I am not really a “dog person” (and even though I have two cats, I am finding I am not really a “cat person” anymore either! I am more of a “kid person”. But I digress.) but I thought Marley and Me starring Jennifer Aniston, Owen Wilson, some cute kids, and several golden labs was reallllly cute.  It’s funny, sweet, and just plain endearing.  It came out on DVD last week, and we’ve got a 3-Disc “Bad Dog” edition to give away!  The set includes a Blu-Ray disc, DVD, and bonus digital copy!  Here’s how to enter:

1) Leave a comment on this post, telling us the name of your favorite pet (past or present!)

2) Tweet about this post on Twitter, then leave us a separate comment with your twitter URL telling us you did so.

3) Post about this contest on your blog, and leave us a separate comment with your post URL

4) Subscribe to our feed and leave us a separate comment telling you did so (or already do)

One lucky winner will be chosen by Random.org on Sunday April 12th!

Good luck!

It’s things I love Thursday at The Diaper Diaries! Today I’m raving about a new DVD I just got to review. As some of you may know from reading Mommin’ It Up, my son Joshua is QUITE the Thomas the Tank Engine fan, and he has turned his little sister into one as well!  So they were very excited to get the newest Thomas DVD, Railway Friends, to review. We ripped it right open and popped it in the DVD player to watch.

Right away, my son Joshua said, “This is different!” – and he was right.  Railway Friends is the first Thomas DVD enhanced with CGI animation – so now the engines faces and mouths move when they talk, and Sir Topham Hatt walks around instead of just standing there with one arm raised.  It takes some getting used to (if you’re a four-year-old boy, that is) and through the whole first story Joshua exclaimed with wonder every time one of the engines talked.  But, after he got past the initial SHOCK, he really enjoyed the show, and Sophie did too.  She loves Thomas unconditionally.

Railway Friends, like all the other Thomas DVDs, has great stories about friendship, loyalty, and (one of my favorite topics) learning from your mistakes.  Thomas is one of the videos that Bobby & I really enjoy watching with our kids, and this video does not disappoint!  It also has some fun games on the bonus features that Joshua really likes to play.

If you’ve got a Thomas fan or two in the family, this video is really a winner! It just came out this past Tuesday, and you can find it at mass retailers for $14.98, or at Amazon for only $7,49! Choo! Choo!

A couple of weeks ago, I received the new Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! DVD, A Little Help From My Friends to review. This show airs nearly 40 times a week on Nick Jr. and Noggin’, but because Mama’s too cheap for cable, neither my kids or I had ever seen it. After giving it a brief preview myself, we sat down to watch it together - and they loved it!

I liked it because the stories were fun but also taught good lessons about friendship, responsibility, and self-esteem. The kids liked it because it was fast-paced, colorful, and musical. My daughter is only 27 months old and a video has to have these things to get her attention. Wubbzy really made her giggle!

A Little Help From My Friends has six episodes and two bonus episodes, so you can break the kids’ video-watching time down into small bites at home, but it’s nice and lengthy when you watch the whole thing - perfect for a long car ride or when Mama needs to make an important and lengthy phone call (like say, to the mortgage company about her escrow. Not that I need to do that…).

This video hit stores last week, so run out and get a copy, or get it at Amazon for $11.49!

When Emily and I were little girls, cute, adorable little pig-tailed cousins growing up in Ohio, we loved Strawberry Shortcake.  I had several Strawberry Shortcake dolls and I am pretty sure my mom still has my Strawberry Shortcake sleeping bag somewhere in her attic.  And when I was three and Emily was not quite two, our moms had out pictures taken in Strawberry Shortcake outfits:

All together, now: “Awww…”. I know, the cuteness is hard to stand, isn’t it?

ANYWAYS, when Strawberry Shortcake started to make a comeback, Emily and I saw it as a perfect opportunity to turn our daughters into little mini-me’s.  Em is already well on her way with this, as at four, Kate really loves Strawberry Shortcake.  I’m just getting started with Sophie but trust me I will have her worshipping at the shrine of SS in no time.  So, Emily and I were pleased to be asked to review the new Strawberry Shortcake DVD, Strawberry Shortcake: Happily Ever After.

In this DVD, Strawberry and her friends remake the fairy tales Sleeping Beauty and Rapunzel using the charming Strawberry Shortcake characters, lots of music, and bright, colorful animation.  Sophie especially loved the songs.  She’s only two but this DVD really held her attention because there was so much to look at!  Each story also has a great lesson to teach, about friendship, and about being true to yourself.  The first story, Sleeping Beauty, was my favorite, because it was about feeling left out and good communication in friendships, something I had a hard time with as a kid.

If you’ve got a little princess at home, she’s sure to love this video!  It hit stores last week and is priced at only $14.98, but you can get it at Amazon right now for $8.99! Woohoo!  And we’ve got a copy to give away to one lucky winner! Here’s how to enter:

1) Leave a comment on this post, telling us who the Strawberry Shortcake fan in your life is.

2) Tweet about this post on Twitter, then leave us a separate comment with your twitter URL telling us you did so.

3) Post about this contest on your blog, and leave us a separate comment with your post URL

4) Subscribe to our feed and leave us a separate comment telling you did so (or already do)

Want yet ANOTHER chance to win? Hop on over to the Parent Bloggers Network – they’ve got two more to give away!

The winner will be selected by Random.org on Friday, February 13th – just in time for Valentine’s Day!  Good luck!

Remember Schoolhouse Rock? Your FAVORITE Saturday morning school house? Well, it has made a comeback in my house recently. A few weeks ago, my hubby and I saw it by the checkouts at Target and we impulse bought the HECK out of it cause it was only $10! Ten dollars for every SchoolHouse Rock song EVER!! We knew our four-year-old would love it and he does. The songs are great, the material is clean, no one is dressed like a Bratz doll, and he actually LEARNS from them. I don’t even mind going around with “Lolly Lolly Lolly Get Your Adverbs Here” in my head all day. As a matter of fact, I kind of like it. Scary, I know.

Joshua is learning so much from these videos. I have him in a homeschool co-op for preschool this year, and if someone asks me what my curriculum is, I am just going to tell them “Schoolhouse Rock” and see what they say! They really are teaching him a ton about grammar, science, math, and history.

So, that’s what I love this week! To see what others are going ga-ga over, check out Things I love Thursday at the Diaper Diaries!