With three growing kids and a new school year just underway, my thoughts have been focused on new outfits for everyone. The back to school shopping routine has been complicated in the last two years as my kids' school schedule has shifted by several weeks. With classes beginning in the first weeks of August, there isn't a lot of motivation to stock up on the fall clothing they'll need in a few months, but they've played hard all summer in their warm weather clothes, and they all needed some wardrobe freshening.

Trying to decide what to buy now, and what to buy later... it's a challenge. That said, new socks and underwear are always on the list. So when the Parent Bloggers Network offered to outfit my kids with new socks and underpants from Hanes, I was thrilled.

My youngest wasn't quite big enough for the sizing offered for this program, but I was downright giddy to receive new boxers and briefs for my eight-year-old son, bikinis and briefs for my nine-year-old daughter and new ankle-length socks for both kids.

We're a Hanes family from way back. Early on, I'd try to save a few pennies by purchasing socks and underpants from other labels. I'd bring home packages of socks with toe seams that rubbed blisters into my kids' toes, and stretched out or wore out after just a few wearings. We've never had those problems with the socks we've purchased from Hanes - the yarns they use are simply stronger and thicker, and provide more cushioning for busy feet. The construction on the heel and toe fits better in their tennis shoes - no balling up or blisters from these socks - and best of all, the elastic ribbing on the tops of the socks just doesn't give up.

My daughter has always been finicky about her underpants - elastic that digs in or doesn't stay put causes her (and me) no end of grief. We've battled over panties for years - until once again, we found that Hanes made excellent, comfortable panties and briefs that do not ride up, and move comfortably with your kids without binding or irritating. They are 100% cotton, which is actually really super-soft and the tagless design is a huge bonus.

My son is very slender through the hips, and while he prefers boxer-briefs most of the time, he was delighted try out Hanes No Ride Up Briefs and No Gap Fly Boxers. The premium cotton and great styling - especially the tagless design and wide, covered waistbands make both of these options comfortable and non-irritating. I was really pleased to see how cleverly styled the No Gap Fly Boxers are - they allow total freedom of movement without the risk of accidentally exposing anything. Hanes, for the win!

Thank you Hanes, for allowing my family to go back to school in comfort and style!

To see what the rest of the Parent Bloggers Network reviews had to say - be sure to check out the roundup.

Posted by Jenny at 6:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The box arrived with the usual fanfare. My dog hates delivery trucks, and started barking and leaping at the front door before the truck had banged to a stop. A quick slam of the gate later, I emerged, blinking against the bright sunlight to find a giant box sitting in the middle of my walkway, surrounded by my three children, who were hooting, doing some sort of tribal dance and drumming on the top.

As yes, the final week of summer vacation.

With the help of my kids, who were taking as much credit for the arrival of the box as a pack of Woolly Mammoth hunters would be for bringing down a furry elephant, we hauled it inside, and ripped open the seal.

See, I knew that I would be doing a review of the new M&M's Premiums chocolate candies for BlogHer, but I figured that I'd be getting a small sample, or a few coupons or something. I assumed this had to be something else.

As soon as I cracked the seal on the box and got a look, I started laughing. I had a giant box of 35 pounds of super-deluxe candies, nested in a shiny silver liner to keep them cool. I swear to you that as soon as the first flap was lifted, a chorus of angels sang and a sunbeam struck the silver liner, rendering the kids awestruck. I seized this moment of temporarily spellbound children to grab one of the end flaps on the box and started dragging that thing towards my bedroom as fast as I could go.

The kids instinctively knew that there was some high quality stuff in that box. I tried to convince them that it was rocks. Then, when they got the whiff of chocolate, I told them that it was special grown-up Lady Chocolate and not for kids.

LadyCandy. Aw yeah.

I handed each kid a random box and shooed them away. Faced with 57 remaining boxes of gorgeously colored chocolate, my mind began to work. Should I empty the boxes into a giant pile and play pirate's treasure? Should I wait until my husband came home from work and leave a trail of M&M's Premiums down the hall and into the bedroom, where I would be waiting on a bed covered with pretty little candies? Shaking the vision of doing M&Ms angels in a snowdrift of candy, I wisely decided to hold off on any drastic action.

I called my co-workers and taunted them about my giant box of candy instead. They loved that, as you can imagine, and advised me not to eat them all myself, because they were afraid the resulting sugar buzz and giggling fits could cause the earth to fall off its axis.

I really love the packaging - they have an elegant, hour-glass shape to the box, and the inner wrapper is resealable - which, as Chris noted, is so adorable. Actually, my nine-year-old is using a few of the boxes as storage for some of her little trinkets and collections of tiny things. At a generously sized 6 oz each, you can really get your snack on - and still be able to share with a friend.

One of the really distinctive things about these candies is the lack of the candy shell. I'm a girl who chews up my cough drops, and can't be bothered to let things melt in my mouth, but hand to the heavens, with the rich flavors and creamy consistency of the chocolate on these new M&Ms, I was moved to put one candy in my mouth at a time and just let it happen. And it was gooooood.

