Littlest Pet Shop Toys and PDA

As was evident in my last post, my girls very much enjoy the Littlest Pet Shop line of products. We haven't had one yet that was a zero.

This time, they got to try out some of the pets, the packages we got had a pair of pets in each. They introduced their pets to the dollhouse upstairs and at one point some Polly Pockets showed up to the party, but it was mostly all about the Pets.


Dare I out him? Zach even played with them for awhile as well.

This is incredible for many reasons.
1 - he can't stand either one of his sisters for more than a few moments at a sitting
2 - he most certainly doesn't play with "girl" toys

I think since the pets are so cute, and he's such an animal lover, he decided to grin and bear it despite the circumstances.

The other item was a Littlest Pet Shop PDA. (Please note, in photo Emersyn is showing it to our dog) OK, since I got one, there was a moment with some bickering about who would get to play with it first. So, mom had to institute the "taking turns or no one gets a turn" policy.


Anyway, this little organizer (ours was purple, why can't I have a purple PDA?) features the Littlest Pet Shop fall line of mini-pets. You can shop for the pets, groom the pets, and a bunch of other things I didn't even figure out but I think the girls did. Well, they were still fighting over it anway.

Again, the Littlest Pet Shop line has done a great job creating new products that my girls really like. The second one of them gives anything Littlest Pet Shop a bad rating, it will probably mean they've outgrown it and I'll be sad.

Littlest Pet Shop for Wii

I almost missed this one.
Got an email from PBN talking about how they had some games coming out for Wii and DS and some other systems and I was all like...my kids have all of the above, send those my way!

Except that was an email that happened in my head, and not on the actual keyboard of my computer. DOH! I hate when I answer emails in my head...I'm super excited for the future where I will be able to answer emails in my head and it will actually work.

Anyway, I sent a follow-up explaining what a dumbass I am and my PBN homegirls said, "hey, there might be a space if somebody that signed up has a conflict or something".

Apparently, they did! Yeah for me!

We got Littlest Pet Shop for Wii to review.
My intention was that the girls were going to play and enjoy it. But in order to get the ball rolling I had their older, video-savvy brothers help get them going, figure out the nuances of the game and show the girls the basics. Yeah, and I spent a ton of time telling Zach to, hello, get off the game and give it back to his sisters.

Mister "I'm too cool for this" older brother had to begrudgingly admit that it was "a really fun game"!

To tell you the truth, I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to the ins and outs of how to play the game. It was kind of not necessary because the kids were playing it together so nicely.

I did see that, like on some other games the girls have, they can get pets and name them and dress them which is a BIG deal for the girls, they really super duper like that part.

Then it's kind of an exploring worlds and earning stuff kind of deal, like a lot of other video games my kids like.

There's not a whole lot I can say. The kids really liked the game. It's one of their biggest favs of the toys and games I've reviewed in the last year and a half. We got multiple thumbs way up for this one.
And, it's rated E for Everyone, so probably there's some kids on your shopping list that would like it too.

PopStar Guitar

When I was asked to review PopStar Guitar, I jumped at the chance because my sons, and I, I'll admit, are raging Guitar Hero fans.

So my review is kind of a comparison because that makes the most sense for my brain, to see what would be the pluses and minuses versus another product.

The way you advance on PopStar Guitar is different where you have certain venues you can play and have just a couple songs to start and you have to get progressively better at it before you can play "better paying" venues with more songs.

On Guitar Hero, there are a lot more songs available right away with a few to unlock.

PopStar Guitar requires no guitar. It's like playing "air" guitar as you add the AirG peripherals and have your Wii nunchuck attached. So, out of the box, two people are able to play.

My sons had a great deal of difficulty getting the peripherals or nunchuck to register their movements consistently. My son "beat" one of the easy songs and then tried it again and it wasn't registering any of his movements. It seems kind of touchy, which ended up being an exercise in frustration. It would only "fail" sensing the Wii remote for the songs, but going around the menu everything worked fine.

My oldest son, in particular, said that picking out the concert attire and choosing the appearance of the band members was his favorite thing to do.

The songs are fun songs, especially if you aren't a fan of the heavy metal/hard rock selections found on Guitar Hero. However, you don't get many to start, as I said, so it takes some time to be able to play them.

My 12-year old son had these comments about PopStar Guitar:

"It's very confusing at first. I liked the customize your own character idea. The controls are terrible."

