Ridemakerz


**Disclosure: Our family was invited out to the re-grand opening. We were given the opportunity to try out the store by each making a car. No monetary compensation was received and all opinions are of my own.

Ridemakerz is a fun and immerse car customizing experience for the whole family with over 649 million ways to customize your favorite radio-controlled car or "Ride". It follows the concept of Build A Bear. How many men do you think want to spend the day building stuffed bears with their sons? Probably not many, right? I love this concept!! What better way to bond with your son than building a customized radio-controlled car from the ground up! To make the day even better - this Sunday the 20Th which is Father's Day they are having a buy one get one free sale!



The Ridemakerz experience starts by choosing the car of your choice whether it be a hot rod, , Ford Mustang, Mini Cooper, fire engines, race cars, dump trucks and so many other eye popping choices. You then choose your wheels, rims, lights, sounds, accessories and decals - all easy to apply with snap-in or snap-on parts that need no glue. You can also make it remote control or leave it as a free ride. Giving kids an opportunity to use their imagination is priceless. Giving the kids freedom to choose how THEY want to design their car can be so much fun. I really enjoyed watching my children pick out the car, colors, tires, wheels, decals, etc. and seeing the final product. Moms - this is just not for boys!! My daughter had so much fun and loved creating her RIDE!!

RIDEZ are priced from $10 to $32, depending on body and paint scheme selected. Radio remote-control can be added for an additional $25 and custom accessories range in price from $2 for grille guards, spoilers and hood scoops to $15 for a deluxe "muscle kit" that includes a blow engine, spoiler, side pipes, muffler tips and roof vent. RIDEZ measure 10 to 12 inches long, about the size of a football, and range from approximately 1:14 to 1:20 scale.

These cars are really awesome!!! They may seem expensive but for the price you pay they are really good quality cars! We charged the batteries over night and the next day they went so fast and are so cool! It was fun to play as a family with them. Having two boys I have bought my share of remote controlled cars. Most of the models we buy in the store only go so fast and usually fall apart pretty quickly. I couldn't believe how fast these cars go. My kids have crashed them quite a few times already and they seem to be holding up pretty good. The only issue we had - which you won't have this issue if buying more than three, but there are only three channels, so we had to figure out who had what channel and change the band a few times before all of us could be on our own. I also think it would be great for the store to have a "repair shop" where you could go to "fix" or get work done on your car.

RIDEMAKERZ also has birthday party packages just like build a bear - I think this will be very popular with the boys. They seem to be reasonably priced too.

This Sunday, June 20th, 2010 (Father's Day) is the perfect time to make a visit - Buy one RIDEMAKERZ car and GET ONE STOCK RIDE FREE!! Chip and Fireball Tim will also be on hand from 10am - 3pm!! (This offer is not available online - this is an in store only promotion running in all locations June 19th & 20th 2010)

Visit RIDEMAKERZ
@
www.ridemakerz.com

Celebrate Summer with Solo

Our friends at Solo are back this summer with their second annual Solo Online Photo Contest! And like last year, they are unveiling new must-have product just in time for summer barbecues. Solo Squared™ plates and bowls are the perfect complement to their popular Squared cup. These durable, single-use cups, plates and bowls cut down on clean-up time, which means more time for summer fun!

Speaking of fun, how does winning great prizes sound? The Solo Cup Company has launched their second annual online photo contest with a grand prize of $5,000 for the best photo featuring Solo products. You'll be able to enter your favorite photos at www.SoloCups4ever.com until August 6Th. In addition to the grand prize, two $1,000 runner-up prizes will be awarded at the end of the contest. By entering, you'll also have the chance to win daily and weekly prizes of gift certificates and Solo products- a great way to extend the fun of summer well into the fall!

There should be plenty of opportunity for pictures - so I encourage you to snap snap snap (which is pretty easy to do with kids around :) We actually entered last year also and ended up being a daily winner which was pretty exciting, especially for our son who had his picture up on the website!! There are lots of great prizes and with all these cute kids I'm sure there will be many fun pictures to look at! Good Luck!!

