ABOUT DONORSCHOOSE.ORG:

DonorsChoose.org is an online charity that connects you to schools in need. They help fund school projects in support of education and literacy. You can narrow your search by a school, state, city, etc. You can also read about their projects and needs – like a new carpet, books, pencil sharpeners, smartboards – and I even saw a request for the beloved Tag Readers! You can choose to give any amount and it tells you how much more they need and what time span they are working on to accept donations. It is really easy to donate.

And regarding that LeapFrog Tag request, there was a note that LeapFrog will fund 50% of this project if someone provides the remainder. That’s because LeapFrog has partnered with DonorsChoose.org to help teachers who want Tag Readers and books for their classroom.

MY CHOICE:

So, the Mom Buzz was given the opportunity to donate $25 to a school in need through Donor’s Choose. It was a hard choice! I would have loved to donate to my son’s school, of course, but the school wasn’t on the list. So I was looking far and wide, trying to choose between PE games, science equipment, butterfly kits and more. But I finally settled on donating to the Jumping Into Learning classroom project requested by Mrs. Garcia on Sep 27, 2011. She only has 22 more days to collect for her cause. What she wants is a Leapfrog Learning Center to assist her students in learning alphabet letters and sounds, numbers, and problem solving activities while building fine motor skills. What can I say, LeapFrog is paving the way for others to help thousands more children to learn to read with Tag™, the #1 selling reading system!

I can definitely approve of her project, since my son had a LeapFrog Tag center in his pre-K and it was successful. Plus, we have Leap Frog products at home where I can actually see my boys learning as they play. So, I made my donation and hope she gets the rest she needs to make this a successful project!

GIVE-AWAY!

Since 2009, LeapFrog has donated more than $1.5 million in Tag Reading Systems and books to the classrooms of more than 20,000 students. And not only did they give the Mom Buzz the opportunity to give $25 to a school project in need, they also have some for one lucky reader:

• The Opportunity to Donate $25 to another school in need via DonorsChoose.org
• A Tag system with 6 books!

Why not help LeapFrog bring $100,000 total in Tag Readers and books to classrooms in need? LeapFrog has already donated $50,000 and will match donations dollar for dollar up to $50,000!

• WIN $25 to donate to a school project in need through DonorsChoose.org
• Win a Tag reader and 6 books
  

HOW TO ENTER:

To enter this contest, you can any or all of the following. Leave a separate comment(s) for each action:

• Check out DonorsChoose.org and tell me what school project you would donate to – leave their link in your comment!
• Add theMomBuzz to your Twitter and Tweet the contest. Leave your Tweet Link. (1 tweet per DAY is allowed.)

• Like Leapfrog on Facebook 
• Blog about the this give-away – leave the link to your post in a comment. (5 entries, leave 5 comments)
• Visit LeapFrog.com and tell me what you would add to your LeapFrog Learning Center at home?

Contest ends 2.14.12. This is open to the USA – no PO Boxes. Please refer to complete contest rules. The entries listed above are the ONLY entries for this contest. Winners will be notified by e-mail (if supplied in the entry or on profile page), as well as on the Winner’s Wall.

This is solely the opinion of the Mom Buzz. The Mom Buzz was not compensated for this buzz. A school of the Mom Buzz’s choosing was provided with a Tag School Kit. Other people may have different experiences with the product. And don’t forget to enter my other hot contests so you can win and try buzzworthy products!

Guests can purchase annual passes that include the attraction online at www.LEGOLAND.com and at AAA Auto Club South locations.  The Premium Pass includes unlimited admission to both LEGOLAND Florida and LEGOLAND Water Park, free parking and discounts within the park. The Premium Pass is $179 for adults and $149 for children 3-12 and seniors 60 and older.

One of my play-date friends was just buzzing about a new ice-show at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay that started yesterday, February 2nd. A cast of 20 will bring to life an all-new adventure filled with world-class skaters, more than 75 original costumes, amazing aerial performances, master puppetry and live animal stars, with shows daily in the Moroccan Palace.

Iceploration inspires audiences to “explore the world” on a 30-minute journey to the four corners of the earth. This multi-sensory story, told through theatrical skating and an all-new original score, is the collaboration of an award-winning creative team with Broadway credentials, including Tony Award-winning costume designer Gregg Barnes (The Drowsy Chaperone, Best Costume Design Tony winner 2007; Legally Blonde the Musical, Best Costume Design Tony nominee 2007).

