Fiddledeedee.net Reviews

(Winner posted below)

Music is big in our house.  And thankfully the children seem to have inherited their musical ability from their father.

You may have landed on this page via the back story on my extensive musical upbringing, that saga can be found here.

Anyhoo, I had been looking for a DVD series that I could use to teach the kids guitar.  Recently I was contacted by the nice people at Jean Welles Worship Guitar.  They have a number of different series of guitar lessons on DVD, to suit your family’s needs.

They sent me the DVD Jean Welles Worship Guitar Class, Volume One. The thing that I most like about the way this is laid out, is that it will have you immediately strumming a two chord song in your first lesson.

The lessons are easy to follow, and there is an instructional booklet that shows correct finger placement and has the words to the songs printed out with the chords above the words.

It’s very much like the sheet music that I used in the guitar mass 150 years ago when I was a teenager.  The songs are bringing back WONDERFUL memories.

Since the lessons are on DVD, you can proceed at your own pace.  Taking time to practice before moving on.

The primary music that is broadcast in our house is praise music.  And I love that the kids are learning songs that they can sing and play along with.

Volume One contains 7 lessons, plus a section on the different parts of the guitar and even a section on HOW TO TUNE YOUR GUITAR.  Without a tuning fork or blowey thingy (technical musical terminology).  I never knew how to do that before!  As you might imagine, I will be learning the RIGHT way to play a guitar, right along with the children.

They also offer a Worship Guitar Class specifically for Kids.  This is a 2 1/2 DVD and eBook with 9 easy to follow lessons.  It’s geared for ages 5 and up.

The Giveaway

Worship Guitar Class has generously offered to give away a choice of either Volume 1 of the regular series or the “Worship Guitar Class for Kids” (ages 5-8) to one lucky winner.

To enter, all you have to do is leave me a comment on this post telling me, what was your favorite childhood worship song? Mine was “Hear, Oh Lord.” I can still to this day, close my eyes and sing it in its entirety.

The Rules

•    No duplicate comments.
•    You may receive an additional entry by following me on Twitter AND linking to this contest, leaving the link in the comments.
•    You may receive an additional entry by blogging about this contest and leaving a link in the comments.
•    This giveaway is open to U.S. residents age 18 or over.
•    Winners will be selected via random draw, and will notified by e-mail.
•    You have 48 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

I will close comments on Saturday, January 16, at 9:00 EST.

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Disclaimer:
•  No purchase necessary to enter or win
•  I received no compensation for this review, other than the DVD used for purposes of the review.

COMMENTS ARE NOW CLOSED.

The winner of the Guitar Class DVD is #17, Steph of OkieRiverMama!

(Winner posted below)

You all know what kind of issues I have with our local library.  If my children are going to do anything to land us on the news, you can bet the scene of the crime will be the library.

I think I’ve found a way around this issue.  In the form of a handy little gadget called the Sony Reader.

This is a little piece of technological heaven that allows you to download HUNDREDS of your favorite books and have them at your fingertips.

And the Sony Reader has different technological styles and sizes to meet your reading needs!  (The girl in me squealed when I saw that some styles come in PINK.)

Ever since my parents read my favorite book, Gerald McBoing Boing (classic Dr. Seuss) to my brother and me, ad nauseum, I have been hooked on reading.  There is nothing that moves me more than to devour a book that stimulates my imagination.  A book that elicits the gamut of emotions.  A book that can describe a scene in such detail that I can close my eyes and picture it.

Way better than a movie, in my book.

To help promote the reader and celebrate the love of books, Sony has created an awesome site called Words Move Me that allow you to share the books you love, and describe the emotions elicited by those books.  I’ve also been able to add a number of books to my MUST READ list by seeing what others are saying about their favorite books.

Below is my Words that Move Me interactive widget.  Just click on the side to see more of my picks.  I had so much fun putting this together.

A Giveaway!

Sony would like you to win your very own Reader Pocket Edition™ valued at $199!