**I am participating in a campaign through Mom Select and by featuring this post have a chance of winning a Visa gift card.

Wordless Wednesday


**Join Fireball Tim for the Grand Opening of RIDEMAKERZ new store in Downtown Disney, Anaheim. And on Father's Day the 20Th, it's "Buy one Ridemakerz Car and GET ONE FREE!!!" Check 'em out at http://www.ridemakerz.com/ and plan on what you'll build!

Doors open at noon today, June 16Th!
We'll be there & hope you will join us!

Fresh & Easy


**Disclosure: Fresh & Easy provided us with a ten dollar gift card towards a Fresh & Easy purchase. No other compensation was received. All opinions are of my own and have not been influenced in any way. Your opinion may vary.

It's time to pull out the BBQ and what better time than this! With Fathers Day this weekend and Fourth of July right around the corner it's time to start cooking outdoors. We use our BBQ year round. It's the best way to cook food, just always seems to taste better and especially during summer time there's no way you want to be adding to the heat indoors with the oven on. It's also really helped to cut down on our gas bill too! With BBQ's comes get togethers, it's a great excuse to get the kids together playing outside and even we love inviting others over to watch the Lakers games - it's always more fun when there's a group of us.

Inviting others over can sometimes get expensive, especially if you do it often. Fresh & Easy is there to help you with that. For only $10 you can get all the meat pictured above!! No, that is not a typo - I said $10!!! We had the pleasure of visiting a Fresh & Easy store for the first time a few weeks ago. It's a small store, smaller than I thought, but......I love how everything is literally "Fresh & Easy"!! They have pre-packaged meals that are healthy and hassle free. While we were there they even had a sampling event going on - which I love!! Anyway, back to the meat. For $10 you get four hamburger patties, an entire tray of marinated chicken and four sausages. I jumped on this - I can't pass up a good deal. That weekend we ended up having my two brother in laws over for the day - I thought what a perfect opportunity to see how many people this can really feed.

We had a total of five children and four adults to serve and keep in mind that three of those adults were grown men :) I didn't serve much with it - some fresh fruit, chips and some salad. The chicken was so easy to cook because it was already marinated. This was a first cooking sausages on the grill - but they were the ones that actually ended up disappearing first. We were able to serve everyone and still had a piece of chicken left over for the dog to get her share! Yummy Yummy!!! The chicken was my favorite, the men loved the sausage and the kids loved the burgers.

You honestly can't beat it and I'm already looking forward to the next time downtown LA calls me so that I can pick up a few more packs - perfect for Fathers Day & Fourth of July!!!!

Find a Fresh & Easy near you www.freshandeasy.com

Let's Go Lakers!


After Sunday's loss, today I'm stepping away from our normal feature and getting pumped up for tomorrow nights game six against the Boston Celtics. I grew up in a house where my Dad spent his free time watching baseball and football....I have no idea how I became interested in the game of basketball. My dad of course supported my interest and I remember the first Lakers game he took me to - Kareem's retirement game! From then, I was hooked. When everyone else would be in bed, I would be in the living room cheering and yelling at the Lakers game on TV.
  • I remember getting up early in the morning when tickets would go on sale and be one of the first in line at Blockbuster.
  • I remember Magic Johnson plastered all over my bedroom walls - my all time favorite player - what a classy guy. Today's favorite is Derek Fisher - another one of the most classiest players in the NBA.
  • I remember coming home from school today and my Dad giving me the news of Magic Johnson's announcement that he was HIV Positive - ruined my week!
  • The Forum - man I miss that place! That is home - where I grew up watching the Lakers play, I was so sad when they moved.
  • And then there was Chick - a Lakers game was not a Lakers game without him, if we were watching an away game we would turn the sound down on the TV and turn on the radio just to hear Chick broadcast. We love you & miss you Chick!
  • I love the high after a competitive game and celebrating another Laker win
  • I love the hype around town during the playoffs
  • I love the Los Angeles Lakers!!!
One of my favorite radio stations is a huge supporter of the LA Lakers - Power 106 When I heard the Official 2010 Lakers Anthem by DJ Felli Fel it honestly gave me a high just listening to it! LOL! It really gets you pumped up, excited and ready for the next game.