The adventure unfolds as they arrive in the African Serengeti. Here, larger-than-life puppets and spectacular set design bring elephants and other awe-inspiring animals to life at a watering hole. Solo and chorus skating performances accompanied by acrobatics tell an anecdote of an agile cheetah stalking graceful gazelles and meerkats.

If you’re not already a fan, “like” Busch Gardens Tampa Bay at facebook.com or check out the park’s blog at BuschGardensTampaBlog.com to get insider updates on Iceploration and all of the park’s happenings.

This news was provided to theMomBuzz as a press release. She found it buzzworthy enough to share with her audience.

Retail Me Not is the largest online coupon website, with a huge database of online coupon codes, printable coupons, free shipping codes and special offers. RetailMeNot.com is a community-driven resource for savings, where users can vote on the reliability of coupons, so you have a better idea that the coupon is valid.

There are more than half a million online discounts at retailers that offer perfect Valentine’s gifts, such as Bath & Body Works (average discount 12%), Victoria’s Secret (average discount 19%), and Blue Nile (average discount 86%). RetailMeNot also makes it easy to search for deals at specific stores, simply type in the name of the store in the search bar and you get a list of relevant stores, along with the coupons and promotions available.

So this Valentine’s, don’t leave your significant other with stale conversation hearts and wilted flowers, thinking you couldn’t afford more. Enjoy 10- 15- 20% savings at popular retailers and spice up your Valentine’s Date!

This is solely the opinion of the Mom Buzz. Other people may have different experiences with the product. And don’t forget to enter my other hot contest so you can win and try buzzworthy products! The Mom Buzz was not compensated for this buzz. The Mom Buzz did receive a holiday gift guide with items and comparison prices.

FEATURED PERFORMANCES: TheMomBuzz had the opportunity to go last weekend, when it first opened. We had a chance to see a LazyTown concert, which was loads of fun for the little ones. Some children were even dressed like Sportacus for the occasion and 3 children were invited on stage to help energize the crowd!

You will want to get to the park as soon as it opens, though, since seating is limited at the featured concerts. The concerts are held in the Nautilus theater and they give out tickets (for free) to the performances in a booth in front of the theater. There are different times printed on the ticket so you know when to arrive and be seated. But tickets will run out fast, so if you get to the park late, chances are there will be no more tickets.

Other featured performances include: Max & Ruby, Doodlebops and Choo-Choo Soul.

SHAMU’S PARTY ZONE: We ended up arriving at Shamu’s Party Zone later in the day. It seemed less crowded mid-afternoon, compared to just before noon. Shamu’s Party Zone is located at Lakeside Patio. There you will find interactive games, sea-themed sand art creations, character meet and greets, bubbles, face painting and dancing to fun tunes spun by a kid-friendly DJ!

If you are interested in the sand art and face-painting, be sure to bring some extra cash since there is a small fee to participate in those two activities.

FREE PRESCHOOL PASS: Children 5 and younger can experience family adventure for free at SeaWorld and Busch Gardens with the new Preschool Pass! It is unlimited admission with no blackout dates through 2012. This pass is a great way to experience the Just for Kids Festival. Plus, it can also be used for other special events like SeaWorld’s Halloween Spooktacular and festive holiday events at both parks!

You must register for the pass online, they are NOT AVAILABLE AT THE GATE! If your child turns 6 during the year, they still get in free as long as you register before their birthday. And these Preschool passes are only good for Florida residents. Click here to access the pass: FREE PRESCHOOL PASS FOR CHILDREN 5 and Younger

FUN CARD: And the best deal you can get at SeaWorld, besides the Free Preschool Pass, is the Fun Card! When you purchase a Fun Card, you simply pay for a day and can come back all year with no blackout dates! A great way to experience Just For Kids Festival, along with future special events at SeaWorld Orlando.

Just-For-Kids Concert Info at a Glance:

Concerts are included with park admission and seating will be limited.

This is solely the opinion of the Mom Buzz. The Mom Buzz was invited to the all new festival to learn more about the Just For Kids event. And don’t forget to enter my other hot contests so you can win and try buzzworthy products!

They have an interesting program that helps lower tuition and book fees called a Scrips program, where you buy gift cards through retailers and a portion of that goes towards the school and will also lower the overall amount we have to pay yearly. It took some time for me to get used to it, but now I just buy gift cards for everything knowing that those little pennies and few dollars are adding up.

