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

Jumpstart Giveaway

I have had a long-standing love affair with Jumpstart.com. My daughter loves their programs on the computer and Wii and so does my niece. For the 3-8 age range, it's a great collection of educational programs that are still really, really fun for children to use.
Jumpstart now provides a new math program called Math Blaster. We've played Math Blaster as a homeschooling family for a few years now on a cd-rom and Nintendo DS. The game basically follows a character through several levels (beginning with addition and subtraction) of math problems to complete the missions. Unfortunately, my computer is quite temperamental this winter and I haven't been able to utilize the Math Blaster on Jumpstart as of yet. We're working on getting the computer happy again. Until then, I stand behind Jumpstart.com and my prior knowledge of Math Blaster. It Rocks!

Playing Jumpstart!

The good people of Jumpstart.com would like to offer a 6 month full-membership which includes their new Math Blaster option for one reader! Simply comment below and we'll pick the winner on Tuesday, April 5.

Good luck!

Extra entries for:

~ following me on Twitter or Google Friend connect above...

~ every Tweet/Facebook link/other social media site you post about this and link back to. Just let me know what you've done with a link, please! One mention per site, per day!

No more new entries! Will post winner tomorrow morning!

Getting in Shape...

Ugh. I am out of it. Shape, that is. I may be close to the same size I've always been, but the distribution and type of weight that I'm carrying is not. (i.e. I have a soft and squishy butt and belly...)

So when Lindsay Brin contacted me to review her set of exercise dvds for moms, I jumped on that email. (Well, I didn't jump, I kind of sleepily nodded...).

I just did day 1 of the Core Metabolic JumpStart with Corinne. It kicked my ass.
BUT. In a good way. Seriously, I know that if I can keep myself on task and keep alternating these videos, I will be in shape by BlogHer11 in August. I WILL. That is my goal and I am not going to let this opportunity pass me by.

You shouldn't, either! Lindsay has a discount code for anyone who wants to purchase her dvd set. You can receive 30% off of her 60 Day SlimDown System by using the code "60daydvd30".

You can also receive a FREE copy of her Stroller Pump Workout by liking her on Facebook!

She has dvds for any stage of your life, including pregnancy and post-natal. Plus, I found her personality to be friendly and encouraging without being annoying. (That's saying a lot. I am easily annoyed by athletic instructors...) Lindsay also has a personal blog where she's writing about baby #3 and moving and all the joys of motherhood. I always like supporting fellow bloggers. :)

Let me know if you're taking the plunge into getting fit! I could use all the camaraderie I can gather!