'Lettuce Love One Another' — A VeggieTales DVD for Valentine's Day

Beloved Bob and Larry from VeggieTales are off and running with a new DVD just in time for Valentine's Day, VeggieTales Lettuce Love One Another.

For this love-filled collection, the rotund tomato and perky cucumber characters share three favorite VeggieTales episodes plus five brand-new "Bible Bits."

VeggieTales episodes in the collection, presented by Bob the Tomato, include:

• Tomato Sawyer and Huckleberry Larry's Big River

• Abe & The Amazing Promise

• King George & the Ducky

And Larry the Cucumber shares the five Bible Bits, each a lesson in and example of forgiving, helping, giving, praying, or sharing.

Bonus fun: Three silly songs, two story book tales, instructions on how to draw Abe and King George, and more.

Take a look:

VeggieTales offers up some fun printables to go along with Lettuce Love One Another. The Service Coupons make perfect last-minute Valentine's Day gifts for kids to give and get, and the Kindness Chart keeps kindness front of mind on a daily basis. And, of course, there's a VeggieTales Valentine's Day card for printing on cardstock, too. Click on the graphics thumbnails below for the full-sized printable pages (if you have trouble printing from the page, right-click the full-size image to save to your computer, then print from that).

Lettuce Love One Another Service Coupons

Lettuce Love One Another Kindness Chart

Lettuce Love One Another Valentine

VeggieTales Lettuce Love One Another, released Jan. 15, is available at all major retail outlets for SRP $12.99.

Disclosure: I received a copy of the DVD for review. Opinions are my own.

Overcoming fear, VeggieTales style: The League of Incredible Vegetables

The world can be a scary place, and not just for grown ups. Unfortunately that applies more than ever to little ones, too, considering the inexplicable tragedies of 2012 and the virtually unavoidable 24/7 news on those events.

Teaching kids how to keep their fears—real or imagined—in check can be tough, but there's a new tool parents, grandparents and other caregivers may want to consider. It's one of the latest DVDs from VeggieTales, called The League of Incredible Vegetables: A Lesson in Handling Fear. In the wacky ways typical of all VeggieTales tales that came before, Larry, Bob, and the rest of the gang address important issues with understanding, empathy, and, most importantly, humor.

Super heroes are super cool with kids, and this is the fourth title in a series of DVD releases starring the popular “LarryBoy” super hero. This time around though, when the dastardly Dr. Flurry plans to freeze an entire city with fear, LarryBoy must call for backup. He turns to league of incredible vegetables, four new super heroes with super silly powers: Bob the Tomato, Petunia Rhubarb, Junior Asparagus and Mr. Lunt. Their tagline: "They came. They thawed. They conquered."

Take a look:

It's a normal day in Bumblyburg . . . until Dr. Flurry comes to town with an army of penguins! Sounds like a job for Larry-Boy, but he gets frozen by his enemy's superior tactics.

In addition to the fun—tinged with comforting and helpful lessons on handling fear—are several bonus features, as is always the case with the VeggieTales DVDs. There's a requisite silly song (always my favorite part of VeggieTales shows!) called "Supper Hero" by LarryBoy, a League of Incredible Vegetables music video and singalong, behind-the-scenes features and more. Plus, The League of Incredible Vegetables features the new theme song and music video from Newsboys.

VeggieTales The League of Incredible Vegetables: A Lesson in Handling Fear DVD is available at all major retail outlets for SRP $14.97. Visit the VeggieTales website for more fun and products. And be sure to submit your own incredible story of an everyday hero in your life on the VeggieTales - Incredible Heroes Facebook page.

Disclosure: I received a free copy of the DVD for review. Opinions are my own.

Bouncing good time: One Step Ahead Bounce-A-Round review and giveaway

What's more fun than a bouncy house? Not much, especially when it's a bouncy house for kids, a bouncy house you can set up indoors or out, a bouncy house from One Step Ahead.

One Step Ahead, a super spot for grandparents and parents to purchase the coolest of cool kid toys and more, sent me one of their popular Bounce-A-Round inflatable jumpers to review plus an offer to give one away to my readers. So I blew it up using the included double-action hand pump (it took me 15 minutes, which was far better than I expected) and placed it in my living room, ready to be reviewed.

The Bounce-A-Round is designed for ages 2 and up, with a weight limit of 120 pounds total (two jumpers at a time, max), so I clearly needed to call in some kids for the jumping. Since my grandsons live 815 miles away and wouldn't be visiting any time soon, I called on the cutest little guest reviewers—Milo and Caden, children of friends: 

I could blather on in text about how the review went, but as pictures are worth far more than my meager words, I'll share with you the photos of how that review went.

