Today's Amazon Toy List Deals - Yoda Chronicles, Magformers, Leap Frog & More

I'm going to be taking advantage of my Amazon Prime* again today with Amazon's Lightning Deals for their Holiday Toy List

Disclaimer: I am an Amazon Associate and am compensated for sales through Amazon links. I appreciate your support of my blog by shopping through my links.

Amazon's Holiday Toy List has Lightning deals on toys each day. Today's items include:

• 10a - LeapFrog Read with Me, Violet
• 11a - LEGO Star Wars: The Yoda Chronicles
• noon - Magformers Wow Set 16 pcs.
• 2p - Fisher-Price Laugh and Learn Apptivity Creation Center
• 3p - How to Train a Train

My daughter really wants the Yoda Chronicles book, so I am hoping that they have a great price. and that I am able to get it before it sells out.



There are also deals available on K'nex:

• K'NEX Atomic Coaster - $38.95 (list $69.99)
• K'NEX Thrill Rides Phoenix Fury Roller Coaster Building Set - $28.42 (list $49.99)

We purchased the Atomic Coaster and other K'nex ride sets earlier this month as a Deal of the Day and have it put away for Christmas or our daughter's birthday. Since we put them away, I cannot offer a review of the product.

*Counter to the holiday deal trends, Amazon has a scrooge deal. They have raised the minimum on FREE Super Saver Shipping to $35 from $25. Fortunately we are Amazon Prime members, so this has a minimal impact on our family. Personally, I love having Amazon Prime. I find that I no longer overbuy in an effort to meet the minimum of Super Saver Shipping. I also was unable to take advantage of many of the Lightning Deals since they did not hit the shipping minimum. We also use the streaming video several times a month. They have a great selection of PBS and Nickelodeon shows for the young kids including Dinosaur Train, Dora the Explorer, Wonder Pets, and many more. You can try Amazon Prime with a 30 day free trial. After that it is $79/year. An affordable way to try Amazon Prime shipping for the holidays is through Amazon Mom. Amazon Mom subscribers receive a 3 month free trial of Amazon Prime, 20% off diaper and wipe Subscribe and Save orders, and 20% off a total of 5 family essential Subscribe & Save orders. Note with the 3 month Amazon Mom trial, you will only receive the Prime Shipping benefits and not the video streaming or free books through the Kindle Owners Lending Library. After your 3 month trial, you can purchase Amazon Prime for $79/year and have full access to all of the Amazon Prime benefits.

Rise of the Guardians Lowe's Build & Grow Projects

Lowe's typically runs FREE Build and Grow workshops for kids twice a month. The events are FREE and include the craft, an apron to take home, a workshop patch, safety goggles, and a completion certificate. There are a limited number of slots per store, so be sure to pre-register as soon as you can.

I brought my daughter to a Build and Grow workshop this spring and she really enjoyed it. My only complaint with the workshop is that they are very popular at the Lowe's closest to my home because they always seem to fill up very quickly.

On Saturday, November 17 and Saturday, December 1 they will feature crafts from the upcoming Dreamworks movie Rise of the Guardians.

The craft on Saturday, November 17 will feature North's Sleigh. The December 1 craft will features Sandman's Plane. I recommend registering as soon as possible to reserve your slot.

In the meantime, learn more about the movie with the trailer below:




Disclaimer: I am an Amazon Associate and am compensated for sales through Amazon links. I appreciate your support of my blog by shopping through my links.

Home Depot December Kids Workshop

Home Depot holds a Kids Workshop from 9a-noon on the first Saturday of the month at all of their stores. The Kids Workshop is FREE and includes their craft, a FREE Kids Workshop Apron, commemorative pin, and a certificate of achievement.

The December Workshop will be a picture frame craft on Saturday, December 1, 2012.

We have not yet attended a Home Depot Kids Workshop, but we attended a Lowe's Workshop in the spring and my daughter really enjoyed it.

Are you an Easter Bunny Fur-ist?

When it comes to a bunny are you a fur-ist? Do you care whether the Easter Bunny your child visits is white, brown, or some other color?

