Scrutiny by the Masses

Macy's Make A Wish/The Believe Project

Writing letters to Santa Claus is an age-old tradition for children all over the world. Macy's is collecting these letters in a special Santa letterbox at all Macy's stores. For each letter received, Macy's will donate $1 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The Believe Meter will measure  belief, based on our collective spirit – including the amount of letters received and other current events that reflect the season's generosity.

I think that this is an awesome idea, and I plan to take my little ones to Macy's this weekend to participate!  Why don't you join me?

And, if you need a shot of humor for yourself, check out The Be a Claus widget, which allows you to turn yourself into an animated Santa look-a-like, complete with a beard and hat! You can send your Santa avatar as an e-card to friends and family or upload it to your Social networking pages!

Did Someone Say HOT WHEELS? Sign Me Up!

Those are the most magical words ever spoken to my son.  At an age where you'd think he'd be outgrowing the little cars and the tracks and all of the "stuff" that goes along with them, he's still knee deep and thrilled to set them up and make them run.  I find Hot Wheels in my van, in my washing machine and even once in the fridge.  These babies are golden for him.  That's why I was tickled to be asked to review the Hotwheels Triple Stunt Starter Set and Power Loop set for The Parent Bloggers. 

Opening the box was staggering to me.  Bits and pieces and parts everywhere, with drawings for directions rather than written instructions, I was initially overwhelmed.  Not my son - at 9 years old, he's a veteran of the "too tough for Mom" directions and he took over.  Within minutes, he had both set constructed and was rolling away. The highlight of the Triple Stunt Starter set - which consists of the flame launch, an absolutely enormous crane and a 360 degree loop - was without a doubt the flame launch.  You can use them each separately or connect them all together for even more craziness. My son tried to make it more and more thrilling, ramping it up higher and higher and trying to think of ways to make it go "faster, faster!". The only downside for him was that he wasn't able to use some of the older cars that we have with the tracks - they were too heavy and fell off the tracks when going upside down.  That was another form of fun in itself, though - watching the cars flop off was exciting and we took turns figuring out why they didn't go. A lesson in physics at it's finest.

The Power Loop Set threw us for a loop - hahaha - because it required both a screwdriver and a battery, but the rest of the set up went smoothly.  This set was even more exciting than the first, but it was puzzling when we first set it up.  Why were all three tricks separate - you didn't loop them together, which is how I expected it to work. It was great, though, when he was able to compete against siblings and even his dad got in on the action.  It made for a fantastic, fun afternoon, and the final touch of beauty was that both sets stayed together when we moved them to another room.  It meant that the next day, he could start playing right away, rather than having to go through the entire set up all over again. 

Both sets were enormously entertaining and made for much fun in our house.  I'd highly recommend them for any car enthusiasts on your list this year - no matter how young or old!

Prematurity Birth Rates: We Have GOT To Do Better

Johnson's has partnered with the March of Dimes to launch the "Prevent Prematurity Campaign," in which Johnson's will donate ten cents to the March of Dimes for every Johnson's Baby product purchased during the months of November and December, or up to $100,000.

 

Yesterday, the March of Dimes released the nation's "Premature Birth Report Card."  The purpose of this report card is to raise public awareness of the growing crisis of preterm birth, so elected and appointed officials will commit more resources to address this problem and policymakers will support development of strategies that benefit mothers and babies.  Overall our nation's states averaged a "D" grade. Further details can be found at http://www.marchofdimes.com/aboutus/22684_42538.asp.

 

Photography Book Giveaway

Remember the American At Home book that I gave away?  Here's your chance to secure your own copy.  I'm going to run a contest!  The powers that be have graciously offered to donate three more copies to my readers.  With a book this good, there must be a gimmick, right?  No, not exactly a gimmick - but a chance to do something really cool. 

What do I have to do, you ask?  Simple.  Go to the website and follow these directions:

Upload a picture that you'd like to see on the cover of your own copy of America at Home.  Seriously, it was extremely easy, and it was so neat to see the finished project - which took all of three minutes - if that.  Email me your finished project at momtothescreamingmassesATgmailDOTcom. You don't have to purchase anything, no credit card number is needed, and you can even send yourself a copy of the cover.

The first contest will run from today, December 6 until December 15 and the theme is, naturally, Winter Holidays.   Any picture that you'd like to enter in that theme - I'll pick a winner on December 16 and email the winner, who will then contact the company to collect their book.

Looking Beautiful Online

I was recently sent a $100 gift card to use at Esteelauder.com, as a review for the site in conjunction with Blogher.

I really wasn't familiar with Estee Lauder.  It's a makeup line that is above my price point, and I have often thought of it as more of an "old lady" line of makeup and skin care.  Surprise!  How times have changed!  Esteelauder has recently undergone a dramatic overhaul, and it's now a great place to find the answers to just about any skin care question that you may have.  Worried about your foundation color?  Check out the Foundation Finder!  I often have a difficult time determining which shade matches to my skin tone.  I didn't know to check the undertone of my skin, and knowing that little detail helped me to realize that I was wearing the wrong shade for my skin.  It was also helpful to see the different coverage options spelled out for me - it overwhelms me to have so many choices, and by just answering four simple questions, that struggle disappeared. 

One thing I've always wondered how to do is create sexy, smoky eyes without looking as if I've been punched in the eye.  I'm, uh, not so gifted with the makeup brush apparently.  By using the  Model Looks page, I was able to see, step by step, exactly what I need to do, and replay it again and again until I mastered the technique.  And, hello?  The models used on the videos are amazingly gorgeous.  I want to look like them when I grow up.

I spent more than a few hours tooling around on the How To videos.  The Classic Look video in particular gave me new ideas and fresh tips.    Then, as a final salute, I found my favorite section of any web site:  The Special Offers.  It's a good thing I didn't have my credit card - the items that have been beyond my budget were on sale.  I could have accomplished an entire overhaul of the economy all by my lonesome.  The website is fresh and contemporary and the mascara and primer I bought were fabulous.  If you see me in real life, check out my eyelashes.  I double dog dare you.

Littlest Pet Shop - Those Spooky, Spooky Pets

Am I the ONLY person who finds these animals creepy looking?  Apparently I am, at least in my family - my kids eat these pets up with a spoon. We were delighted when The Parent Bloggers Network asked us if we wanted to review the newest game for DS - The Littlest Pet Shop.

My kids are huge DS fans.  We take the players with us everywhere we go, and it cracks me up to see all of the kids at the karate studio crowded around one little screen, watching each other play. It's a thing of beauty, because, miraculously, no one fights  - they just watch and root for each other. 

Starting with three pets, as you successfully care for those pets by feeding, playing and such, you can unlock and add more animals to your menagerie.  The naming part took FOREVER - names weren't deemed to be cool enough and then someone wanted a name that the other used, and on and on.  Once they named them, they were on their way.  The games were a hit for one of my girls, who is a little obsess with the coloring - Color Craze was a hit.  She colored and colored, erased and re did - I was grateful she wasn't using a ton of paper.

What did I like about this game?  There was no violence.  No hitting, no pushing, no banging or punching, at least in the game.  In order to get their own turn, though - that was another story. It appealed to all ages of kids - from my youngest pre reader to my teen, everyone loved the games and the pets and it was a hit, again and again.  When I asked them to think of a negative about the gmae, in order to balance the review, one of my kids thought for a minute and said, "We don't have two?"

I'm thinking I might need to buy another one - that way, they could all play. At once.