This Full House Reviews

Open House Blog Tour - Summer Vacation Edition

My husband, Garth [not his real name] and I are taking the kids to Cape Cod, Ma this week [first time we'll be going away, together, all 6 of us, at one time, in the same car, in like, 3 years] so, I've decided for this week's Open House Blog Tour, I am going to leave my blog open for the entire week!

Seriously, my husband insisted that I put out the Gone Fishin' sign and since Garth [not his real name] is my #1 sponsor to BlogHer, this year, well, you know.

So, while I'm spending the next 6 hours, fighting traffic, car sickness and playing, "I Spy With My Little Eye Something That Is Green" for the eleventy-hundredth time [it's always a tree, by the way] feel free to come on in, make yourself comfortable and leave links (PG-13, please) telling us about your individual blogging events, fundraisers, giveaways, book tours, contests, or if you have a burning blog post and just need a shout out, go for it!

I mean, who couldn't use a little linky love?  Make sure you leave a link in the Mr. Linky fields below along with a short description of the event. 

Okay, I'll start:

Leave a comment, if you'd like -- trust me, I know how busy you are -- and, don't worry if you forget, it'll be here, every Thursday linked permanently in my archives here and on my parenting website (two linkies for the price of one entry) so, if you happen to stop by, whenever, just go ahead and leave your link; I'm easy.

Feel free to share - here's the button and the code to use:

 

<a href="http://www.thisfullhouse.com/reviews/open-house-blog-tour/"><img src="http://www.thisfullhouse.com/design/open-house-blog-tour-badge.jpg">

ALREADY SHOWING: OPEN HOUSE BLOG TOURS

Happy blog hunting!

© 2009 This Full House - All Rights Reserved.

Bedtime Tips For Parents & Our Exclusive Telephone Interview With Elmo

Sesame Street is turning 40! Since 1969, children and adults alike have flocked to the place where multiethnic, multigenerational, and even multispecies residents coexist in harmony.

Raising 4 kids and killer dust bunnies for the last 15 years, I feel it safe to say that our family has dealt with our fair share of bedtime issues.

Lately, my youngest (she's 8) insists that she canNOT sleep in her "big new bed" without her big sister, Holly.

Forget the chance of getting any sleep, on our upcoming vacation, during the myriad of festivities and fireworks, on the 4th of July, right?

Guess what?  It's bedtime on Sesame Street, too.  Aaaand, like my personal in-house muppets, Elmo doesn’t want to go to sleep yet, he wants to play.

We're very excited to have partnered with Sesame Workshop in helping to promote "healthy bedtime habits" and bringing you an exclusive interview with a long-time This Full House favorite bedtime friend, Elmo.

PeaceLoveMom.com: A Celebration of Motherhood & T-Shirt Giveaway

Meet Lori, Suzanne and Karen, three very different moms with one common goal at PeaceLoveMom – to create “a celebration of motherhood” for all types of mothers.

These trio of moms partnered in 2005 to create PeaceLoveMom, a lifestyle brand company designed to share life’s many moments of motherhood.

Seeing as, you know, I am a mom -- raising 4 kids and killer dust bunnies for 15 years, now -- I feel it safe to say that these women totally speak my language and not only 'cause they sent me one of their fabulous t-shirts, either.

Cooking-Hits.com Website Launch for Mom Foodies!

I don't know about you guys, but I have quite a large collection of cookbooks, sitting on a shelf somewhere collecting dust, that I just don't get the chance to read, or find their recipes are not as helpful as I once thought.

Hi, my name is Liz and I am a homecook in desperate need of some serious remedial help -- I NEED PICTURES OF OUR FOOD, PEOPLE!!!

Cooking-Hits.com is a new website (launched this week) that allows moms (like me) to search for recipes based on individual food and ingredient preferences, based on keywords or categories, such as events (i.e. bridal showers, holidays) ethnicity (i.e. Italian, Chinese, Mexican) cooking techniques, health considerations and cost.

Here's the hook:  the site allows members to post videos of their favorite recipes, as well as comment and rate other people's recipes.

Want to see?

Introducing Alice.com: Never Run Out of Toilet Paper, AGAIN!

Let's be frank, shall we?  After 15 years of raising 4 kids and killer dust bunnies, I have become severely and irreversibly domestically challenged.  We run out of important household stuff, like toilet paper, all the time; sometimes I don't even notice, until I'm sitting on the toilet, or someone hollers:

"I need toilet paper!"

That's why I am very excited to introduce you to my new friends at Alice.com!

List of 100+ Frugal Activities to do This Summer

In an effort to share ways in which families (like mine) can have fun AND save money, this summer, here's today's, "I wonder if they have a barter system in place, or we can always clean some bathrooms at the theme park," hot summer tip.

