Keep your kid Curious!

If you have a child like mine, than animals are big in your household. We love cats, monkeys, horses, donkey's pretty anything that isn't human.

When I opened up Curious Critters by David Fitzsimmons, bella-boo's reaction was expected.

"you got me my ANIMAL book mommy?!"

While I haven't actually got a chance to read the book to her yet, she has read it to me about four times a day, The pictures in the book are beautiful, big and true to life.

Now I did get a chance to look through the book myself and I think that if Bella-boo could get over the pictures, I think she would really like meeting all these animals. The Ohio Crayfish has a bit of an attitude, while the Eastern Screech Owl is a bit sleepy from hunting all night.

This group of eccentric critters will get you're little one excited about animals  (that is if they aren't already)  While teaching them their habits and other facts.

And for those mamas who aren't too fond of creepy crawlies and flying rodents. Don't fear they're trapped on the pages of this book and they even look kind of cute.

This book will entertain kids for a long time, its a book they can grow with.

To find more about Curious Critters be sure to check out the website at
http://www.curious-critters.com/

 I received a free copy of "Curious Critters" for this review. All opinions are  100% mine I did not receive any cash payments for this review.

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Get your baby to sleep... and a giveaway.

Sleep can be a hectic time, while it should be a time to relax and calm down so our babies can calm down and sleep, it can so often turn into a fight where everyone is overtired and stressed out. 

I struggled for a long time with putting my little one to sleep, I think our biggest problem was a lack of bedtime routine. I know, that everybody says that, but it doesn't have to be a complicated, bath, book, song, type thing.

 As a mother in school; most nights I don't have the time to do all of that, I need to study, cook diner, and clean. I don't need to add cleaning a bathroom full of water to that list! 

So my best tip for getting a baby to sleep is picking something simple! That you really have time to do each night, for us its just reading a book, we have a select few books that are relatively short, calm, and repetative so that Annabella can get involved in reading them. Its important that they be nice calm books rather then books about monsters or silly animals. This tends to make them silly, so I try to avoid books like that. The classic Goodnight Moon is always a good choice. My mother bought Annabella a book called I Love You More by Liza Baker, and we read that almost every night. Its a nice way for both of us to go to sleep.

If you have child who has a cold, you might face some serious sleep troubles. Especially if you're child is still nursing. It can be very difficult for them to breath and eat at the same time, and sometimes this can get frustrating for a little one. 

Maty's Baby Chest rub is an all natural chest rub designed to clear up congestion in infants as young as 3 months old! 

With Eucalyptus, Menthol and Chamomile it not only clears it calms. Its Menthol and Petroleum free!  A great choice for those nights and days when the nasal aspirator just isn't cutting it.

You can find Maty's at these retailers.

Or you could win one!

Maty's is offering one Mommypant's reader a sample of their all natural Baby Chest Rub! 

To Win!

You must 'like' Maty's on Facebook and 'follow' Maty's on twitter

then

Share your best tip to get baby to sleep in the comments below!! Be sure to leave you're email address if it isn't linked to you're google reader picture!

Winner will be chosen on October 31 2011 at random!

Also be sure to 'like' Maty's on Facebook to enter the 'Sleep like a baby' photo contest for a chance to win the entire line of Maty's products plus  35% off your next purchase or one of 2 other prizes! For official rules and prize eligibility check out the Maty's Facebook Page

I received a free sample of Maty's Baby-Chest Rub for this review, all opinions are my own. I did not receive any cash payments for this review


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Every Man Jack

If you are lucky enough to have a hard working man in your life, you no doubt are familiar with the 'essence' that sometimes can surround them after a hard day's work.

In the past I would buy him Old Spice, I mean, it smells like a grandpa, its cheap.. and lets be honest it works on even the strongest sti---errr 'essence'

But the ingredients are less then acceptable on conventional aftershaves and colognes for men. It seems (or at least to me anyways) that if men care about how they smell, for the most part they have to forego body washes and shave creams that are also good for the environment unless they want to spend a fortune (and we don't)

I was more then excited to receive a sample of Every Man Jack to try out with my daughter's father. I finally don't have to feel guilty that he's the only person in the family without a natural beauty regime.

First of all let me talk about the scents, soo manly..

They smell the way a man should smell, take the cedar-wood scent for example, its so deep and herbal, with hints of rosemary and sage. I LOVE this smell, I have been caught a few times nose to the bottle of body wash.. ahh

I like how the body bars are designed to also to massage while you scrub. 

The body wash also went over better then expected, I bought a long handled scrub brush and I must say that the Daddy in the house has been scrubbing away and taking much longer in the shower then normal, and smelling Oh so good.

There is even a men's face lotion, which I still haven't really gotten Daddy to use daily, I think the concept is a bit new for him, but I tried out the lotion and really liked it, it was light so it didn't seem like it would clog pores (which can lead to bumps)

There is even a 15 SPF lip balm designed for men.

If you have decided to green you're husband's routine, Every Man Jack is the way to go, not only is it good for everybody involved but its AFFORDABLE! Prices range from $6-$8 and you can find it at Target, While Foods,  Bed Bath and Beyond and other retailers, check out this page

http://everymanjack.com/pages/Retailers.html

 for more places to get Every Man Jack

I received a selection of Every Man Jack products for this review, all opinions are 100% mine I did not receive any cash payment for this review.

I won!

I just won an AMAZING prize from Sonoma Bento, check out her blog at

http://sonomabento.blogspot.com/

for  some awesome bento lunches!

