All ABOARD!!

Does your child love Hannah Montana? How about Wizards of Waverly Place? And you can’t forget the Suite Life. My daughter loves all these shows. She’s even asked to be Alex Russo from Wizards of Waverly Place for Halloween. She loves the idea of wizards.  Some day soon I will be introducing her to the Harry Potter series to show her how much fun wizards can be in writing.

On September 22nd Walt Disney Studios Released the new DVD Wizards on Deck with Hannah Montana. A movie that combines the three shows casts and brings in more fun for everyone. My daughter loved seeing the shows brought together in this unique way. The DVD includes three episodes that each focus on one of the shows main characters. Here is more about the new DVD:

Climb on board for fun on the high seas as three favorite Disney Channel shows come together in Wizards On Deck With Hannah Montana! The S.S. TIPTON embarks on a triple-length comedy crossover event when Justin (David Henrie) wins a Teen Cruise to Hawaii—and a chance to meet London (Brenda Song).  Both Justin and Max (Jake T. Austin) do their best to win the heiress’s affection, while Cody (Cody Sprouse) tries to win concert tickets for Bailey (Debby Ryan), and Alex (Selena Gomez) accuses Zack (Dylan Sprouse) of being a prankster.  Between the kids’ pranks (who turned Justin blue?!) and crazy schemes (Alex sneaks Harper [Jennifer Stone] on board to take her make-up science class?!), the excitement goes overboard when international superstar Hannah Montana (Miley Cyrus) checks in on her way to a sold-out concert in Hawaii.  But when Miley Stewart (Miley Cyrus) loses her lucky charm anklet and her Hannah wig, are her days as the world’s biggest pop star over forever? It’s all here in Wizards On Deck With Hannah Montana with three times the fun and triple the laughs.  Plus, this new full-length adventure includes exclusive behind-the-scenes footage, hilarious cast bloopers and more!

Cayleigh’s favorite part of the DVD was when Justin from Wizards of Waverly place ends up turning blue thanks to Alex’s antics. She thought it was so silly when he came out of the hot tub bright blue. I think it may have given her some ideas on how to get back at her own sister when she is older.

STREET DATE:  September 22, 2009
Suggested retail price:  $19.99 US; $24.99 Canadian
Rated:    ‘TV-G’ (US); ‘G’ (Canada)
Run time:   68 minutes

I am a huge advocate of PBS kids – in my opinion, there is just no substitute for quality educational shows that are entertaining and always appropriate for my preschooler. We’ve been watching PBS since he was barely walking and I am fairly certain that it was shows like Sesame Street, Word World and Super Why which played a big part in his learning the alphabet as well as colors, numbers and more. I love that there are no commercials or inappropriate shows to dodge – and he loves having all his favorite characters in one place.

The next best thing to watching PBS is having some of our favorite PBS shows on DVD – being able to pop in one of these discs is a lifesaver when I need to get something done around the house and it’s not a weekday morning or afternoon. I recently had the opportunity to review two new Sid the Science Kid DVDs, Change Happens and The Bug Club as well as a new DVD for PBS Sprout show Dive Olly Dive called Ship Shape Sub.

My son is a long standing fan of Sid the Science Kid and he loved being able to watch a mini marathon of some of his favorite episodes like The Dirt On Dirt and My Shrinking Shoes. I am also a big fan of Sid – I’ve always liked the many different things the show manages to teach and the music that Teacher Susie sings in each episode is always so catchy! The kids in the show are cute and interesting and I think the shows provide a good preview for my son about the idea of school and what it will be like.

Dive Olly Dive, on the other hand, was completely new to us as we don’t have PBS Sprout in our area. I was pretty instantly smitten with the show which stars two adorable submarines-in-training, Olly and Beth, whose stories provide fun facts about the ocean as well as great life-skills. This show was educational in a way that is different from the majority of PBS Kids shows – rather than incorporating the alphabet, counting, science, etc. into the shows, it focuses on behavior and life – you’ll find lessons like learning from your mistakes, not judging a book by it’s cover and listening to others – oh so important! Both DVDs are now being highly requested in our household.

