ONCEKids – Books and DVD’s That Encourage Curiosity and Friendship

Kids are funny. (Okay, more accurately, kids are weird, but “funny” is much kinder.) Just this afternoon my older son opted to rest among the trees and read his book rather than watch his little brother’s baseball game. Ten-year-old me would have seen the logic in this move. Adult me was just bewildered, and lured him out of his hiding place with the promise of lemonade.

My point is that you never know what will interest them. We all love reading in my family so I assumed they would love it too. Obviously it has stuck with the older kid, but the younger one is unpredictable. So I didn’t know quite what to expect when I put these books from ONCEKids in front of them.

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With titles like “Red Penguin and the Missing Sushi,” and Silent Samurai and the Magnificent Rescue,” the books and DVD’s from ONCEKids are meant to expose children to Asian cultures. But the general idea is sharing, meeting new people, adventure, and more idealistic positive things that kids should learn. The stories are told with engaging, colorful images in quality printed books.

ONCEKids “seeks to expose and excite young readers around the diverse elements from several Asian cultures. Through the stories and supplemental activities and materials ONCEKids stimulates discussions at home, in the classrooms, and among educators and librarians.”

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My younger son enjoyed them – he is in 2nd grade, and a developing reader, so they are perfectly at his level. The DVDs are better for even younger children.

I have a set of ONCEKids books and DVD’s to give away to a local winner who would like to pick them up. Please leave a comment here and if you are chosen at random from all entries received before 11:59 PM on Saturday, May 9, I will arrange to get the set to you.

Spongebob Movie – Game Giveaway

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In my house, we have one iPad. I was really excited when we got it because I thought it would make a lot of things easier for me. Well, after a few years of iPad ownership, not much has changed. I still prefer to do most of my work on my laptop. But my kids…well, it pretty much changed everything for them. They can spend way too much time surfing games, playing games, and messing around with Photo Booth. So, in one way it did make my life easier. I can use it to occupy them in a pinch.

Since they are the iPad game experts around here, I had them play Sponge on the Run to check it out so I could share something about the game for you. My younger son just loves it. He is a huge Spongebob fan anyway. My older son approached the game with a more critical eye. “It’s just like Temple Run,” he said on first launching the app, but he quickly got into it and reached levels of accomplishment that I will never see. What? I played the game too. But I suck at it. Still, it’s fun! Spongebob has grown on me over the years, so I enjoy flicking his little weird body around the screen collecting coins.

You can suck at it too while your kids rock it – Paramount has given me 5 free game codes to give away. I won’t make it hard for you. If you have a Spongebob fan who is also a game-player, just leave a comment on this post and make sure your correct email address is entered. I’ll give a code for a free download to the first 5 commenters (one per family please).

Bikini Bottom fans can venture off the beaten path with the all-new SpongeBob SquarePants game, SpongeBob: Sponge on the Run, based on the upcoming The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, in theaters February 6.  In the app, SpongeBob and Plankton are racing to find the lost Krabby Patty formula in 3 seaworthy locations including Bikini Bottom, Apocalyptic Bikini Bottom and a real-world beach.  When he is not running, SpongeBob is flying past obstacles with Plankton’s jetpack, floating in a bubble through a coral forest, racing through Bikini Bottom in the Patty Wagon, or has Plankton jumping through his surreal imagination.  When the running gets tough, SpongeBob gets heroic as he transforms into Super SpongeBob.  The new upgrade allows SpongeBob to knock through any obstacle in his way without risk.

I received a download code to facilitate this feature and giveaway.

Instantly Fabulous with Secret Extensions [Giveaway]

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(This is not all my hair. Shhh! It’s a secret. Read to bottom for giveaway.)

One of my favorite things to do lately, when I see friends, is to show up or receive guests wearing my new Secret Extensions extra hair. It looks like I’ve gotten extensions put it in, or for people I haven’t seen in a long time, like my hair got really long since they saw me last.

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And then I make them watch as I take the extensions out. It’s a remarkably simple maneuver – I just take off the invisible headband that is fitted on the bottom with hair that matches my own. Wearing the extensions is as easy as putting on a headband. And it looks so natural and fabulous.

(My kids, of course, had to try them, too. I didn’t get a photo, but trust me, on a boy it looks like the most fabulous mullet you can imagine. Here are my extensions taking a little rest:)

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It’s Secret Extensions, and it’s only $29.99!

Here’s how it works – the spectacular Helen Crutchfield, who was on hand at the event where I received a fantastic blowout and custom-shaped Secret Extensions – explains and shows you how:

Daisy Fuentes is the cover girl for Secret Extensions, and she has a video too:

The extensions I have are actually the double weft – you can pay extra to get double the thickness depending on the thickness of your hair.

To order, just go to the Secret Extensions website. For readers of this blog, you can get free shipping if you CLICK HERE and use the promo code “daisy.”

If you have a good stylist, bring the extensions to him or her and have them trimmed to fit the shape of your hair.

Secret Extensions also makes removable bangs (I KNOW!) and a funky ponytail extension that makes it look like you have a cute little up-do in a snap!

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The best news is that I am giving away a set of Secret Extensions here on this post! Just leave a comment below to let me know that you want to enter and make sure I have your contact information by using a real email address. Enter by 11:59 PM on Monday, February 10 – a random winner will be chosen from all qualified comments. No need for tweeting or sharing for extra entries (but I would love it if you’d share with friends who might like this post). The winner just has to tell Secret Extensions what color hair she has, and they will send her some new extra hair!