Daniel-X is my new hero.

Product Review Comments Off
Aug 282008

I LOVE James Patterson.  Ever since my sister got me turned onto his writing, I’ve been ravenous to read anything new that comes out.  While I was pregnant with Zachary, I went back and read every single Cross series book.  I’ve read all of the Women’s Murder Club series.  I’ve read most of the books he’s written that aren’t in those 2 series.  I LOVE his writing.  I love reading in general, though.

product-main-dangerous-days My son Anthony, though – he’s a different story.  He’s always looked at reading as a necessary and unpleasant CHORE.  The only thing I’ve ever gotten him to read that he enjoyed was the Treehouse series of books, and to be honest, those were quite a few levels below what should be his level of reading.  But nothing ever engaged him enough to want to read.

Until The Dangerous Days of Daniel-X.

Daniel-X is James Patterson’s newest brainchild.  Geared towards "young adults" as well as their parents, it held my NON-reader’s attention from page 1 till the end of the book – which he got to within DAYS!

The story and James Patterson’s writing style (short chapters, lots of description) kept him engaged virtually every waking hour.  He kept coming to me to tell me the latest that he’d read and his ideas about what might happen next.  He hadn’t even finished the book and was asking me about the next one.

I think that any book that can engage a kid’s imagination like that – and inspire him to then make up more stories when he goes outside to play with friends – inventing different scenarios, etc. is worth its weight in gold.

When that SAME book can also entertain the parent? PRICELESS!

Special thanks to MomCentral and MotherTalk for the opportunity to review this book!

Posted by Dawniemom at 3:01 am

Is it time for a tune-up?

Product Review Comments Off
Aug 232008

In my part of the world, it’s cool – in fact, the low for tomorrow night is the LOW 40’s.  But in other parts of the world, it’s still Hot. Hot. Hot.  When it’s hot like that, I spend as much time as I can in the water – be it pool, lake or ocean.

The problem is, it all takes a toll on my hair.   My hair gets dried out and yucky looking. If I’ve dyed it, the silver streak in my hair has turned a nasty orange from all the stress. It’s not pretty.  Suave knows that. Suave cares. (Boy, do I sound like a commercial, or what?!)

Suave Logo

Suave & MomCentral have asked us bloggers to help you with your summer hair.  They’ve provided these tips to help you end the summer on a high note, at least as far as your hair is concerned. And as moms, we need all the help we can get sometimes!

Help Your Hair Survive the Summer in Style with Tips & Tricks from Suave® Celebrity Hairstylist Luke O’Connor

Shine Through Summer

Chlorine from the pool can quickly turn hair dry and dull.  Look for hair products specially-designed to infuse shine.  Also, blow dry hair from roots to ends, making sure you do not ruffle your hair. By doing this, you’ll keep the cuticle of your hair lying flat, thus reflect more light, and producing more shine.

How to get the Shine:  Suave Vibrant Shine Shampoo and Conditioner is formulated with silk amino acids to restore shine and luster to dull hair for bright, shimmering strands.

Price/Availability: $1.92 – 2.49 at drugstores, mass merchandisers, and supermarkets nationwide

Don’t Let Your Hair Fall when Temps Rise!

Hot summer weather and humidity can cause your hair to lose its shape.  Apply a little mousse to damp hair to add body and help control your style.  For added fullness, flip your head over and blow dry the roots. When you flip your head upright, your hair will be at maximum volume. 

How to get the Shape:  Suave Professionals Extra Hold Mousse helps to lock in style for all-day hold and is great for hair that needs body and control.

Price/Availability: $1.92 – 2.49 at drugstores, mass merchandisers, and supermarkets nationwide

Hold That Look

Heat and humidity can be tough to battle, and here’s where the right hairspray comes to the rescue.  To keep a soft, full, long lasting look, use an extra hold hairspray and keep the can 8-10 inches away from your head while spraying all over.  This allows the fine mist of spray to penetrate the roots and hold the hair in place. 

How to get the Hold:  Suave Professionals Extra Hold Hairspray helps to lock in style for all-day hold and helps to control fly-aways.

Price/Availability: $1.92 – 2.49 at drugstores, mass merchandisers, and supermarkets nationwide

Make Summer Styling Smooth Sailing

Frizzies and fly-aways  suddenly appear during the summer months with humidity at an all-time high.   Achieving frizz-free hair starts in the shower with a shampoo and conditioner specially formulated to fight frizz.  When blow drying hair, again be sure to blow dry from roots to ends to smooth the cuticle.

How to get rid of Frizz:  Suave Professionals Sleek Shampoo and Conditioner moisturizes and smoothes curly, frizzy or dry hair leaving it looking salon-smooth and healthy.

