"The Squeakquel" Did Not Disappoint

We made it.

We made it across the desert from LA to Phoenix on Friday. Left at 12:30 pm and arrived 8 hours later. A drive that should take no longer than 6 hours. That is, if no kids are involved.

But we had kids involved.

Three of them.

And that means stopping to "rest." More than once. And for longer than 5 minutes. Uh, much longer than 5 minutes.

But just as I predicted last week, I had something up my sleeve that would pull us all through beautifully. My ace-in-the-hole.

"Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel"

Our brand-new DVD of Alvin and his crew was watched approximately 2 1/2 times on the drive.

And that means for approximately 4+ hours, the kids looked like this:

I'm not gonna say it was a perfect drive. Because really, is there ever a perfect drive? I'm just not gonna show you photos of the not-so-perfect stuff that went down.

Bottom line is - "The Squeakquel" pulled us through. And now I'm here in Arizona under sunny desert skies and I'm relaxed.

And because Easter was just so fabulous, I have decided to extend "The Squeakquel" giveaway for one more day.

So do you have a drive coming up? Or do you need some quiet time at home? "The Squeakquel" may just help you get what you need.

To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment. And if you tweet about it (and include @leevandeman) you will get an extra entry.

As always, if your comment makes me laugh, I'll give you an extra entry too.

And if you've never commented before, this is a good time to do it. Just make sure you leave an email address so I can reach you.

Yay for Spring Break! My brain is already turning to mush.



••••••••••••

On the drive, I downloaded the Hipstamatic app to my iPhone and just wow. I'm having so much fun with it. Well worth the buck 99.

Alvin and The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel: A GIVEAWAY to Celebrate a 7-Hour Drive Across the Desert

Tomorrow, I will leave our Westside Los Angeles home in a Honda Odyssey packed with a 7-yr-old, a 5-yr-old, a 2-yr-old, an assortment of suitcases, bags, and snacks, and ONE DVD that holds the promise of getting me almost the ENTIRE way to Phoenix (7-ish hours) without any whining or crying:

Alvin and The Chipmunks: THE SQUEAKQUEL!!!!

All three of my kids are hooked to the core of their beings on Alvin and his buddies. When they watched the 2007 Alvin and The Chipmunks movie on HBO, they sat spellbound and just fell head over heels in love with these lovable furry creatures. We've seen that flick like 50 times.

They saw "The Squeakquel" twice in the theater and I am not kidding that ever since then, they have been asking "When will The Squeakquel come out on DVD?" Isn't it mind-blowing that kids are already clued into the marketing pattern of kids' films? First a theater release and before the hype dies down, a DVD release.

So when I received an email with an opportunity to receive the DVD, I truly could not contain my excitement. I get my share of product opportunities, but as you know, I do very few reviews/giveaways. I only talk about stuff that truly resonates with me and my lifestyle and since Alvin is already such a HUGE part of our lives, I could not resist this one.

The brilliant Squeakquel addition to The Chipmunks scene has been The Chipettes, the chick-munk counterparts. My girls dig Brittany, Eleanor and Jeanette so when I brought them a stuffed TY Brittany doll after my recent Chicago trip, they flipped.

My kids dance to The Chipmunks and The Chipettes through the iPod hookup in their room and trust me, they can totally shake it (including Tommy, my 2-yr-old dude) to the Chippettes version of Beyonce's "Single Ladies." Tommy totally believes he is a single lady. Hey, I'm not gonna be the one to burst that bubble.

As the "mom", I can say that I have totally gotten sucked into the movies. I like the hip, campy fun of the plot lines and the diverse personalities of all of those furry rodents. The only bummer for me was that the quirky, lovable, character of Dave was minimized in The Squeakquel. But what both me and my husband especially love is that the film is not scary. At. All. My kids get totally freaked out when it comes to the required, evil character in all kids' films. I think that's one reason they really love The Chipmunks. They know there is nothing to fear.

I love how this film is kid-friendly but also modern and hip with the cool tunes. I mean, how can you not be into your kids learning how to shake their groove thing?? Unless of course, you're NOT into your young kids learning how to shake their groove thing. But I love me a good story and I can totally get behind my kids dancing like mad in their room to some good Chipmunk tunes. Sold and sold.

So if you're already a Chipmunk fan or you're willing to give it a whirl and be indoctrinated into the fan club, here's a cool giveaway....

I have FIVE copies of "The Squeakquel" to give away to my loyal readers.

Want one?

All you have to do is leave a comment for an entry.

And as always over here, if your comment makes me laugh, you get another entry.

And if you tweet about it or RT it and @me (@leevandeman) then you'll be given another entry.

Sound cool?

