Mmmm! My kids love these, and you can get a free sample of custom designed Fruit Roll-ups by signing up for the Boxtops for Education newsletter. Just click the button above!

Let me tell ya something, we go through a ridiculous, insane amount of yogurt in this house. And with two little ones heading off to kindergarten every day with lunchboxes in hand, it’s important to me to find the best value I can. I’ve tried to buy huge containers of yogurt and dole it out into little containers for the kids, but without fail, the containers never make it home from school. And as much as my kids enjoy the typical grown-up style yogurt, they make a huge mess out of it. When I discovered custard style yogurt, I was in love, and so were my little ones! It’s tasty and fun to eat, and it sticks to the spoon instead of falling in your lap. Bonus: the Yoplait Kids brand of yogurt is available in Dora, Diego, and Blues Clues styles, so the kids love it even more. Want to check it out for yourself? Well, what are you waiting for? It’s only available EVERYWHERE. What are ya, new? Hey, you can even print out a coupon right here and save $1.50. Yay!

You know, it’s rare to find an artist who stands the test of time like Tina Turner. My mom listened to her music when I was a wee little munchkin in the 70s, and my sister and I listened to her in the 80s and 90s. And guess what? She’s still around! In fact, Tina Turner announced earlier this year that she would actually be touring this fall and winter! You can find out all the details about her live shows at Tina Turner Live. To kick off the tour, Capitol/EMI released Tina! a few weeks ago - it’s a new 18-track CD and digital collection of Turner’s top hits, rare live recordings and two exclusive new tracks.

I received an early copy to review and I immediately turned it over to my sister, who is a HUGE Tina fan. When she noticed that several of the tracks were live recordings, she looked like she smelled an onion. Not everyone’s a fan of live recordings on greatest hit albums, y’know? But - a few hours later, she called me up and said this was her new very favorite CD, and that she LOVED all the live tracks, particularly “Let’s Stay Together.”

More about the album:

In addition to featuring all of the career-spanning hits Turner will perform at her concerts, including “What’s Love Got To Do With It,” “Private Dancer,” “Better Be Good To Me,” “We Don’t Need Another Hero (Thunderdome),” “Proud Mary” (1993 version), “Nutbush City Limits,” and “River Deep Mountain High,” among others, Tina! features two new, exclusive tracks, titled “It Would Be A Crime” and “I’m Ready.”

Four concert recordings are also featured, including “I Can’t Stand The Rain,” recorded live at Amsterdam Arena (1996), “Addicted To Love,” recorded live at London ’s Camden Palace (1986), and two that have never before been released on CD, “The Best,” recorded live at London ’s Wembley Arena (2000) and “Let’s Stay Together,” recorded live at Amsterdam Arena (1996).

If you’re a Tina Turner fan, you will want this CD for sure - my sister says so. How about an early Christmas present? You can find it right here. Big thanks from myself and especially from my sister Kim to the Family Review Network for letting us check it out!

My kids are very much into music right now, and one of their favorite things to do lately is gather up all the little toy instruments scattered around the house and pretend to be a band. Look, aren’t they just sickeningly cute? They’re fully convinced we’re going to take this act on the road and put out an album. So you can imagine how much fun it’s been for us to review music from Groovy Ruby, an all-girl preteen band put together in 2005 by New Jersey teacher/songwriter Dean Laterra. The songs are original, catchy, and they actually sound…good! Here’s some info from their site:

Think Beatles meet the Go-Go’s…in grade school. Maybe a little Jackson 5, Doo-Wop, and some Ramones thrown in there too. Or how about a cross between Hannah Montana and the Jonas Brothers? That might be Groovy Ruby.

This all original band sings up on your feet, hooky, catchy, feel good tunes that get kids up and dancing. Led by five tween girls, the band’s songs contain messages of friendship, perseverance, and encouragement, amongst other positive themes.

I feel a special connection to these young singers anyway, since my oldest daughter is the same age as most of them. And here’s the best part - they do lots of live events! How great would it be to get out there to one of their shows, and let these young ladies inspire your own kids to rock out? Here’s the video for their song Change…

I have a houseful of girls (and a little boy!) and I’m always looking for good music for them to listen to - this is a GREAT CD, full of songs with good, positive messages. Consider passing the word along to Santa that this would make an excellent stocking stuffer! It’s only $15.00 and you can get it online right here. Is your kid lucky enough to have his own MP3 player? It’s also available as a digital download. Hook it up, mama!