Strawberry Shortcake: Snowberry Days {Giveaway}

Did you love Strawberry Shorcake as a kid? I did, I even still have my dolls and they still smell a little a like strawberry.  I was even more excited that the relaunched the series when Faith was little.  We had the bigger dolls, the smaller figures, and most of the movies.

Even though she's a bit older now, we're still a bit excited that they continue to launch new movies for the Strawberry Shortcake series.  The newest title is Strawberry Shortcake: Snowberry Days:

‘Tis the season for winter fun in these berry cool Strawberry Shortcake episodes. A fun-filled playtime is interrupted when someone notices that the squirrels are low on supplies in “The Berry Long Winter.” Blueberry’s success with her own specially designed ice skates have the other girls feeling left out in “The Big Freeze.” And Raspberry’s spring fashion show plans are put “On Ice” when cold weather and an out-of-control fountain covers the catwalk fruit-colored ice. Join Strawberry and her berry best friends as they discover working with others ensures a Snowberry good time for everyone.

We also loved this cute coloring sheet of the movie cover, isn't it sweet?  Just click on the picture to pop up a larger, printable file.

Does your little girl love Strawberry Shortcake too?  We're giving away a copy of the new movie, Strawberry Shortcake: Snowberry Days, to one lucky reader.

Use the Rafflecopter below to enter, leaving me a comment telling me who your favorite Strawberry Shortcake character is.  My current one is Blueberry Muffin (she's a book lover too).

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Disclosure: This information, along a copy of Strawberry Shortcake and other goodies, was provided to me as part of my relationship with Fox Home Entertainment Insiders. All opinions expressed are my own.

The Best of Me {Giveaway}

Do you love Nicholas Sparks' books?  What about his movies?  Just in time for Valentine's Day, we're reviewing and giving away a copy of The Best of Me to one of our readers!

Based on the #1 New York Times Best Seller from celebrated author Nicholas Sparks comes this tender, romantic drama about the timeless power of love. When former high school sweethearts Dawson and Amanda (James Marsden and Michelle Monaghan) meet at a loved one's funeral 20 years after tragedy separated them, their love is reignited. As they recall and relive the past, they come to a deeper understanding about the choices they've made. Also starring Luke Bracey and Liana Liberato, and featuring beautiful scenery along with music by Lady Antebellum, The Best of Me is a powerfully romantic story of love, hope and second chances. 

The “Tears of Joy” Edition Blu-ray and DVD will include an all-new storyline and “Storybook” Alternate Ending so Amanda and Dawson finally get that second chance at love.

Would you like to win a copy of The Best of Me for yourself?  Just use the Rafflecopter below to enter and leave me a comment telling me who your Valentine is this year!

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Disclosure: This information, along a copy of The Best of Me and other goodies, was provided to me as part of my relationship with Fox Home Entertainment Insiders. All opinions expressed are my own.

The Book of Life Family Movie Night #BOLInsiders

Do you have family movie nights?

It's one of my kids' favorite things to do.  We have pizza or another easy dinner, make popcorn, put on jammies, and curl up in my bed with a good DVD.   Thanks to The Book of Life, we decided to do that as our plan this past Friday, after we finished up all our scout stuff.

Themed movie night! I can't emphasize how much we adore this theme.

Have you seen The Book of Life yet?  It's a new favorite of ours with amazing animation and a great story:

THE BOOK OF LIFE is a breathtaking animated comedy with a dazzling visual style unlike anything you’ve seen before. 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!

FYI, the dog looks great in a mask!

We've already watched it a few times, and we love the idea of making New Year's goals, family resolutions, etc.  F&B used the sheet below to make some of their goals.  This year, we all have book-reading goals, plus some extra family time.  I just booked an awesome Spring Break trip for us, and we are trying to do more quiet nights at home like game night or movie night.

Click on this for a printable copy.

Are you loving The Book of Life too?  Check out our ideas from National Reading Day, featuring the Book of Life, or our giveaway for your very own copy of the movie!

Disclosure: This information, along a copy of The Book of Life and other goodies, was provided to me as part of my relationship with Fox Home Entertainment Insiders. All opinions expressed are my own.

Make a Girl Scout Cookie Goal Flower Poster

It's almost cookie season in Colorado, our cookie rally is actually tonight, and Faith and I are still crafting for cookie booth ideas!  This year, our Cadettes are running the cookie rally and Faith is making Girl Scout Cookie Goal Flower Posters at her station.  We think these will be awesome keepsakes for each troop as a cute booth decoration.

