Tag Archives: Christmas

November 19, 2017 · 10:26 pm

Discover, “The Girl Who Saved Christmas” Today! #Giveaway #HolidayGiftGuide

Oh my, Christmas is definitely in the air! I know we still need to celebrate Thanksgiving this Thursday, but the excitement is surely palpable. I was out shopping yesterday, and certainly felt that Christmas magic!

It is so fun to share Christmas themed books with my children. If that is something you like to do, I cannot wait to share a new book with you.

If you are a fan of Roald Dahl and Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, you will fall in love with this hilarious and heartwarming holiday tale that is destined to become a Christmas Classic. Author Matt Haig previously explored the origin story of Santa Claus in his highly praised bestseller, A Boy Called Christmas which is now being adapted for film.

Haig’s new book, The Girl Who Saved Christmas serves as a stand-alone sequel that imagines the story of the first child to ever receive a Christmas present.

About The Book:

Amelia Wishart was the first child ever to receive a Christmas present. It was her Christmas spirit that gave Santa the extra boost of magic he needed to make his first trip around the world. But now Amelia is in trouble.

When her mother falls ill, she is sent to the workhouse to toil under cruel Mr. Creeper. For a whole year, Amelia scrubs the floors and eats watery gruel, without a whiff of kindness to keep her going. It’s not long before her hope begins to drain away.

Meanwhile, up at the North Pole, magic levels dip dangerously low as Christmas approaches, and Santa knows that something is gravely wrong. With the help of his trusty reindeer, a curious cat, and Charles Dickens, he sets out to find Amelia, the only girl who might be able to save Christmas. But first Amelia must learn to believe again. . . .

Sparkling with wit and warmth, A Girl Called Christmas is a cheeky new Christmas classic-in-the-making from acclaimed author Matt Haig and illustrator Chris Mould.

Praise for the Book:

“Matt Haig has an empathy for the human condition, the light and the dark of it, and he uses the full palette to build his excellent stories.” —Neil Gaiman, Newbery-winning author of The Graveyard Book

“The story is fast-paced and playful, peopled with interesting characters and unique details . . . but what sets this story apart are the genuine emotions exhibited by all—loss, fear, sadness, and, ultimately, love.” —School Library Journal

“With a little bit of naughty and a lot of nice, this Christmastime yarn is a veritable sugarplum.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Like stockings hung by the fire, this spellbinding opus may well become a yuletide tradition.” —Kirkus Reviews, Starred

“Father Christmas’s backstory is revealed in British author Matt Haig’s fantastic tale of magic, treachery, disgruntled elves, Truth Pixies and a land where “impossible” is a swear word.” —Shelf Awareness, Starred

“A heartwarming holiday adventure.” —Booklist

We love this book so much, we have added it to Mommy Ramblings’ 2017 Holiday Gift Guide. As an early gift to you, we are also holding a giveaway for one copy of this magical book.

Giveaway:

Random House Children’s Books is sponsoring a giveaway on Mommy Ramblings! One lucky blog reader will win their own copy of, The Girl Who Saved Christmas! Thank you to Random House for the review book and for sponsoring this amazing giveaway on Mommy Ramblings!!! Open to US residents.

The Girl Who Saved Christmas Book Giveaway on Mommy Ramblings Rules:

Enter for your chance to win using the Rafflecopter widget below. Good luck!!!

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Filed under Books, Christmas, Gifts, Giveaway, Holiday Gift Guide, Review

Tagged as Books, Christmas, giveaway, Holiday Gift Guide, Matt Haig, Random House, The Girl Who Saved Christmas

November 14, 2017 · 10:56 pm

“All I Want For Christmas Is You” Debuts Today!!! #Giveaway

Today (November 14, 2017) is the day that Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You, debuts on Blu-ray, DVD, Digital and On Demand. The all new film is from Universal 1440 Entertainment, a production entity of Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.

This new film features an original song written just for the release and also includes 3 of Mariah’s Christmas Classics! I am so excited to watch this with my kids this weekend. We are definitely getting into the Christmas spirit here. Thanksgiving weekend we may even put up one of our trees! What a great movie to kick off the season. I just love all kinds of Christmas movies.

Check out the movie trailer HERE!

