5 Minutes, You Can Win

5 Minutes For Mom is giving away an Insignia Shelf System

Load up your iPod or MP3 player with Christmas music and start rocking around the Christmas tree!
Insignia® has an affordable shelf system complete with iPod dock, USB port, CD/DVD player, digital AM/FM, HD radio and more

Of course, if you can't wait you can always pick it up at Best Buy on sale.

Spark Talking Telescope

I've got a riddle for you. What's blue, talks, and keeps my kids busy for an hour at a time?





The Spark Talking Telescope!



The Parent Bloggers Network sent this little gem my way and I will admit, my first thought was "Oh gads, not ANOTHER talking thing!" but the educational aspect prodded me into opening it up and giving it a go.

the Spark Talking Telescope requires 4 AA batteries which are not included. Once those are installed you are ready to go. The slides are held in a tray that slides in and out of the main body of the telescope. I like it when you can easily keep all the pieces together! Learning to put the slide in properly can take a few tries for little hands, so at first you will want to be right there to help out. Place the slide in the slot, punch in the code located on the slide and bing bang boom- the telescope starts teaching facts about that image be it a comet (one of the personal favorites of my 5 year old) or the Milky Way. You can also opt to put the telescope in quiz mode and test your knowledge.

The slides themselves are beautiful- very colorful and clear. They actually feature Nasa images. The telescope is light weight and the talking is not too loud or obnoxious (like other learning toys I've had to lose to retain my own sanity).

The question remains, is this a great gift? YES! My children have played with it everyday since it's arrival and are now telling every adult they know facts about the universe. I'm so impressed that I'm going to purchase the Spark Talking Microscope as a birthday present for my oldest when she turns 6.

HP Printer and Photo Books

I am printer challenged. Really. I can operate the computer, navigate the internet, and after 2 years Ive finally figured out how to switch lines without hanging up on anyone when I get a second call on my cell phone but I can not typically operate a printer. You know that scene in the movie Office Space where they are out in the field beating the useless hunk of machinery with a baseball bat?? I've done that to a printer before.

It's not that I like being printer ignorant. No, not at all. I envy people and their printing abilities, especially ones who can print out photos at home. Despite my printer to person compatability issues I eagerly leapt at the opportunity to try out the HP Photosmart A626 Compact Photo Printer and photo books, ever hopeful that I could become one of those cool people.

When the printer arrive courtesy of The Parent Bloggers Network I was ready to rumble. When I unpacked the box, i realized the USB cord was not included. I was momentarily bummed but quickly realized that I didn't need no stinkin' USB cord, just the memory card from my camera! I plugged in the printer and turned it on. That was it. That was all I needed to do. I put in my card and Bam! My images were right there ready to be edited.

The screen is a super cool pop up with touch screen abilities. Navigation is pretty simplistic and there are all sorts of fun editing features. Fixing up the red eye issue present in any photo I take with the flash on was easy peasy and surprisingly effective. I also enjoyed the slimming function which took 2 kids worth of fat off my hips (if only it twas so easy in real life). The printer includes a stylus which you can use to write captions directly on your photos. I briefly thought about adding some cute commentary on my kids photos but quickly settled on adding devil horns to a photo of my husband. I will be mailing this out to his aunt this week (muhahahahahahahah)

Now something you may never have considered when shopping for a photo printer. It is better then a game of twister. Yes, our Christmas gathering this year will be hopping but it won't be due to a rousing round of charades or ending up with my head dangerously close to my nephew's under-wiped butt cheeks after another unfortunate right hand red incident. Instead I will be packing the HP Photosmart A626 Compact Photo Printer. We can sit around printing out our favorite photos from the year and make a scrapbook together. HP offers easy to use photo books which when combined with the editing features of the printer make digital scrapbook layouts a breeze. Simply print and shimmy into the protective sleeves in the HP Photo Books.

HP has single handedly turned my problematic printing phobia into a home printing triumph. If you are interested in HP helping you to be one of those cool kids that prints photos at home, check your weekend sales circulars. Tons of local retailers have been running specials. And, if the idea of easy photo books floats your boat make sure to click over here and order the HP photo books for 20% off.