Leanne, Author at Rave & Review

Why you should see Disney’s Cinderella with your kids

If you’ve been around young girls recently, you’ve probably heard an earful about how much they want to see the new live-action Cinderella movie that arrives in theaters today. As a mom to one of those overly-excited young girls, I knew from the first movie trailer that I was going to end up being talked into seeing it at some point, so I figured I would go ahead and attend the Seattle pre-screening with the family to check it out.

It’s not that I don’t love Disney’s Cinderella, because the truth is I grew up loving the animated movie and singing the songs along with my sisters. In fact, I’m fairly certain I could recite the entire film at one point after hearing my little sister watch it so many times when she was little. But, even back then I had a lot of questions about flaws in the logic of the story, a desire for a less one-dimensional Cinderella, and trepidation about love at first sight… even if it was a prince we were talking about. Now, as a mom evaluating everything on the lessons it teaches my young children, I wasn’t sure I wanted a new Cinderella for this new generation. But, I knew I was going to be outnumbered in this view and there was no way my daughter wouldn’t want to see it, so I figured I would rather see it with her so we could talk about it afterwards. What I didn’t expect was that not only would I love the movie, but the talk afterwards would be so in depth and cover so many important topics that I would end up highly recommending it to other moms and young girls.

Are you on the fence about the new film and wondering if it’s worth the admission price? Here are just a few of the reasons I feel you should go and see it with your kiddos.

Start a love of biking early with the smarTrike 4-in-1 trike

Our family is huge into biking and the kids spend all spring, summer, and fall pedaling all over the neighborhood and beyond. But, with a new reviewer that is going to be too young to join in all the biking fun, I wasn't sure what her and I were going to do while the big kids played. Sure, I could push her in the stroller alongside them, but that's a pretty sad consolation to biking with the big kids.

Introducing the smarTrike® Boutique Touch Steering® 4-in-1 trike that can get her out biking even before she can reach the pedals. Besides starting a love of biking earlier than ever, it also has all sorts of little details that make toddlers and parents happy. It might be so cool that even the big kids love it. Being 4-in-1 allows us to start baby girl on the smarTrike at 10 months and then as she grows we can configure it to fit our needs. Just check out all the ways you can use the smarTrike to grow with your child, or make it useful for families with multiple young kids. Smartrike 4-in-1

Children’s beds made fun and functional with Cuckooland

For the past few years, I’ve been researching bed solutions for my growing family and have come to one conclusion: people put a whole lot more thought into the crib that they will buy their little one to sleep in for a matter of months than they do the bed they will grow up in.

It’s true. There are numerous companies devoted to helping you design a baby nursery and pick your baby’s bed, but there is very little help once you are ready to graduate your child to a big kid bed. I guess you’re just supposed to go to a traditional furniture store and pick one of the 5 boring beds they stock and call it good. Well, there’s one company that thinks that kids beds should be cooler than that. Way cooler.

Meet the British commerce site Cuckooland.com, the coolest way to make your child’s room the stuff dreams are made of. Delivering all the wow factor I have been searching for in kids furniture, their line of children's bedroom furniture will have grownups as well as the kids wanting to daydream in a treehouse bunk bed or make believe the day away with a playhouse bed for sleeping and playing in. Part bed, part art, and part play space, these extraordinary children's beds make it possible to create a gorgeous place for sleep and for play that is only limited by your imagination.

Be your own WiFi hotspot with an AT&T Unite for GoPhone mobile hotspot by NETGEAR

Before, when I would travel, the most important thing to me was a comfortable bed and a shower, with a breakfast being a really nice bonus. Now, I would never book a room without WiFi because I've seen what happens when we try to vacation without it. Let me tell you, there's an awful lot of time spent searching for cafes with WiFi and parking ourselves at a back table while the rest of the family waits for whomever was unlucky enough to get the S.O.S. call from back home.

Yes, I know… we shouldn't be on the internet while we're supposed to be on vacation and surfing the internets doesn't count as real surfing, blah blah blah. But, the reality of owning a business, especially one that is web-based, is that having internet access during trips is often non-negotiable.

Thank goodness the internet can now fit in my purse or coat pocket thanks to the AT&T Unite for GoPhone mobile hotspot by NETGEAR. Never again will I pay crazy hotel internet rates or deal with {gasp} broken internets now that I can literally access AT&T's 4G LTE/4G service where available and get secure WiFi on the go.

Expand your play with The Queen’s Treasures accessories and furniture for your 18″ dolls

Around here we take our doll play very seriously. My kids learn with their dolls, we host special doll play dates, and we look for any opportunity to include them in our mother/daughter bonding time. This also means I’m picky about what doll treasures end up in our collection and would gladly pay more for high-quality, detailed accessories and miniatures that will really expand our doll play. All of this and more is why I adore The Queen's Treasures. Sick of all the pink plastic junk I was finding in retail stores, I ended up doing an exhaustive search online to see if I could find 18" doll items that would last through all the kids and make playtime even more fun. I found The Queen’s Treasures in one of those searches and ever since we received our first piece of their doll furniture, I’ve been a huge fan. If you haven’t already fell in love with The Queen's Treasurers, I would highly recommend taking some time to check out their site to see their amazing collection of furniture, clothing, gear, and accessories all miniaturized for 18in dolls. While I love their doll clothing and miniature accessories, it’s their high quality doll furniture that I first fell for. With tiny cupboards, table and chair sets, kitchen, tea sets, bedroom furniture and a huge selection of 18in doll storage trunks, wardrobes and armoires and more that can take doll play to the next level.

