Here are the words that were on the back of Michael’s handprint:

Sometimes you get discouraged
Because I am so small
And always leave my fingerprints
On furniture and walls.

So here’s a little handprint
Just so you can recall
Exactly how my fingers looked
When I was very small.

(For more Wordful Wednesdays, visit Seven Clown Circus.)

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The New Victory Theater is presenting Grammy® Award winner, former Del Fuego band member and beloved Brooklynite Dan Zanes for an all new celebration of the season during Holiday House Party WITH Dan Zanes and Friends at The New Victory from December 19, 2008 through January 4, 2009. Below is Mom in the City reviewer Alexandra’s thoughts…

On Friday my daughter and I had the privilege to go see the HOLIDAY HOUSE PARTY WITH DAN ZANES AND FRIENDS a New York performance. The setting of the stage was an inviting living room with different Christmas decorations from a Christmas trees to a Hanukah chamber stick. This reminded us all that these are times to remember traditions and celebrate with family and friends.

As the different special guests arrived to the stage they just kept adding their own cultural touch to this wonderful musical journey, which was a celebration of diversity. There were musical artists joining Dan with Palestinian Arabic-jazz, tap dancing, Mexican Mariachis and more. One by one, they all delighted the audience with fascinating music that was filled with flavor and rhythm from their countries and culture.

The audience varied in age (predominately children). But the music and dancing kept everyone young and old dancing and singing. My daughter Liana is only three and she danced to every single song. To the point that at the end of the performance the band and special guest marched down the aisle of the theater. Liana just stood behind the last guest and marched with them down to the lobby.

That was one of the things that I feel the children mainly enjoyed - the warm and friendly atmosphere that was initiated by Dan and his crew with their first song and preserved during the whole presentation with different invitations to join in on the fun and celebration.

As a viewer, you are able to sense an excellent spirit of friendship and unity from the members of Dan’s band with the different performers that were brought on stage. I feel that children recognize this and feel motivated and invited to join the fun.

This is a fun and enchanting musical experience that I would recommend to everyone. Especially if you have children, this is a perfect age to introduce and expose them to the diversity that music can offer.

Dan Zanes & Liana

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Earlier this month, the timeless tale of Peter & The Wolf was released on DVD from Magnolia Home Entertainment.

I saw the short film twice, once alone at work and the second time with the kids (ages 5 and 3) on our “Night at the Movies.” It was easy to know why this was an award winner last year. The music was tops (Sergie Prokofiev is my favorite composer). The story was classic and intertwined with the music. Historically, this story has been redone over the years periodically by the great voices and directors of the world. It had not been ‘touched’ for a while though (the last I remember was an album with Sting as the Narrator). The animation was realistic, and (wow!) how they get those characters!

This production highlights modern aspects. It is set in a Russian rural area during the cold (but not too cold) weather. You will see the change in the characters that we yearn to see: the oppressed teen breaks out; the kid who needs a lesson, gets one; etc. There is also a nice variation to the ending- a surprise. Don’t look for either subtitles or narration, but the plot is easily understood. My kids understood most of it. My past experience with the story derailed my first view. It was a confused comparison with all that I had remembered. However, my second view was much better.

The animation was vivid – the set/scenery was excellent. I thought it would scare the kids, but only once did I hear them mention being afraid. Many parts were fun while others were cute. The writers must not have liked the original heroism of the hunters though (you will see what I mean!). The musical score has also been stretched to include extra moments which were pretty realistic with good effect.

Bottom line - see it! Turn the lights down low, pick a quiet time and relax. My kids want to see it again. One liked the end the most, and the other liked the whole thing. The DVD also features some good “Behind the Scenes” moments. (Also, be sure to run the intro with the movie.)

(On a side note, we chose roles and sang the themes afterwards in the bathroom getting ready for bed. I was the grandfather, of course!)
-Toby Crane

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I recently had the great fortune to receive some scrapbooking material from a company called “Close To My Heart”, a maker of high-quality, innovative scrapbooking and stamping products. The products I received were both beautiful and overwhelming. As a novice scrapbooker I was not aware so much time and devotion could go into gluing a picture to a piece of paper. LOL. But as my wonderful consultant, Michele, informed me- scrapbooking and cardmaking are the new “knitting”, though I’m sure it’s a lot harder to do on the subway train. Along with the really creative materials they make “Close to me Heart” also provides you with exceptional resources like their website, and their knowledgeable consultants. For beginning scrapbookers like me you can get a wealth of ideas by checking out their website which includes a section called “My Art” where you can “scraplift” ideas for your own pages, they also have workshops and events you can attend and how to videos to watch. Something I found extremely helpful were sample pages that my consultant made for me and now all I have to do is glue in a picture and take all the credit for a beautiful presentation!