Price/Availability: $1.92 – 2.49 at drugstores, mass merchandisers, and supermarkets nationwide

Fight the Fade

Have color-treated hair?  Lock in your color and keep hair healthy during the summer by protecting your hair with products designed to fight the elements, such as color-protecting shampoos, waterproof gels, and UV protectors.

How to fight the Fade: Suave Professionals Color Care Shampoo and Conditioner has a gentle formula that nourishes and defends hair against harsh environmental elements and helps protect color from fading.

Price/Availability: $1.92 – 2.49 at drugstores, mass merchandisers, and supermarkets nationwide

I tried the Suave Professionals Sleek Shampoo and Conditioner this weekend and really loved how smooth & silky it made my hair. In fact, Libby walked by and ran her fingers through my ponytail as usual and stopped and came back and did it again, commenting on how soft my hair was.  Truly, it was like a commercial LOL

Last night, she asked that I use the same stuff on her hair, and I did – and her hair came out just as smooth & silky as mine!

gumballs_cutout

Don’t forget to go GUESS & WIN a $75 Gift Certificate for AMBAJAM apparel!! 

Log onto Ambajam’s contest page  today and guess how many gumballs are in the bottle. 

The person guessing closest to the correct number will receive a $75 gift certificate good towards the purchase of Ambajam’s punchy & playful baby and toddler clothing on Ambajam’s online st
ore.   All entries must be received by midnight on Sunday, August 31, 2008.  Winner will be contacted via email on Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008.
Posted by Dawniemom at 2:59 am

“I Love This Game Mom!”

Product Review Comments Off
Aug 162008

378

Seriously, I never thought I’d hear my son say that.  Particularly since he’s so competitive, for him to hear that there are no “Winners” – I figured he’d bow out half way through.  But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Hasbro has released a new line of games aimed at reminding and reinforcing some of those things that we WISH our kids would do.  Skills like LISTENING, SHARING, and COOPERATION!  I know that those skills are things my 5 year old needs more than a little bit of practice in.  Actually, so could the 11 year old! (and the 41 yr old).

When my kids first found out that we had received A.NEW.GAME.mom!, they were so excited!   We received The Pizza Palace Game by Hasbro in the morning’s mail.  I managed to get them to hold off on it for a little while, and after lunch, we set the game up. The instructions weren’t quite clear but we figured it out pretty quickly and played.  It was so much fun!  I would go through my deck of potential pizza toppings, select 3 and then I would give them my “order” – telling them and showing them what I wanted on my pizza.  Then I’d have to turn the cards over and they’d have to remember what I said and then make their pizzas to my order.  As they got used to that, we made it a little more difficult, with more silly toppings (anybody want a slice of ham, pineapple & stinky sock pizza?).  It was so much fun and it encouraged them to actually LISTEN – something that, yeah – ALL kids can use some practice in that!

Along with the game, Noodleboro also includes a really cute story book and a music CD in the game.  After we’d played a few games, I asked my kids to take the cd and book into their rooms and check them out, to let me know what they thought of them for this review.  My son hemmed and hawed and complained.  He wanted to play the gaaaaaaaaame.  Finally, I won he relented and within minutes, I could hear them laughing through the closed door.  The music cd that comes with the Pizza Palace game is loaded with fun, FUNNY and COOL songs on “Noodleboro’s All-Kid Radio” that also reinforce the idea of listening.  They just LOVED it and now I hear them singing the songs from the cd around the house. 

Oh, and also? They found the coupons that came in the box and now they want the OTHER Noodleboro Games! I guess I know what will be on their Dear Santa lists this year!

  • The Fun Park Game mirrors every family outing you have ever taken – your child must cooperate and work with you to make decisions about what to do next. Sharing and teamwork becomes creative and exciting as well as applicable to your family’s every day life.
  • The Picnic Basket Game reinforces manners, which prove effective to chase away ants and make the picnic run smoothly. From passing the lemonade to sharing the sandwiches, there’s no room for acting crabby and grabby.

Would you like an opportunity to win a Noodleboro game? 

 MomCentral is raffling off 200! games to moms who sign up with this link.   But if you’re not one of those 200, put Noodleboro games on your shopping list anyway.  Just to have a game where your kids cooperate? TOTALLY worth it! Of course, it has NOTHING to do with the fact that Hasbro is located in my home state of RI, either :)   But seriously, Hasbro is committed to keeping our kids safe, so I think it’s very important to support

My thanks to MomCentral for providing us this great opportunity to play & review Hasbro’s  Noodleboro game, Pizza Palace.

Posted by Dawniemom at 2:56 am
© 2011 Dawniemom Reviews Suffusion WordPress theme by Sayontan Sinha