Big Hero 6 is a big winner – pick up your copy today on DVD and Blu-ray

Are you as excited as we are about the release of Disney's Big Hero 6 on Blu-ray, Digital HD and DVD? We absolutely loved the movie in the theater and have been eagerly awaiting the day we could add it to our Disney collection. Folks, that day is today. Big Hero 6 is a heart-warming comedy adventure about the friendship that develops between a robotics prodigy, Hiro Hamada {Ryan Potter}, and an extraordinary robot, Baymax {Scott Adsit}. Directed by Don Hall and Chris Williams, and produced by Roy Conli, the film takes place in the fictional San Fransokyo, where a diverse group of friends comes together to form a band of unlikely heroes.

Comfort and luxury in the road trip-ready Lexus RX 450h

By Tyler, Editor and Author

Were you looking for us a few weeks ago and expecting to find us holed up at home with our newborn while adjusting to life as a family of 5? If so, you were probably very disappointed to find our car in the driveway but no one at home. But really, how could you possibly sit at home when you have this beautiful Lexus RX 450h waiting for you to drive it? We took advantage of having a fancy new vehicle to explore in and instead spent our time off enjoying the islands around us, visiting family and friends near and far to show off the new babe, and using it as a great excuse to take some road trip adventures to corners of the Pacific Northwest we don’t often see while having some much-needed family time. When you think road trip mobile you probably don't first think of an SUV, but our week with the Lexus RX 450h has certainly changed my mind. Although it has all the comforts and luxury of a bigger car with hidden consoles, reclining rear seats, and ample leg room in both the front and rear seats, as a hybrid it still has amazing gas mileage on par with a sedan.

101 Dalmatians Diamond Edition arrives on DVD and Blu-ray combo pack today

101 Dalmatians, one of the most beloved movies of my childhood is arriving for the first time on Digital HD, Blu-ray™ Combo Pack, Disney Movies Anywhere and On-Demand and I couldn't be happier. I've been waiting to share the film with my family for years and have been counting down the days until we could enjoy a family movie night with Pongo, Perdita, and their adorable puppies.

When my firefighter-obsessed son first spied the 101 Dalmatians DVD and Blu-ray combo pack that arrived last week, he immediately declared that he wanted to watch the "fire dog movie". While I made sure to tell him there was no fire theme to the movie, I knew he wouldn't be upset once he saw the film and got to see the adorable puppies on the screen.

VOLOOM your hair for lasting volume

I have what my sisters refer to as "baby hair". I believe the official word for my type of hair is “fine”, but on top of that it’s also really thin – like baby hair. As for actual styling, it's just about as frustrating as trying to style a baby's hair and requires a ton of product in order to somewhat hold even the easiest hairstyle. Even backcombing my hair doesn’t work very well because my soft baby hair just won’t hold and soon after it’s styled it ends up limp and lifeless.

But, while there are hundreds of products on the market for thinning or receding hair, my baby hair has always left me wishing I had any other type of hair. The best advice I've gotten from hair professionals so far in terms of managing my fine, thin hair has been to damage it as best I could.

Sounds crazy, right? Really, it's not as nuts as it sounds, but it makes my hair very high maintenance because unless it's basically fried through chemicals, dyes, heat and product, it just lays there limp. Or, at least it used to.While at BlogHer this year I met a company called VOLOOM and it sounded just like what I needed to try to help give my baby hair some real volume – without having to spend hundreds of dollars in a salon damaging my hair. However, it was so popular that every time I passed the VOLOOM booth there was a line of girls waiting to try it and I never got a chance to see it work in person.

When I heard that VOLOOM was working with iFabbo to get the word out about a whole new way to add volume to your hair, I gladly volunteered my locks. You see, I’ve tried volumizing powders, mousse, hair spray, creams, and just about every other gimmick on the market without success, so I’m willing to try anything at this point.

So, what is the VOLOOM? It's not a curling iron or a flat iron; it’s the first hair volumizing iron that was created specifically to add huge volume to hair. Basically, VOLOOM creates hidden layers of texture underneath your style that adds volume to any hairstyle.

Say hello to our newest little reviewer

Baby is here! Our sweet baby girl arrived almost a week ago and all of us are already crazy about her. So far, she’s been a dream. She has spent most of her time sleeping or cooing quietly in our arms while everyone begs to hold her next, and has proven to be quite the good little traveler. She's already slept through a few hours of road trips, a ferry ride, a day exploring the islands, and even made it in time to see our beloved Seahawks in the Super Bowl. All that in 6 short days. The kids especially are over the moon about her and every time she makes even the tiniest noise they come running to help. I know this super helpful phase won’t last forever, but I’m enjoying it immensely right now. What makes me the most happy is that based on what I’m seeing they are going to be truly good helpers when I need them to be, and that’s more than I expected from a 6 and 4 year old. As for her actual birth, it was quick and went smoother than I ever could have dreamt. Even the nurses who helped me deliver her were commenting that her delivery was absolute perfection and exactly what they want for themselves when they have babies. I haven’t seen hundreds of births every year, or even more than a handful, but based on the stories I hear and have read from other moms, my births are what everyone hopes for and this one was the easiest yet.
Our birth story: