Jumpin-Beans

I am not one for movies that drag, but I stuck around this time.  I knew it had an "all star cast" but for the most part, they were just supporting cast members... The real stars of the show were the two kids... I had to stay around to see the whole movie to see what would happen.  The movie starts with a boy that runs away from home from his boy scout group... and then we learn that he is an orphan with his foster parents not wanting him to return home...  At the same time he runs away, a girl that is always looking out the window with her binoculars also runs away... This really did drag... like really slow...  but, I will say... if you can sit through a slow movie... It was kinda cute with the love story, but it really was slow.  SYNOPSIS: Set on an island off the coast of New England in the summer of 1965, Moonrise Kingdom follows two 12-year-olds who fall in love, make a secret pact and run away together into the wilderness. As various authorities try to hunt th

We had the chance to review figures from the Lil' Teammates line before and let me tell you, Broxton LOVES them!!!  He has a Falcon's Player, a Basketball player and a couple NCAA Baseball players. Then, they made teeny mates and they are over the door to greet us when we walk in his room. As you can tell, we love sports and we love collecting items.  Broxton loves to play with them and he has them playing with each other (guess they are in the Olympics or something with the mixture of sports being played.) Well, Lil' Teammates has recently released the Lil' Teammates Collectible Team Sets.  Each Set has a Quarterback, a Running Back and a Lineman. This would be a cute collectible item for a Sports Fan in your life..   (Or for a couple kids you might know that love sports!)     The teams that are currently available: • 22 NFL teams to choose from: • Chicago Bears • Cincinnati Bengals • Denver Broncos  • Cleveland Browns • San Diego C

I love personalized gifts... From stationery to photo's.  If it is personalized, it just shows that they put a bit of thought into it... Now, I do realize that not everyone is a fan of personalized gifts... and you can not always think of what to get someone... I was lucky to have the chance to review a few items from Modern Greetings and I was very impressed with their selection.  They have all sorts of Photo Books.  I was looking at the baby books (yes, clock is ticking!) as well as the school books.  I think something like that would be great to look back at Broxton through the years.  Since my brother is graduating from Grad School next year (Very proud sister here!) I was also looking at the Announcements.. Normally I always just think of wedding or baby announcements, but they had College Graduation Announcements and even moving announcements!  The one thing that I  looked at for a long time was all of their stationery.  As long as I can remember, I have always had a

  Thanksgiving is over...so that means, Christmas music... Christmas movies... It is officially CHRISTMAS!!!!  (Well, I guess it is, I know some of my friends already have their house decorated and have been listening to music and what not for a bit now.) If you remember, I reviewed The Original Christmas Classics last year... Well, this year... I get to give one lucky reader a chance to win a copy for their house! What is on the disc?  "Frosty the Snowman,” “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” and “Frosty Returns.” If you want to win this, just fill out the easy rafflecopter form below.  a Rafflecopter giveaway

I love Burt's Bees.  I am not really sure when I started using Burt's for the first time, but it was love at first use.  I do know that the first product I tried was their lip balm.  I loved it so much that I immediately went back to the store and bought all of the tubes they had, as I knew I was going to be giving them out to all my friends.  That year, every single one of us at work had a tube of Burt's Bees on us at all times.  No lie.  I seriously thought that was their only product, as it was all I had ever seen or used. Then, I saw a gift pack and fell in love with every product they had in there... Moving along, I made it a point to purchase their mystery grab bags every time I saw it on sale!  Once I became a mom, we made sure to use Burt's Bees on Broxton.  No, we would not use it all the time, but we did use it from time to time... I wish we would have been given the Sweet Memories Keepsake Photo Box!!! Just check it out:   The Burt ’s Bees Swee

Are you kidding me?  I think I may have heard it all now... Did you know that Hallmark has recently come out with "text bands?" Yes!!!  Let me try and tell you ... It is these watch like bracelets... You start off with a basic purple or black base..  but they have a good amount of bands so you can buy them and match your personality, style or clothing for the day!  (More than one way to make a statement with these text bands!)  You enter up to 10 characters... and then you bump hands, high five or whatever you want... AND THEN........................ YOUR MESSAGE ENDS UP ON YOUR FRIENDS BRACELET! Well, of course, your friend needs to have a bracelet like you do... but that just sounds like loads of fun with kids!!!!  Doesn't it?  This would be great to give to your child... and then give them an extra.. Maybe they can give it to their best friend... or boyfriend / girlfriend... I think this is just the coolest!!!!  If you have more than one child, maybe this

