Sparkle Spotlight - Clare Crespo

Five years ago, I reviewed Clare Crespo's SpookyFun DVD, which is part of the Yummyfun Kooking series. I loved it back then, and I think I love it even more now. And my kids? They're slightly obsessed. Bean made this entry in his journal:

She is much better looking than this, but I thought it was a cute gesture. The kids love the "SpookyFun" DVD so much that I bought the "Spring has Sprung" title for them. I'll probably have to pick up the third title soon. But lately they've been watching "SpookyFun" non stop, since it's perfect for Halloween. And Clare Crespo is ridiculously awesome and kooky so I watch it with them, too. I even got hubby in on the action. I love how five years after I discovered this on my own, we are still enjoying it and as a whole family too. Thank you Clare, for bringing a little sparkle into our lives this Halloween season!

Sparkle Spotlight - Rockabye Baby!

Bean and Pinga have been doing a lot of dancing this summer. Bean will turn on the CD player and blast his favorite tunes and start busting his moves. And before long, Pinga will have joined him. Here's their new favorite CD to rock out to:

Rockabye Baby! and their impressive selection of albums transforms your favorite band's tunes into soothing melodies that are simply wonderful to listen to. Bean has been rocking out to Rockabye Baby's lullaby renditions of bands like Bjork, The Beach Boys and Guns N' Roses ever since he was a baby. He's six now and he still enjoys them.

Rockabye Baby sent me the new Lullaby Renditions of Michael Jackson CD to listen to. This album definitely does justice to the King of Pop. What I love about these albums is that the songs are not "dumbed down" from their original version and simply turned into baby music. Rather, they are recreated into beautiful instrumental melodies, while still maintaining their original elements. Favorite tunes around here are ABC, Remember the Time and Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough.

Here's some video footage of Bean and Pinga in action. Pinga promptly climbed in her bed afterwards, so I'd say their dancing session was a success.

You can buy the album and listen to samples here.

WANT TO WIN? One winner will receive a copy of Rockabye Baby's Lullaby Renditions of Michael Jackson. To enter, leave a comment on this post prior to August 21st at Midnight and tell me what your favorite Michael Jackson song is. Please leave your email address with your comment. Winner must provide a US mailing address.

Sparkle Spotlight - My Mama

My mom is a pretty amazing person. She gives the best bear hugs and she reads "The Night Before Christmas" with sound effects. She can bake and cook anything you want and make you feel better when you're sad. She loves cats. And she's wise.

Beautiful, isn't she? As a kid, she always reminded me to wear my sunscreen and my sunglasses even though I lived in Vancouver where it rains most of the year. Now that I live in California, it's become natural for me to remember this wise advice. I always make sure my kids are wearing sunscreen. They also love their sunglasses so I can rest assured knowing that they are protected from the sun. Thanks, Mom!

Another wise piece of advice she gave was to always drink my water. In fact, she hardly ever allowed juice in the house. It was considered a treat. So was soda. Once again, I passed this nugget of wisdom down to my own children. Now, my kids do enjoy their juice, but they also love to drink water. Whenever I ask my son what he wants to drink, he always chooses water first.

Best of all, she always says something like this to me:

Wise words, indeed. Pure wisdom should be shared with others! Visit the Nestlé® Pure Life® Facebook wall and leave a comment with the hashtag #momswisdom sharing what your mother told you and how it has made you a better person.

What words of wisdom did your mother impart in you? I would to love to know! Leave your stories in the comments!

Thanks to Nestlé® Pure Life® Purified Water for sponsoring today's discussion.

Sparkle Spotlight: Chloe Lukasiak

As some of you know, I used to be a ballerina so naturally I'm into all things that have to do with dance. Recently, I've been tuning into Lifetime's reality show Dance Moms. Now, I could do without all of the show's drama and I tune out all of the fights, but I love the kids! They are a talented young group of dancers and I enjoy their performances. Eleven year old Chloe Lukasiak is a beautiful girl inside and out. She's a joy to watch and I love her innocent, fun loving personality. I had the privilege of asking her a few questions about what the world of dance means for her. Let's meet Chloe:

You have really grown as a dancer and a person over the last season of Dance Moms. We saw a vast improvement in your confidence. What are your goals for the near future? What do you hope to continue to improve upon?

