So excited to share with you a book that is perfect for reading with your kids this time of year or for them to read themselves. The Christmasaurus is all about the power of believing.
Once upon a time—long, long ago, when dinosaurs roamed the Earth—an egg rolled away from its mother and landed in the ocean, where it froze solid and stayed peacefully for thousands of years. Then one day Santa and his elves discover the frozen egg, and Santa sits on it to see if it will hatch. But he can’t guess what’s inside. . . . A dinosaur!
Meanwhile, a young boy named William Trundle has only ever wished for one thing for Christmas: a dinosaur! So whenSanta accidentally gives William the real Christmasaurus instead of a stuffed replica, it’s the BEST CHRISTMAS EVER! Until an evil man known as the Hunter decides a dinosaur will be the perfect addition to his collection.
Written by McFly band member, YouTuber, and UK celebrity TOM FLETCHER, THE CHRISTMASAURUS is sure to become an instant Christmas classic.
Check out our video of the book below:
Giveaway
Penguin Random is sponsoring a giveaway on Mommy Ramblings. One lucky blog reader will win their own hardcover copy of The Christmasaurus! Thank you to Penguin Random for the review book and for sponsoring this dinomite giveaway on Mommy Ramblings. Open to US Residents.
The Christmasaurus Hardcover Book Giveaway on Mommy Ramblings Rules:
Please enter for your chance to win using the Rafflecopter widget below. Good Luck!!!
Did you know that chipmunks love to stay up past their bedtime? Or that dragons cry at happy endings? I bet you’d never have guessed that iguanas sometimes get homesick at sleepovers.
In Owls Are Good at Keeping Secrets, author SARAO’LEARY and illustrator JACOB GRANT pull back the curtain on the animal world and give us an absolutely charming little one-line”fact” about one animal for each letter of the alphabet.
Kids will love to see their own quirks reflected in these adorably rendered creatures,and perhaps will be comforted to know that—just like them—narwhals can be perfectly happy all on their own and quail also get tired of being told to be quiet. This is more than just an alphabet book.
Owls Are Good At Keeping Secrets is a charming, hilarious, and touching look at the diversity of personalities in the world—worth many, many rereads. Check out the adorable book trailer here.
Let me know what you think of this wise new picture book. We think it’s a hoot!
You might remember we have blogged about Package From Santa in the past and how excited our son Luke was to get his package. He especially loved the card that had a special piece of Santa’s magic suit.
This year we ordered a Silver Package From Santa and added the special card with the piece of Santa’s magic suit. We were able to go on the Package From Santa website and choose the type of letter we wanted.
We chose the one that addressed doubt in belief. I was so happy we did because as our son, Ethan read it, he seemed really impressed and said that kids in school were saying that Santa was not real. This letter may have helped us keep that magic alive a little longer.
Beyond the letter, there is a flight path that is personalized to where we live and a very nice photo of Santa in his sleigh. There is a special North Pole stamp on the envelope that adds another bit of credibility. There is even more! FREE! All-New 2018 Personalized Video, Phone Call, and Printable Nice List Guide with Every Package!
You still have time to order your own. We have a Special Offer: Mommy Ramblings’ readers can Save 25% Off Any PackageFromSanta.com Program. Use Promo Code FAM2060 at when you order HERE!
We love the jewelry from Pictures on Gold. They have so many great options for you to create unique and special gifts for everyone on your holiday gift list.
Their Custom Engraved Photo Jewelry is of the highest quality. Years ago, I created a photo keychain for my husband that he uses every day and it still looks just as good as the day I gave it to him. Last Father’s Day I gave him a photo dog chain necklace that he wears every day including when he swims and showers and it looks perfect.
This holiday season, I created a beautiful photo charm of my 2 youngest children. It hangs off the expandable bracelet and is such a lovely piece.
You can add a custom text engraving on the opposite side.
Check out my video below to see it in better detail.
Giveaway
Pictures on Gold is sponsoring a giveaway on Mommy Ramblings. One lucky blog reader will win their own expandable bracelet with photo charm. Thank you to Pictures on Gold for the review bracelet and for sponsoring this amazing giveaway on Mommy Ramblings. Open to US residents.
Pictures on Gold Expandable Bracelet with Photo Charm Giveaway on Mommy Ramblings:
Please enter for your chance to win using the Rafflecopter widget below. Good Luck!!!
We have such a fun Holiday Gift Guide pick to share with you. Do you want to give a very different kind of gift this year? If so, how about a Japan Crate. A Japan Crate is a subscription box filled with all kinds of candy and treats from Japan. You can cancel at any time, so you are not obligated in any way.
We recently received a Japan Crate, and I would love you to check out our unboxing video below.
Each Premium Japan Crate now includes more items than ever!
