TwirlyGirl Dress Review and Coupon Code

I think we all know by now that Bean is a very girly girl and loves a great kids party dress.  Every girl looks great in kids dresses for parties as seen here.  Bean is no exception.  I was recently given the opportunity to review TwirlyGirl Dresses.

TwirlyGirl is a company started by Cynthia Jamin who realized early on she had an unique fashion sense.  That is something Bean definitely has in common.  She started a long time ago putting together her own outfits and hates the days when she has no choice in what she gets to wear.  That is one big reason so many things go unworn in kid’s closets.  If they don’t get to pick out their outfits, they won’t want to wear the clothes.  They want their own style to show through.  TwirlyGirl offers a variety of beautiful bright kid party dresses to fit any unique fashion style.

TwirlyGirl sent us their TwirlyGirl Pitter Patter Dress and Bean instantly loved it.  When it arrived, it was wrapped up in a colorful scarf that Bean immediately put on.  It’s a vibrant pattern of green, pink and orange.  Bean loved the big heart on the front.

This dress is unlike any other kids party dress I have seen.  While it’s made to twirl, it is not a stiff dress.  It is made of very light polyester and spandex.  It moves with the girl.  They can twirl and the dress will allow them to move without restricting any dance moves. That’s a plus!  It also has a fully lined bodice with a double stitched heart applique on the front.

Bean wore her TwirlyGirl Pitter Patter dress to her cousin’s birthday party.  We own a lot of girly, frilly kids dresses for parties and this TwirlyGirl dress fits right in.  It has become a favorite of Bean's now that the weather has turned warmer.

I really can't convey how light this dress is and Bean says it is "so comfy".  This is a fun dress.  And I have washed it several times and it is put together well.  Even while wearing dresses, little girls still love to run, jump, and twirl all over the place and this party dress holds up.

TwirlyGirl also has dresses for your dolls.  If your family includes an American Girl doll or the like, they can get their own TwirlyGirl dress and your daughter and her doll can match.  That is very cool I am told.

TwirlyGirl calls their dresses "wearable art" and I agree with that.  Each dress is a limited number design. Each design on the site is described with a pretty poem.  This is the one for the Pitter Patter design.

True Heart's Desire

Perhaps you’re hanging from a ladder,

Or stirring up some pancake batter,

Or maybe you’re on a baseball field,

With all your friends

Yelling “hey batter, batter.”

It doesn’t really matter,

If it’s a record you want to shatter,

Or magic seeds you’d like to scatter.

Do what makes your heart feel joy,

What makes it pitter-patter.

If you're not familiar with TwirlyGirl and have a little girly-girl yourself, check out their website where you can see all of their beautiful fun dresses.  You can find so many kids dresses for parties there. Right now, TwirlyGirl is giving our readers a 10% discount off their orders.  Just use the code JoyTG28 at checkout to save.  *Code is not valid on sale items, Design Your Own, or gift certificates and expires 05-14-14.

*I was sent a dress for the purposes of this review.  All opinions herein are my own.

Review - LeapPad LeapReader "Ready Set Write" Party!

We love LeapPad products.  Bean got a LeapPad 2 last Christmas and uses it all the time.  I was recently asked if we would like to join in their "Ready, Set, Write" parties to review the product and we jumped at the chance.

When the box arrived, we knew we needed to celebrate with some of our froggy friends while we tried out the products.

We had some Frog Juice, english muffin pizzas, ham and cheese roll ups and fruit salad.

Doesn't that look like a great way to begin learning?

The LeapReader is a learn-to-read-and-write system that helps your child learn to read and write by sounding out words and guiding letter strokes interactively. It helps children to read, write and learn through listening.  That is one of the principles Bean's Kindergarten teacher emphasizes to her class.  The LeapReader sounds out words, reads sentences, reads books, plays trivia games and puzzles to build comprehension skills and vocabulary.  There is a library of more than 105 books, workbooks, audio books and more.  It holds audio for up to 40 books or 175 songs.  We received 2 LeapReaders complete with a sampler book, Read Write and Listen, Getting Ready for Kindergarten, Monsters University, Learn to Write Letters with Mr. Pencil, Write It! Talking Words Factory Workbook, Talking Words Factory flash cards and special letter writing pages.

Look at everything that came for us to try out.

Bean was very excited and couldn't wait to get started.

We used the Getting Ready for Kindergarten workbook to do a reading activity.  When she placed the pen on the letters, it would say the letter and the picture above would say an item name that began with that letter.  This brought a lot of smiles.  It was so easy for her to use.  She figured out the icons at the bottom of each page and what they would do very quickly.  

Next it was onto a writing activity.  She wrote out words that rhymed and then the device played a song with those words.  She thought that was very cool.

