It's Hip Hop Baby!

We are getting our groove on in our little house today, thanks to It's Hip Hop Baby. My three year old, Anna, the minute I opened the package and showed her the DVD, immediately turned off her favorite cartoon and said, "Let's dance, mama!". So we did just that. Our dvd, Rockin' Dance Party, was about thirty minutes long, just long enough to hold little Anna's attention and long enough for Mama to realize she's really outa shape. Grrrr. Hip Hop Simon, a hip hop mouse, was our M.C. and Anna determined that he was not scary like another mouse we know whose first name begins with C and last name is Cheese. That's good because the dvd player would have been turned off quicker than you can say, "One more token... please?".

We danced to over eight songs over the thirty minutes. Anna decided her favorite was "Bathtime" because of all the bubbles and her least favorite was "Old McDonald" because they didn't dance. What I loved as an adult participating was the hip hop dance instructor, Miss Dre. She taught this old dog some new tricks! Now, I may have to watch it several times to perfect them but, no worries, I've got a 3 year old as an excuse to pop that baby into the dvd player and shake my groove thing.

Who Came up with this great idea?

After reading some background about why the company was created in the first place I was definitely sold on the concept. Candi Carter, a mom with a speech delayed son, found she was using music and rhythm to help her son communicate. It helped him follow instructions easier and learn words faster. My little guy, who is not so little now, is speech delayed and I wish I had this available to me back then. Inspired by her son, she set out to create the educational series "It's Hip Hop Baby" and having a career as a Emmy Award winning television producer for a nationally sindicated talk show (hmmm, I'm wondering if I can get some tickets?), helped her dream become a reality. These innovative videos have the educational content parents desire set to music and fun dance moves which helps kids to learn and reach developmental milestones more quickly.

Where Can I buy It's Hip Hop Baby?

It's Hip Hop Baby DVDs, CDs and T-shirts are available through their website and at Amazon. And right now Amazon has them on sale for $7.99! That, my dear readers, is a great deal! Thanks to It's Hip Hop Baby for giving me the opportunity to review such a great DVD! Now get on over to Amazon and get your groove on!

Swing set Nirvana

Image by ClintJCL via Flickr

Back in the day, the swing set I had as a kid was like the picture you see here. This kind of swing set held all sorts of dangerous fun for children like myself who went unsupervised for hours by mothers watching soaps and smoking cigarettes (oh, those were the days, huh?). While they were, uhhh, busy, we were trying our best to get our swing set to tip over by swinging with a passion rarely witnessed by adults.

Well, Dad Blogs is having an amazing giveaway to bring the joy back to many a kid. No, they're not giving away a vintage metal swing set ready to tip over at any moment. Yeah, I'm kinda disappointed too. But what they are giving away is an amazing play set from Kid's Creations. Kid's Creations is giving away their most popular play set model (shipping included!!), the Three Ring Adventure, to one lucky contestant of The Big Spring Contest at Dad Blogs and Dad Blogs is throwing in a Canon PowerShot SD1100 so the lucky winner can capture the kids doing all those dangerous things we got away with "in the olden days" as my son, god bless him, says.



So this bad boy is called "The Three Ring Adventure". And I'm thinking if they had the Three Ring Adventure back when I was a kid maybe the strong desire to tip over massive metal structures would have been squelched by pure safe fun. Ahhh, probably not - it's in my blood.

And, if I'm honest with myself (which I try to avoid at all cost), my son is half mountain goat and my daughter is half monkey. No, dear readers, this is not the post to go into their paternity issues as curious as you may be...this is all about the giveaway. And this giveaway would be perfect for Mountain goat and Monkey to honor their heritage. Plus, Dad and Mom can sit in Adirondack chairs with beverages of our choice (wink wink) and watch them, remembering the times we were able to tip that puppy over and laugh at them that they can't (plus breathing a sigh of relief all at the same time).

So get on over to Dad Blogs and check out the giveaway. And while you're there check out the site itself. There is an amazing bunch of talented writers to check out and become a part of...heck, it's not even a boys' club - women can join too!

Here's to those summer days we pushed the limits of childhood, joy, and freedom. And may you find it again this Summer.