The five flavors are:

Triple Chocolate - "truly tempting layers of milk chocolate, white chocolate & dark chocolate"

Mint Chocolate - "sinfully good white chocolate mint wrapped in dark chocolate"

Raspberry Almond - "berry blissful raspberry flavored white chocolate & almond wrapped in dark chocolate"

Mocha - "simply tantalizing mocha flavored milk chocolate"

Chocolate Almond - "delightfully delicious freshly roasted whole almond wrapped in milk chocolate"

As you can see, there is something for everyone to love here. I'm partial to the mint and triple-chocolate myself.

Last Wednesday was the first day of school for all three of my kids - for the first time ever. After I returned home from dropping the kids off and settled down at my desk with a cup of coffee, it felt anti-climactic. Where was the party?

Right here. Here's a little party for ya.

I've been gleefully sharing my bounty with my family and friends - and the reactions have all been pretty dramatic - everyone is blown away by the great new flavors and beautiful gem-like colors.

You have GOT to try them.

Don't want to take my word for it? Head over to the roundup page and see what my fellow reviewers had to say!

Posted by Jenny at 8:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

When MomCentral emailed me and asked if I'd like to check out some of Walt Disney Record's new albums for the whole family, I jumped at it. My kids have grown up watching the Disney Channel, and my five-year-old is, to put it mildly, obsessed with the music on all the shows - and between them.

Remember this?

Rocking Out to Choo Choo Soul from BigSliceJenny on Vimeo.

Here we are, a few years later, and FINALLY! We have the CD in our hands. No more pausing TiVo and rewinding thirty million times!

I've been a huge fan of Choo Choo Soul since the very first video hit the airwaves, and more importantly, so have my kids. Genevieve and DC have put together a fantastic collection of songs for kids that ARE NOT CHEESY. I hear that the discs will be available August 22.

We also received They Might Be Giants' Here Come the 123s. Filled with the wit and bouncy alt-rock vibe they are known for, we all love this album as much as the earlier No! - and that's A LOT. Nothing gets my kids moshing around the living room, cracking up and dancing like fools like TMBG.

Ralph's World's The Rhyming Circus take a sweeping approach to genres - there's a little something from everywhere in these songs, and it is so fun to watch the kids change their movements and their attitudes as the music shifts from rock to country to oompah and back again.

The kids were excited to see Juice Box Heroes from Imagination Movers in the stack of CDs, too. This one didn't get as much airtime as the others so far, but I've got to say, I'm impressed with the catchy hooks and funny lyrics.

The final disc we received is the Disney Music Block Party - featuring classic songs from the Disney movies performed by popular artists and characters from the Playhouse Disney crowd. I was more excited about this one than the kids - they haven't seen many of the films that these songs are from, but I was really pleased with the fresh takes on some of my old favorites.

Thank you, Disney and MomCentral! If you'd like more information on this great new catalog of albums, visit Disney Music Block Party.

For more reviews, check out the round up post at MomCentral.

Posted by Jenny at 5:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The box arrived and I put it in my office, ready to unveil it on the weekend. And then I forgot about it for a couple of weeks. With 6 weeks, left until my review date - I suddenly remembered (woke up from a dead sleep in a panic, in fact) and tore it from its packaging.

We did the basic set up in less than five minutes - the instructions were clear and easily followed. I appreciate that, especially now that my kids are old enough to want to do it all themselves. After spending a good 10 minutes happily raking the growing medium into zen garden-like patterns with the miniature green rake and then patting it smooth with the miniature green shovel, we headed out to the local garden center to buy seeds for the kit.

I urged my kids to select some herbs seeds, and I wandered around selecting some other goodies for the yard. When we got home, the kids planted their seeds, and we placed the greenhouse on the counter.

Flash forward one week - we've got a few little seedlings popping up, and we followed the instructions and changed out the water.

Week two - lots of little seedlings now - we switch the water again.

Week three - the seedlings are thick now, and we weed a bunch of them out. The little sprouts are starting to reach toward the window now. We switch out the water.

Week four - wow - the plants are really starting to take off. We've got lots of leafy goodness going on.

Week five - what. the. heck. happened? The plastic greenhouse top has been knocked asunder and the sides and swiped a bunch of the little plants out of the growing medium. We replant them as best as we can, and move the greenhouse up higher. My five-year-old disavows any knowledge of the plant mayhem.

Week six - miraculously, some of the plants have survived. The morning my review is due, I grab the camera, and wander out into the kitchen to snap a photo of our little victory garden.

Catastrophe. Literally. Our little garden lay on its side, with my cat crouching over it, looking drunk. It seems that we planted catnip, instead of the oregano seeds I had help the kids select.

Um, whoops!

I opted to clean up the growing medium and throw the cat outside, rather than take a photo of the mess.

The Hydro Greenhouse was a fun, easy project for the kids - as an all-around black-thumbed gardener, I appreciated the easy set-up, and the continuously fed watering system. The growing medium was really pretty cool, and the seedlings seemed to thrive in their little plastic house.

We're going to give the Hydro Greenhouse another shot - and this time? We're sticking with oregano.

To read what my fellow Parent Blogger reviewers had to say - check out the roundup.

