SUSPEND! Review and Giveaway Ends 8/22

We love having family together time. Whether it's watching a movie, playing a game, or doing something outside, our family enjoys being together. Every night we eat dinner together- it's the one constant in our home. We make memories. So does Marissa's family.. (did you read this post about her hysterical dinner conversation?)

Back to school often means back to the hustle and bustle of a jam-packed schedule. Making family time is just as important during the school year, and summer- at least for our family.

When we received an opportunity from GummyLump to review the Melissa & Doug game, Suspend, we jumped at the chance.

Of all the games we love to play, puzzle and strategy games are our favorites. We have a popular wooden block game, and this game I would say, is like a modern day, more exciting version. It's also a little bit harder...at first.

They claim that if you try this hanging balance game,you'll be hooked- and it's true! SUSPEND is a family game of tricky hangs and steady hands. It comes with 24 notched, rubber-tipped wire pieces to hang from a tabletop stand.

Sound easy? Try adding another piece! Each time a bar is added, the balance shifts, the difficulty changes and the incredible midair sculpture transforms. This tricky game for 1-4 players is a test of steady nerves and steady hands. It's geared for ages 8 and up.

That being said, the first time we took it out my 9 year old, 6 year old and I set up the game, couldn't get any of the bars to balance, and put it away frustrated. We did not read the instructions, we figured we'd wing it- it couldn't be that difficult... oh, but it was!

Later, my friends came over for ladies night, and I brought out the game. The four of us sat around the table, reading the directions, and started playing. It was HYSTERICAL! We've played it multiple times now, and it's always a great time.

I took what I learned and taught the kids the next day. Since then, they've played it almost every other day! Now that we know how to play it, and have done so successfully, we think it's easy.. but we love laughing everytime we make the bars fall.

It's so interesting seeing the way their minds work; Alex is logistical, and structurally sound in his placement, Abbie is more artistic and whimsical. They both prefer to play the "Intermediate" version, by rolling the dice to see which color to hang next.

Every game is "new", and it doesn't lose its appeal very easily, at all. If you like brain games, puzzles, strategy games, or just challenging games, definitely give this one a chance.

This game, as well as other Melissa & Doug toys can be found online at GummyLump.com, and is currently priced at $13.59. There are several sales and special promotions there, as well, including a "Buy Three, Get the Fourth Free" on Melissa & Doug wooden play food, Free UPS shipping on orders over $60, and the Biggest Sale Ever- with savings up to 50%!

Our friends at GummyLump have offered one of our readers their chance to win a SUSPEND game for their family!

Enter to Win using the RaffleCopter Widget below: Please allow it a few moments to load properly. If you are still having issues, please click on the title of this post to refresh it correctly.

Please note that this giveaway is open to all residents of the Continental US only.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

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ABBA You Can Dance by UbiSoft *Review*

ABBA You Can Dance for the Wii= three words: What A BLAST!!

Since the dawning of Just Dance, the girls and I made a pact to get together and dance our booties off. Literally. We would meet for a morning full of coffee and dancing, and continued this tradition until my son switched schools this year.

When we were asked to host an ABBA dance party, Marissa and I LEPT at the chance to dance with the girls again.

Our friends at Clever Girls and UbiSoft sent a cool disco ball, an ABBA dance shirt, the game for us to put to great use, and a gift card for refreshments. We called the ladies and set up a PM dance party at my house, and an AM after drop-off party. We laughed like nobody's business and were able to have two very successful parties.

Our review:
UbiSoft were the masterminds behind the Just Dance series, as well as many other popular "dance" video games. We love them all, but to be fair we need to make sure we list the pro's and con's of Abba You Can Dance.

Pro's:

• Very similar to the other "dance" games- easy to catch on.
• Up to 4 players can dance at the same time
• If 4 people are dancing, you may be dancing differently than the person next to you. 
• Similar graphics make it easy to see the upcoming moves, and/or follow the on-screen dancer

Con's:

• We played the Michael Jackson experience and the ABBA game on the same day- both had the same location of the points bar and the location of the "next move coming up". These are NOT the same spot as the Just Dance series, so that took some getting used to.
• We bumped into each other a few times using this program because 4 of us dance at the same time, and two of you are going one way, while the other two are going the opposite. Needless to say, this made it difficult in our tiny living room, and better at our AM party. 
• As long as you know how to hold the remote "correctly" there should be no problem, but for new players to any dance type game, it may take some getting used to. 

All three of the con's we found were pretty easy to over come- they really just took some getting used to for us. We all sang and danced like fools, glad that the kiddos weren't there to giggle at us. We picked a name at random to receive the ABBA Dance shirt, and think our friend looks dashing in it- don't you??

Since receiving the items, the kids have played, and enjoy it almost as much as we do! We love seeing them  play to an old school group, with catchy music that brings us back down memory lane. This disc is packed with music like Dancing Queen, Fernando, Momma Mia and more!!

If you are looking for a fun way to keep your family active, or for a family holiday gift, I would definitely recommend ABBA You Can Dance, or any of the Just Dance series. You can purchase this item anywhere that video games are sold, or online at Amazon. Special thanks to our friends at UbiSoft and CleverGirls for allowing us to host this party, and for sending us this game to review.

Thank you to Ubisoft for sponsoring this blog post. Please click here to learn more about Ubisoft. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective. All opinions are my own.

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The Smurfs Dance Party Wii Review + Redbox Code Giveaway!