I never really gave it a thought. Growing up, I remember mostly white bunnies from the pictures. When my daughter was born, I brought her to the nearest mall and sat her on the bunny's lap without thinking about it. It was a white bunny. In my area, I have only seen white bunnies at the malls, egg hunts, and other community events.

Evidently in the area I used to live, most of the bunnies are brown. When I posted my daughter's Easter bunny picture on Facebook, I get comments on how nice the bunny looks compared to the ones they have. Every year my sister in law goes in search of the elusive white bunny to get her daughters' pictures taken.

I will say I have seen some strange white bunnies in my time. So, I'm not willing to say it is all about the bunny's fur color since I have not seen a picture. In the early 80s, there was a seriously deranged looking bunny at a park event we went to. We joke about it every time we see the picture. But in this day and age, I see no reason that a bunny at a high end regional mall should be described as looking like a rat with big ears regardless of its color. I was not able to find a picture of this

As long as the bunny looks normal, I'm not bothered by the fur color. I found this site which has Easter Bunny costumes for sale and I will say I think in general nicest bunnies are the white ones, but not because of the color. I think the gray bunny is as nice as the white bunny version. I like the pink bunny costume compared to the white one below it. Of the brown and white bunnies pictured together, I prefer the white mainly because of the ears and the white fabric is more forgiving in showing the bunch lines. The last bunny is tan and not a bad color, but I just can't get past the eyes, or should I say eye lashes.

As far as I'm concerned, the overall aesthetics of the bunny are more important to me than the color of the fur.

Now, let it be said that I am a bunny fur-ist in other bunny incarnations:

• Chocolate bunnies...must be chocolate, preferably milk (or dark for my husband). No white chocolate.
• Marshmallow Bunnies...I'm still a chocolate girl here, as in chocolate covered marshmallows. I'm not usually a Peeps fan, but the new chocolate covered ones might make me a convert. My daughter prefers her marshmallow bunnies as purple peeps. Although if I'd share a chocolate covered one she might change her mind.
• Cake Bunny...I'd go all chocolate, but we usually do a white face with chocolate ears and a chocolate bow tie (two cake circles, one as the face, one with ears shaped from opposite sides and the remaining center as a bow tie).
• Decorative Bunnies...I'm flexible here. I have white, chocolate colored, light brown, and we even have pink bunnies.

So what are your thoughts? Is it wrong to be a Fur-ist to prefer a white Easter Bunny? Where do you stand on the edible bunnies?

Michaels Knack Easter Cards

On Saturday, April 23 from 10a-noon Michaels Stores will have a Knack FREE Make It Take It Easter Card event. You will learn to make Easter stamps from foam. This event is designed for children ages 3 and up.

We have attended many Knack events at Michaels and have enjoyed many of them. This looks like fun, but might be better for older preschoolers.

Easter Egg Make It, Take It

On Saturday, April 2 from 10a-noon, Michaels Stores will have a Knack Family Event: Easter Egg Make It, Take It. These eggs look adorable. The event requires the purchase of a 7" craft egg ($5). The event is designed for ages 3 and up.

We have attended many of The Knack events at our local store. I have found that the events that require an initial purchase are better projects and often inspire me to replicate the project at home.

Need a Gift? Alice in Wonderland is 67% off!

Today's Amazon Gold Box Deal is the new Alice in Wonderland movie. You can purchase it on DVD for $9.99, Blu-Ray for $13.39, or Blu-Ray/DVD/Digital Combo Pack for $14.99. All of these prices are 67% off of the regular list price.

If you feel like splurging, you can get the combo pack with a film cell photo frame for $39.99. This amazing deal usually retails for $121.94.

I do not recommend this movie for preschoolers - it is the Tim Burton film starring Johnny Depp, not the original Disney animated cartoon. However, this would make a great gift for an adult or teen on your holiday shopping list.

To be honest, my husband and I did not really enjoy this movie when I borrowed it from the library. However, I know it had great box office numbers. I also tend to not care for Tim Burton movies which may be part of the reason I did not like it.

