Little Pim French Language DVD’s Review & Giveaway

April 17, 2014 By Zephyr Hill Leave a Comment

Bonjour! I’m hearing (and speaking) a lot of French these days since Joseph and Catherine have a language tutor this year. My friends at Little Pim asked if we’d like to review their French series and sent us a complimentary 3-DVD set of Fun with Languages, plus a plush Little Pim toy:

This set includes:

Disc 1: Eating and Drinking
Disc 2: Wake up Smiling
Disc 3: Playtime

Each video contains 7 episodes which run about 5 minutes each, so little children can get the lessons in small bites. Although geared towards ages 0 to 6, I’ve found that my children up to 5th grade enjoy and appreciate Little Pim.

As with other Little Pim videos we’ve viewed in the past, the French series is easy to understand with very precise and clear pronunciation. I know this because my children have been learning French from a tutor this year; she lived in French for years and is proficient in the language, and by listening in on the lessons I can assure you that the quality of Little Pim French is definitely up to par.

The bright, clear animation and endearing Little Pim make for a pleasant and engaging experience for young children. There’s no loud music, jarring images or crass humor like you find in a lot of modern cartoons. I like that there’s a good amount of repetition, but it’s not overdone. I even got a little vocabulary refresher myself; the last exposure I had to French was the first year of college. Another plus is that the videos reinforce every day concepts like playing, having meals and living in a family. These also happen to be the things that they are learning right now from their teacher.

The children like it a lot. It has helped to reinforce their French lessons in a fun and relaxed way, and they’ve already re-watched it several times (which is an obvious vote of approval around here). Their only concern was that Little Pim appears alone in this series without his friends the elephant and cat. They wished that ALL the characters had been featured in this series.

Follow Little Pim on Facebook for news and special offers, plus see demos and free lessons through their You Tube channel. Get FREE shipping every day on orders over $20 at the online store! You can also purchase any of the Little Pim language lessons via digital download for a reduced price. Right now you can get 25% off with code SPRING25 until April 20th.

Guess what? Little Pim is giving away a set of 3 DVD’s in the language of your choice: choose from over 10 different languages, including French, Spanish, Russian, Italian, German and Chinese!

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Win 20 Pocket Diapers Plus More in the Spring Cloth Giveaway!

April 13, 2014 By Zephyr Hill 52 Comments

2nd Annual Great Spring Cloth Giveaway

Over $400 in Prizes!

From April 14 – May 5th you can enter to win an amazing cloth diaper prize pack with everything you need to start cloth diapering or just expand your stash. The winner’s package will include:

20 Pocket-Style Cloth Diapers (that’s right – twenty of them!!)
Wipes Cubes and Goodmama Cloth Wipes
Amber teething necklace and anklet set
Bumble Multi-Use Zip-Up Bag
And….and a few other surprise cloth diapering goodies

Thanks to the amazing businesses and bloggers who are are helping out by sponsoring and promoting this event! They are: Thinking Outside The Sandbox: Family, Flip Size Canada and From The Stash, and on the blogging side: A Mother’s Design, The Inquisitive Mom, Creative Kids, Surviving Chaos, Your Modern Family, Zephyr Hill, Cloth Diaper Contests, The Anti June Cleaver, More Than A Mom of Three, The Parenting Patch, Jen’s Butterfly Bowtique, Thinking About Cloth Diapers, Livin’ La Vida Eco and Housewife Mama.

How do you enter?
Use the Gleam entry form below. If you have any questions about the entry form, or encounter any issues, please contact Thinking Outside The Sandbox: Family.

Good luck to you all!

The Great Spring Cloth giveaway is open to both USA and Canada. It ends May 5th at midnight.

Filed Under: Giveaways

Nuby’s Twisty Bugz Teether Review & Giveaway

April 10, 2014 By Zephyr Hill 23 Comments

Nuby recently sent 14-month-old Erik a complimentary Twisty Bugz teether to play with. Like other Nuby teethers we own, there are multiple features built in to this small toy to help keep toddlers entertained for longer periods of time. Knotted cord feelers, nubby wings and soft petals all provide lots of tactile stimulation, plus twisting and turning the bugs makes a nice clicking sound. Shaking the toy makes it rattle!

The Twisty Bugz teether is about 6 inches across and a good size for small hands to grab onto and hold. It’s designed for ages 3 months and up and is BPA-free.

Erik’s favorite thing to do with this teether (besides chew on it and throw it!) is to pull the little antennae. Like many toddlers, he gets fascinated by tiny little details like that. Our Twisty Bugz teether has withstood over a month’s vigorous play and still looks and functions great, so I’m pleased (once again) with the durability of the toys we get from Nuby.

Would your child like to try a toy like this? You’re in luck! Nuby is giving away a Twisty Bugz teether to a Zephyr Hill reader. Enter to win below! Giveaway is open to the U.S. only.

And here’s how to connect with our friends at Nuby:

www.facebook.com/nubyusa
www.twitter.com/nubyusa
www.pinterest.com/nubyusa
www.instagram.com/nubyusa

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Filed Under: Giveaways, Home and Family

Flip Diaper Cover Giveaway for Spring!