Posted by Jenny at 8:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This fun adventure starts off when you select your pet - you can either choose to be a cat or a dog - or if you're not sure, the game will help match you with your perfect pet with a fun questionnaire. Right after I helped my five-year-old start up the game, she mastered the simple navigation, and grabbed her older sister for a two-heads-are-better-than-one play session. They were having a blast navigating the island and "buying" toys and outfits for their new pet, and I enjoyed the relative peace and quiet.

Later in the week, I took a spin around Vacation Island, although I did it on a different DS (we have several) and the date was off by a day or two for some reason. I was scolded by a rock in the game for reasons unclear to me - seriously, a rock. I made it sad. I am so not even close to understanding all of THAT.

So, while Go Pets: Vacation Island wasn't as engaging for me, my kids all loved it. With my assistance, they learned how to connect to the wifi and went global - briefly. They really enjoyed all the mini games that are part of the play, and enjoyed learning how to befriend other pets.

This is a really fun addition to our little arsenal of DS games, and unlike other titles, the kids are really still enjoying it. Thanks MomCentral!

Posted by Jenny at 7:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The decade that brought you wonders like (the original) Charlie's Angels and Captain and Tennille also brought you the stunning architectural design I've got going on in my bathroom. Fake dark-wood cabinets topped by a Formica slab in a really odd yellow, with a white sink.

When we bought our home in 2000, the plan was to update everything as we had the time and budget.

And then we didn't. Whoops!

So we've got this, um, vintage situation going on. It's sort of grody, actually.

Mom, avert your eyes. No matter what I try, that mildewy nastiness just keeps coming back... and any sealant from years past is long gone. It has been time to recaulk this sink for 10 years. And we totally were gonna, I swear. TOTALLY. And I do so clean my sink. It just keeps coming back. It's not my fault!

You can't argue with the excellence that is this jewel-like faucet. Ba-da-bling!

Now, that is high class. They don't make 'em like that any more. Or, um, if they do? They probably should knock it off.

So! Onward. I grabbed the little package and despite the super-reflective packaging, managed to get a shot. Behold!

I peeled the directions off the back of the package, to find that pages one and two were comically sealed to each other, allowing me to view only pages three and four. After a few moments of panic, I finally managed to unstick the other two pages:

Clean the surface. (I TOTALLY DID, MOM!)
Remove any old caulk.

Oh, um... wait. How do you do that?

Razor blade...rusted. (Wail that like Cindy Wilson in "Love Shack")

Scrape scrape scrape....

This obviously could have ended badly. I was prepared (heeeey random shout out to Johnson and Johnson) for the mishap that didn't happen. Prepared to be cute, even!

Once I got the stuff scraped off and sucked up with the shop vac, I was presumably ready to go with step three - applying a smooth bead of caulk.

True confessions time - I was feeling kind of cocky (caulky?) about this project, because I'm a pretty good cake decorator. I'm able to make flowers and stuff with icing, so, like, I should be able to make a straight, even line with this thing, right?

Yeah, not so much. I had a cup of real coffee AKA jitter-juice which may have contributed to my bravado about this whole project, but my hand was shaking really bad. Despite the neat, easy to open, smooth squeezing packaging, I smeared a line of the stuff on the edge, and then, using my wet finger, tried to make it do that thing it is supposed to do.

And then I used a bunch of paper towels and smeared it around. And then I got mad and wiped it all off, and started over. The GE Caulk Singles have more than enough for three around the sink applications of the world's fattest, most messy bead. Ask me how I know! Go on!

In the end, though? I got it mostly right. And look:

It's like a brand new sink! Now, if I can just do something about the faux-wood cabinetry and chipped mirror...

This is my entry for the Spruce Up Your Space contest from GE Caulk Singles and BlogHer - for a $1000 Visa Gift card.

Posted by Jenny at 10:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I've been a big fan of Clorox Disinfecting Wipes since they first came on the market. I don't use them for all my cleaning jobs, but especially in the bathroom and kitchen, it is so handy to have a container of wipes ready to go.

When the gals at Mom Central offered me the chance to try out the new and improved Clorox Disinfecting Wipes, I couldn't wait. I mean, these things are already awesome and convenient as all get-out. What more could they do?

When my sample pack arrived, I ripped it open in glee. You guys... they made the wipes thicker and stronger and! My favorite part! They smell pretty!

Lavender is supposed to be a soothing scent, so I marched into the kids' rooms and wiped off their nightstands. Sleep tight! This is like a germ killer and sleep-aid all rolled up into one!

Then I marched out to the living room and spotted my new Wii Fit board. Bare feet and sweat and my not exactly pristine floors? Aw yeah.

Perfect spot to test out the wipes, baby. Two quick swipes of the board, and the faint dirty foot prints were wiped away from the Wii Fit board. Fitness equipment, light switches, door knobs, even the sticky mystery mess left on the bathroom counter by one of my kids who refuses to step forward.

I've been having a blast wiping stuff. And to a reluctant housekeeper like me? That's golden.

Thanks, Mom Central and Clorox!

Posted by Jenny at 7:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)