– 18-20 full-size candy & snacks
– Japan-exclusive drink
– Monthly bonus item (from a bag of Japanese Kit Kats to collectibles)
– Manga-zine featuring translations, fun facts & more
You will find Japan crate on our 2018 Holiday Gift Guide at Mommy Ramblings. For just $35 a month you can let someone experience Japan through candy. How sweet is that?
Giveaway
Japan Crate is sponsoring a giveaway on Mommy Ramblings. One lucky blog reader will win their own Japan Crate! Thank you to Japan Crate for sponsoring this giveaway and sending along our review crate. Open to US residents.
Japan Crate Subscription Box Giveaway on Mommy Ramblings Rules:
Please enter for your chance to win using the Rafflecopter widget below. Good Luck!
The air is getting colder. The leaves have all fallen. Stores are starting to advertise upcoming sales, and all the signs are clear: Christmas will soon be here!
Okay, that’s a little dramatic, but it is true that another holly jolly season will soon be upon us, and I bet you’re already planning ahead for what you’ve got to do.
There’s obviously gift lists to assemble, you’re calling your mom to figure out who’s hosting the Christmas dinner (“Oh! I am?”), and, bless you, you’re probably stressing over how you’re going to decorate this year.
Every proud homemaker knows that having a theme at Christmas is essential for transforming a house into a home. It’s not that you’re being vain or anything, but you know that having a house that feels warm, welcoming, and, dare I say jolly, are key to helping enhance the joy of being reunited with your friends and family during this special time.
With that being said, it can be a pain. It takes time, and it can be tough to keep things fresh and interesting, trying to come up with a new, engaging theme, year after year. To help you out this season, and take some of that burden off your shoulders, I’ve put together a few ideas that you can use to really spruce up your house for all of your guests, whether you’re hosting or not (“Yes. You are.”).
Classical Style
Classic Christmas themes work extremely well because they’re, well, tradition! These are the common color and design staples that leave your guests with no doubt that you treasure the season, and look forward to it every year. It may not be revolutionary, but it’s effective, and when the goal is to relax with those closest to you, and focus on quality time with each other, sometimes that’s exactly what you need.
To capture the perfect classical look, stick with shades of dark greens and bright reds, as well as gold and silver. Common design elements include Christmas trees, reindeer, Santa’s sleigh, and turtle doves. Sticking with naturals decor items, like a real Christmas tree, and a pine need centerpiece, is also a great way to accentuate this style.
Traditional Style
Traditional style during the holidays is all about keeping the same sense of warmth and comfort that you find in classical style, but eschewing a lot of dynamism in favor of a more subtle impression. To that end, the reds, greens, and other colors that make up the classic Christmas palette remain, but are presented in subtler ways.
To start with, you don’t have to go overboard with Santa statues, reindeer napkins, nativity bookends, and all other manner of Christmas staples. Instead, you can do simple things, like swap out the throws or pillows on your couch for some dark greens and reds, or incorporate a subdued, but elegant rug to introduce just a hint of the Christmas spirit into your living space.
Unconventional
If you’re someone who’s never been one to just go along with the crowd, or forced yourself to keep up with the latest trends, good for you! It takes a lot of courage to live your life that way, and you can use that same philosophy to decorate your home for the season, and leave quite the impression with your guests.
You can use colors and designs that mean something unique about Christmas to you, and incorporate them into your decorations. Maybe one Christmas your family took a trip to the beach, and you have a seashell that represents that trip; or maybe you the most cherished gift you ever received was a pair of socks your mom knit for you, and you use them as the centerpiece of your table.
The possibilities are endless with this approach, and the more unique to you, the better!
This is a collaborative guest post. The views and ideas do not necessarily represent those of Mommy Ramblings.
If you have a child that loves animals, you probably have your own zoo in your house. I know I am finding animals everywhere in my house. Whether they are plush, hard figures or drawings, there is a menagerie of creatures everywhere I look. In the new picture book, There’s an Elephant in my Bathtub by Connie Bowman, a Dad finds and rounds up all kinds of animals and escorts them to his son’s room.
Later, when the son returns from school, he finds that his dad has gathered all his animals together for a safari party in his room. This is a delightful book that will have kids grinning from ear to ear as they see a gorilla on the kitchen counter and a bear eating the last of the breakfast cereal in the pantry. The illustrator of this book is Kelly O’Neill.
The Children’s Book Review and Connie Bowman are sponsoring a giveaway on Mommy Ramblings. Thank you to Connie Bowman and The Children’s Book Review for the review book and for sponsoring this great giveaway on Mommy Ramblings.
Enter to win a copy of There’s an Elephant in My Bathtub by Connie Bowman, and a menagerie of stuffed animals!
