Huru Humis will be one of the big gifts that everyone is going to want for Christmas this year. They are made for children ten and up. However, my 4 year old and 1 year old love them too. Each Huru Humi has its own name and distinct personality. Their interests range from sports to journalism. We have two of them, and I swear I have teenagers living in my house now. If I don’t check, Madison has been sneaking them into her bed with her at night too.

The reason I like these is that they interact with you. You are able to ask them questions, and they actually will respond to you. The other cool thing is that if you put two Huru Humis next to one another, they start talking to one another! They will have a whole conversation with or without you. These definitely teach your kids many social skills.  It shows them how to have a conversation, not to interrupt, and have differing opinions.  They are fairly easy to use, so kids of all ages will be able to use them.  If you quite talking to them, they even try to get your attention.  Another feature that my kids love is that their hair and outfits are interchangable too.

I have already seen commercials for these on, I think, Nick Jr or one of those kid stations, so you know this is going to be big. Each Huru Humi costs $29.99 and can be purchased at Walmart, Target, Kmart and Toys R Us. However, if you do not want to wait to get one of these, I was able to get not 1, not 2, but 3 of these to giveaway to my lucky readers.  Now, two will be given away randomly.  The third one will be randomly given away among the people who make a Huru Humi video.

Each one of these things will give you one entry:

1. Leave a comment on this post. I want to know why you want this.
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.

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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For ten more entries,

1.  Make a Huru Humi Cartoon here.  Publish your video and add it to your social profile and link to it in a comment.

Good luck! This contest will end Oct. 22, 2008 at 8:00 PM CST and is for both US and Canadian residents.

I am all for saving money.  What woman doesn’t want to save a couple of bucks when she is shopping?  Nowadays, most of us have moved our shopping online and love coupon codes.  FindSavings.com is a great place to get your coupon codes to save yourself a couple of bucks.  You can easily find what you are looking for.  On the left sidebar, you can search for your coupon either by using the category list or the store list.  On the right sidebar, you can see all the new coupons that have been added into their system.  The middle column has all of your featured deals.  I personally am loving the HP Home Store Offers.  Our HP desktop that we have now was custom built in 2000, and it still works!  However, it is a tad slow compared to my laptop (which I bought in January).  I had been thinking that we should do another custom built cpu, and I just found a coupon for $400 off!  They even have coupon codes for my most favorite store:  Best Buy.  I can definitely always spend my hard earned money there.  What is my favorite part of this site?  I can sign up to get an email with the latest codes.  Who wouldn’t want ways to save money sitting in their email?  I know I am signing up for a couple of these coupon emails with my favorite stores.  If you are looking for a one stop shop for your coupons, FindSavings.com is it.

It is the small things in life that can make the biggest difference. Did you know that by brushing your teeth with Recycline Toothbrush, you can help save the world? Ok, you aren’t going to be Superman. However, the Recycline Toothbrush uses recycled plastic and when you are done with it, send the toothbrush and case back to Preserve using their postage-paid label. It will then be reprocessed into plastic lumber for picnic tables, boardwalks, and decks.

Now, I did the ultimate test in my house to see how good this toothbrush really is — I switched my husband’s toothbrush without telling him.  This is the same guy who didn’t notice for around six hours that I had cut off six inches from hair, so he isn’t the most observant person out there.  However, he knew immediately that I changed his toothbrush out.  When I ask him what he thinks of his new toothbrush, he just replies “awesome”.  He thought it had a great design, and he likes how it feels.  When I told him how we were saving the enviroment, he like it even more.

This toothbrush passes the mom test for me just because of the enviromental factors involved.  Any time I can make the world a better place for my kids, I am going to do it.  These toothbrushes are super easy to find — just head to your nearest Target.  Since my Target is just down the street from me, that works great.  They are also only $2.04 which is not a bad price for a toothbrushes.  Of course, they have coupons you can use too for $1 off.  Lastly, these come is sizes for both adults and kids, so the whole family can save the world!

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?

We had a very interesting episode at my house this morning.  Will had a little diaper accident that ended up all over my living room floor (and let’s say it wasn’t pee!).  Not only did it smell, it was stuck to the floor (I know, I know TMI, but I could have taken pictures!)

What does a mother do when incidents like this (and yes all mothers have at least one of these with each of their kids)?  Well, first you clean up the kid involved.  I also lucked out that it was Will’s nap time, so I was able to put him down and not have him getting in the way of cleanup.

Once Will was down for a nap, that’s when the real cleaning starts.  I have always loved pinesol.  It does say on the back not to use on wood.  However, I have always used it on my hardwood floors, because it is one of the best cleaners out there on the market and have yet to have a problem.  I have yet to find anything that matches its cleaning ability either.  However, I have always had one major complaint:  the smell.  I personally could not stand the lemony smell (Courtney just corrected me — it’s not lemony — it’s pine :P).  However, PineSol has come to rescue.  They now have flavors (or is it called scents?)!  The one I used on our little accident this morning was the “Sparkling Wave”.  I love it!  Not only did the PineSol clean up the mess, it left my living room smelling awesome.  There was no overwhelming lemon — just a calming sea smell (which after the morning I’ve had, I definitely need).

I would definitely go try this out if you haven’t yet, and tell me what you think.

Another cooking blog I came across that you need to check out is Cooking With Kimberly.  The first thing that will catch your attention with this blog is her beautiful header.  There is so much food in there that I couldn’t even name it all.  It is a great attention getter.  Some of the other things you really need to check out is some of her advice posts.  I personally enjoyed the one on how to peel an onion.  I’ll be honest, I never thought of doing it this way.  It is defintely something I will be trying the next time I have to make something that has onions in it.  Her category listing also makes it very easy to find what you are looking for on her blog (makes me want to recategorize my cooking blog!).  She even has cool food gifts! If you are looking for a great cooking blog to check out, this is your one stop shop!  There is a little something for everyone (except if you are looking for instructions on speaker mounting — that one you’ll need a home improvement blog!).

I love bloggers who aren’t part of a niche (I have one of those blogs myself).  You really get a good glimpse into their lives and who they really are.  Ruminations of a Small Town Mountain Boy is one of those general blogs that once you read one post you are hooked. You’re not going to read about acne treatments or anything like that here. Instead, you find a greathodge podge of information regarding blogs the author likes to why he misses the mountains.  I love that his sister even pokes fun at him in some of the comments.  I absolutely love this them.  It looks like a blue jean pocket and leg.  It is the most unique thing I think I have ever seen on a blog.  Definitely check this out if you are looking for a great read!