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Back in September I told you about Friendly’s Sweepstakes and Mission Delicious game. By playing and collecting points your kids have the opportunity to win awesome prizes like a year of Friendly’s Ice Cream or a trip to the Friendly’s headquarters to create their own ice cream flavor. Check out this video of Jessica, the most recent winner, creating her new ice cream flavor-It’s Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas. Then click on over to Iwannagotofriendlys.com to play!

Keep checking back-soon I’ll be giving away some Friendly’s gift cards!

As parents we do whatever we can to teach our kids right from wrong. We hope that when they are presented with a situation they will make the right choice. Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) has launched a new resource to help parents talk to their kids about underage drinking. The Power of Parents: It’s Your Influence has been designed to help provide us as parents with key tips, information, and tools to help us at home reach our teens and communicate the real life danger of underage alcohol use.

Underage drinking has emerged as the number one youth drug problem. Roughly 6,000 people will die this year in direct correlation with underage drinking—a statistic that can be greatly reduced with parental intervention. By being an informed, caring parent you can strongly impact your teens decisions regarding alcohol; 74% of kids (age 8-17) said their parents are the leading influence on their decisions about drinking.

Nationwide on Power of Parents, It’s Your Influence by MADD from MADD Online on Vimeo.

Get involved! Follow MADD on Twitter, become a fan on Facebook, follow the MADDParents blog and learn how to talk with your kids about underage drinking.

I wrote this review while participating in a blog campaign by Mom Central on behalf of MADD. A donation was made to MADD in my name to thank me for taking the time to participate.

As part of the swag bag the media received at Monday’s Princess Tiana event at the Magic Kingdom we received a beautiful Princess Tiana doll. I want to give this doll to one lucky reader of The Mom Maven.

Mandatory 1st Entry
Leave me a comment letting me know who your favorite Disney Princess is and why.
Bonus Entries you may complete any or all of these bonus entries after completing the mandatory 1st entry.

• Tweet this: Win a beautiful Princess Tiana doll from @MomMaven http://bit.ly/108lfR #disney #giveaway (1x a day-leave a separate comment with the tweet URL)
• Stumble, Digg, Mix and/or Facebook this link http://bit.ly/108lfR (leave the URL in your comment)
• Subscribers to my blog get 1 entry
• Followers of my blog get 1 entry

The winner will be chosen on 11/3/09 at 10:15pm ET by Random.org. I reserve the right to remove any entries that do not meet the above stated requirements.

Good Luck!

On Monday, October 26th Walt Disney World officially welcomed its newest princess into the Magic Kingdom. Princess Tiana, star of the upcoming Walt Disney Pictures animated feature film “The Princess and the Frog” was greeted in front of Cinderella Castle by many of the park’s famous characters. Donald Duck even presented Princess Tiana with a beautiful bouquet of flowers.

After the welcoming ceremony we were taken to the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique inside Cinderella Castle where little princesses can now enjoy a new Princess Tiana makeover. The makeovers range in price from $49.95-$239.95 and advance reservations are recommended. You can make your reservations by calling 407-WDW-STYLE (407-939-7895).

Next we got to go to a meet-and-greet with Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen. They are both beautiful and Prince Naveen has a very fun personality, he wanted to dance with everyone he met! Princess Tiana was very humble and turned every compliment back around onto the person who complimented her, it was very sweet to watch.

The highlight of the media event was viewing “Tiana’s Showboat Jubilee!,” a rousing, colorful show with a jazz-filled Mardi Gras theme. A procession leads guests to the Liberty Belle Riverboat dock and Rivers of America shoreline. The party moves onboard and the Liberty Belle paddlewheels her way along the river with singing and dancing to the sounds of a six-member jazz band. Nearly two dozen Disney dancers join 30 randomly chosen park guests to be part of each show. “Tiana’s Showboat Jubilee!” will only be appearing through January 3, 2010 so, if you are visiting the Magic Kingdom between now and then I highly recommend you find time to view this exciting show.

Lastly we learned about all of the amazing merchandise that Disney is rolling out to go along with “The Princess and the Frog”. Everything from plush kissing frogs, to school kits, books, dolls and of course-costumes are sure to delight all of the fans of this movie. Closer to the movie’s release date they will also be releasing collectible pins of all of the major characters for all of the pin collectors.