So the deal is I've held off letting my kids know that I have the DVD in hand and I'm gonna pull it out tomorrow after about 5 minutes on the 10 Fwy heading West when they ask me "Are we there yet?"

And I'm betting that "The Squeakquel" is gonna give me a much more peaceful trip than usual. And I'll be tweeting along the way to update you on my progress.

So when does this giveaway end? At the end of Easter day 4/4/10. (Blogging Standard Time)

I'm off to start packing.


P.S. Make sure you leave your email address if your profile doesn't link back to you. And if you don't have a profile, who cares? Leave your name and a valid email address and you're in!!

First Juice: An Honest Review of Healthy, Organic Juice for Kids and GIVEAWAY!

We have a winner for the First Juice Giveaway!!

Random.org generated the #28 which belonged to

Helene!

Congratulations to Helene who has TWO SETS OF TWINS!

So she needs this juice!

Thanks for playing the giveaway game.  

Check back for more review/giveaway fun!!

I can still remember peering over the kitchen countertop of my youth watching my mom get out our tan plastic pitcher, the inside stained a dull red, as she prepared to mix up one of my favorite childhood beverages....Kool-Aid.  I had an important role in the process. I was often the one lucky enough to get to pour in a brimming cup of glistening sparkly white sugar. If I got to scoop it myself, believe you me, that puppy was overflowing.

I would mix that cup of kid crack with that suspicious cranberry red powdery substance and a quart of tap water in our well-used pitcher with a wooden spoon and...Voila!  I can still remember the sting on my teeth as the sugar would coat my mouth.  If you look closely enough, you still might be able to see a faint red Kool-Aid mustache curving up from the corners of my mouth.

Well, now that I'm a mama of three little ones, the thought of getting them jacked up on Kool-Aid the old-fashioned way doesn't sound like such a good idea. I'm usually looking for ways to calm them down as opposed to amping them up.  So I have yet to mix up a pitcher of Kool-Aid in my home, but if you open the fridge, you will most always find an assortment of juice.

Now, my husband doesn't really see Kool-Aid and juice as two entirely different things.  They're both loaded with sugar he reminds me and he is a firm believer in giving the kids water to drink as opposed to juice. But since I'm the one who is usually grocery shopping and filling their sippy cups, I often surrender to their cry for juice.  I mean it sounds healthy enough - apple juice?  What's wrong with a little apple juice? Although I do try my best to water it down.  Half apple juice, half water. Oh, you know the drill.

So when I was given the opportunity to check out a product called First Juice, an organic fruit and vegetable juice beverage, I thought "Oh yeah!"  Perhaps once and for all we could all feel at peace about letting the kids have juice. And who knows? Maybe my marriage would be better because of First Juice as well.

THE PRODUCT

Doesn't that picture just make you feel all happy inside?  Okay then. Here's the deal. First Juice is an organic fruit and vegetable juice beverage that comes in four flavors: Apple + Carrot, Banana + Carrot, Blueberry + Purple Carrot and Peach + Purple Carrot.  

I know, you're all like "Purple Carrot? Whaaaa?"  

Sure, I was too.  But First Juice has taught me a lot about the purple carrot.  It's history, its perks, its relation to the orange carrot, and although the look of the purple carrot may confuse you, I'm here to tell you, it's all good.  Although I'm a big fan of orange carrots, I can honestly say I think I'm a little more in love with the purple carrot now.  Just as tasty, way more original and provides your little ones with a much needed antioxidant, the same type found in blueberries and red grapes.  

First Juice reminded me that different colored veggies are important to the healthy growth of our children and that I need to stop relying on just corn and a few raw orange carrots going into my kids' bellies. My kids need a more well-rounded veggie diet and First Juice can sneak that in without them barely knowing.

And the sugar facts on this product?  First Juice contains 12 grams of sugar per 8 oz. serving which is 50 percent less than the leading 100% apple juice.  It's also USDA Certified Organic and kosher and has no added sugar, no artificial sweeteners, no preservatives and no high fructose corn syrup.

How does that sound?

WHAT THE COMPANY SAYS

First Juice is the nation's first organic, low sugar, fruit and vegetable juice for infants and toddlers. First Juice encourages healthy eating habits from the start. Research shows that starting children out on food and beverages that are nutritious will develop healthy eating habits for life.  

First Juice, Inc. is a socially responsible business who believe that delivering great products for parents and their children is good business. The mission of the company is to make products that can help parents positively influence children's taste-preference development.  

WHAT THE KIDS SAY

My kids are pretty smart.  They usually know when I'm trying to pull a fast one over on them.  So when First Juice arrived for our taste testing, I wasn't sure exactly how to present it without them getting suspicious.  So I gave it to them straight - "I've got some healthy juice for you to try.  It's gonna make you strong and healthy and will probably make you run real fast." 