Sante Nuts

Lots of brands claim to be the 'best', but its rare that I find a nut that blows the others out of the water. A nut is (for the most part) a nut, and since I tend to stick to organic, and natural brands. I find that I don't usually find one that is mind-blowingly better then another....all that has changed

After one bite of the Sante Roasted Salted Pecans, I was hooked. I actually said; out loud "Wow" they were that good. Not only were they crunchy, they tasted fresh, like someone had just grabbed them out of the oven, and handed me the bag.

Curious if others would have the same reaction I brought the Candied Walnuts to class with me the next day (I sure wasn't going to bring the candied pecans with me I was saving those for last) I wasn't surprised when my classmates had the same 'Wow' reaction! They were super curious "where did you get them?" "how much" I directed them to the Sante Nuts website, so they could get some!

I tried the Garlic Almonds with Annabella's dad, the flavor was a surprise, sweet and spicy at the same time! Great to serve at a football game.

Last I tried the Candied Pecans... alone. As I had assumed after the other flavors, they were pretty much the best nuts ever. They evoked memories of candied nuts that my grandfather made and sent home with my father in the winter. I'm hooked!

The nuts were developed by Sara Tidar in her kitchen, with techniques learned from her Grandmother, Sarah has come up with an amazing product, I bet her grandmother is proud!

Also you'll find a bunch of great recipe for the nuts here!

To try them for yourself (and I highly suggest that you do) Prices range from $4.99 to $5.29 for a 4 oz bag.

 Go to www.santenuts.com

Don't forget to enter the Coupon to receive 25% off your order! 

(Good through December 16, 2011)

Coupon

2011-Blog-021

Just enter that code during checkout!

I received a free sample of Sante Nuts for this review. All opinions are 100% mine. I did not receive any cash payments for this review.

much more then "One Sweet Cookie"

Fall is here! Which means that we need some sweet stuff to go with all that warm cider and hot chocolate that's in our mugs. 

"One Sweet Cookie" is a  collection of recipes amazing New York chefs including Lidia Bastianich, Jaques Torres and Mario Batali! It was compiled by Tracey Zabar a jewelry designer and author. The photographs of the cookies by Ellen Silverman are elegant and make you want to try every one you see.

© Ellen Silverman.

This book has some delicious recipes! Including (as you can see from the cover) a recipe for Whoopie Pies!  I haven't made them yet, because I haven't had the time with school, and these cookies take a bit more time then I've had available. 

But I did try the 'Cowboy Cookies' from Mario Batali, and I think they may be my new favorite cookie.

I also made the Almond Kipferl a recipe from Kurt Gutenbrunner.  They were very simple to make and I had all of the ingredients in my house! 

Look at them;

They're made with ground almonds so they have a really nice taste and crunch to them!

My other taste tester agreed

This is a great book to prepare for cookie swaps and Christmas parties! You'll impress them with Lemon Poppy Seed Linzers and Pumpkin Maple Walnut Cookies. With a book like this you'll be able to share (or not share) some of the best cookie recipes in New York with your family. 

I can't wait to send a tin of these to school with Annabella for her teachers, they'll love a change from the usual sugar cookies!

The book retails for $30

© One Sweet Cookie: Celebrated Chefs Share Favorite Recipes by Tracey Zabar,

Rizzoli New York, 2011.

I received a free copy of  "One Sweet Cookie" for this review, all opinions are 100% mine. I did not receive any cash payment for this review

Sweet tights to liven up your outfit!

Winter is here, that means its time for tights again. While some women dread this time of year, I find myself looking forward to this time of year. I like fun tights, and I love thick tights with sweater dresses and boots, its cozy and it looks adorable!

If you haven't yet heard of Sculptz tights, you're about to.  Its a line of Silkies tights that are made with shape panels to help get you looking you're best under that dress! Not only are they high quality tights with adorable prints, but they have special shaping panels that help to get you're body looking great under that dress! Designed to slim you're hips and thighs, lift your rear and flatten your tummy these make tights a must have.

The first thing I noticed about the tights were how thick they were, I come from a time when runs in your stockings were cool (at least I thought they were.... they really were never cool)  But the Silkies tights were nice and thick, they were made very well and actually stayed without a run for my ENTIRE day! This was pretty much impossible for me till these tights came along. 

The other great feature of the tights was the tummy panel, I love wearing figure hugging dresses, because I'm pretty thin, but even my skinny belly can get a bit of a 'pot' as we like to call it. And there is nothing more unflattering then having a bulge in the front of you're skin tight dress....

I loved the designs of the tights too.  I was sent two pairs of the tights the Paisley Shaping Tights

Go to the site for a close up, these tights are SO detailed! I loved wearing them not only because they called attention to my legs......who doesn't love that, but also because when I was bored.... I could enjoy the psychedelic paisley on my legs......

I was also sent the Animal-Print shaping tights, just in time for Halloween! Although I've broken them out twice already, in case you haven't noticed, animal print is HUGE this year! Its being worn by almost every celebrity, and it looks great on everyone. If you're not brave enough to go all out leopard or zebra, these tights are a FANTASTIC way to bring the animal trend to the everyday wardrobe.

I think that these tights are brilliant, they almost remind me of a fishnet but smaller holes (go to the site so that you can get a super closeup of them) They would be fantastic to wear to the office or out to diner.

The Animal-Print and the Paisley Tights retail for just $15 a pair!

Silkies offers some great tights other then these two styles, the Cashmere Tights would be a perfect addition to a fall wardrobe, warm and cozy. They're only $35 a pair! They also have footless, and toe-less tights for those of us who like to let our toes peek.

Head on over to Silkies and check out all the great styles, designs and deals they have to offer!

I received two free pairs of Sculptz by Silkies tights for this review. All opinions are  100% mine. I did not receive any cash payments for this review.

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