Gift Idea: Barney’s Book Fair With DVD

Published on August 4, 2009 by brandyellen in children, Product Reviews

Image From http://barney.hitshopusa.com

Today I am reviewing a great gift idea, Barney’s Book Fair storybook with full length DVD. My children were so excited to get this, well the boys were anyways, because as much as Barney can get on a parents nerves kids just love Barney! Barney teaches kids all sorts of great things such as sharing, colors, love and family values.

In Barney Book Fair storybook with DVD Barney is holding a book drive in their park and every time a new book is opened another adventure begins. This is just like all of Barney’s wonderful adventures that are usually based on song and/or book. This creative, fun adventure will have your children in awe. Imagination is key to children’s growth and development, it’s wonderful that Barney Book Fair is encouraging imagination both through reading and watching along with the DVD.

My children love watching PBS Sprout daily, and yes Barney appears on there every morning. Once the Barney song begins my two boys are swaying back and forth and as Barney ends they are singing with me “I love you, you love me..” No matter how much Barney may bother you, he truly does share a unique way to broaden your child’s imagination and creativity!

Barney Book Fair can be purchased online at most any outlet and is affordable too. Most adult movies that come out will cost me a good $30 to add to my husband’s DVD collection, well not Barney Book Fair, it’s averaging price is around $14.

Overall I have to say this is a positive book and DVD. Even if you are a parent who doesn’t allow any TV or you only allow TV in moderation this will be perfect since it is a DVD combo (book included). I remember the old days when I had nothing but a cassette tape while sitting in the children’s library listening while flipping the book pages, now my children are able to follow along in their book while watching their copy of Barney Book Fair. I am very excited and I hope you are too! Fantastic gift idea for a little one!

Tags: Arts, Barney, Barney & Friends, Barneys New York, children, dvd, Helmut Lang, music, PBS Kids Sprout, Programs, Real Housewives of Orange County, shopping, Simon Doonan, Television, Today

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Sticking To A Schedule

Published on August 4, 2009 by brandyellen in Headline, Product Reviews

Image by wstera2 via Flickr

I will not start this off with a vent, I refuse to vent … okay well it is my blog so I guess I will start with one little vent and I will keep it short. Why is that when I discuss setting a schedule with my husband he says yes hun that sounds great, what a wonderful idea and I WILL HELP? Do you realize this translates to I will “try” to help but if the boys get under your feet well I guess you will have to handle it. LOL

Okay well my husband is very supportive and he does try to help with the kids, but sometimes I wonder why the super women in me has to come out and handle everything including a busy work schedule when he is HOME?!

I am done with the vent…moving on to more about sticking to a schedule…

Today I would like to discuss sticking with a schedule since I have talked about setting a business schedule in the past. Now that you have your schedule in place how is it working for you? Are you able to get more work done and be more productive setting these time limits when you will work and when you will shut off that computer?

My personal experience has been that the schedule works, but the babysitter husband doesn’t. My schedule is to work a few hours in the early morning before my baby wakes up while the toddler is eating his breakfast watching his PBS Sprout, spend the day with my boys and daughter if she is home, and then work a few more hours in the late afternoon when my husband is here to care for the kids. I also like to sneak in a few hours if we get Baby K to sleep in his bed and hubs is showering or working on a customer’s PC.

Overall the schedule does work, but I often feel I am still juggling the kids and the work load and the blog all alone. We will work this out, and it will benefit us but the transition process during setting a schedule and having your family respect it is HARD WORK!

Now that my schedule is in place and my family is on board with it, I have been able to be more productive during the work hours and more Mommy-ish during the non-working hours. Being a work at home professional with three children is challenging but so is being a work outside of the home professional with three children, we all have to work hard at what we do, not bring work home to the family time, and stick with our schedule set forth. The hard part of being a work at home professional with three children is that you have to step away and allow Daddy to take care of those children, he is Dad and he can do it even if you see a baby running lose with no diaper on peeing all over the house … hey it’s Daddy’s problem now, Mommy is working

Tags: baby k, Diaper, family, home, Juggling, LOL, parenting, PBS Kids Sprout

7 Comments

New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine Bloggers

Published on August 3, 2009 by brandyellen in Blogging Support, Brandy's Life, Featured

I am on a search for bloggy friends, no I don’t already have enough. With over 7,000 followers on Twitter and who knows how many friends on Facebook I am finding the challenge is finding local bloggy friends. I am a social queen, I love chatting on Twitter as @brandyellen and networking on any site you put me on, but it’s not the same as meeting in real life. As my blog grows a larger readership and my connections grow stronger, I find myself yearning for local friendships. Do not get me wrong, I have a couple local Mom friends but the reality is they are busy, they do not blog and I wish to connect with more Moms and Dads who can meet up with myself or maybe even my husband on a monthly basis to have playdates, blog discussion movie night, and pretty much anything else.