One other big thing of mention is that both Sid DVDs come with a bonus disc containing over two hours of great PBS Kids and Sprout shows. The DVDs include full stories from Sid The Science Kid, Word World, Dive Olly Dive, Hurray for Huckle!, Tiny Planets, Will & Dewitt, Animal Atlas, Hermie and Freinds, Pocoyo and Hopia. Almost all of these shows were new to us and it was fun to see some of the different Sprout shows that we’ve been missing out on.

Here’s a synopsis of what’s on each of the DVDs:

“Sid the Science Kid: Change Happens” and “Sid the Science Kid: The Bug Club”

Featuring the delightfully inquisitive Sid the Science Kid and his precocious pals, both DVDs celebrate and explore the great outdoors, tackling such questions as why bees live in hives and ants live in anthills, and observing such phenomena as how the heat from the sun can change matter.  Episodes include:

“Change Happens” DVD

• My Mushy Banana
• My Shrinking Shoes
• My Ice Pops
• The Perfect Pancake

“The Bug Club” DVD

• Hello Doggie
• Home Tweet Home
• The Dirt on Dirt
• Don’t Forget the Leaves

“Dive Olly Dive!: Ship Shape Sub”

This 3D-animated DVD for preschoolers features five episodes from the Dive Olly Dive! series, which explores the many interesting facets of ocean life in an entertaining and educational way.  With exciting underwater adventures featured throughout, this lively DVD is a perfect way to cap off a fun-filled day at the beach! Episodes include:

• Haunted Ship Prank
• Less is More
• Navigation Consternation
• Follow that Lobster
• Don’t Tell Beth

All three DVDs are distributed by NCircle Entertainment and carry a suggested retail price of $12.99 each.

We’re giving away all three of these great DVDs – one DVD each will be chosen at random for three lucky winners. Here’s how you can to enter to win:

1. Tell us which PBS Kids or PBS Sprout show is your favorite. If you’ve never seen any of them, tell us which show you think your child would like the most. This is mandatory – if not done, all other entries will be null and void.
2. For a second entry you can tweet about this giveaway. Need some tweet-spiration? “Cure summertime boredom! @mommasreview is giving away copies of Sid the Science Kid and Dive Olly Dive on DVD! www.mommasreview.com”
3. For a third entry, post about it on your blog and leave a comment here with the URL of your post.
4. For a final entry, subscribe to our RSS feed, leaving a comment here to tell us you’ve done so. We’ll be posting more giveaways on Momma’s Review soon so subscribing will be a great way for you to stay informed about all the great things you can win in the days and weeks to come.

This giveaway will close at 12:00 p.m. EST on August 14th 2009.

Last Tuesday Sophie Kinsella’s book turned movie Confessions of a Shopaholic was released on DVD and Blu-Ray. For me, the release of this movie was huge – I loved the book and I love a good chick flick. I was mildly concerned that, like so many other books turned into movies, it wouldn’t live up to the hype in my mind, but rest assured, this movie was gooooood – like eating chocolate covered strawberries in a bubble bath while reading your favorite book and the kids are nowhere to be seen or heard good.

I think Kinsella’s original book was done a tremendous amount of justice – watching this movie doesn’t feel like seeing a poor rehashing of a well loved book – it feels fresh and exciting and well written and thoroughly enjoyable. This movie has got everything – it’s well written and funny and it makes you laugh and cry. And the seriously cute male lead, Luke Brandon (played by Hugh Dancy), who isn’t a jerk and does all the perfect things that the perfect guy would do – like paying an exorbitant amount of money to a hot dog vendor so that a cute stranger, main character Rebecca Bloomwood (played by Isla Fisher), can buy the perfect green scarf for her fake aunt in the hospital – that didn’t hurt either.

Rebecca has a lot of fake things going on – like her fake Finnish descent, fake excuses for not paying her bills and not accepting her status as a serious shopaholic – not to mention her fake qualifications and reasonings for becoming a financial journalist for Luke Brandon’s magazine, Successful Savings. But somehow, for awhile at least, she pulls it all off. Even when she’s being ridiculous, you can’t help but root for her. Isla Fisher did a terrific job with this part – I can’t imagine anyone else in her (gorgeous) stiletto shoes.