If you want something that takes more skill and ability to progress thru the levels, you'll like PopStar. If you want something slightly easier to adapt to and more options of play, you'd prefer Guitar Hero.

If you're going on cost, PopStar Guitar is the more cost-friendly option.
For Wii, it comes with two AirG peripherals and is $59.99.
To compare, for Guitar Hero on Wii I checked Target and the Aerosmith Bundle, which would be the game plus two guitars, is $149.99.

I think the game is a good concept, especially for people who don't want to spend as much as the Guitar Hero game costs, but I would consider Guitar Hero more user-friendly than PopStar Guitar.

Check out their website for more information about gaming systems that support PopStar Guitar and other facets of the game itself.

Secret Mountain Books

Team Mom sent me some new books to share with the girls. The sad thing about when the kids get older is that that bedtime, mom/kid storytime sort of goes away.

I mean, seriously, the boys would flip out if I crawled in bed with them to read a book. They are too cool for that.

But the girls still LOVE reading stories with boring old mom. Actually, I wonder if they're using me. I can read faster...that's probably it. Those little minxes.

So, read the new books from Secret Mountain books. There are three different titles.

• Dream Songs Night Songs: From Belgium to Brazil
• A Duck in New York City
• Down at the Sea Hotel

The books are incredibly beautiful, high quality books. I particularly loved the illustrations. Can't tell you why exactly, they just appealed to me.

And the music on the accompanying CDs is very diverse and the songs are really great. Exposing the kids to music from around the world is pretty cool considering they're already a captive audience with the stories. The CDs just enhance the experience.

Sammie and Em's favorite book was A Duck in New York City. Sammie has an inexplicable fascination with New York City, maybe because I go there as often as I can and she likes Project Runway...so that's part of why she liked it. Emersyn is an animal lover so she liked the duck.

I liked the Dream Songs Night Songs: From Belgium to Brazil. My grandfather just passed away and his funeral was Thursday, so the page where the little girl is sleeping and dreaming about her grandparents made me feel happy and sad all at once. The verse on the page says, "Where your parents' parents have already travelled"...it was a little bittersweet.

It's weird how I got some lovely little books to review for my girls. And, really, they made me feel a little better.

Check out their official website for more information.

And...read to your kids whenever you get the chance. It's a little bit of lovely.

GM and the American Auto Industry

The state of the economy is something that is affecting pretty much everyone. I mean, even things that we think aren't affecting us directly, there is still a trickle down situation that reaches us all.

When it comes to the future of the auto makers, I am directly affected by that. In the interest of full disclosure, my husband is a car dealer in small town USA. Specifically GM - Buick, Pontiac, Cadillac and Chevy. So the failure or success of GM, and really, the integrity of the entire industry has a direct impact on my future and the future of my family.

I don't have any answers whatsoever. I know that American auto makers have made a ton of mistakes. And there are some other issues that I think have led to the current state of affairs, none of which I want to get into here.

I have no idea what, if anything, the government will do to step in. I'm not sure what should be done, I do not have even a fraction of the knowledge to adequately assess the best "fix" for how to save American auto makers.

I was sent this website about the Auto Crisis and if you are so inclined, there is probably a Ford and a Chrysler equivalent. One thing about cars, there is definitely a strong degree of brand loyalty.

Anyway, like I said, if you are interested in the outcome, might want to get informed now. This is merely a jumping off point and I'm not suggesting that this is the definitive source on the subject, that would be ridiculously irresponsible on my part - but at least you might know the impact to some degree.

GM Facts and Fiction site

Febreze To Go

I've said it before. I have issues with smell.

And I spend a lot of time in my car. Too much probably. But I have four kids in activities.
Normally, that would be no big deal but I have a junior high age son.

He stinks almost all the time lately.
Actually, he downright reeks.

So, when I got the Febreze To Go in the mail I immediately put it in my vehicle because that seems to get stunk up seriously in a hurry.

It's a small little bottle easy to pop into about any storage area in one's vehicle (or any other spot in your life that gets stinked up!) and comes in at an easy 2.8 oz.

Now, if only there was something I could spray to change my son's personality, that kind of stinks lately too. Ugh.

Barbie & The Diamond Castle

It's not exactly tough on the girls having to watch a new Barbie DVD.

A first for the Barbie series is the appearance of Stacie. Now, when I was growing up there was one and only one Barbie sibling - Skipper. Come on...why aren't we kickin' it old school with Skipper?

Anyway, this is a fairy tale story about Liana and Alexa. They have a magic mirror that leads to them on an adventure fraught with peril. FRAUGHT!!

