Over the Moon: The Broadway Lullaby Project is both a timeless benefit effort and a uniquely compelling multimedia experience. The project—which incorporates a 2-CD, 26-song set; a lavishly illustrated hardcover book of 17 songs from the album; a corresponding e-book encompassing the entire collection; and a documentary film and web series —gathers many of contemporary musical theatre’s greatest composers and vocalists, as well as illustrators, all of whom have donated their talent to deliver an emotionally affecting set of new lullabies, some written specifically for this project. Proceeds from sales of the book and 2-CD set will benefit breast cancer research, support and education.

Here, for your viewing and posting pleasure, is a behind-the-scenes look at the recording session for “Lucky” (Music and Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, from the opera Seance on a Wet Afternoon). Schwartz, who was inducted into the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame and the Broadway Hall of Fame in 2009, is the composer of the smash Broadway musicals Wicked, Godspell and Pippin.

The song is performed by Tony Award-winning actress & singer Donna Murphy, with Gil Goldstein (piano), and Jody Redhage (cello), produced by Matt Pierson. Illustration by three-time Caldecott Medal winner Marc Simont.

My two children have enjoyed both mommy and daddy reading the Over The Moon book to them before bedtime. And my daughter whom always goes to sleep listening to music has insisted on the accompanying CD many times. I highly recommend the CD to help calm your children into a more restful sleep and in help to calming the business of each day far away.

The book itself is quite a work of art. I enjoyed reading the lullabies and getting lost in the beautifully expressive heartfelt lyrics and illustrations. The lullaby It’s Time Little Man brought a whirlwind of emotion to me making me realize how fast my 16 month old baby boy is growing up and that before I know it he’ll be big and grown. There are many other titles in this book that really touched me as well but that one just really stood out.

I would highly recommend the Over the Moon: The Broadway Lullaby Project. You can purchase Over the Moon: The Broadway Lullaby Project on Amazon.com for $12.89 right now! I promise it’ll be a special collection that you’ll enjoy just as much as your children ( maybe even more too!)

Disclaimer: I was sent the above mentioned product to review. This review is 100% my opinion and has not been edited or reviewed by anyone. I was not compensated in any other way for this product review.

What a lovely Mother’s Day, I’ve had this year. I was spoiled by hand drawn crayola crayon pictures from both my children, a new bag to carry a long all my knitting, fun new yarns, a delicious dinner of Fish Tacos, a decadent chocolate cake for dessert, a morning spent in the Word of God, and an afternoon surrounded by my family taking a hike through the woods. Good food, great company, and simple low key kinda day. I very much enjoyed being appreciated as a mommy.

How was your Mother’s Day?  

I’m excited today to share my thoughts on another great 2012 product from my favorite school supply company Learning Resources. The particular product is called the Letter Construction Activity Set which is recommended for children ages 3-7 years old. I’ve been using this set with both my 4 year old and my 1 1/2 year old and am liking it for many reasons in which I’ll specify below.

The Letter Construction Activity Set is like no other that I’ve seen on the market. This set comes with 88 large child friendly plastic pieces that can be easily snapped together to make every letter of the alphabet both upper and lowercase! The colorful pieces store easily snapping into each other and makes for keeping things tidy in the classroom without any worry of lost parts. The number of pieces makes this set large enough to use with four children at one time and that’s a great bonus in any classroom.

The set also comes with 13 double sided activity cards which instruct children in which way they can create the letters showing what pieces and how the finished letter should look. There is also a great many suggest activities in which you can do in your classroom with your students such as Letter Matching ( matching the uppercase letter with the lower case), Beyond Letters ( an activity that encourages children construct something other than letters with the pieces), and so on.

My daughter sat for one day discovering and learning how she could make letters but she wasn’t just limited and went on to even making a few numbers and then hearts and flowers! At first she had a little trouble taking the pieces apart but within 10-15 minutes of using these she has had no issues at all.

The possibilities are endless with the Letter Construction Activity Set! It is great for brain stimulation, developing fine motor skills, problem solving, letter recognition, and pre-writing skills. Even my 1 1/2 year old son was getting on in the action. He’s learning his alphabet now so he was pretty excited to see us building letters and he called out what they were! Pretty soon he’ll be able to build them on his own too with this set!