Get that Laker Groove on & support your Los Angeles Lakers as they take on Boston tomorrow night at 6pm pacific time. GO LAKERS!!!!!!!



Life - on DVD



I have been thinking about home schooling my children this coming school year because of our unhappiness with the schools. I often think about what products I would use to help them learn and take in as much information as possible. I love movies such a Life! Children seem to be so fascinated with these kind of movies - which as a Mom I think is great, I would much rather have them watch something like this than SpongeBob or some violent show on TV. My husband and I even find our selves fascinated by the facts and always end up learning something. The only thing that seemed to bother my husband as well as myself was Oprah. I don't have anything against her personally and I am not saying she was awful narrating this, but it just did not seem a good fit, especially to my husband. I think I would have liked to see a few narrators, instead of just one. My kids of course could not tell who was narrating, but I don't think they cared either - they were more interested in the stories and adventure. Just take a look at the clip below -



Synopsis - Four years in the making, filmed over 3000 days, across every continent and in every habitat, with a production budget of 22 million, Life is the latest wildlife blockbuster from the BBC's award winning Natural History unit, the producers of Planet Earth and The Blue Planet.

Packed with excitement, revelation, and stunning screen firsts, this breath-taking ten part blockbuster presents 130 incredible stories from the frontiers of the natural world. Discovery the glorious variety of life on Earth and the spectacular and extraordinary tactics animals and plants have developed to stay alive, individual creatures under extreme pressure to overcome challenges from adversaries and their environment, pushing the boundaries of behavior.



***Mommy Approved!

**Disclosure: I was provided a copy of Life for review purposes. No monetary compensation was received.

Get Dad to the Doc!!


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? 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 Health Care Research and Quality and the Ad Council are launching a new movement on behalf of their national public service advertising campaign designed to encourage middle-age men to learn which preventive medical tests they need to get and when to get them. My husband just turned forty this year and it seems like all of a sudden we are always at the Doctors office. He has chest pain quite often and has been to the emergency three times always being sent home the same day. But how do we know when we do need to seek emergency medical care or just make an appointment to see the Dr. Most of us I think, including myself seem to shrug off what ever is bothering us until it comes to a point we can't take it anymore and make that dreaded Doctors appointment and then by then the situation has become more worrisome or something we could have prevented if we would have seen the Dr. when we first noticed the symptoms or even by having our regular exams of which so many of us put off.

Encourage the men in your life to visit www.ahrq.gov/healthymen, 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.

I ask you to do two things to give the men in your life a head start -
  1. Send the men in your life this new e-card for Father's Day telling them that you want them to be there for his family now & in the future. http://www.dadtothedoc.org/
  2. Ask the men in your life to take this health quiz to give them a better understanding of what is recommended. http://www.ahrq.gov/healthymen/quiz.htm

I encourage you to sit down with the men in your life and take a look at the tools needed for a healthy future. Send the health e-card this Father's Day to remind the men you love about the importance of protecting their health this Father's Day and many more to come.


**This has been a part of a campaign hosted to Global Influence and by posting this feature I have been entered to win a $25 gift card. No other monetary compensation has been received.

Los Angeles Sparks


**Disclosure: Our family was provided tickets to a Los Angeles Sparks game in order to write a review. No monetary compensation was provided.

If you are a regular reader you know I'm a HUGE Lakers fan and that's to say the least. I remember my very first Lakers game - Kareem's retirement game! I find it odd that I grew up such a Lakers fan because no one in my family is into basketball. I remember Sunday's at our house - that was a day we could not bother our dad; he would sit in his rocker and watch football or baseball all day. I remember the good old days at the Forum in Inglewood and driving into LA in my beat up ford escort that was good enough to just make it there and back. I also remember when they introduced the WNBA. Now as a woman I felt proud and would cheer them on any day. But I never actually sat down and watched a game or even attended a game for that matter. My girls were so excited to attend a Sparks game and I was proud to see them so excited about it. What a positive image for the girls!! I think my boys were more excited to be sitting in the arena that the Lakers actually play in!

