Happy Penguin Awareness Day!

January 20, 2015 is Penguin Awareness Day, and in celebration, we have announced that 'Penguins of Madagascar' is hitting Blu-ray and DVD on March 17!

They’re cute...they’re cuddly...they’re back! From the creators of MADAGASCAR comes the hilarious new movie that proves global espionage is for the birds! In DreamWorks’ PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR, your favorite super-spies—Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private—join forces with the elite North Wind team to save the world. It’s a side-splitting, globe-trotting adventure the whole family will love!

We love the penguins and can't wait to check this one out!

Make Easy Girl Scout Cookie Booth Banners

Faith and I love crafting for our Girl Scout Cookie booths and this banner is no exception!  In the past, we have made displays, bookmarks, even crowns for our booths, and this banner was a perfect addition that can be saved from year to year.

What You Need:

• Girl Scout cookie boxes, at least one of each kind you sell
• Paper cutter or good scissors
• Ruler
• Pencil/pen
• Paper piercer
• Brads

How to Make a Girl Scout Cookie Banner:

• Carefully pull each box apart on the seams and flatten.
• Cut off the tops and sides, saving the front and back of the boxes.  I used the industrial paper cutter we have at work, it was much easier to deal with cardboard that way!
• On the back (non-printed) sides of your box, measure the width and mark the bottom center point with a dot.
• Measure up each side 1-2 inches (your choice) and mark those with dots as well.

This was the hardest part, measuring to keep it even.

• Cut a diagonal line from the each side dot to the bottom center dot to form a point. Repeat for each piece you plan to use.
• Line up the boxes how you intend to use them with the upper corners overlapping.  We did 2 sets of each front (12 pieces) for one banner and 2 sets of each back (12 more pieces) for a second banner.
• Using the paper piercer, poke a single hole in each upper corner of each box.  Mine were somewhere between 1/4 and 1/2 inch in from the corner.
• Set the upper left corner of one box on top of the upper right corner of the next box, align the holes and poke a brad through to seal them, bending the legs back on the opposite side of the banner.  Repeat for each banner piece until the desired size is achieved. 

Half banner, we opted to double it to fit our table!

• Optional: For the outside flags, a hole punch and ribbon can help you attach them to your booth.  We used clips instead, but it depends on the location and style of your actual cookie booth!

Looking for more cookie booth ideas?  Check out our extra easy Girl Scout Cookie Crowns or our Girl Scout Cookie box stop sign and bookmarks!

Three Kings' Day Activities from The Book of Life #BOLinsiders

The kids and I can't wait to see The Book of Life.  We saw a preview for it during Faith's birthday  movie, but never quite made it back to the theater in time.  It's almost out on DVD and we are so excited to finally get to watch it.

Torn between the expectations of his family and the desires of his heart, a young man named Manolo sets off on an epic quest that spans three spectacular worlds in order to reunite with his one true love and defend his village. Not your ordinary fairy tale, THE BOOK OF LIFE is a wondrous fantasy-adventure filled with magic, music and fun!

And just in time to enjoy with the movie, today is Three Kings Day.  Some refer to it as the Epiphany, others as Three Kings, but traditionally, it's the 12th day of Christmas (just like the song) and celebrates the day the Wise Men brought gifts to the Christ Child.  My grandma always said we had to leave our Christmas decorations up till this day too!

Check out the ideas below to celebrate or learn more about the Three Kings Day!

And join me for the Book of Life Fiesta Twitter viewing party this Friday to learn more about the movie!

Disclosure: This information, along with my Vancouver trip, was provided to me as part of my relationship with Fox Home Entertainment Insiders. All opinions expressed are my own.

Coming Soon … Russell Madness

Back in the spring, thanks to Fox Home Insiders, I took a little trip to Vancouver.  It wasn't just any little trip, it was to check out the set of the new movie "Russell Madness".  Since the movie was still under wraps at the time, I wasn't able to talk much about it, until now!  Check out the preview for the movie.

Coming to home entertainment this spring, RUSSELL MADNESS tells the story of Russell, an undersized but big-hearted terrier who dreams of having a family of his own. After running away from his pet store, Russell gets taken in by The Ferraros, a family desperate to revive their grandfather’s pro wrestling arena. That’s when they discover their new pet pooch has incredible wrestling skills.

With help from his coach, Hunk, a savvy and hilarious monkey, Russell rockets to the top of the pro wrestling world and becomes a famous sports superstar. But when a dishonest promoter double-crosses the Ferraros, Russell will face his biggest challenge and discover that the strongest tag team is family.

I can't wait to see it in its entirety, the parts I saw during the filming look awesome and I know Ben is going to love it!

Disclosure: This information, along with my Vancouver trip, was provided to me as part of my relationship with Fox Home Entertainment Insiders. All opinions expressed are my own. 

Harlem Globetrotters 2015 World Tour

Don't miss the Harlem Globetrotters coming to Colorado Springs on March 6th!

Save $7 Off Select Tickets to any Harlem Globetrotter Game!

Check their website to find a show near you, it's not just in Colorado, and use promo code FAMGUIDE to purchase your tickets.

The iconic Harlem Globetrotters are coming to an arena near you with their unrivaled family show, featuring some of the greatest athletes on the planet.With incredible ball handling wizardry, amazing rim-rattling dunks and trick shots, side-splitting comedy and unequaled on-court fan interaction, this must-see event is guaranteed to entertain the whole family creating memories that will last a lifetime.

