I’m super glad to be the mom of this particular tween.

Happy Birthday Sweetie!

I asked her for a booklist and a music list. She has been reading voraciously for years now, I can’t keep up. It’s official, I know less and less about what is going on in her life. So I give you the faves in her life. Maybe you can find a gift idea for the tween in your life??

BOOKS

Uglies (series) by Scott Westerfield
Midnighters (series) also by same author.
She’s told me a lot about these books. One of her current faves. Strange premise, science fiction.

ANYTHING by Sharon Creech
Walk Two Moons, Ruby Holler are two she described to me in detail. I think she’s read every single book Ms. Creech has ever written!

Fablehaven (series) by Brandon Mull
Candy Shoppe War (same author)
We once got to meet Mr. Mull at a book signing!

Anything by Gail Carson Levine
(esp. Fairest, her note)

Percy Jackson and the Olympians (series) by Rick Riordan
(I have it on good knowledge that she is literally dying to get her hands on the 4th and newest book… um… don’t tell her… I think it might be stashed somewhere ready to wrap itself up for her! Shhhh.)

The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke
Also Inkheart by same author.
(She left me a note: “did not like the next books in the inkheart series.”)

Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling
(She stayed up nights reading the whole series in a matter of months.)

Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George

Music

Falling Down – Selena Gomez
(She tells me she like pretty much all of her music)

Taylor Swift (The whole kit and kaboodle.. surprise huh?)

Jordan Sparks (Ditto)

Songs from the Movie ‘Another Cinderella Story‘ and ‘Spectacular‘
Not familiar with those movies…?
What… you don’t watch the Disney Channel nonstop?

Crush- David Archuleta
(I think she has the crush.)

All the Songs from Wicked
Me too… we are so working on a plan to see this play.. someday… somehow.

What are we missing? What does your tween LOVE?

Crayola Glow Board
Price: $17-20
Size: 12″ by 8″ and 3″ deep. When the product is opened and set up it looks like a small easel & easily fits on table top, or can sit in child’s lap.

Aha Factor: Took us a few minutes to understand how this baby works. But WOW! I promise once you realize that there are TWO coloring surfaces, and when you color a ‘changing’ image, then turn on the alternating lights… It Looks Like Your Image Is Moving!!!

I don’t think I can do this product justice. I’m serious. I think I’m more in love with this light/glow board/easel thing than my kids! We keep imagining new ways to use it! My 8yrold begged to take it to church for Pete’s sake! Crayola provides additional drawings and ideas on their website for download… and we’ll get to that but so far.. we are having too much fun drawing our own ‘moving pictures’….

Examples so far: A rocket taking off, a little kid swinging back and forth, and even a watering bucket that looks like the water is coming out on the flowers (leave it to my 8yrold budding artist to come up with this… but honestly my 5yrold draws some cool stuff)!

Thumbs Down Thoughts: The markers are kind of flimsy. (One of ours broke outright.) It says right in the instructions these will dry out faster than regular markers. And it says you can replace them but I’m not seeing them sold separately anywhere? I found them for sale directly on the Crayola Store site for $5.99 plus S&H.

YGWYPF: (yougetwhatyoupayfor) I think this is a great price overall. Perfect for a gift, and suits really any age kid from 3 and up? I saw this advertised at Micheals for $25 but elsewhere for under $20. Replacing the markers could get expensive though so that’s a bit of a downer. But the fun and learning and creativity make up for it.

Crayola Glow Station
Price: $20-25
Size: Box is about 14″ by 14″ and 3″ deep. When the product is opened and unrolled it lays very flat but is more than 2 feet tall! Plus it can hang on the wall. (We are LOVING that!)

Aha Factor: My kids recognized the product immediately!
5yrold: “I’ve seen this on TV! Can we open it RIGHT NOW!!!” They were especially excited when they realized you can use ANY light source not just the glow wand it comes with. They ran and gathered up every flashlight in the house! They soon learned by experiment that larger flashlights deliver too much light and the whole board lights up!

My kids love this just as much as the glow board. I’m super impressed with the ‘science’ of the thing. They are experimenting with it in a completely dark room (yes the bathroom) and in a less dark room. What happens when they flip the light on? How long do the images last in a dark room VS a lighter room?