We arrived at the Staples Center early and when we got to our seats someone was sitting in them - and I recognized the person, it just didn't hit me until my husband kicked her out of our seats!! It was Lisa Leslie - one of the most recognized names in the WNBA!!!! She was sitting there getting ready for an interview she was giving. I wish I would have realized it sooner - would have been a great interview! One of my favorite parts about attending a live basketball game is the music! It really gets you moving and excited about the game. Watch the video below to see some highlights of the night.....



I can't say enough about it - just this one night got me hooked and we will for sure be attending another game this season. The kids loved the mascot, music, giveaways and the vibe of the crowd!! The WNBA is the ultimate addition to any families live entertainment activities offering competition, team spirit and positive role models packaged in one of Americas favorite sport pastimes. It's a great way to beat the summer heat and head indoors for sports, entertainment, family, food and fun! Tickets are reasonably priced starting at just $10!!! The WNBA is offering our readers a special discount and I really encourage you to give this a try and take advantage of this! Even if your not a huge fan of basketball like me - I guarantee a good time!!

20% - 40% off per ticket depending on the price range:
  • $10 tickets will be discounted to $8
  • $19 tickets will be discounted to $12
  • $25 tickets will be discounted to $15
  • $55 tickets will be discounted to $30
  • $60 tickets will be discounted to $35
Just go to http://bit.ly/WNBASparkstix, enter promo code WNBABLOG to purchase tickets and experience the WNBA's exciting, affordable, family-friendly entertainment! You will need to create an account in order to use the code, simply enter your email address, create a password - and discount!

Wordless Wednesday


CONGRATS to my baby girl who graduated Kindergarten this year!!!!!! Now listen to mama - No more growing.....Stop!! We love you and are so very proud.......

Shrek: Forever After


Have you seen the new Shrek movie yet? I have not, but have heard that it's the best one yet! We hosted a party over Memorial Weekend to celebrate the movies opening as well as McDonalds involvement with the Shrek movie. Week after week this movie seems to top the box office. McDonalds now offers Shrek toys in their happy meals - they are a huge hit with the kids! I have to give a blog shout out to Nemises - one of our winners of the Shrek book - she wanted me to mention her name on our blog :) Congrats!!



A big thank you to McDonalds who provided us with two copies of a Shrek book signed by the animators as well as Fandango who provided us with three pairs of movie tickets to give away at the party - you can see some of the winners in the video :) Congrats and thank you again to everyone who came out!!

**Disclosure: McDonalds provided an Arch Card for the party as well as signed books to giveaway at the event. No compensation was received for hosting the event as well as posting about the event.

2011 Buick Regal


Now I can hear most of you saying to yourself "A Buick?" yes, the Buick does have a reputation of being "your Grandmothers car" and when I received the invitation to preview the car I have to admit I had mixed feelings and was not sure what to expect. The newly designed 2011 Buick Regal premium sports sedan is "wow"! If I could have a car all to myself for running errands, getting my nails done or even taking a drive down PCH - this would be the car I would choose! As soon as I sat in the car it felt as if the seats grabbed me and held me close :) LOL! Seriously - it felt that snug and comfortable. Now you have to admit - although most of us go into buying a vehicle with the intention of focusing on safety, gas mileage and price most will not buy a car that we are not attracted to. Pacific Coast Highway was literally the perfect background for the Buick. Take a look at how we spent the afternoon showing off the Buick....



I'm a girl who loves fast, sporty, head turning cars........The 2011 Regal fits just that and would you believe it starts off at just $26,245? Visit www.buick.com for more information

**Disclosure: I was not compensated for this feature in any way. I attended a "Dealers Driveaway" event hosted by GM. All opinions are of my own, your opinion may vary.