And Dancy and Fisher are just two of the great actors and actresses that made up the cast in this movie – Some other terrific cast members include Bloomwood’s best friend Suze, who is played by Krysten Ritter – who you might remember from her roles in Gilmore Girls, Veronica Mars, Gossip Girl, 27 Dresses AND What Happens In Vegas – I’ve loved this girl in everything I’ve seen her in and this movie was no exception – she’s really incredible. Two other big names are Joan Cusack and John Goodman (do I even need to mention the laundry list of great things we’ve seen them in?) who play Rebecca’s parents, who are basically the opposite of their daughter as far as money is concerned, which is good because she’ll need all the help and support from them she can get when that other stiletto finally drops!

If you have read the book, I think you will be very pleased with the movie version and if you haven’t read the book – don’t worry, it’s totally not a prerequisite. So if you are looking for the perfect romantic comedy to snuggle down with – Confessions of a Shopaholic is definitely it, in my humble opinion – I give it a solid A for Awesome.

Evidence : Photographic Proof – It’s Really Him!

This realization was pretty cool but nowhere near as cool as the show itself. It does however lead into my Top 5 Reasons You Should Be Watching ‘Raising The Bar’…

1. If you were a fellow Zack Morris fan like myself, you now have an opportunity to get that Zack-fix you’ve been waiting for. Even better, you can enjoy that fix with your husband right next to you – and he’ll be too busy enjoying the actual show to make fun of you. If you can get past the hair, you should be set for an enjoyable evening. At first – the hair was a bit much for me and I couldn’t quite find the Zack we all knew and loved. But after an episode or two (you know the first episode of any new series is always the worst) he really gets into his groove with this new character, Jerry Kellerman, a brass public defender who always seems to be ruffling feathers as he fights for his latest cause.
2. The other characters, yeah they are pretty good, too! Michelle Emhard, played by Melissa Sagemiller, is the quite suddenly off-again flame of Kellerman’s and also one of his rivals in the world of law. She is almost always on the other side of his cases – something which rarely interfered with their personal relationship until it really did, big time – and now (at the time that I’m watching mid-way through season one) there is that whole relationship dynamic – love thrown off the tracks – that is oh so fun to watch. And she’s pretty. So your husband will be thrilled.
   
   

   

   You really shouldn’t mix love and work – but it does make for good tv!

3. The plot line is actually really excellent. My husband actually called the pilot, “the best pilot for a show he’d ever seen.” He is seriously hooked and I’ve got to say, I am, too. I love how they really present all sides of a story (or twelve) with no real good guys or bad guys at the end of the day. Everyone is human – mistakes are made on all ends – and the result you hope for throughout the show may or may not be the best result. Even when the “good guy wins” it’s not always a good thing – and the good guy doesn’t always win. It’s very down to earth in that regard and it’s exciting but it’s also realistic.
4. The actors and actresses who are not Michelle and Jerry are also terrific. You’ll recognize Judge Trudy Kessler, played by Jane Kaczmarek from the hit tv series Malcom In The Middle. She is excellent, in that you really can’t stand her half the time, even though you almost understand where she is coming from, except – who can be so cruel to the adorable Jerry on such a frequent basis? And she’s just another of many, many fabulous faces in this legal drama which has officially become a favorite in our household.
5. Okay now for the “relevant to you here and NOW” part. Tonight at 10pm ET the newest episode from Season 2 (catch up on Season One now on DVD – or the first few episodes of Season 2 online) is one I think any mother blogger would be interested in. The episode is entitled, “No Child Left Behind (see a sneak preview here)” and reviews for this episode have been all over the net. You can read a great review by 5 Minutes For Mom here. The basic plot line is this: A man is arrested when an innocent bath time photo of his son online is picked up by a pervy website. See? This is a topic we all deal with frequently as mom bloggers – and according to 5 Minutes For Mom it’s really well done. I’m planning to record it on my DVR to watch asap (and hope I don’t get too many relationship spoilers from it!)

So – there you go – a great new legal drama for you to enjoy now with a fix of Zack Morris ogling and a topic relevant to you as a mom blogger. No need to thank me – unless you really, really want to.

