Merry Christmas Thomas DVD giveaway! 10/19 ***CLOSED!!***

***CLOSED!!***

Congrats Renee Grandinetti

Celebrate The Holidays With Thomas & Friends™ 

In A Magical Christmas Special!

THOMAS & FRIENDS: 

MERRY CHRISTMAS, THOMAS!

Available On DVD, Digital Download And 

On Demand October 11, 2011 

From Lionsgate And HIT Entertainment

Street Date: 10/11/11

DVD SRP:  $14.98

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

Come ho-ho-home to the Island of Sodor and join Thomas and his engine friends for the holidays in Thomas &Friends™: Merry Christmas, Thomas! releasing on DVD, Digital Download and On Demand October 11, 2011 from Lionsgate and HIT Entertainment.  Join in the festive fun as Thomas, Percy, Gordon and the other engines pick out the best tree, get caught up in the snow and celebrate the holidays in this magical Christmas special.  All aboard as Thomas & Friends continues to teach timeless life lessons such as discovery, friendship and cooperation, inviting children to enter a world of imagination through the tracks of a train and the words of a story. 

     

SYNOPSIS

Thomas lights up the tracks in a magical Christmas collection! Climb aboard for adventures and cheer as your favorite engines prepare for a festive celebration.  Help Thomas find the grandest tree on Sodor and then join the Logging Locos as they sing the Misty Island Snow Song in the hope of a winter wonderland.  As the snowflakes fall, Gordon, Mavis, and Percy will take you to the Steamworks for a special surprise party. ‘Tis the season for holiday magic with Thomas & Friends!  

    

Thomas the Tank Engine was created by a father for his son over 65 years ago and today is enjoyed by families in more than 185 territories and in 30 languages.  The #1 blue engine and his friends invite children to enter a world of imagination through the tracks of a train and the words of a story. Children embark on adventures with their engine friends while experiencing timeless life lessons of discovery, friendship and cooperation. 

    

Thomas & Friends is the Number One preschool toy property in the UK, a position it has held for the past 11 years.  It remained the Number One preschool toy license in the US for 10 straight years and has been the Number One preschool entertainment brand in the US since 2009. The unrivaled popularity of the global brand continues with Thomas also being the Number One preschool toy license in Germany and Australia, as well as the Number One foreign preschool brand in China, Japan and Korea.

    

(SOURCE: AC Nielsen, 1/1/10-12/31/10). Each DVD release is consistently ranked in the Top 10 new releases for Children’s Non-Theatrical (source Nielsen) and many have received significant awards and recognition from organizations such as Parents’ Choice and KIDS FIRST!

Our opinion:

Even though Devonny is a little girl, she has not yet developed the strong sense of disdain for "boyish" programs as Giana has. She thoroughly enjoys watching this DVD! She loves it when the show comes on sprout and she is so attentive to it for such a young child. I know people say babies shouldn't watch television,  but I think that's quite absurd. Giana watched it from a very young age, and she is a gifted child. No, really. So it seems like if there were damage to be done, it would have been on her, because she watched a lot of T.V. 

I can't ask Devonny for her opinion, but her attentiveness to it is proof enough. It's cute actually. Normally she only watched shows that have a lot of music. Thomas the Train programs do not. SO this is the first program I have seen her pay attention to that was not almost entirely musical. In fact- I was quite impressed with the DVD myself. The episodes were engaging and bright and colorful. The artwork and box of the DVD itself was very pretty and shiny. I am sure anyone's child would enjoy and love this DVD too!

  

PROGRAM INFORMATION

Title Copyright: © 2011 HIT Entertainment Limited. Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends^™ Based on The Railway Series by The Reverend W Awdry.  Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends and Thomas & Friends are trademarks of Gullane (Thomas) Limited.  Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends and Design is Reg. U.S. Pat. & Tm. Off. 

Rating: NR

Genre: Children/Family/Ages 2-5

Closed Captioned: English

Format:  Full Screen

Feature Running Time: 50 minutes

VOD Cable/PPV Running Time: 60 minutes (including special feature)

DVD Audio Status: English, Spanish and French 2.0 Dolby Digital

    

Episodes Include:

·       “Let It Snow”

·       “Surprise, Surprise”

·       “Percy and the Snowman”

·       “Tree Trouble”                                                                                                         

DVD BONUS FEATURE

·       The Christmas Gift Matching Game

VOD AND DIGITAL BONUS FEATURE

·       Thomas Bonus Episode: “Buzzy Bees”

ABOUT THOMAS & FRIENDS™ 

Follow the mandatory entries to claim the prize. PRIZE ALERT –The general Folks at HIT Entertainment will offer Thomas & Friends™: Merry Christmas, Thomas!  to one Locomotiuion of Expressions Reader. This contest is open to US Residents only. Many thanks to  HIT Entertainment for their sponsorship and generosity. See complete Rules


This giveaway will end on 10/19 at noon eastern.


