Two Monkeys & A Washtub

Friday, October 16, 2009

Toys 'R' Us Super Weekend Sale and a few other deals for the coming week!

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Logitech Mom Mixer & my new webcam! Save 20% on your own webcam!

Thanks MomSelect, Maria Bailey and Logitech! The Mom Mixer in DFW today was great! Such a great way to meet all the mom bloggers, website owners, and tweeters in person and I can't say enough great things about my new Logitech 9000 webcam! The webcam was so easy to install and setup, and besides the hotel internet service, the connection was great!

I can't wait to use this camera when I travel to keep in touch with my kids on a much more personal level! I'll be able to talk, laugh, and smile from anywhere with the Vid software that comes with a logitech webcam! By sending an e-mail, you can add a friend to your Vid program - so simple!

Logitech provided all of us at the mom mixer a great Logitech 9000 webcam to check out and wanted to give you the opportunity to save 20% and get free shipping on any webcam purchase from Logitech! Visit the Logitech site and enter logitech_moms_2009 to save! This would be the perfect gift for grandma and grandpa this holiday season too! Thanks so much to MomSelect and Logitech for such a great opportunity today! I can truly say that it was definitely worth taking off from work to meet all the great women!

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Music Review: Joshua Bell, At Home with Friends

As a member of the One2One Network, I get the opportunity to hear some of the most amazing musicians that I might not otherwise go out and purchase. Joshua Bell is one of those musicians! His recent album, At Home With Friends, is a masterful album that truly feels like you are sitting in a friends home listening to the piano being played. I highlighted my favorite tracks from the album below, but as you can see, there are some amazing musicians on this album with Joshua Bell. At Home With Friends covers all of the genres, from classical to pop, bluegrass to Broadway, jazz and ethnic World Music. There are even a couple of seasonal tracks in there, just in time to celebrate the holidays.

Here's a listing of the album tracks:
I Loves You Porgy featuring Chris Botti, trumpet
Come Again featuring Sting, vocals
Oblivion featuring Carel Kraayenhof, bandoneon
Cinema Paradiso featuring Josh Groban, vocals
Para Tí featuring Tiempo Libre, various
My Funny Valentine featuring Kristin Chenoweth, vocals
Maybe So featuring Edgar Meyer Sam Bush and Mike Marshall, strings
Grieg: Sonata No. 3 featuring Sergei Rachmaninoff (Zenph re-performance)
Eleanor Rigby featuring Frankie Moreno, piano & vocals
O, Cease Thy Maiden Fair featuring Nathan Gunn, baritone
Il Postino featuring Carel Kraayenhof, bandoneon
Left Hand Song featuring Regina Spektor, piano & vocals
Chovendo Na Roseira featuring Dave Grusin, piano
Look Away featuring Edgar Meyer, bass and Chris Thile, mandolin
Variant Moods: Duet for Sitar & Violin featuring Anoushka Shankar, sitar
I'll Take Manhattan featuring Marvin Hamlisch, piano
Left Hand featuring Regina Spektor, vocals

Whether you love classical music, or are just looking for a new CD to sit back and relax, this might just be the perfect CD for you! The CD was released in stores on September 29, so it might just be the perfect gift for someone this holiday season (if you think they can wait that long to own it)! Thanks to One2One Network for providing the opportunity to review this CD. Although the CD was provided, the thoughts and views are completely honest!

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Great Deals at Toys 'R' Us for Columbus Day!

Don't miss our Columbus Day Sale, Save over $725 with our great deals at ToysRUs.com. Offer good 10.9.09 to 10.12.09

NEW Bill Me Later Customers get $10 off $30

Celebrate Bricktober - ALL LEGO on Sale

Free DS Lite Carry Case ($21.99 value) with purchase of ANY DS Lite system

Free Baking Set, Receive a FREE Snow White Baking Set ($12.99 value) with a Disney Princess purchase of $25 or more

Get'em Now: Avatar Movie Action Figures

See our SpookTacular selection of Halloween Costumes

20% off purchases of $75 or more at ToysRUs.com. Offer ends 10.10.09 Online Only (exclusions apply)

20% off purchases of $75 or more at ToysRUs.com. Offer ends 10.10.09 Online Only (exclusions apply)

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Upcoming Kid's Workshop at Lowes - Saturday, 10/10!

Build this ball toss game at Lowe's with your kids on Saturday, October 10 from 10:00-11:00AM! I noticed when I registered that it now states available for the first 50 kids that have registered online! So make sure you register ahead of time at Lowe's website! The workshops are always free, and your kids will get a kid-size apron, goggles, and a cool achievement patch! Please note that it recommends the projects for 1st through 5th graders, but we have been taking our 3-year old since he turned 2! With dad's help, he has done fine with these projects!

Zhu Zhu Pet Hamsters Product Review!

My boys were so excited when a huge box arrived for them from MomSelect! The box was filled with all the makings of a Zhu Zhu Pets Party, so we hid the box away for a few weeks to keep the anticipation of a new toy for the kids and scheduled a Pizza and a Playdate with friends! We had seven kids ranging in age from 15 months to 5 years playing with the Zhu Zhu Pets playset and seven hamsters for about two hours. The hamster playset held up pretty well since all the kids were boys except for one and the youngest ones continued to attempt to destroy the setup during the entire time. Recommended age from the manufacturer is 4-8 years, so we kept a pretty close eye on the kids while they were playing! We tried out all the pieces shown below except the bed & blanket and carrier & blanket!

Pros:
Hamsters are adorable, turn off automatically after 4 minutes of inactivity, are not too loud when they make noise, and are about the same size as an adult hamster. The playset pieces were fairly easy to set up, but they were in more pieces than I expected so plan to spend time setting it up while reading the instructions. These hamsters have the look of the real thing without the mess!

Cons:
The garage portion continued to break under minimal pressue, so we finally gave up on it and just played with the car. All the parents agreed that although the car was really cute, it may not be worth the hassle of continually fixing the garage top. It's not a toy that you can easily dismantle and setup again if you don't have a lot of room to spare.

Overall the kids all loved the hamsters and the playsets (as you can see from the pictures) and we were grateful that every kid was able to take home a hamster to keep and each family was able to take a piece of the playset home (Thanks MomSelect)! Zhu Zhu Pets seem to be sold out at most stores already and are selling high on eBay. If your kids seem interested, and you see them in a store, don't wait to buy them! The prices on Toys 'R' Us seem reasonable, but I don't think I would spend more than about $15 on a hamster! For the playset, I would suggest spending your money on the Hamster Fun House, the adventure ball, and the slide with ramp. Although the car is really cute, the garage was very frustrating for both parents and kids! To check out these items and more Zhu Zhu Pets, click the pictures below or check them out at Zhu Zhu Pets.com! From the manufacturer's webpage, the toys are available at Wal-Mart, Toys 'R' Us, and Amazon but are selling out quicker than they can be manufactured!

Thanks so much to MomSelect and Cepia, LLC for the opportunity to review these cute ZhuZhu Pets! Once the accessories are available, we will likely be purchasing a few more pieces for our "pet" hamsters!