Even better, they are very easy to make.  We've seen so many beautiful ideas out there, but we wanted to create ideas that are doable for all troops, of all crafting abilities.

What You Need:

• White poster board, half a sheet
• Green card stock or scrapbook paper
• Yellow card stock of scrapbook paper
• Variety of colors/patterns of scrapbook paper (stick with lighter prints)
• Markers
• Scissors
• Glue

How to Make Girl Scout Cookie Goal Flower Posters

• Precut the colorful scrapbook paper into 6 inch squares and pass out a sheet to each girl.
• Have them trace their hands on the paper and cut them out.
• Let the girls write their names on the palm of their cut-out hand.

• Cut a 1 inch strip from the green card stock for the stem, then two leaves from the same paper (I freehanded these), and a circle from the yellow card stock.
• Have the girls pick two cookie goals for the leaves and write them down, along with the troop number on the yellow circle and "Cookie Goals" on the stem.

• Glue the lower half of the stem down on your poster board, then tuck the tips of your leaves under it and glue them down.
• Carefully arrange the hands to make petals, and glue each one down in turn.  We measured against the yellow circle so all the names would show.
• Once the hands are arranged and affixed to the page, glue the rest of the stem into place, then glue the yellow center  on the very top!

Want more great Girl Scout Cookie Booth ideas?  Check out our extra easy Girl Scout Cookie Crowns, our Girl Scout Cookie box stop sign and bookmarks, and our Girl Scout Cookie Booth Banner!

The Book of Life {Giveaway}

Have you seen The Book of Life yet?  We are completely in love with this movie!  We got a chance to check out the digital version a couple of weeks ago and it was everything we had hoped for.  The animation is amazing and the story is awesome, filled with love, loyalty, and family, and Chuy the pig (we always end up loving the animal sidekicks).  Check out our Book of Life/National Reading Day and Three Kings Day posts for lots of more movie fun.

 THE BOOK OF LIFE is a breathtaking animated comedy with a dazzling visual style unlike anything you’ve seen before. 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!

 THE BOOK OF LIFE Blu-ray™ brings culture and comedy into your home with unforgettable special features for parents and kids alike. Continue the fun with an all-new bonus short “The Adventures of Chuy”, highlighting the film’s lovable scene-stealing pet pig.

We're hosting a family movie night this week for our family.  Wouldn't that be a great New Year's Resolution at your house?  We can help with a great movie giveaway for you and some fun family activity sheets and recipes.  Click any of the images below to enlarge them to printable size.

Would you like to win a copy of The Book of Life 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!

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Disclosure: I was given the opportunity to receive copies of The Book of Life for myself and a set to giveaway to my readers as part of my relationship with Fox Home Entertainment Insiders, along with assorted promotional items to facilitate The Book of Life posts. All opinions expressed are my own.

Happy National Reading Day! #BookOfLifeReading

It should come as no surprised at all that we are big book fans around here.  And National Reading Day is a perfect reason to celebrate books and reading.   (Well, not that we need more reasons, but just in case!)  So in order to celebrate today, we turned on the fireplace, picked up the books, and snuggled up on the couch for hours on end.  This may be something we'd do on normal days too, but we did make our reading lists for the year!

This is the start of Faith's list, I need more pages!

Click here to download a blank copy!

The Book of Life coming to DVD on January 27th, so we're combining that with National Reading Day to make cool family books, thanks to Pinhole Press.  Faith and Ben are having a great time designing their own books too.  Ours seem like mini-scrapbooks, but they'd also be awesome family storybooks if you had a little one.  Check out the Pinhole Press Book of Life collection here and my readers get an 10% off all Pinhole Press products with coupon code BOOKOFLIFE (expires 2/14/15).

In between our reading time, we did add some doodles and ideas to our sketchbooks and enjoyed some puzzle time, plus made lists of our favorite books.

• Me: The Eight, A Time to Kill, The Red Tent, A Handmaid's Tale, Girl in Translation
• Faith: Goddess Girls, anything about the Holocaust
• Ben: the I Survived series, Lunch Lady, Undead Pets
• All three of us:  Harry Potter!

What are your favorite books?

Disclosure: This information, along a copy of The Book of Life and other goodies, was provided to me as part of my relationship with Fox Home Entertainment Insiders. All opinions expressed are my own.

Happy Penguin Awareness Day!

January 20, 2015 is Penguin Awareness Day, and in celebration, we are very excited 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've always loved the penguins and can't wait to check this one out!  Will it be on your list this year?

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