Broxton will always ask for cookies or ice cream or any sort of treat... always at the wrong moment.  When we were sent a "good for you" treat, I was excited to see his thoughts... Okay, let me back up and tell you... I like treats too, so he gets it honest... not to mention I have not seen Marc turn sweets down!  So, I was eager to check it out... Until I saw what was sent to us.. Sweet Potato Oatmeal Raisin didn't seem too bad, I am not an Oatmeal Raisin fan, but I can do damage to Sweet Potatoes in ANY form!!!    But then the other one: Lemon Broccoli.  What? I mean really, what were they thinking?  I did not read any of the names to Broxton, I just opened them and put them on a plate for him!  Broxton was enjoying the fact that they were letter shaped, so he could work on his alphabet.  His favorite was the Oatmeal Raisin ones... No surprise there... Come on.. Lemon Broccoli?  So, as I was cleaning up, I tried them both... Time for a big wake up call.... I

Disney Junior has several new episodes headed our way.. Take a look at the lineup:       JAKE AND THE NEVER LAND PIRATES   Monday, November 26 – Thursday, November 29:   All-New Episodes of "Jake and the Never Land Pirates" (Daily at 10:30 a.m., ET/PT on Disney Channel and 5:30 p.m., ET/PT on Disney Junior) ·         Monday, November 26 – Jake and crew prepare for a Thanksgiving-styled Never Land Feast and search for the legendary Golden Goblet in a new episode featuring favorite recurring celebrity guest stars Sharon Osbourne (Mama Hook) and Josh Duhamel (Captain Flynn).   New Short-Form Series "Jake's Never Land Pirate School" Debuts (Daily at 10:55 a.m., ET/PT on Disney Channel and 5:55 p.m., ET/PT on Disney Junior) ·         Series follows Jake as he teaches young viewers at home a variety of pirate skills.    Friday, November 30:   Marathon of the new "Jake and the Never Land Pirates" and "Jake

A while back we had the opportunity to review a new series of DVD's.  They are called "Families of the World" and they follow 2 kids from different cultures.  Last time we had the chance to review and learn about Germany and the Philippines .  This time, I was so excited to see that we would be learning about Italy!!!  My granddaddy was from Italy, so I was excited to see this one!     In Families of the World: Italy, we once again followed two families.   One family made cheese and the other made olive oil.  Now, I am not a fan of olives, but I will say it was so neat to watch the process of making the olive oil... Also, it was cool to learn that they literally use every part of the olive for one thing or another... I will be honest with you, I think that the Families of the World DVD's are absolutely awesome.  You get to learn about other cultures with your children... and the kids are really interested in the DVD, as it is follows children and actually h

As of this morning, one of our local stores had 6 tents set up for people waiting in line for Black Friday prices...   I am all about a savings, but wow... It is Wednesday and they are already camping out for Friday morning!!!!! Instead of camping out and fighting the crowds... Why not do a little online shopping? Better yet... why not send a gift basket? I am lucky enough to give you a discount code if you want to visit GiftBasketsPlus for your holiday gift giving ideas.  If you want to do a little shopping from the comforts of home (and even in your PJ's if you want)  Here is a discount code for 15 % off your order:   15OFF Just a couple of the baskets they have on their site:  They have several cute kids gift baskets ... I think my little guy would think that this was too much fun and would have a blast enjoying everything in there!  I love gift baskets... but the thing I love most is the actual basket that it comes in... don't get me wrong... I love the

As the mother of a toddler, we are so thankful for DVD players that go in vehicles.  For a while, we were only able to use it when we had my dads vehicle, as we did not have a portable DVD player... But, after road trips with Broxton... We decided that it would be a wise investment to purchase a portable DVD player...   The only problem... Marc HATES listening to whatever Broxton is watching.  We had purchased a couple head sets, but they were poorly made and we ended up taking them back.  When I saw that Kidz Gear  made headsets for kidz.. . I knew we would want to look into it. The first thing that caught my attention? The colors.  They have awesome, kid friendly, bright colors for the headset! Broxton was sent the blue for review... Lucky for us, as he has decided that is his favorite color for the time being!!!  The other thing that I am TOTALLY loving?  The limited volume.  That was one reason that I did not want him to have head phones... The reason I say that?  One of