First up was Milo, a few months under the recommended age of 2 but nonetheless ready to jump with joy, with Mom nearby.

 

Then Caden arrived. Immediately his shoes were removed (as recommended) and he climbed on in. Caden, at nearly four years old, better fits the age range the Bounce-A-Round is meant for, and it's clear he took full advantage of all its bounciness:

 

The Bounce-A-Round is far larger than I and the moms of the reviewers expected. The One Step Ahead site gives the dimensions as 46"L x 48"W for the inflated jumping area, with walls, inflated, of 32" - 38"H (on top of the height of the inflated base). The base inflated is 66"L x 77"W. With all that space, the reviewers' moms willingly climbed in to pose for a picture with their little ones (no jumping by moms, I promise).

 

As with most playthings, it's always more fun when there's a partner in play, and Milo and Caden thoroughly enjoyed sharing the ample space.

What's up with the darker photos above? After a bit of bouncing as intended, we decided to throw a sheet over the top of the Bounce-A-Round and make a fort out of it.

It was in that version that the boys had the most fun, and I can imagine the hours of play my fort-loving grandsons will get out of it next time they visit. When playtime is over, there's even a bit o' fun involved in deflating the Bounce-A-Round.

One suggestion of note: As you can see from Milo's awkward exit, it's best to have a pillow or other soft spot for kids to land when getting out:

What we loved most about the One Step Ahead Bounce-A-Round: First up is the size. As I mentioned above, the moms and I were quite impressed by how large it is. Also, I was happy the three chambers (base, walls, top rail) inflated so quickly, even without a motorized pump. And I liked the idea the jumper could be used inside or outside, as not everyone has a huge spot for—nor always wants—a massive inflatable toy in the house. (Of course, you'd want to place something underneath when using outside, to protect from pokes that pop, and a pillow at the entrance would be a necessity.) Overall, the entire thing was pretty heavy duty, but I'm glad patches were included just in case the jumper springs a leak somewhere down the road.

Suggestions for improvement, courtesy the reviewers' moms: Having a flap over the entrance would be helpful, they both suggested, as kids bouncing near the entrance—especially smaller ones—tumble easily out the door. Plus, they thought an included cover for fort-like play might be nice, as the sheet I threw over the top kept coming off.

The One Step Ahead Bounce-A-Round, previously $99.95 but now $79.95 on the One Step Ahead website, comes with a 100% lifetime guarantee, the very same guarantee given every item sold by One Step Ahead.

As mentioned above, One Step Ahead is giving away one Bounce-A-Round inflatable jumper to a Grandma's Briefs reader. With the holidays coming up, what could be better than winning such a bouncing good time to share with the little ones at your place or theirs? Enter here:

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Disclosure: I received the product above free for review, as well as the offer of one for a giveaway. Anecdotes and opinions are my own.

3-2-1 Penguins! Win Season One

When I was a kid, Saturday mornings meant hours in front of the TV watching animated (and live action) characters such as H.R. Pufnstuf, Archie and Josey and the gang, Bugs Bunny, Pixie & Dixie, and that always infuriating Woody Woodpecker.

When my daughters were kids, Saturday mornings featured Pound Puppies, Muppet Babies, Smurfs and Alvin and the Chipmunks.

Saturday mornings for my grandsons? Well, I'm not so sure Saturday-morning television holds as much charm for them as they did for my daughters and me.

Perhaps that's partially because they've yet to discover 3-2-1 Penguins. As I'm no longer in charge of what kids, mine or otherwise, watch on Saturday mornings, I hadn't heard of the flightless space birds. That is, until I received the 3-2-1 Penguins! Complete Season One DVD free for review. Seems Zidgel, Fidgel, Midgel and Kevin are apparently quite popular and must-see TV for many youngsters on Saturday mornings.

Do the kids in your family know about 3-2-1 Penguins? Do you? Here's a taste of the fun I had the privilege of sampling:

What I loved most about 3-2-1 Penguins! Complete Season One: The silly space pals are entertaining, but I especially liked that the Grandma to the two human characters—Michelle and Jason—has a fairly prominent spot in their lives and in the show. I also appreciated that common sense (and a good dose of faith) made the difference in solving the crisis of each episode.

What I didn't love so much: That grandma mentioned above? Well, she's the stereotypical grandma—gray hair up in a bun, chubby, clothed in a dress and apron. Plus, you never see her face. Just a pet peeve of this grandma who wishes the media wouldn't support the out-dated stereotype of grandmas.

