After a stressful day at work or a rough morning at home with the kids, sometimes all a parent wants to do is sit down, relax and regroup. PopCap games provide the perfect stress reliever. Whether you have a Mac or PC or prefer to play games on your iPhone, iPad or Android phone, you are likely to find a game to suit your relaxation and entertainment needs.

Work your way through the 55 challenging levels of Peggle as you bounce balls off different pegs within the courses. With each level you pass in Peggle, you’ll feel an ounce of stress from the day melt away. You can even make Peggle a way to interact with your kids by playing in Duel Mode and gloating when you outscore them.
Availability: PC, Mac, Android, iPad, iPhone / iPod Touch, Mobile, Nintendo DS, PlayStation Network, PlayStation Portable, Xbox Live, Online

PopCap™ Games: Not Just For Kids! is a post from: The Mommy Insider. It looks like you are reading this post in your favorite RSS reader. Don't be shy..hop on over to check out our current giveaways, coupon codes, and to share your comments!

3 Must-Have Gadgets for New Moms

Technology can be a wonderful learning tool for your child – Not only can they learn, they can show off their creative abilities, play games, and have fun with the plethora of new games, apps, and accessories made especially for kids. Not only does Griffin put out great kid-friendly products for the iPad, but also includes great accessories for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Here are a few of my favorite Griffin iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch accessories.

3 Griffin iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch Accessories for Kids

Technology can be a wonderful learning tool for your child – Not only can they learn, they can show off their creative abilities, play games, and have fun with the plethora of new games, apps, and accessories made especially for kids. Not only does Griffin put out great kid-friendly products for the iPad, but also includes great accessories for the iPhone and iPod Touch.  Here are a few of my favorite Griffin iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch accessories.

5 Gadgets that will Help Busy Moms

Next to her family, the most precious thing in a busy mom’s life is time. Devices that help moms organize their lives better and help them save time are indispensable. Below are five relatively inexpensive time-saving gadgets that every busy mom will love.

The Latest our Gadget Blog, GadgetGoddess.com is a post from: The Mommy Insider. It looks like you are reading this post in your favorite RSS reader. Don't be shy..hop on over to check out our current giveaways, coupon codes, and to share your comments!

I have been on a quest to learn about wine for a few years.  Over the last few years, if you asked me what effort had I made to learn about wine, and if I answered honestly, I would say “Not much”.. until the opportunity fell into my lap a few weeks when I received two bottles of wine from The California Wine Club.

Before I received the two bottles of wine The California Wine Club sent, I wouldn’t buy wine for home, choose wine at a restaurant, or drink wine because I was ignorant about how to really ‘taste’ wine, how to choose wine, what glasses to use, etc..

So here I am, on my quest to learn about wine and I realized that the first and most important step for me was to…stop worrying about it!   Worrying about which type of wine to choose and which wine glasses to use kept me from buying or trying ANY wine.  What fun is that? That sure didn’t get me very far.

I was thrilled when I received my first of three monthly wine shipments from California Wine Club, last week.  After I received the shipment, I planned two of our week’s meals according to the wine.  The first of which you’ll see in the photograph above.  I paired a pasta & alfredo sauce meal with a Chardonnay.

I was sent two bottles of wine via California Wine Club’s Premier Club membership, their oldest and most popular wine of the month club. The Premier Club is a great way to learn about wine and the California wine scene, perfect for the wine novice (that’s me!) or aficionado. Just $36.45 per month plus shipping, handling and applicable sales tax.

I enjoyed the first bottle of wine with my husband.  We probably didn’t use the right wine glasses, but that’s ok.. I’m just getting my feet wet with my wine education.  I prefer fruity wines and this Chardonnay served just that.  This is a light wine with tropical fruit flavors and a hint of vanilla.  The delicate crispness went of this wine very well with our pasta meal.

CWC Food and Wine Pairing iPhone App Screenshot

Want to impress your husband and friends?  
You can become an instant wine and food pairing expert!