Go Frugal Blog has a comprehensive list of 100+ Frugal Summer Activities, drawing from all the best frugal content on the web - check it out!

FIND IT HERE:  "100+ Frugal Things to do This Summer" [http://www.freeshipping.org/blog/this-week-in-frugal-100-frugal-things-to-do-this-summer/]

[No payments or products were received for this blog post - just passing along some useful information I find in my mailbox]

Check out other Weekend Specials and Reader Discount Codes!

© 2009 This Full House - All Rights Reserved.

101 Days of Summer Fun from Club Penguin

We got the chance to review Club Penguin earlier this year and I wanted to let you know about a fun program that’s recently kicked off in Club Penguin as part of an effort to give kids (and the grown ups who love them) ideas on some creative things to do over the summer holidays from school.

101 Days of Fun includes daily and weekly suggestions of activities (on and offline) from tips on how to uncover secret game levels online to examples of recipes and crafts that players can do at home.

Anything to help pass the time on those really rainy or "But, it's too hot to go outside" sort of summery days, right?

FIND IT HERE:  http://community.clubpenguin.com/funactivities/

[No payments or products were received for this blog post - just passing along some useful information I find in my mailbox courtesy of Disney Online Studios and Club Penguin]

Check out other Weekend Specials and Reader Discount Codes!

© 2009 This Full House - All Rights Reserved.

Nintendo Game Night: I Love Beauty and the Ghost Busters Giveaway

When it comes to games, there are two sides to our household - my 3 girls have always enjoyed dressing up and singing along with their Disney movies, while my son...well, let's just say...last week, when my youngest daughter's godfather suggested that they play Risk, instead, the boy positively squeed with joy!

Then, there are games that are both gender-friendly AND multi-generational.

Calling all Ghost Busters Movie lovers everywhere -- there's a new game in town for the Wii and it's pretty gosh-darned slimey, to boot!

Open House Blog Tour - 21st Showing

My husband, Garth [not his real name] and I love attending open houses - especially, if it's a home that we've admired from the sidewalk, or wondered...you know...what the heck is going on in there? 

Welcome to the Open House Blog Tour where everyone (and anyone) is free to come and leave links (PG-13, please) telling us about your individual blogging events, fundraisers, giveaways, book tours, contests, or if you have a burning blog post and just need a shout out, go for it!

I mean, who couldn't use a little linky love?  Make sure you leave a link in the Mr. Linky fields below along with a short description of the event. 

Okay, I'll start:

Leave a comment, if you'd like -- trust me, I know how busy you are -- and, don't worry if you forget, it'll be here, every Thursday linked permanently in my archives here and on my parenting website (two linkies for the price of one entry) so, if you happen to stop by, whenever, just go ahead and leave your link; I'm easy.

Feel free to share - here's the button and the code to use:

 

<a href="http://www.thisfullhouse.com/reviews/open-house-blog-tour/"><img src="http://www.thisfullhouse.com/design/open-house-blog-tour-badge.jpg">

ALREADY SHOWING: OPEN HOUSE BLOG TOURS

Happy blog hunting!

© 2009 This Full House - All Rights Reserved.

Behind the Scenes Look and Review of Stop & Shop's Peapod Delivery Service

Last week, I got the chance to meet up with my friends Deborah Smith (Jersey Bites) Cecile Proyer (The Shoppping Duck) Hilary Morris (Mrs. MoNJ) Melissa R (Frugal Creativity)and Pat Marsden (Here and There) for a behind the scenes tour of Peapod.

You know, Stop & Shop's grocery delivery service, right?

Peg Merzbacher, whom you met through my blog post about the NJ Blogger Luncheon last April, was there to give us a look at how groceries get delivered to their customer's door.

Then, after we each received a $50.00 gift card for our troubles (thank you, Stephanie) I thought, since we were having family over for my youngest daughter's birthday that weekend, it would be a great time to also review Peapod's delivery service, for real.

Celebrate National Pink Day in Style with Rosangel

Today (June 23) is National Pink Day (who knew?) and I say we should ALL just celebrate with the ultimate pink drink, a margarita made with the world’s first-ever hibiscus infused (pink!) tequila.

Rosangel Margarita

2 oz Rosangel

1 oz of Cranberry Juice

½ oz Premium Orange Liqueur

½ oz of Lime Juice ¼ oz of Orange Juice

Preparation: Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a coupe glass.

Or, just hold the tequila/liqueur to make a non alcholic version of a margarita and try adding some homemade sweet and sour mix for margarita recipes I found over at Epicurious.com...I'm easy...cheers to a bright and sunny summer season, because we are ALL just tired of the rain, here in Jersey, already!

