With the economy the way it is, one of the many things parents have had to cut from their children’s lives is music training.  With all the shows on TV now like American Idol, Nashville Star, and America’s Got Talent, you can understand why kids want to improve their voice.  Your kids may not even be reaching that high — they may just want to get a part in the choir or play.  Private lessons have always been pretty costly, and depending on where you live, may or may not even be available.

Ariella Vaccarino has changed all of that.  Ariella is an opera singer and an experienced teacher based out of Los Angeles.  She is also the creator of Voice Lessons To Go.  Voice Lessons To Go is a 4 volume CD box set.  You can buy them as either a set or singly.  Volume 1 is called Vocalize and Breath.  It shows you singing warmups and breathing excercises.  Volume 2 is Do Re Mi Ear and Pitch Training.  It filled with vocal excercises.  It will improve your sense of pitch by concentrating on scales and chords.  Volume 3 is Pure Vowels.  It is compiled of vocalizes seperated by ah, ey, ee, oh, oo, and i.  Volume 4 is Stamina.  This is a group of vocal exercises to challenge and strengthen your abilities.  She also offers on her site the ability to submit your voice and receive a vocal assessment.  For $9.99, you can submit one minute.  If you spend $39.99, you are able to send 3 songs!  She will give you her full assessment and recommend song choices and exercises.  She’ll also get back to you within one week with that!

With the range of products and pricing, there is definitely something for everyone.  This makes a great stocking stuffer or Christmas gift for the aspiring singer in your life.  Since I think this is such a great product, I had a set of these sent to me to give away to one of my lucky winners!  The winner of this giveaway will receive all four CDs!  Here’s what you need to do:

1. Leave a comment on this post. I want to know why you want this or why you like the site.
2. Twitter about this contest. Please leave me your username so I can verify.
3. Stumble this post. If you don’t know what Stumble Upon is, please read Lori’s post at Blogging Cents. She explains it extremely well.
4. Add this post to other social media sites like Digg, Kirtsy, Blogging Zoom, Reddit, Propeller, Etc. (1 entry for each social network).

For 5 additional entries,

1. Blog about this on your blog. Please give me the URL, so I can verify.
2. Add this to any forums you belong too. Please give me the URL, so I can verify.
3. Subscribe to this blog using either my email or RSS feed
4. Add my badge to your sidebar:

</p> <div><a href="http://lisareviews.com"><img src="http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk258/blm03_photos/125ad-1.png" alt="Lisa Reviews" border="0"></a></div> <p>

This giveaway will end on November 25st at 8:00 pm and is available to US residents only. Good luck!

A book you must have in your home is Frankie: The Walk ‘N Roll Dog. This story will make you laugh, it will make you cry, and it’ll make you hug your pets and kids and tell them that you love them.  It also was just awarded National Best Book 2008 Award by USA Book News in the Children’s Picture Book Non-fiction softcover category, so I am not the only one who thinks it is great!

This story is about a little dachshund.  We learn about how she met her family and what their family life was like.  We also learn about a terrible injury she endured (a ruptured disk in her back) and how she lost the ability to walk.  She had surgery with only a 30% chance of every walking again.  She outfitted with her wheels that you see on the cover of the book.  Now, I am not going to give away how the story ends, so you’ll have to get the book to see if Frankie walks again.

The owner of this dog actually wrote the book, and it is a true story.  She is from Wisconsin (which is where I am from), so I personally identify with where this story takes place.  The illustrations in this book are awesome too.  The story is written at a level, so that all children can enjoy it and walk away with some good life lessons such as always look for positive solutions to overcoming and enduring challenges, don’t feel sorry for yourself, and having compassion for the physically challenged.  These are three great lessons that our children (and even adults) should learn and live by.  This book also opens a line of communication between you and your children too.  I know that Madison, my 4 year old, had a ton of questions for us after we read this.

This is a book that I really think everyone should take a look at and read.  We can all benefit from the life lessons in here.