Pixel Berry Pie Design -

Winner of the Wanchai Ferry gift package

Ann On and On

Winner of the American Express Gift Card

Mari

Breyers Ice Cream Bars Coupons will go out to:

Tinagirl

Cheryl F (Lucky Ladybug)

Tiffs Pixie Dust

CindyWindy2003

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Growing up, I never knew what kind of gifts to get my dad.  Mugs, ties, whatever - I don't even remember what kind of stuff we gave him. I'm sure my mom just picked something out and put our names on it.

As we got older, my brothers and I pooled our money at Christmas and were able to get both my mom and dad something they each wanted.  One year, we got mom a Kitchen-Aid mixer and dad a turntable. Yeah, those things that played records. That's the only gift that stands out in my memory. Even now, as an adult, I shrug when it comes time to get him a gift. He doesn't NEED anything and seldom does he even say things that he might want. His favorite gifts include labor to help him build or fix something.

...and DH is not any easier.  I can't buy him electronics because I'm never sure I'll get the right configuration.  If it's something for his car, then chances are he already purchased it.  Since his background in computer graphics makes him look at colors differently than I do, I don't even try to shop for clothes for him.  (Actually, I usually have him pick stuff out for me!)  Garage?  Well, I've managed to get a few really awesome tools for him but that's about it.  

But generally, shopping for the men in my life is difficult.

When Family Review Network offered up the chance to do a product review for Executive Gift Shoppe, I spent about an hour surfing the site before finally throwing my name into the hat for consideration.  It wasn't that I didn't like anything - it was that I liked a lot of the stuff.  Both my Dad and DH are retired so they don't have a need for anything for their offices.  They don't smoke and when it comes to alcohol, DH doesn't drink and my mom is in charge of all the wine-related stuff at their house. Despite the things they DON'T need, I was able to find a lot of things that they could put to good use.

I have a weakness for pocket knives and watches so I spent a LOT of time checking out the variety of pocket watches and Swiss Army knives they offer. But the goal wasn't to get something that I liked - it was to find something for one of them.  As frustrated as I get trying to find something for these hard-to-shop-for men, I actually enjoyed surfing the gifts at Executive Gift Shoppe. 

Ultimately, I landed on something that would work for either of them - a Golftool Swiss Army Knife.  My dad is a longtime golfer and golfs even more now that he's retired.  DH just got a new set of TaylorMade clubs so he can take up the hobby as well.  I hadn't decided who I would give it to but either way, it would make a perfect addition to someone's golf bag.

When the item arrived, I took it out and examined it.  I was pleased with how quickly it arrived and how carefully it was packaged. Just like when I sit in a new car (where I open every single compartment or hidden compartment I can find), I pulled the knife apart to see what it really contained.  The golf-related stuff included a divot repair kit, a ball marker and a tee punch/groove cleaner.  Of course, no Swiss Army anything is worth calling itself Swiss Army if it didn't have a knife, scissors, toothpick and tweezers.  In addition, the tee punch/groove cleaner tool also has a built-in bottle opener.  Go figure.

The Golftool Swiss Army Knife fits nicely in my hand and seems like it's made well.  The tools are stainless but the casing is not - making it heavy duty without the weight.  The canvas case is padded and has a hook for attaching to the golf bag.

I spent a bit of time, err, playing with it then haphazardly replaced it in the case, divot repair side first, and handed it to DH for his opinion.  When he went to pull it out, he reached in and grabbed it but since the ball marker side was on top, it didn't slide out. Instead, the ball marker by itself slid out.  Once we realized that there was a specific way to put it in the case, we made sure to put it in - ball-marker side first.

After that, hubby looked it over, messed around with the tools like I did then said it would make a nice addition to his new golf club set.  It was fun finding something that he didn't have but still could use!

Executive Gift Shoppe has a lot of traditional and non-traditional gifts to help find something for the hard-to-shop-for person in your life.  Stop by their website to see what they have to offer or find them on Facebook and Twitter.

I shouldn't have a problem finding something cool when the next occasion arises.  If I want to, I could even get them a trophy that says "World's Best Dad."

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“I am tired of changing stinky diapers!” I sternly told my soon to be 3 year old, Little Miss A.

“But Mama, I have an idea! I can go upstairs and you won’t smell it!” exclaimed A.

“No sweetie. I would still have to change your diaper and smell it. And, we have another problem. Mama doesn’t have any more money to buy more diapers.” I explained.

“I know! I have money in my piggy bank.” she resolved hoping that I would consider that.

“No sweetie.” I sadly remarked.

“Maybe Daddy will buy them.” she softly uttered.

I’ve been trying, inconsistently, to potty train Little Ms. A to go poo poo in the potty since she was about 2 years old. She quickly learned how to “pee” in her brand new pink training potty that Grandma bought her, but that is as far as I could get. After months of so many bribes with princess dresses, candy, chocolate, huge pink and purple bouncy balls, a tea set, and Candy land, she still wouldn’t go poo poo in the potty. I gave up when she started telling me she wanted a diaper to go poo poo and when she started holding it. I gave up when we would pick her up kicking and screaming as we sat her on the pink potty. Little Ms. A just wasn’t ready. She put up a big fight for a long time. I was so envious of my friends that were able to potty train their toddlers in such a short time and in such effortless ways.

