My kids have been loving Doodle Doug, we’ve seen the commercials for so long. I finally broke down when girl2004 went to redeem her $3 birthday coupon.  Doodle Doug was marked down to about $5 so I was expecting to pay $2.xx out of pocket and very happy with that situation.  When the cashier announced the total, $.36 I was floored.  The box was damaged a little so maybe they discounted it further.  Anyway, he works very well, his head is wobbly and falls off quite a bit, but other than that you just need a big sheet of paper and let him entertain.

Hope you get one at a great price!

Boy2001 has gone through almost all of the Kumon line.  They’ve been fun, sometimes challenging but interesting and most of all educational.    Now that I’m looking for more workbooks for girl2004 I’m getting sticker shock!  I guess that’s why I’ve been hanging out at the dollar store so much, they’ve got some great workbooks there for just a $1.  So the short of it is, I love the Kumon line but they are a bit pricey at $7 each!

I’m just now getting the newsflash that June is Junie B. Jones month.  After a full school year of seeing these books in boy2001′s hand I’ve come to accept the fact that I may not always understand his reading choices. 

Maybe I should even care if it motivates him to get through a chapter book in a few hours! He thinks they’re funny…  what do you think, is any reading good reading? 

There are some cute activities on Junie’s page.

My little girls have cute but high maitenance curls.  Basically, I HAVE to shampoo their hair in the morning if I want them to have light bouncy curls.  If I wash at night and let them sleep on it, or even if I braid it, the result is the same, flattenned out, lackluster curls in the morning.

Washing their hair almost every morning is one thing, combing through it is another.  Especially girl2004′s hair because it’s very long.  She has a lot of thin curly hair.  I’ve used grown up treatments on her with some success.  The only problem is if they were leave in, they weighed her hair down, or made it feel greasy. 

Cutie Pie Curls detangles almost on contact, it’s amazing.  It turned a 40 minute job into a 20 minute job.  No fuss or crying.

No parabens, no SLS, no DEA, no formaldehyde, no petroleum.  Also free of artifical fragrances and alcohol.

Cutie Pie Curlz’ Ingredients:

Water, aloe vera gel, lecithin (from soybeans), behentrimonium metroculfate (from canola oil), wheat amino acid, sodium PCA (an amino acid), grapefruit seed extract, allantoin (from comfrey root), panthenol (provitamin B5), honey extract, natural fragrances/essential oils of: pomegranate & lavender, alpha bisabolol (from chamomile)

Combine Cutie Pie Curlz with Kiddo Kream, read my Kiddo Kream review

Boy2001 was beyond thrilled when I told him he’d be reviewing GoPets Vacation Island! on his Nintendo DS!  I guess most kids would be, right? on top of a new game he got extra time to play, usually he doesn’t get to play during the week unless there’s a day off from school.  It was a real treat. 

 At first he was totally lost with the game.  It took him about an hour to figure out what he needed to do and the concept of taking care of the pet.  He likened Vacation Island! to his Tamagochi (which he still loves off and on).  He understood the concept of collecting shells and being able to buy stuff for his pets.  He also understood the social aspect of adding friends a la Facebook, Mashable, Gather which really surprised me, guess he’s been observing more than I thought!  There is a wireless feature to the game which we didn’t have time to get into, can you believe he’s still got a week of school because of all the snow days?!

From a mom’s perspective, I like the fact that there are some little games that keep him busy for just a few minutes at a time.  I also like the idea of taking care of something and even considering the financial aspects of keeping a pet (spending shells).  Boy2001′s favorite part is cooking the food at the amusement area.  Kids choose a recipe, then they are given a virtual stovetop and wok, they have to follow the recipe as it appears on the screen.  Controlling the flame, slicing and dicing the food images and adding them to the wok with condiments but the most important part — the stirring, he really enjoyed doing that so the food wouldn’t burn (a common complaint when mommy cooks!)

He really enjoyed reviewing GoPets Vacation Island! it was a very positive experience.  The only bad thing he did mention was that he didn’t like the bow on his pets tail because it looked too girly.  I didn’t investigate how to get it off but I’m sure it can so I’m thinking it’s just slightly over his head age wise… Something tells me he’s going to get lots of summer vacay time with the GoPets and be a pro by the time school’s back in session!