There’s nothing we don’t love about the Letter Construction Activity Set from Learning Resources, in fact, we highly recommend it! It’s durable, long lasting, and sure to be loved by any child and by any teacher looking out for the best interest of their students.

You can purchase the Letter Construction Activity Set for $39.99 on the Learning Resource Website.

Get Connected with Learning Resources…

Request a mail catalog | Sign up for Email Updates | Follow them on Twitter (@LearningHandsOn) |Become a Facebook Fan |Follow their Hands On Learning Blog

-Win it-

Learning Resources is giving one of my readers a chance to win their very own Letter Construction Activity Set !
Please Enter Below. USonly please.

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Disclaimer: I was sent the above mentioned product to review. This review is 100% my opinion and has not been edited or reviewed by anyone. I was not compensated in any other way for this product review.

Chicken Soup For The Soul: The Magic Of Mothers & Daughters

Mothers and daughters. They are, at the same time, very similar and completely unique. This relationship — through birth, childhood, teen years, adulthood, grandchildren, aging, and every step in between — can be the best, the hardest, and the sweetest. Moms and daughters will laugh, cry, and find inspiration in this collection of entertaining, poignant, and heartwarming stories that remind them of their shared love, appreciation and special bond. A great gift for Mother’s Day.

Mother’s Day is just this weekend and I’ve been enjoying  Chicken Soup For The Soul: The Magic Of Mothers & Daughters quite a bit. This book is filled with so many wonderfully inspirational stories that are heartfelt and encouraging.

I like how this title has been put together, for instance, there are 10 sections each with a little over ten true life stories from both mother’s and daughters. Some of the sections you’ll find are Rites of Passage, A Daughter’s Love, and Dreams Fulfilled just to name a few. I found myself deeply touched and many of the stories reminded me of my mother as well as being a mom myself and seeing already what an impact my daughter has had on my life.

I guarantee you’ll be touched and encouraged sharing in the stories found in Chicken Soup For The Soul: The Magic Of Mothers & Daughters. I highly recommend it. You can purchase these or any of the Chicken Soup for the Soul books at your local bookstore, online on their website and more!

-Win It!-

Chicken Soup for the Soul has generously offered 3 of my readers their own copy of this fantastic book! 

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We know that sometimes it’s impossible to find great Home Entertainment but I’m here to share that you don’t have to look very far for quality movies and classic TV shows thanks to TV Flashbacks!

I grew up watching the good ole AMC movies with my mom and sisters quite often. We enjoyed movies with stars such as  Shirley Temple ( such cute curls and who could resist those dimples?), Laurel & Hardy, Marilyn Monroe, Edward G Robinson, Gregory Peck, Charlie Chaplin, Sidney Poitier, Frank Sinatra, Jack Benny and many many more!

TV Flashbacks has a lot of great collections put together for movie lovers of all kinds. I’ve currently got my eye on the Sci-Fi sets for Father’s Day coming up quite soon! Here are some other great collections that might just perk your interest too:

TIMELESS FAMILY CLASSICS: More than 62 hours of smiles, songs and superb family entertainment. A galaxy of stars to dazzle your world including Ginger Rogers, Shirley Temple, Jack Benny, Kirk Douglas, Bob Hope, Danny Kaye, James Cagney and many more.

NIFTY FIFTIES: It was the era of drive-in movies and cultural changes. Stars like Sidney Poitier, Frank Sinatra, Elizabeth Taylor, Charlton Heston, Eva Gardner, Kim Novack, Marilyn Monroe and Gregory Peck deliver more than 65 hours of timeless movie magic.

DARK CRIMES: Silent streets. Hidden secrets. Grifters, heroes and criminals. More than 60 hours of classic noir films featuring some of cinema’s greatest stars, including Lee J. Cobb, George Raft, Lloyd Bridges, Ann Sheridan, Boris Karloff, Yul Brynner, and many others.

PROMO CODE: Be sure to visit this page and use discount code 50PACK25 to save an additional 25% off  their incredibly affordable DVD prices! (note: 25% discount good through May 31, 2012 only).

-Win it!-

I’m excited to share that one of my readers will get the chance to win their own Timeless Family Classics DVD Collection! (US ONLY)

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Disclaimer: I was sent the Timeless Family Classic DVD Collection from TV Flashbacks to review. This review is 100% my opinion and has not been edited or reviewed by anyone. I was not compensated in any other way for this product review.