One (1) winner receives:
An autographed copy of There’s an Elephant in My Bathtub
A menagerie of stuffed animals, as featured in the prize image
Nine (9) winners will receive:
An autographed copy of There’s an Elephant in My Bathtub
Giveaway begins December 1, 2018, at 12:01 A.M. PST and ends December 31, 2018, at 11:59 P.M. PST.
Giveaway open to residents of Canada and the fifty United States and the District of Columbia who are 13 and older.
Connie Bowman is responsible for prize fulfillment.
By Brianna Caplan Sayres; Illustrated by Christian Slade
If your kids love trucks and all things construction as much as mine do, you need to check out this book! This is a great picture book to read as a bedtime story during the Christmas season. Your little one will love finding out what diggers, tractors, forklifts and tankers do to get ready for the holidays. This festive new book is perfect for fans of Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site and Little Blue Truck.
About the Book:
From trimming the tree and singing carols to gathering gifts and putting out milk and cookies for Santa, Christmastime for the beloved vehicles of Where Do Diggers Sleep at Night? looks a lot like yours. Even Zambonis celebrate . . . on ice! Enjoy the rollicking rhymes as you watch the truck families prepare for Santa and even help pull his sleigh!
BRIANNA CAPLAN SAYRES is the author of Where Do Diggers Sleep at Night? and its sequels, illustrated by Christian Slade. She lives with her husband and their two boys in Seattle. You can visit her on the Web at briannacaplansayres.com or facebook.com/authorbrianna.
CHRISTIAN SLADE’s classic, distinctive art style can be found in picture books, novels, and graphic novels for children. He holds an MA in illustration from Syracuse University, as well as a BFA in drawing and animation from the University of Central Florida. He lives with his wife and two children in Florida. Visit him on the Web at christianslade.com.
Giveaway:
Random House is sponsoring a giveaway on Mommy Ramblings. One lucky reader will win their own hardcover copy of “Where Do Diggers Celebrate Christmas?”! Thank you to Random House for the review book and for sponsoring this festive giveaway. Open to US residents.
Where Do Diggers Celebrate Christmas? Hardcover Book Giveaway Rules on Mommy Ramblings:
Please enter for your chance to win using the Rafflecopter widget below. Good Luck!
It’s December 3rd, and I feel like I am a passenger on the runaway Christmas train. The days leading up to Christmas are just speeding by, and I wish I could slow this train down. If you are scrambling to do everything you need to do while checking off that holiday gift list, check out this great gift idea.
Carpet One Floor & Home’sWelcome-A-Cure Mats are more than useful, they are beautiful! In fact, I love mine so much, I have it in front of my farmhouse sink in my kitchen. I love how it feels and looks! The trees are the perfect design for my home atop a mountain on a lake.
I even have one that I got last year with 3 cute snowman that I keep in my kitchen for the holidays. Talk about a gift that keeps giving, 25% of the proceeds will support funding a breast cancer cure through the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Breast cancer claims the lives of more than 41,000 women every year! They say it is better to give than receive, the Welcome-A-Cure Welcome Mat is a gift that feels amazing to give!
This feel good gift, is priced at only $29.99 for a US -made 2×3′ mat. The mats are beautiful and made of high quality materials. You can check the collection out HERE. You will find the Welcome-A-Cure Mat on our 2018 Holiday Gift Guide at Mommy Ramblings.
Giveaway:
Carpet One Floor & Home is sponsoring a giveaway on Mommy Ramblings! One lucky blog reader will win a Mat of their choice from the four mat designs shown above (subject to availability). Thank you to Carpet One Floor & Home for the review mat and for sponsoring this amazing giveaway on Mommy Ramblings. Open to US residents.
Carpet One Floor & Home Holiday Welcome-a-Cure Mat Giveaway on Mommy Ramblings Rules:
Please enter for your chance to win using the Rafflecopter widget below. Good Luck!!!
This is a sponsored post as a blogger partnering with Air Bud Entertainment. As always my words and views are 100% my own. @airbud @airbudofficial #puppystarchristmas
Oh my goodness, the Christmas season is in full swing. I really want time to slow down, so we can savory every day leading up to Christmas. We are trying to do fun things this season, embrace our holiday traditions and keep the stress to a minimum.. We started our Advent Calendar, went to a community Christmas craft party and pictures with Santa and then it was time for a movie night! We were so excited that Air Bud Entertainment launched the holiday season with an exciting all-new family movie adventure!
Puppy Star Christmas is available on NETFLIX and Digital HD now!
Unwrap The Holiday Season With Air Bud Entertainment’s Exciting All-New Family Movie Adventure!