Examples so far: We took the whole thing to a group playdate at my church one night, and it was a total hit. They did a good job of taking turns. Using the stencils and cut outs to create pictures and writing ‘scores’ after kids were putting on dances and such! The other day I found they had hung it on the wall in preparation for a ‘play’ they had made up. When I walked down the stairs it said:

How cool is that?

Thumbs Down Thoughts: I’m having a hard time coming up with anything we don’t like about it? You have to change the batteries?? So far we haven’t had to though. The light wand can be fitted with a prism-like tip and the light bounces around all zainy brainy.. or without it the tip is fine and better for writing. I was on the Crayola Site and they had all these examples of games to play using the Glow Station. We are all over THAT!!

YGWYPF: (yougetwhatyoupayfor) I think this is fabulously priced. $20 for hours of fun and no additional cost? I call that a winner. And worth every penny.

GIVEAWAY and #GNO!

MomItForward.com is hosting a Girls Night Out via Twitter (#GNO) This Tuesday night! Join me I’ll be on the panel!

@Crayola will be there to offer up more Holiday creative gift ideas! Don’t miss it…. and… YUP. Giveaways included! Wow, TONS of Crayola products and even a Kindle!

SOOC (My friend’s baby….)

After I boosted the levels and saturation and schtuff in Elements 6.

I aspire to big boy Adobe Photoshop CS. But on a blogger’s salary, (I know you’re laughing) $600 isn’t even a possibility. So. Instead I push my ugly-step-sister Elements 6 to the limit. (Yes I know 8 has already been released. Bite me.)

I need you to understand. 2 years ago when I first brought home my baby Elements, I was glued to Youtube tutorials, wasted money on bought books, and basically stole whole library sections on digital photography to teach myself. In fact still, one of my favorite newsletters is from Sue Chastain from About.com, she shares her Adobe knowledge and her *free stuff* too! (PS @AdobeElements is on twitter if you want to tell them I’d love to ‘test-drive’ photoshop… I’d give it back…)

Early on I realized the one big limitation of Elements as opposed to Big Boy Photoshop… is the inability to run actions. Well fine. {I was a bit peeved.} Because do you know what ACTIONS can do?

ACTIONS make you look like the pros. Not just pretend (like me). Not just run the basics like levels and hue/saturation… oh no. My friends if you thought the image above looks great from the teeny tiny bit of photoshop lurve I can muster…

Wait til you see what professional actions can do. I just found out it was all a big fat lie. And the person who showed me the light… is Marcel Walker from MyPhotographica.com. She walked me through the process and made Action download magic with my Elements. Sexy huh?

I give you: Honey Daze

Boom baby!
See what I mean?
Oh my freaking baby face beauty.

And Zoom Zoom:

I’m thinking this action will be awesome on a landscape, yes?

And Tea Time:

How absolutely amazing is that?
And PEOPLE this is a one. step. process. Numero UNO!
You heard me.
Beep boop bop.
Done.
Gorgeous.

Marcel Sells groupings of these professional style Action sets on her site: MyPhotographica.com
There are 24 actions for sale plus some great freebie stuff: actions, textures.. you’ll love it! And if you ask her real nice she’ll make sure you figure out how to run your actions too!

Enjoy!

I think I get to say that Marcel ‘traded’ me these action sets for some fun bloggy advice. Does that count as a disclosure?

Escape the Everyday
Use Playtime as Learning Time!

Jumpstart.com has released a fabulous new Wii game!

ESCAPE FROM ADVENTURE ISLAND

And you do just that. You play and gather fun things and when you have enough.. you get to float away on a hot air balloon, Dorothy Style! And of course all there is so much learning while they are playing they hardly realize what they are getting out of it! #learnNplay baby!

My 8yrold’s favorite part is the fashion show. {No wonder, I think}, she has been creating American Girl Doll dress up clothes for nearly 2 years now. She’s a regular fashion designer diva these days!

The 5yrold prefers… um. Everything. I asked him and he couldn’t decide. He is all about numbers right now.. so the math games rock. But he is seriously on the cusp of reading, so the library part is perfect!

And they all like the music!

What does mom likes the best? That they barely realize they are learning. Numbers, letters, shapes, music…. what could be better? Well besides brownies?

