Took the girls to Boo at the Zoo yesterday, and didn’t get home until 11pm! I was shocked. An event that was just supposed to be a few hours long ended up taking up half my day! Maybe I should buy a watch one of these days, because I’m always losing track of time.

So anyway, here’s my weekly roundup. A day late, but chock-full of fun stuff!

• First off, this isn’t really news anymore, but in case you haven’t heard, Disney is giving a full refund to anyone who purchased a Baby Einstein DVD in the past 5 years (between June 5, 2004 and Sept. 4, 2009). You can also exchange the DVDs for Baby Einstein books, music or a 25% off coupon.

Fun Post

• I don’t like candy corn. No, I don’t like candy corn. I like lots of other things, but I don’t like candy corn.
  
  Now that you have that song stuck in your head – as do I – I have to admit that this recipe for Double Chocolate Candy Corn Cookies from Feels Like Home sounds delicious. And I admire Tara, who, unlike me, does everything from scratch. This should probably be under the Food category, but I thought it needed to be featured first! 🙂

Food

• Amy, the Resourceful Mommy, shares How to Make Mini Muffins (and not lose your mind).

Photography

• I don’t have an iPhone, but I wish I did. It has a much better camera than my cellphone! Read about the must-have apps for iPhone photographers at Macworld.

Giveaways

• In the Too Cute To Spook Halloween photo contest, Safety1st.com site visitors can enter up to five photos of their children in their Halloween costumes. Website viewers, including entrants’ family and friends, can then vote once per day. Photos with the most votes in each category win a grand-prize package. There are grand-prize packages for infants, toddlers and preschoolers.Entries must be submitted before November 4, 2009. Friends and family can vote daily November 9-19.I have some cute photos of my spooky witch and little princess that I’m going to submit to this contest. Too bad I can only send in 5, as I took about 300 yesterday!

Promotions

• Dora Saves the Crystal Kingdom, a new hour-long Dora the Explorer special, is premiering Sunday, Nov. 1, at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on Nickelodeon. A greedy king, voiced by actor Richard Kind (Spin City), has stolen the color from the Crystal Kingdom and it’s Dora, Boots and their new friend Allie to the rescue! The episode will encore on Nickelodeon on Monday, Nov. 2, at 9 a.m. ET/PT and on Nick Jr (*formerly named NOGGIN) on Sunday, Nov. 8, at 7 p.m. ET.Beginning today, Oct. 26, you can watch a two-minute ‘sneak peek’ and clips from Dora Saves the Crystal Kingdom on NickJr.com. There’s also an interactive game and activities to complement the premiere. In the game, kids can help Dora, Boots and Allie recover all the missing crystals by relying on their counting, language and color recognition skills. The site also features recipes, crafts, printables and more.In case you aren’t able to catch it on TV, remember that Dora Saves the Crystal Kingdom is currently available on DVD in stores nationwide. I reviewed it a few weeks ago.
• Since everyone loves shopping, particularly “bargain shopping” I wanted to share the exciting news with you that E.l.f. Cosmetics will be available in ALL TARGET stores effective 11/1/09. The line will feature $1, $3, $5, and $10 products, packaged in sleek black packaging. If you’ve been afraid to buy it online, this is your chance to try this fantastic makeup!
• Remember the adorable Norman PhartEphant plush? Well, now there’s a book to go along with him, on sale next week! If you pre-order before November 1st, you’ll get 10% off AND a FREE vinyl zippered bag for each matching book & plush order. Fun! (And a cute holiday gift idea!)

Have a great week!