Have you watched The Secret Life of the American Teenager?

We recently received the second season on DVD. I will admit, I’ve never watched the show before. So when I popped in the DVD I was hesitant. I have so many shows that I already love to watch, so adding in one more and having it be about teenagers made me think twice. After watching the first three shows I am utterly sucked in.

This ABC Family series has brought on an onset of viewers from many ages who have laughed, cried, and joined in with the teens. Amy is getting close to her having her baby and not only has to deal with the child growing inside of her but also a secret marriage to Ben. Being a young mother myself I feel her pain along the way. Be sure to check out The Secret Life, and catch up with all of Season 2’s shows by purchasing it on DVD.

The Secret Life of the American Teenager: The Secret Wedding of the American Teenager
After Amy hears that she needs to find a job, she and Ben decide to get married. Meanwhile, Anne informs George she wants a divorce, and George moves into their garage to save money; and Ricky continues to seek out a relationship with Grace. ~ Jennifer Sankowski, All Movie Guide

The Secret Life of the American Teenager: Unforgiven
Ben and Amy’s relationship hits a rough patch when Ben tells her he needs some space. Elsewhere, Anne and George interview people who are interested in adopting Amy’s baby. ~ Jennifer Sankowski, All Movie Guide

The Secret Life of the American Teenager: Money for Nothing and Chicks for Free
A possible employment opportunity opens up for Anne. Elsewhere, Adrian makes an effort to change her style, and Jack continues to help those in need by raising funds for underprivileged children. ~ Jennifer Sankowski, All Movie Guide

The Secret Life of the American Teenager: Whoomp! (There it Is)
As Amy’s due date inches nearer, Grace and Adrian decide to throw a baby shower for her. While preparing for the party, Jack and Grace have a moment where they reconnect. ~ Jennifer Sankowski, All Movie Guide

The Secret Life of the American Teenager: And Unto Us, a Child is Born
In the first-season finale, Amy gives birth to her son and has a difficult time adjusting to life as a mom. Ricky takes a liking to fatherhood and forms a friendship with Ben; and George and Ashley surprise Anne by moving out. ~ Jennifer Sankowski, All Movie Guide

The Secret Life of the American Teenager: One Night at Band Camp
As Amy goes into labor, she flashes back to the first time she met Ricky at band camp and how he charmed her. Elsewhere, Tom tries to get Grace and Jack back together, and Adrian realizes she still cares for Ricky. ~ Jennifer Sankowski, All Movie Guide

The Secret Life of the American Teenager: Maybe Baby
Amy’s friends come to her aid by developing a plan regarding her decision about the baby. ~ Jennifer Sankowski, All Movie Guide

The Secret Life of the American Teenager: Making Up is Hard to Do
Ricky tries to ruin the adoption. Elsewhere, Ashley goes to Ben and attempts to persuade him to go back to Amy. ~ Jennifer Sankowski, All Movie Guide

The Secret Life of the American Teenager: Chocolate Cake
Amy and Ricky talk about the possibility of adoption, but the discussion turns into an argument. Elsewhere, George’s coworker approaches George to inquire about adopting Amy’s baby; and Adrian gets close with her stepbrother. ~ Jennifer Sankowski, All Movie Guide

The Secret Life of the American Teenager: Baked Nevada
Ben and Amy’s parents learn about their nuptials, and the news leads to a brief reunion between Anne and George. Elsewhere, Adrian’s dad attempts to uncover who created the fake IDs. ~ Jennifer Sankowski, All Movie Guide

The Secret Life of the American Teenager: The Father and the Son
Ricky’s abusive dad (Bryan Callen) arrives in town with a proposal for how Ricky should handle impending fatherhood, and Amy starts to seriously consider giving the baby up for adoption. ~ Jennifer Sankowski, All Movie Guide

The Secret Life of the American Teenager: That’s Enough of That
Amy reaches the stage in her pregnancy where she has the opportunity to find out the baby’s sex. Elsewhere, as Jack works to complete community service, he thinks that he witnesses Bob violating his parole; Ricky tells Grace’s parents that he loves her. ~ Jennifer Sankowski, All Movie Guide

Grade: B+

My husband and I have been anxiously looking forward to seeing The Pink Panther 2, starring Steve Martin, since we first heard it was coming to theater. Dan is a really big fan of Steve Martin and loved the first movie starring Martin as well as the older Pink Panther movies. Personally, I have really only enjoyed Martin’s versions – his style of comedy is, to me, genius and I always enjoy watching his movies. I love how he completely immerses himself in his roles – he really becomes Inspector Jacques Clouseau, the detective whose colleagues mainly either love to hate or hate to love.