The Reader Pocket Edition™ lets you access up to 350 of your favorite books from anywhere!  And it’s small enough to fit right in your pocket or purse!  Hence the name, Pocket Edition.  Clever, no?

It supports multiple file formats including ePub and PDF, so that you are able to download books from more places, including the Reader™ Store and over a million free public domain titles from Google Books.

•  The Reader Pocket Edition™ is lightweight and portable and has a 5” display.  Three are also 3 adjustable font sizes, so you can resize the text to suit your reading preference. (Just in case your reading glasses don’t match your ensemble.)  Just kidding.  Sort of.

•  The Reader Pocket Edition™ supports multiple formats, and is PC and Mac compatible.

•  Since The Reader Pocket Edition™ features E Ink Vizplex technology, you can have an almost paper like reading experience, which makes reading easier, even outdoors in direct sunlight.  And believe me, WE GET A LOT OF DIRECT SUNLIGHT HERE IN ARMPIT, FL. Not bitter.

•  The Reader Pocket Edition™ provides up to TWO FULL WEEKS of reading (7500 continuous page turns) on a single batter charge.

To win your very own Sony Reader Pocket Edition™, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post telling me the author and title of the first book you ever read which sparked your lifelong love of books.

The Rules

•    No duplicate comments.
•    You may receive an additional entry by following me on Twitter AND linking to this contest, leaving the link in the comments.
•    You may receive an additional entry by blogging about this contest and leaving a link in the comments.
•    This giveaway is open to U.S. residents age 18 or over.
•    Winners will be selected via random draw, and will notified by e-mail.
•    You have 48 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

I will close comments on Monday, January 4th at 9:00 EST.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Disclaimer:
•  No Purchase necessary to enter or win.
•  I will receive compensation in exchange for my participation in this giveaway in the form of a Sony reader Pocket Editions.

(COMMENTS ARE NOW CLOSED)

The winner of the Sony Pocket Reader is #102, Teresa!  Congratulations.

(Winner posted below)

This is a compensated review from BlogHer and Hershey’s

“MOM!  Mr. Kris is putting up his lights!” This simple sentence signals the beginning of the Christmas season in our house.  And it follows closely on the heels of Halloween.  Our neighbor, Mr. Kris, has to begin his holiday decorating by the first of November, otherwise he would never finish by the countdown weekend of Thanksgiving.

Mr. Kris (his real name) has set the Christmas season tone for our humble little street ever since we moved here 11 years ago.  We need not expend too much energy decorating, as we simply ride on Mr. Kris’s coattails.

Behold, the house of Mr. Kris.

(And there is synchronized musical accompaniment)

Other Christmas traditions that we observe in our home (besides the ogling of Mr. Kris’s house) include not one but TWO Christmas trees.  One is mine, all mine (insert maniacal laughter) and is tastefully decorated with beautiful ribbon bows and hand-painted, very breakable, heirloom ornaments.  The other tree belongs to the children, and it goes in the front window.  That particular tree is adorned with all manner of Princesses, Polly Pockets, semi-naked Barbies, matchbox cars, and enough tinsel to destroy the environment.

The beloved Christmas village also makes an appearance each year.  Last year, however, the village was invaded by a hapless dinosaur that threatened to carry off a caroller to his secret dinosaur lair.  He became so popular that I believe he will make a return engagement in the village again this year.

We also like to bake at our house around the start of the holidays.  My “Death by Chocolate” Cake is a favorite request for the annual Thanksgiving gala for our large extended family.  In fact, I received correspondence from my brother-in-law recently, requesting the cake in question, and again admonishing me for attempting to make it with sugar substitute THREE YEARS AGO.  He’s still bitter.

Another sought after recipe is the popular “Rum Ball Rhumba.” For the adults.  Who act like children.