I really just want to continue to grow as a dancer and believe that I can achieve anything I set my mind to! I'd really like to try acting next, as well.

You are a very expressive dancer to watch on stage. How do you feel when you're dancing in front of an audience?

Even before I could really "dance", I always loved to perform. I really feel at home on stage and I love telling a story to the audience.

What is your favorite thing about competing?

Probably just performing. And seeing new places with my best friends.

Glitzy Girl is your new jewelry line. Can you tell us a little bit about it?

Maddie (Ziegler) and I were talking one day about all the ribbons and pins and trophies we get from dance competitions and we thought, wouldn't it be cool if we could wear something pretty? Like a bracelet or something, so we came up with the charm bracelet idea and other girls seem to really like them, too!

Life as a dancer is not easy. What motivates you to keep dancing even when your body hurts or you're tired?

I just love to dance. And I always want to keep trying one more time. I guess that keeps me going?

You've got your hands full with the show, competing, school and Glitzy Girl. How do you balance it all?

I think my life is pretty much the same as its always been, just now there are cameras. So I think I'm just used to balancing it all because it's what I've always done.

You won a scholarship to the Joffrey Ballet School. Is ballet something you would like to pursue further?

Yes, I think ballet is very beautiful, but difficult. But the costumes are usually amazing!

Is there a style of dance that you haven't learned that you would like to try?

Hmmm, I would like to learn ballroom! I would love to dance in high heels!

When you're not dancing or at school, what do you like to do for fun?

Well, I like to read and shop, play with my sister, have sleepovers. You know, just normal girl stuff!

Do you have any advice for any future dancers?

Just be YOUR best, don't compare yourself to others, never let anyone get in the way of your dreams! And smile onstage!!


Thanks for taking time to chat, Chloe! Good luck with all of your dance endeavors!

Sparkle Spotlight: The Twinkle Challenge

At just two days old, my niece Chloe received life saving surgery from SickKids hospital in Toronto. My awesome sister started the Twinkle Challenge in order to raise funds and awareness for stem cell research at the hospital. This is an area that is very under funded, but with a little help and creativity from us, we can help them reach their goal of $10,000!

So, my sister's a wiz at playing the piano, so when a random piano was placed at the hospital she created the Twinkle Challenge. She decided to learn Mozart's Twinkle variations in just two weeks, play it live at SickKids and give back to the hospital that saved her daughter's life. Not an easy thing to do when you've got two kids at home, but she rose to the challenge and did a beautiful job! There is a fantastic introductory video on the website where you can learn more about this amazing project.

Will you join me in taking the Twinkle Challenge? You can submit your own challenge in the gallery section. Watch me play my simplified version of the twinkle variations! You or your kids can draw a picture, sing a song, do a dance, anything you want. And if you feel so inclined, please consider making a donation to this wonderful cause. Please let me know if you submit a challenge. I can't wait to see all of your creations!

Sparkle Spotlight - Lil' Miss Mae

Look what came in the mail last week:

This gorgeous pettiskirt is from Kim of Lil' Miss Mae. I stumbled upon these skirts while killing time on Facebook. I decided I absolutely must have one for my little girl and I immediately snapped one up. This is a full, impeccably made skirt and it is so ladylike! I don't know about you, but I'm getting tired of hearing about "genderless babies" and "gender-free" preschools. I want my baby girl to look like a girl and to feel pretty. Part of the fun of having a little girl is dressing her up, and I seriously cannot wait until mine can fit into this.

Lil' Miss Mae also offers adorable accessories including boutique hats, bobby pins, headbands and more to complete your little one's look. These korkers are perfect for the Fourth of July! You can view the full selection of items here. (By the way, shout out to E. Smith Photography for the beautiful photos of the pettiskirts. If you're in Weatherford, Texas and need a photographer, she's your gal).

