We’re excited to celebrate this release with a giveaway to one lucky winner. Our winner will receive the following prize package:

One (1) winner will receive:

• $50 Fandango Gift Card
• T-shirt
• Water Bottle
• Lunch Bag
• Seedling
• Activity Sheet
• Truffula Tree Pencils

Disclosure: Thanks to Universal and The Lorax for providing our giveaway prize package to our lucky winner. As always, all thoughts and opinions are our own. 

When walking into her interview with us, a woman complimented her on a great performance, and Betty replied with “Have I got her fooled.”

It’s no surprise that this spunky woman is playing an adventurous grandma who gets into just as much mischief as her grandson. I tried to pull a few of my favorite answers from our interviews with Betty so you can see how truly genuine and spirited she is. Hope you enjoy as much as I did. Here’s a snapshot of all the bloggers hanging with Betty – we just adored her!

On her Funny Personality

Blogger: You have the most brilliant comic timing. Have you always been? Were you the funny kid? I just think you have the best delivery.

Ms. Betty White: Oh, bless your heart. I was an only child with the best mother. I did a magnificent job of choosing a mother and father. And there wasn’t a straight man in the house. I mean that in a nice way.

But, we would have Sunday morning breakfast together or we’d have dinner together every night around the table, and my dad would always ask me how things were at school and somehow, we’d get into silliness and fun. And we also would talk very seriously. It wasn’t all giggle time.

But, I think those dinner tables and those breakfast tables went a long way on teaching me how to appreciate the positives as opposed to the negatives.

On Obama sending Betty White birthday wishes:

Blogger: How did it feel to have the world celebrate your birthday and to have the President wish you a happy birthday?

Ms. Betty White: Do you believe what he did? He broke me up. I’ve never met him. I’m a tremendous fan of his, but I’ve never met him, anything like that. So, my agent called and he said, “Wait till you see what President Obama did.” I mean, the people out here didn’t generate that.

They did that in Washington, and I loved him picking up my picture and putting it so it blocked Michelle’s picture. I still can’t believe it. I play it over and over again, and that kind of sense of humor and the fact that he would take the time to do that. But, it really blew me away and made me laugh and still makes me laugh.

Blogger: Happy belated.

Ms. Betty White: Oh. That’s a way to celebrate your birthday. He didn’t have to do that to get me to vote for him. He didn’t have to go to all that trouble.

On Betty White recording her voice for the The Lorax movie:

Blogger: Was it hard to do the animated voice over alone like in a studio without other actors? How was that?

Ms. Betty White: Well, you feel kind of silly because they ask you to make all these weird noises and you don’t know what they mean by, well, it’s a gasp, but you’re doing this. So, you’re sitting there by yourself and you finally feel rather ridiculous.

But, somehow, pretty soon, you get into it, and then you get into the beautiful visual thing that it is as well as the Dr. Seuss loveliness. And so, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I really enjoyed it.

On Betty’s thoughts about The Lorax:

Blogger: What was your favorite part of the movie? What was your favorite part of creating the movie or your favorite scene of being the voice?

Ms. Betty White: Overall, the beautiful colors and the celebrating the environment and the caring about the environment, which is one of my big, big, big things, and the fact of looking for trees and wanting to find trees. Dr. Seuss has a way of doing, you could get into it. I hope everybody else loves it as much as those of us involved in it.

On why she chose to be in The Lorax:

Blogger: How did you get involved with it?

Ms. Betty White: They called me and asked me. It’s all the things that I believe in and love. And I think it’s a great message to send out to kids to get the thing across about appreciating trees, for example.

Blogger: I love strong empowering female roles. So, in this, you’re the kickass grandma. I was just wondering how it felt? You’re just that granny that just makes it happen, because you’re all soft and sweet, and then you make it happen.

Ms. Betty White: Oh, that’s the fun of it. And I love the way they wrote it because it doesn’t make fun of anybody. It’s not mean spirited.

