We have always tried to make our birthday party invitations stand out a bit. We’ve made collages out of construction paper, and customized invitations made using theme-appropriate clip art on the computer. However, since BG was turning 10 this year, we were thrilled to team up with PBN to review birthday party invitations by tiny prints.
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We are continuing our reviews on Social Skills DVDs (check out our previous review of Skill Builder Buddies) in partnership with the Parent Bloggers Network in recognition of April as Autism Awareness Month. Our oldest daughter lives with Sensory Integration Disorder and other related issues, so we have spent many years focusing on social skills awareness, and scripting how situations will play out. Leave a comment on the Parent Bloggers Network Blog for a chance to win both DVDs!

Kibbles Rockin’ Clubhouse vol. 1 Expressing Yourself is a DVD from NoteAbilities, which is aimed at children ages 2-7 with Autistic Spectrum Disorders and other associated issues. If you’ve struggled with helping your child understand how others are feeling, you might need more tools to help your child recognize emotions in others and cope with their own emotions. Kibbles Rockin’ Clubhouse is a great way to add tools to your toolbox and to your child’s toolbox in a fun way with catchy songs.

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April is Autism awareness month! Parent Bloggeers Network is hosting two concurrent blog tours about edutainment DVDs for children with special needs, especially children with speech/language or autistic spectrum disorders. You can win a copy of the DVDs by commenting over at PBN.

Skill Building Buddies is a DVD by Mazzarella Media aimed at kids ages 5-12 with language or autistic spectrum disorders. Even if you have a child without any labels, you’ll want to read on to learn more about the positive coping strategies in Skill Building Buddies!

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Have you and your kids had a chance to watch Hip Hop Harry: Move Those Feet or any of the Hip Hop Harry shows on Discovery Kids? We hadn’t caught the show, but since my girls love to dance and rhyme, I was excited to be able to review Hip Hop Harry: Move Those Feet for the Parent Bloggers Network!

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Megan Crane’s Names My Sisters Call Me is her newest chick lit novel. If for some reason you haven’t read Megan Crane’s novels, go do so, as she has written some fabulous novels you shouldn’t miss; they are engrossing and entertaining. With her most recent novel she revisits the theme of family dysfunction, but in Names My Sisters Call Me she focuses on the relationship between three sisters.
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Blood Moon is an intense soon-to-be released novel by A. W. Gryphon. Blood Moon is Gryphon’s first book, and it is also the first novel in the planned Witches Moon Trilogy. As with several other books I’ve read recently, this one is hard to categorize. It deals with Wicca and Witchcraft, so it could be paranormal or urban fantasy, yetBlood Moon is also a mystery, and it could also fit as a women’s fiction novel as we uncover a woman’s childhood and the facts of her mother’s life. Regardless, this is a book that will capture your interest from the beginning, and it will be hard to put down before the story is complete.
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Our family has loved Thomas the Tank Engine for years, and we were very happy to be included in the Parent Bloggers blog tour reviewing the new DVD Thomas & Friends – Engines & Escapades! Thomas & Friends is one show I love watching with the girls. I love the stories about the different engines, and love the gentle messages. The wonderful British accented narrators don’t hurt, either! We like Thomas & his friends enough that we named our (late) green car Percy, and my little blue medical scooter (at right) is named Thomas, as he’s little, reliable, and has a horn that goes “Peep Peep” like Thomas!

Thomas & Friends – Engines & Escapades is a DVD with six new episodes about the engines on the Island of Sodor.

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Have you ever read any books in the Urban Fantasy genre? Some mystery fans may be leery of reading paranormals or vampire books. However, there are some very intense mysteries published that are also paranormal/urban fantasy/vampire books as well. A Rush of Wings, by Adrian Phoenix is one of those hybrids, containing an intensely suspenseful mystery, vampires, as well as a touch of romance.

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Some authors use the same main character for all the books in a series. Other authors use one book’s minor character as the next book’s main character. It’s rare, though, to find a series where the first two books focus on the same character, yet the third book makes main characters out of people who were on the sidelines. Michelle Rowen manages that feat in her newly released book in the Immortality Bites series, Lady & the Vamp, which follows her hits Bitten & Smitten and Fanged & Fabulous.

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Notorious is Michele Martinez’s newest suspense mystery novel. An intense mix of thriller, suspense, legal mystery, and some sexy bits, Notorious is a novel you should only pick up if you don’t have any pressing engagements. I recommend a nice cup of tea, a cozy chair, a fleece blanket, and a dog to warm your toes while you read about federal prosecutor Melanie Vargus’s latest case.

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