And Guess what!
Jumpstart.com is giving away A whole Escape Package. {Well THREE to be exact..}
Did I mention a $250 spafinder gift card for mom… uh huh, as in ESCAPE!

Plus they are giving away 50 copies of the new Wii game:
JumpStart Escape from Adventure Island

And here’s what the 3 Lucky Escape Package Winners will recieve:

• 1 copy of JumpStart Escape from Adventure Island (rated E by the ESRB)
• 1 Nintendo Wii console – to escape boredom
• $250 in SpaFinder® gift certificates – to escape stress
• 1 Flip™ Mino HD video camera – to record your adventures
• 3 lifetime JumpStart memberships – 1 for you, 2 to share with friends
• 500 JumpStart.com virtual coins – to keep your kids’ online adventure exciting
• JumpStart gear – to dress for adventure

Sorry don’t enter here for this amazing giveway! Goto the Jumpstart.com Blog to Enter.
All you have to do is answer this question:

Have you and your kids ever built a “pirate ship” out of couch cushions?

Explored the backyard in search of “fairies”?

Hunted under the bed for “buried treasure”?

We want to hear about how your family uses imagination to escape the everyday and turn life into an adventure! Tell us your story for a chance to win.

What are you wating for? Hurry! Ends Nov. 16th.

If you have any questions feel free to follow and chat with @Jumpstart_Erin

Here’s how my family escapes….

On Sunday nights The Dad figure bakes cookies with the kids. They make a big giant mess and I get to stay OUT of the way. They learn: measuring, the importance of Dad time, and just how many chocolate chips they can pilfer before dad notices.

Another Dad activity is carving pumpkins. If it’s left to mom, they get a bagful of markers to decorate it. With Dad it’s all knives and designs and gross insides! They learn: Dad is awesome, big knives are sharp and sometimes make dad bleed, and pretending to blow chunks while holding pumpkin guts in your hand is hilarious!

“What is Twitter for…?”

I’ll show them this.
A few days ago I got some bad news and I tweeted…..

CarissaRogers

************
There were 30+ responses, from fabulous ideas and websites to the simple and sweet and even one: {{{HUGS}}} more to help me with my feelings…

PreemieMiracle
@CarissaRogers Lots of chocolate. A journal and some tissue

northernchick
@CarissaRogers a beautiful new journal and pen

MOMboTV
@CarissaRogers A ‘Baby Loss Comfort Kit’ from Earth Mama Angel Baby….

Angelina_Rae
@CarissaRogers I would come to her home and cook and clean and watch her kids, if possible.

madcapz
@CarissaRogers Sorry to hear that. I’d get some lotions, bubble bath, something indulgent she wouldn’t normally get herself.

DannyBrown
@CarissaRogers Oh dear, so sorry Carissa, my thoughts with your friend. Sorry can’t think of anything except love and support

shortpumppreppy
@CarissaRogers ((hugs))

simoneabuzz
@CarissaRogers Ideas for your friend http://bit.ly/hl6ct http://bit.ly/DcEEy

cardstyle
@CarissaRogers These ladies offer great advice for difficult situations like that: http://www.lovelettersquad.com/?p=863

Doublelattemama
@CarissaRogers this is a special place for moms who experience a loss http://www.heavenborn.com/ it was started by a virtual friend of mine

SheliShawn
@CarissaRogers Prayers for your friend, the daddy and you.

JustDoingMyBest
@CarissaRogers Ive heard from others that have dealt w/ loss that they just want acknowledgment. Im sure you doing *anything* will mean alot

ali_rn
@CarissaRogers that happened to my friend i bought her a few books on surviving miscarriage and a beautiful journal to write it all out
told her she could write and keep it or throw away or burn also lots of helpful websites

ResourcefulMom
@CarissaRogers Depends how far along. I found a great gift basket for a friend who lost her child at 20 weeks.

themorrisbunch
@CarissaRogers I give my friends a necklace from http://bit.ly/2b4WCo I miscarried twice and wear mine a lot for hope and rememberance
notdiyheather
@CarissaRogers saw @ResourcefulMom‘s tweet & I remembered that someone gave us a WillowTree gift when our 1st child was stillborn. beautiful

**********
So what is Twitter for?
THAT is what Twitter is for.

A few days later I got brave. I called my friend. We talked and cried for over an hour. She explained all the details to me, and helped me understand how amazing the hospital staff had been and how hard it was to have so many decisions to make on the spot like that.. For example she regretted not having her older children come to the hospital to meet the baby. And she made it clear that she would love to have home visits and help with her older children.

