Reviews of a Busy Mom

Welcome to the VTech Learning Toys Giveaway! Hosted By: Nanny to Mommy Sponsored By: VTech I'm excited to have teamed up with an awesome group of bloggers to share this giveaway for FOUR VTech Learning Toys! And ALL FOUR will go to ONE winner! This would make a GREAT Christmas gift that's why they were included in Nanny to Mommy's 2014 Holiday Gift Guide ! Below you can find out more about the awesome prizes and don't forget to check out the review ! VTech® Chomp & Count Dino™ For Ages 12-36 months, RV: $19.99 Amazon - VTechKids · Children can learn about colors, numbers and food with the adorable new Chomp & Count Dino. Simply place one of the eight brightly-colored play pieces in the dino’s mouth and watch as he eats and recognizes each piece. · Play in either food or counting mode and the dino responds with rewarding sounds and phrases all while introducing colors, numbers, shapes and more. Press the question butto...

Have Snuggly Dreams.....  with Snuggles  Softener to bring the soothing scent of cozy relaxation to your sheets. It's like aromatherapy for your bed linens!  Did you know? November is Sleep Comfort Month! As a mom of 4, There's nothing more I'd love than a comforting good nights sleep. Did you know? The soothing scent of lavender also has many benefits, Most importantly it's known for soothing Into a goodnights sleep and easing anxiety. Lavender also has many   relaxation benefits   <<< click to find out more My experience with Snuggle  It made my bed linens smell really good mostly of lavender and a hint of vanilla. It did ease me into a good nights sleep,  I've found Snuggle Exhilarations to be a viable product in my home. Especially with a toddler who has sleeping troubles. Since using Snuggle Exhilarations he's been sleeping more YAY and not waking up as much, Which I am highly sure has a lot to do with his lavender bath a...

As a sweeper, a mommy, a wife  and blogger , Life sometimes......can be hectic. Recently I made it into an article on Racked.Com  http://racked.com/archives/2014/10/29/online-sweepstakes-contests-sweepers.php  about my sweeping, Along with a few other sweepers. Many people think sweeps aren't winnable. But they can be. Sweeping is not for the faint of heart, you need to be persistent, motivated, consistent and willing to go at it with confidence. Sure you'll have dry spells it's typical, but I don't recommend to stop entering!  As the article states "You can't just enter 3 sweeps and expect a win, that's like going to gym for 3 days and not losing weight" I've been sweeping for about 7 years. It's been a long process and I'm still learning new things about sweeps nearly every day. Most high prolific sweepers will say "You'll learn everything in your first year" partially true, However there's always something new to l...

 Anything Goes Fall Giveaway Hop Welcome to the Anything Goes Fall Giveaway hop Event!  Hosted By:  The Simply Me Blog The Event goes from October 30 - November 11th  Several bloggers have joined together to bring you some amazing giveaways!   The complete list of bloggers can be found below.   Each prize is valued at $25 or more! Have fun and good luck :)  The grand prize is being sponsored by Winning Moves Games and ECBC! The grand prize can be found here  Grand Prize  Cozy up this Fall by entering to win an all new touch screen display Kindle! The kindle features:  Weeks-long battery life, Kindle does not require power to maintain a page of text, allowing you to read for weeks on a single charge. Kindle reads like a book, and goes beyond a book Touchscreen display that reads like real paper—no screen glare, even in bright sunlight Exclusive Kindle features—now includes Goodreads inte...

&nbsp Thanksgiving, It's another one of my favorite Holidays! Every year I gather with my husband, our children his & my family, we fill up on delicous food, Giving our thanks, watching football and re-hashing past memories. In this post I've put together my favorite Dinner & Desserts Recipes. The list of desserts is just making me crave sweets! I Hope you'll incorpate these recipes in your Thanksgiving Meal this Year, They are very tasty and my favorites!!!  Pear Upside Down Cake YUMMY!  INGREDIENTS 9 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, divided, plus more  3/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour 3 tablespoons coarse yellow cornmeal or polenta 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt 1 cup sugar, divided 2 medium pears (about 1 pound) 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 large eggs, separated 1/2 cup whole milk Whipped cream or caramel gelato (optional)  oven to 350°. Butter pan; line bottom with a parchment-paper...

