If you are looking for a very affordable gift for kids ages 3 – 7, then you must get the Poingo.  With the Poingo, you are able to touch pictures and/or the text, the their favorite characters are brought to life with either music, sounds, and words.  The best part is that the Poingo starter kit is $34.99 and is available at Target, Toys R Us, Walmart, Costco, Sam’s Club, and BJ’s Wholesale Clubs.  It comes with the pen shaped Poingo and two large hardcover interactive storybooks.  This is definitely affordable, and the starter kit is awesome.  You don’t have to automatically buy another $100 worth of books right off the bat.  You have a working system right from the start.  The book choices are excellent.  The books that came with ours are Cars and Finding Nemo, so it was definitely right up my kids alley.  These movies are favorites in our house, so my kids had a definite interest in the books.   They also have Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and Winnie The Pooh.  The pen itself is simple to use.  All you have to do is click it on the part of the book with the words, and it will read that whole section.  You can also click on the images and for sound effects.  There are words that are highlighted also, and you get a definition of the word.  You can also click on images and find out what they are or get a cool sound effect.  Madison is actually able to take this and read the book by herself.  She loves having that kind of independence.  My kids love to read, so this is really a naturally progression for them.

This is one of the best affordable educational toys on the market for kids.  I recommend checking it out — you can even try a demo here.

If you are a busy mom like me, you tend to struggle come dinner time.  I know I do.  If you don’t plan ahead, you never seem to have the right ingredients and you end up ordering out (which costs so much more!).  The Month Of Meals e-book has some awesome advice to get yourself out of that rut.  This book will help you stay home every night and not spend over $200 in groceries on dinner. I love how the Month Of Meals book not only gives me dinner ideas for a month, but they also give you a shopping list.  If you stick to the list, you will walk out of the grocery store spending less.  Now, there are some things in the book that I know my family won’t eat.  Those are the nights I will substitute my own idea.  I love how this book teaches you to plan ahead.  They have print out lists for each week.  They also have a shopping list for all the other things you will need throughout the week.  The majority of the recipes are easy to make (which is right up my alley) and they require things that you should have in your house already.  I also love that some of the meals are able to be frozen, so you have some meals for later on too!  There are some great tips in here too (though I did know about the one that says don’t go to the grocery store hungry).  If you are looking for a great book to help you in the kitchen, then check out  A Month Of Meals.  There is an 8 week money back guarantee, so you have nothing to lose checking it out!  However, the book does pay for itself on your first grocery shopping trip!

With the new movie that came out, it is awesome that another generation gets to enjoy Indiana Jones. My four year old even find the Indiana Jones movies funny.  When they had to eat monkey brains, well, she thought that was the funniest thing ever.  She also likes that he is afraid of snakes (now, I don’t remember that being in the movies, but it hold true on her Indiana Jones Lego PS2 game).  That being said, there is a whole new round of toys this year with the Indiana Jones franchise.

All I can say about the Indiana Jones Giant Radio Controlled Ant is that it is ugly and creepy — you know, just like real ants.  Oh yeah, and its huge.  Personally, I hate ants which I think is what is the big appeal for this toy.  In Indiana Jones, and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Indy faces a swarm of deadly ants.  Its for ages six and up.  However, the controller is quite large, and it isn’t too difficult to control.  This even comes with a field notebook with ant facts!

The Indiana Jones Room Booby Trap is for siblings who just can’t seem to stay out of each others way.  This has a set of booby traps you can use in your house to help one defend against nosy friends and siblings.  The best part of this toy is that they are learning about gears and levers with this, and they have no idea!  Who knew booby traps could be a learning experience?

Indiana Jones Crystal Skull Adventure Projector is one freaky looking projector.  However, it works a lot better than you would expect.  The video that shines on your walls comes from its glowing eye (and it is as weird looking as you can imagine).  With this, you get to join Professor Jones on several archaeological discoveries and famous scenes from the movies.   This projector includes an audio track, so you can hear about all sorts of famous discoveries while you are watching.  You get the base, a projector, a booklet, slides, and an audio CD.

If you have any Indiana Jones fans in your house, these are some definite toys you need to be checking out for this holiday season!

Are you looking for great deals on the web? If so, you need to be checking out DaddyoDeals, because they look for the hottest deals every day for you. They then post them in their Hot Deals forum every day. You will see everything from price drops on items, items with coupons and/or rebates, and simply hard-to-find items (such as Wii Fits and Elmo Live dolls which are hard to find). They also show deals on items you use every day, so you can save money that way. You can seriously find a deal on everything from TV wall mount to ipods to a home theater system.  They even maintain a huge Black Friday 2008 Sales Ad forum, where we post items being offered for Black Friday 2008 Sales usually weeks before the ads come out in print.  If you like to save money, make sure you check out DaddyoDeals!

Some always good presents for the Christmas season has to be any of the Chicken Soup For The Soul books.  They are an awesome read for anyone, and I want to pass along some new ones you may not have seen yet.

Chicken Soup for the Soul 101 Best: Christmas Cheer is inspiration stories that help you keep everything in perspective (like you shouldn’t be checking out diet pill reviews already. Those few extra pounds you put on at Christmas does not make you a bad person.)  This book is part of the 101 Best Stories series.  Books in the 101 Best Stories series are some the editor’s most favorite tales and poems.

Chicken Soup for the Soul 101 Best: On Being a Parent is about doing the hardest job in the world that comes with no handbook. These are the best stories to appeal to both moms and dads.

For the men in your life, Chicken Soup for the Soul 101 Best: Tales of Golf and Sport would be the book for them. They are offered insight from both golf and sports enthusiasts for all sports in this book.

These books all offer many hours of enjoyment and fun.  You will laugh, you will cry, and you will enjoy what life has to offer.