I took her a pot of homemade chicken noodle soup, a journal and a hardy plant. I made a playdate with her 4yrold. And I made it clear I would come over anytime if she needed me.

She seemed touched and I felt so happy to do something. But I have to agree with what everyone said, talking was more important than all of it.

Photo Credit: Beth Retro Phototgraphy. I asked if I could use this image and received written approval.

He refuses to sing.

Well…except… he sings a popular primary (that’s Mormon-speak for ages 3-11) song called:
I am a Child of God.. he learned it in Nursery (pre-primary age kids). And when I asked him about learning a new song in church he would answer.. I don’t KNOW that song, mom.

Well duh.

Every Sunday, he happily sits in Primary NOT singing a single song, until I am a Child of God, comes up and then he shouts it from the rooftops.. you’ve seen this kid right?? The one who sings the chorus really loud and then nothing else.. kind of like that, only he shouts the whole song.

Fast forward to this past August.

Out of the blue in the back seat of the MomVan he says: “Hey mom I can sing a new song.” I nearly pulled over to see what he was talking about!

Have a listen for yourself.
I give you….

MY KID singing a NEW song!

And get this. He agreed to sing it SOLO in front of the whole congregation during the Primary’s fall Sacrament program. How freaking cute is that? We call up grandparents and he sings it over the phone. He happily sings it for pretty much anyone walking by. Give me a call and he’ll sing it for you!

Hosted by Cecily and Carissa

To play PhotoStory Friday, check this. Copy this code into your post and sign Sir Linky:

Hosted by Cecily and Carissa

My little boy wants to be a transformer for Halloween. Specifically Bumblebee.
And the dad in our world is one awesome Dad with a capitol D. In the past he’s dressed up as Willy Wonka while the rest of us did other Chocolate Factory Characters. He’s also been the Joker, Tweedle-Dee (to my Tweedle-Dumb), Batman, and of course a Sexy Vampire. So what do you think he’ll be this year….?

(In your best James Earl Jones Voice….)

Optimus Prime.
Oh yeah. You know what I’m talkin’bout.

Being the frugal mom that I am, I searched around and found an adult OP costume at the best price I could find. AND… *BONUS*! I found the costume on ToysRUs.com for $45, but there was a $10 coupon if you signed up with BillMeLater.com… Total no-brainer. I’ve seen Bill Me Later as an option before and lately I’ve even seen them on twitter and participating in some blog campaigns…

BillMeLater.com
I literally thought to myself, since I’ve seen them around on twitter I’ll bet they will be able to help me if I have any questions? Plus, I counted no less than 4 different ways to contact their customer support.

From the online chat bubbles on their site to their Twitter account: @BMLDeals… and a toll free phone number on the site as well as a real mailing address… (I know.. who does that anymore?)

My point: instead of assuming the worst: I believed (due to their presence in Social Media) that they would be thrilled to solve any issue or question I might have with their service.

Here’s the funny part… the $10 ‘coupon’ didn’t show up on the ToysRUs bill? Huh I thought? So I sent a chat bubble directly on the BillMeLater site. They answered, oh that’s a new campaign and the discount will show up on your BML bill…. oh? Okay…

One day later, the bill showed up in my inbox but the discount apparently got lost? This time I tweeted directly @BMLdeals. Get this… Heather, DMs me to say: I’m so sorry, I’m traveling but when I get back to my desk I’ll get this figured out…. then proceeds to offer her direct email address… Whoa.

What?! Did she really give me her email…?

Within one week, my issue was solved and I appear to have a new BFF in Heather Fields from @BMLDeals!

I’d call that a positive experience.

companies active in social media want you to have a happy ending.

Note how clean and easy to read and use the Whole Account Interface with Bill Me Later feels.

Welcome to Halloween’s Past…

I promise the Optimus Prime costume…. rocks.. I mean..
‘SAVES THE WORLD’!