Since most of the schools have kicked off full force already or soon will be starting up the one thing that it is now time to think about it is organization. Be it for a preschooler or a college student, organization is the key to a successful year! What better way to help with organization than to invest in a great label maker.

Recently I had the opportunity to try the DYMO LabelManger 260P and have to admit that we love it in our house!  This is a step up from our old label maker, which we have owned for years.  The old one we had was always a pain to use and to be honest, I never really figured it out.  I always had to yell for my husband at anytime a label needed to be made.  The DYMP 260P however is super easy to use and even FUN!  Yes, I said a label maker was fun and yes I was tempted to put a label on everything in our house, but I promise I didn't!

The one feature that is my favorite on the DYMO LabelManager is that it can print 10 copies of one label.  I was surprised at how much this feature has been used so far and it really makes things move along a lot faster which gives me extra time to do the other things I need to do.

The DYMO LabelManager features a lithium-ion rechargeable batter and sports a sleek, compact design.  This particular label maker is lightweight and I love the fact that it offers a large screen as well as the option to preview your labels before printing.  The keyboard is super simple to use and it only takes a second to be able to change your font and layout of your label.





Features of the DYMO LabelManager 260P include

• Lithium-ion rechargable batter technology which eliminates AA battery inconvenience, waste and disposal
• Large viewing screen with two-line text display allowers user to see exactly what their label will look like before printing
• Prints professional quailty labels on 1/4", 3/8", and 1/2" easy peel split-back DYMO D1 labels.
• Includes separate set of keys for numbers, allowing for faster typing
• Features quick access buttons for punctuation and symbols
• Allows user to customize labels and add emphasis with three font choices, six font sizes, seven text styles, boxes and underlining.
• Memory stores up to nine labels and is capable of inserting saved text
• Prints up to 10 copies of one label
• Sleep, compact and lightweight design allowing for fast, uninterrupted labeling whether in the office or on the go.

We have really enjoyed trying this product out and has become a much needed addition as far as organization in our home and is a product that I would highly recommend.

MANDATORY ENTRY:
(Please Leave A Valid Email Address)
Visit DYMO and take a look around then come back here and tell me something else you found and would love to have!

EXTRA ENTRIES:

To receive these extra entries, you must do the MANDATORY entry:

• Follow As They Grow Up on Twitter
• Tweet about the giveaway(tweets must be at least an hour apart...be sure to leave the tweet link)
• Add As They Grow Up Button to your blog and leave a link so that I can find it
• Add As They Grow Up to your Blogroll (2 entries)
• Follow My Blog (See sidebar)
• Become a fan of As They Grow Up on Facebook (See sidebar)
• Subscribe to As They Grow Up Via Email (Be sure to VERIFY your subscription)
• Enter my other giveaways and let me know which one(s) (1 entry per giveaway)
• Comment on a non-giveaway post and let me know which one(s)

One winner will be chosen ! I will be using a random number generator to select the winner. Contest ends at 11:59pm EST on September 21, 2010. If the prize is not claimed in 48 hours a new winner will be chosen.Contest open to U.S. residents only.The winner will be announced in this post(and emailed)

Fisher Price is a company that has been around for many years and I know in our household we have personally always trusted and believed in this brand.  From infant on up, this is a name that can be found throughout our home.

I'm not sure how many of you have heard about the new Fisher Price EZ Bundle 4-in-1 Baby System, but upon first glance of this product I have to admit that it looked impressive!  I immediately thought how great this is for someone that lives in a small house, apartment or for someone that simply doesn't have a lot of extra room for all the baby gear that seems to consume ones home.



About the Fisher Price EZ Bundle:

Here’s a revolutionary new space-saving idea that’s also a great value! The EZ Bundle 4-in-1 Baby System gives you 4 baby essentials in one! Start with one seat, then snap it into the infant seat frame, the swing frame, the high chair frame or the toddler seat frame. So easy to switch—and everything you need is included! Requires 4 C batteries.

About Each Part of the EZ Bundle:

Infant Swing

• 6-speeds for variety
• 3-point restraint
• Comfy stain-resistant seat pad
• Approx. 0-6 Months, Maximum weight: 25 lbs.
• Use Swing from birth until child becomes active and attempts to climb out of the product.

High Chair

• 5-point restraint
• Comfy stain-resistant seat pad
• Approx. 6-24 Months, Maximum weight: 50 lbs.
• Use High Chair only with a child who has enough upper body control to sit up unassisted.

Newborn Seat

• Great for feeding or napping!
• 3-point restraint
• Comfy stain-resistant seat pad
• Approx. 0-6 Months, Maximum weight: 25 lbs.
• Use Infant seat from birth until child is able to sit up unassisted.

