Holly and Hal Moose

If you've watched TV lately, you may have seen the new Christmas movie about Holly and Hal Moose. My kids were so excited to watch something new, in addition to our regular Christmas classics. They fell instantly in love with the animated characters of Holly and Hal, the adorable moose children in this story.

Imagine our excitement when Holly and Hal arrived on our doorstep recently! My children delighted in Hal's antler decorations-Christmas lights that actually light up and glow! They've taken pleasure in dressing, undressing, and redressing Holly and Hal and acting out scenes from the movie. In addition to the "real" Holly and Hal, we also received the book that chronicles their "uplifting" Christmas adventure.

Interestingly enough, we recently took our first family trip to the Build-A-Bear workshop. It was there that we created a Christmas gift for Daddy. It's a camo military bear in full Army gear. It's a sweet bear that was made with love. In fact, he has 6 hearts, each kissed by one of our children. The bear also has a recording of our children telling Daddy that they love and miss him. He's deploying to Iraq right after Christmas so this is a very special bear.

While we were at the Build-A-Bear workshop we saw Holly and Hal. My kids were begging to buy them after seeing the movie. I resisted their desperate pleas, only to find Holly and Hal arrive on our doorstep the next day. What a surprise!

The lovable characters of Holly and Hal are receiving a lot of attention from my lovable kids. Even the youngest of my half dozen have been cuddling with their moose friends. I have never seen such a sweet moose. Have you?
If you're still trying to wrap up your Christmas shopping this year, check out Holly and Hal's Uplifting Christmas Adventure. You can find the characters at the Build-A-Bear workshop and there's an interactive website as well. I'd recommend getting the package that includes the characters as well as the book or DVD so that your children can enjoy the fun Christmas story as well.

This was not a compensated review but I did receive Holly and Hal and their book for free from MomSelect in exchange for providing my honest opinion.

BOZ, The Green Bear Next Door

Until recently, I had never heard of BOZ. BOZ is "The Green Bear Next Door" and he's actually pretty cute, or at least my kids think so! He's the star of his own DVD series for preschoolers.

BOZ teaches early educational concepts to young children while also upholding the morals and family values that parents want their children to learn. BOZ is a faith-based program and is perfect for Christian parents who want to provide their children with wholesome entertainment.

My kids love Veggie Tales and BOZ is very similar, with fun characters, sing-a-long songs, and exciting stories. BOZ and his family (including 4-year old twins- how perfect is that for our house?) are sure to capture the hearts and minds of preschoolers everywhere.

Right now, my children are especially delighted with the BOZ Christmas special, "A Wowie BOZowee Christmas." This DVD reminds children that God's gift to us was Jesus, at Christmastime and all year long. There are special bonuses on this DVD, such as a "Build Your Own Snowman" game that my kids absolutely love!
If you visit the BOZ website you can find many great resources for parents. There are fun games and activities for children and links to support for parents (such as MOPS.) There are even resources for community and church groups as well. The website is easy to navigate and the online shop carries all of the BOZ DVDs, CDs, books, toys, and more.

My only complaint is that the voice of BOZ is eerily similar to Barney, the obnoxiously nice purple dinosaur. (Could it be because the producers of Barney are also the producers of BOZ?) I can easily look past this when I see my children enjoying the BOZ DVDs and singing along with the catchy tunes. I love knowing that my kids are watching shows that uphold our Christian beliefs.

Take a look around the BOZ website and introduce your kids to the green bear next door!


This is not a compensated review but our family did receive 2 BOZ DVDs from MomSelect.

Cheerios Giveaway

Cheerios is giving away 100,000 books to community-based programs serving children in need. This holiday season you can help provide books to children who might not otherwise have access to them. Did you know that the ratio of books per child in middle-income neighborhoods is 13 to 1, while in low-income neighborhoods, the ratio is only 1 age-appropriate book for every 300 children? More than 80% of childcare centers serving low-income children do not have age-appropriate books.

Cheerios, First Book, and Jon Scieszka are delivering 100,000 books to these needy children. Jon Scieszka is the author of the popular "Trucktown" series and other books for children. You can help provide books to children in your state by answering trivia questions at www.FirstBook.org/Scieszka. For each correct trivia question that you answer, you can vote for your state to receive books. The top five states will each receive 20,000 books. Go play the quiz and vote for your state today!
I am pleased to also be able to give away a Cheerios prize pack to a lucky reader. This prize pack includes a box of Cheerios cereal, a sampling of children's books, and a $25 gift card to Barnes & Noble.

To enter, leave a comment below telling me why your state should win 20,000 books. For one additional entry, post about this giveaway on your blog or tweet about it. Please leave a separate comment for each entry. Giveaway ends on December 12, 2009.

Giveaway now closed. Congratulations to Carolsue (comment #8)!


This is not a compensated post but Cheerios provided 2 prize packs to me through My Blog Spark.