Mariah originally released the single, All I Want for Christmas is You in 1994, and it has sold more than 14 million copies! In 2016, more than two decades later, it was the year’s most streamed holiday single and dominated at #1 on Billboard’s Holiday 100 for four consecutive weeks. Carey’s critically acclaimed picture book of the same name was published in 2015. And now comes the new Holiday film, sure to be an instant classic with kids and parents alike!

Synopsis:

When Little Mariah (Yde) sees a darling little puppy named “Princess” at the pet store, she suddenly knows exactly what she wants for Christmas. Before her Christmas wish can come true, she must prove that she can dog-sit her uncle’s dog, Jack, a scraggly rascal; in fact, the worst dog in the county! Jack turns Mariah and her family’s perfect holiday preparations upside down in hilarious ways.

It wasn’t exactly the Christmas she wished for…it was more than she ever wanted. Based on the iconic Christmas song and popular illustrated book of the same name, Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas is You featuring Mariah’s music and narration will be a family favorite for years to come.

Showcasing stunning visuals in beautifully realized CGI animation, the film showcases the all-new original song Lil Snowman performed by Mariah Carey along with songs from Mariah Carey’s immense discography and features the iconic song All I Want for Christmas is You, along with two more of the pop queen’s holiday classics Miss You Most (At Christmas Time) and Christmas Time Is In The Air.

Cast: Mariah Carey, Breanna Yde, Henry Winkler, Lacey Chabert, Phil Morris, Laya Hayes, Keiko Agena

Executive Producer: Mariah Carey, Stella Bulochnikov

Produced By: Mike Young, Liz Young, Steven Rosen

Directed By: Guy Vasilovich

Based on the Book By: Mariah Carey and Walter Afanasieff

Screenplay By: Temple Mathews

Score By: Matthew Gerrard, Richard Evans and Marco Luciani

Rating: G

Languages/Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish and French Subtitles

Sound: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1

Run Time: 1 hour, 31 minutes

BLU-RAY^TM, DVD AND DIGITAL BONUS FEATURES:

A Wish Come True: Making Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas is You – Stars, Mariah Carey and Breanna Yde discuss their roles in the film, their love for dogs, and their favorite things about Christmastime

Giveaway:

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment is sponsoring a giveaway on Mommy Ramblings! One lucky blog reader will win All I Want for Christmas is You on Blu-ray Combo Pack! Thank you to Universal Pictures Home Entertainment for the review movie and for sponsoring this festive giveaway on Mommy Ramblings! Open to US Residents.

All I Want For Christmas Is You Blu-ray Combo Pack Giveaway on Mommy Ramblings Rules:

Enter below for you chance to win using the Rafflecopter widget. Good Luck!!!

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Filed under Christmas, Family, Giveaway, Movies, Review

Tagged as All I Want For Christmas, Christmas, giveaway, Mariah Carey, Movie

June 1, 2017 · 11:46 am

It is Christmas in June at the Home Depot

I am the last person that wants to rush the summer but if you need a new Christmas tree, you must check out the overstock sale at the Home Depot. Right now they have plenty of stock on these trees and you can order online. Check out these deals:

6.5 ft. Pre-lit Jackson Spruce Artificial Christmas Tree with Clear Lights and Pinecones only $29.75

If you have high ceilings and want something larger, this gorgeous 9 ft. Pre-Lit Natural Noble Fir Artificial Christmas Tree with Super-Tech Warm White Lights might be just the tree for your home. The price is more than right at only $162.25 because this tree is normally $649!

They have more trees and other decor on sale for up to 75% off right now. You can get holiday accents like this 22.75 in. LED Lighted Red Jumbo Gift Box for only $12.50! It is hand painted and would look great near an entrance or by a staircase.

The Martha Stewart Living Winter Tidings Glass Ornament Set (50-Count) is only $24.75. That is a huge savings off the regular price of $99. These glass ornaments can be used on your tree or as decorations and even in crafts.

There are so many more great buys on holiday LED statues, outdoor lighting, interior decorations, trees, inflatables and more. Check it all out HERE. Your wallet will thank you. Hurry, at these prices, things are sure

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Filed under Christmas, Faith, Family, Home, Home & Garden

Tagged as Christmas, Decorations, Home Depot, Overstock, sales, Trees

December 10, 2016 · 6:03 pm

More Gift Ideas For The PJ Masks Fans on Your Holiday Gift List!