In order to win this giveaway you may pick and choose which extra entries you want to complete, but you must complete the mandatory entry first.
The winner of this blog must be a public GFC follower. (IE when I click the name next to your comment it takes me to your blogger profile, which must be public, and must have my blogs name Locomotion of Expressions, listed as a blog you follow. ) In order to follow this blog, scroll up to the top right corner and click "Join This Site" in the Google Friend Connect box. Please be sure the box is ticked that says "public" as well. The winner will have 48 hours to confirm receipt of winning email and respond with a shipping address before a new winner will be chosen. Please if you enter blog giveaways, check your spam folder EVERY DAY! The winning emails subject like will always read: "Congrats from Locomotion of Expressions!"


The Mandatory Entry  Just  say You Want To Win! (Easy, huh?)


Lots of Extra entries!

• Who would you be winning this for?
• Who is your child's favorite character from the show?
• Enter my other Lionsgate DVD giveaways. Three extra entries for each HIT/Lionsgate giveaway you enter on this blog. IE If you enter all three, you would have 6 extra entries on each one for entering them all. 
• One extra entry for entering my other active giveaways. No limit. Tell me which ones.
•  Something you learned in this blog post review of this DVD.
• One extra entry for participating/commenting on my blog. One comment per review or post (non-giveaways) no limit. Comment must show thought and be relevant to the post. Tell me what posts you commented on.
• Interaction on my Facebook page. Comment a relevant comment on one of my posts. Tell me your Facebook display name.
• Grab a button off my sidebar for 3 extra entries. The tiger button is a linky badge that directs readers to my linky. The blog header logo directs to my blogs home page. Place it on your site. leave a link to the button. You can grab both for 6 extra entries!
• Blog about this giveaway. (You can even blog about the other 2 as well!) As I write the other two kids Lionsgate DVD giveaways I will add their links in to the bottom of this post underneath the Extra Entries list You will get 3 extra entries per post. If you blog about all three that's 9 extra entries total for the 3 giveaways. You must share not just the link, but a sentence or two, plus the ending date is super important. 
• Follow me via Networked Blogs widget box to the right. Tell me your Facebook display name,.
• Share via Twitter, use hashtags, #win #giveaway the ending date "10/19" and mention me as well asd share a link and a few of your own words @1caseycolette and the hashtags MUST be in the tweet. share the timestamp. If you are unsure how to do this, please read this post to learn how: http://1caseycolette.blogspot.com/2011/07/how-to-win-my-blog-giveaways.html You may tweet 2x a day, per giveaway. 
• Share via Facebook, you may share the link and a sentence or two with your friends 1x a day. Please share the timestamp of the share. If you are unsure how to do this, please see this post: http://1caseycolette.blogspot.com/2011/07/how-to-win-my-blog-giveaways.html In order to do this extra entry you must have a public Facebook page.
• Share any other site, 1 time allowed total. Not once a day.
• Follow me on Twitter: @1caseycolette  Tell me your Twitter handle.
• "Like: me on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/LocomotionOfExpressions Tell me your Facebook display name.
• "Like" Lionsgate on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/lionsgate  Tell me your Facebook display name.
• Follow Lionsgate on Twitter:  @LionsgateMedia  Tell me your Twitter handle.
• "Like" Thomas the Train Facebook page:  http://www.facebook.com/thomasandfriends  Tell me your Facebook display name.
• Follow Thomas the Train on Twitter: @TrueBlueEngine Tell me your Twitter handle.

Thanks so much for entering this giveaway!


Links to the other TWO Lionsgate/HIT giveaways: 




Barney A Very Merry Christmas Giveaway:
http://1caseycolette.blogspot.com/2011/10/barney-very-merry-christmas-dvd.html


Angelina Ballerina - Angelina On Ice DVD Giveaway:
http://1caseycolette.blogspot.com/2011/10/angelina-dancing-on-ice-dvd-
giveaway.html

Disclaimer - I received no monetary pay just product to review for this giveaway!

See complete Rules

Kidorable Review and Giveaway! 10/24

***CLOSED!!!***

Look at Kidorable! How adorable does Devonny look in her brand new Kidorable set?