[No payment was received for this post - just adding some more yummy stuff to try into my recipe book courtesy of M Booth & Associates Public Relations]

© 2009 This Full House - All Rights Reserved

Cheerios Spoonful of Stories Program and Giveaway

[THIS GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED:  CONGRATULATIONS LAUREEN - YOUR COMMENT (#38) WAS PICKED (VIA RANDOM.ORG) AND ANNOUNCED ON MY GIVEAWAYS PAGE ON PRIZEY.NET AS THE WINNING ENTRY - PLEASE CHECK YOUR EMAIL FOR FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS!]

I love to read, especially titles written by authors of popular teen books (like, Cornelia Funke, Stephenie Meyer and Christopher Paolini) that I can then hand down to my two oldest girls.

Now, my two youngest have graduated to the young readers aisle and we're revisiting some old friends from Narnia and the Harry Potter series.

Still, I don't remember my parents ever reading me a bedtime story and, thinking back on it now, I don't believe it was because they didn't like to read - quite the opposite, in fact. 

My father would hide comic books inside his school books and pretend that he was following along with the rest of his class and enjoyed reading science fiction books, written by some of his favorite authors (like, Jules Verne) whose titles were banned in Hungarian schools at the time.

My parents are quintessential story tellers and I'm very thankful to have given them the opportunity to share some of their experiences with my 10-year-old son's class, recently.

That's why I am very excited to be able to tell you about the amazing Cheerios Spoonfuls of Stories Program, where I get to participate in a free book giveaway and share the gift of story telling, with you.

A Different Way to Celebrate Father's Day with Tributes.com

One of my 13 year-old's bffs lost her father during the Christmas holidays, a few years ago (they were only 8 and in the 2nd grade together, at the time) as you can imagine, Father's Day is a very difficult time for their family, too.   Her younger sister is my youngest girl's age and the poor thing doesn't even remember their Father.

According to David Kessler, grief expert for Tributes.com:

“The idea that ‘holidays are a special time to be with loved ones’ was imprinted on us from a young age. For many people, this is the hardest part of grieving, when we miss our loved ones even more than usual.”

So, rather than linking to the tons of last-minute gift ideas cramming my mailbox at the moment, I decided to share a few ideas on a different way to celebrate Father's Day, this year:

Barnes & Noble Book Recommendations for Father's Day

Hello, my name is Liz and I am a last minute shopper.  Don't worry, as a mother of 4 children, I have long since made peace with my many shortcomings -- especially, if there's a Barnes & Noble book store nearby.

Both my husband and father-in-law are avid readers (thank goodness for small favors) and my father enjoys books on locomotives, or anything that includes stories from his native Hungary.

Aaaaand, to further aid Late Shoppers Anonymous (like me) this week’s Five Books in the Barnes & Noble Review (www.BNReview.com) makes it even easier to shop for Dad.

Also, check out the special Father’s Day Channel on the Barnes & Noble Studio (www.BN.com/Studio) for a collection of book trailers and author interviews all about dads; including a unique compilation of interviews where several Simon & Schuster authors share lessons they’ve learned from their fathers.

Yours in late gift-giving, too...

[No payments or products were received for this blog post - just passing along some useful information I find in my mailbox courtesy of 5W Public Relations and Barnes & Noble Review]

Check out other Weekend Specials and Reader Discount Codes!

© 2009 This Full House - All Rights Reserved.

Lady Bug Birthday Party Gift Bag from Tori Spelling and Baby Stella's 1st Birthday!

[THIS GIVEAWAY HAS CLOSED:  CONGRATULATIONS JUDY BRITTLE - YOUR COMMENT (#75) WAS PICKED (VIA RANDOM.ORG) AND ANNOUNCED AS THE WINNING ENTRY ON MY GIVEAWAY PAGE ON PRIZEY, NET - PLEASE CHECK YOUR EMAIL FOR FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS!]

In the, "Like that could ever happen in my usually NOT so rock star life..."

Tori Spelling and Dean McDermott were joined by over 100 guests to help celebrate daughter Stella’s first birthday. Guests included Melissa Joan Hart, Lisa Rinna, Harry Hamlin, Scott Baio and Larry Birkhead.

The luncheon was ladybug themed and attendees were given lavish gift bags including:

• Cloud B Twilight Ladybug - a soothing bedtime companion and interactive, educational toy
• Pixie Bows - custom created ladybug and flower hair clips for Stella’s guests
• Robeez Shoes - in a variety of styles
• Suave Kids 2 in 1 Shampoo Smoothers in Fairy Berry Strawberry
• Tasty Baby - 100% certified organic baby food

Want one?