Bean loved all the things the LeapReader would do and I loved how easy it was for her to learn the system.  The pen is a little large for her hand but it didn't seem to slow her down.  We give the LeapReader two waves of our glitter wands and say it's great to help to learn to read and write.

If you would like more information about the LeapReader or any other LeapPad products, you can visit their website, follow them on Twitter or check them out on Facebook.

*This opportunity was made possible by LeapPad and Mom Select.  We were sent two pre-programmed LeapReaders and accompanying workbooks for this review.  I was not compensated in any other way and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Midnight Lullaby - Jane Roman Pitt

A few weeks ago I was contacted and asked to review a lullaby CD by classically trained singer Jane Roman Pitt. Her CD is called Midnight Lullaby. While Bean doesn't let me rock her to sleep any more, I really loved the times when I would sit in her room with her in my arms rocking her to sleep. I would turn down the lights and turn on soft music for her. These were very special days to me. These memories made me want to listen to Jane's music and yearn for those sweet times again.

First, my own thoughts on the songs. Jane Roman Pitt's voice really does soothe you. The best way I can describe it is a sound that feels like you're being wrapped up in it. Midnight Lullaby is soothing collection of songs written by some of well known singer songwriters including Bob Dylan, Wilco, Tom Waits, The Dixie Chicks, Sade and more. She has turned these songs into beautiful lullabies.

I was also given the chance to interview Jane and here's what she had to say about her music.

Pinkie:  I really enjoyed your CD. I love the “re-telling” of these contemporary songs into lullabies. But this really isn’t the first time you've done this, is it? Didn’t you do something similar on your Peace of the River CD with “Here Comes the Sun”?

Jane:  I’m so happy to have the chance to talk to you and your readers about music and lullabies. Yes, you are exactly right---it was “Here Comes the Sun” that inspired me to use other contemporary songs as lullabies. I thought and thought about putting that one on “Midnight Lullaby” but because it talked about the sun coming up, I figured it wasn’t actually a perfect image for the midnight theme!

Pinkie:  Other than the birth of your grandchildren, was that the first spark of the idea of doing a compilation of lullabies? I read on your blog that you really didn’t have a huge appreciation for lullabies until a friend of yours asked you to sing some on her CD series. What made you take notice of the effect music has on children?

Jane:  Although I loved doing the Beatles song that way, the idea of collecting lullabies came only when Gari Stein asked me to sing lullabies for her children’s project. I’d sung some of those songs to my own children, but while recording them all together I remembered just how sweet lullabies are and started to think more about them.

I also had ventured into singing jazz and country music, and the feedback was that my voice was just too sweet for those genres---I wasn’t tough enough! But when I sang lullabies, it felt like a perfect fit and I didn’t have to try to sound like anybody else.

I also realized during that recording that quiet music has a powerful effect---the recording engineer started to fall asleep! And when Gari told me that the kids in her music classes settled down as the lullabies were being played, it made me feel like it was something important--we all know how great it is to get kids to settle down!

Pinkie:  Your songs from Midnight Lullabies make the listener feel, or at least they made me feel, wrapped up in the tones of your voice. Other people have said your voice sounds like warm honey. I couldn’t think of a better explanation of your sound. I know you are an accomplished and award-winning musician but this CD must have made you realize again and again how important music is to the soul.

Jane:  What a beautiful way to describe music, and thank you for feeling that my songs convey that comforting “wrapped up” feeling---how perfect for lullabies! I do think that music is very important to the soul, and the heart, and the body. Musical vibrations resonate very deeply in us. Physics tells us that vibrations, or sound waves, are at the basis of all physical creation---including people! When we hear music that seems to resonate it can be not only pleasurable but healing.

Pinkie:  Do you have any plans for another lullaby compilation or what’s next for you other than enjoying your beautiful grandchildren?

Jane:  I would love to record more lullabies. I have several lists of songs planned out already! I have to admit, though, that this past month I’ve had my hands full (literally) with my brand new grandson and toddler granddaughter and it’s been an experience that I’m very grateful for. Nothing like practical experience to be able to relate to all of you who have little ones to settle down on a daily (and nightly) basis!

I told Jane that I honestly didn't have much musical background myself but since Bean has come along, I wished I had more knowledge that I could share with her. This was her advice to me and I really cherished it coming from someone so well trained in music:

With Bean, and all children, don’t feel like you have to know a lot about music to have them appreciate it---just sing whatever you know, hum, play recordings for them, take them to children’s concerts, etc---and they’ll grow up to love music and love you for giving it to them!

I highly recommend Midnight Lullaby to any parent.  Even now, Bean likes to listen to it before bed.  It does seem to set the mood for her to fall asleep.


