Fantasia/Fantasia 2000 on Blu-ray & DVD

A 2-Movie Collection Special Edition of Fantasia and Fantasia 2000 -- the magical, animated musical masterpiece and the contemporary classic inspired by it -- are now available for a limited time only on Blu-ray High Definition and DVD. Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment has opened the Disney vault to present these two films that broke the boundaries of imagination in the highest quality possible.

The Fantasia and Fantasia 2000: 2-Movie Collection Special Edition is available in a 4-disc Blu-ray Combo Pack and a 2-Disc DVD.

Franklin AnyBook Reader: Record any book in any voice for any child

Have you heard of the Franklin AnyBook Reader?  The AnyBook Reader is a device that allows parents, grandparents, uncles, siblings, or virtually anyone to record themselves reading books.  The book isn't limited to certain books sold to work specifically with the device, it can be absolutely any book of your choosing.

The Franklin AnyBook Reader device is shaped like a fat pen or pencil which houses a recording device with mini speaker playback capabilities.  It runs on 2 AAA batteries.  We found recording a book for a child is easy.  In fact, my 9 year old daughter was able to do it without help after very brief instructions.

Here's the basics:

Disney's Guilty Party Wii Video Game (Giveaway)

A 2010 Holiday Gift Guide Pick from "And Twins make 5!" 

(Updated on 12/7 to add giveaway!)

Another gift guide must for this age group is a video game or two.  We play our share of video games in this household of 7, so a game must be dubbed as pretty darn cool to make our holiday guide and I'm happy to report that Disney's Guilty Party is "that" cool.

This is the perfect game for a family to play together.  "It's a mystery party game, exclusively for the Wii™ console.  Friends and family play as the savvy sleuths of the world-famous Dickens Detective Agency to investigate a series of mysteries and identify the guilty party."

Dymo Organizational Gifts for Dad & Mom

A 2010 Holiday Gift Guide Pick from "And Twins make 5!"

We had the chance to check out two great gift ideas perfect for mom or dad from Dymo, the CardScan Executive and the Dymo LabelManager 260P.

Baby Einstein world of colors discovery kit

Disney's Baby Einstein recently unveiled Baby Einstein Discovery Kits, an innovative new interactive experience to help parents introduce babies to the beautiful music, nature and animals for which the company’s products are known. The first six Discovery Kits are now available for purchase. Each kit features a DVD, a music CD and a picture book or Discovery Cards, each element complementing the others. The new kits give parents another way to interact with their babies by extending the moving picture and music experience of the DVDs to other areas of a baby’s day through the CDs and book or cards which feature the same music and images experienced in the DVD.

Under $20 Husky Tool Sets @ Home Depot (Giveaway)

Is Santa bringing the kids any electronic toys that need batteries loaded into their screw-secured battery panels?  How about toys that require some assembly?  Make sure the designated assembly person (hubby) opens this gift first!  This $9.88 Husky 13pc PowerTek Precision Screwdriver Set will pay for itself within minutes.

Arc-A-Teks Building Toy Review & Giveaway

Did you catch our review & giveaway of WABA Fun's Custom Superstructs?  If not, you'll want to head over to that post and check those out, but not before you see their brand new line called Arc-A-Teks.

Disney's The Sorcerer's Apprentice on Blu-ray and DVD

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment and Jerry Bruckheimer Films recently released The Sorcerer’s Apprentice on DVD and Blu-ray.  Last Night, I watched a copy provided by Disney along with hubby and some of our kids.

More giveaway news:

#65 Stephie C is the winner of the Gummy Lump Giveaway for either a Melissa & Doug Toy Workbench of folding Princess castle.

Monster High Dolls by Mattel: Will they revive tweenage doll play?

There are some freakish new dolls popping up on the fashion doll toy shelves as well as numerous Santa's wish lists.  These new dolls by Mattel go by the name Monster High.

Their premise is a new one, they are the teenage children of famous monsters such as Dracula and Frankenstein.  The concept is a clever one, clearly capitalizing on the popularity of the Twilight book and movie series, Harry Potter, and all things relating back to High School itself (think High School Musical & Glee).  The tagline itself a draw for the tweens who feel different from the masses declaring "freaky just got fabulous".

The dolls are just a small part of a much larger franchise plan that will include books, clothing, plush toys, electronic gadgets, and possibly even a movie.

Next Stop, Today's Giveaway News:

The Search for Santa Paws Blu-ray + DVD giveaway has ended.  The 2 winners are #62 Ginny & #85 Jessica.