There is a lot of buzz about Tiana being the first African-American Disney Princess and the sentiment I heard from most of the African-American women and girls I spoke to at the event was “I’ve waited all my life for a princess like me.” The movie opens November 25, 2009 in NY and LA and nationwide on December 11, 2009.

The synopsis of the story from the official press release reads;

“When the free-spirited, jazz-loving Prince Naveen of Maldonia (Bruno Campos) comes to town ,a deal with a shady voodoo doctor (Keith David) goes bad and the once suave royal is turned into a frog. In a desperate attempt to be human again, a favor in exchange for a fateful kiss on the lips from the beautiful girl, Tiana (Anika Noni Rose), takes an unexpected turn and leads them both on a hilarious adventure through the mystical bayous of Louisiana to the banks of the almighty Mississippi and back in time for Mardi Gras in New Orleans. An unforgettable tale filled with music, humor and heart where two frogs—along with the help of a 197-year-old voodoo priestess, a love-sick Cajun firefly, and a trumpet-playing alligator—discover that what they want isn’t as important as what they need.”

To view all of my pictures of this event click here.

Monday I took a media trip to Disney to welcome Princess Tiana to the Magic Kingdom. On Wednesday I will be sharing in detail about the event but here is a look at my Whrrl Story.

Dog lovers, this one is for you! I like dogs, I had a dog growing up-his name was P.J. and he was an adorable beagle-basset mix. My boys have wanted a dog for years but, we have never had a dog. Dogs are great pets and you can learn a lot from your dog, if you pay attention.

Chicken Soup for the Soul:What I Learned from the Dog -101 Stories about Life, Love and Lessons, is a great book for any true dog lover. The book starts with a great forward by pet lifestyle expert Wendy Diamond. The 101 stories are broken down into sections including:  Learning about Family, Learning about Courage, Learning to Heal, and Learning to be Kinder. You will see your dog in some of these stories. Some of them will make you laugh, others may make you cry but every story in this book will touch the heart of a dog lover.

You can order your copy of the book from Amazon

I want to give this book to one lucky dog lover.  Please leave your e-mail or Twitter ID with your comment so I can contact you when you win.

Mandatory First Entry: Leave me a comment telling me about your favorite dog. It’s name and breed and anything else you want to share.

Bonus Entries: You may do any or all of these after completing the mandatory first entry. Please leave a separate comment for each entry.

• Subscribers to my blog get one entry. If you aren’t a follower just click on the orange heart in my sidebar and you can become one.
• Follower of my blog get one entry. If you want to become a follower sign up on the Google widget in my sidebar.
• Tweet this: Dog Lovers! Win the book “What I Learned from the Dog” from @MomMaven http://bit.ly/DogLover you may do that 1x a day. Leave the Tweet URL in your comment
• Stumble, Digg, Mixx, Prop or Facebook this post and leave me the link in your comment

This giveaway ends 11/3/09 at 10:00pm ET. I reserve the right to delete any entries that don’t follow the rules stated above. The winner will be chosen by Random.Org and will have 48 hours to contact me one the winner is posted.

I’m one of the worship vocalists at Journey Church in Bradenton, FL. I know that God uses music to prepare the hearts of His people to hear His Words. He loves when His people lavish Him with praise and thanksgiving for what He’s done and worship Him for who He is. We all have different musical tastes but to me, when it comes to worship music the lyrics are what matter most.

Today we sang a very powerful song, I have heard it occasionally over the last year or so but this was our first time leading the congregation in the singing of this song. The words to this song are so powerful and true, transparent and honest that-to truly sing it from your heart you must surrender yourself totally to the will of God.

The song is “Where You Go I’ll Go” by Brian and Jenn Johnson. Here are the lyrics.

Chorus:

Where you go I’ll go
What you say I’ll say, God
What you pray I’ll pray
What you pray I’ll pray

Verse:

Jesus only did what he saw You do
He would only say what he heard You speak
He would only move when he felt You lead
Following your heart following Your spirit

Pre chorus:

How could I expect to walk without You
When every move that Jesus made was in surrender
I will not begin to live without You
For You alone are worthy and You are always good

Bridge:

Though the world sees and soon forgets
We will not forget who You are and what You’ve done for us
What You’ve done for us

Since many of you may not know this powerful song, I’m including a video of Kim Walker and Jesus Culture leading this song in a worship service. I hope this blesses and challenges you as it has me. Please leave me a comment and let me know your thoughts.

