Thumbs up, thumbs down

There’s a reason that Mommy Bloggers are all the rage right now.  Besides the fact that we’re fabulous, we’re also smart, savvy consumers.  Companies know that word-of-mouth can make or break them in many instances, and they are increasingly reaching to the social media world to get their message across.

I both love and hate that.  It’s great because I’m more likely to buy and use a product that a friend (virtual or otherwise) recommends.  It’s also bad because now the lines are blurry as to what is a legitimate recommendation and what is smoke and mirrors designed to net the writer some swag.  But overall, in a time when many of us are short on both time and money, peer reviews can help save some of both.

These are a few items that I have bought and paid for with my own money, and my un-sponsored, un-censored opinions of them.

Thumbs up:

Heeltastic cream – works as promised, as fast as promised.  I’m impressed.

Glee CD - Love. It.  So do my girls – we play this one non-stop.  Get the Target version if you can – it has 3 bonus tracks.

Handy Manny Repair Shop -  Oh my goodness is this cute!  Lilly got it for her birthday, but even I my 7-year-old enjoys the projects.  It comes with build-your-own plastic parts that are like 3-D puzzles.  Most are too complex for my 3-year-old to do on her own, but her big sisters are happy to help.  And since she loves all things Manny, this is right up her alley.

Henry’s Crab Cakes - These are sold in my local Kroger store.  They aren’t pre-packaged as the website indicates; rather, they are delivered in cases and the stores packages themselves on those little styrofoam trays.  They are $1 each (here) for a 2.5 ounce crab cake.  Besides being insanely delicious, they are also pre-cooked, so no need to fry in oil.  They bake to crispy, delicious, low-fat perfection in about 15 minutes.  Serve with this yummy sauce and dig in.

Combine 1 clove minced garlic, 1/2 cup mayo, 1/2 cup sour cream, 1 teaspoon cilantro, and lime juice to taste. Yum!

Thumbs down:

Dreamgear Stylus - replacement pens for the Nintendo DS – you were such a disappointment.  All 3 broke in less than a month.

The Princess and the Frog – You know I love Disney, but this movie was a huge letdown.  As a Christian, I didn’t appreciate the voodoo-centric storyline.  Especially since there is ‘good’ voodoo portrayed as well.  It was not appropriate viewing for my daughters, and I’m disappointed in myself for allowing them to see it on a school field trip before I had properly researched the plot.

Julie & Julia - Do you see the ratings on this page?  A-, B-.  Critics and viewers, you lie.  Darcie tried to warn me, and as much as I value her opinion, I didn’t listen.  That’ll teach me.  Yawn-fest is an understatement.  I kept watching, even when I wanted to stop.  Everyone I know liked it, so I kept thinking Darcie must have turned it off too soon.  It must have gotten good at some point.  FYI – It didn’t.  Don’t bother.

There you have it – a few of my recent picks & pans.  If you have any of your own to share, I’d love to hear them!

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Handy Manny Birthday Cake

As I mentioned earlier, my youngest daughter turned 3 last month. 

This is where I’d like to talk about how beautiful she is – because she really is gorgeous.

(She also refuses to look at the camera for pictures)

I’d like to tell you how smart she is, what a quick sense of humor she’s got, how she posesses a God-given ability to entertain herself quietly for hours.  I’d like to tell you how bittersweet it is to watch her grow up, knowing that she is my last baby.

But since I just said a blog shouldn’t be all about ‘me’, I can’t.

So instead I’ll tell you about her Handy Manny Birthday Cake.

The kid is head over heels for Manny these days.  I have my concerns, but whatever.

She got the Handy Manny Talkin’ Toolbox for Christmas, so a toolbox cake seemed appropriate.  It also seemed easy, since I could just steal borrow the plastic tools from her set.

My mom was kind enough to bake the cake and fashion the handle for me – my only task was frosting it.  You’d think I’d be able to handle that, but actually not so much.  Cake decorating is so not my thing.  Pardon the rough splotches.

The design on the front was meant to make it look like her toy toolbox.  My dad printed the image off and laminated it and then I just stuck it in the frosting.

(You might notice here that I said ‘my mom’ and ‘my dad’ and not ‘my husband’.  That’s because he did nothing.)

Lilly was a happy camper.

And a good day was had by all.  Even by Mommy, who cried a little when she tucked a 3-year-old baby into bed that night.  Bittersweet, I tell you.