For those really interested in sparking their creativity you can contact a consultant for a 1 on 1 meeting. My consultant Michele is full of great tips and ideas and is so in love with these products that she has no problem dropping by to show you the product line and how to use everything. Something interesting she shared with me that I never imagined going into a scrapbook was a voice recorder that they just added to their line. It adds such a cool personalized touch to a photo and will no doubt offer a special surprise to a friend going through your album. The recorder itself can even be decorated so it fits right into the theme of your page. You can record a message to your album visitors, a story about the picture, or capture a beautiful moment you will always want to remember like the sound of your baby’s laughter to go along with a picture of them giggling.

As a working mother struggling to make the most of my time everyday I always thought of scrapbooking as an overindulgent hobby only afforded to the desperate housewives of Wisteria Lane. But with a resource like “Close to my Heart” and their easy to use products, it makes it possible to grab a cup of tea and my scrapbooking kit and sit on the floor for an hour during naptime and finally finish my honeymoon album 6 years later!!

To view their products you can check out their website at www.nycscraps.myctmh.com
or contact:
Michele Luxenberg
Independent Consultant
Close To My Heart - Scrapbook & Stamping Products
917.509.4611
mluxenberg@hotmail.com

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Yesterday (December 16th), Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment released THE LITTLE MERMAID II: Return to the Sea Special Edition.

As an adult I actually enjoyed the movie. I liked the way it started and ended with music. The kids always seem to enjoy that. There was a great storyline that definitely has some continuity with the original movie. It even brings back some of the old characters. At first my 3 yr old son resisted seeing it (as a “Princess” movie, but whenever the crab (Sebastian) …and sometimes even the shark (Undertow) spoke, both kids would laugh. They love the accent of the crab. The good thing is that the Disney movies always show the good guy winning and the the bad guy losing at the end. That is always a great lesson to the kids. Ariel and Melody appears to have some real to life mother/daughter family issues that we go through in today’s world………..while Melody herself also experience her own personal challenges just growing up on land and loving the sea so much. The credibility of the movie really pulls you into it and my 4 year old daughter was riveted in front of the screen until the movie ended. The movie finally ends with a victory for the family, even though at some points in the movie, there were hard times where the future really looked dim. These hard times however, really kept you at the edge of your seat while you hopefully wait for the victories. Overall both kids enjoyed the movie; however, at times Morgana (Ursela’s sister) scared my 3 year old son.

Bonus (After the Movie) Features:

1) Deleted Song - This was a great song, but it wasn’t missed from the movie. It would have probably been a bit too drawn out if they had kept the song in the movie.

2) Merbabies- The kids loved watching this short film. It has music playing the whole time with different sounds from different instruments. My son said this was his favorite as the Merbabies had funny little scenes going along with the music.

4) Games and Activities
a) Under the Mer-venture Challenge game
This involved three different challenges where you win a pearl at the end. The first one had someone hiding behind the seaweed, and then it was imitating the beat of the music we heard and finally learning to swim safely as a Mermaid. All 3 challenges were good and interesting to the child, except the last one seemed a bit weird where it would say “you are doing well” even when you did not press the remote to complete the challenge.

b) The Little Mermaid ll Trivia game
This consisted of questions about the actual story itself, which was a good game. It reminds me of being in school and learning to understand what you just read like “reading comprehension”.

c) The story narrated - I loved listening to this as a story and listening to it made some things a bit more explicit when narrated.

d) “What am I?” Game
Questions/Answers about things under the sea. This was also good for the child to learn and understand the story, similar to “b”

Bonus clips for you!:
Q: How many merpeople are swimming in Morgana’s magic bubble?

Q: According to the penguin, what is Melody probably allergic to?

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A couple of weeks ago, MomSelect sent me a very special package. It contained a sleepwear set from The Children’s Place for Michael along with a $30 gift card for me AND a $30 gift card for one lucky Mom in the City reader!