A song and dance-filled movie for the whole family, PUPPY STAR CHRISTMAS continues the fantastic adventures of the talking (and singing) canine characters that have recently gained overwhelming popularity in the PUP STAR franchise of films. These action-packed and song-filled family stories, feature an adorable cast of dogs including talking Yorkie, ‘Tiny,’ and ‘P.U.P.,’ the street-smart rapping mutt who stole Tiny’s heart.
Check out the trailer below:
The all-newmovie begins as Tiny and P.U.P tie the knot in an elaborate song with the largest dance number in franchise history, before introducing audiences to the couple’s delightful litter of four precocious new puppies. The mischief, fun and adventure continues, as Christmas nears and pup siblings ‘Cindy,’ ‘Rosie,’ ‘Charlie’ and ‘Brody’ inadvertently stow away on Santa’s sleigh, ending up at the North Pole where they uncover an evil plot to steal the world’s Christmas spirit.
Several days ago, we received a huge package of goodies to celebrate the debut of Puppy Star Christmas.
Check out our unboxing video below.
We build and decorate a gingerbread creation every year, it is one of our favorite Christmas traditions. With all the goodies we received from the nice folks at Air Bud Entertainment, we could not wait to get started on a Puppy Star Christmas themed Gingerbread House!
The movie features a gorgeous gingerbread house that we certainly cannot compete with as far as, architecture and perfection go. However, we certainly were overflowing with anticipation and enthusiasm.
The kids were excited that we were going with the Puppy Star Christmas theme, because it allowed us to add so many fun doggie inspired elements.
From the Puppy Star Christmas logo on the front of the house to the dog bone candy trimmed windows, we think we did a dog-gone good job!
It was so much fun, and messy too, but that just adds to the festivities. With kids, we are not aiming for perfection, but for the experience to be fun and memorable, and it certainly was!
Check out our video below to see some of the gingerbread house decorating antics that went on in our kitchen.
After our masterpiece was done, we all felt it was time to have a family movie night and turn on NETFLIX to watch Puppy Star Christmas. With steamy hot cocoa in hand, we sipped and laughed our way through this holiday-themed movie that really helped get us in the holiday mood. My kids love the dogs and who can resist puppies?
More about the movie:
Live-action talent in PUPPY STAR CHRISTMAS reunites the film’s original cast including Makenzie Moss (Steve Jobs) as Tiny’s best friend, Lou; David Deluise (The Wizards of Waverly Place) as her father, Denisse Ojeda as the family’s loyal nanny ‘Ida’; Reggie De Leon (Disney’s stage version of Aladdin) as Tiny’s manager ‘Shep;’ and features the return of Jed Rees (Deadpool) as the misunderstood bad guy ‘Roland.’
A tail-wagging selection of talent returns to provide voices for the film’s canine stars, including music and YouTube sensation Mackenzie Sol (The X-Factor) who returns as ‘P.U.P’; and 14-year old singing sensation Kaitlyn Maher (Santa Paws), who returns as the voice of Tiny and sister Scrappy.
The film also returns the voices of George Newbern as Tiny’s nemesis Bark, Diedrich Bader as Kano, and Jorge Diaz (Disney’s Elena Of Avalor) as the beloved Telenovela star ‘Julio’. The film’s puppy litter of new canine voice talents joining the franchise in PUPPY STAR CHRISTMAS includes Chloe Coleman (Big Little Lies) as Charlie, Dillon Fontana as Brody, Oakley Bull (the upcoming feature Beautiful Boy) as Cindy and Vivienne Rutherford as Rosie.
PUPPY STAR CHRISTMAS is produced by Air Bud Entertainment, the creative force behind the #1 live-action, direct-to-home movies in the family category. The film is directed by “Air Bud” and “Disney Air Buddies” veteran Robert Vince, produced by Anna McRoberts and written by Robert Vince and Piers Rae.
The Gingerbread house decorating brought a bright spot to a very sad part of our weekend. We had to say goodbye to our 16-year-old cat, Max. Max was a Pixie Bob cat who thought he was more dog than cat, even if our Westie, Maltese and Bulldog did not agree. Even though Max lived a long life, it was sad to have to let him go. However, Max was suffering from some health issues that were causing his quality of life to be severely altered.
Our kids were sad, and our youngest had hoped the doctor could somehow “fix” Max. It was hard for all of us, and we are still dealing with the loss of our sweet feline family member. The Gingerbread house let us focus our attention on something fun. You know what they say about the healing power of laughter, the movie certainly provides for plenty of that as well.
I hope you all are kicking off the Christmas holiday season in style and fun too. Let me know if you watch Puppy Star Christmasand put your thoughts in the comments.
Hello, I’m Carolyn! I am a PR Savvy, WAH Mom to 5! I love Photography, Baking, DIY Projects, Crafts, Cooking and making memories with my family. I love sharing reviews and giveaways too!
