of winning!

Don't forget to use BFIX2 if you decide to join the club. The code will give you $30 off for your first Beautyfix kit. The best offer I've seen around! You may also want to follow Beautyfix on Facebook & Twitter and stay informed of their special offers and product giveaways! 

*Please note that once enrolled, you'll receive a new kit at the regular price ($49.99) every 3 months until you call to cancel the membership. You'll be given the opportunity to customize your kit before it ships.
**$50 minimum purchase required to redeem the gift card.

Disclosure: I received free products from Beautyfix to facilitate my review. I did not receive any monetary compensation for this post and thoughts and opinions expressed are my own. Given the nature of beauty products, individual experience may vary significantly.

Free Advance Screening of Despicable Me

Sign up to get passes to a FREE Advance Screening of Despicable Me!

If you live in or near one of the cities listed below, you're in luck!

*Atlanta
*Boston
*Cleveland
*Houston
*Los Angeles
*New York
*Phoenix
*San Francisco
*Seattle
*Washington DC

You need to hurry because passes are only available while supplies last!

Rayovac Powers Your Summer 30 Day Giveaway

Have you heard? Today is the second day of the Rayovac Powers Your Summer 30 Day Giveaway! Simply tell Rayovac how you'll power your fun this summer each day for a chance to win prizes ranging from Cameras and Bikes to Camping Supplies and a Summer Supply of Rayovac Batteries.

Today's question is: What is your camping style? Backyard, adventurous, or roughing it? My answer would be roughing it, since I haven't got much experience with camping. By submitting this one sentence answer I'll be entered to win a camping kit with tent and batteries. Easy, isn't it?

Rayovac and 5MinutesForMom will also host a Twitter Event on the last day of this month, featuring over 20 fun giveaways ranging from a summer supply of Rayovac Batteries to $50 Target Gift Cards. Here are the details:

Rayovac Powers Your Vacation Summer Promotion Twitter Event
Date: Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Time: 7:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. CST
Location: #rayovac
Follow: @Rayovac_Battery, @5minutesformom, @CirclePRMary

You may also show your love for the event by following Rayovac on Facebook. Good luck everyone!

Disclosure: The first 99 bloggers to promote the Rayovac Powers Your Summer Promotion and Twitter Event won a prize package from Rayovac.You may also join the blogger program by following these rules.

Touch'd Organic Sugar Scrub Review and Giveaway

~~The giveaway is now CLOSED~~

I'm joining 100 fellow bloggers to celebrate the Grand Opening of Touch'd, an online boutique for organic bath and body products developed by my classy friend and beauty professional Rachel Ferrucci. The first Touch’d product was the Organic Sugar Scrub, a natural blend of white cane sugar, healing oils, and scents. It is designed to exfoliate the top layer of skin cells and open pores, allowing skin to breathe and improving circulation.

Touch’d Organic Sugar Scrubs come in a variety of scents. I was given the opportunity to test a full size bottle of Organic Sugar Scrub in Tropical Paradise. Before I started to use the scrub, I was deeply touched by the slip of paper in the packaging, on which Rachel sweetly reminded me to stand on a washcloth while trying this on my feet because putting oil directly on feet could be slippery. The message showed me how much Touch'd values and cares for her customers.  The Tropical Paradise scrub has a very yummy and fruity scent. It almost lured me into tasting it, lol.

I used the Touch'd Organic Sugar Scrub daily for 10 days and loved the way it left my skin feeling soft, silky, smooth, and sweetly scented. It visibly improved my skin condition on such rough areas as elbows, knees, and heels. It was easy to apply and to rinse off. It proved to be non-irritant and safe to use at least on my skin type (dry to very dry).Given this pleasant testing experience, I very much look forward to trying other Touch'd products.

The Giveaway

Rachel has generously offered to give one of my lucky readers a Touch'd Organic Sugar Scrub! It's a $36 value! The winner can have her choice of scent.

Required Entry: Visit Touch'd, and leave a comment telling me which scent variety you'd choose if you won. (Please leave a valid email address in your comment or make sure one is visible in your blogger profile).

Extra Entries (optional): please make sure you do the required entry first! Please leave a separate comment for each extra entry, i.e. 1 comment=1 entry.

• Tell me another product you'd like to try from Touch'd (1 extra entry)
• "Like" Touch'd on Facebook (1 extra entry)
• Follow Touch'd on Twitter (1 extra entry)
• Follow my blog publicly (1 extra entry)
• Subscribe to my feed via email and leave your email address (1 extra entry)
• Follow Me on Twitter AND tweet the following message (1 extra entry per day) Yes! You may tweet once daily to increase your chances:

RT @luckytoddler #Beauty giveaway! Win a @Touchd Organic Sugar Scrub! 7 sweet scents to choose from! http://bit.ly/tdoss #touchd #giveaway
Please leave the link to your tweet in your comment.

• "Like" me on Facebook and leave your name (1 extra entry)
• Add me as your friend on Facebook and leave your name (1 extra entry)
• Sign up at EZWin via this link and leave me your username on the site (3 extra entries)
• Visit SuGoi Kids and tell me something you like about it (1 extra entry)
• Visit Ten Marks and tell me what you think about their service (1 extra entry)
• Grab my button and tell me where to find it (1 extra entry)
• Add icefairy's Treasure Chest to your blogroll and leave the link (1 extra entry)
• Blog about this giveaway and link back to Touch'd and Me. Then leave the link in your comment (1 extra entry for mentioning this giveaway on your blog; 3 extra entries for a separate blog post).