If you're not already using it, that running line is a good one for lots of things. It has stopped working when I try to get them to eat peas and green beans but they were willing to go with it again for the sake of the "healthy juice."

So after the taste-testing was done, let me give it to you straight - they loved it.

No problem with the less sugary taste, no problem with the purple carrot, no problem with the veggie component, and not only no problem, now they will actually ask for the "healthy juice."

And yes, it does for sure make them run faster.  That's a fact.

WHAT THE MOM SAYS

I love First Juice for many reasons.  First it was started by a dad who was tired of giving his kids the sugary juices that I was giving my kids.  What's with dads and sugary juices?  They're way ahead of us on this one.  

Second, the juice tastes good.  It really does.  It doesn't have that sugary sting of Kool-Aid and a lot of other juices out there and it doesn't have that annoying juice aftertaste. 

Third, it provides 60% of the Daily Value (DV) of Vitamin C, 35% DV of Vitamin A and 10% DV for Calcium and Vitamin D in an 8 oz. serving.   

Fourth, it's healthy and organic. What mom is not behind that concept?  Please.

Fifth, not only does the juice come in a 32-oz pour bottle that is BPA and phthalate-free and recyclable but it also comes in an 8 oz. bottle with a spill-proof sippy top for grab and go convenience.  And it's dishwasher safe so you can use the little bottles again and again.

Doesn't this all sound so smart?  It sure does to me. 

So First Juice is gonna become the regular juice drink around our home and I'm happy to know my kids won't have to live with a faint Kool-Aid mustache for the rest of their lives like I have had to.  

Oh yes, and my husband is really happy.  He even offered to give me a foot massage the other night - for no reason.  I think it was because of First Juice.   Really.

DO YOU WANNA TRY FIRST JUICE?

If you have kids, you should want to try this juice.  The younger the better but even my 4 and 6 year old girls liked this juice.  I just wish it were around when they were young.  My lil' dude will benefit greatly from drinking First Juice for sure. 

First Juice is sold nationwide at Whole Foods Market, Wild Oats, Target, Toys R Us and Babies R Us and retails between $3.49 and $4.49 per 32 oz. bottle.  The 8 oz. sippy cup bottles cost between $1.99 - $2.49. 

One other way to check out this juice?  A GIVEAWAY!  

That's right. First Juice has offered to send one of my readers two gift packs containing all of the four flavors of First Juice.  That'll be a nice assortment of bottles both big and small.  All you have to do to win is comment below.  And if you make me laugh with your comment, I may give you an extra entry.  And if you tweet this giveaway, come back and tell me and I'll give you another entry.

Giveaway will end Friday, February 20th BST.  (Blogging Standard Time)  

So if you want your kids to run fast, you better enter.

Thanks to Mom Fuse for knowing how much I needed that foot massage and to First Juice for helping my kids run the race.

 

It's a MWOB Friday Family Fun Night GIVEAWAY!

So on Wednesday night I ventured into downtown LA from the Westside to see a little theater with my older brother who is 15-months older than me. You see, I have a little theater thing in me where like at one point, seemingly long ago, I had that actress dream. You know the one?  The one where you're sure you're actually quite a good actress and yes, all of the talent you crafted during your fabulous high school years will surely translate into the big time?  Yeah, that one. Well, it didn't take long to get my naive ass kicked after moving to LA to go to college.

I digress.  Really.

The point is my brother and I share this love for the theater (imagine it with a British accent please - theater) and I love the excuse to have a date with my big bro.   

And this date night with my brother got me thinking about how cool it is that I have siblings (3 in all) that I actually really like.  Two brothers and a sister.  They are all amazing human beings with insane intelligence (I am so the dumbest kid in my family) who have a love for life and travel and adventure and I am truly blessed that we are close.  

And now that I'm a mama with three kids, I think about how they will get along when they get older and how much I hope they will remain close and actually have a tight relationship with one another. Like I do with my sibs.

And then I thought what did my parents do to create this closeness? Well, I don't think it was anything specific. This thing or that. Instead, I think it was the larger vibe of creating an atmosphere of togetherness and family and respect and love. It was created during family dinners, family vacations, family outings, family traditions, family trips to zoos, parks, and sporting events, it was simply that feeling of being a part of something.  And that something was good. It was my family.

So as a mama, I want to foster that same kind of feeling.  Wrap my kids and my man and myself into one big warm blanket o' family and let them feel that coziness their whole life through even when they're away from home.  God forbid they actually leave home one day.  Yikes.  

The point is - I'm in a family mood people.  And I want to get you all into it too. So in honor of family mood Friday, I am giving away the family card game called "LO YO!"  I played this game last weekend and we're hooked over here.  And you might get hooked too. 