Faith and Ben have never see the Harlem Globetrotters before, but I think they are going to love it!  As part of their tour, they'll even be in Colorado Springs at the World Arena in March!  This year, the Globetrotters will face a great challenge against the Washington Generals.  The Generals were the last team to beat the Globetrotters in 1971, and are now coached by a former member of that team. They are on a mission and will do whatever it takes to win, with a new strategy that is sure to give the Globetrotters a run for their money.

Ben is loving the preview video and can't wait to go! Wouldn't your kids love to see this?

Check out US Family Guide for more details or use promo code FAMGUIDE on the Harlem Globetrotters website for tickets.

Disclosure: We received tickets to check out the Harlem Globetrotters as part of my affiliation with USFamilyGuide.com. All opinions expressed are my own.

Win a MGM Family Classics Movie Pack!

Is one of your New Year's Resolutions to spend more time together as a family?  What about adding a family movie night to that resolution?

MGM is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year and there are some awesome classic family movies in their library, including The Princess Bride, Legally Blonde, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, All Dogs Go to Heaven, The Secret of NIMH and The Pebble and the Penguin.  These are some of my family's favorites, with The Princess Bride being my husband's all-time favorite movie.  I'm also very partial to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, which I just bought back in the spring to share with my kids!

To help start your New Year right, I'm giving away a prize pack featuring 3 MGM Classics that my family is currently watching.  Since I had just bought my own copy of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, I let my family pick the three movies to watch and share with our readers.  My husband chose The Princess Bride, of course, Faith picked Legally Blond, and Ben wanted The Secret of NIMH.

The Princess Bride

When the beautiful maiden Buttercup (Robin Wright) hears that her true love Westley (Cary Elwes) is dead, she reluctantly agrees to marry the loathsome Prince Humperdinck (Chris Sarandon). After Westley returns to rescue Buttercup, the two begin an epic adventure filled with fencing, fighting, giants, monsters, miracles, true love and hilarity! Featuring an all-star cast, including Mandy Patinkin, Billy Crystal and Christopher Guest, The Princess Bride is an almost inconceivable delight from Oscar® Nominee Rob Reiner and Oscar®-Winning screenwriter William Goldman.

Legally Blonde

She's a California sorority girl who'll do anything to keep her man. Even if it means going all the way to law school! Reese Witherspoon (Election) stars with Luke Wilson (Charlie's Angels), Selma Blair (Cruel Intentions), Matthew Davis (Pearl Harbor) and Victor Garber (Titanic) in a knock-out comedy with a heart of gold and hair to match! Elle Woods (Witherspoon) is a California blonde with couture clothes, fabulous friends and the hottest boyfriend on campus. So when Warner Huntington III (Davis) suddenly dumps her and heads for Harvard Law School, Elle takes matters into her own perfectly manicured hands. She enrolls too! Now getting Warner back should be a snap, right? Wrong! Elle's about to begin the toughest fight of her life for love, honor, justice and respect for blondes everywhere!

The Secret of NIMH

Get ready to meet some runaway rodents with an earth-shattering secret! Suspenseful and heartwarming, this beautifully animated odyssey stars Mrs. Brisby, a mild-mannered mother mouse with a plan to move Heaven and Earth (or at least her house and home) to save her family from Farmer Fitzgibbon's plow! Along the way she gets some help from a lovelorn Crow, a busybody neighbor mouse and a fearsome Great Owl. Unfortunately, Mrs. Brisby will need an engineering miracle to hoist her home, and for that she must face a mysterious rat, fend off a ferocious cat and claim a magic amulet! But when Mrs. Brisby discovers the astounding secret of NIMH...it could change her life forever! This timeless tale of love, courage and determination will transport the whole family into an enchanting world where the bravest hearts live in the meekest of mice.

Would you like to win a copy of these three movies on BluRay for your family?  Just use the Rafflecopter below to enter by leaving me a comment telling me your New Year's resolution!  For an extra entry, you can tweet about the giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I was given the opportunity to receive copies of the MGM Classic movies for myself and a set to giveaway to my readers as part of my relationship with Fox Home Entertainment Insiders. All opinions expressed are my own.

Tales of Little Overhill: Belfry’s Christmas Gift {Book Review}

What is our favorite Christmas tradition?  Adding new books to our big pile of Christmas books!  Even with F&B being 12 and 9 this year, we love reading through all our different Christmas stories.  We've got a quite the collection now, easily 50+ books, classics and contemporary, Santa and Jesus, characters and stories.

This year, we are adding Theo's Tales of Little Overhill: Belfry's Christmas Gift to our collection and it's adorable!

In this heartwarming Christmas story from Theo's Tales of Little Overhill, Belfry must think of something to give Theo at the Christmas party. He soon discovers that the best gifts are not those wrapped in ribbons and bows. Belfry's gift is one that changes the life of a gruff and lonely clockmaker, someone shunned by all of the village animals. It is the gift of love!

Like the other Theo's Tales of Little Overhill books, this book shares important messages for kids, in a format they can easily understand.  Especially during the Christmas season, it's a great way to teach how the gifts that matter are from the heart, not the ones purchased and wrapped.

We loved it and are glad to include it as part of our favorite Christmas traditions.