What was I doing wrong? Was I giving in too much? I didn’t want my Little Miss A to wind up in the hospital getting an enema. I didn’t want to force her either. She tells me she is scared of the poo poo.

Wednesday was the Big Important Day. We woke up with a positive attitude. This day was the day she was going to go poop in the potty. Miss A didn’t know that it was really the Big Day. When it was “time,” she sat down in the little pink potty and I sat on the floor reading my Reader’s Digest. We did this for an hour. I let Ms. A pick any candy she wanted from the year old Halloween candy we had in the Tupperware jar. She picked out some laffy taffy and sucked on this while we both sat there doing our thing. Not even a push. I gave up again.

But I didn’t want to give up. I gave Ms. A a snack and the urge came back! We went back to the pink potty, but she wanted to sit in the big girl potty this time. I gave her a huge hug while she was sitting on the big girl potty and with all the screaming and crying, she went poo poo in the potty!

“Look at what you did!” I screamed. Little Ms. A was crying and laughing at the same time. She couldn’t believe it either. She had to take a peek. We put on her brand new blue princess dress that she had rejected so many times. She ate a half eaten candy cane from the Christmas prior, we put a happy face on the cartoon calendar that Daddy brought home, and more hugs and kisses were exchanged. It was a celebration well earned. And as if presents weren’t enough…..

The Moon Dough miraculously was brought to my door!! It was perfect timing. We were in essence, having a Poo Poo Party. We played with it the next morning after taking the Moon Dough for a walk with us.

“Can we take my favorite toy with me?” she asked.

“Which one?” I inquired.

“That!” as she pointed to the Moon Dough, that was sitting on the buffet table.

“We could put it next to me.” she instructed.

And so we went on our walk with the Moon Dough.

Once we opened the box, with excitement, Little Ms. A couldn’t wait to get her hands on the dough. She didn’t let me squish and squash the dough to get it ready for her. She wanted to play right away. As she played with the dough, I assembled the barn together for her. It was very easy to put together so she could get right to it. I was pleased with how quickly the assembly process went.

The Molding Barn Ramp and Molding Play Mat, however, looked very large in scale to what it actually is. I wasn’t sure if I had the correct ramp, but it worked. All the contents were available and easy to identify. To whatever extent, the Play Mat is not actually a play mat. It’s a small (15 ½” x 11 ½”) piece of cardboard for the barn to sit on.  As you can see from the video and photographs, keeping the dough contained in this small area wasn't possible.  For that reason, I recommend for anyone to read the Helpful Hints before playing with Moon Dough. The Moon Dough is very crumbly and even after squishing and squashing it, the dough quickly crumbles to pieces, very different from Play-Doh. We should have used a large sheet like suggested. On the other hand, the dough is very easy to clean up compared to Play-Doh. I thought I was going to have to vacuum, but a quick sweep did the trick. A comb or brush is recommended according the instructions.

There's one thing that I found somewhat frustrating about Moon Dough.  The instructions.  Why do they call it “Molding” as in “Molding Barn Maker” and “Molding Barn Maker Handle?” Would have made more sense  if the “Molding Barn” was called the “Molding Animal Maker” or something to that effect. I was looking for the animal molds everywhere. It makes sense when you look at the picture on the box. The “Barn Maker” doesn’t make barns; it makes animals.

The pictures on the box show molded hay bales being dropped into the animal molds on the barn. I didn’t understand if that is what we were supposed to do. The instructions don’t mention that idea, rather, that you choose a color of dough and fill an animal mold. This is what we did and the molds did come out quite well! Little Ms. A was able to create a mold all by herself. She was able to use the handle easily. Creating the hay bale and fence mold was easy to use. The hay bale was a little trickier because a three year old may not have the ability to twist the plastic mold to make the dough come out. If you bang it on the ground, it will come out though.

Step 7 on the instructions, on creating the mold, says “Molded Moon Dough Animals!” What is the instruction? This is more of a statement, than an instruction. It should say something like, “Enjoy your Molded Moon Dough Animals!”

Little Miss A had fun regardless of the instructions for that matter. She loved creating her own animals and holding the soft and light Moon Dough. She was excited when she saw the finished product; the molded animals, and would show me what she had done with such joy.

She’d hold the animals up and felt proud of what she had done. Just as how excited and proud I was when I saw that she went poop in the potty.

We both accomplished something in the past few days.

At least I think we did.

2 comments

When you think of having a family movie night, what comes to mind? Well to me it involves a couch, blankets, pillows, snacks and drinks and a fun movie. What movies does your family find interesting? Personally, I usually will go for a comedy or action movie. For example, just in the past weeks I have watched Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull, as well as the first season of the BBC comedy series Chef!