While I will agree with my husband, who commented at the end of the movie that the first movie was better, I still really enjoyed it. As far as sequels go, I’d venture to say that it was excellent. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a sequel that was better than the first movie, so this is no surprise. We both really enjoyed watching the movie. The cast was hilarious, delivering excellent acting chops and the story line was, although predictable at times, always entertaining. With all the antics you’d expect and more that you will never see coming – it really is a great family movie – I’d recommend renting it right away for your next movie night or buying it – if you, or someone you know, is a big fan of Steve Martin and / or The Pink Panther, you’ll want to have this one in your collection for sure.

If you’ve already seen the movie or have a long wait to get it from your Netflix queue or local movie rental place, you can have some Pink Panther fun now online – the movie website has five different games – I tried Clouseau’s Character Search and Kenji’s Security Breach and both were fun. The website also boasts links to the Facebook and Myspace pages, downloads, videos, images and more. Definitely worth checking out for an extra Clouseau fix.

Have you seen the newest Pink Panther movie? We’d love to hear your thoughts on the movie in the comments section below!

I was pretty excited when He’s Just Not That Into You, the movie adaptation of the book of the same name, starring a slew of big names (including Jennifer Aniston, Drew Barrymore, Scarlett Johansson, Jennifer Connelly, Ben Affleck, Ginnifer Goodwin and Justin Long to name a few) showed up in my mail. I’ve been wanting to see this movie since before it hit theaters but with the economy where it is, these days we’ve been waiting to see most of our movies on Netflix and this was no exception. But at long last, we popped it in this week and even my husband, who was sure he wouldn’t, enjoyed this awesome romantic comedy.

The movie tells a lot of different stories about a lot of women (and men) searching for love. Searching everywhere – diligently – often to the point of extreme. It shows the friends of these people and their helpful (and often not-so-helpful) advice. What are the rules of dating – or the rules of love? Are we the rule or the exception? Is there an exception? A lot of people think they have the answers and most of them learn by the end of the movie that maybe they didn’t have it all figured out. Who can’t relate to that?

The relatability, for me, was the best part of this movie. I think I’ve found myself in the shoes of almost every character, for better or worse, and it was amazing to see how far I’ve come romantically – and to rather clearly see the mistakes so many of us, myself included, have made or are making in love. But in the end, I think we all learn that there aren’t really any hard and fast rules – that love works where it will and it works differently for everyone – but the real thing – is that when it is love, it works.

This movie had me laughing and crying and shaking my head in disappointment. There were some characters I did not like so much (despite being a big fan of the actors and actresses who portrayed them) and some that I loved, in spite of myself at times. I was very happy with the whole movie, from beginning to end. It ends how it should, how you want it to (or at least how I wanted it to) and I think it delivers a very healthy message about love. And like I said – my husband enjoyed this one, too – I think he even put his laptop away for most of it.

I’d give He’s Just Not That Into You 4 out of 5 stars easily and highly recommend it to just about anybody.