Oh my gosh! What a fun game! We went grocery shopping yesterday, and decided to check out our local Redbox, and saw that The Smurfs Dance Party for Wii was available. The kids were super excited to try it out, and we ended up playing it all day!!

My kids haven't seen the movie yet, but they want to- but they loved dancing with all of the characters. I laughed harder than I have in months to "Mr. Smurftastic" a clean rendition of Shaggy's Mr. Boombastic, and loved Smurfette dancing to Katy Perry's pop hit, "One of the Boys".

My only complaint was that it took the kids a little longer to get the moves right than it did when they play the Just Dance games, but I have a feeling it has to do with the avatar being a weird blue Smurf blown up on the large living room TV. Also, since we only rented it I didn't have time to figure out what the Smurfberries were for, or if the game actually keeps record of high scores like JD. I'm sure that with the instruction book those issues would be cleared up in no time. Even without instructions, this game is easy to just pop in and play.

Whether you're a fan of the Smurfs or the dance-type games, definitely give this game a try. Great for a family fun night!! The best part is that since it's offered on Redbox, you can try it out and see how much the kids love it BEFORE you buy it, if you prefer.

Because I loved it so much, I have several exclusive Redbox Codes (or more..) that I'm going to giveaway to my Facebook Fans. If you don't "Like" us yet, be sure you do, and tell your friends. To enter, just leave me a comment on our wall! Visit 4BabyAndMom on Facebook now to enter!!

At least one code per day will be given away! Ends 9/1

Nintendo Wii, Redbox, and Facebook.com is in no way related to this giveaway, and cannot be held reliable for anything related to this giveaway or to 4BabyAndMom.com.

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RandomLine Squiggle Game Beats the Rest- Hands Down! Review + Giveaway

 We love family game night. We also have a problem finding stuff that is fun for us, and the kids. As a mom of a gifted child, finding a game that he likes, that's not too babyish or too advanced, is a struggle. Also, he hates to be creative, but given the right opportunity to, he's extremely creative. While looking for games for the kids for the holidays, I happened to find this amazing company called RandomLine.

RandomLine products encourage just the use of your imagination- no batteries, no noises, just pure fun. Travel pads are available for long trips, birthday favors, or stocking stuffers. Whether your child is 4 or 40, this line of games is sure to be a hit.

Alphabet SQUIGGLE is a unique, educational board game that introduces letters to children in a fun and creative way. Kids will learn and improve letter recognition and handwriting while strengthening their vocabulary and building self esteem. This item is geared for children 4-7.

Approx. Retail Value: $20
Available at Randomline, Amazon, eBeanstalk, and more. A travel version is also available.

Kids that are 8 and up can enjoy the traditional Squiggle game, Squiggle Connect, or the brand new Hurry Up! The Dice Game. SQUIGGLE CONNECT is a hilarious drawing game where players compete by changing a squiggly line into a picture. No artistic talent required . . . just your imagination!

It all starts with a roll of the “dot” cube and then the dots are connected by random lines using the “connect” cube. Once everyone has their unique squiggly line in front of them, play begins. Players have 60 seconds to transform their wavy and wacky line into a picture. They can be as simple or detailed as they want. When time is up, each player explains their drawing to the other players. This is where you may fall over laughing as you listen to some real nonsense! Once each player has had chance to explain what they drew, voting begins. Each player votes on only one other players drawing using a voting card.

The voting cards offer either a descriptive praise or a nuance of criticism such as "put that in a doggie bag" or "a monkey can do better". Each card also has a point value and players give them to each other based on their picture and description. It’s hysterical!

We were recently given the opportunity to review the travel game, Squiggle Mix Up. I introduced it to my friends at a ladies night get together to get their opinions on it. We took turns spinning the wheels and creating hysterical hybrid animals, then trying to guess what the animals were, and create names for our creations.


You start off by spinning the wheels of animals. You then take the pad and start your drawing with the squiggle on the page. It's much harder than it sounds, especially because normally the squiggle doesn't look like it can belong in any of your animals without difficulty. Once you get over the fact that working with the squiggle is going to be tough, you get crazy creations like the ones pictured on the left.

The best part is that it doesn't matter whether or not you can draw or not, you just try.. that's what makes it even more fun. As you can see, there were varying levels of artistic ability at the house that day, but I truly believe that spinning the right type of squiggle truly makes the difference. If anything, the varying levels of creativity definitely makes for an afternoon or evening filled with laughter!!

We laughed so hard at points we were crying! We play a lot of games on ladies nights, and let me tell you, this game has been requested multiple times!

What I love about the travel version is that I can bring it in the car, grocery shopping, where ever, and no matter where I am the sound of the kids cracking up is all you hear. Abbie can't really do it well right now, but she loves watching Alex draw "the crazy animals".

I also love that there's no pieces to lose or misplace, as the wheels are attached to the cardboard backing, and so is the pad. It comes with a little pencil, but you can use pen, pencil, marker or crayons on the paper.

It sells for approximately $8 and makes a great stocking stuffer, grab bag gift, or gift for the people, kids or families that seem to have everything. I'm thinking about picking a couple up for my nieces. Everything they own is electronic. I like taking it back to the basics.

Our new friends at Randomline have offered one of our readers their chance to WIN a Squiggle Mix-Up game for themselves!

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR WINNER!!

Please refer to our WINNERS PAGE for more information on how to claim your prize.

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