Suffice it to say, I was beyond happy. I get a lot of my kids’ staple clothes at The Children’s Place already. They offer good quality, classic basics at really affordable prices. (It really doesn’t make sense to me to spend an arm and a leg on every day things that the kids will outgrow in a few months.) I also like that when I can’t find the right sizes in the local stores, I can always order online because they have $5 standard shipping.

Anyway, I received the “rocket pj set” which was very cute and comfortable (according to Michael).

(The clothes are actually true to size. Michael’s pajamas are just a bit too big because he is at that awkward in-between-sizes stage — too big for a “4”/not quite big enough for a “5”.)

I needed to get Michael some new tops since he was outgrowing his size “4s”, so I made a trip to my local Children’s Place with my $30 gift card. I took along a coupon (which I had received in the mail because I’m a member of Children’s Place free “place perks” program). Unfortunately, they were out of the sweaters that I liked in Michael’s size. *I learned something new though…it turns out that Children’s Place gives out “free online shipping” coupons if you can’t find the item in the store! (I will definitely ask for this in the future if necessary – I don’t think that every salesperson thinks to offer it.) Later that night, I went shopping online, which was even better for me - I could get my husband’s input, since he and Michael have similar “tastes”. One more tip: type “Children’s Place coupons” in google and you’ll find sites that provide coupon codes that you can use at checkout. I was able to successfully use a 15% off code (it turned out that my “place perks” coupon had expired – I didn’t check the date!).

Now, for the fun part…The Children’s Place is in the “giving” spirit, so they included a second $30 gift card for one of you! The card can only be used in-store, so please only enter this giveaway if you live near a Children’s Place (which shouldn’t be too difficult – there are a lot of them!).

To enter, leave your name in the “Comments” section below along with the name of one Children’s Place item that you would get with the gift card or by sending an email to contests@mominthecity.com with “Place” and the answer in the Subject line by December 31st.

(To see other contests & giveaways around the web, visit Contesting Monday or Contest Monday.)

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Coco Bonbons is giving away two outfits (one boy and one girl) from their Fall collection to two lucky readers!

Have you heard of Coco Bonbons? It’s a great mom-owned line of children’s clothing that uses bright colors and “whimsical” designs based on objects that kids love. I was fortunate enough to be sent two outfits (one for Michael and one for Sean) to review in addition to the giveaway.

This was Sean’s outfit from their Helicopter Collection:

Price: $57.50/Sale: $28.75

Price: $42.00/Sale: $29.40

Price: $26.50/Sale: $13.25

I liked pretty much everything about Sean’s outfit. It was classically designed with a fun, unique touch with the embroidered helicopters. I also liked the “feel” of the 100% cotton pieces. It seems as if they will stand up over time to washings (and wearing) by my little Taz (that’s our nickname for Sean – he’s like Taz from Looney Tunes around the house!).

This was Michael’s outfit from their Bulldozer collection:

Price: $44.50/Sale: $22.25

Price: $36.00/Sale: $25.20

Price: $26.50/Sale: $13.25

The first thing that I thought when I saw the navy vest and bright red pants: Christmas photo! Once again, I also loved the quality construction/that the clothes were all 100% cotton. The only thing that I didn’t especially like was the bulldozer on the t-shirt. I think that the large images are best left for the younger set. (Although Michael still likes playing with trucks and such, he doesn’t really like large images on his clothing at the age of “four – almost five”.)

Overall, I really like this line and so do my boys. (I’ll be posting shots of them “modeling” their new threads next week.) I also love that Coco Bonbons constantly offer specials - free shipping; discounts, etc. on their site which makes the line even more attractive (to our pocketbooks!). To stay on top of their discounts and special offers, you can sign up for their “E-News” email newsletter here. (And if you think the boys’ line is cute…wait until you see the girls’ line…too adorable!)

Anyway, there will be two winners for this contest - one boy and one girl outfit. To enter, leave your name in the “Comments” section below along with the name of your favorite Coco Bonbons boys or girls collection or by sending an email to contests@mominthecity.com with “Coco” and the answer in the Subject line by December 31st.

(If the randomly drawn winner happens to have a public blog, my only request is that you write a post about your prize including a link to both the Mom in the City site and the Coco Bonbons site. Thanks!)

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I know many moms whose families love watching Animal Planet. Their Growing Up series is especially popular. That is why I am recommending their Growing Up 5 DVD Gift Set that I was recently sent to review. This five-disc collector’s set features every episode from the popular series broken down in five categories: “Growing Up Arctic,” “Growing Up Wildcats,” “Growing Up Safari,” “Growing Up Wilderness,” and a bonus disc, “Growing Up Primates”.