Adapted from author Lois Duncan’s 1971 children’s book of the same name, director Thor Freudenthal’s Hotel for Dogs follows two mischievous orphans as they attempt to hide dozens of stray dogs in an abandoned hotel. Disheartened by their new guardians’ announcement that pets are strictly forbidden, 16-year-old Andi (Emma Roberts) and her younger brother, Bruce (Jake T. Austin), race to find a home for their loyal dog Friday. Fortunately for Friday, there’s an abandoned hotel just around the corner, and Bruce possesses just the kind of mechanical smarts needed to transform the rundown inn into a four-star retreat for canines. For a while, Friday and his friends have it made, but when the neighbors start to get suspicious, Andi and Bruce resort to every trick in the book in order to prevent their secret from being discovered. Don Cheadle, Emma Roberts, and Lisa Kudrow star in a family-friendly film penned by screenwriter Jeff Lowell. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

 Hotel for Dogs is a heart warming movie about two foster children who find a way to take care for not only one stray dog, Friday, but also a dozen other pooches who each have their own sweet personalities. Some things I like about this movie:

• As an adult there are times when watching a childrens movie can be barely tolerable. With Hotel for Dogs I genuinely liked watching it. The cast was adorable and though the children were not always the best of actors I wasn’t cringing while watching them.
• You’ll want to adopt all the dogs. Beware of that.
• I loved the concept that the group of kids were doing what they thought was right and stood up for what they believed in.
• I didn’t like that they broke the law multiple times and each time got away with it. This is not exactly a good morale for me to be teaching my kids.
• Sure, the movie is predictable but it does have a few unexpected twists and turns that made me smile.

One lucky reader can win Hotel for Dogs on DVD. Here’s how to enter:

1. Tell us which dog you would love to adopt (use your imagination if you’re not a dog person) that the Hotel for Dogs helps out.  To do so visit the Hotel for Dogs movie website and click on “Pick your pup” learn more about the pups from the movie there. This is mandatory, if not done all other entries are null and void.
2. For an extra entry, you can follow us on Twitter. Post a comment here with your Twitter username.
3. For a third entry you can tweet about this giveaway once a day until giveaway is closed. Leave a comment for each tweet. “Woof. Woof. Hotel for Dogs Movie giveaway going on now @mommasreview enter here: http://www.mommasreview.com”
4. Post about it on your blog and leave a comment here with the URL of your post and get five extra entries. Leave five comments for this extra entry opportunity.
5. Get emails from Mommas Review and receive an extra entry. Be sure to leave a comment with your email address for confirmation.
6. Post this giveaway on a forum, myspace, facebook or another social networking site. Link to it in a comment for extra entries.
7. For a final entry, subscribe to our RSS feed, leaving a comment here to tell us you’ve done so. We’ll be posting more giveaways on Momma’s Review soon so subscribing will be a great way for you to stay informed about all the great things you can win in the days and weeks to come.

The contest will close at 12:00 p.m. EST on Wednesday June 3rd.

This giveaway is open to all US Residents.

Sometimes a new game is needed to kick start game night in your household. There are so many games on the market right now that it is difficult to find a new one that will entertain everyone. Our family pick for this month? Pictureka.

Pictureka is all about finding things fast, and finding them first. The game challenges it’s players to find objects on the ever-changing game board in an allotted amount of time. It is like the I Spy books or even Where’s Waldo but in a fast paced game format.

Try out this Hasbro game with the online trial version.

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How to do Family Game Night at your house

Pick a set day / time each month

Picking a day each month to have family game night is the most important factor. If you don’t set this in stone it won’t end up happening. Put it on your calendar. Post a bulletin on the fridge. Remind your family a few days before. You want everyone there and everyone excited. Pick a time when the kids won’t be tired or grumpy. I know it can be difficult when everyone has conflicting schedules but it’s important for all the family to be there.

Rotate who picks the game

We love doing this at our personal family game night and also at the Mommas Review team game night (where all of our families get together for fun). By changing up who is choosing the game it is never monotonous and everyone gets the chance to have their voices heard.

Choose games that will suit all the family

If you are worried about what games your child will pick, give them options. Let them pick from say three games that you know are suitable for the children and the rest of the family.

Turn off distractions

The hardest thing you have to do. Turn off the television, shut down the computer, and turn off the phones (yes, even your cell phone). Now, this doesn’t count if you will be playing games using the television or playing gaming systems like the Wii as a family. Our family gets distracted so easily that if we do not take this important step, Family Game Night will be a failure.