I am pretty stressed lately, we are in the middle of several home renovations and one of them is our kitchen. During the holiday season, I love to bake. This year, our kitchen is in the process of being demoed so that is not possible. We are doing the best we can and plan to do a lot of baking once our new kitchen is complete.

Our kids are feeling it too, I try to do things to make it as normal as possible. As temps get colder, playing outside is not always something we can do. As a PJ Masks Official Blogger, I get a sneak peek at the newest products. I was thrilled recently to receive a box full of goodies and want to share them with you. If you are still doing your holiday shopping and have a PJ Masks fan on your list, you might see something they would like.

The PJ Masks Color & Activity Book from Crayola includes hours of creative fun featuring PJ Masks favorites Connor/Catboy, Amaya/Owlette & Greg/Gekko. The Activity book includes over 30 pages of coloring pages and activities. Great for coloring at home, or taking on-the-go. My kids love coloring these pictures and it gives them a great outlet for their creative energy. Available exclusively at Toys “R” Us.

If you are traveling this holiday season, the PJ Mask Lunch Box Tin with Handle Themed Jigsaw Puzzle is perfect for fun on-the-go. This tin has a convenient handle and I love that it stores the 24 piece puzzle. Once completed the puzzle forms an overall dimension of 15 inches x 12.5 inches. From Cardinal Games this set is available at Toys “R” Us.

Memory games are one of my favorite games to play with my kids. PJ Masks characters are the stars of this Wonder Forge PJ Masks Matching Game. This is the classic memory game where you compete with each other to match the most pairs. You can choose to use as many pairs as you want in order to customize the game to your children’s age. There are pictures of Catboy, Owlette, Gekko, Romeo, Luna Girl and more!

Race toward justice with this board book shaped like Catboy’s Cat-Car with wheels that really move! To The Cat-Car, everyone, it’s time for super cat speed! PJ Masks are on their way, into the night to save the day! Kids will love racing around with this interactive board book that includes moveable wheels to really make the Cat-Car go! This is a great book for your child to take wherever they go.

And in more SUPER news, I’m so excited to share that a brand-new PJ Masks app, Super City Run, was just launched on Thursday, December 8! With the new app, kids can run through the maze-style city as their favorite PJ Masks hero trying to catch the villains and collect the items they’ve been stealing – while keeping an eye out for any traps they might have set with their pesky sidekicks. The PJ Masks Super City Run app allows for new game play every time, so the fun is never-ending! Find it on iTunes and Google Play.

So did you see anything you like? Let me know in the comments.

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Filed under Books, Mommy Ramblings, PJ Masks, Review, Toys

Tagged as Apps, Books, Christmas, Crayola, Holliday, Memory Game, Official Blogger, PJ Masks, Simon Schulster, Travel Games, Wonder Forge

December 8, 2016 · 1:15 pm

Send Joy With These Free Printable Holiday Cards!

When you’ve been around for more than 40 years, Cricket Media has some best-loved annual traditions. And a long-time favorite of Cricket fans has been FREE printable cards for the holidays!

For the 2016 holiday season, Cricket Media has selected 10 of their favorite holiday illustrations and created beautiful cards for you to share and send to loved ones.

To print them out, visit FREE HOLIDAY CARDS and

follow the instructions.

And, by all means, please share them with your friends and family!

It’s not too late to give the gift of reading this holiday season with a subscription to one of Cricket Media’s award-winning parenting magazines. To truly embody the spirit of the season, you may want to explore Cricket’s “Double the Giving” Campaign.

Any gift-giver purchasing an annual print subscription to one of four different Cricket publications will also deliver the gift of reading to a child in an underserved community through two award-winning, charitable partners: Libraries Without Borders and Parent-Child Home Program, both 2016 Library of Congress Literacy Award Winners. Each subscription bundle to BABYBUG (ages 6 mos.-3), LADYBUG (ages 3-6), SPIDER (ages 6-9) or CRICKET (ages 9-14) is priced at $29.95 (regularly $33.95), and is guaranteed to spark a life-long love of reading!

Best wishes for a warm, wonderful holiday season!

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Filed under Crafts, Creative Activities, Holiday

Tagged as Cards, Christmas, Free Cards, Free Printables, holidays, Printables

November 29, 2016 · 2:02 pm

Keep The Magic of Santa Alive For Your Child With A Package From Santa!

