AAHHH! Real Monsters and Casper DVD Review

I know I have mentioned this before but I hate scary movies.  I used to get really bad nightmares.  I really liked watching Casper when I was little because it wasn’t scary; he after all was the friendliest ghost.   I like the fact that he is not scary because it shows that not all ghosts are mean or scary. I think it teaches kids not to stereotype which right now is really big in my house, when Noah is scared of someone just because they have green hair.  I try to explain to him that everyone is different and it’s not nice to think something bad about someone because they are different.  So, to celebrate Halloween this year, I received the Casper animated series. Shout Factory released  Casper this year for Halloween.  I think it is awesome.  This is the old version of Casper. I personally think that the older cartoons are better. I think that they  have a special magic about them, they are not trying to look like they are real and you really know that it is just a cartoon and make believe. 

 

CASPER THE FRIENDLY GHOST COLLECTION 3-DVD Set
Casper The Friendly Ghost is undoubtedly, the most famous ghost on earth. Sweet, caring, funny and amiable, Casper doesn't like to haunt or scare people but instead spends his time looking to make friends. Joining him on his escapades are The Ghostly Trio, who endlessly tease Casper but love him and Casper ’s good friend Wendy the Good Little Witch. All of their adventures and more will come to life on October 11, 2011, when Shout! Factory releases the Casper The Friendly Ghost Collection just in time for Halloween. The 3-disc DVD set will include all 81 cartoons created between 1945-1963 as well as extensive bonus features giving fans and collectors the opportunity to own the most complete Casper DVD set for the first time. ($29.93 SRP)

Three monsters I will never forget are Ickis, Krumbb and Oblina, they are from the show AAAHH, Real Monsters. The show used to be on Nickelodeon in the 90’s.  I loved that show.   I was so excited when I found out it was released  by Shout Factory on DVD. Now I can share AAAHH Real Monsters with Noah.  I can relive all of those goofy situations that Ickis, Krumbb and Oblina got themselves in to.  Each of the characters have a distinct feature. Ikus has really big ears,  Oblina has a huge mouth. Krumm is my favorite character because he is stinky and he carries his eyes in his hands. I just really like him.

AAAHH!!! REAL MONSTERS! 2-DVD Set

Scary doesn't get any sillier than Season 1 of the classic ‘90’s nostalgia, Nickelodeon show Aaahh!!! Real Monsters! Ickis, Oblina, and Krumm are monsters-in-training who make fright a hoot as they try to learn the tricks of the scary monster trade. Determined to be terrifying, they try with a great herculean effort, to master The Gromble's class on proper scare techniques at the Monster Academy . Die laughing as the monsters focus on perfecting fright lessons so bizarre, they're both ahhh-some and hilarious! The DVD will be in stores October 4, 2011. ($19.93 SRP)

So, this Halloween celebrate with me by watching some good wholesome cartoons like Casper and AAAHH Real Monsters.

Thank you to Shout Factory for providing me with Casper and AAAHH Real Monsters on DVD for my family to check out. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Importance of having a Good Bed

I think it is important to have a good bed. I have a wooden bed that I love. It has a really nice head board too. I think that wooden beds last a long time.  I have had a wooden bed for as long as I can remember.  I had a wooden sleigh bed in high school.  It was a twin bed though.  I have had my current bed for five years, and it was my mom’s before that. My mom still has her old wooden bedroom furniture including her wooden bed. This bed is at least twenty five years old, because I remember it from when I was five. It has been passed around to my sister and now my mom has it again.  The great things about wooden beds are that you can pass them down and last forever.  I think it would be cool to have one of those bedstar leather beds. I have never slept on a leather bed, but we have had a couple leather couches that are the most comfortable couches.  I remember when I would have friends sleep over in high school we would take turns sleeping in my wooden bed and on the leather couch in my room, so I can imagine a leather bed would be extremely comfortable.

