Will is very texture oriented. He loves books that allow him to touch the page and feel the items on there.  We recently checked out two of the Touch The Art Books:  Tickle Tuts Toes and Catch Picassos Rooster.  These books definitely fit the bill for us.  These are both board books, so there is no destroying them.  Each page has something for your kids to interact with be it feeling the bumpy pyramids to feeling a pet cat.  Wills favorite though has to be the mummies.  I love that this is a great introduction to both art and history.  I love how they are able to incorporate famous works (like van Gogh’s Two Rats) into a children’s book.  At the end of each book, there is also a section that gives background information for both you (the parent) and your kids.  It helps you gain a better understanding of what you are looking at and gives you some additional things to talk to your kids about.  These books are geared for the 4-6 age group, but my two year old loved them just as much as his five year old sister!

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: http://cmp.ly/2

Madison is very much into learning Spanish, so checking out Boca Beth was right up our alley.   This program was created by a teacher, translated by native Spanish-speaking early childhood experts, and has been used successfully in preschools, public schools and homes for more than six years.  The video is a true bilingual presentation – meaning English is placed right alongside Spanish for an easy point of reference for both your children and you.  I love that they cover every type of learner – music for the auditory learner, DVDs for the visual learner, musical shakers and puppets for the kinesthetic / tactile learning and coloring/activity books for the beginning reading.  I also love that they have gone green in the packaging of our music CDs and DVDs. The eco-friendly packaging features 100% recycled paper and 100% vegetable based inks.

So what do you get when you order this?  Everything is contained in a see-thru vinyl child-sized backpack.  The kids loved that here (anything involving a backpack is really cool to them).  There’s also a  music CD called My First Songs in Spanish.  It’s great to play in your car and your kids don’t even realize they are learning. There also is the DVD I Like Animals.  My kids really liked the video.  Will enjoyed the animals (especially the monkeys), and Madison liked that she knew a lot of the songs they were singing.  BOCA the lovable puppet was also a huge hit.  What kid doesn’t like puppets?  The coloring book also was nice, because it is just another way to immerse them into Spanish.

As a mom, I liked that my kids were learning and never even realized it.  Nothing was forced upon them and they enjoyed playing with all of the Boca Beth products!

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: http://cmp.ly/2

This contest is over. The first winner did not reply so a new one was picked. The winner now is Heather C. Congrats!

Have you ever wished you learned something?  For me, it is piano.  I can play quite a few instruments, but I never learned piano.  We’ve talked several times about buying a piano, but I was always at a loss of how to get lessons.  I am not real comfortable just answering an ad on Craigslist or in the newspaper.  However, TakeLessons solves everything for me.

TakeLessons is a resource for those looking for private music and voice lessons.  You can quickly and easily register via their site for local private lessons with a TakeLessons Certified Instructor.  It is super easy to do so — all you need to do is enter your zip code, and you’ll get a list of all the instructors in your area.  Since I live close to Chicago, I had two pages full of instructions.  I love that TakeLessons has their own certification process — they check the education background, teaching experience, references, and do a criminal background check.  When the instructor is listed for you to look at, you are able to see all of this information in their profile.  They make it super easy to set up a lesson too.  They even have a guarantee:  if your first lesson is not handled in a friendly, efficient and professional manner, they will gladly find you another instructor or refund any future lessons. All you need to do is contact them within three days after your lesson has taken place and we will set you up with another instructor.

I think this is such a great concept that I am giving away 2 free lessons to one of my lucky readers!  Here’s what you need to do:

Here’s what you need to do:

Leave a comment on this post. Check out the TakeLessons website and tell me something you learned about them (be it why you should choose them, how many instructors are in your area, etc.

Each of these gives you one additional entry:

1. Twitter about this contest. Please leave me your username so I can verify. Or use something like this:

RT @blm03 is giving away2 Music Lessons! http://lisareviews.com/2009/05/19/takelessons-review-and-giveaway

2. Stumble this post.

3. Add this post to other social media sites like Digg, Kirtsy, Blogging Zoom, Reddit, Propeller, Etc. (1 entry for each social network).

Each of these gives you 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:

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If this isn’t working, please let me know. For some reason, Wordpress seems to be eating the code up when I post.

Each of these will give you 10 additional entries:

1. Join my Spark E Crew at Social Spark. Click here to find out how to sign up. If you are on my crew, please leave your social spark ID, so I can verify it.

2. Sign up for my free newsletter!

This contest is for US residents and will end at June 2nd at noon CST! Good Luck!!!

I remember the days when we didn’t have to literally tackle Madison and sit on her (yes, I know, I am not winning mother of the year here with this admission) to get to take medicine.  She has a stubborn streak (let’s just say she got that from me), and if she refuses to take it, there isn’t much you can do.  I remember last year when she was running a 104 degree fever, and we still had to hold her down and pinch her cheeks to get the medicine in her.

A product that I have been using since last year for your is Triaminic Thin Strips.  Actually, I need to add, I use them also.  I personally think they are even better than sliced bread.  Seriously, as a parent, how many times has your little one spit the medicine back out of their mouth, and you had no idea how much they really had taken.  If this has never happened to you, we need to talk.  I personally use them, because I hate swallowing pills.  Here’s how they work.  You open the package and put the thin strip on your tongue.  It dissolves with the correct dose you are suppose to get, and you feel better.  For an added bonus, the thin strips are flavored, so they taste excellent as they dissolve.

When your kids have a cold and are sick, this is not the time to choose to have a battle with them.  With the Triaminic Thin Strips, Madison doesn’t even realize she is taking medicine.  It is one less battle, yet, I know she is getting some relief from her symptoms.

Wipe Clean Letters is a must have book for any preschool aged children you have in your house.  This book comes with its own dry erase marker (and a place to keep it too!).  The book is made of cardboard, and you are able to wipe clean any work your children do in the book.  Each page has a litter of the alphabet on it.  it also has words that start with that letter or have that letter in it.  It has the uppercase and the lowercase letters on each page to trace.  Some of the pages even have a small activity to do on them.  Madison can spend hours with this book.  I love that it is teaching her picture and word recognition, and that it is still fun for her.  If you want a great interactive book, this is what you should get!