***I'd like to thank Jane Roman Pitt and Beautiful Day Media for contacting me and giving me the chance to review this CD.  I was provided a free copy of the CD for purposes of this review.***

My review of Bnter.com

I was invited to be part of the Bnter Blog Tour hosted by Mom Central and share my thoughts on the site.

Here is what Bnter.com says about it's platform:

Bnter.com (pronounced "banter"), a social network designed for capturing conversations, proves a modern way to save those precious moments and share them with family members, friends, and followers. Web- and app-based, Bnter.com can be accessed from your laptop, ipad, or smart phone. Simple to use, free and fun, Bnter.com offers an organized means of sharing those funny moments in a more visually appealing way than simply sharing them in your Facebook or Twitter stream. - From Mom Central

I've used and watched Bnter.com for two weeks now. I originally shared a conversation I had with Bean just to see how it would look on the site. Here is a link to see my entry. You can see it is easy to follow a conversation. This beats trying to follow a Twitter chat any day. But it is no different than a conversation stream on Facebook. Now, you can share any Bnter conversation on Facebook or Twitter. That leads me to wonder why I don't just use those platforms instead. I don't really have a good answer for that.

Also, after watching conversations on Bnter.com for a couple of weeks now, I don't think the site has yet arrived at the parenting-sharing platform it is trying to get to. The majority of conversations seem to be from young singles. I haven't seen any other parent/child conversations shared on Bnter yet.

I think Bnter has a long way to go to becoming a useful tool in helping me document and share the wonderful things my child comes up with on a daily basis but I can see its potential. As with all social commenting sites, there will be growing pains along the way. I hope Bnter can work their way through them because I have met some really kind people there so far.



Disclosure: I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of the Bnter Campaign and received a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.

The hairbows of my dreams.

This contest is now over.  The winner is announced HERE.  

 
I've messed around a few times trying to make some hairbows for Bean. I've dabbled here and there but really haven't cared for most of the ones I've made.

Thank goodness then that there are folks out there like my friend, Barbara, who is the owner and bow maker at HairbowsandMore.com.  I've known Barbara for a few years.  We "met" in a message group and have been Facebook games friends ever since.  Barbara recently contacted me through ye olde Facebook to ask if I would "like" her Facebook page for her hairbow shop.  I had no idea Barbara had a hairbow shop. She had mentioned to me back when Bean was just a wee little thing that she made hairbows and offered to send me some.  I, being a complete idiot, laughed it off because there simply was no hair for me to attach a bow to.  Bean's hair did not start growing until just about her first birthday. I kept wondering if any would ever show up.  Baby wigs aren't just internet jokes, people.  That's all I'm saying about that. 

But let's get back to Barbara...I went right away and took a look at her site for myself.  I was amazed!
There I found the bows I had always wanted for Bean's hair. I am not exaggerating one bit when I say I have looked at hundreds of hairbow sites and bows and I haven't found very many that rival the ones Barbara makes.  [The others that I do like are already friends of this blog because I've hounded them down and begged them to be my friend.]

Just take a look at these bows!

 

They are all so pretty!

After I gushed to Barbara, she offered again to send me some bows as a gift for Bean.  I told her that I would love to see them and would mention her shop on my blog.  Well, when I received the bows, I thought they deserved more than a mention so she's getting a whole post dedicated to her beautiful bows!

Here are some pictures of the bows she sent us.   My pictures don't do them justice really.

Bean has a favorite.

So do I.

See.  I told you she needed a haircut.  She's also tired of me taking her picture.

You like what you see, don't you?  Well, Barbara has been so kind to allow me to do a giveaway to her shop for a $15 gift certificate.  The winner can pick out any hairbow(s) of their choosing, any style, any color.  That's an awesome gift!

To enter the contest, all you have to do is visit HairbowsAndMore.com and take a look around.  Let me know which bow design you like the best.

I am changing the way to enter my giveaways.  They will now be run via a survey, which means comments on this post do not count (and will be deleted). In the long run, this is quicker for you if you go for extra entries.

CLICK HERE TO ENTER GIVEAWAY CONTEST.

There are 5 possible entries! Here’s what you can do to win:

1. *Mandatory entry: What is your favorite bow design from HairbowsAndMore.com?
2. Subscribe in a reader or via email to Pinkie and The Bean (or tell me if you already do).
3. “Like” HairbowsAndMore.com on Facebook (or tell me if you already do).
4. “Like” Pinkie and The Bean on Facebook (or tell me if you already do).
5. Tweet about this giveaway along with the link to it. (Email subscribers can forward their message.)

Remember, comments here DO NOT COUNT. You must use the survey form.

CLICK HERE TO ENTER GIVEAWAY CONTEST.

I will use random.org’s integer generator to choose the winner, who will be announced on the blog and will receive an email.  The giveaway is open to U.S. residents.  Entries will be accepted until 11:59 p.m. EST on Tuesday, May 3 and I’ll post the winner the following day.

