Putumayo Kids Review and Giveaway

ABOUT PUTUMAYO KIDS:
Putumayo Kids is the children’s and educational division of Putumayo World Music. They are committed to introducing children to other cultures through music from around the world. Their CDs are a beautiful multicultural, multilingual mix that is sure to please and inspire any child. Around the world they have sold more than 3 million Putumayo Kids CDs and with each CD sold at least one percent of the CD sales benefit non-profit groups that support children, families, schools and other charities. They have already contributed more than $1 million dollars to non-profit organizations that do good work in the regions where the music originates. They have both a Playground (which is upbeat) and a Dreamland (which is soothing and relaxing) series.

Watch this video to learn more about Putumayo Kids!

MY THOUGHTS:
I homeschool and I love to learn and teach about different cultures. I absolutely love world music and actually seek it out for my children so that they can experience and learn to appreciate different cultures by music. I think that it is very important while my children are still young to instill in them an importance of culture and immerse them in the diversity. One of the things I am doing this year is teaching my kids Spanish. I have found that by giving them an opportunity to also learn about the culture in the different places that speak Spanish that I am giving them a wider view of the world.

I was given Picnic Playground and European Playground to review and then also went out and bought the African Playground at a gift shop in the Portland Children's Museum. I love all of them!

Picnic Playground is Putumayo Kids' newest CD. It is packed with 12 great songs about food. My favorite song from that CD was #7 Beautiful Day by Kheswa from South Africa.

European Playground is is a collection of 15 songs from Europe's rich cultural variety. My favorites were #12 Tarantainas De La Casa Sin Pared by Biella Nuei from Spain and #15 Sandy River Belle by Sharon Shannon from Ireland. Get the Teaching Guide HERE, the lyrics translated to English HERE, and a map HERE.

My absolute favorite so far is the African Playground CD. It has 13 wonderful songs on it. My favorite song on it is #3 Mbube by The Mahotella Queens from South Africa (The Lion Sleeps Tonight). It is a very different version from what you are used to, but it is fabulous! Get the Teaching Guide HERE, the lyrics translated to English HERE, a fun craft activity HERE and a map HERE.

Get other Teaching tools for other Putumayo Kids CDs HERE! Visit their blog HERE.

WIN IT:
Beth at Putumayo Kids is giving one lucky reader a chance to win the Picnic Playground CD.

Mandatory:
1. Go to the Putumayo Kids website and tell me what other CD you would be interested in.

Additional entries:
1. Subscribe to my blog by email and let me know. (2 extra entries)

2. Become my fan on Facebook. (1 extra entry)

3. Blog about this giveaway on your blog and provide me with the link. Make sure you have the link to this post and Putumayo Kids in your blog entry or it won't count. (2 extra entries)

4. Grab My Button - See Sidebar to the left - Leave your link (1 extra entry)

5. Technorati my blog and let me know your link. (1 extra entry)

6. List this giveaway on any giveaway listing website or blog and tell me where you listed it. (2 extra)

7. Follow me on twitter and retweet this: @finamoon: @putumayokids WIN: Putumayo Kids World Music Picnic Playground CD http://bit.ly/incgv
(Daily Extras are Available)

8. Fave me on Momfaves. (2 extra entries)

9. Comment on any other of my posts and tell me which one. (2 extra entries per post)

10. Become a Putumayo follower on Twitter. (1 extra entry)

11. Become a Putumayo Kids follower on Twitter. (1 extra entry)

12. Become a fan of Putumayo and Putumayo Kids on Facebook. (1 extra entry)

Make sure you leave me your email in all posts so that I can contact you. If you subscribed by email, blogged about this, listed it, commented on another post, or faved me on Momfaves leave 2 entries saying you did. This contest ends on Friday September 25, 2009 at midnight (GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada). This Giveaway is open Worldwide!!

Happy Grandparents Day Tribute

Happy National Grandparents Day! I made a collage of my Papa (he's the one in the cowboy hat), and my mom and dad with my kids to have a tribute to them on Grandparents Day on my blog :) I hope you like it! Unfortunately my husband's side of the family is blog shy. I also didn't get the chance to ask my Grandma (my dad's mom) if she would mind being on here. Oh well. I just wanted y'all to know that they mean a whole bunch to me too even though they don't show up here in pictures.

Lunchables Lunch Note Promise SiteWarming Twitter Party

About Lunch Note Promise:
Beginning this week, the folks at Lunchables invite parents across the country to take a moment and place a note of encouragement in their child’s lunch before they go to school. If you homeschool like me and make meals on the go put a little note in for the car ride to brighten their day. Are you ready to promise to join the campaign to give children what they need – a little encouragement?

For every parent that makes that promise at Lunch Note Promise, Lunchables will donate a meal to children and families in need through Feeding America, which serves an estimated nine million children each year. Together we can help Lunchables reach their goal of turning 100,000 promises into up to 100,000 meals!

So, go to Lunch Note Promise and make your promise. Then they also have neat downloadable lunch notes that are in PDF format for you to print out! Easy!

About the Party:
I just learned on Resourceful Mommy that Lunchables is having a Twitter SiteWarming party Tonight for their new website, Lunch Note Promise and I thought you might like to know about it.

Date: Friday, September 11th
Time: 9p.m.-10p.m. ET
Hashtag: #Lunchables
Location: Twitter
Host and Who to Follow: @ElizCron on behalf of Lunchables, @ResourcefulMom, and @TwitterMoms

Go HERE to find out more on the party and to RSVP!

*Note on Lunchables...they aren't what they used to be. They are a lot healthier and more wholesome than the Lunchables they had back when I was in school. Check out what Resourceful Mommy says about them and then go check the them out on the Lunchables website. Sure they still have the cold pizza, but it has wholegrain crust now and they also have New Lunchables with sub sandwiches! They also have added bottled spring water, apple sauce, sugar-free Jell-O, and 100% juice to the meals.

Luvs Take A Stand Campaign

Luvs baby diapers offer great value, price, and leak protection! The people at Luvs® are excited to invite you to join the Luvs "Take a Stand" campaign, which rallies moms to unite and take a stand on things that are important to them, such as not paying too much money for everyday items such as diapers!

Starting September 15, we can all go to Luvs.com and receive a $5 coupon off a pack of Luvs diapers! There is limited supply so go there on that day early before supplies run out!!

You can also enter the Luvs "Diapers for a Year" Sweepstakes by registering at Luvs.com or updating your existing account. It only takes a minute for a chance to win a year's supply of diapers for your baby.

They also have this really cute Luvs Baby Builder application on their website that will allow you to make yourself into a Luvs Baby.

"Marissa Jaret Winokur, Tony-award winning actress, “Dancing with the Stars” contestant, and host of Oxygen Network’s “Dance Your &%$# Off,” is leading the charge for the Luvs “Take A Stand” campaign. Marissa absolutely believes in the idea of empowering moms to stand for things that are important to them, and you can watch a series of videos on Luvs.com where she talks about all sorts of things that she stands for – from charitable giving, to just trusting your gut when it comes to parenting." You can also share your own inspiring “Take A Stand” story with other moms within the Luvs online community.

Luvs loves moms! They understand that you have more important things in life than overthinking diapers. You want to find both affordability and something that will work well. With Luvs, you get a great diaper that provides ultra leak protection, and there's even a money back guarantee.