This year, I have the opportunity to add a few more holiday treats to my culinary repertoire, thanks to Hershey’s.  Cailey, my 8 year old, saw me perusing the recipes on the website and became immediately interested.  So much so that she plopped herself down on my chair, successfully evicting me.  With the click of a mouse, she chose three new recipes to try. (Since she’s allergic to peanuts, she avoided nuts altogether, and that saddened me slightly.)  I must say that she did an awesome job, because all 3 recipes turned out to be fun, EASY, and delicious.

The first recipe we tried was the KISSES Candy Twists. You can find the recipe here.  I found small square pretzels that worked wonderfully.  We used the Chocolate Meltaway Kisses, and because I’m a bit of a chocolate minimalist (in that I want nothing to detract from the deliciousness of the chocolate) I used brightly colored sprinkles as a topping.

There is nothing like the taste of chocolate and pretzels.  Salty and sweet.  I love these.  I recommend sticking these treats into the freezer for 20 or 30 minutes after decorating.  This makes them nice and easy to handle.  Also, I’m freezing a bunch of these to take to our family Christmas dinner.

The second recipe is the HERSHEY’S HUGS & KISSES Crescents.   I made these for breakfast one day.  Don’t judge me. Absolutely delicious.  Better than a donut.  Not that I’ve ever served my children a donut for breakfast.  Just sayin’.

And lastly, I tried the HERSHEY’S HUGS Mousse.  Oh. My. Goodness.  I’m a pudding fanatic, so I know what I’m talking about when I say this is MOUSSE AT ITS FINEST.  Very light.  Very delicious.  An impressive dessert after any meal.  I plan to serve this the next time I have company.  Or when I’m hormonal.  Whichever comes first.

A Giveaway!

Hershey’s would like to jump start your holiday season with the giveaway of a $100 Visa gift card.  All you have to do is leave a comment on this post answering the question:   Do you have a holiday tradition from your childhood that you’ve carried over to your own family?

For me, we cannot decorate the Christmas (trees) until I whip out Burl Ives and Mitch Miller and the Singalong Gang.  Both were favorites of my mother when I was growing up, and I make sure that the tradition continues. Much to my children’s auditory horror.

The Rules

•    No duplicate comments.
•    You may receive an additional entry by linking on twitter and leaving a link in the comments.
•    You may receive an additional entry by blogging about this contest and leaving a link in the comments.
•    This giveaway is open to U.S. residents age 18 or over.
•    Winners will be selected via random draw, and will notified by e-mail.
•    You have 48 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

This contest begins Friday, December 4, 2009, at 12 noon EST, and I will leave comments until Thursday, December 31, 2009 at 9:00 EST.

Head over to the BlogHer.com review/giveaway round-up page for 8 more chances to win! To see the official sweepstakes rules, go here.

Merry Christmas everyone!

(Comments are now closed)

The winner of the $100 Visa gift card is #85, Karina!

It’s no secret that up until earlier this year, I couldn’t get Jensen to stay in his Sunday School class.  No amount of bribery, pleading, or deception would work.  Then one week, he noticed a new toy in his classroom.  It was a Plan Toys dollhouse.  Complete with a bathroom.  And what luck!  This was during his ADORATION OF ALL THINGS TOILET phase.  Plan Toys is a company that designs eco-friendly wooden toys designed to stimulate a child’s imagination through simple PLAY.  I love their products.

Needless to say, when we came to pick up Jensen from Sunday School, he had no interest in leaving his class.  And we haven’t had any trouble leaving him there since.  Therefore allowing Fiddledaddy and I to actually sit together in church.

It’s sort of like a date.  With 1100 other people.

Anyhoo, a toy website called ebeanstalk contacted me and asked if I’d like to test drive a new Plan Toy called an Activity Bus.  YOUBETCHA.

This is an adorable toy, aimed I think at children in the 2 to 4 year old range.  Although my 8 year old girl has been known to hi-jack it.  I have to say that I love any toy that doesn’t include batteries and itty bitty instructions.  You pull it out of the box and play with it.

A child’s imagination, it’s a terrible thing to waste.