That took me under a year to get used to. And if I can do that for his elementary school education, then how about if something similar was available for higher education – a way to shop “like normal”, but you get rewarded for shopping by having a few extra pennies and dollars be saved into an educational savings account for you.

Well, lucky for you (and me), there is a website that does JUST THAT! It’s called Mission Tuition. This isn’t like those check accounts, where if you spend $5.51, they round up and put 49 cents from your checking account into a savings account. In this instance, you can see that each retailer has a rebate amount. If you buy $51.39 from Target, you spend $51.39. But 5% of your purchase will be put into that educational savings account. So it’s not extra money out of your pocket! How cool is that?

And yes, Target is on the list of retailers. So is Sams Club, Best Buy, Marriott and more! And it’s not just rebated into your educational savings account, members also enjoy discounts up to 50% and grocery coupons for popular brands.

It’s free to join Mission Tuition. It took me 9 months to get used to the similar program offered through my son’s school, so give yourself that time to at least try it. And one big tip is to always do holiday shopping through Mission Tuition, there is no reason not to with such a huge list of retailers. Before long you’ll see your college rebates adding up and you’ll be happy to know you will be able to give your children a college education! The average American family can save $1,200 a year for their children’s college education.

Join for Free at MissionTuition.com.

After seeing Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey’s Fully Charged last year, I became a huge fan. Prior to that the only “circus” I ever attended was Cirque du Soleil – and I have to say the difference is HUGE. I love Cirque du Soleil and take my kids to the shows, but it is a more sophisticated event over all. Meanwhile, Ringling’s Fully Charged was never-know-where-to-look, so-much-going-on, jam-packed FUN! Hilarious clowns, crazy stunts and so many talented animals. The kids just ate it up!

So this year I had the opportunity to see Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey: Dragons on opening night at the Tampa Bay Times Forum, so that I can share my thoughts with you! And I’ll be going back again on Friday, because we going to see it again with my friends! So you can honestly say, I loved the show enough to see is twice.

I wasn’t sure if it would just be the same show, with a different theme. But the acts were all different and new to me. Even the animal performances were different. They didn’t just have tigers this time, trainer Alexander Lacey also brought in some gorgeous lions. You can tell he truly loved his big cats, as he would rustle the mane on his sole male lion every time her performed a trick. And their antics kept the guests on the edge of their seats as they demonstrated their agility and strength.

Along with the Big Cat performance, the smaller house cats, dogs, ponies and horses were not to be outdone. The dogs were all rescue dogs and you can just tell how happy they were to perform for the crowd. And the cats were purrfect as they used their natural talents to amaze the crowd. They also brought in Asian elephants, who were just magical to watch – especially the adorable baby elephant who would skip as he played a tamborine.

There were dueling acrobatics, with the Russian Bar Renegades and Teeterboard Titans, so you never really knew where to look as they each did amazing flips, twists and vaults. They would stack on top of each other, flip using stilts and launch each other from teeterboards. Just crazy stuff that I knew my 4-year old was hoping to try in his next gymnastics class.

And one of my favorite stunts was from the Torres Family in the The Globe of Steel. It is a 16-foot steel globe and the riders use specialized motorcycles to orbit within the globe at 65 miles per hour. How they don’t’ crash is just amazing. I feel like I would run into myself even if I was the only one in the globe! And that stunt had my youngest just staring in awe.

The boys watching Dragons in their Cotton Candy Circus Hats

There were enough acts to fill 2 hours with one intermission. Be sure to bring extra money on hand, because there were all sorts of snacks, toys, and tees to buy as souveneirs. My favorite purchase is the $12 Cotton Candy, because it includes a ringmaster/clown hat. We bought one last year and the boys have kept it for pretend play, of course. So we bought another one this year so that each boy can have one. And the hats match the theme of the show. So last year’s hat had lightening bolts on it for Fully Charged, and this new one had dragons on it.

SHOWTIMES for Tampa Bay Times Forum, Jan. 4-8, 2012.:

• Wed, Jan 4 – 7:30PM
• Thu, Jan 5 – 7:30PM
• Fri, Jan 6 – 7:30PM
• Sat, Jan 7 – 11:30AM, 3:30PM, 7:30PM
• Sun, Jan 8 -  1:00PM, 5:00PM

PRICING:

Tickets are $85 (Circus Celebrity), $55 (VIP), $35, $28, $22, and $16. All seats are reserved, and tickets are available at ticketmaster.com or by calling Ticketmaster at 1.800.745.3000. For group rates and information, call 1.866.248.8740.