*I will provide an update in a few days about the wireless feature* with a link here.

Do your children like to sing? Do they like you to sing?  During a recent moms meeting several moms revealed that their kids hated when they sang and asked them to stop.  I couldn’t believe it, my kids have always responded very well to my singing even though I can’t carry a note in a cup. 

I started out singing to all of them very early on and listening to their vocal attempts (attempts because their singing is almost as bad as mine).  We sing all kinds of things like Christmas songs in July and we often sing themes to t.v. shows we like and watch together like the Flintstones and Gilligan’s Island.

As a matter of fact I think there are two different types of people in the world. Those that like music and those that like tv videos.  I like having the CD and we have listened to it a few times in the car but for us, car time is basically quiet time since we don’t travel more than 15 minutes each way it’s a nice time for us to reflect and talk about the things we come across.  If we go on a roadtrip it’s totally different, we need music like fuel, but for everyday we get a lot more use out of the DVD.  girl2004 usually puts in what she wants during tv time and she has stopped Strawberry Shortcake and put in That Baby DVD which is saying a LOT for a 3 year old that loves Strawberry berry much.

For myself, I enjoy having things in our home that cross generations and bring us together as a family, That Baby DVD & CD are just that type of product – classic.  The visuals are stimulating and interesting to young children.  Mine stop and stare at the screen like deer in the headlights.  Need to see for yourself? Check out the sample vid.

I would also highly recommend That Baby CD for grandparent and grandchild together time, I’m already jumping ahead to the holiday season I guess! And while we’re on the forever upcoming holiday season and gift giving… That Baby DVD and CD would be a fab gift for that 2nd, 3rd, or 4th child’s arrival.  It’s technically for the baby but preschool siblings would be thrilled and it would give the new parents some breathing room to care for the new baby.  So think ahead and taking advantage of a great deal just for you on a product that will become ‘That Baby DVD” and “That Baby CD”.

Enter the coupon code “MotherTalk” when purchasing and save 20% on your entire order!
From now until May 18th, all orders using the coupon code “MotherTalk” will be entered in a drawing to win a new iPod nano!

That Baby DVD and That Baby CD @ Amazon

Here I am all comfy at my new domain name!

gee, it sure feels good.  I’ve been back home and gone again twice since I last posted.  The kids are all great and we’ve added a new member to our family – Smokey the dog!

 After begging several rescues to place a dog in our home, I gave up and “bought” a dog.  It ended up being cheaper anyway but I regret not giving another dog a second chance.  I was told by all of them that I couldn’t get a small dog because I have a toddler and two other kids.  Bigger dogs were recommended by those who bothered to reply.  Three local rescues didn’t bother to even get back to me after I filled out there loooooooooooooong questionnaires.

 Anyway, it turned out well because we got a little sweety, he’s so cute and cuddly but at the same time he is fiesty and sturdy.  He’s a chihuahua/jack russel mix and black and white with little beige streaks. 

I went to pick him up with the girls.  Smokey took to girl2004 right away, he’s not a jumpy dog but was giving her little kisses and running around her.  Girl2006 was terrified and screamed “dog E, Dog EEE” repeatedly for the first two days or so.

Then suddenly she started going up to Smokey and petting him, holding him and saying, “hole me”.  It is soooooo cute.  I’ve got to get it on video!!

 Of course boy2001 is thrilled to death and walks him in the snow *brrr*.  We’re still working on housetraining, thank goodness for the crate training!

If I was a blogger 5 years ago you’d have seen pictures of us once or twice a week enjoying the restaurant Bugaboo Creek.  Now of course we have less money for eating out and the bill tends to run much higher for 5 so you might catch us in there every 3 or 4 months to enjoy a great steak and some fun times.  The kids feel like they’re royalty in here,

The bread is hot and it’s very family friendly with big oversized booths and a talking moose. 

fresh and I almost always get the Black Magic Steak with smashed potato and caesar salad with extra dressing (they really skimp on dressing nowadays so I ask for extra on the side).  We used to always get the cheesecake and share it but they discontinued it, they brought it back and I think it’s gone again… oh well, I just had to settle on the Chocolate Moose Pie.