Want a product that both you and child will love that is educational? Goosie Cards is just that. These are first and only flash cards that you can fully customize! They have sets already predone that you can choose from, or you can upload your own personal photos to make flashcards according to the needs of your children. I made several flashcards for Will (on top of doing a set they already have predone — they have over 150 free full color professional photos to help you design your cards too.). It is really simple to do also. You upload your pictures, label the cards how you want them to read, and then check out. That is it. I had my cards in less than a week (actually, I think it was within about 3 days!) For Will, we did some cards to help him recognize me, daddy, and Madison. It was super cute, because he immediately took Madison’s card and started kissing it. It was also very cool to see that he recognized the other items on the other cards (like the goldfish crackers). I am hoping these will help him talk or at least let us know what he wants. You can create 10, 20 or 26 custom cards and the prices range from $28 to $46. You can also buy someone a gift certificate for here also. Best of all, these are made in the US.

Goosie Cards are also being used by parents, teachers and medical professionals in the autism and special needs community. They can help children with autism to learn a variety of skills to communicate effectively in the following areas: social, emotional, sequential, memory and communication skills. There is a discount program to provide some relief in price, while providing one of the most advanced, communication learning systems on the market.

I love these cards and would highly recommend them to anyone. They are tough (Will tried to wreck them already and has not been successful yet). They also wipe clean very easily. Best of all, my kids like them.

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!

We all have those men in our lives that we never know what to get them.  Remington has three new products this holiday season that would make great gifts for any men in the family – from teenage boys to grandpa.  These gifts start off at $19.99, so they are not only affordable, they also make great stocking stuffers too!  Bill, my wonderful husband, has been trying out some these new Remington products for me over the last couple of weeks.

The PG-350 is a 7-in-1 personal groomer. It has everything the men in your life could want. It has 10 adjustable settings for clipping sideburns, necks and a variety of hair lengths, as well as five adjustable settings for all styles of facial hair — goatees, soul patches, light two-day stubble, moustaches or beards of any length. It also comes with ear and a nose hair trimmer for that hair we prefer not to know about. It is rechargeable.
Best of all is the price: $19.99. We liked it here because it is a really good groomer set. It looks very high quality and works ten times better than the set he had before (which was nowhere near as big and costed me a lot more).  He found it super easy to trim his goatee, and he highly recommends it.

Another cool product Remington has this season is the ShortCut Clipper. This is the first ever clipper system that lets guys cut their own hair without having to worry about missing spots on the back of their heads or even messing up their hair. It is actually pretty cool, because you use it like you do a comb, and you are able to adjust it to five different lengths. (I had to giggle when I saw the balding comb attachment, but people do need that). Cleaning this is such a breeze too. You just rinse them off! The cost for this is $29.99.

Lastly, there is the Flex360 electric shaver. This has be my most favorite shaver out there. Bill has tried out several electric shavers in the past and none ever give him a close enough shave in my opinion. By five o’clock, he would have a noticeable five o’clock shadow. In his line of work, that really isn’t all too acceptable. However, with this razor, he does not have that problem! It also has a pop-up trimmer for precision grooming. The Flex360 also has worldwide voltage so men can easily use it wherever they travel.  We do a lot of traveling, and I have to admit, that this shaver makes me feel safer.  I always had to worry that the kids would get their hands on his razor and cut themselves.  With the kids now, I don’t have to worry about this.  There are four models that range in price from $34.99 to $74.99, so you can get the one that best serves your needs.

We have owned Remington in the past, and it is a good high quality brand.  Any man in your life would be happy to open up one of these Christmas morning!

Brighter Minds Media has now introduced Bob The Builder Can Do Zoo. It has already been awarded three awards — that’s how good it is!  I let my greatest kid tester in my house try it out — that would be Madison who is 4.  Since we have gotten the game in the mail (thanks Family Review Network!), Madison goes around singing “Bob the Builder . . . We can do it  . . . Bob the Builder . . .  Yes we can”.  That has been my house for a week now.  However, I don’t actually mind all the much, because we really like this game.  As soon as I found out the Diner Dash (my favorite computer game ever) was behind this, I knew we had a winner.

Bob The Builder Can Do Zoo has 3 modes of play – Story, Free Play, and Sticker Book.  There is also 6 animal habitats to build,  7 unique learning activities, and hundreds of stickers to collect for building achievements.  There are three levels, so it is quite easy to pick the level that is best for your kids.  You are able to play in both English and Spanish.  There are also many skills taught through this game – problem solving, critical thinking, object classification, planning and time sequencing, pattern, size, and spatial recognition, and shape and color identification.

Why is this game a winner in my house?  That is actually pretty easy.  First, this game works on our desktop that is 8 years old.  Most games won’t work on there, and we actually consider that Madison’s computer.  When a game works on there, we all cheer for joy.  The second thing that I loved was that she was actually learning something while playing.  There are a lot of games out there that are just mindless, and I would much rather have her playing games like this.  Next, the price is right.  It should retail around $19.95 which is very cheap and affordable for a computer game.  Lastly, Madison can play this herself.  I didn’t have to help her at all.  She is only four, but that say a lot about this game.  It is truly simple and age appropriate.  Nothing is more frustrating than to get a game for her, and I have to play it because it is too hard to do and/or navigate.

If you are looking for a great Christmas or birthday present, I highly recommend Bob The Builder Can Do Zoo.  It was a big hit in my house and will be in yours too!

How many of you are parents and still have electrical outlet plugs on your electrical outlets?  My house is personally covered with them.  However, the bad thing about regular outlet plugs is their size!  How many of you had your kids put them in their mouth??!!??  For keeping things out of your outlets, they work great.  However, as a choking hazard, they are one of the worst things to have in your house!  I have watched both my children put them in their mouths.  Then you have to go and retrieve them from their mouths leading to a tramatic experience for all involved.

That being said there is an awesome product on the market that solves this problem.  Safety Caps are bigger than the traditional outlet plug, so your children are not able to stick the whole thing in their mouth.  If for some reason they are able to get the whole thing in there, there are two holes in there to aid in breathing.  The dad who designed his had his own daughter choke on a regular outlet plug, so he knew he had to do something so it never happened again to another family.

The things I definitely like about this product are almost too numerous to count.  First, my kids can’t choke on it.  Second, the color is awesome.  It actually blends in really well with our electrical covers, so you almost can’t even tell that I have my outlet covered.  Its a small thing, but it does look prettier.  Lastly, the price rocks!  For $9.99 (plus $2.97 shipping and handling), you can outfit your whole house by using this coupon!  My regular ones were more than that!  I know that my children’s safety is definitely worth that.

If you have little ones or know someone who does, this is a product that is both safe and can save lives.  This can make a great gift for a new mom or just making your own house safer.