Thursday, October 14, 2010

Winner Announcement: Rokenbok

Annnnd the lucky winner of the Rokenbok toy set is Annie and Greg!  Congratulations!  You've been emailed and you have 48 hours to reply or I'll have to pull the next winner!

Remember!  Even if you didn't win, Rokenbok has graciously extended this special offer to you! Free gifts are always great right?


Thank you for all the awesome entries!

Monday, October 11, 2010

Winner Announcement: Libby's Gift Pack

Help me to congratulate Christina Almond!  She won the Libby's Gift Pack giveaway! 

Christina - I've emailed you!  If you don't reply within 48 hours I'll have to move on to the next person.

Big Thanks to everyone to entered! 

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Toy Review & Giveaway: Rokenbok

I was contacted by the Rokenbok toy company and they offered to send a Deluxe ROK Blocks set to play with (with my boys of course) and review.  We get to keep the free set and frankly we already have plans to add more Rokenbok sets to our toy collection.

Once we received it, I wanted to wait for a day where we had a large chunk of playtime so that we could introduce this new toy and have ample time to play with them.  Well, let's just say I'm glad we prepared accordingly.  My husband and our two boys played with the Rokenbox toys for over an hour that first day and again that evening after dinner!  Since then it's been something the kids bring out nearly every day!

The set comes with enough pieces to make some VERY large vehicles, airplanes, helicopters and tractor trailers to name a few!  Directions to make these items come with the set and are very easy to follow.  The blocks link together in a similar fashion to Legos except instead of only being able to build up, you can build out too! Rokenbok's can connect to all 6 sides of each block.  They are sturdy, stay together (even while being flown around the room by my 2 1/2 year old).  Both my boys ages 4 & 2 1/2 can create with this toy.  They can easily snap the pieces together and take them apart without much and sometime no assistance.

Here is Andy and my husband Chris, they have built a space shuttle and launcher!

One downfall for us was the little parts.  The age range for this toy starts at 3 years old and with my Andy coming in just shy of that 3 year old mark, I'm certain that is why I find the small parts a bit annoying.  My 4 year old is perfectly able to keep the small parts in order.  The small parts ARE quite important as they offer support for large longer sections of blocks and create the ability to have swiveling moving parts like a helicopter blade or a swiveling trailer bed. Those abilities far outweigh the fact that the pieces are small and need to be kept with the set. If this is a toy you think your child would be interested in I do suggest waiting until they are a solid 3 years old. With that being said, we have already put bugs in our family members ears for more of these toys for holiday gifts.  Both of my little boys (and my big boy A.K.A. husband) really enjoy building with these toys.  I enjoy it too!

Rokenbok offers toys for children much older than the toddler set too, some even come with remote control abilities.  They all work with the same beginner set that I have reviewed here.  So as your children get older and more able you can add to the set adding lots of fun and interest for years to come.  There are four age levels with the top level for children 9 and older.  I see Rokenbok toys as investment toys that their quality will stand up to time and they will be played with for quite a while.

Check out this video to see Rokenbok in action:


To see more videos featuring Rokenbok visit their YouTube site! 

Rokenbok has graciously offered to give one of my readers their very own set!  If you happen to be an unlucky reader they have also extended this special offer to you! Free gifts are always great right?

How you can enter:

Required for Entry -
* Leave one comment below sharing who you would like to give this set to, INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS SO THAT I CAN CONTACT YOU IF YOU WIN! 

Bonus Entries (you'll get ONE EXTRA ENTRY for each of these below, just be sure to leave a separate comment for each of them noting what you did AND INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS!) -
* "Like" ROKENBOK on Facebook, leave a comment here letting me know you "liked" them INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS.

* Follow ROKENBOK on Twitter, leave a comment here letting me know you followed them INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS.


* Follow Me with Google Friend Connect, leave a comment here letting me know you followed me INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS. (if you already have connected via GFC then just leave a comment stating this is the case)



* Follow Me on Twitter, leave a comment here letting me know you followed me INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS. (if you already have connected via Twitter then just leave a comment stating this is the case)

This giveaway will run until Wednesday, October 13th at 11:59 PM ET.  The winner will be announced Thursday, Oct 14th!

**All thoughts and opinions on the product mentioned above are my own. I genuinely like this product and that is why I've decided to share it with you.**

Some photo updates

It's been WAY too long since I've shared some kiddo stats and photos so here ya go!

Max, is into his 2nd month of 4 year old preschool and he's LOVING it! His class size is bigger than last year and he seems to enjoy the 3 days a week schedule!

Andy, is also into his 2nd month of 2 year old preschool and seems to also be loving his one morning a week away from us.  He sings like crazy when he comes home each week and he is excited each Wednesday morning when i announce that it's a school day for him. 

Both boys are getting super tall! Max is growing like a weed and Andy is now able to wear most size 3T pants and shirts!

Here are a few recent photos of the boys!  Check out a huge bounty of pumpkins!  We grew all of them (two of them are missing since they became ripe way early and had a few bites taken out of them and were since tossed.... )