Have you ever went to the Build A Bear Workshop?  If so, you will know that it is one of the coolest places around if you have kids.  It is seriously like watching magic happen as you watch your bear being made.  It is awesome that you can personalize it and everything.  However, when we moved from Aurora back to Chicago, I didn’t realize that we were going to be leaving our beloved Build A Bear Workshop.  I have no idea where one is now. That being said, there are a couple of ways for me to get my Build A Bear fix.

First, there is a celebrity auction going on right now! They will be auctioning off celebrity-built Build-A-Bear Workshop bears along with autographed copies of the Build-A-Bear Wii game. These bears and signed games will be on eBay’s Giving Works to raise money for the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Southern California. The bears were built by celebrities like Tori Spelling & Dean McDermott, the Jonas Brothers, James Gandolfini, Melissa Joan Hart, Bonnie Hunt, Mitchel Musso, Meaghan Jette Martin and more.  This would definitely be a talking point for your house!

If that isn’t enough, Wii has come to the rescue for those of use who don’t like by a Build A Bear workshop!  They now have a game called Build-A-Bear Workshop® A Friend Fur All Seasons.  Up to four players can play and you can name, feed, and dress your bear.  You can even go on adventures with them!  This game is rated E for Everyone, so you can enjoy it no matter what age you are!  You can buy this game at places like Walmart, Target, and really any game retailers.  However, I have a great giveaway for you!  How would you like your own Build A Bear game?  Here’s what you need to do:

1. Leave a comment on this post.  Tell me what feature you think you’d like best about the Build-A-Bear Workshop® A Friend Fur All Seasons game.
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:

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This giveaway will end on December 14 at 8:00 pm CST is available to US and Canada residents only. Good luck!

I was able to get my parents one of the best Christmas presents ever (actually, she got it early, so I could review it for you)! My mom is not too technologically inclined. She doesn’t know how to work her DVR or turn on their computer. My parents all have dialup, so if I send them pictures, it takes way to long for them to download them. Since we only see them once a month, they miss out on a lot of things. For example, Madison somehow whacked herself in the face the other night with her pumpkin flashlight (and she was in her room suppose to be sleeping). She gave herself two cuts, black and blue marks, and a fat lip. I was able to take a picture, but had no way to show them until now.
Presto has made it super easy to send pictures to people without computers, who have seriously slow internet connections (that would be all of you with dial up), and people who are not technologically inclined. Set up for the printer took around five minutes. I was able to go online and set up the account while my sister was setting up the printer for my mom. Now, you are able to call in the information if you don’t have an internet connection too. To make the Presto Printer work, all you need is an analog phone line, paper, and a print cartridge. The Presto Service includes an @presto.com email address and unlimited incoming email, photos, and other content. You will not get spam either. The only people who can send things to print off have to be included on your friend list! (I wish regular email worked that way. Think how nice that would be!). You also are able to set up five times a day for it to check and see if you have any messages.

Over the last two weeks, I have sent several pictures over to my parents (especially the one I talked about above). It was nice that I could show them. Now, we just visited them this weekend, so I could see the quality of the pictures. I am impressed. My mom could tell that Madison had a fat lip. She could also see when Will got his hair cut. Instead of missing that milestone, she really got to be a part of it!

This is truly the perfect gift for someone who does not have high speed internet, doesn’t have a computer, or is not technologically inclined. If my mom can do, anyone can.

Sometimes it is extremely weird when certain things happen in your life. We had that happen today. We found out at church today that Madison does not like to go up to the front. We literally had to drag her up there for the New Members greeting. I was just trying to wrack my brains and come up with a way to overcome that fear when I remembered that we just got a book called Genevieve’s Gift. This is an award winning children’s picture book for ages 4 – 8. It is about a little girl who is able to overcome her nervousness by “listening to her heart”. When she listens to her heart, she finds courage and inspiration. There is a step by step guide in the back of this book that I am hoping to use with Madison. We briefly talked about it today, but she was too busy wanting to read the next book. This story definitely flows, and Madison could easily follow it and pay attention to it. Madison also likes to sing, so we sang the song Genevieve did for her friend (there is also a music guide in the back of the book, so you even have the tune). I love that a portion of the proceeds from the sale of this book is donated to the National Down Syndrome Society. This is a great little book that has some great lessons in it.  All kids should definitely read it.

What kind of cards do you send out for Christmas? Do you do a photo holiday card like you see on the left? In my family, that is exactly what I do. A lot of the people we send Christmas cards to only see my kids a couple of times a year.  It is a great way to show them how much my kids have grown.  I’ve done it both ways too — either just the kids or us as a family.  I also love receiving cards like this, so I can see how their kids have grown over the last year.

If you are looking for a huge selection of Photo Holiday Cards, you need to go check out Tiny Prints!  They truly have cards for every occasion that you could want.  They have both regular cards and photo cards too.  However, Tiny Prints and I are working together to offer you an awesome contest.  You can win your holiday card package with matching postage (Winner to receive 50 of the selected card, 72 address labels and 60 stamps with the matching card design.).  What do you have to do to win this?

1.  You need to visit their Tiny Prints Holiday Photo Cards selection and tell me which holiday card has “slushy to chic” in the description.  Once you have found it, put a fun and creative greeting on it.

2.  After you have found the card, click “ask a friend” and enter my email lisareviewsATgmail.com.  Also, click “save in favorites”

3.  Then I just need you to put in the comments of this post your greeting!

I will be selecting the winner from those who pick the correct card and come up with the most creative greeting!  Now, you can only win once, but you can enter as many times as you like.  If you have won a Tiny Prints contest in the last 90 days, you aren’t eligible.  The contest is to run from October 20, 2008 through Friday, November 7, 2008.  Contestants also relinquish greeting text ownership and allow Tiny Prints to use their entries for promotional use.  Stamps will be fulfilled separately from Tiny Prints order.  Best of all, this contest is offered to everyone no matter where you live!  I know that sometimes if you live outside of the US you miss out on a lot of these great contests.  Tiny Prints understand that and has opened it up to everyone!

Good Luck!