Also ended is the Star Wars R/C  Millennium Falcon Toy giveaway.  It's winner out of the 431 entries is #43 lloika.

Thanks to everyone who entered!  It's not too late to enter the following giveaways:

Freestyle Apple Tart Recipe

I had a couple requests in my email box for more of the recipes from the Kraft Blogging Event I attended in November.  Clearly you are all planning for the holidays or suffering from a severe case of "sweet tooth" as the desserts are in high demand.  I aim to please, so next up is the Freestyle Apple Tart recipe we sampled.

Freestyle Apple Tart
Prep Time: 15 min. | Total Time: 40 min. | Makes: 8 servings.

EZ Sox

Do you have one of those kiddos that just has to do everything all themselves?  20 minutes later they have pants on backwards and 1 sock on about 1/4 of the way on.  If so, I have a stocking stuffer idea for you.

They are socks, EZ Sox, with little reinforced loop handles that help your little one pull them on.  Added bonus, they have cute little faces aimed to please the pickiest of dressers.  Other features worth noting on their seamless design and non skid bottoms.

We were sent a couple pairs for the twins to check out (the bears & the frogs) and found they went on as easy as the suggested.  Now if only I could get them to put the rest of their clothes on at a more rapid pace.

Pantene Pro-V Restore Beautiful Lengths Collection

Hair.  It's amazing how much emotion and power is tied to it.  Uncooperative tresses can ruin an entire day, a bad haircut can cause one anguish for months, and losing your hair due to illness can be nearly as upsetting as the diagnosis itself.

My daughter was a late bloomer when it came to hair growth.  She was fairly bald until about 3 years of age.  I felt bad for her because she was clearly envious of all the other girls with their long Rapunzel like manes.  I'd have give her half of my long thick hair if it was possible.  Now 9 years old, she finally has the long hair she craved.

I was recently contacted by the folks at Pantene about trying their Pantene Pro-V Restore Beautiful Lengths collection as well as seeing an advanced screening (with my family) of the new Disney Tangled movie.  I had a conflict and was unable to catch the movie yet, but I've been giving their products a spin and so has Cordelia.  My favorites are the items aimed at frizz control and Cordelia has been all about the breakage defense to strengthen her locks.

Celebrate with Hersheys (Chocolate filled Stocking Giveaway)

If you are like me you've been prowling the web for yummy recipe or craft ideas to make during the holiday.  Worth checking out is www.CelebrateWithHersheys.com.  Among the many recipes you'll find are Peppermint Pattie Brownies, Caramel thumbprint cookies, and Tuxedo Brownie Hug Cookies.  In the craft section, you have to check out the Merry Kisses Chocolates Wreath.

There's also a product section that tells you all about the special Hershey's products out this holiday season and with St. Nick's Day & Christmas approaching rapidly, you'll want to check all that out too.  I was sent a couple of the seasonal items to check out including the Reese’s Peanut Butter Trees and the Rolo Reindeer Cane.  My verdict?  Yummy & Cute!  Now it's your turn ...

'Tis the Season for Giving - Random Acts of Zhu

Cepia, LLC – the makers of ZhuZhu Pets and Kung Zhu recently asked me to participate in a very special charitable initiative called the Random Acts of Zhu or "RAZ" for short.  Random Acts of Zhu was established last holiday season as a way to provide toys to children in need.

This year, they invited me to share in the joy of giving by providing me with 104 of their popular ZhuZhu Pets to give to a charity of my own choosing.

This is the 2nd year our family will be involved in a holiday act of giving that involves a ZhuZhu pet.  My 2nd oldest son, Hayden, was able to raise just under $400 last year by auctioning off chances to win a few ZhuZhu toys.  You can read Hayden's story from last year here.

The 104 ZhuZhu pet toys arrived at my home this morning befittingly as our first snow of the season fell to the ground.  You'll note, I put the twins to work on carrying all those boxes inside.

I'll be sharing all the details of this year's charitable donation and the worthy local cause with readers in a follow up post soon.  In the meantime, a big thank you to Cepia, LLC (ZhuZhu Pets) for allowing us to help you bring joy to some children in our local area.

Space Chips Building Fun by Monkey Business Sports (Giveaway)

We were recently sent a 50 pack of a new building toy unit by Monkey Business Sports dubbed Space Chips.  Unlike other building toys we've played with before, Space Chips are thin pliable pieces that go together with other chips without the need for some sort of connector in between them.