Good luck!

Pinkie and The Bean Reviews: GoalForIt.com

I've been asked to do a review of GoalForIt.com. This site helps you create online chore or behavior charts, to-do lists, and goal setting tracking. Please click here to read my full review.

TinyPrints.com review and giveaway!

 Part of the party planning process that I think is so much fun is deciding on an invitation. In the past, I've always had a hard time deciding if I should make my own or order them. Recently, I was contacted by TinyPrints.com to do a review of their announcements and invitations.  Go to my brand new review blog to read more.

Candy Corn Cutie

Last month Bean, with some help from a certain typer and speller, won a beautiful dress made by Simply Annie Kate in a giveaway hosted by Fabulous Fun Finds.

Simply Annie Kate is an Etsy shop that specializes in handmade boutique clothing for children.  Kate made this Sweet as Candy dress especially for Bean.

Isn't it adorable?  Bean loves twirling around in it.
 
Katie is having another giveaway on her own blog, http://simplyanniekate.blogspot.com and is offering a 10% discount on all orders in her Etsy shop until October 6th if you use the code SAKGIVE.  Please stop by her shop and take a look at her designs and also stop by her blog to enter her giveaway. 

The Caregiver's Organizer review.

When Bean was a newborn, I was really hesitant to let others look after her. And by hesitant I mean she didn’t stay with anyone else for the first three months of her life. And it was well past her 6 month birthday before she stayed the night at my in-laws. Bean had horrible reflux as a baby. Horrible actually doesn’t even cover it. She would just be laying in your arms or in her bouncy seat and you would see her face turn red and she would start to choke. It just scared the life out of me every time it happened. And it would happen all day and all night. I just knew that no one would watch her the way I did. She was my baby, my responsibility. I knew that if something happened to her while someone else was watching her that I would never be able to forgive that person so I told myself the best thing was for me to watch her always.

That worked well for me for the first three months. Then real life set in and I had to go back to work. So when my maternity leave was over, I would take Bean to a lovely woman every day to watch her for me. Giggles, a/k/a Nano, a/k/a the MIL, would pick Bean up in the afternoon and watch her until I could run every one off the road get home from work to get her.

The sitter would give me a report every day of Bean’s daily activities. You never realize how much you want to know about someone else’s potty habits until you become a mom. I wanted all the info I could get. And I tried to give as much information to the sitter as I could. But I would always remember something I had forgotten to tell her and panic would set in.

I wished I would have found The Caregiver Organizer back then. I would have felt like I had all my ducks in a row and felt more at ease with leaving Bean.  The sitter probably would have felt less hounded and more at ease herself.

The Caregiver Organizer is an eBook that helps you compile all of the helpful and necessary information for anyone taking care of your children whether it be a sitter for the evening or a full-time nanny. You can customize the information by picking and choosing which sections you need. You can fill out the information on your computer and print it out. They recommend you use the eBook to create a binder notebook that you leave with the sitter. The best part of the Organizer is that it can “grow” with you. You can add or subtract sections when you need to, add children, change the information, whatever you need to and it is ready at the click of your mouse to be printed out and put in the binder.

One of the most valuable sections is the one on allergies. Thankfully, Bean hasn’t shown any signs of any new allergies and the ones she did have she seems to have outgrown. But I when I was a kid, this was very pertinent information my mom had to make sure everyone knew. I had allergies to most insect stings and some medications. Information like this is very important and needs to be shared often so that everyone can know what to watch for and what to do in case of an emergency.

There is a section called “What They Love/What They Hate”. This is a helpful section in our lives. Bean loves, loves, loves chocolate milk. She would drink it all day if we let her. But drinking chocolate milk all day isn’t good for her or her tummy - no matter what Bean says.  I can use this section to let the caregiver know that even if Bean begs, pleads, and whines, she can only have a certain amount of "the good stuff" per day. 

The Caregiver Organizer even covers household information such as areas that are off limits, pet info and even information on all your remotes. How many times have you ever been to someone’s house and spied their various remote controls on a coffee table? My boss’ house is like this. Occasionally, I get suckered into sitting at his house waiting for a repair guy while my boss is in court. He must have 5 remotes on his coffee table. I’d watch tv while I waited if I could figure out which one of the many options I needed to use.

I think using The Caregiver Organizer to share valuable information with your sitters will make you feel better about leaving your children with someone else and it will make your sitter feel more confident in taking care of your children. If you’re interested in trying out The Caregiver Organizer eBook for yourself, use "caregiver25" at checkout for 25% off your download.  There is also a hardbound edition available right now for 50% off.  Use "caregiver50" at checkout.  This is the same edition, same content, just a different name and printed in a hardbound cover with tabs.

*I was provided a free copy of this eBook for purposes of reviewing it for this post.