Become a fan of Lil' Miss Mae on Facebook and keep up with all her latest offerings. I just spent a considerable amount of time drooling over all the pretty things in the store. Thanks Lil' Miss Mae for the beautiful pettiskirt - I can't wait to see what else you come up with!

Sparkle Spotlight - The Potty Boot Camp

I'm sure by now, most of you have been introduced to Bean but for those of you who haven't, this is my son:


Bean is an adorable, loving little boy. He can also be extremely stubborn, as you can probably tell by the picture. Bean just turned four a couple of months ago. This picture was taken one week before his birthday. Oh, and one more thing? He wasn't potty trained at that time.

I had tried on and off for two years. Nothing would get this kid to sit on the potty, much less go in it. On the rare moments that he would sit on it, he'd stay there, sometimes up to an hour without doing anything. Yep, he's stubborn. My goal had been to have him potty trained by the time his little sister came along. It wasn't going well, and then she was born a month early which really threw everything off. So, here we were, a week before his fourth birthday and he still wasn't potty trained.

The night before his birthday I did some desperate googling. I had just attended Bloggy Boot Camp a couple of weeks prior, so I guess the phrase "boot camp" was still fresh in my mind. At any rate, something prompted me to type "Potty Boot Camp" into the search field. I clicked on the first result, and found out that there is actually a program called The Potty Boot Camp! What's more, is that there was a link to the eBook, available for purchase for $5.95. I bought it immediately. There's actually a money back guarantee for the eBook, but I didn't even notice that when I bought it. At this point, I was willing to try anything.

A couple of days later, I put it into action. I approached Bean and told him we were going to start Potty Boot Camp. To my surprise, he agreed! The book emphasizes the importance of your child being ready, so this was a step in the right direction. Then we followed the simple directions of the method, combining them with a sticker chart. I love the way the method is set up - it tells you step by step, exactly what to do and when to do it. More importantly, IT WORKS! My four year old, who had never gone potty in his entire life, went by the end of the first day. The second day he self initiated and had NO accidents. A few days later I decided to be brave and take away his pull up at night time. To my surprise, he stayed dry! He did have a few accidents that first month but those were few and far between.

These days, he's only too happy to go potty and loves being a "big boy." So thanks, Potty Boot Camp.. You've added a little sparkle to my days.

Sparkle Spotlight - Stephanie Sheaffer

This is Stephanie. She writes one of my favorite blogs of all time, Metropolitan Mama. Here's the story: back when my son was eight months old, I used to scour the Internet for baby advice. That's how I stumbled onto Stephanie's blog. I was at once struck by her honest, genuine writing and helpful advice. From that moment on, I found myself constantly checking back for new updates. Then one day I thought: "Hey, I enjoy writing. I could start a blog too." So I did. And Stephanie left me my very first comment. I was (and still am) awed by her generosity, that she would actually think to leave me a comment. So thanks Stephanie, first for inspiring me to start my own blog and second, for encouraging me to continue with it. You rock.

Another cool thing about Stephanie? She has an awesome family. They actually sold practically everything they owned to go live in an RV, Give Every Day and help people across the country. You can follow their journey here. While you're there, take a moment to say hello to them, won't you? They may even be coming to your city sometime in the future!

Sparkle Spotlight - Lisa Leonard Designs

I had the pleasure of hearing Lisa of Lisa Leonard Designs speak this past weekend at Bloggy Boot Camp. I can honestly say that Lisa is a genuine, inspirational person with fabulous big hair. Jewelry in general is not really my thing, but I may have to rethink that after visiting her website. It's full of lovely hand stamped items and trinkets that I would love to have. Today she's running a giveaway for one of these:


That's a custom fairy wand, people. A wand. Hand molded. Made of pewter. Right up my alley. You can enter the giveaway here. While you're there, take a look around won't you? It's a beautiful place to be.