California Wine Club has a new iPhone/iPad app out called CWC food and wine pairing wheel (iTunes download link).
This, free for a limited time, food and wine pairing wheel app makes it easy to find the right wine to go with your meal.  Next time you go out for a date night, don’t rely on the server to tell you what wine would go well with your meal.  Decide for yourself by using the food and wine pairing wheel app.  It’s simple to use, just choose a meal type from the list across the top of the app; poultry, seafood, pasta, starters, cheese, or dessert, and then spin the wheel below the list to choose the type of food you will be enjoying.  Under each type of food, Lobster for example, you will get a list of results.  For Lobster, the recommended wine is Chardonnay and two types would be Pinot Grigio and Sauvignon Blanc.  Easy, isn’t it?  Don’t forget to use the app while you are grocery shopping.
The app is now free so hurry and download CWC Food and Wine Pairing Wheel app before CWC begins charging for this very useful and easy to use app.

Connect with California Wine Club:

• CaliforniaWineClub.com
• Like California Wine Club on Facebook
• Follow California Wine Club on Twitter
• Follow The Boring Wine Guy on Facebook to get usable wine advice and easy to understand wine tips.
• Follow @boringwineguy on Twitter

Discount Code Offers:

1. Use code mommyinsider to get 10% off every gift order you place.    Wine makes a fabulous holiday gift.. don’t forget to stock up for Thanksgiving!

2. If you would like to try The California Wine Club, you can use the same promo code and not only will you get 10% off your first month, but you will also get an extra bottle of wine in your first month’s shipment just for being a The Mommy Insider reader!   There is no obligation to stay past the first month.

 Win a One Month Premier California Wine Club Subscription! {Ends 10/18}

We are giving a lucky reader a one-month Premier subscription to The California Wine Club.

Mandatory Entry:

Go to California Wine Club’s Facebook page or follow Follow California Wine Club on Twitter and mention that The Mommy Insider sent you!

Then leave a comment below telling me which you did and why you’d like to win.

3 extra entries:

• Blog about this giveaway as a separate blog post on your own blog
• Add a comment to any non-giveaway posts on this site (must be relevant to the post you are commenting on).  Tell me in the comments below what post you commented on.

2 extra entries:

• Like The Mommy Insider on Facebook
• Follow @mommyinsider on Twitter
• Subscribe to my email newsletter or RSS  feed
• Tweet about this contest (up to 4 times per day). Your Tweet MUST include the name of the item being given away, my Twitter handle (@mommyinsider), the word giveaway, and a link to this post.
  Example tweet: “I entered to win a 1 month California Wine Club membership from @mommyinsider!  You can enter here: http://wp.me/plszx-2tV  #Giveaway”

*****
Contest Rules
This contest is open to U.S. residents 21 and older. Utah residents are excluded from this contest. No P.O. Boxes.
Entries accepted through 11:59pm EST October 18th.
The winner will be chosen at random and will be contacted via email.  Winner must respond within 24 hours or a new winner will be chosen.
One IP address per household.
*****

Disclosure: I was offered a one month subscription to California Wine Club for review purposes.  My opinions are 100% my own and are not influenced in any way.  I write only about products and services that I have used and enjoy, unless otherwise stated.  You can read my full Disclosure Policy here.

Learn about Wine with Me and California Wine Club! {Review, Discount Codes, and a Giveaway!} is a post from: The Mommy Insider. It looks like you are reading this post in your favorite RSS reader. Don't be shy..hop on over to check out our current giveaways, coupon codes, and to share your comments!

I have no problem admitting that I will hand my 5 or 12 year old the iPad when I’m on the phone with a client, need to cook dinner, write an email, or take a shower.   I try not to use the television as a form of entertainment as much as we used to and after they’ve been playing with Moon Dough, LEGO’s, or Play-Doh for a couple of hours, I think it’s ok to let them spend a few minutes playing on the iPad.   The really cool thing is that my 5 year old doesn’t even realize that she’s learning while she’s ‘playing’ on the iPad!

VocabuLarry’s Things That Go iPad app by BabyFirstTV is a book app that allows your child to read the book themselves or have the story read to them.  I can even record my voice while reading the story so that it’s like I’m reading the story to Madelyn.  This is great when I’m not able to put her to bed because I have to work late.  My husband will read her a story then he’ll put the iPad app on so it’s like I’m right there with her, reading to her.   Animations and sounds activated by her touch make each page of the app interactive. This app teaches babies and toddlers vocabulary.