Naturally Step into Spring Event at Natural Mommie

The eco-chic & eco-friendly "Naturally Step Into Spring" event begins March 21st. At Natural Mommie you'll learn about products that are not only green but hip too. She is kicking off Spring by hosting a google of giveaways! There is going to be holding a month's worth of eco-friendly daily giveaways! Her goal is to make the world a little kinder and greener for our children and our children's children one fabulous find at a time. That's a win-win if you ask me! So mark your calendar and bookmark Natural Mommie for great reviews and fantastic giveaways. They're not only good for the environment they're good for you too!

Freepeat.org Membership Winners!

This was a mega-winner giveaway! Ten lucky readers won memberships to Freepeats. They were selected by a random number generator and they are:

• #2 Mama Krit
• #3 La Familia Sobaje
• #4 Kristy
• #6 Jen Clark
• #8 Sarah
• #10 Storm, the Psychotic Housewife
• #11 Sarah in Indy
• #12 Rock Star Ma
• #13 Kendra
• #14 Shelly

Congratulations! You'll be receiving an e-mail from Angie of Baby Cheapskates letting you know about your membership in your chosen city. Keep reading for more reviews and giveaways!

Calling All Parents of Reluctant Readers!

March is National Reading Month and as a parent of a reluctant reader I can speak to the importance of keeping reading alive in your house in anyway you can. Bonggamom is having a giveaway in honor of National Reading Month that is great for reluctant readers. Leapfrog has been an educational company I have turned to many times to help our kids along the way to reading. Leapfrog wants to inspire families to read together more. So for National Reading Month, they've launched the 1 Million Reading Hours Campaign. All you have to do is commit to an amount of time you'll read to your child a day. Simple.

For Bonggamom's giveaway, go back to her blog and leave a comment as to how many minutes you committed to read to your child. Once again, simple. And you could win a Leapfrog Tag! How great is that?

Be Green with Freepeats Giveaway

In my little house I have lots of baby and kid stuff taking up space. Space I could be using for more preschooler and kid stuff...groan. Then I discovered Freepeats and my frustration came to an end. This is a website that speaks to my inner green cheapskate because it's all about sharing what your little ones don't use anymore and getting things they do need. Angie Wynne, founder of the popular frugal parenting website, Baby Cheapskate, recently announced the expansion of Freepeats.org. This online forum allows parents to pass on gently-used baby, kid, and maternity items they've finished with and pick up similar items for free from other nearby parents.

Freepeats groups are up and running in 47 major U.S. cities with dozens more openings planned for 2009. I was happy to see that a major city close to my little town was represented. There are over 17,500 members now registered at Freepeats. Offerings have included bouncers, swings, cribs, infant formula, baby and toddler clothing, zoo tickets, diapers, strollers, high chairs, baby gyms, parenting books, toys, and more. It took little convincing that this was worth the minuscule one time membership of $4.95 for me to have the opportunity to acquire items I would have paid, over my kids' lifetime, thousands of dollars. Plus, I love finding a good home for my children's clothes, toys and equipment. I would rather give it to someone in need than get a few dollars for it at a yard sale or consignment shop where I have had to put in so much energy for so little.

Freepeats is growing by leaps and bounds. The site has been featured at Discovery.com's Planet Green website, Apartment Therapy.com, Nickelodeon's Parents Connect website, Green Deals Daily, and in the pages of Readers Digest, Parenting magazine, and several local publications. Here's your chance to participate to in a green movement that connects you to other families and if needed, provides you with things you need for your growing family plus let's you give back to other's all with a simple click.

Win it!

So how does this sound to you? Are you curious? Well, Freepeats would love to have you as a member and so would I if you live in my area (wink, wink). They have generously donated ten, yes, I said ten, free lifetime memberships. If this kind of eco-friendly and economic-friendly forum appeals to you then go to Freepeats and see if there is a group close to where you live. To get a chance to win one of ten lifetime memberships leave a comment by midnight est March 15, 2009 with the following info:

• The Freepeats group you'd like to join.
• One item you'd giveaway
• An e-mail where we can reach you if you win

For more chances to win choose one of the following ways to earn an extra entry or combine all three to get three extra entries!
(each extra entry needs a comment and way to contact you)

1. Follow my blog or subscribe to it
2. Twitter about it and follow me on Twitter.
   
3. Mention this giveaway on your blog with a link back here and to Freepeat. If you are not a blogger, forward this post to 2 of your friends and cc us on the email (laterbetty[@]gmail[dot]com)
   

A random winner will be selected on March 16, 2009 and notified by e-mail. Good luck!