Fur and Feathers - a review

We are personal fans of the author, Janet Halfmann. She writes stories that are sweet and educational without feeling like knowledge is being stuffed down a kid's throat. Her book, Fur and Feathers, does just that, once again.
Little Sophia has a wonderful dream in which she discovers what type of body coverings different animals have. She finds creative methods of recreating their natural fur/feathers/scales in a seemingly bottomless sewing kit. The beautiful illustrations by Laurie Allen Klein capture a feeling of sweet innocence that reinforces a lesson about the creatures of our world.

Once again, I am happy to read one of Ms. Halfmann's books to my kids and I truly recommend checking this story out!

Legoland Discovery Center - Star Wars Weekend!

If your kids like Lego Star Wars, and you live in the Chicagoland area, then head over to the Legoland Discovery Center site to purchase your tickets to this weekend's Lego Star Wars Weekend! At the media preview last night, my family and I had a blast checking out the Chicago skyline destruction that the droids brought upon us. It was SO COOL. As in, way too cool for a little boy who is a Lego Star Wars freak...I believe that part of the Wrigley Building is on the street, surrounded by droids...
Life sized R2 and Darth Vader alongside life sized Evan.
Tons of actors!
A clone checking out my boys' race cars...
Corinne appears to have issues with Obama's proposal for extended school days...

Seriously, buy your tickets ASAP because they're selling out!

Mr. Popper's Penguins

My family recently went to see an early screening of Mr. Popper's Penguins starring Jim Carey. Initially, I had thought it would be a silly children's movie and only attended because I knew they wanted to watch it. I had seen the previews and they presented the movie in a ridiculous light, focusing on penguin poop and one-liners. While the movie DID contain plenty of poopy one-liner jokes, it was actually quite good! I enjoyed the storyline and only became annoyed once or twice by the over-the-top humor that Jim Carey tends to bring to a movie. You'll find that the moral to the story is love, love, love; what's better than love?

All in all, I honestly recommend Mr. Popper's Penguins as a movie to go and check out. Your children will love it and you will definitely find it entertaining and sweet.

Did we like the 2011 Chevy Tahoe Hybrid?

Let us ponder that question...Let's see: its gas mileage to the Indy 500 and back was phenomenal...


There was adequate space in the middle row for 3 full-sized adults...
... but it still had the 3rd row for extra people (aka: little sisters who maybe shouldn't be sitting quite so closely to their older brothers...)

... it had On-Star AND a traditional navigational system so that when I got turned around in Chicago (AGAIN! You'd think I hadn't lived in this area my whole life...), I was able to call and speak to a live person for 15 minutes while we figured out our way around the heavy construction detours...
...and the 3rd row of seats easily popped right out so that we could fit far too many coolers, grills and suitcases.

Yes. We liked the Tahoe. I cried a tear on the day my review ended...

Legoland Discovery Center giveaway

Edited to announce that the winner (via the "even or odd" game with my son) is Mom24!

Legoland Discovery Center in Schaumburg Illinois* is presenting a new adventure just in time for Memorial Day weekend ( Friday, May 27 – Monday, May 30 *Special Holiday Hours: 10 a.m. – 8 pm)
The press release boasts:

LEGOLAND Discovery Center Chicago is an indoor family entertainment destination with over 2 million LEGO bricks and nine attractions including: Model Builder Workshop; Jungle Expedition; Dragon Ride; Technicycle; LEGO 4D Cinema; Build and Test; LEGO Factory Tour; and MINILAND featuring iconic Chicago landmarks. For Memorial Day weekend, Captain Clutch, LEGOLAND’s swashbuckling sailor, will lead the way as guests hunt for treasure and build their own pirate sword out of LEGO bricks. You can witness the sack of MINILAND as 1,000 pirate minifigures lay siege in a LEGO Pirate Ship model; and if you keep your pirate wits about you, you might just make off with some booty of your own! Guess how many bricks fill the LEGOLAND treasure chest, and you could take home your own treasure chest full of LEGO brick.

Located at the Streets of Woodfield, 601 N. Martingale Rd. in Schaumburg, LEGOLAND Discovery Center is 30 minutes from downtown Chicago by car. Adult Admission is $19. Child Admission is $15. Special annual pass and ticket offers are available at www.LEGOLANDdiscoverycenter.com. Last guest admission is two hours before closing. Extended hours are available on school vacation days and national holidays. Visit www.legolanddiscoverycenter.com for updated daily opening times. LEGOLAND Discovery Center is a part of the Merlin Entertainments Group.


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I wish I could take my family to Legoland over Memorial Day weekend because my children had such a blast the last time we visited. Alas, I will be drinking wine coolers at the Indy 500 sans children... :)

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

But Legoland has graciously invited one reader from here to experience the fun with their family!

Enter below to win 4 tickets to the Memorial Day celebration. I'll pick the winner on Tuesday, May 24.

Good Luck!

Ways to enter:

~ comment! Easy as pie.

~ Visit Legoland Discovery Center's website and tell me what you'd like to check out the most.

~ Tweet, post, Facebook, or spread the word about this giveaway on any other social media site and link back. (no limit! Have fun spreading the word, but please leave a comment for each entry!)

*This giveaway is only applicable for the Schaumburg Illinois location!

Dream Big, Little Pig review

Corinne and I recently received a copy of Kristi Yamaguchi's new children's book, Dream Big, Little Pig. Did you know that Kristi Yamaguchi (you know, the world-famous skating champion) started skating as a physical therapy treatment for her medical issue of club foot? When I found that bit of knowledge out, it put a whole new spin on the obstacles that she must have overcome to achieve the dreams that she has, and caused me to understand the storyline with a new perspective. So I settled down with my 5 year old on our comfy couch to read about Poppy the pig and her dreams of doing something FABULOUS...

And what a sweet story it is! Poppy is surrounded by family and friends who support her no matter what she tries. She KNOWS that she is destined for greatness and never gives up. I adored the cheering of her best friend and grandparentsI can imagine that Kristi must have a similar support team in her own life. To achieve all that she has is downright amazing.

Did you know that she founded the Always Dream Foundation in 1992 to support children in their education and recreational activities? Did you know that the trophies and awards she has received in her athletics have to compete with the goodwill she's involved in as well?

I'm happy to endorse this lovely book written by Kristi Yamaguchi and beautifully illustrated by Tom Bowers. A portion of every book purchase will go towards the Always Dream Foundation to support its early childhood literacy initiative.

Winner of the Jumpstart membership!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com