"LO YO!" is a perfect excuse to sit around together, play some cards, have some laughs and hang with your main crew.  

Are you feeling it?

If you are and if you're in, this is all you have to do.  All you have to do is comment below and tell me you're in on the plan.  If you want an extra entry into the giveaway, click here or click that review tab up there and read my review on this cool card game.  If you leave a comment over there at the end of the review, I'll give you another entry.  If you got too much blog reading to do and you just trust me that it's a cool game, just leave your comment here.

And if you want another entry, you could always Twitter this little family fun giveaway and then come back and told me you did it. You see, I'm exploring my Twitter potential and although I'm conflicted, I'm giving it a whirl.  Some of you witty Twitter-y experts may be able to tweet this way better than me and God knows you have more followers.

And oh yeah, I got FOUR game sets to give away so your chances are good peeps. Real good.   

So are feeling all warm and fuzzy like you want to climb into that family blanket and just hang out there all day?  I sure am.  That family blanket is where. it's. at.

Happy Friday my friends...

P.S.  This family fun night giveaway will end at end of day Sunday, Feb. 1st at end of day BST. (That is Blogging Standard Time just to be clear.)

P.P.S.  This card game is really fun for adults too - kids not needed. Husband not needed.  Friends or at least some strangers you can convince to play with you are needed.  

Lastly - And if I scared you away with the whole "it might not be the best game to throw back a few drinks while playing?"  You CAN drink while playing.  You just won't win.

Psssttttt.....

.....there's a sweet lil' giveaway going on in the review section.

If you are so inclined, go check it out.

A series of FIRSTS for "Moms Without Blogs"

Hey, hey readers!  We got some exciting "firsts" to discuss as we kick-off the week of that festive gorging and thanking holiday known as Thanksgiving.

Our first FIRST:

This week MWOB will host its first-ever guest blogger mini-series.  Starting tomorrow, my hard-core friend and mommy writer, Karen, will begin to share a personal story from the depths of her mama soul.   And the story is a big one so it's worthy of more than one post.  It will be a three-parter complete with a beginning, middle and an end.  I feel honored to have her go so public with her journey so thank you Karen for being such a hero.  Anyone who takes the time to read it will find their soul inspired...I have no doubt.

Our second FIRST:

In honor of the first-ever mini-series on MWOB, I was inspired to do MWOB'S First-Ever Giveaway.  I'm learning in blogtown that giveaways, alcohol and coffee are essentials for survival.

The giveaway for this week is a collection of essays called The Manual for Motherhood.  This smart, varied, touching lil' jewel of a book is featured in our sidebar and it comes from an intelligent, funny, writer, blogger, film director, documentary filmmaker and mama extraordinaire named Christine Fugate of Mothering Heights.  I met Christine on a Discovery Health series we worked on together about five years ago and although our physical paths do not cross often, she is a kindred spirit and I am simply inspired by her creative passion and commitment.  You simply must check her out.

So how to win this beautiful mama prize?  You simply MUST comment.  I will take ALL comments from this week (Monday 11/24 thru Friday 11/28), mix them all together in my Kitchen Aid mixer, and pull out a random winner!  You will receive this heartwarming masterpiece just in time to read it and decide that you want to buy it for all of your closest mommy friends for the holidays.

Our third First:

Despite my complete and utter confusion about the world of blog awards, "Moms Without Blogs" has received its FIRST blog awards!  This is mind-blowing news and I will do my best to follow all blog award protocol.  (But of course I will screw it up because I am inadequate after all.)

Mommy in Pink (whom I praised in Friday's post) has bestowed on us this award:

And the blog award protocol dictates I list five things I am addicted to.  Well, if you're a devoted MWOB fan, you KNOW I am not an addictive type personality so I don't feel like I can follow through with this order of business.  (But I will say I am addicted to being inadequate.)

And I'm supposed to pass it on to five other crazy good blogs.  Well, rulebreaker that I am today I will pass it along to only ONE fabulous blog and that is Soggy-Doggy-Bloggy.  This is a new scene I just got turned on to and I think every time I have visited, I have laughed.  Check it out.

MWOB's other first award comes from a new follower of MWOB, Dore's Diaries.

Here's what this award is all about... "This blog invests and believes in PROXIMITY - the nearness in space, time and relationships! These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

Sorry, I can not fulfill the requirement to deliver to eight other bloggers but I will deliver it to one cool chick I have met in blogworld and her scene is Kim and Co.  I love her because she admits to loving prescription painkillers just. like. moi.  

Thank you from the bottom of our collective MWOBBY hearts for this bloggy bling. 

Okay girlies, hope you check back tomorrow for Part One of Karen's ultimate love story, our Thanksgiving gift to you, and don't forget to comment!  This week comments matter so you can get in on the giveaway action!!