Back in August my friend Shellie aka @Military_Mom on Twitter, posted the recipe for S’mores Cupcakes on her blog Blog4Mom. I have wanted to make these since the day she posted them but I haven’t had the occasion to, until today. Tonight we have a party to go to at church and we were asked to bring a dessert. So…since I often use my church family as my recipe guinea pigs, I thought “Why not!”

Ron took the boys to Tampa for the Motor Trend International Car Show and I started baking. I love to bake. I don’t bake that often because I have a VERY small galley kitchen with hardly any counter space. I can get claustrophobic even when I am alone in the kitchen!

The cupcakes look ok and taste delicious. I thought I’d share a few tidbits I learned while making these today.

• Check out all of your supplies before you start. I am sure I own at least 2 cupcake pans but I could only locate 1 so I had to bake 2 separate batches.
• My 18 yr old Black & Decker Hand Mixer was no match for 16oz of Marshmallow Fluff. The motor in my mixer burned up! Maybe now I can get the stand mixer I have been wanting-but have no place to store.
• An extra pair of hands would come in handy while trying to get the marshmallow topping into the pastry bag.
• Don’t fill the pastry bag too full. The marshmallow topping easily escapes from the top and oozes all over you.
• You do reach a point where being covered in marshmallow no longer bothers you. You can just clean it all up later
• Thankfully, I was home alone or their would be multiple photographs of me covered in marshmallow.

I had a lot of fun today and hopefully, the cupcakes will be a huge hit tonight. Have you tried this recipe? What did you think? Any input on what kind of mixer I should get to replace the one that dies today? Christmas baking season is right around the corner so I need to find something soon.

Michael Buble’s lastest project “Crazy Love” hit store shelves recently. I love Buble’s sweet voice and was excited when I was asked to review the CD. “Crazy Love” is a collection of passionate songs that embodies the deep mysteries of love sung by one of the most exciting, young performers today.

Album Tracklisting:
1. Cry Me A River
2. All Of Me
3. Georgia On My Mind
4. Crazy Love
5. Haven’t Met You Yet
6. All I Do Is Dream Of You
7. Hold On
8. Heartache Tonight
9. You’re Nobody Till Somebody Loves You
10. Baby (You’ve Got What It Takes)
11. At This Moment
12. Stardust
13. Whatever It Takes (bonus track)

My favorite song on the CD is “Haven’t Met You Yet” Check out the video.

In my opinion, the CD is good some songs better than others but, it didn’t blow me away like I was expecting it to. It has found only moderate rotation on my personal playlist. My husband came in the house while I was writing this post and said that Glenn Beck has been talking about how awesome this album is all day on his radio show and now he wants to borrow it to listen to it too.

You can order you’re copy of “Crazy Love” right from Michael’s website. Happy listening!

Disclosure-This review was written as part of a promotion through One2One Network. I was provided with a copy of the CD so that I could review it. All opinions in this review are my own.

FAMILY FUN FOOTBALL™ FOR Wii™ hit store shelves last month and it is a fun, family game. Families will enjoy the casual, “pick up and play” gameplay style, simple playbook, and intuitive motion controls that help create the ultimate fun football experience. Addicting mini games, whimsical characters, and mascot modes keep kids and parents alike coming back for more, not to mention the ability to play as your Mii caricature!

Game Features

* Simple playbook: A coaching playbook that makes it easy for everyone to learn and play the game of football!
* Power-ups: Earn power-ups during gameplay to enhance certain attributes including speed, strength, passing, and interception for a limited amount of time. Use them wisely to gain momentum in the game!
* Quickplay: Jump right into the action! Select two teams and the stadium you want to play in to get started. Up to four players can play for 2-on-2 football fun!
* Season: Play through a nine game season, each game against a different opponent. Defeat every team to be the best!
* Tournament: Play your way through a double-elimination tournament and be the last team standing to win it all!
* Mascot Mode: You can play as your team’s mascot, or as one of 10 unlockable mascots in Mascot Mode!
* Mii Compatibility: Load in your own Mii and play against your friends’ and family’s Miis for a more personal experience.

We have enjoyed playing this game. The controls are less complicated than other football games making it easier for younger children to play. I can’t wait to bring this to our holiday family gatherings because finally, my nephew will be able to really join in on the football fun! The game is rated E for everyone and can easily be played by ages 6 and up.

Disclosure: We were supplied with a copy of the game so that we could play and review the game. All opinions in this review are mine.