Become The First Ever Levi's Girl






I love love love Levi's - it is my favorite pair of jeans. I got an email about this and just had to share it with you all!! You can wear them with anything, dress them up or down and they seem to last forever!!! It's about time Levi's comes out with a brand ambassador - and I would love to see it be a Mom Blogger!!! Apply Now!!

The Oprah Winfrey Network

As the January 1, 2011 launch of OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network approaches, Oprah is looking for her network's next TV star. Oprah and producer Mark Burnett (Survivor, The Apprentice) are teaming up to find someone with big talent, a big personality, a big sense of humor and a big dream to host his or her own talk show on OWN.

If you think you have what it takes (or know someone who does), check out the OWN website for full details about uploading audition videos or attending one of the open casting calls at a Kohl's location near you:

New York Store – June 5
1900 E. Linden Ave.
Linden, NJ

Dallas Store – June 12
4708 W. Spring Creek Pkwy.
Plano, TX

Los Angeles Store – June 19
27380 Heather Ridge Rd.
Laguna Niguel, CA

Atlanta Store – June 26
620 W. Crossville Road
Roswell, GA
**Update - We just got back late this afternoon from beautiful breezy San Diego. We decided to leave last minute Monday afternoon, thinking it would be so less crowded and cheaper going on vacation when everyone else was on their way back home. We did not run into any traffic - can you believe that - none what so ever!! Got a very nice hotel room for only $30 via Priceline Negotiator and the crowds at Sea World were no where in site!! Wonderful time!

I have tons of catching up to do - so if you are waiting for an email or call back I will get to you as soon as I can :) Hope you all had just as good time as we did over the Memorial Holiday!


***We decided last minute to take a little trip to Sea World.....we'll be back mid-week! Hope you all have a very safe & FUN Memorial Day!!!! See ya when we get back!

Champions Summer Science Program


Today is the kids last day of school and the day I start to wonder how I'm going to keep up with them through out the summer! Kids are just like little energizer bunnies, aren't they? They can just keep going and going...... Now that my kids are getting a bit older I have started to think about camps - something not only to keep them busy, but also have fun and keep the learning going through out the summer. Champions Science Adventures programs and summer camps focus on taking science education beyond the classroom to spark a child's interest in the world of science through exploration and discovery. Science Adventure day camps are available for students ages 5 to 12 years throughout the summer, at participating recreation facilities, parks, and schools nationwide.

This year, two new exciting camps have been added, including: Mystery of the Pharaoh’s Treasure and Go Wild! In these camps, children help to solve an Egyptian mystery and investigate amazing wildlife and plants. Plus, two popular camps – Gizmo’s Robot Factory and Space and Rocketry – return. As you probably know from my previous posts - that I am a firm believer in hands on learning and that children will always learn more as well as taken in more while they are having fun! Even at my age, I can admit it can be hard to sit in a room and just listen to someone talk or try to teach me something through lecture. Let me get my hands on it and I can pick it up so much more quickly! I think that is one reason I love getting my kids out and doing things, seeing all that our planet has to offer.

Each camp is one-week long with half-day and full-day options. Parents can enroll online at www.scienceadventures.com and have the option to register their children for all four camps, or just one program. Camp program fees and schedules vary by location.

Last year I put my kids in the local recreation department's day camp - and what a mistake! I think I pulled them out the same week and asked for my money back. There was very little supervision, no activities and kids were allowed to just freely run the park all day. This is something more like I was looking for - more structure, fun, learning and something the kids would totally love!! You can now get $50 off any Champions Science Adventure summer day camp using the following code: summerscience10!

Watch this fun video - my kids loved it!! I think we've watched it five times already!