On her growing popularity with the young audience:

Blogger: It seems like you’re really connecting to the teenagers.

Ms. Betty White: I think it’s honesty. I think they’re pretty honest at this point, and if you start talking down to them, they’ll turn you off in a minute. But, please thank them for me.

Watch and share The Lorax trailer on Facebook! Watch clips, play games, get free mobile downloads and download printables! 

THE LORAX is now on Pinterest! Browse the film’s boards at http://pinterest.com/theloraxmovie 

Disclosure: Thanks to Universal Pictures for paying for my travel expenses to attend The Lorax press junket in Los Angeles, CA – which hits theaters in 3D on March 2nd, 2012. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

The movie drew me in immediately with a very catchy opening song and colorful imagery, and  I was hooked for the entire film. The story follows a 12 year old boy named Ted (voiced by Zac Efron) on his journey to find a real living tree to give to his dream girl Audrey (voiced by Taylor Swift).

On Ted’s quest, he finds himself on a wild adventure to plant the last Truffula Tree seed in his town.

Flashbacks during the movie tell the story of the Lorax and the Truffula trees. When a young entrepreneur plans to make useless thneeds (one of many fun Dr. Seuss words) out of trees, the Lorax desperately tries to stop him. The man ignores his warnings and destroys the land around him. Now it’s up to Ted to keep the Truffula trees from disappearing forever. Of course, the movie thickens the plot with an added villian Mr. O’Hare who will stop at nothing to make sure the town is full of fake trees, bottled air, and polluted water.

I was impressed how the movie shared a very serious message in a light-hearted way that kids of all ages will enjoy while still grasping the bigger moral of the story. I think parents will find The Lorax a great conversation-starter with their kids on the importance of going green and this will trigger families to talk about ideas on how they can help make a difference.

Kids will love the movie for the clever story and fun songs, and parents will feel great about the valuable lesson portrayed throughout the tale. You won’t want to miss sharing this movie with your kids and maybe even with the adults in your life. I know I left that movie theater feeling inspired myself to think twice before I forget to recycle my plastic bottles. Every little bit counts.

Side note: For those Despicable Me fans, if you listen close enough, you can catch a few humorous references (hint: check out the Converse shoes).  Make a game out if and see who in your family finds the most!

Watch and share The Lorax trailer on Facebook! Watch clips, play games, get free mobile downloads and download printables! 

THE LORAX is now on Pinterest! Browse the film’s boards at http://pinterest.com/theloraxmovie.

Take a peek at the trailer here:

Disclosure: Thanks to Universal Pictures for paying for my travel expenses to attend the press junket for The Lorax – which hits theaters in 3D on March 2nd, 2012. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

We reviewed Lunchskins years ago and now are happy to report anyone can buy these eco-friendly snack bags, sandwich bags,and oversized “sub” bags in store at almost 300 Target stores and of course as always, they are available online. LunchSkins were founded by 3 Green Moms who wanted to make a difference and a dent in the 20 million plastic bags used in school lunches daily.

LunchSkins are easy to wipe down, BPA, lead, and phthalate free, re-useable, dishwasher safe, and are available in super cute patterns – from frogs to ladybugs to navy dogs at Target. (Lots of other styles abound as well in the original LunchSkins single packages too  - think polka dots, stripes, flowers, and even snowflakes!)

Take a peek at LunchSkins in our video below:

Disclosure: Thanks to LunchSkins for sending us samples and prizing to facilitate our review and giveaway.

The kids loved Zinkies as their smallness made them only even more intriguing and adorable. Although, the smallness factor will definitely play into the “toys that go missing” factor as we’ve already probably lost a handful of these Zinkies to who knows where.

Here’s Kenzie’s set up all her Zinkies:

Take a peek at our video below for an up close look at Zinkies:

Disclosure: Thanks to BlipToys for providing us samples of Zinkies to facilitate this review.

Mixing my love of Disney magic with my love of running could not be a better combination.

