Category Archives: Books

How to host your own Fancy Nancy tea party

Age 3-5, Age 5-7, Books, , , ,

My 4 year old daughter loves Fancy Nancy books.  Her favorite Fancy Nancy book is Fancy Nancy and the Late, Late, LATE Night.  She likes it when Nancy says “that’s a  fancy word for..”.   She’s learned a lot of fancy words from Fancy Nancy books, that’s for sure.

Summer is slowly slipping away from us but while your kids are still out of school and looking for fun things to do, below are some fantastic (and easy!) tips on how to throw together a kid-friendly tea party…Fancy Nancy style!

HOST YOUR OWN FABULOUS FANCY NANCY SOIREE

Summer is here and what better time to celebrate and invite friends over for an elaborate tea party Fancy Nancy style!   Fancy Nancy has the most fabulous (that’s a fancy word for great) ideas on how to throw the most magnificent and fanciest tea party in the neighborhood.

Here are a few tips supplied by THQ to help you put on a great tea party!

1)      Select a spectacular theme.  Be as ornamental as you can be!

2)    Pick a charming location, and pique guests’ senses by taking them to different locales without leaving your own backyard. For example, Nancy loves speaking in French.  Host a French-style tea party, complete with French foods and desserts. Fancy up the menu and invites with French words.

3)    Prepare edible arrangements and delectable treats.  Surprise guests with petite hors d’oeuvres or squared cucumber sandwiches.

4)    Set the table with your most colorful and fanciest tea sets.

5)    Pin The Tiara on Fancy Nancy!  Purchase a poster of Nancy.  Blindfold your guests and have them tape a paper tiara on the poster. Whoever is the closest to Nancy’s head, wins a splendid prize!

6)    Have your guests create a fancy party hat and beautiful jewelry complete with all the glitter, jewels and ribbons one can find.  Ask guests to bring their favorite fancy dress-up item, such as a boa or a tutu.

7)    Don’t let anyone leave without a spectacular goodie bag filled with costume jewelry, delicious candy and a variety of tea samples!

THQ also invites you and your friends to an interactive tea party with Fancy Nancy Tea Party Time for Nintendo DSi™ and DS™! The popular children’s property Fancy Nancy™, published by HarperCollins Children’s Books, makes its video game debut on Nintendo DSi™ and DS™ systems this fall.   I don’t know how excited my son will be about the game but you can bet I’ll enjoy it!  In Fancy Nancy Tea Party Time!, girls of every age can play as Nancy and become the fanciest girl around.

* If you host a Fancy Nancy Tea Party, send us photographs.. we might feature them on The Mommy Insider!

Find and buy dozens of Fancy Nancy books at Amazon.com here.

Visit the Fancy Nancy website to view all of the Fancy Nancy books, play Fancy Nancy games, send eCards and more.

Balance is a Crock, Sleep is for the Weak – A Book Review and Giveaway

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If I had to say just one thing about this book it would be – confidence booster.

I often feel like I’m the only mom in the world that’s overwhelmed.  I’m constantly trying to balance work and family life.  More often than not I’m dissapointed in myself at the end of the day because there’s still a pile of laundry on the floor, my 4 year old’s bedroom is a mess, one of my kids didn’t bathe, or I fed the kids macaroni and chicken nuggets.. for the 2nd time that day.  Lucky for me, I recently read Balance Is a Crock, Sleep is for the Weak by Amy Eschliman and Leigh Oshirak and have a different outlook on things.  I now know that other moms.. that’s you.. yes you!, suffer the same mental challenges that I do every day and it’s OK that we feel challenged and overwhelmed.  This book made me realize that it’s normal to feel overwhelmed and stressed out and that I don’t have to put on a show.  Ever since reading Balance is a Crock, Sleep is for the Weak, I’ve asked moms I meet what their stress level is on a scale of 1 to 10.  I often get a strange look, then a very quiet, whisper-like answer of either 10 or 12.  It’s always as if it’s a secret.  Why don’t moms feel like we can tell other moms that we are stressed out and overwhelmed instead of putting on the June Cleaver show and holding all of our stress in?  Reading this book provided a release of some serious tension.. I felt it and you’ll feel it too.

Amy and Leigh are veteran working moms who share their un-censored survival secrets and personal experiences with readers.  Amy and Leigh’s funny, honest stories and useful advice cover topics ranging from quick and easy cooking and organization, to work travel and doctor’s appointments. I found Balance is a Crock, Sleep is for the Weak to be a very easy read and actually looked forward to sitting in my reading chair (not used often) after the kids went to bed, to read this book.

Balance is a Crock, Sleep is for the Weak is an indispensable guide for working mothers and the perfect gift for expecting and new moms.

Buy the book.

Like Balance is a Crock, Sleep is for the Weak on Facebook.

Disclosure: The Mommy Insider received a copy of Balance is a Crock, Sleep is for the Weak for purposes of this review, free.

Book Giveaway!

We are giving 3 lucky readers a copy of Balance is a Crock, Sleep is for the Weak!  To enter, leave a comment telling us what your biggest daily challenge is whether it’s work, working out, exercise, your husband (ha!), or your kids.  Don’t want to leave a comment?  Also, follow @mommyinsider on Twitter and @theofficemoms for an extra entry per follow.  Be sure to leave your Twitter ID in your comment so we can confirm that you follow and give you 2 or 3 entries!

Entrants must live in the U.S. and be over 18 years old.

Entries accepted through August 24th, 2010.