As a parent I love seeing the excitement in my little one’s eyes at Christmas. Recently I found PackageFromSanta.com and learned that I could have a package sent to my child from the North Pole! The package would be addressed to my child and be full of authentic, Santa Claus goodies that are sure to delight.

You even get a personalized phone call and personalized high quality video staring your child free with every package. There are 3 different packages to choose from! Check out my video of Luke opening his Package From Santa below:

You can learn more about how it works by viewing this video. Right now you can take 25% off your order when you use the promo code RED1816 at check out on PackageFromSanta.com. Hurry offer ends December 15th!

After Luke opened his package, we made the Coca and he looked everything over again. For the rest of the day he showed the stuff to everyone and he is especially proud that he has a piece of Santa’s Magic Suit. He has asked everyone to feel how soft and warm it is. He is really treasuring everything and cannot wait to spread the Reindeer food out on the lawn Christmas Eve!

Limited Time Free Bonus!
Keep your child behaving during the hectic (and sugar laden) days leading up to Christmas with a personalized, high-quality, printable 100% FREE Nice-List Guide from Santa Claus. Includes your child’s photo, name, and top 10 behaviors needed to stay on Santa’s Nice List! Personalize your child’s Nice-List Guide here www.freenicelistguide.com It only takes 60 seconds… nothing to buy, now or ever. 🙂 I am making these for my kids so they know how to stay on the Nice List!

You can follow PackageFromSanta.com on Facebook and Twitter. Let me know what you think of this, just leave me a comment.

This is a sponsored post and I received a product to facilitate my article.

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Filed under Christmas, Holiday, Holiday Gift Guide, Mommy Ramblings, Review

Tagged as Christmas, Free Stuff, Holiday Gift Guide, Mommy Ramblings, Package From Santa, Promo Code

November 26, 2016 · 1:18 pm

A Building Kit That Teaches Kids About Engineering! #Giveaway #HolidayGiftGuide

My kids are very interested in building things, when I saw the Survive the Quake Engineering Kit, I knew they would love it. I was not wrong, this great kit puts their building skills to the ultimate test. They need to build structures that will survive an earthquake!

Building on the earthquake simulator that simulates quakes in 5 levels of intensity they have to think about what kind of structures will remain standing despite the shaking. The kit comes with 30 plastic building blocks in a variety of shapes and sizes.

I really like all the information that is in the activity book. It talks about engineers who design buildings to withstand earthquakes, the reason earthquakes occur and more.

I think this would be a great kit to have in a classroom as well. My kids really like this and they quickly learned the best way to build buildings that could withstand even a level 5 simulated earthquake.

See our video below:

We like this set so much we are adding it to Mommy Ramblings’ 2016 Holiday Gift Guide. If you think this looks good, you can enter to win one of these kits below.

Giveaway:

Lakeshore Learning is sponsoring a giveaway on Mommy Ramblings! One lucky blog reader will win a Survive the Quake Engineering Kit! Thank you to Lakeshore Learning for the review kit and for sponsoring this fantastic giveaway on Mommy Ramblings!!! Open to US residents.

Survive the Quake Engineering Kit Giveaway on Mommy Ramblings Rules:

Please enter the giveaway using the Rafflecopter widget below. Good Luck!!!

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Filed under Christmas, Gift, Giveaway, Holiday Gift Guide, Review

Tagged as Christmas, Engineering, Engineering Kit, Gifts, Holiday Gift Guide #Giveaway, kids, Lakeshore Learning, mommyramblings, Survive the Quake, toys

November 24, 2016 · 4:20 pm

Read Christmas Love Letters From God with Your Children #Giveaway #FlyBy

Tis’ the season for books about the true meaning of the season. I have been sharing several books with you that do this and I have another I want to share today. Christmas Love Letters from God by Glenys Nellist combines both prose and poetry perfectly as it tells the story of Jesus’ birth. It is written for children ages 4-8 years old but I think children of any age will appreciate this book.

There is a pop up letter that goes along with each story. There is a space on the letter that you can write the name of a child on. The book has seven stories starting with Isaiah’s prophecy and ending with the visit of the wise men.

It is a lovely book that we like reading together in the weeks leading to Christmas. My kids like to unfold the letter from the page at the end of each story. This would make a nice gift to give to a special child or grandchild to remind them of the real reason for this splendid season.