“Growing Up Arctic” covers an orphaned baby walrus, a lone surviving polar bear cub, stranded baby seals and an endangered penguin chick. “Growing Up Wildcats” shares experiences about lion, tiger and cheetah cubs as well as an African black leopard. “Growing Up Safari” includes orphaned baby rhinos, baby zebras, an orphaned giraffe and a hyena. “Growing Up Wilderness” deals with a wolf pack, a little deer, a bear cub and a baby moose. Lastly, “Growing Up Primates” involves baby orangutans, a baby gorilla and four orphaned baboons. At 806 minutes combined, animal lovers (children and adults alike!) will be amazed by the wide variety of animals that are followed during this beautifully filmed series.

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One lucky Mom in the City member will win four tickets for the Saturday, Dec. 20th 11 am showing of Wintuk at The WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden courtesy of One2One Network.

“Wintuk from Cirque du Soleil is an exciting winter adventure about a boy’s quest for snow. The show weaves thrilling new acrobatics, breathtaking theatrical effects and memorable songs into an extraordinary journey to an imaginary land called Wintuk. The boy and his companions – a mysterious female shaman, a fearless young girl and a yellow-bellied man – deliver endless excitement, exhilaration and intrigue.

Wintuk is playful, musical, and bursts with the energy of the city and the magic of a wonderland. This seasonal story, which features a cast of 50 performers from Cirque du Soleil, is back this year with a mind-blowing new trampoline act and astounding puppet creations by Michael Curry.”

This is a special giveaway that will run for one week only. The winner will be notified on 12/15 and must respond back with their name and address by 12/16. Mom in the City newsletter subscribers can enter to win by leaving your name in the Comments section below along with one of your favorite winter memories or by sending an email to contests@mominthecity.com with “Wintuk” and the answer in the Subject line by December 15th at 5pm.

I (Kimberly) had a chance to see the show this past weekend. It was amazing! This is Cirque du Soleil’s first family show and they did a wonderful job. The dogs, cranes, snow giants and skateboarding acrobats were just a few of the standout performances that kept the entire audience’s attention (the show is about 2 hours). There was also a surprise at the end of the show that brought squeals of delight from adults and kids alike. After we left, Michael said, “That was AWESOME”. There was so much to see that it’s hard to describe the show in words, but you can catch a little snippet of it here at this video link.

Even if you don’t win the giveaway, consider buying tickets for the show. Mom in the City readers are being offered the One2One Network Friends & Family Special 25% Off Select Non-Peak Performances. Simply use the Promo Code: ONE2ONE here. This promotion runs from November 21 to December 23 at WaMu Theater at MSG.

(To see other contests & giveaways around the web, visit Contesting Monday or Contest Monday.)

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Recently, I received a few products from the Littlest Pet Shop line to review. This is really an adorable line of toy pets and virtual interactive pets.

For the younger kids (ages 4+), I received a “Portable Pets” and “Pet Pairs” from their new line of mini pets. Retailing from $3.99 to $5.99, these make great stocking stuffers for little pet lovers. (Kids love collecting these little pets.) I’ll be giving these two away to one Mom in the City member.

Portable Pets

Pet Pairs

I also received the Littlest Pet Shop Tail Waggin’ Fitness Club (for ages 4+). If you want to see your little one’s eyes light up, this is a great gift option. I gave it to a Mom in the City member’s daughter. She loved it! She kept carrying the box (which is pretty big in comparison to a kids’ body) around. A small set of kids also kept stopping by to see the fitness club. Along with the gym (that includes workout centers, lockers, a snack bar and rest area) the set comes with 2 pets and other various accessories.

I was also sent the latest from the LPS VIP line called VIP Friends. VIP Friends are only out for a limited time (until the end of December). The age range is 6+ but I’m including it because some of you have older kids also. These Virtual Interactive Pets (VIPs) have codes hidden in the collar. Older kids can visit littlestpetshop.com to play games and participate in activities for both the kids and the pets. When I gave this toy to a young girl in my neighborhood, she just hugged the pets and told her mom ”I’ve always wanted this!”

Mom in the City newsletter subscribers can enter to win the two minis package by leaving their name in the Comments section below along with the name of their favorite Littlest Pet Shop pet or by sending an email to contests@mominthecity.com with “Pet” and the answer in the Subject line by December 31st.

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