Toddler seat

• Holds toddlers up to 50 lbs.
• Comfy stain-resistant seat pad
• Approx. 18 Months & up, Maximum weight: 50 lbs.
• Use Toddler seat only with a child capable of getting into and out of the product unassisted.

We really loved this product.  It is super easy to switch from one component to another and I loved the fact that I didn't have to have tons of baby gear around the house.  I will admit that I was curious before actually trying this product on how it could possibly turn into a toddler seat and the toddler have room.  Especially since it is also designed for an infant.  I was surprised at how roomy this seat was and wanted to show all my readers.  This is my three year old trying out the toddler seat conversion:


It is super easy to convert from using it with baby to making it so that a toddler can enjoy the seat as well.  I would have to say that the only con that I feel is in this product is that the infant seat doesn't vibrate.  It really is no big deal for me as none of my children have ever been fond of this particular setting, but I know a lot of babies to like it.

All in all, this is a fantastic concept and the product is very well made and easy to use.  The Fisher Price EZ Bundle 4-in-1 can be purchased for $149.99 at Babies R Us which is an awesome value considering you get 4 pieces in 1.

I have always given my kids an Omega-3 supplement. My son has always been a picky eater and I always worry if he is getting enough nutrients. Not only that, but my fifteen year old daughter suffers from ADHD and Omega-3 has been proven to help in this area.

Recently we received the opportunity to try this product thanks to Mom Central and Ascenta. We tried the NutraSea Kids first off. It contains a pharmaceutical quailty fish oil with a balanced EPA/DHA ration and also contains GLA and Omega-6 which has been scientifically proven to be beneficial for early childhood develtopment.

NutraSea additionally contains medium chain triglycerides, borage seed oil, evening primrose oil seed oil, all natural flavoring, vitamin E, green tea extract, and vitamin D3. All Ascentra’s products feature the Pure Check logo which means the ingredients have been rigorously tested to ensure purity,quality, and potency by a third-party verification system. Because NutraSea Kids exceeds the CRN pharmaceutical quality and purity standards, we can feel good about adding it to our children’s diet.

Our Thoughts:
I have given my kids Omega-3 for awhile and always open to try new products.  While my three year old still preferred his original brand over the Nutrasea Kids, my teenager really liked the Nutrasea+D.  I also ofcourse gave in and tried Nutrasea+D  I had my kids try it and I was pleasantly surprised.  It didn't have a terrible after taste at all. This is a product that I would consider purchasing again, especially for my teen.

NutraSea is recommended for children two to thirteen years old and if any of your children have fish allergies you should consult your doctor before using NutraSea.

Kids seem to love playing with little thing. You know the little things that always send us parents looking under couch cushions, tables, and digging through toy boxes? Why do we do this? Because our children forget where they put these little toys they are so fond of and ofcourse we want to keep the kiddos happy.

Recently we had the opportunity to try the new Jakks Pacific Pook-A-Looz out and even though they are small, my children absolutely love them! The plus about a small toy for me is that it takes up less space to store once they are finished playing with it, but for them it seems to be the ease of holding them, playing with them and ofcourse tucking them in the their pockets so that they can head out the door to show their friends.

The Pook-A-Looz are an adorable size. They fit in the palm of your hand and it is something that you child can collect. They have a great selection of Disney Characters (including Buzz Lightyear) that I am sure you child will get hooked as quick as mine did!  My son and daughter favor the Spinners more, but I admit that the Wobblers are my pick!




About Pook-A-Looz

Classic Disney characters such as Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Winnie the Pooh, and a host of beloved Disney characters get a brand new stylized look in the Pook-a-Looz line created by Disney Consumer Products. The trendy designs will appeal to avid tween collectors, but Pook-a-Looz is still cute enough for kids of all ages! JAKKS’ launches novelty products based on the stylized look of Pook-a-Looz, including Pook-a-Looz Wobblers, Yip Yappers, Spinners and Walkers – perfect for collecting, displaying and trading!

For back-to-schoo, Pook-a-looz Yappers are on a keychain and feature characters that all school-age kids know and love, from Mickey and Minnie to Buzz Lightyear. They are perfect for collecting and clipping onto your locker, backpacks, wherever! Bring them in for show-and-tell or trade with your friends.

The Pook-A-Looz are recommended for ages 5 and up and are reasonably priced at around $4.99.  These would make fantastic stocking stuffers for this upcoming holiday season.  The Jakks Pacific Pook-A-Looz are currently available at Toys "R" Us stores nationwide and Walmart.  Soon they will be available at Target!!

We LOVE Build-A-Bear in our house. My son has always been one to play with this stuffed bears and what better place for him to customize one just perfect for him. Although he is just three, he has been numerous times to build a bear and with the most recent visit they started having fun with him.  That's the part that I love about building a bear.  Where they have to jump on one foot, turn around and all those little things.  It adds so much to the experience for them.