Liana and Alexa have to save the Diamond Castle from an evil muse, and their new friend Melody who is trapped in the mirror is the one having them help do it. Oh, and there's singing, and adorable puppies!

Must I add at this juncture that anything muse-related a la' Xanadu gets quadruple bonus points. Because everyone knows Xanadu is one of the best movies EVAH.

Don't take my word for it, my live-in critics (and target demographic) helped me dissect this cinematic masterpiece.

Sammie said, "I liked how the diamond castle appeared. I liked the first song in the movie, it was my favorite. I liked how they found the valley of flowers. Liana was my favorite character. She's the one with blonde hair. I give it 4 stars!"

Emersyn said, "I love the puppies! They're so adorable!" Yes, folks, she really says the word 'adorable', like, all the time. Especially in regards to puppies.

Thanks to Mom Central for sending along another Barbie hit.

Official Barbie & the Diamond Castle website

Ferrero Rocher Chocolates

I have this PR chick, let's call her Nichole (cuz that's her name) who sends me lots of different, crazy stuff. I also really like her because she sends me emails to check if I'm alive and is really super nice and all that. Like she gives a crap.

Now, imagine how many super triple bonus points she got when she said, "hey, do you want to review chocolate?"

Dude.

Is the Pope Catholic?

Not long ago I got a lovely box of Ferrero Rocher chocolates.
Yeah! Those fancy, schmancy looking ones with the shiny wrappers and stuff.

Did you know that Ferrero Rocher chocolates were created in the 1980s by the Ferrero Company? You know why that is awesome? Um, hello, the 1980s!

OK, because I'm a total dork, I found one of their commercials on YouTube. Lookie here.



It's like they took the cast of Dynasty, a vat of chocolate and voila! Cheesy 80s awesomeness.
I love it.

But seriously, I tried the chocolates. It was sheer torture - I swear to you, I don't make enough for this kind of work.

I tried the "original", the one with the hazelnut. Truthfully, I do not care for hazelnuts much, but with the crispy wafer, the texture is sort of distracting and it's really good.
The Garden confection with the coconut was the second one in the box I tried and since I like coconut, it's darn good. Light and airy, you can eat one and it doesn't seem heavy, like you ate much.
The last I tried was the Ferrero Rondnoir dark chocolate. Yummmmmmmm.

I guess the thing that is unique and different about the Ferrero Rocher chocolates are the unique layers in each variety. There's a bunch of different textures and complementary flavors, it's a lot different than popping the usual chocolate treat in your mouth.

It's only $12.99 for an 11.9 oz. gift box, might be kind of a nice idea for a hard to buy for person on your holiday shopping list. Even grab a box or two to take for Thanksgiving for some small little chocolatey treats to have out when you wake up from the turkey.

Swiffer Dust & Shine

This isn't going to be a real complex review. If you've come looking for the meaning of life, might want to move along.

My favorite Swiffer product would be for the kitchen. Those wet mop thingys where you can clean up your floor real quick instead of doing the whole thing like a non-lazy person might. Ya know?

Love those.

So I tried the Swiffer Dust & Shine. It's one of those things that falls into the wood care department and living in a Colonial style home that the original owners built to be as authentic as possible...dude, there's a lot of wood around here.

For kicks, though, I dusted my cocktail table. It's wood. It's also the kids' coloring headquarters as there is a nifty little shelf underneath where they have their coloring books and crayons. It's in the family room so they sit there, color, and watch TV. As you can imagine, the cocktail table becomes very fingerprinty very fast.

I got the Citrus Zest cent Dust & Shine to try. Very nice smell. (But gotta say, am going to run out and get the Lavender Vanilla because I LURVE that combo). I've said it before and I'll say it again - I have smell issues. So since it smelled good, I'll be that much more likely to want to use it again.

It did do a nice job and here's the difference I really noticed to the "usual" furniture spray. The spray is really more of a mist - it's light. Also, there's isn't that heavy polishy goo consistency. I mean, it makes the furniture shine nicely without you thinking there is a huge layer of that conditioning stuff all over everything. I guess it just does the job with less schtuff in it. Not that I would know for sure, but it seems like it.

It is also safe for:

• wooden window sills
• wood banisters
• marble, leather (whoa!) & granite
  

Go take a peek at the entire Swiffer line, but the Dust & Shine sure is nice. I suppose I'll have to dust more with the holidays coming so people who drop by don't think we're pigs. Oh well.