Easter - Group Egg Hunt

My playgroup is having an Easter party on Friday, so I am starting to plan activities. I am planning an egg hunt as one activity. I am hoping that the weather will be nice and we can do it outside. I usually fill the eggs with treats. If I am using food treats, I make sure to wash the eggs in soapy water and leave plenty of time for them to dry before filling them.

Since our playgroup is mixed ages (15 mos-4 yrs), I need to have eggs with treats appropriate for different ages and also some eggs at different hunt difficulties. A great tip that I am going to use is to color code the eggs, reserving one color for the youngest children.

Food Treat ideas include:

• Cheerios
• Raisins
• Goldfish
• Gerber Puffs
• Jelly Beans
• M&Ms
• Hershey Kisses

Non Food Treat ideas include:

• stickers
• temporary tattoos
• Mini erasers
• Coins
• Mini-bubbles (depending on the size of the bubbles and the size of your egg)

Each year after a holiday, I keep my eyes open for clearance sales on holiday merchandise to stash away for next year. However, last year's Easter purchases were eggs and craft supplies so I don't have any treats to use. I wish I would have thought of it earlier so I could order some treats.

For a craft project, we are going to decorate bags to use in our egg hunt. I have foam stickers that I bought on clearance last year and also have paper bags left from Valentine's Day.

See other posts on Easter.

St Patrick's Day - Green Treats

St Patty's Day reminds me of green, so filling out a meal with green is a great way to turn anything into a festive meal. A few green options

• Green Grapes
• Green Apple Slices
• Green Salad
• Green Beans
• Broccoli
• Asparagus

Dessert is another great way to introduce green. It is easy to dye frosting green or green sugar crystals. You can also find shamrock chocolate molds and I am sure there are St Patrick's Day sprinkles around.

So gear up for a St Patrick's Day Irish Menu and add a few Green Treats to fill it out.

See the previous blog posts in this series: St Patrick's Day Leprechaun Mischief and St Patrick's Day Hunting Rainbows.

St Patrick's Day - Irish Menu

Creating a St Patrick's Day menu with my 4 year old in mind is quite the challenge. Obviously, Guiness is out. None of us are very fond of corned beef or cabbage so we will be passing on that.

A definite for the day will be the milk that the leprechauns turned green (see Leprechaun Mischief). Breakfast is also fairly easy with Lucky Charms cereal.

I am leaning towards grilled cheese and soup for lunch. I'll get some Irish cheese, make grilled cheese sandwiches and use a shamrock cookie cutter to make them shamrocks. My preschooler loves soup, so I may try making this potato bacon chowder.

Ideas I have for dinner are: Irish stew, pulled pork, shepherd's pie. I may even consider making spaghetti "snakes". St Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland, so I can tie in something my preschooler loves to St Patrick's Day. Of course she will gladly settle for fish and chips if I use fish sticks.

What are you planning to serve for St Patrick's Day?? Share your meal ideas here.

See the previous entries in this blog series: St Patrick's Day Leprechaun Mischief, and St Patrick's Day Hunting Rainbows. Stay tuned for the next blog post: St Patrick's Day - Green Treats.

St Patrick's Day - Hunting Rainbows

Everyone knows that leprechaun's leave a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. For St Patrick's Day, my 4 year old is going to be going on a rainbow hunt culminating in a pot of gold.

Since we are going to be searching for the end of the rainbow, we will have color clues for each color of the rainbow. For example, the first clue will be for something red - in our case a red sofa in the family room. Hidden under the sofa will be the second clue, for something orange. I have not finalized what the clues are yet. For orange, maybe carrots or oranges in the refrigerator. Each clue will be on a shamrock. The clues will be for Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple, and the pot of gold.

For the pot of gold, I found yellow Easter grass at Target. The Easter grass will allow me to fill the pot with a prize and still have it look like a pot of gold.

See the previous post in this blog: St Patrick's Day - Leprechaun Mischief. The next post in this blog series is: St Patrick's Day - Irish Menu followed by St Patrick's Day - Green Treats.