Just recently we were out of town and had hoped to stop by the Build-A-Bear over at Broadway At The Beach in Myrtle Beach but simply didn't have time.  That and for the fact that my son decided to jump into the fountains before  we had the opportunity to go into the store.  He was a little bummed about it, but we had this adorable little surprise waiting on us upon our return home.  It is the Build-A-Bear smallfrys.  We received the bunny and she is absolutely precious!  Here is a little picture to give you an idea of the size (ignore my son being goofy)


Starting on Sept. 3, build-a-bear smallfrys will be available at Build-A-Bear Workshop stores and buildabear.com.  The limited edition collection includes eight pre-stuffed animals which are smaller versions of past and present Build-A-Bear Workshop favorite furry friends.  They come in a cute little package complete with their very own "nutritional friendship information" on back.  Although they are small, each build-a-bear smallfrys furry friend has a BIG personality and are super cuddly!

These eight are the first-of-their kind and are a limited edition.  The collection includes:

• Sassy Kitty
• Read Teddy
• Marble Monkey
• Endless Hugs Teddy
• Shaggy Pup
• Peace Bear
• Fabulous Frog
• Cinnamon Swirl Bunny

For those already thinking about stocking stuffers, these would be perfect! A limited edition of smallfrys-sized fashions are also available at Build-A-Bear Workshop and buildabear.com including: Plaid Shirt and Tie Jean Set, Hoodie and Jean Set, Fuchsia Ruffle Leggings Set, Pink Dot Dress, Peace Pajamas, Blue Fairy outfit and more!  The furry friends will be available through Oct. 31 or while supplies last!

What would you do with a million dollars? After receiving treatments from over 300 filmmakers, four short-films have made it to the final round of the Discover Card Film Challenge. The films range from funny, to inspirational to dramatic, and most importantly they're all original and entertaining.

The films are in support of Discover Card's Everyday Giveaway in which one lucky card user will win $1,000,000 (discover.com/million).

I was asked to pick what short-film was my favorite and it was a hard choice. They are all well done! I finally did decide on the this video:





MANDATORY ENTRY:
(Please Leave A Valid Email Address)
Visit DiscoverMillion.com and take a look at all 4 videos, then come back here and tell me which one is your favorite.

EXTRA ENTRIES:

To receive these extra entries, you must do the MANDATORY entry:

• Follow As They Grow Up on Twitter
• Tweet about the giveaway(tweets must be at least an hour apart...be sure to leave the tweet link)
• Add As They Grow Up Button to your blog and leave a link so that I can find it
• Add As They Grow Up to your Blogroll (2 entries)
• Follow My Blog (See sidebar)
• Become a fan of As They Grow Up on Facebook (See sidebar)
• Subscribe to As They Grow Up Via Email (Be sure to VERIFY your subscription)
• Enter my other giveaways and let me know which one(s) (1 entry per giveaway)
• Comment on a non-giveaway post and let me know which one(s)

One winner will be chosen ! I will be using a random number generator to select the winner. Contest ends at 11:59pm EST on September 16, 2010. If the prize is not claimed in 48 hours a new winner will be chosen.Contest open to U.S. residents only.The winner will be announced in this post(and emailed)

My son loves his super heroes, army men and all that good stuff. Not only does he play with these toys on a daily basis, but he absolutely loves dressing up in costumes for imaginative play. We have capes, swords and costumes all around the house and he absolutely loves it!

While looking for a new costumes that would be easy for imaginative play and something that could also double as halloween costumes, we discovered  Costume Supercenter.  My son literally spent hours looking at all the super cool costumes and finally decided on the Delta Force Costume that you see pictured here.

It arrived in a very timely manner and the quality is outstanding!  I did get him a size small in boys since I was afraid the toddler sizes would be too short.  It is a little roomy and I do have to roll up the pant legs and put a belt with it, but he is fine with that.  I know that this is something that he can get very much use out of as it will grow with him.  To give an idea, my son is around 39" tall and the costume size that we got is suggested for 39"-46".  So given he is on the lower end that is why it was so roomy, but he is just too cute in it!  The hat was a little small on him, but that I kind of expected.  We always have to buy bigger sized hats for him and with that said, he took over one of my husbands later in the day to wear with his costume.


Just because he now has this cool delta force costume in which he refers to simply as an army man costumes, he still continues to go on the Costume Supercenter site daily.  He knows how to access it from my computer, so he looks at all the costumes.  With a huge variety of boys halloween costumes he can easily find something new daily that he now wants. For instant, he has been asking for awhile now for the Darth Maul costume since he is big into Star Wars.  To me, it looks rather scary but to him he only sees his LEGO Star Wars video game characters.

Costume Supercenter has great pricing on all their costumes and their shipping is faster than most in my opinion.  As far as the quality of the costumes, they are outstanding.  I can assure you that this is a place we will go back to time and time again.  They aren't the cheap made costumes that are out in some stores around Halloween.