.                              Amazon, offers many toys on their Holiday Guide, You can explore & shop for hundreds of the hottest toys of 2014! I plan to do my holiday shopping at Amazon this year for my 4 children. I've found the prices are cheaper than what I would pay for in store, WHATS even better is they offer daily deals, you don't get that in store!!    Shop Amazon - Holiday Toy List   Some of my favorite items from the HOT TOY LIST are:  The Crayola Paint Maker. $18 UPCOMING DEAL  If you have a child interested in making things and likes to experiment this is for your child! I purchased this for my son and I know he'll love it!  Barbie and The Secret Door Princess Alexa Singing Doll. $17.77   I have a daughter who is getting into barbies, this one will strike her to delight.  The Learning Journey T...

Everyone is gearing up and getting ready for Halloween, Whether it is your child's 1st or 5th time going Halloweening. My kids are always looking forward to Halloween, Besides Christmas this is their favorite holiday. They get all excited that they get candy! Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, I love decorating, shopping for costumes and planning out our night. However, Accidents do happen. Here are 10 tips to ensure safety this Halloween: 1.  Avoid masks and costumes that could cover the face and obstruct your child's vision while walking. You can modify the costume or purchase a mask that fits the child. 2. Carry flashlights with you. Even use reflective stickers on dark, hard to see costumes. Energizer & Rayovac sell flashlights and head gear. Which can be purchased at any mass. retailers. 3. Walk, Never run. Your child could trip or fall. There could be obstructions, that you or child cannot see in the dark.  4. Go out early , If Possib...

I received this adorable childs gardening set from Melissa & Doug, Note: All 3 pieces are sold seperatly at www.melissaanddoug.com. Upon opening the box I saw the cutest wheel barrow, it is highly durable and sustainable. It's my daughters favorite part of the set. She calls it "her wagon". It is rather large & deep, Which is great, She can haul around all her toys in it. By large I mean that it is a perfect size for a toddler to wheel around. The wheels glide around smoothly. With the upcoming weather it has been more of an inside toy, Than an outside one. On the Melissa & Doug website you'll see this wheel barrow & a more girly one that is pink, purple and has a butterfly on it, which I do plan on getting my daughter for next spring. Next you'll see the gardening kit, which is rather adorable. She can tote around her gardening supplies in the nifty, but girly case. The pouch came with 3 gardening tools, a working spray bottle, shovel...

Sproutkin emailed me to be one of the first of many to test their Beta App. Sproutkins Beta App is a children's virtual library of books, A lot of books had already been preloaded. I was given the option to also buy the books & subscribe. This app didn't contain all the books I was looking for, You can search for books, but most weren't showing up. I love the concept of the app, Right now there is no read to me option. That will come later as the app grows & develops. My oldest child, He loved reading the books that were available to him. Most of the books, he has never heard of and enjoyed discovering new content to indulge his love of reading. Currently the app is free, I am not sure when it grows & develops if they will charge users to use the app.  Perks of the app: Pre-loaded books Lots of books to pick through Easy to navigate Runs smoothly Cons: Some books are rather expensive No read to me option  It keeps asking me to s...

BoxyCharm is a Beauty Box for beauty lovers, For $21.00 you get a well packaged box filled with 4-5 full sized products. I've been a BoxyCharm member for 5 months now. I love BoxyCharm and I love getting to try out new brands, different products from other brands I have already tried and discovering new ways to use makeup. The price is affordable considering the high value of the full sized products and I highly recommend this box! In my October 2014 BoxyCharm Box I received: Palmetto Derma Collagen Booster & Restoration Serum - Full Size - $48.00  (that's more than what the box it self costs!) I haven't had a chance to fully try to  make a descion on this product. - www.palmettoderma.com STARLOOKS - Ultra Gem Pencil - Full Size - $14.00 I got a gorgeous shimmery icy blue color, I have blue eyes and this made them POP! It  glided very s moothly,and is very creamy. I love these pencils, I plan to buy more, In different colors. - www.starlook...

Learn with Homer is a child's app curated to spark the imagination & learning of a child, with learning, songs, poetry, books & much more! Ho,ER is proven to boost scores by 74% WOW!   As noted on the homer website: "study found that children who used Learn with Homer for just 15 minutes per day nearly doubled their scores on tests of phonological awareness, the skill that is the strongest predictor of later reading ability. While all children scored similarly on all areas of the pre-test, by the post-test students who used the Homer Method significantly out-paced the students who did not." When I first downloaded Homer, I was very excited to see what this new app would offer,  that other apps did not. I was pleasantly surprised with I did find! To my surprise, Learn with Homer was a lot smoother, easier to navigate thru and  actually offered what I was looking for in a learning app. This app contains Classical nursery rhymes & books, around the worl...