3-2-1 Penguins! Complete Season One features 13 episodes—nearly 5 hours running time—plus bonus features such as a recipe for Midgel's Cool Blue Space Fuel and directions on how to draw Midgel. 3-2-1 Penguins: Complete Season One is from Big Idea Entertainment, the makers of VeggieTales, and can be purchased for $14.99 on the VeggieTales website.

Enter to win 3-2-1 Penguins! Complete Season One! Enter via Rafflecopter below and you just might be the winner, selected by random Oct. 3, of five hours of animated space penguin fun.

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Disclosure: I received a free DVD for review and the offer of one for giveaway, to be shipped to the winner by the sponsor. Opinions and anecdotes are my own.

Introducing Sonny the Seal: Ring-toss fun for the family

In my family, we've joked for many years about owning a monkey because, well, haven't you always wanted a monkey? I've purchased stuffed monkeys for each family member; even Mac got one of the leftovers from the bunch purchased long before he was born.

We're all set on monkeys. And now, thanks to a new game from Goliath, we can have our fill of seals. One seal, in fact. A seal named Sonny.

Sonny the Seal is an interactive, electronic ring-toss game for ages three and up. As my regular toy reviewers—Bubby and Mac—weren't on hand when Sonny arrived at my door, I enlisted game players at a recent barbecue with friends. No, we didn't take turns tossing rings as we tossed back beers, there were actually youngsters in attendance. Youngsters the perfect age for playing Sonny the Seal.

My little guest game players, whom I'll call K and R, since they're not my children and I don't want to reveal their real names here, loved Sonny. It didn't take K, at five years old, long to figure out not only the rules—which are pretty simple: toss the ring around Sonny's neck, get a fish for each successful toss, the winner is the one and the end of the game with the most fish.

It also didn't take her long to become a pro. Form is everything, and K had form in spades.

It's harder than it sounds, as Sonny bobs and weaves erratically so you don't always know exactly how to succeed in tossing. Believe me, I'm not a successful tosser. K, though, was quite the tosser, regularly getting rings to land where they should and slide down over Sonny's tail again and again. Each time she had a successful toss, Sonny clapped his flippers and barked in joy. Then she got to take a fish. And win the game. (I must admit: I never got Sonny to bark and I never earned a fish. But I'm working on it.)

K's two-year-old brother, R, was quite enchanted by Sonny. So K took the time to teach him, and let him give ring tossing a try for himself. Being a two-year-old playing a game intended for those three and older meant R got a bit of a handicap. Meaning, he was allowed to sit right at Sonny and plop the ring on his head. Sonny was just as cheerful each time R succeeded from his starting spot as he was when K made it from hers.

While the claps and barks from Sonny are reward in themselves, K said her favorite thing about the game was the little orange fish she collected for each successful toss.

My favorite thing? The opportunity to try the game by myself, once K wasn't around to show me up and nab all the fishies. Made no difference, though, as I still couldn't manage a successful ring toss. I'm planning on using R's method next time—starting my tosses right next to Sonny. Grandmas should be allowed a handicap now and then, too, I say. At least when it comes to tossing rings onto a seal's head.

Sonny the Seal—for 1-6 players, ages 3 and up—has a suggested retail price of $29.99 and can be found at Toys R Us and other toy stores.

Disclosure: I received this game free for review. Opinions are my own, with input from my fellow reviewers.

Best Loved Recipes: Taste of Home's latest offering

I've been a fan of the Taste of Home brand for quite some time. Take a look at this:

That is my collection of Taste of Home's Quick Cooking magazines, pulled from my cookbook shelves for the photo. The magazine on top? Take a closer look:

  

That is the premiere issue of one of my favorite cooking magazines. I obviously have pert near every issue since that first one in 1998. Yes, I'm a Taste of Home fan.

I recently received free for review Taste of Home's Best Loved Recipes cookbook. Considering the number of Taste of Home recipes I've looked at through the years, I think I'm pretty well qualified to tell you, yes, the 1,485 recipes included in the massive tome are indeed some of the best.

Upon receiving Best Loved Recipes, I spent quite some time going through the 26 chapters, everything from Appetizers to Soups. In between are chapters on anything and everything cooks—from beginning baker to accomplished chef—need to know, need to offer. A few of my favorite chapters: Cooking for One or Two (equally important for my empty nest as well as my little birdies who are now living solo), Mom Made It Best, Mealtime Express, and Grand-Prize Winners.