This giveaway is for a wooden hanger set. They retail 20-24$ ! They sent me one mermaid hanger to hang Devonny's set on complimentary! Each raincoat purchase comes with a matching wooden hanger. Just one though. But it's enough to tell the quality of these hangers. They are painted meticulously and thick and sturdy!  It is so much cuter in person than you can tell it looks online. I got to looking at their other hanger sets and the little transportation set has a different automobile on every hanger and is possibly the cutest set they carry of all the hangers!

They are so pretty in person, you would be super lucky to get these hangers for your child for free!

I was honestly super excited for this review!
It's true that blog giveaways are the best promotion you can get.
Here's why:
I first saw Kidorable on a blog giveaway. I would have never known they existed otherwise. I wanted to win so bad.. But there were so many entries. Of course I didn't. But I never forgot about those cute rain jackets.
How could I?
Anyways- in case you are new to blog giveaway world.. most of the time the Mandatory Entry for a blog giveaway is to browse the site and figure out which item you like best. Again, the best promotion/advertising you can get!
It totally works.
When I started blogging my follower count & numbers were so low. I wrote to Kidorable.. crossing my fingers.. hoping against hopes they wouldn't care. But they did. They told to write back when my blog was more successful. My blog has grown by leaps and bounds very quickly. So before I knew it- I was able to write to them again. This time, to my surprise they agreed. I was lucky, because I was thinking, what if they no longer work with bloggers? Luckily they do!

Anyway- shortly after they turned down my first pitch to write a review for them we got our tax money.. and I took it and I bought Giana the Madonnas English Roses set of boots ($34) and raincoat ($45) in the Houndstooth. The pictures you see of hers, her set was not provided to me complimentary. We bought that set with our own money! Just thought I'd add that. Anyway, I never did buy the hangers, towel, backpack and matching umbrella for each set. But who knows? Maybe this tax season I will splurge and get it. In my opinion, Kidorable is kind of expensive. But totally worth it. First of all it is top-of-the-line quality. And it is cuter than anything you will find anywhere. Long lasting too. I just wish I would have known about the Kidorable Outlet Store!


They run from size 1T to 6X. (The jackets) The boots run from size's My First (size 5), children’s sizes 6-13, plus young adult sizes 1 and 2. Some of the jackets go up to size 11/12.



I ordered Devonny the Mermaid Rain Boots ($29) & Mermaid Rain Coat ($36)

I didn't order the umbrella, but I need to so her set will be complete! Giana's English Roses houndstooth umbrella too, actually!

If you order over $100 you will get free shipping!

My mistake, I tried to order both of their raincoats a size too big. Giana is 6 but wears a size 7. I bought a size eight. It is huge. Devonny is 1 but in between 1 and 2T so I bought 2T. I'd rather her grow into it, than out of it, and we all know how quickly babies grow out of things. In fact, Giana is very big for a six year old and was able to put on Devonny's rain jacket and it was only a little small. And Giana is a size 7! So apparently the rain jackets run kinda big. Which isn't a bad thing at all. I just wish I had known. It seems relevant to share that with you.

So in the pictures the sleeves are rolled up and it is very big on her. But it is usually only rainy here during March?April and I am certain it will fit her still (and even better) by then.
Without further ado.. here are our pictures.

(No pictures please paparazzi!)

Sleeves rolled as stated.

GiGi's pouty face!

Very long in the sleeves.

Gigi in Devonny's jacket.

Gigis a size 7, this jacket is a 2t!

Just a little bit short.

My one complaint:

When we went to pull Devonny's boot on, we grabbed it my the "tail" and it pulled right off in our hand easily. That's not good.

In order to win, just comment  I want to win. That's your mandatory entry!
You must leave your email address in your first mandatory comment, UNLESS it is public on your public blogger profile, then you do not have to leave it at all.

1st Extra Entry

 - Tell me your favorite line that Kidorable makes (IE - Which set? Frog, Pirate, Ladybug.. etc)