My husband is interested in vlogging, more so than blogging which most who have visited his blog will see it’s been a while since he last updated it. Since both of us have an interest in the online networking environment and I am in need of social interaction with adults I am calling out all NH, VT and ME bloggers as way to see if we can’t meetup from time to time. If you are in NH we may even be able to form a great friendship that grows larger than just the topic of blogging. I am game for friendships, new friends are always welcomed!

So if you are a blogger in New Hampshire, Maine, or Vermont please leave a comment so we can try to collaborate together as a means to form a bloggy bond in real life. I have some great ideas just need more bloggers to share these ideas with.

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Hubby’s On Vacation

Published on August 2, 2009 by brandyellen in Brandy's Life, Featured

Image via Wikipedia

I am so excited this week my husband is on a week long vacation from work. I tell you I miss him so much when he is gone to work so many hours a week and this vacation is not only great for him but for the kids and me as well!

We are not planning on anything too expensive to do, as we are sticking within our budget. Some ideas of what we can do or already have done are go to Maine for a day trip, go visit my mother in law, spend the day at the park, take a nice hike or walk with the kids, have a BBQ on the beach for dinner.

Last year we had hoped this would be a week we could just get away with the kids but with shared custody of my oldest and lack of funds in our budget to take a whole week away this will not happen. My ex did tell me that it’s our family vacation week and he would of course move his days around and work with us but not sure there will be a need to do that.

I will be unplugged more often than not this week but will be sure to write blog posts and keep you updated. I have a lot of product reviews to catch up on and once they are done I will only be reviewing selective products as they pertain to the bettering of family, children fun and work at home support. I am also planning my boys birthday party for mid August and that is going to take up some of my time. Since I still have a business to run I can’t take a “vacation” but I certainly will be unplugged once client work is done.

Here’s hoping you still stop by and leave me comments because I love to read them and feel free to tweet any great posts you see here at Happily Blended. I look forward to sharing with you what we may do for fun family adventures this week and wish you a fantastic week as well!

Tags: Barbecue, family, Maine, Mother-in-law, Recreation, travel, Travelogues, United States

6 Comments

Review: Rosie Hippo Wooden Toys

Published on August 1, 2009 by brandyellen in Blog Tour, Featured, Product Reviews

I am very excited to be sharing Rosie Hippo Wooden Toys with you today! Thanks to Buzz Mommy and Rosie Hippo for sponsoring this fantastic review.

Baby K will be turning one in August and so I am on the look out for the perfect toys. Our sweet Baby K is adorable, cuddling and well he is our last born so most of his toys are hand me downs. When given the chance to review a product that pertains to his needs whether it be clothing or educational or playful I am willing to try. This begins the review of the Rosie Hippo Hedgehog Rolley:

About Rosie Hippo

Beginning more than 14 years ago in Washington, Rosie Hippo was born “with a deep love for inspiring children’s imagination and creativity through a carefully hand-selected collection of natural, earth-friendly toy.” In 2008, Kim Bloom purchased the Rosie Hippo due to her son’s delight in the products and now here they are providing excellent high quality, educational, fun, inspiring toys for all ages.

What I Love About The Rosie Hippo Hedgehog Rolley

Baby K loves to roll it around on the floor and make his little car sound “vrooom”. The cool thing is since it is not a real “car” my other son has not tried to steal it away from Baby K yet. The toy is big enough him to play with yet small enough for his little hands to grab. The Rosie Hippo Hedgehog Rolley is all natural and so it doesn’t matter if he chews on it… something a lot of moms worry about I am sure!

The product itself is put together very well and I don’t see any additional adjustments I would recommend. With most product reviews I like to add any additional tips or constructive feedback to the business owner, however, the Rosie Hippo Hedgehog Rolley is fantastic as is!

Ready for the SUPER exciting news? I have been given a specific code to offer my readers 15% off their purchase. Simply use code HAPPILYBLENDED0709 during checkout and you will get 15% off. This coupon code expires on 09/15/2009.

Tags: baby k, business, Business and Economy, fun, Kids and Teens, parenting, playtime, Rosie Hippo Toys, School Time, shopping, Toys and Games, Washington, Wooden Children's Toys

5 Comments

Winner of Online Poster Printing Giveaway

Published on July 31, 2009 by brandyellen in giveaways

ScreenHunter_01 Jul. 31 09.51

The winner of the Online Poster Printing giveaway is…

ScreenHunter_02 Jul. 31 09.53 Congrats! I have provided your email to the appropriate person and emailed you to let you know you won here at Happily Blended!