Or you can fill out this form to enter to win:

Win it: 6.30.10 Twilight Saga T-Shirt giveaway!

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Contest ended July 10th. See winners below.

6-30 Eclipse Twilight Saga shirt giveaway

The Eclipse movie hits theaters on June 30 and to celebrate, CaféPress, home of the official fan-designed Twilight merchandise, is giving 5 lucky fans (AKA TheMommyInsider.com readers), a Long Sleeved Shirt with Edward’s Silhouette. The winners get to choose a size.

Can’t wait to see if you are one of 5 lucky readers who win a Twilight Saga shirt?
In addition, Twilight fans can select from over 926,000 Twilight-inspired products currently available on CafePress, or you can channel your passion for the Twilight series into creating a design of your own. How fun!

* To enter to win this Twilight Saga ‘6.30.10’ long sleeve t-shirt:

MANDATORY:
Tell us in the comments below what your favorite book in the Twilight series is.
Entries accepted through July 10th, 2010. Five winners will be chosen at random.

OPTIONAL/ADDITIONAL ENTRIES:
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Leaving a comment is mandatory but here are 3 more ways to earn entries.

– 1 extra entry: Follow us on Twitter (@mommyinsider)

– 2 extra entries: Subscribe to our email newsletterand/or our RSS feed with the email address you comment with

– 4 extra entries: Put our button on your blog. The button is in the right column.. over there >>Let me know you put our button on your blog (give us the URL) in your entry comment.
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After you enter to win below, Click here to go to CafePress.com’s Twilight website to browse their complete selection of Twilight merchandise.

And the winners are..

Audrey S., Elizabeth P., Ashley R., Andi L, and Sara B.

The Tessy & Tab Reading Club – Madelyn’s favorite books for travel

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Tessy and Tab Reading Club

We just got back from a week’s stay in Orlando and I’m not kidding you.. I read Tessy & Tab books every night and a few times over at that.  I received a set of Tessy & Tab Reading Club books to review and thought that they would be nice to take on our trip so I brought them along.  Once we got to Florida and in bed for the night I took the Tessy & Tab books out of my bag and a very excited Madelyn (4 years old) lined them up and chose one, then two, then three, then four Tessy & Tab books to read.  I usually read 3 books at bedtime and that’s it!  Not while we were in Florida.  That’s not the way it went.

Madelyn caught in the act of 'reading' a Tessy & Tab book

Tessy & Tab Reading Club books promote early independent reading for preschool children.  Each little book uses the six skills for early literacy in order to encourage kids to read alone sooner and with confidence.  Because they are so colorful and fun to read, Madelyn wants to read them over and over again.  I’m fine with it though because she really tries to read these books with me and loves the activities at the end of each book.  The colorful, ad-free magazines arrive in the mail twice a month with useful parent tools and fun learning activities.

Tessy & Tab books teach preschoolers how books work, narrative skills, letter knowledge, phonological awareness (say that 10 times really fast!), vocabulary, and number knowledge amongst other things.

A Tessy & Tab subscription includes:

  • 24 advertising-free magazines addressed just to them!
  • Two ad-free magazines each month
  • Plus, educational games and printable coloring pages available online.

A Tessy & Tab reading club subscription is a great and affordable gift for any preschooler in your life.

Visit the Tessy & Tab Reading Club website to learn more.


PicPocket Books – children’s books for the iPhone + a GIVEAWAY

Books, Entertainment, iphone, New posts, Past Contests, Summer Time Fun, , ,
PicPocket Books for the iphone

Now kids can enjoy their favorite books from your iPhone!  Forget the playstations, game consoles and DVDs, our mobile picture books will entertain and educate your child in the car, plane, train and more.

It’s almost a nightly ritual that after reading books, Madelyn gets my iPhone and read/watch two of Madelyn’s favorite PicPocket books; Eric And The Enchanted Leaf: The First Adventure by Deborah K. Frontiera and BlueBeary by Kathleen McMillan.

Madelyn with PicPocket Books app on my iPhone

PicPocket Books show both the words and the images from the book on your phone and readers can choose to read a PicPocket book to Madelyn or to have the narrator read it.   And coming soon, friends and family can read and record the story in their own voices!  Madelyn can touch the screen to turn the page or I can set the app to turn the pages automatically which I do when I’m hoping Madelyn will sit and watch the book by herself for a few minutes.  The story can be paused anytime as well.

Madelyn is showing interest in learning to read and PicPocket books are great for that because the words are highlighted as they are read.  The graphics are incredibly sharp and high quality, it’s just like reading a book but with a shiny screen.

PicPocket Books specializes in adapting and creating children’s books for the iPhone and iPod and that is noticeable in the quality of their apps.  They don’t develop other types of apps which I think would diminish the quality of their book apps.  Great job PicPocket Books!

Follow PicPocket Books on Twitter

PicPocket Books Facebook page

PicPocket Books website

PicPocket books range in price from .99 to $3.99 per book.  You won’t be disappointed!

PicPocket books Eric and the Enchanted Leaf iphone book

PicPocket Books GIVEAWAY!

One lucky reader will win 4 PicPocket Book titles, for the iphone/ipod, of their choice from and 2 Kids Math Fun iphone/ipod apps!

How to enter to win:

  • Mandatory – Fill out the form below.
  • Optional for an extra entry – After you fill out the entry form, leave a comment telling us what your favorite PicPocket Book app is and why you want to win.
  • Entires accepted through July 3rd