Farrah's Little Place in the Blogosphere

Archive for the ‘Family, Kids, Parenting’ Category

In Shusybye: Sleepover Surprise, Shushy best friends Dozie and Zeez discover there doesn’t have to be an occasion to be nice to your friends. After Dozie bakes Snoozles and Zeez one of her famous Sky Pies, the two Shushies think of a special way to let her know how much they care about her friendship. Together, they plan a concert at The House of Snooze in Dozie’s honor. The book also introduces a pair of very comical Shushies, Snort and Wheez who drive the Shushybye Dream Van to pick up all the completed Dream Boxes and bring them to Conductor McCloud. It’s an important job. - FROM THE SITE

OUR THOUGHTS…Mom: Cute read along for the little one just before bed. Sing a song to start and end the story before dreamland. Multiple voices on the read along story with an audible chime to let little ones know when it’s time to turn the page. I found the length of the experience before bedtime just perfect and the songs catchy and soothing for sleepy time. Little one will surely be wanting to listen to this over and over again before bedtime.

10 year old: Cheesy but catchy songs.

9 year old: I liked it {but don’t tell anyone}…LOL

4 year old: I want to do it again!

We also got the opportunity to review Close Your Eyes by The Shusybye Dream Band. Listening to the CD was a fun way to get out our energy to prepare for winding down for the day. The dreamland songs are easy to sing to and will be stuck in your head all day long. Dream Band starts off full of energy and ends perfectly for slumber.

Be sure to check out The Shushybye website as the Dream Band will be announcing some tour dates. Log in to find out if they’ll be playing anywhere near you so the little ones can have some fun.

SHUSHYBYE is where childrens’ dreams are made. Living in such SHUSHYBYE villages as Nap Valley, Snore Shore and Yawn Island , the Shushies – led by SNOOZLES, DOZIE and ZEEZ – make dreams and place them in SHUSHYBYE Dream Boxes that are sent to children via the SHUSHYBYE Train (driven by CONDUCTOR MCCLOUD) as they fall asleep!

The Shushybye Theme Song…

Every night the sun goes down
The lights go out throughout your town
That’s the time to close your eyes
‘Cause soon you’ll be in Shushybye

(Chorus):
Oh my my, Shushybye!
Oh my my, Shushybye!

There’s a train that takes you to
A place where dreams are made for you
Climb aboard, we’ll ride the sky
And soon you’ll be in Shushybye

(Chorus):
Oh my my, Shushybye!
Oh my my, Shushybye!

All the dreams are there for you
Dreams that last the whole night through
So hold my hand and close your eyes
We’re on our way to Shushybye

Chorus:
Oh my my, Shushybye!
Oh my my, Shushybye!
(repeat 2x)

OVERALL RATING…Thumbs Up!!

WHERE TO BUY…Buy the Sleepover Surprise read-a-long book & Close Your Eyes CD at the Shusybye Shoppe.

THE GIVEAWAY…I’m giving away a copy of Shusybye: Sleepover Surprise to one of my lucky readers starting now til Friday March 19th, 2010.

• Leave me a comment by telling me what your bedtime routine is with your child and become an e-mail (enter your email in inner right column at top) or RSS subscriber.
• Tweet about this giveaway for an extra entry (@farrah1230 is giving away a copy of the #book Shusybye: Sleepover Surprise here: http://bit.ly/ahIY5g #tbfr).

ALFIE’S AT IT AGAIN!

Just when you thought he’d settled down, he’s off and running, on a mission to see more than 15 of the world’s favorite (and busiest!) attractions. As always, he’ll need your help to keep from getting hopelessly lost. Featuring sharp, all-new graphics optimized specifically for your iPhone and iPod Touch, Aefo Alfie is the anticipated new release from Von Nostrum Games. Using a simple-yet-powerful system of controls, search the teeming throngs of the world’s metropolises to find Alfie, wherever he’s wondered off too this time. But be forewarned: this guy just can’t sit still! – FROM THE VON NOSTRUM GAMES SITE

OUR THOUGHTS…Fun app that will keep all ages entertained searching for Alfie. Scan and enlarge your screen to try to find the lost Alfie. Reminds me of the Where’s Waldo books. Visit 2 countries with multiple locations. Even after finding him in all the locations, I found I still took time to find him where I’d already been! My 3 kids 4, 9, and 10 had fun helping me find Alfie and even I alone found the search amusing.

OUR OVERALL RATING…Thumbs up

HOW MUCH & WHERE TO BUY…$1.99 from iTunes

I received this review as a member of the Game Review Network. Visit the site to enter to win your own copy of this game.