Giveaway ends at 11:59 pm Central Time on 6/30/10

Open to US Residents Only.

Winner will be chosen using random.org and will have 72 hours to respond before a new winner is chosen.

Thanks for entering and good luck!

NOTE: You may enter ALL of the Touch’d Giveaways listed here but may only win ONCE!

Disclosure: I received one free product for review. I did not receive any monetary compensation for this post and thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

Celebrate Father's Day with Marshalls and T.J.Maxx

Happy Father's Day to all the daddies! Have you planned anything special for your great dad? How about treating him to a shopping spree and letting him choose his favorites? T.J.Maxx and Marshalls have a lot of interesting last minute gift ideas for you. Here are a few examples.

For the “Techie” Dad: If dad is always in search of the newest gadgets, why not pick up some great accessories to pair with them. Get some MP3 add-ons like speakers, headphones or a leather carrying case to make his music listening experience a special one. You can also grab some fun laptop and office supplies that can make work more enjoyable.

For the “Sports Enthusiast”: For the sports fanatic in your life purchase some apparel from his favorite sports team so he can showcase his pride. You can complete the package with a new pair of brand-name sneakers.

For The Gourmet Chef Fanatic: With summer right around the corner help get him prepared with grilling tools and unique spices. A new recipe book and apron will guarantee a summer full of tasty treats.

For the “Beach Bum”: If dad is happiest at the beach, help him update those faded swim trunks and worn out flip flops with brand new beach gear. Add in a beach towel and a pair of designer shades to complete the look.

I'm not exactly an avid deal hunter. That's why I love shopping at off-price stores like T.J.Maxx and Marshalls, where high quality, designer products are offered at significantly discounted prices. You don't really have to hunt for deals there because they are already brought to you. At Marshalls, I got my dad a nice polo shirt for only $19.99 and a decent grooming set for $9.99. That's 50%-60% less than what I would have paid for the same items at a department or specialty store! I'm sure you'll find something perfect for you dad at a T.J.Maxx/Marshalls location near you.

Disclosure: I received a $25 gift card to try out the shopping experience at Marshalls. I did not receive any monetary compensation for this post and thoughts and opinions expressed are my own. Gift ideas and pictures are provided courtesy of T.J.Maxx/Marshalls.

Get Dad to the Doc! -Unique Free Gift for Dad

Did you know that new research has found that men are 31 percent less likely than women to have visited a doctor within the past year? (I didn't) In fact, men report making fewer routine health care appointments compared with women (56.5 percent vs. 73.8 percent).

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and the Ad Council are launching a new movement to encourage middle-age men to learn which preventive medical tests they need to get and when to get them. You can be part of it by sending the men you love a FREE Health E-Card this Father's Day and encourage them to take the health quiz. They may also visit the official Healthy Men website, which provides recommended ages for preventive medical tests, a health care quiz designed to test knowledge of preventive health care, tips for talking with doctors, a glossary of consumer health terms, and links to online resources to find more medical information.

You may also follow the Get Dad to the Doc campaign on Facebook and Twitter to get instant updates. Healthy Dad, Happy Family!

Huggies Little Movers $100 Giveaway!

BLISS TV - Our Busy Lives with Little Movers from Blissful Media Group on Vimeo.

Do you have an active little mover in the house? If so, Huggies Little Movers and Blissfully Domestic want to hear your story or your tip to survive the crazy busy days we all have had. Follow the steps outlined here and enter for your chance to win a $100 gift card. Winner will be drawn on Monday June 14th, 2010. So grab your last chance to win today!

My son certainly fits the description of a super active little mover. He's running here and there all day while he's not asleep, sometimes on his feet and sometimes on his ride-on toys (PlasmaCar being his favorite). I thus get a lot of extra exercise chasing him to make sure he's safe. My son is nicknamed "hip-hop baby" because he loves dancing to whatever music he hears and in his very own creative styles. My husband and I often laugh into tears at the sight of our "crazy" baby making noises and fast moves, deeply immersed in his musical world.

Win An Apple iPad!

Now the number one item on my wishlist is this baby--an Apple iPad. To celebrate their 3 year anniversary, ChristianPF is giving away an iPad to one of their readers. There are 6 ways to gain up to 21 entries per person. Woohoo, I'm in! Seize your chance to win by June 17th and good luck!

Free Redbox Rental Code for Facebook Fans

Redbox is giving away free one-night rental codes to their Facebook fans. To take advantage of this great offer, just click on the picture above and "like" Redbox's Facebook page if you haven't already done so. Please note that the code is to be used on June 21 only. Enjoy!

Win An iCandy Apple Stroller Package!

Do you need a serious upgrade of your old stroller? Then enter the That’s The Way We “Roll” photo contest and you could win a luxury stroller package from iCandy with a retail value of over $1369.00! The package includes: an iCandy Apple Stroller, Apple Bassinet, Pear PIP converter Upgrade Pack, a Flavour Pack and an iCandy Cup Holder!

How to Enter:

Submit your original photo of your broke-down or pimped out stroller (no more than 250 KB allowed) to contact@babygizmo.com by 11:59pm CST on Friday, June 11, 2010. Please include this information with photo submission:

* Your Name
* E-mail Address
* City & State you live in
* Phone Number
* Who referred you? (Did you hear about the contest from another blog or retailer?) Tell us who because they could win too!
* A short explanation to why you need a new luxury stroller!

I'd greatly appreciate it if you could mention in your entry that you learned about this contest from my blog! Please visit Baby Gizmo blog for detailed rules.