Lunchables: Field Trips For All


A few weeks ago we attended and featured Lunchables: Field Trips For All kick off event with Kevin Jonas at the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles. I hope by now you have gone to the site to vote for your favorite deserving classroom to win the ultimate field trip! If not, you have until June 1st - so head on over before it's too late!! I am a strong believer in hands on learning and believe children can take in so much more having fun while learning. Lunchables gave us a great opportunity to take our very own field trip with one lucky family accompanying us. We decided, well actually the kids decided to go to the Los Angeles Zoo. It's a great way to give the kids an up close and personal view of animals from around the world. Before lunchtime the zoo sets up stations around the zoo with animals you can view and touch up close. Below the kids had an opportunity to feel what a snake feels like - I was surprised they all had no problem touching it!



I think the biggest hit with both families was the gorillas. We stood there and watched a mother, father and their five year old play around. They always amaze me how human like they are! As we walked around the exhibit the five year old gorilla seemed to follow us and want to play. There was a long rope that was hanging down from the fence but in reach for him. He would grab the rope and throw it to my husband to play tug a war. It was so cute!!! I wish I would have gotten some footage of that - it was total youtube moment!! The baby gorilla kept wanting to play even as my husband walked away - making it difficult to walk away!! How do walk away from a child who wants to play? So cute.....but there was a zoo volunteer standing nearby who way eyeing my husband so we decided to end it and move on :P Below is a picture of us and the family who was chosen to come along. This was their first time at the Zoo and they were truly thankful!!


**Lunchables provided us with tickets for the chosen family as well as zoo bucks to spend while we were at the zoo! Thank you for such a wonderful experience!

Wordless Wednesday


The all new 2011 Buick Regal

**Today I will be spending the day with this beautiful car......driving down PCH and just wanted to give you a sneak peak at an upcoming feature!

Camp Country Crock


Before summer gets into full swing, create the camp experience at home and enter to win a Florida vacation and $1,000 in spending money. Camp Country Crock helps families come together with do-it-yourself activities and easy-to-make recipes to keep everyone entertained and create teachable moments. www.CampCountryCrock.com features a Merit Badge program with six different merit badges opening one per week starting April 19 through May 24, 2010. They are:

  • Mess Hall, easy recipes and food-related activities to help kids learn about cooking and nutrition
  • Science Scout, easy and fun experiments (my fav)
  • Smart Campers, how-to guides for basic camping activities like setting up a tent and building a fire pit
  • Sports Explorer, physical activities that focus on organized games
  • Crafty Critters, arts and crafts that provide lessons about nature
  • Little Leaders, activities to teach leadership and sharing

Each badge has a number of activities appropriate for each age group (ages 6-8 and 9+). Earning all six badges allows each family to enter into a sweepstakes to win a free personalized Camp Country Crock growth chart (through May 28, 2010), with a chance to sign up for a Nickelodeon Suites Resorts sweepstakes: 10 lucky families will receive a six-day/seven-night trip, including airfare and ground transportation, to the Nickelodeon Suites Resorts in Orlando, Fla.; invitations to participate in a three-day Camp Country Crock experience at the Nickelodeon Suites Resort; and $1,000 in spending money. This is the last week of the promotion - so hurry and experience some camping fun at home!!

**Disclosure: This post was provided by Country Crock and their representing company. I did not receive any compensation or product for this review.

Aquafina Flavor Splash

**Disclaimer: I am a participant in a Mom Central campaign for Aquafina FlavorSplash and have received various FlavorSplash samples to facilitate my participation. Mom Central will send me a gift card at the end of the program.

I am a huge water drinker!! I will admit I have a soda every now and then, but I can pretty much listen to my body and can tell when I need to start chugging down the water! I do have preferences such as no tap water and cannot drink water when it's ice cold....just something about that that gives me a migraine. With the kids it can sometimes be an obstacle to get them to drink plain water - especially the boys for some reason. I am pretty strict when it comes to soda - no soda or dark beverage of any kind, including tea and sweetened drinks. This is a great alternative for those who can't drink plain water.

Strawberry is one of my favorites - I love strawberries so just knew I would like this one! Can you believe this has zero calories and no added juice! I know some Moms that will not give their children juice because of the added sugar. This is a great alternative!

If my kids drink it I know it'll be a huge hit and something I can feel good about serving to my kids. Give it a try, click here for $1.00 off coupon.
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