What matters most to you these days? Is it wealth? Is it family? Is it rediscovering yourself? Is it inner peace? Is it something altogether different? Have you sat down recently and rethought what really matters to make you feel fulfilled in life?

I recently discovered that in mine. Family of course is a top priority but more importantly self-fulfillment is very important. If you’re not happy, how can you be all that you can be for your family? If you lose who you are as an individual (remember, we weren’t always “mommy” or “honey”) can you really be happy?

I tried being a stay at home mom for almost 2 years. In the beginning I loved it! I loved sleeping in, having a clean home, playing with the kids, enjoying the sun by the pool during the summers, making breakfast and healthy dinners, taking kids to and from school/practice. The list goes on. But then it happened…I felt like my brain was going to mush, days were filled with cartoon characters and Miley Cyrus (it gets old quick), and I was grumpy by the time my husband came home. I decided to blog more, connect with others online, network with businesses and individuals. Life started to regain more, then I wanted more. I realized that I needed more, needed more recognition, needed more intellectual challenge. Then my husband was laid off the week before Thanksgiving and though I had been looking for work for a year at that point, I went into high gear. The week before Christmas I was finally offered a job in a member marketing group where I felt more at home. Roles have switched at home until work picks up for him; he’s cleaning/organizing these days while I work and cook dinner when I get home.

As I was looking into mineral makeup at Bare Escentuals, visiting RethinkWhatMatters.com helped me in rethinking what matters to me. There are still things I’m working on to get that complete harmony in my life. Spiritual growth, academic achievement, physical/mental activity, etc.. Do you know what matters the most for balance in your life?

Born from employees rethinking makeup itself – the beauty brand found looking good is not about using artificial gunk to cover imperfections, but about enhancing what you’ve got.

Rethink What Matters invites women nationwide to shake up their foundation and sound off on topics that are more than just skin-deep—from going bare in public to discussing what freedom really feels like.

Each week at RethinkWhatMatters.com, a new discussion topic has been featured with five questions for all to answer, share with their friends and have the chance to instantly win free products and other fantastic goodies.  New topics and products will be featured weekly, posted each Friday to the site.  This week’s topic is “Rethink The Need to Find Yourself”!

HOW TO BUY…For about $15 you can buy it at a Bare Escentuals Boutiques, Sephora and Sephora.com, Ulta and select Nordstrom & Macy’s

THE GIVEAWAY…Thanks to Bare Escentuals I’m getting a shade (Sugar Plum…the shade you see below) to try out AND I get to give away a shade to one of my lucky readers! This giveaway ends on February 28th and a winner will be randomly selected via Random.org.

(1) Lucky reader will get to chose one of the following lip gloss shades (view the shades here):

• Cassis (Golden Rose)
• Chiffon (Nude Sand)
• Cupcake (Rose Pink)
• Iced Coffee (Java Cream)
• Sugar Plum (Purple Plum)
• Sugar Cookie (Pink Peach)
• Wild Honey (Golden Peach)

HERE’S HOW TO ENTER…Create a comment for each action as I use random.org to randomly select winners.

• MANDATORY: Become an RSS or E-mail Subscriber (add email address to subscribe box; look right)
  
• MANDATORY: What’s important to you and which shade would you pick if you win?
  

EXTRA ENTRIES…

• Follow me on Twitter (@farrah1230), tweet this and add “@farrah1230 #flpitb” in the tweet.
• Post this giveaway (your blog, facebook, etc) and leave the url. (You must leave the post up at least through the month of February)

Day 2 Challenge: Do not bicker with your spouse/partner about anything in front of the kids…no matter what.

Well I suppose I got out of another day of not REALLY having to do a challenge. After a couple of days being “snowed in” with the 3 kids and my husband, I went back into the office to work today. As much as I like the ease of working from home, I’m realizing that I actually like to be in the office most days so I can “getaway” from home for a bit to just be Farrah. So, I went to the office today, I honestly didn’t have too much interaction with my spouse today. When we did speak on the phone during the day I’d say it was fairly pleasant and neither of us felt the need to bicker with the other. And now? He’s working a side job while the kids and I get ready for bed and complete nightly tasks. By the time he does get home, they will all hopefully be asleep and still, I doubt I will have anything still to bicker about. While he awaits electrical side jobs and more work from his company, he’s been home most days relaxing and cleaning house while I’m working. What’s there really to complain about? Well…he COULD make dinner…

To link up with other’s participating in the 30 Days of Change Challenge, stop by the Parenting Challenge introduction post.