I have had a "little" gamer on my hands since he was 2 1/2 and during this time I have noticed that he plays the xbox 360 more and the Wii. I feel that some of that reason is that the original Wii controllers are a little big and bulky, especially when it comes to little hands.  Being the size they are it can be hard for the little hands to maneuver and play correctly.

Recently we had the opportunity to try a fantastic new product...the Power A Pro Pack Mini.  As you can see in the picture, this fits wonderfully in his little hands and he has now started playing the Wii more than he ever has.  I admit that we even love the size of this controller.  It feels like it is lighter weight and I love that the buttons are bigger. My three year old ofcourse loves that the buttons light up blue once the controller is turned on and it is just so much easier for him to use with the buttons being bigger than on the original controllers. 

Here is a picture to show the size comparison.



The Pro Pack Mini set includes the MiniRemote and the MiniChuk with the following features:

• MiniRemote is 35 percent smaller than the original model

• Wii MotionPlus™ compatibility

• Contoured surfaces providing a natural grasp for more precise handling and eliminating edge pressure points during extended play

• A soft touch finish for a no slip grip that doesn't require a glove

• Larger A, 1 and 2 buttons for overall increased accuracy and enhanced game play

• Glowing main control buttons for anytime use in any environment

• Color options include Black and Purple, each with a coordinating Wrist Strap

The Power A Pro Pack Mini can be purchased at Power A for $49.99

 I love Lands' End, not only their clothes but their amazing customer service.  I have yet to be disappointed with this company and wanted to share information about the "Every Tee Tells A Story" contest that they are doing.

Lands’ End Graphic Tee for Toddlers

Now I personally have had the opportunity to try out, or I should say my son has had the opportunity to try out a shirt from the Lands' End Graphic Tee collection and they are super soft and super comfy!  We absolutely love them and they wash up fantastic as well!

In the spirit of back-to-school Lands’ End has opened the design process up to designers of all ages. Now through Sept. 7, Lands’ End invites kids ages 4 to 11 to submit drawings based on the theme of “Arctic Exploration” for a chance to have their design featured in the next Lands’ End Graphic Tee collection. For every entry received, Lands’ End will donate $1 to fund art-related classroom projects at public schools throughout the nation via its partnership with DonorsChoose.org – up to $10,000.

In addition to having their design featured on a Lands’ End Graphic Tee, the boy and girl who submit the winning drawing will receive a $500 Lands’ End Gift Card and a $1,000 donation to their school art program.

To enter the “Every Tee Tells A Story” contest:

• Download the drawing template and official entry form from www.landsend.com/thehub.
• All submissions must be postmarked by Sept. 7, 2010, and mailed to Lands’ End with the completed entry form signed by a parent or guardian.
• Winners will be notified on or around September 15, 2010.

My son has always been a Diego fan and coming on August 31 Nickelodeon will be releasing a new Diego DVD titled; Go, Diego, Go!:Diego's Ultimate Rescue League. In this new DVD, Diego and his friends test their rescuing skills as they travel underwater and up tall mountains to save animals.

Go,Diego,Go!:Diego’s Ultimate Rescue League Episode Synopses:

Diego’s International Rescue League
Diego has assembled an elite team of world rescuers to endure a challenging test that will earn them their World Rescuers’ patch. Diego’s team includes Juma – the African desert expert, Shanti – the Indian forest expert, Burgin – an expert diver and surfer from Borneo, Yang – a panda rescuer who can climb up the tallest and most treacherous mountains of China, and team captain Diego – who’s rescued animals from every corner of the globe – even the frozen tundra of Antarctica! The team assembles on Rescue Island, where they must race against the clock in their Rescue-Flyer to identify and return five mystery animal eggs to their respective habitats before time runs out.

Ocean Animal Rescuer
Bottlenose wants to become an ocean animal rescuer just like Diego and Baby Humpback Whale. Bottlenose must swim fast and rescue the baby sea turtles from a giant wave that could devastate the population. Then Diego, Baby Humpback, and Bottlenose must work together to rescue the ocean animals from a dangerous oil-spill before it gets too close to their natural habitats.

Diego Rescues Prince Vicuña
Prince Vicuña embarked on an extensive exploration and has yet to return to his parents, the King and Queen, who long for their lost son. Diego and Messenger Vicuña are quick to develop a plan of action. Diego and Messenger Vicuña run into some trouble as they realize the Prince is over the mountain, near Puma Pass. Diego decides to use a special climbing hook and rope to climb up the mountain toward Puma Pass to rescue the Prince. After a successful rescue, we take the Prince back to Vicuña Valley, and reunite him with his joyful parents.


Go, Diego, Go!: Diego’s Ultimate Rescue League will be released on August 31 with a suggested retail price of $16.99.