April 7, 2014 By Zephyr Hill 138 Comments

‘This giveaway contains affiliate links.

It may not feel like spring yet where you live, but let’s welcome it anyway, because very soon the Earth will be filled with the vibrant colors of birds and buds and blossoms.

Today’s giveaway is for the ever-popular one size Flip diaper cover in your choice of color: Hummingbird (a bold aqua), Sassy (deep orange) or Dazzle (a delicious purple)!

A really great place to find diaper covers is Diaper Safari; they carry the most popular and highly rated brands, plus shipping is always free. You can get some extra entries in today’s giveaway by letting me know if you see YOUR favorite brand there.

Good luck!

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Cuckoo for Cloth Diapers! FREE Blogger Giveaway Hop

April 4, 2014 By Zephyr Hill Leave a Comment

To save the event image, right click and choose “Save As” to add it to your computer.
Then post to your blog.

Looking for a fun cloth diaper giveaway hop to participate in? Would you like more fans and followers on social media, as well as increased site traffic from cloth diaper-minded mamas? Join the Cuckoo for Cloth event hosted by the Zephyr Hill blog and Irresistibly Green; it’s a brand new hop in its first year and super easy to be a part of!

Who can sign up? Anyone who has a blog, including cloth diaper retailers and WAHM’s

When is the event? The hop runs from June 7 to June 17. Sign-ups are open until May 30.

What do I need? You’ll need to offer a cloth diaper themed prize valued at $15 or more on your blog.

Does it cost anything? This a free event!

Do I have to post anything? Only your giveaway post on June 7this required. We’ll email you the HTML code for that at the end of May.

How can I help? You can post this same announcement on your blog (click here to copy and paste the HTML), share on your social media, or add the event graphic (above) to your sidebar.

Quick summary:

Nail down a prize worth $15 or more to be given away on your blog.
Add your blog information to the LINKY below.
Email if you have any questions.
Share this event on your social media, if you have a moment. The official event hashtag is #cuckoo4cloth. You can also use the generic #clothgiveaway hashtag in your promotion.

Click below to instantly and easily share this event on Twitter!
Tweet: FREE cloth diaper blogger op: sign-ups for the Cuckoo for Cloth giveaway hop now open! http://ctt.ec/3IA20+ #cuckoo4cloth #clothdiapers

If you are a cloth diaper RETAILER or WAHM, and would like to sponsor a prize, please send a message. We can add your item(s) to the fantastic grand prize package (giveaway to be hosted at Zephyr Hill and the Irresistibly Green blog) OR connect you with an enthusiastic cloth diapering blogger that can help promote your store!

Thanks for being a part of the first annual Cuckoo for Cloth event!!

ANNE and STEPH

Filed Under: Giveaways

Cloth Diaper Prize Package Giveaway from Up on the Hill

April 2, 2014 By Zephyr Hill 2 Comments

Up on the Hill has reached 5,000 Facebook fans and that’s something to celebrate, so they are offering a cloth diaper giveaway for their followers!

The prize package includes:

Blueberry One-Size Deluxe Pocket Diaper – click here to read all about this highly rated diaper!
Kangaroo Care Summer Nursing Necklace – click here to learn about this all natural teething jewelry!
GEN-Y TagAlong Wet Bag
Tomat Luna Moth Organic Baby Tee Shirt – click here to see available sizes and colors!
Lunette Cup and FeelBetter Liquid Wash – click here for more details!

This giveaway will run from April 2nd to April 4th, so be sure to get your daily entries in quickly. During the promotion, Up on the Hill cloth diaper shop is also offering:

DOUBLE rewards points on every order!
TRIPLE rewards points on orders which end in the number 5
A 5% discount plus FREE shipping with code GIVE5000 (certain brand restrictions apply) – start shopping now to take advantage of the big sale!

This is the perfect time to place a cloth diaper order if you’ve been saving up for a purchase. The giveaway form is below. Good luck to you all!

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Easter Giveaway from Feltman Brothers Baby Clothing: Win $100!

March 31, 2014 By Zephyr Hill Leave a Comment

In honor of Easter, which is just a few weeks away, Feltman Brothers is having another giveaway! You can enter for a chance to win $100.00 plus get a beautiful plush Feltman Brothers toy, and a Feltman Brothers accessory! Just use the entry form below to get started.

You can read more about Feltman Brothers heirloom-quality baby and toddler clothing, and see some photos of these beautiful outfits on my children, in my review post.

Entry form:

Entry -Form

Filed Under: Giveaways

When Sinus Pain and Pressure Get You Down

March 28, 2014 By Zephyr Hill 2 Comments

Spring is here! But have sinus problems ever stopped you from enjoying an outing or event?

Sometimes I think it would be nice to push the “replay” button on one of my days. I’ve mentioned before how dry the weather is here in the Midwest and it definitely takes its toll on the sinuses. I’ve had pain and pressure at times that’s so severe it makes my teeth and eyes hurt! No fun at all.