VocabuLarry's Things That Go Book

From the hit TV channel BabyFirstTV, comes the very first digital book featuring everyone’s favorite parrot, VocabuLarry! The spirited talking parrot takes babies and toddlers on an interactive journey as he meets all different “things that go” – a car, ship, truck and more!

“VocabuLarry’s Things That Go” Book features:

• Basic vocabulary
• Simple and easy to understand navigation
• The option to choose the narrator or read and record the book in your voice!
• Tested by babies, toddlers and parents
• Multi-device (iPod, iPhone, and iPad) support

About BabyFirstTV: BabyFirstTV is the leading TV network made just for babies, toddlers and parents. Developed by educational experts, BabyFirstTV shows inspire a variety of developmental skills. Plus, it’s completely commercial-free! Visit www.babyfirsttv.com

GIVEAWAY

Prize: A code for the “VocabuLarry’s Things That Go” app and a set of 3 BabyFirstTV DVD’s.

TO ENTER

Leave a comment below telling me why you’d like to win.

EXTRA ENTRIES (1 extra entry each)

• Tweet “I entered to win an app & 3 DVDs from @BabyFirstTv @mommyinsider http://bit.ly/babyfirsttv #giveaway”
  You can Tweet this up to every 6 hours.
• Follow The Mommy Insider on Twitter
• Follow @BabyFirstTv on Twitter
• Subscribe to The Mommy Insider email newsletter (emailed to subscribers bi-weekly)
• Be sure to tell us what you’ve done in the comments below so we can track your entries.

This giveaway will end October 5th at 11:59pm EST.  The winner will be chosen via Random.org.  Winner will be contacted via email and will have 48 hours to respond.  Open to U.S. residents only!  No P.O. Boxes.

Disclosure: This review was made possible by Mom Spark Media.  I was provided with a code to install the app for purposes of this review.  Thoughts are my own.

BabyFirstTV App Review and App Code + DVD Set Giveaway {Ends 10/5} is a post from: The Mommy Insider. It looks like you are reading this post in your favorite RSS reader. Don't be shy..hop on over to check out our current giveaways, coupon codes, and to share your comments!

I work from home and it can get really quiet around here when the kids are in school.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining.   I do get lonely though and I feel a little disconnected when there’s no sound around me so I like to have music or a TV show on in the background while I’m working.  I don’t watch TV but hearing it makes me feel less alone. The TV is actually in another room. I can’t even see it.

I was when I received an App-Enhanced Docking Station from Acoustic Research to review.   I ripped the box open, set it up, and was listening to music within minutes of getting the delivery from FedEx.

When I plugged my iPad in to the docking station for the first time, I was prompted to download the free Dock Plus app from the app store.  Dock Plus brings the ultimate in functionality to the docking station.  The app allows me to listen to local FM stations, set my favorite stations, and play and control my iPod/iPhone/iPad music library.  It’s also an alarm clock and has a snooze function.

My 5 year old daughter loves to dance and so she’s always asking me to play songs that are on my iPhone. I love that I can plug my iPhone into this docking station and blast the music super loud so she can dance all over the house and still hear the music!

The Acoustic Research iPad Docking Station:

• Charges your iPod, iPhone or iPad
• 5 adapters included for iPod, iPhone and iPad
• Rotates 90 degrees for two portrait and landscape viewing options – I love this!
• Comes with a remote control
• Emits high performance sound
• Will enable you to view iPod/iPad video content on your TV
• Comes with an iPad, iPod, iPhone, and iPhone 4 adapter

Here is a very brief (20 second) video demonstrating two features: rotating and song switching.

You can buy the App-Enhanced Docking Station on Amazon.com or on the Acoustic Research website.

Disclosure: I was provided a unit for review purposes, free of charge. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and not influenced in any way by compensation.

Review: Acoustic Research App-Enhanced Docking Station for iPad – On My Things I Use Everyday List is a post from: The Mommy Insider. It looks like you are reading this post in your favorite RSS reader. Don't be shy..hop on over to check out our current giveaways, coupon codes, and to share your comments!

Sale: Oceanhouse Media’s Back to School Sale Kicks Off with Ten Dr. Seuss omBooks for $1.99 Each is a post from: The Mommy Insider. It looks like you are reading this post in your favorite RSS reader. Don't be shy..hop on over to check out our current giveaways, coupon codes, and to share your comments!