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WTH? Wednesday

Probably won’t be an actual series or anything, but the title’s pretty darn catchy, isn’t it? Thankyouverymuch.

I started this post months ago.  You know, back when I was still blogging with regularity.

Anyway, I’d sort of forgotten about it until last week when Lilly and I were watching her very favorite show (at the moment).  She’s moved out of her Little Einsteins phase and is now solidly a Handy Manny kinda girl.  When she saw him in Disney she nearly cried with delight!

We had to wait in line to see him 3 times.

And she hugged him so long and hard we eventually had to pry her out of his arms!

Overall, I’m fine with it.  The show is cute enough and not overly annoying, though I do find playboy Wilmer Valderrama an odd choice for preschool programming…but I digress.  So Manny, thumbs up.  I’m cool with you.  But what is going on in your town man?  I have never watched an episode without a thousand questions running through my head.  So like any stay-at-home mom with way too much time on her hands curious woman would do, I googled for some answers.

Which I didn’t really get, unfortunately.

But I did find a whole slew of other socially repressed curious moms like myself, wondering the very same things.  So at least now I know I’m not alone in my craziness.  See?

- Are the people of Sheetrock Hills illiterate? Why does Manny’s store just have a big picture of his head instead of a name?

- Is Kelly a closet socialist? When she closes her store to help Manny with a project, he protests and tells her she should go back to the store. Her response: “Community comes first Manny.”  Hmmmm…

-Is Sheetrock Hills is a barter society?  They certainly don’t ever exchange money. Manny never pays Kelly for anything from her store, and I’m not sure I’ve ever heard money so much as mentioned. Kelly stands there next to a cash register that never gets opened, leading me to believe it’s all a farce. So if money isn’t exchanged, how do you think Manny pays her for the goods? Sure, he could have a house account. Or is he paying her in other ways? They’re awfully flirty.

- How do the tools have eyebrows? They are just suspended in the middle of nowhere up there. Are they fake? What holds them in place?  If they are real, do they grow?  Out of what?  Why do they even need eyebrows?

- And speaking of the tools, they always seem excited to eat. How does that work exactly? They have no hands to hold the food. And where is their digestive tract?  That food has to be going somewhere.

- Why does Manny never remove his hat? What’s he hiding under there?  Ditto the gloves.

-What’s the backstory on Mr. Lopart? He’s always snubbing Manny but somehow I think he’s not a bad guy, just misunderstood. Do you think he insists on doing it all himself because he’s jealous of Manny and trying to keep up appearances, or because his intellectual growth was stunted and he’s the emotional equivilent of my 2-year-old, insisting to do it “my OWN self!”

-And is there any actual doubt that Mr. Lopart is gay? Or are we to believe he’s asexual? And either way, isn’t he a bit stereotypical? A middle-aged single man, living with his mom, unnaturally attached to his cat, with a funny voice and forever seen in a cardigan sweater. Couldn’t we be a bit more original here?

-The gay thing makes me wonder if there is an unspoken push to be PC in this show.  I mean, we’ve got the hispanic majority (check!), the gay man (check!), the woman-in-a-man’s-profession (check!), the Asian family (check!), the Indian family (check!), and various kids in wheelchairs (check!) always in the backround.  I think this town might be a gated community to keep out the plain old white bread.

-Which then leads me to wonder, where is this place? The US? Mexico? Puerto Rico? or…?

-Are the kids in Sheetrock Hills total jerks who destroy their parents marriages?  Why does everyone seem to be from a single parent household?   There’s no Mr. Lopart, no Senora Sanchez, no Mr. Portillo.  Something is amiss. (PS-Don’t freak out about the kids crack-it’s an SNL joke)

-Why does no one, ever, no matter where they go, ever seem taken aback by talking tools?  They don’t even mention it!  How is that not just a little bit odd?  I’d freak right the heck out if a flashlight ever hopped up and talked to me.

Yeah, I know I’m weird for thinking this much about it, but when you see something for an hour a day, every day, for months on end, I just can’t help but go there.  If you ever figure any of this out (or know a writer with answers over in Handy Manny land), I’d love to hear from you.  I need to get these things out of my mind so I can go back to pondering more important matters.  Like why the Little Einsteins parents aren’t being investigated for child neglect.

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