Sometimes it can even mess up your best laid plans.

Recently on a vacation to New Orleans, both my daughter and I were having some really aggravating sinus problems. How disappointing it was to have to stay inside while every one else went to the local park and enjoyed the fresh air, warm weather and local scenery!

Here are some things that might help you get some temporary relief:

Hot Fluids: Not only do they feel wonderful on a dry throat but the steam rising up from the cup is very soothing as you breathe it in. Decaffeinated tea with lemon and honey is my top choice, but any hot liquid can help you feel better. Ditto for hot soup! Plus, they boost your fluid intake for the day.

Saline Solutions: You can try a rinse or a spray. It’s basically just a gentle salt solution to irrigate the sinuses.

Moist Heat: Long hot showers help, as does sitting over a steaming bowl of water with a towel draped over your head. Use a hot washcloth to massage your head and face.

Cool Mist Humidifier: Running the humidifier at night has helped me to avoid waking up with unpleasant symptoms like headache, dry eyes and even nosebleeds. Use distilled water (which has less minerals and microorganisms in it) and empty the tank each day.

Decongestants or Antihistimines: When staying at home is not an option, it may be time to pull out the big guns. Either one of these products (esp. those with ibuprofen as a component) may help to shrink swollen tissues and allowing the sinuses to drain.

Speaking of replays, don’t miss the SUDAFED® REPLAY sweepstakes where you can win a $250 gift card! Enter here before the April 6th deadline.

You can find them on Facebook and watch this interesting video about how travelers who suffer from sinus congestion in the air opted to skip their flight and re-schedule for a symptom-free flight with Sudafed.

This is a sponsored post, written on behalf of Sverve and Sudafed. All opinions are my own.

Filed Under: Home and Family Tagged With: how to relief congestion, how to relief sinus pain, natural remedies for congestion, sinus congestion, sinus pain

Lalabu Infant Soothe Shirt Giveaway

March 26, 2014 By Zephyr Hill 54 Comments

The Lalabu Soothe Shirt could be described as a both a wearable wrap and built-in nursing top. Mama can use it as a tank or layering piece and then tuck her baby inside for comforting or even nursing newborns and small infants.

Unlike a baby carrier, you don’t have to fool with straps, buckles or yards of fabric to wrap or tie. Best of all, it doesn’t have to be packed because you can wear it all day long just like you would any other article of clothing.

You can choose from three different colors (Pure Black, Rich Purple and Chocolate Brown) and five sizes. The built-in nursing tanks makes feeding baby easier both at home and on the go. All Lalabu Soothe Shirts are made in the United States.

This neat video shows you exactly how the Soothe Shirt works, and how seamlessly it can fit into your day.

You can order your own Soothe Shirt right on their website for the price of $60.00, with FREE shipping on every order. If the color you want is out of stock, you can pre-order and get 10% off. $1 of every sale goes to help women living in Africa. Be sure to follow Lalabu on Facebook, Twitter, and instagram!

One of my readers is going to win a Lalabu Soothe Shirt in choice of size and color! Enter using the form below.

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Buttons Diapers: Wipes and Liners Review & Giveaway

March 26, 2014 By Zephyr Hill 91 Comments

I love Buttons Diapers! In fact, I use the fantastic wipeable covers with my flats and hemp prefolds and now have four of them in my stash. Amy recently told me some new prints are coming at the end of Spring, so it looks like I’m going to be buying a few more!

Amy sent me a few things from her shop to try out and share with you: a 100-count roll of Flushable Bamboo Liners (retail $7.00) and a 15-pack of Cotton Flannel Wipes (retail $7.00). Both of these are good products at a really great price, so read on for the full review and a chance to win some for yourself!

The wipes are one layer of unbleached cotton flannel with red stitching around the edges. They measure just under 8 inches square and after washing shrank about 0.25 inches, which is expected. Flannel is a soft and smooth fabric so it has worked well for the average diaper change. The only improvement to these wipes would be to have a second layer of fabric that’s a little bit “nubbier” for stubborn messes. But if you’re looking for a soft, basic wipe at a bargain price, you can’t beat these; you get 15 for just $7.00!

If you haven’t used flushable diaper liners before, I urge you to give them a try. They can considerably cut down on (and often eliminate altogether) “dunking and swishing” time if you’ve resisted the urge to buy a sprayer like I have. Now, I have tried several mainstream brands of flushable liners and Buttons is now my top choice. I will definitely be buying another package when the complimentary sample I received runs out. They are just about as good as a liner can get with features like a great price (100 sheets for $7.00), silky soft fabric and a size that’s just right.

Each liner is perforated and easy to tear off the roll, one sheet at a time:

See what I mean about the size? At 6.5 x 11.5 they aren’t too skinny or too wide, and they coordinate perfectly with all Buttons inserts. The length is almost exactly equivalent to a standard, infant-sized prefold diaper, which you can see in the photo below. For smaller babies you can fold up the back or front a little; it creates no extra bulk. For larger babies or toddlers, just shift it to the back of the diaper slightly (that’s where you want most of the coverage anyway).