   I am not sure how people would feel about getting a book telling them how to Organize their family as a gift... Unless they specifically asked for it...  I mean, would it be an insult?  You know, like... Man, your place is so messy, thought you could use a bit of help... UNLESS - you are giving it to someone with a child.. This book is perfect for ALL parents!   I can remember when a friend came to visit once and laughed at how much of Broxton's stuff was over the house.. She was adamant that she would not be the mom with kids toys in the living room and kids books/DVDs on the bookshelf.  She knew it was going to be minimal... and contained.  Then, she had a child... and it was VICTORY when she called to let me know that she was wrong..  She had books in the living room too... She had large toys in the living room...everything she wasn't opposed to having, she was just like me!  When I saw the book, Absolutely Organize  Your Family , I thought they must have been

 Nothing is cuter than Snoopy and the gang!  Well, let me change that... Add baseball to the mix and you see where I am going, right? This year, we have Go Snoopy Go... A DVD that includes "It's Spring Training, Charlie Brown" and then 5 additional adventures!  Image Credit: Amazon Synopsis: Step up to the plate with the Peanuts gang in It’s Spring Training, Charlie Brown . It’s springtime and Charlie Brown’s baseball team is gearing up for the new season. The players work their hardest to train and get into tip-top shape but in spite of all their efforts, end up with disappointing results. To top it off, Lucy points out that they are the only team without any uniforms. To boost the team’s morale, Charlie Brown manages to secure new uniforms after Mr. Hennessey at the hardware store promises to sponsor the team – with the condition they win the first game of the season. Will Charlie Brown and his teammates emerge victorious and score new uniforms? The laughs

You know how you read something and you become totally intrigued to learn more about it? Well, that happened to me a bit ago. I was reading my emails and I read about a new book, Rangoli:  An Indian Art Activity . Image Credit:  Amazon This is what I read: This book offers more than 100 pages of designs and grids featuring geometric shapes, mazes, optical illusions, 3D images, nature and much more. There are facts about the background behind the rangoli tradition as well as how they create it and why. A colorful map shows the different regions and how rangoli differs between them, with beautiful photographs of various types. There is something for everyone.  Since rangoli can be enjoyed on paper or on the ground, it is great for both rainy/snowy indoor days, or sunny days when you want the kids to be outside. Children interested in art, drawing, hands-on activities, or even math or problem solving, will be particularly drawn to the book. Just reading that, I

Did you know that 2013 will have Power Rangers celebrating 20 years?! It is so hard to imagine that, but it has to be true... I can remember my brother playing with Power Rangers and I am 99% sure that he had a Power Rangers party at one point or another... Want to know what cracks me up the most? The fact that I remember watching Power Rangers with him... and NOW... Broxton thinks that the Power Rangers are pretty fantastic and has decided to ask for them this year! Truth be told, he asks for anything and everything he sees that looks pretty neat...  but ever since he got a Power Ranger figure in one of the kids meals one day, he thinks that he needs them all! I tell you what, the days of Power Rangers just being little action figures are part of the past... I was in absolute shock (although I really shouldn't be anymore) of all the products that are available. That being said.. Let me tell you what a couple of the "must have" items are for Power Ranger fans to

Do your little ones (you can include yourself in this!) love Mickey and all his friends? Do you live in or near Atlanta? Then you need to plan to paste a smile on everyone's face!  Disney Live! Mickey's Music Festival will be here before you know it!!! What could be better than Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy putting on a concert with all the hits from the Disney soundtracks we all love! (I personally want to hear The Little Mermaid songs!) I have to be honest with you, just READING the press release for this show has me all excited!  It says that there are over 25 characters that will be part of this production... They will have us dancing in our seats with excitement of this once in a lifetime concert! I mean, come on.. How fun would it be to have Woody, Buzz and Jessie teaching us how to dance... RODEO STYLE?! This event will be at Philips Arena, Sunday December 16th.  Do you not live near Atlanta? Then you need to plan a trip to Atlanta to do a little Christmas shop