Start a collection

If you only have a few games and they are ancient you all will lose interest instantly. It’s important to build a collection of games that the whole family can enjoy! We find that games by Hasbro are great for the whole family. Be sure to look at the age ranges on the box! Some recommendations we at Mommas Review would like to make are:

Partini- This game is a fun one for adult family game nights! We occasionally have adults in one room gaming and the children in the other room running around like crazy and playing with each other. Partini is a mixture of a 6 games and is for sure a game that does not bring boredom.  It is a party in a box! It feels like Cranium but more light weight and easy for a quick play. A minimum of four players is needed.

Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader- Jeff Foxworthy hosts this DVD interactive game. For ages 8 and up, the game is for 1-2 players or more if you do teams. This game is probably the best for your children ages 8-14 to try with their friends.

A few other recommendations for your gaming shelves: Clue, Cranium, Monopoly, Apples to Apples, Pictionary, Scrabble, Sorry & Sorry Sliders, and the Game of Life.

Family game night promotes family fun and learning for everyone. It helps build good communication skills and teaches everyone how to be good sports (especially in winning and losing). Most importantly it brings the family together without all of the normal distractions to be just be together and enjoy each others company.

Grade: A++ infinity

I’ve been meaning to try this DVD for weeks since reading about it on my bestie’s blog @ Red Knows How – while she is admittedly better at these workout DVDs than I am, she has been raving about Leslie Sansone – singing her praises and shouting “Hallelujah!” or something. But more importantly I kept thinking, “Walk at home? Isn’t that an oxymoron or something? How do you walk at home? Do you just walk from one side of the room to the other? And how will a DVD help?” I was truly confused but she LOVED it – I had to be missing something.

And oh was I ever – I had Netflix send me the Walk Away the Pounds Express: Easy Walk / Brisk Walk disc and – oh my, this DVD was amazing – I absolutely love it – like added it to my Amazon wishlist loved it. Yes, you are walking in place, but I had no idea how much of a workout walking in place could be – I was fatigued – of course, I’m pregnant so that’s pretty easy for me like a permanent state of being, but even in spite of that I walked one mile in about 10-15 minutes and felt so pumped and proud of myself because it was always just a little challenging but not so much that I quit.

Sansone implements four different basic types of steps – basic walking in place, stepping side to side, small kicks and knee lifts – yes it’s aerobics but I’m just accepting that all of these workout DVDs will be some form of aerobics or another – this one however managed to be simple enough for me to do without feeling like a moron, but challenging enough that I could “feel the burn.” There were other things I liked, too – if you are a regular here then you know how much I [don't] like workout DVDs – you know that especially when the DVD is kicking my butt that I get all kinds of snarky and find anything and everything to hate about it – usually the people on the screen and their wardrobes and their ability to move in ways that I cannot. This didn’t happen – I could do everything they were doing – I just maybe breathed a bit harder and didn’t look *quite* as cheery about it. I loved that all like eight of them wore basically the same outfit and that it didn’t look cheesy on any of them – basic black workout pants and a blue tank top that managed to seem flattering on all of their different bodies. I also loved that they were all of varying ages but all seemed to have mastered this – from 27 to 72 they had all found success with Walk Away the Pounds – one woman in her 50’s said she lost 60 pounds with this program!

Leslie Sansone seemed very hyped about this program, but especially about walking in general – and I think we all know that walking is one of the best exercises out there – I’d walk all the time if I could – if weather permitted and I was never tired – in fact as a teenager I DID walk all the time for hours and it was awesome. But times change. And the cold weather is not as forgiving as it used to be – with this DVD I was able to walk at home – to walk one mile without leaving my home – I know I was making fun of this concept like two days ago but wow – I love it. Really, if any of you want to buy it for me that’d be cool.

So – Leslie Sansone – you are my first all and out A++ for a workout DVD I think – you are by far the best I’ve ever tried and I would really truly recommend it to ANYBODY – she has a lot of DVDs aimed for any level – if one mile seems puny to you  then I hate you but there are 5 mile work outs too – she’s got it all covered folks. Give one a whirl and I really think you’ll love it.

About the Momma:

Jen is a Stay at Home Mom and Loving Wife. Spends too much time online reading RSS feeds and posting in her blog. If you haven’t heard from her in awhile, she’s likely lost in a good book, sleeping or watching Grey’s Anatomy.