Reverse Charades Review and #Giveaway

 Have I found an amazing game (or two) to share with you today. I had the honor of testing out the game of Reverse Charades. Since my children range in ages from 6-15, I had asked if I was better suited for Reverse Charades or for Reverse Charades Junior Edition. (It's the 6 year old who throws off the suggested age.) I was so surprised at how well she did with the standard Reverse Charades game. The Junior Edition was definitely easier for her to play, but she could hold her own on the standard version. 

We haven't had this much fun in ages. After a few rounds of teams, we ended up splitting into whoever wanted to act and whoever wanted to guess. We stopped keeping score and just played for the sheer fun of the game. We were laughing until we were crying. This is going to quickly become the standard party game at our family and friend gatherings. 

How to play:
Split into teams and use the included timer to see how many words the guesser can guess in one minute. Each correct word is a point. Play until one team wins. 

Featured on NBC’s Today Show and Radio Disney, Reverse Charades takes the classic (and boring) charades game and gives it a hilarious twist that makes it an absolute riot to play with any active group.  It's a fast-paced, fiercely-fun competition where teams have 60 seconds to act out (without speaking) as many words as one person can guess.  Words like: synchronized swimming, piñata, paparazzi, dogpile, leapfrog, pillow fight or CPR.  With 720 words in each edition, they're must-have gifts if your readers are looking for a fresh, new and affordable idea to create memories and brighten the holidays—and every day—with hours of laughter and interactive fun for everyone!  
Check out the game in action at www.youtube.com/sedarahc. 


Here's one of my favorite clips:


New in 2012
And just in time for the holidays, there are THREE NEW expansion packs.

• Girl's Night In Edition--women-themed words like mani-pedi, blind date, Charlie's Angels, shaving legs, aerobics and soccer mom. (A portion of the sales of this edition goes to support breast cancer research).
• Sports Edition--with athletic themed words like grand slam, fumble, Olympic torch, 7th inning stretch, synchronized swimming, kickboxing and tag team wrestling.
• Holiday Edition--with holiday themed words like Frosty the Snowman, mistletoe, snowball fight, sleigh ride, pinata and 10 Lords a-leaping.

Would your family like a chance to try out Reverse Charades or Reverse Charades Junior? Enter for your chance to win your choice of games below.



a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I was provided a copy of Reverse Charades and Reverse Charades Junior Edition for this review. No monetary compensation was given and all thoughts are my own. 

Kmart $15 Pay It Forward Sweepstakes

     


             Coolestmommy is happy to be joining in with Tammie's Reviews, Giveaways and More for a special one week pay it forward event. Tammie and I have similar philosophies in giving to others. I hope you enjoy a little bit of paying it forward this holiday season.

From Tammie:

"Paying it Forward is something I grew up doing.  I was taught, if you have 2 of something, give 1 to someone that needs it

         That is why we are having this giveaway.  We have 2 Kmart's $15 Gift Cards and we are giving away 1 of them to a lucky winner of this giveaway.

          Just enter on the easy widget below.  Thank you for entering and Good Luck!"

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Disclosure: I received no compensation for this post. This post was sponsored by Kmart and Tammie's Reviews and Giveaways.

My Black Friday at Home

I have to give a lot of credit to my friend and fellow blogger Nicole from Mom Saves Money. In her recent blog post "Why I'm choosing not to shop Black Friday", she was able to articulate much of what I've been feeling and so I talked it over with my husband and I'm sleeping in and staying in this year. I think of Black Friday as no sleep, long lines, and bitter cold temps. There are only two items that might tempt me to go out--a new laptop that I've been waiting for a good sale on and a Dream Light for my daughter since it's all she talks about. (But I've been looking, they are not on sale.)

My kids have too much stuff. We can't contain it in their rooms, we have a basement overflowing with stuff--most of it played with once then discarded. Our living room is often an ocean of toys. I'm done. I look around some days and get concerned that the crew from Hoarders is going to show up on my doorstep. I'm working on digging out from under 15 years of accumulation of kid (and grown-up) stuff. I'm slowly working into these areas and reclaiming them for us. So instead of adding to the clutter with a lot of unnecessary junk, I'm working to purchase a few (as in 2-3) gifts that they really wanted. The desires of their hearts. The thing that will be loved and cherished and not discarded on Dec. 26. So my kids won't have as much under the tree this year. I'll spend about the same amount of money on them--but getting the things they want instead of a bunch of  'great stuff' that was 80-90% off. 

And if you know me well, you know how hard it is for me to turn down a deal like that. But I've made a decision that I am working at sticking to. One of our goals as parents is to instill in our children the attitude of gratitude. And while I know they like ripping lots and lots of paper, I'm trying to give them more. We're talking about purchasing less, saving the money and doing better things with it. In part, we're giving a little more to charities this year because they are hurting, too. Some will go to our vacation fund. We're putting the savings into our family and taking away some of the power of the 'stuff'. 

I'm blessed with three fantastic children. They have never been kids who circle magazines of what they want (like I did). They have a good head on their shoulders. But I look at our clutter and hoarde of stuff and then look at their precious faces...and I wonder what I'm teaching them by my own lifestyle. And so I'm looking at a better future for all of us. One with less clutter and more of the things that matter---family and time. And with those thoughts in my head, I will stay home, watch a movie with my kids, not be exhausted and not fill my house with even more clutter. And while they might be disappointed with less under the tree, I think the long term benefits will be worth it for all of us.

Happy Black Friday from Coolestmommy and the Coolest-Crew

(located for today at home)

Happy Thanksgiving 2012

From our house to yours,

Happy Thanksgiving

Thank You Veterans on Veterans Day

It is the VETERAN, not the preacher, who has given us freedom of religion. It is the VETERAN, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press. It is the VETERAN, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech. It is the VETERAN, not the campus organizer, who has given us freedom to assemble. It is the VETERAN, not the lawyer, who has given us the right to a fair trial. It is the VETERAN, not the politician, Who has given us the right to vote. Today and every day-- THANK YOU TO OUR VETERANS!

Remember to Vote

Remember that the opportunity to vote is a right and a privilege. 

Many men and women have sacrificed their lives for us to have the opportunity to vote freely. 

On November 6th, go vote.

And remember, if you don't vote, you can't complain for the next four years.