From the many chapters, I chose a handful of delights to try in preparation for this review. Of the few desserts and main dishes I prepared, these were my favorites...so far (photos and recipes directly from the book):

CANDY BAR APPLE SALAD — In my husband's words, "Any time a candy bar is included in the meal, it's a good meal."

 

TOFFEE POKE CAKE:

SHORTBREAD LEMON BARS:

My friends and family enjoyed those goodies in just the first week or so of having the hardcovered book in my hands. With more than a thousand left to choose from, I have no doubt we'll find many more favorites, many more that will be our very own best-loved recipes.

What I loved about the cookbook: As is the case with most Taste of Home offerings, the recipes are the real deal from real people, with no hoity toity kitchen acrobatics meant to impress judges over taste buds. I love that the cream of the crop—the very best of the best loved recipes—are marked with a Top 100 Recipe icon or included in the Grand-Prize Winners chapter. The quote from each contributor preceding their recipes provides a homey touch. the Mom Made It Best and Our Favorite Contributors' Meals chapters were especially delightful to peruse.

What I didn't love so much: I love that there are so many recipes between the covers, but that makes for a massive cookbook (928 pages!) that doesn't stand up real well on my cookbook holder. There are several full-color and glossy pages of luscious photos of many recipes batched together throughout the book, but I'm a phot fiend and would have loved to see more—though I realize that including more photos would make the book ridiculously large, so I get the reasoning on limiting them.

Taste of Home's Best Loved Recipes hardcover cookbook has a suggested price of $34.99. The cookbook will be available at all major book sellers September 13, but can be ordered now for $24.99 (with free shipping) through the Taste of Home website.

Baby Brezza: Baby-food maker and so much more

If you're a grandma, chances are you figure you can get along just fine without any sort of special equipment for making baby food. I'm a grandma, and I thought the very same thing. Until, that is, I received free for review a Baby Brezza, "the one step baby food maker."

When contacted by PR folks suggesting it for review, I thought, "Heck, I'll review it for all those grandmas raising their grandkids and all those who provide care for the little ones on a regular basis. Then I'll just give it to my daughter to make goodies for Bubby and Mac and any yet-to-be-born additions to the family."

But...there's no way am I giving up my Baby Brezza now that I've tried it. This thing is so cool. And it does so much more than make baby food.

Baby food making is its primary function, of course, and it does that with flying colors, thanks to the Baby Brezza's ability to steam and blend food. Or just steam. Or just blend. Peas are one of a baby's first foods, so I decided to first try out the little appliance making peas, which would require both the steaming and the blending functions.

Following the included instructions, I added water to the steam tank:

 

Added my ingredients (two cups of frozen peas):

 

Then pressed the steam + blend option and chose the correct steam time according to the instructions (20 minutes for two cups of frozen peas). Then I pressed the start button.

Soon the peas were steaming, just as they were supposed to.

When the 20 minutes were up, the blend function ran for 30 seconds. That wasn't quite enough, so I pressed and held the blend button to blend a bit more.

That was a fair consistency for, maybe, the second step in introducing foods to baby. So I hit blend for a wee bit longer to squish it all up as smooth as could be for a first food.

 

I must admit, I tasted the peas. They were hot. And pretty darn good, actually. (Though my husband wasn't willing to try, of course, but that's just because he doesn't like peas, squished or non-squished.) I think any baby would be pleased with their peas from the Baby Brezza, despite PawDad's aversion.

It was clear the Baby Brezza would be an awesome little appliance for any mother or grandmother who wanted to provide cost-effective and healthy homemade foods for her little ones. I used to do a similar thing years and years ago with a blender, freezing the foods in an ice cube tray to pop out for my youngest. Let me tell ya, the Baby Brezza is far, far simpler and quicker. One of the big bonuses is that it not only blends but it heats the food at the same time. So simple to make food for baby.

But what about making food for older kids? Or for adults? With a retail price of $99, I thought it would be great if the Baby Brezza could be used long after baby is done with the pureed goods.

Turns out the Baby Brezza does indeed work well—fantastic, in fact—for creating foods for older kids as well as adults. I watched two videos on the Baby Brezza website that gave ideas for healthy foods for older kids and quick homemade goodies for all ages. Than I came up with an idea of my own.

I decided to make a smoothie. Using spinach, mango, and a big ol' dollop of honey—a concoction of ingredients I had on hand and one that would require only the blend function of the Baby Brezza.