FIFTEEN MORE Extra Entries

1. Pick a hanger set you would want to win. 
2. "Like" Kidorable's Facebook
3. Follow them on Twitter @Kidorable
4. Follow me on Twittter @1caseycolette
5. Add me on Facebook
6. Grab a button off my sidebar, place it on your site! Leave a link of where I can find it! 2 entries, leave 2 separate comments saying you did so..
7. Blog about this giveaway for 4 entries. Leave 4 separate comments saying you blogged with at least one of them having a link to your blog post share. Please use ending dates, a sentence or two, plus a link. Just a link will not suffice.
8. Subscribe to my RSS by email Theres a link on the sidebar!
9. Tell me something you learned on their site?
10. What is your favorite item type they carry? (IE - Towel, Umbrella, Raincoats, Hats, Backpacks, boots, etc)
11. Enter any of my active giveaways (No limit) Tell me which ones you entered!
12. Share this giveaway on Facebook (once total allowed) share the timestamp of your share. If your Facebook page is not public you cannot do this entry.
13. Comment on any of my non-giveaway posts. No limit. Comments must be relevant to the post and show thought. Tell me what posts you commented on.
14. Share this giveaway on Twitter using hashtags #win #giveaway and the ending date "10/24" Please also use @1caseycolette and sum it up with the prize and a few words. You may tweet 2x a day at least 8 hours apart.
15. Comment on my Facebook wall your favorite item from Kidorable.

This giveaway will end on 10/24 at Noon eastern time.

Winner will have 48 hours to confirm receipt of said email and provide a shipping address or a new winner will be chosen.

Are the children you love ready to share their pumpkin on a bigger stage than the front porch? Carve, Chisel, or Shape a Jack-O-Lantern that will steal the show! One lucky fan will win a full Kidorable ensemble of their choice. 

It's easy - just email a picture of a child you love with the pumpkin they carved to contest@kidorable.com. Whoever gets the most votes wins. 

We will receive entries from October 17 through Monday, October 31. Then voting will continue through November 7 at 2pm when we'll announce the winner. This link has all the details. 

Thousands of children buy our ensembles to make great Halloween costumes, too. And don't forget, it can be a little chilly (as well as rainy) on Oct 31st so add matching knitwear to complete the look. 

Joyfully, 

All your friends at Kidorable
www.kidorable.com 

Special Thanks to Kidorable and to you, my reader for reading and participating and this blog and helping it to grow! Thanks so much everyone.

Good Luck!~

http://1caseycolette.blogspot.com/2011/10/kidorable-girls-knit-gloves-11.html
See complete Rules

Disclaimer: kidorable.com provided me with a free sample of their products to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose.  They will also be responsible for shipping the winners prize, though I will expedite communication between winner and sponsor. Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product.

Loving Falls Pumpkin Coffees

DIY Pumpkin Spice Latte

Wednesday September 28, 2011 by Alexandra C. at http://www.chickadvisor.com/article/diy-pumpkin-spice-latte/

I am a Chick Advisor member, though they seem to be more geared towards Canadian residents.

They claim to have a Product Review club if you write a few reviews but I have never received anything from them in the 6mo I have been a member except opportunities in my email, and VERY rarely at that. To boot-  I never get picked for them.

Good luck ladies that join!  :(

However I was tickled to see this recipe and wanted to share it with you guys! I love love love pumpkin and especially (you already know) love coffee!

One of my all time favourite flavours is pumpkin. It's nostalgic aroma brings back all those memories of Thanksgivings and Halloweens. Chicks, tell me now, is there anything better than curling up with a good book, magazine or DVD with a pumpkin spice latte? I think the answer to that would be no. Being thrifty and a DIY adventurer, I set out to find a pumpkin spice latte recipe that could easily be done at home.


Also- a pumpkin spice latte is the perfect excuse to cuddle with someone. This recipe is for two, so why not curl up with that cutie you've been eyeing? (Call me Cupid, Chicks!) 






What you'll need:
2 1/4 cups milk
2 1/2 tablespoons canned pumpkin
2 tablespoons sugar 
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice or more if you like the spice! (Cinnamon and nutmeg will work just fine, use 3 parts cinnamon to 1 part nutmeg)
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
2 shots espresso (about 1/4 cup of espresso or 1/2 cup of strong brewed coffee if you don't have an espresso machine.)


Directions:

  

In a saucepan combine milk, pumpkin and sugar and cook on medium heat, stirring, until steaming.

   


Remove from heat, stir in vanilla and spice.To froth up the mixture, you can transfer to a blender for 15 seconds or simply whisk the mixture at a fast pace until it becomes foamy.


Pour into mug then pour espresso on top. Mix together and you are done!

Optional: For those of you with a sweet tooth, make it extra special with some whipped cream on top, sprinkled with cinnamon and nutmeg!

There you have it- sweet and simple pumpkin spice lattes for two!

What's your favourite fall drink chicks?
(Recipe and directions adapted from thekitchn.com) 

Spotted by CaseyColette on  http://www.chickadvisor.com/article/diy-pumpkin-spice-latte/