The letters are written as if they were written by God especially for your child. God’s Perfect Promise Bible verse accompanies each story. This book will help children remember the love, promises and hope God offers to all of us. You can find this book on Amazon.

Enter our giveaway below for a chance to win your own hardcover copy of this special book!

Giveaway:

Christmas Love Letters From God Giveaway on Mommy Ramblings Rules:

Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway. If you have won a prize from our sponsor Propeller / FlyBy Promotions in the last 30 days, you are not eligible to win. If you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification. Open to US residents.

Please enter the giveaway using the Rafflecopter widget below. Good Luck!!!

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Home Is Where The Heart Is, Especially At Christmas! #BoscovsHolidayHomeTour

This is a sponsored post and I will be compensated as part of the Blog Meets Brand Network. As always my words and views are 100% my own.

The holidays are upon us, I love Christmas, especially seeing it through my children’s eyes. I look forward to decorating our home inside and out every year. This year will be different, a few weeks ago a leak in our kitchen wreaked havoc on our lives that will change the way we celebrate this season. Our entire kitchen and basement has to be demoed and all of our belongings are being packed up and put in storage.

It will be a long process. We live in a rural location so there are no hotels nearby. The insurance company paid for a travel trailer to be put on site for us to live while our house is being repaired. This means that we will not be able to decorate the way we usually do. I want to make the holiday season special for my kids but most of my decorations have been packed and brought to a location to be cleaned. Anyway, we are making the best of things and that is why when I was approached with the opportunity to work with Boscov’s on their holiday home tour, it was a big blessing.

Recently, we all headed off to Boscov’s and rode the escalator straight up to the Holiday Shop. My kids’ eyes were as wide as my husband’s and mine. There were so many beautifully decorated trees and displays.

A member of the helpful staffed named Linda told me she decorated all the trees and many of the displays. There were indoor decorations, outdoor decorations, ornaments, village houses and so much more. The first thing that caught our eye was the Santa in Sleigh with Reindeer outdoor display.

I laughed because it was the same one from the movie Christmas Vacation. My husband said it was a great idea since we can still decorate the outside of our home. We also picked up a vintage looking outdoor lighted Snowman with Pipe.

I found some cute little cardinal and bluebird shelf sitters and a “Have Faith” block sculpture with a cardinal that coordinated. Cardinals are very special for me so I knew these were going home with me.

Then I found 2 Annalee dolls I loved, a mouse ornament and a mouse standing figure.

Next, I picked up a tablecloth and headed off to find a ceramic tree that is reminiscent of the vintage kind I remember as a kid. I had to decide between green and white and went with the white.The pictures don’t do it justice. I also picked up a beautiful Lenox silver-plated Christmas tree ornament and a train for our village.

They had so many nice ornaments, we picked out several that we really liked for our tree.

Soon we were ready to go and load our purchases in the car.

Here is a video of my Boscov’s haul:

The tree makes a cute little display with the other ornaments in the travel trailer.

I did get to at least try my tablecloth on my kitchen table before they took it away. I love the vintage look of this tablecloth.

The train is so detailed and will look awesome when we add a few of our village houses. Our village will be smaller this year but it will still be festive.

The outdoor decorations are very nice and with the new fallen snow they look just fabulous.

The kids really love everything and I guess this all goes to show us that home is where the heart is, especially at Christmas!

Share “Where Jesus Slept” With Your Child #Giveaway #FlyBy #WhereJesusSlept

If you are looking for a great read aloud book that teaches children the true meaning of Christmas, Where Jesus Slept is a new favorite of ours.

This book is written in a rhyming, repetitive way that is similar to the style of This is the House that Jack Built. The story starts with the hay and continues on until the baby Jesus who slept on it appears.

The illustrations are beautiful and the story about the first Christmas is one that fills our hearts with what Christmas is all about. I love sharing this book at bedtime at least one night a week with my children in the weeks leading up to Christmas.

It provides a springboard for discussion you can taper to the age of the children you are reading to. It seems every time we read it, there are new questions they have. With all the commercialism of the holiday that celebrates the birth of Christ, this book keep us centered on what really matters!

About the author:
Norma Lewis is the author of ten books. She lives in Grand Haven, MI, with a marmalade cat named Scalawag. They both love spending time with her six grandchildren, ranging in age from three to twenty.
Illustrated by Katy Hudson.

Would you like a chance to win your own Where Jesus Slept Book? If so, enter the giveaway below!