I am beyond excited to experience what I hear is a thrilling and exhilarating race. I’m thrilled that I’ll also get a behind the scenes peek at the Run Disney phenomenon as last week I received a super magical invite in my email in box to attend the Disney Princess Half Marathon as a special media guest.

I signed up for this race last October – and even gutted out a 10K on the morning of hosting Kenzie’s 6th birthday party back in October- talk about exhausting – to secure my corral placement for race day according to my running pace.

The goal of running the Disney Princess 1/2 Marathon kept me happily trying to train through the cooler winter months and I hit a 10 Miler two weeks ago running 90 minutes on the trail for my long run. Yesterday I hit the track to see how my race pace might feel – I’m hoping to run 9 Minutes per mile or faster so I wanted to run relaxed and easy for 1 mile on the track. I ran 8:30 for the mile- it felt good but was faster than I probably need to go for the race – in these distance runs super slow and steady will help me break 2 Hours for the 1/2 Marathon.

I would have done another long run last week but my kids and I were hit with bad respiratory infections – bronchitis, ears, sinus, pneumonia you name it we had it. I took off running for 12 days to get well – not ideal before a big race but the best way to get healthy is by resting. It doesn’t matter how fast I run next weekend – my super fast high school and college days are long behind me. I just want to have fun and feel accomplished at achieving my goal of running a 1/2 Marathon since becoming a Mom.

And now that I’m going with the media, they invited the kids to join me for a 5 K the day before. I have a feeling that running the 3 miles with Kenzie might be the most magical experience of all of it as she is beyond excited to run 3 miles and earn her very own super duper fancy race medal.

I’m packed and ready to go with my energy gels, sports watch, and running clothes – Next stop – Disney!

Here’s some ideas with Disney’s official 2012 Princess Half Marathon merchandise along with some “tutu” skirt options too.

Lots of the larger sizes in little girl stuff is sold out now on Disney.com, so I may actually be wearing a sparkly skirt of Kenzie’s that fits. Kenzie helped me find a skirt of hers to wear- thank god for elastic waists so I can get it over my hips! – along with a cute Tinkerbell ponytail holder.

I can hardly wait for the magic of running a race full of Disney entertainment and now my 6 year old is SUPER EXCITED to run her very own 5K with me the day before and earn her own glorious finisher medal.

Time for Disney Magic and turning my running self into a “Princess runner!”

Kenzie especially loved this book and with 2012 being an Olympic Year, this story couldn’t be more timely for kids.

Classy Mommy Approved!

And Kristi Yamaguchi – gold medalist, figure skating champion, and celebrity Mom is quite the role model for her kiddos as she adds New York Times Bestselling author to her resume. Impressive!

Here’s the official scoop:

One hundred percent of Kristi’s profits from It’s a Big World, Little Pig! will benefit early childhood literacy programs supported by her Always Dream Foundation.

It’s a Big World, Little Pig! follows Poppy as she travels to Paris to compete in the World Games. At first, Poppy is nervous about meeting so many new people in a new place. But, ever courageous and supported by her family (and best friend Emma, too!), Poppy begins to realize that although these animals look different, act different, and are from different places, they are all the same at heart. They all smile in the same language!

Disclosure: Thanks to SourceBooks for providing us with a review copy.

And we’re giving away 3 gift cards to Casa.com worth $25 each to 3 lucky winners. 

The site looks beautiful and is organized great making me want to shop away and decorate with their cool finds. Lots of popular everyday brands mixed with higher end trendy type brands too. Here’s why this site looks different and why it’s going to be hot:

•  365 Day Return Policy if you are not 100% satisfied, Casa.com will accept returns for a full year and pay for return shipping
•  Everything is delivered in 1 to 2 days, with free shipping on orders of $49 or more.
• Customer service representatives are available 24/7
• Casa Picks – The Casa Team hand-selects products that make life easier for shoppers, are hard to find or bring style to any solution.
• Styleboards – Virtual pin boards allow shoppers to visually arrange items and compare products, as well as share with family and friends for input.