Mother’s Day is a little over a week and a half away and you might be beating around the bush on what you’d like to get her. Well, I have a great suggestion that will give your mom or any other special lady in your life the pampering she deserves. What gift I’m referring to is a one of a kind pair of slippers and not just any kind of slippers but a wonderful pair of memory foam slippers from the well know company Nauture’s Sleep.

After receiving my very own pair of memory foam slippers, I’ve hardly taken them off save for turning in for the evening and leaving the house. These slippers available in both open and closed toed styles are like no other pair of slippers that I’ve worn! The visco-elastic memory foam in the bottom of the footbed contours and cradles your foot for luxurious comfort and support with each and every step. The warm, soft terry fabric ensures your feet stay cozy all year round.

Nature’s Sleep Memory Foam Slippers come in a number of sizes and in a variety of color from lavender, pale blue, and mocha brown to name just a few of the selection. Investing in these wonderful slippers is well worth it, think of it as a treat for your feet!

BUY it- These slippers cost 25-30.00 each. Right now, get 50% off by using code BEARS50 for any purchase off of the website at http://www.naturessleep.com

Get Connected: Website | Facebook | Twitter |Google+

Disclaimer: I was sent a pair of slippers from Nature’s Sleep to review. This review is 100% my opinion and has not been edited or reviewed by anyone. I was not compensated in any other way for this product review.

 Peter Pan is back––but his shadow is missing! When Peter loses his shadow while playing a game of Catch-Me-If-You-Can, he returns to Never Land to seek help from his kid pirate friend Jake. Embarking on one of his most daring and exciting adventures ever, Jake and his kid pirate pals, Izzy and Cubby, along with lookout parrot Skully, must use teamwork to find Peter’s shadow and return it to its rightful owner. However, their mission is nearly thwarted by the fiendish Captain Hook, and his bumbling first mate Mr. Smee. But bravery and justice win the day and Jake and his Never Land pirate crew once again reveal what it takes to become heroes, in Disney’s “Jake and the Never Land Pirates: Peter Pan Returns.”

We recently received the brand new Jake and the Never Land Pirates 2-Disc DVD and Digital copy set a week or so go and my kids are totally enjoying it! They’d been continually watching season 1 and singing along to the music cd for quite a while. You can imagine their excitement when I presented them with a brand new addition to the Jake and Neverland Pirates DVD collection featuring the one and only Peter Pan!

This a fun DVD as it features five action and adventure packed episodes teaching children lessons in a fun way. There are plenty of great sing a long songs and in total there are five episodes making the DVD run time at about 170 minutes.  We kids love setting sail so to speak with Jake and his crew and I guarantee your kids will too!

You can purchase Jake & the Never Land Pirates: Peter Pan Returns (Two-Disc DVD + Digital Copy Combo) on Amazon.com for 12.96 right now regularly 19.99. This is a real steal and one I would totally recommend!

We are very happy Costco Club members and are really thrilled with the value we can get for our favorite brands when it comes to stocking our cupboards and feeding my family. I’m pleased to share that the value of buying our favorite breakfast cereal, Cheerios® has become an even better purchase thanks to the new 2 box packages available at all Costcos, Sam’s Club, and BJ’s.

I recently recieved the New 2 box Cheerios through My Blog Spark to share my thoughts on. First most, the 2 box packages contain two individual boxes, making them easier to store in my pantry and easier to pour into our breakfast cereal bowls. 

Other great things to mention is that By reducing the amount of air in each individual bag, these enhanced containers fit 10% more cereal than before and use less packaging. Also while each box contains more cereal, packaging material has been reduced by over 200,000 lbs, saving 1,000 trees and taking 130 Cheerios trucks of the road, decreasing CO2 emissions!

Be sure to check out the Cheerios Website to learn more about all the great features and benefits of their product! And be sure to check out the video below!

Win it!

2 Winners will be chosen to win! The prize is (2) new 2 box Cheerios packaging (four boxes).
As a mom of two young ones, I’ll take all the Cheerios I can get and what better a giveaway
to stock up your pantry for the Spring and Summer season!

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“Disclosure: Cheerios® cereal, information, and giveaway have been provided by General Mills through MyBlogSpark.”