DISCOUNT:

Mom Buzz readers can save with an exclusive $12 ticket! The following performances are included: Jan, 5 at 7:30pm, Jan. 6 at 7:30pm, Jan. 7 at 11:30am and 7:30pm, Jan. 8 at 5pm. This discount is available for the $28, $22 and $16 tickets. Discount Not valid day of show. To get your discount use promo code MOM12 at ticketmaster.com

For more information, visit www.Ringling.com or visit us on Facebook.

PAST CIRCUS REVIEW:

• Fully Charged

CIRCUS TOUR INFORMATION:

• Dragons
• Fully Charged

This is solely the opinion of the Mom Buzz. The Mom Buzz was provided with complimentary tickets for the review. People may have different experiences with the product. And don’t forget to enter my other hot contests so you can win and try buzzworthy products!

There is a fabulous selection of inexpensive invitations at Wedding-Needs.com. Their primary focus is on wedding invitations. If I was going back a decade, I’d have suggested coordinating the wedding invitations with the bridesmaid’s red dresses for my sister’s Christmas-time wedding. Yes, you can coordinate by color! How cool is that! For my own wedding, I’d have searched their “modern” selection and would have had a hard time choosing between the Avant-garde Fuchsia Pocket or the Copper Leaves Pocket Invitations. And for my future sister-in-law and brother-in-law (when ARE they getting married?), I’d love for them to incorporate their own photo into the invitation! Yes, you can do that too!

You can personalize direct on the website, so much easier than how we did it when I got married! You can even share with your bridal party via Facebook, Twitter and other social network sites to get their opinions!

This is solely the opinion of the Mom Buzz. Other people may have different experiences with the product. And don’t forget to enter my other hot contests so you can win and try buzzworthy products!

The widget has:

• Winter Coloring Pages – I love the ones with Mickey and Minnie!
• Holiday Recipe Cards
• Seasonal Gift Tags
• Holiday Labels

All you have to do is click, download and print your favorite items – for FREE!

The Mom Buzz recently got a sneak at some HP Printed holiday items, like the ones mentioned above. I loved the printed Holiday Labels and Gift Tags! The snowflake design is simple, yet elegant! And the coloring pages are perfect, since my oldest is out of school and we are trying to come up with fun projects and activities leading to Christmas Eve!

With HP printers, paper and ink, there is so much you can do for the holidays and throughout the New Year to make your own recipe cards, promotional products for your home business and fun projects with the kids! Learn more at the following links:

• HPInkology-2011
• HP Facebook page
• HPNews

One reader will win a $50 HP Store Gift Certificate

FIRST: MANDATORY ENTRY:

Check out HPInkology-2011 and let me know what you would download free from their widget?

SECOND: EXTRA ENTRIES:

To receive these extra opportunities for entries, you must fulfill the first REQUIRED/MANDATORY entry. But for extra entries, you can do the following – leave a comment for each:

• Add theMomBuzz to your Twitter
• Share this contest on your Facebook page – Link it to @theMomBuzz – Here is the text:

Win a $50 HP Store Gift Certificate @theMomBuzz. Give-away ends 1.1.12 http://themombuzz.com/?p=19896

• Tweet the following – can be done daily:

#win a $50 HP Store Gift Certificate from #themombuzz @hpnews – Visit http://themombuzz.com/?p=19896

• Stumble any review or post on theMomBuzz.com (Please don’t Stumble Give-aways). Let me know what you Stumbled!
• Leave a comment on any post here at theMomBuzz – let me know where you left a comment
• Add the Mom Buzz to your blogroll (Feed: http://themombuzz.com/feed/)

Contest ends 1/1/12. This is open to the USA. Please refer to complete contest rules. The entries listed above are the ONLY entries for this contest. Winners will be notified by e-mail (if supplied in the entry or on profile page), as well as on the Winner’s Wall.

This is solely the opinion of the Mom Buzz. Other people may have different experiences with the product. And don’t forget to enter my other hot contestsso you can win and try buzzworthy products! The Mom Buzz was not compensated for this buzz. The Mom Buzz did receive a sampling of products in the form of a gift pack.