I was lucky enough that my sister and I never had to share a room.  I think that was a good thing as we both really liked our space. We would share a room sometimes at my dad’s house, though. I wish we would have had bunk beds.  That inevitably would have meant arguing who slept on which bunk.  I am not sure which one I would have wanted to sleep on. The top bunk is where all little kids want to sleep.  I remember sleeping on the top bunk when I was little when I was at friend’s houses. It was fun to be up high and having to climb up a ladder.   Now that I am an adult, I would be afraid that I would fall off the full over full bunk.  I tend to sometimes wake up suddenly. I also would constantly feel like I am falling. So, if I was visiting someone who had bunk beds I would definitely choose the bottom bunk if I could.

 Noah had a loft bunk bed experience and he wanted to sleep on the bottom bunk. He went up to the top bunk with some help but then he got stuck and didn’t know how to come back down.  I am sure it was because he was unfamiliar with bunk beds and my mom had to climb up there and encourage him to get down while I had to reassure that I would “catch” him. I am sure he would get the hang of it. I think it would be a must if you share a room with a sibling especially if you don’t have a lot of space. 

If I would have had bunk beds, I wouldn’t have the fond memories of doing fun bed with my sister, which is where we took the mattress off my bed, jumped on it, used it as a slide and sometimes jumped off a chair or the dresser.  Noah has started taking his mattress off his bed but, he is using it as a ramp and a slide for his stuffed animals. I hope he never finds out the crazy things his mommy and his aunt Julie did that were dangerous.

Do your kids share a room? Do they have bunk beds? Now, for the most important question: Top bunk or Bottom bunk?

Halloween with Pottery Barn Kids Review

I am a self proclaimed Pottery Barn junkie. I remember when the one close to me opened. I would spend an hour looking around thinking about all the things I wanted to own from there.  My family has two really cool photo boxes from there with little albums in them. They are really neat.  When I found out I was pregnant with Noah, I was excited because I could shop at Pottery Barn Kids.  My favorite thing I purchased from PBK is Noah’s Octopus Sprinkler. I bought it when he was 1.  It is the most adorable thing. I have pictures of him playing with it at different ages and it doesn’t matter how old he is in the different pictures he has the same look of joy and excitement on his face. It is his favorite summer toy. My philosophy is if it is from Pottery Barn Kids, it’s going to be adorable. I think when I get married again someday I am registering at Pottery Barn. I would love to have my whole home decorated in Pottery Barn stuff.

 I had the opportunity to review some Halloween products from Pottery Barn. They have so many cute things for Halloween.  I was able to review two items.  I reviewed the Halloween Treat Basket & Liner.  It is this huge basket with a Halloween themed liner.  I love Halloween and passing out candy to the trick-or-treaters.  Growing up we had this particular wooden bowl for Halloween candy. I am not sure if it is lost or packed away somewhere, but I haven’t seen it in a while. The trick to the perfect candy is to have a good variety of candy and mix it up so you give the goblins choices.  I remember the wooden bowl had to be refilled all the time and it was kind of hard to mix the bowl up. The Trick or Treat Basket with Liner is big enough to mix and hold a huge quantity of candy.  It’s easy to manage though.  You can even get it personalized with your last name, if you want. 

The other item I reviewed is a Pumpkin treat tote for Noah.  If you are going trick-or-treating it is important to have a good sturdy Halloween Treat Bag to haul your goodies home with.  When I was little we used pillow cases. I think that Noah is too young for a pillow case, so I would buy him a plastic pumpkin. It worked for the night half the time. I took him in his wagon and sometimes the handle would fall off and candy would be in the wagon.  I never took the pumpkin and put it up after the candy was gone so it became Noah’s new toy, it would be without a handle and smooshed in.   So, every year I had to buy him a new one.  I am so excited to have an adorable one from Pottery Barn where I know it is well made and I know that it will last for a long time.  I can’t wait to show it off when we go trick-or-treating.  Pottery Barn Kids also has adorable Halloween costumes. I wish I would have waited to buy Noah’s costume but I found his at the end of August and since he is obsessed with space, he is going to be an astronaut.  I really like that some of the Pottery Barn Kids costumes can fit preteens and they are also really well made. That is something I have noticed about costumes is they can be really flimsy and kind of weird looking. This is the first year Noah is not being an animal for Halloween. 

For more information please visit Pottery Barn Kids

Thank you to Pottery Barn for providing me with samples of the products I mentioned in my post for me to review.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.