I was pretty excited this past week to be given The Spy Next Door. Have you heard about it? It features Jackie Chan, George Lopez, and Billy Ray Cyrus as spies. Course, it also features a pig, a kitten and a turtle as pets! The only thing I knew about this movie was that it was an action, spy movie for family enjoyment.

So last night, with bagel pizzas and gummy worms in hand, we sat down to watch The Spy Next Door. One of the first things I noticed was that it was definitely a kid friendly movie. The comedy was great for kids and adults. In fact, the movie is rated PG, for the sequences of Action Violence and some Mild Rude Humor.

Some observations about the movie:

In one of the scenes near the beginning, Harrie and I both noticed that Bob (Jackie Chan) floated down from the roof when he was rescuing the cat. I am not sure kids would notice that it wasn’t very realistic that Bob floated instead of jumping and landing a bit harder, but it caused us a little laugh and a bit of discussion.

There were definitely also a few action scenes that could have been more realistic and less obvious that there were wires involved in the stunts, but overall the stunts were great and funny. One of the other scenes we noticed that could have been worked on a bit more was the bike scene towards the end. Keep your eyes out for it!

While there were 3 female characters, Harrie and I both agreed that this movie had a strong boy influence in it. The young boy, Ian, was a character your heart went out to. We cheered him on during a few scenes as well as boo’ing when we wanted him to make better decisions at school. I’d have to say the overall storyline was positive for kids. I’m sure that this movie could definitely lead to some great family discussions about honesty and responsibility.

Overall, I would recommend this movie for your family night, just remember the yummy snacks! Stop by and see Lions Gate Entertainment's website for other movies or perhaps you'd like to follow them on Twitter or Facebook.

2 comments

I recently read an article about how Waddington's, the British distributor of Monopoly during World War II used the game to assist allied POW's. In addition to smuggling compasses, files and maps into board games delivered by the Red Cross to POWs, the games also contained real money. It's one of those stories that makes you look at a game through different eyes. It gives you a sense of pride in the company.

It really hit home when I heard about Hasbro's "MONOPOLY Money Makes it Real Contest". Then I sat back and started thinking about all the times I've wished the money was real. How cool would that be to play the game with real bills instead of colorful phony ones? C'mon... 'fess up.... How many times when you've played the game have YOU wished it was real money? We've all thought that at least once - usually when we're winning.

Now let me ask... What would YOU do if your Monopoly game included real cash? All of it. $20,580. The "Monopoly Money Makes it Real Contest" is an opportunity for you to get it.

Here's how it works:

Between now and September 2, submit an essay of 75 words or less as to what you would do if you won the money. Following that - until September 27, 2010, it will go to public vote where it will be narrowed down to 75 finalist and finally one winner. You can read all the specifics on the official rules.  If you want to jump in and enter, stop by their launch page on Facebook.

Are you seeing a theme here? 75 words... 75 finalists... It's all to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of this game! Well, in honor of the anniversary and the contest, they've set aside a game for my readers!  Hopefully it will make it to the winner in time for Family Game Night on September 29th!

Participants -

...must provide a US shipping address
...must provide an email in the first comment, email me directly with an email address or have email accessible from their profile.

Sometime on September 7, 2010, a winner will be chosen at random from all valid comments left. Winner has 72 hours from posting/notification to respond. If winner cannot be contacted, I will move on to the next random selection.

How to enter:

(1) Subscribe to the SAHM Reviews feed via RSS or email

(2) Leave a comment on this post at SahmReviews.com sharing a favorite Hasbro board game memory!

-- Three Entries: If you have a blog or website, add my button to your page. (Here's the code:)

-- Three Entries: Publish a blog post regarding this contest and link back to it.

-- One Entry (Daily): Follow SahmReviews on Twitter and Tweet this contest by clicking here or copying the following text:

"Does your game library include Monopoly? If not, stop by http://bit.ly/9tlKAr for a chance to win one. @FamilyGameNight @SahmReviews" Comment with a link to your tweet.

-- One Entry: "Like" SAHM Reviews on Facebook.

-- One Entry: Follow SAHM Reviews using Google's Friend Connect feature.

-- One Entry (Each):  "Like" Family Game Night on Facebook or Follow Family Game Night on Twitter.  All I ask is that you post a note for them saying that SahmReviews.com sent you.

-- One Entry (Each):  Be the first to post about this giveaway on an active (current) giveaway link-up or carnival. Leave a link to where I can find it.  Mr. Linky-style submissions should read "SAHM Reviews - Monopoly game (Ends 9/7)"

-- One Entry (Daily): Read any non-giveaway review here at SahmReviews.com and leave an appropriate comment on that post. Come back here and leave a comment stating which product/post you left a comment on.

I submitted an entry in the "Monopoly Money Makes it Real Contest". 75 words isn't very much and it's worth the few minutes for a chance to be able to stock a Monopoly game with real cash.

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