I again ordered from this awesome company, and really, I can’t get over how great they are.  I placed on order on Tuesday afternoon to get thank you cards for Will’s birthday (I know, a tad late, but better late than never).  First, there was so much to pick from it was hard to decide. Once I picked a card, I was even able to pick how many photos I wanted in there and what way they were facing (landscape or portrait). I only wanted three photos, and I even had a couple of choices from there. Now, if i was in the pictures, I would have wanted to take a little Orovo detox first. However, it was just him, so it turned out super cute. Including shipping, I paid less than $20 for custom thank you cards. How can you go wrong with that?  It took me about 15 minutes to design my cards, and they were ready for pickup at my local CVS Thursday afternoon.  A Tuesday to Thursday turnaround in awesome!

I would highly recommend Kodak Gallery to anyone looking to make some custom cards.  They even have custom gifts that you can do too!  The prices are right, the quality is excellent, and the turnaround can’t be beat.  Here’s a sneak peak at the card we did:

Pretty awesome is all I have to say.

As you all know, I love reviewing kids books and kids toys on here.  With having a 4 year old and a 1 year old, I have great product testers, and I really get to see how products hold up.  That being said, at my house, we have been playing with the Nana Star books and plushies, and we have a winner at my house.

Before I go to far into the books, I need to give you a little background on how Nana Star came about (and I got a little teary-eyed myself when I found this all out).  The authors of this series of books are Elizabeth Sills and Elena Patrice.  The illustrator is Linda Saker.  The original creator of Nana Star is Elizabeth Owens (Elizabeth and Elena’s grandmother and Linda’s mother).  She had a grandson named Vance  that she made up Moonman and Nana Star for.  When he moved away, she often sent him hand made cards with her characters, so he always knew she was with him.  Unfortunately, Vance now “dances with the stars“, but she has allowed us into her fantasy world, so our children can have that sense of belonging too.

The first thing I have to do is warn you. You need to read the Nana Star book first. Trust me, it all makes more sense if you do (**blush** won’t tell you how I figured that out). This is a truly entertaining book. Not only can I read it to my kids, there is a CD that comes with it.  When you listen to the CD, make sure you get comfortable.  They have really awesome background music behind the narrator.  There is also an additional song on there.  Madison was singing along after the first time listening to the songs.

The other really cool thing that they do with these books is that they have a Nana Star’s Little Twinkles Club.  On purpose, they have a spellling mistake in the book.  You are able to write them and tell them what the mistake was, and you can then join the Twinkles Club!  This is such a cute idea to engage their little readers.

The second book we read and listened to was Nana Star and the Moonman. Now, in the first book, we learned that a little star fell out of the sky was looking for her Nana. Now, the second book is the start of the journey the little girl (Nana Star) takes to help the little star get home. I truly can see this being an awesome series of books. As an adult, I’m wondering what happens next.  The other nice thing is that the CDs that come with the books are held by a pocket that is attached to the book.  You don’t have to worry about losing the CDs.

Now, I highly recommend these books.  Madison was engaged with them.  The thing I noticed and loved about the books themselves (besides the CD pocket) was that the paper is a thicker paper.  It does not rip easily which is a huge problem normally in my house.  You also get a bookmark with each book.  Amazingly, we don’t actually own any bookmarks, so it is a welcome addition in our house.  I also like that I am not the only one who thinks these products are great.  They have gotten numerous awards including Mr. Dad Seal of Approval and Great Dad Recommends Awards, Nominated by Mom’s Choice Award® for Most Inspirational Story, and iParenting Media Award for Excellent Products of 2007.

Not only did we try out the books, we even had some fun with the plushies that they offer.  Now, I’ll be honest, I didn’t quite know what to expect.  I really am not good with measurements and figuring out how big things really are.  However, this Moonman was quite a bit larger than I expected!

Now, if you push on Moonman’s belly, his head lights up and it plays a lullaby (which you can kinda tell with my picture of Will and Moonman).  Will likes walking around with him (and let me add that is kissing him not biting him in the second picture!).

Now, this Nana Star plushy is a huge hit with both kids.  Its cute, easy to carry, and even has bloomers on under the skirt (yes, I checked).  Madison immediately made the connection between the doll and the books.  She talks about Nana Star quite often now.  You can also tell that this is not a small doll either.

If you need a great children’s gift, this is the way to go.  The books are for 3-7 years olds and they have such a postivie message.  In some of the books to come, they will learn about good manners and courtesy, friendship and fun, and giving and sharing just to name a few.  Now, if you’d like to win a copy of these books and plushies for yourself, they are running an awesome contest.  All you need to do is comment on their Got Lemons post and tell a story about how you turned lemons into lemonade.  The best story they get by July 7th will win you a copy of the books and they will also donate a copy of the books to your favorite school, childcare center, library, children’s hospital, or doctor’s office.  How awesome is that?

One of the few things that I have ever bought for my kids and got a ton of use out of is my Braun Thermoscan thermometer. I love this thermometer that I actually bought one to stay at both grandmas’ houses. It is so easy to use that Madison can take her own temperature (and she often does too!). All you have to do it hit the on switch which is right below the screen. When turned on, the screen will show —F (or the last temperature you took). Now, it’s time to take temperatures. Your next step is to put the thermometer in the ear and hit the button on top of it labeled Start. You will see a green light blink and in less than 3 seconds you have your temperature. Now, if you have a screaming child, the light also stays on when its done so you can tell. It is seriously that easy. I hate doing rectal temperatures, so this was a heaven sent. It is so easy to use, and you need that when you have a screaming baby on your hands. I love that it tells me the last temperature I took also. When you are stressing when your kids are sick, you often can’t remember if the temp has gone up or down. This is a nice reminder. Its amazing to see how far thermometers have come since I was a little; I wouldn’t be too surprised if they start coming out with their own video cards!

I am not sure if I have talked about Vistaprint on here before or not. However, I love this company. You can order pretty much anything you need from them for both your home and business needs. You can get get stationary, return address labels, thank you cards, magnets, business cards, checks, stampers, etc. (and I think I have ordered almost everything off that list).  You can get everything personalized to your needs. Their prices are awesome, and their sales are even better. I love that you can pick your shipping. It costs more to get your order quicker. If you are willing to wait, you will not find a better deal anywhere else. I am currently in the process of designing a new set of business cards from them. My old ones only have 2 of my 4 blogs. They have so many designs to choose from, it makes it really difficult to decide which one to get! They also keep a record of the past items you have ordered which makes reorders really easy. I have been using them for about 2 years, and I have yet to have a problem. I really can’t say that about most companies. I highly recommend VistaPrint for all your stationary and business needs.

Since Will’s first birthday is coming up soon (June 7th to be exact), I am already on the lookout for birthday party invitations. I don’t have the creativity I once had and have been on the lookout for cute things I can do. Izzyprints your one stop shop for both birthday invitations and birth announcements.  This site has so many cute invitations it is super hard to decide which one I should go for.  The site is super easy to navigate and you can easily find what you are looking for.  They also have holiday and thank you cards if you are looking for those.  Their prices are in line with other sites.  Processing takes 2-3 days and you get to choose your shipping method.  I love that you can preview the changes you make anytime you want too.  They also let you order a couple extra envelopes in case you mess up!  You are able to order invitations in lots of 25.  If you are in need of invitations, check out Izzyprints.com.