Minted -- A Wonderful Card Experience

I was asked to review Minted again this year.

I can't say enough good things about this company. The cards are just awesome. They are thick and seem almost like a gift to send in the mail to everyone.

Given the chance to get a few for free as a trial, I chose to buy more and use these cards for our entire holiday card list. We chose a very liberal card that offers a sentiment of peace and joy rather than being overly Christmasy this year. I couldn't be happier. I'd show the card but I don't want to ruin the surpises that await my friends and family this year. What I love most is that there is a great space on the back of these cardboard cards to write a personal message to those we wish to send an added greeting to. It was great!

But, this is the card design:

I am very pleased and if you are in a crunch to get your cards done, it only took a few short days to receive ours. It was super fast.

Check out Minted for some refreshing holiday cards.

Revew: Sylvania PalPODzzz

We received the cutest ladybug light in the mail about a month and a half ago and it naturally fit into our bedtime routine since we received a nightlight turtle for Christmas. And, since the turtle was always fought over, the ladybug has offered a nice distraction.

The SYLVANIA PalPODzzz Portable Nightlight comes in ladybug form or rocketship, and is very small, plugs in and offers a small amount of light all night but also is easy to pick up with small hands to then carry around as a flashlight. You can learn a lot more about these cute bugs here on the Parent Bloggers Network site.

It's pretty durable as it's still working in our house of destructive 3-year-olds after being thrown at least twice and dropped several times.

This little bug has been such a joy to offer my girls under their covers at bedtime and has eased some of the transition problems we were having from light-on to light-off.

Review: Minted

Last year, I was one of those parents who refused to get those photo cards that everyone sends out to all of their family. I wanted to be different, fresh, unique. We're that kind of family, I had hoped. So, after attempting to do the cards myself, I realized quickly that I'm not that kind of mother. No, indeedy, I'm not. I'm the idea girl, but not the follow-through girl.

So, I ended up being one of those mothers who was in line at Target at literally the 11th hour trying to get my photo cards printed up so that I could mail them out before it was too late. In years past, we used a friend of a friend to make postcards, and those were great, but I had very little control over the process, and after the last batch went out late, I was really bummed.

This year, however, I am none of these mothers.

I am the one who has unique, fresh photo cards of her beautiful girls ALREADY printed up and just ready to be addressed and stamped. (Which reminds me ...)

Of course, it's only because I'm a blogger, more specifically a blogger with a review blog. The Parent Bloggers Network asked me to review Minted cards and after one quick scan of the site, I was sold. I have not been disappointed since.

The cards are so interesting, and so fresh -- perfect for a modern family with some traditional ties to the season.

I chose this card, only because the photo I was working with wasn't the best quality nor was it what I would have envisioned. I only had two weeks and a professional photo session wasn't in the stars. So, in the end, I didn't even go as fresh and unique as I would have wanted (isn't it always the case?). But, it worked out nicely and now the cards are done.

Still, the process was super easy. The Minted staff was fabulous to work with. The editing was done well. And, the cards -- all 25 -- turned out super cute! I love them. Just check out the selection and you'll see what I'm talking about.

So, go ahead and be yourself this season, be different and daring. Try Minted. It will make you feel good.

Potty Dramas

My name is Shawn and I am a potty training failure.

Not even Once Upon a Potty can help me. Sorry Parent Bloggers Network.

So very sorry.

Once upon a potty -- a review

Confession: I have been holding out on hope that day care staff would potty train my daughters for me.

Double confession: At almost 3, they're still no where near being potty trained.

I'm starting to feel pressure. Starting to feel incompetent. Starting to feel like I've fallen down on the job.

A few months ago, I agreed to review Once Upon A Potty for the Parent Bloggers Network. I was and still am basically willing to try anything that makes this next stage easier. I'm not exactly lazy, but I do not really have an eternal amount of patience, which is what I think I need to endure potty training these two.

We've come a long way. They no longer push the potty chair around the house as if it's a vehicle or stand it in it like it's an island unto itself.

Nope.

They pretty much ignore it. Shy away from it. Run screaming from it. Hide from it. Refuse to be near it.

Sadly, as cute and wonderful as Once Upon a Potty is, nothing is working. I'm left at square one, where I believe they will get to this on their own accord.

Still, this book and CD is very cute and my girls LOVE the story and Prudence. I do believe it is helping with their education and learning. Eventually, they may even realize it could apply to them.

I read it over and over. They listen attentively, too.

And yet ... we're just now starting to see progress in moving from diapers to pull-ups -- at school. At home, we're just not there, yet. Liana has peed on the potty a few times, but Jadyn is just not even close to being ready. It doesn't help that everything with twins is tougher because they are always at odds with each other. I don't want peeing to be yet another competition between them.

Lucky for me, I know how fast things with these two can change. We might still have two full months of this year left, but in toddlerland that can be an eternity.

It's a good thing ... we might need that long.

Revew: The Dangerous Days of Daniel X

Since my brother Tommy has fallen victim to the "hates to read" club since becoming a teen-ager, I've nearly made it my personal mission in life to try and inspire him to seek out interesting books and fall in love with the act of reading.

It hasn't worked.

That mission led me recently to give The Dangerous Days of Daniel X through a review copy with MotherTalk; the idea behind the book, unfortunately, is much, much better than the book itself.

The premise and purpose for the book is to inspire young boys to read (more). Nice concept, but not completely unfamiliar given the Harry Potter series, which as we all know is a hugely popular series and very well done to boot!

Daniel X, about a 15-year-old boy whose parents are killed by aliens and he becomes an alien hunter, as his parents had been. Good boy fights evil aliens -- not typically my cup of tea, I should add, but I was very open to this concept for the greater good of inspiring boys to read.

I read the first chapter and honestly felt like I must read more because it was that poorly written. I read the next four or five chapters, desperate to find a connection that I thought a boy like my brother might find in order to keep reading and I just never found it.

But, that's just my opinion. I do plan to pass it on to my brother who just might like it and prove me wrong. I will gladly follow up if that's the case since that is the who the book is targeting.

For more reviews, check out MotherTalk's page on the book. I see lots of praise from other bloggers ...

And then there was yogurt

I'm not sure how any other family could get by with two toddlers and no yogurt. I mean, seriously, there are times when I think that's all my girls are eating for a meal.

And since they started day care that one-a-day fixture has actually become bedtime routine thanks to Yoplait Kids Yogurt Smoothies (the ones with Dora on them).

I was excited to review these yogurts for The Parent Bloggers Network because, well, the only thing better than yogurt in our house is FREE yogurt.

Sure enough, this promotion led us to become pretty loyal Yoplait Smoothie buyers. The Danimals brand is good, but too small for a bedtime snack. The Stoneyfield is tasty and healthful, but too pricey.

Yoplait's version of the yogurt smoothie fits our budget and needs perfectly. Plus, we pop the straw in right throught the aluminum top to avoid spills. Now you, too, can try it at a discount by printing THIS coupon for $1.50 off.

Leave a comment here about how much yogurt your family eats (and your favorite kind) and I'll enter you to win a free Yoplait lunch box and a toddler brain tease game. Leave your comment and e-mail in the comments below before Sunday, Sept. 14 at midnight. The winner will be announced sometime next week.

CONGRATS! Heather is the winner.