I added one cup of baby spinach leaves to the bowl of the Baby Brezza. along with one whole mango, cut into 1/4 to 1/2 inch pieces (as recommended for all foods made in the Baby Brezza):

 

I added the honey:

 

Put on the lid and pressed blend a few times until my smoothie was as smooth as I desired.

 

Viola! A delicious and nutritious smoothie similar to those expensive little food pouches kids enjoy with a straw—for far less than the cost of those, to be sure.

 

I'm already considering the many things I could mix up in my Baby Brezza. Guacamole is definitely next!

What I love about the Baby Brezza: As a grandma, I have no doubt the baby-food maker will come in handy for making smoothies for Bubby and Mac and homemade first-foods for little ones to come. Plus, when the boys are visiting, the steam function will be a super way to make veggies for meals. Heck, it'll be a great way to make veggies for my husband and me when there aren't any kids around. One of the videos I watched even said it's great for steaming fish fillets, so I'll be trying that, too.

I love the small profile of the Baby Brezza. It takes up only minimal space on my counter top and is within easy reach of my cook top for blending up items to add to recipes. I'm thinking pesto or spaghetti sauce with fresh tomatoes (which can be steamed before blending) to top pasta, for starters. It's the perfect size for two—my husband and me—or for just one person, making it a great gadget for most any grandparent household. It can be used daily for the grown-up residents, then will be ready to blend, steam or both when the grandkids visit.

Brezza apparently means breeze in Italian, and there's no doubt this little appliance makes blending and steaming foods for babies and more a true breeze.

What I didn't like so much: The only complaint I have about the Baby Brezza—and this is a very small complaint, just because I felt obligated to come up with one—was that the instructions that accompany the gadget mention in a few places to add 160ml of water to the water tank (for steaming) and to use the marking on the bowl for easy guidance in filling that tank with 160ml. Well, the marking on the bowl is for 180ml. I filled to that line, though, and it worked just fine, so I'm figuring that 160ml mention is simply a typo in the instructions. No biggie.

The Baby Brezza would make an ideal gift for moms-to-be. Better yet, it's an ideal gift for grandmoms-to-be. Or both, really, as both moms and grandmas will get plenty of use from the Baby Brezza.

Visit Baby Brezza online for more information and to order. You can also find the Baby Brezza at BabiesRUs, Target, Amazon.com, Williams-Sonoma and several other retailers (listed on the website).

Disclosure: I received this product free for review. Opinions are my own.

Review: Orb Factory craft kits

When I visit with my grandsons, I try to have a craft activity planned for each day we're together. Mac isn't quite ready for crafts, but Bubby, at four years old, certainly is.

Not long before their most recent visit, I received free for review a My First Sticky Mosaics kit from the Orb Factory. It's suggested for ages three and up so it was ideal for Bubby. It even seemed easy enough for Mac to take a stab at it, with me nearby, of course.

The kit we received was the Team Rescue kit, with four different rescue vehicles to decorate with the included pre-cut sticky foam pieces and and jewels. The pieces were big enough to be fairly easy for Bubby to pull away from the backing on his own (most times) and apply where indicated on his chosen first project, the fire truck. The jewels were his favorite pieces, though, and I had to stop him a couple times from covering the entire fire truck with jewels (even in the spots indicated for gray squares or black triangles) so he'd have enough to put on the other projects—the helicopter, ambulance, and police car.

Bubby was a good brother and shared with Mac, giving him the helicopter to cover with the pieces. Mac just recently turned one year old so I had no illusions about his ability to actually finish the project or do it as he was supposed to. But he enjoyed trying to keep up with his brother.

What we loved about the project: Like I said, Bubby loved the jewels most of all. I loved the fact all the pieces were cut and sticky, so no scissors or glue were required, making for a very non-messy activity. Also, it was great each precut project (the helicopter, etc) were clearly marked so kids can see what shape and color goes where to complete the project and use the included plastic hanger for displaying.

What we didn't love so much: With 600 pieces in the kit, even when divided among the four projects, that makes for a lot of pieces per project for a preschooler. Bubby lost interest before his fire truck was done and planned to finish it later. The good thing about all those pieces, though, is that it did provide him projects for later, which I'm sure he'll enjoy doing until all the projects are done and hanging on his wall for Mommy and Daddy to ooh and aah over.

The Sticky Mosaics Team Rescue craft kit retails for $9.99 and is just one of the many craft kits available from Orb Factory designed to help kids of all ages master hand-eye coordination, pattern recognition and more.

Disclosure: I received this product free for review. Opinions are my own.