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FFR Friday Giveaway- Easy LunchBox System CLOSED

Posted by html404 on September 17, 2010
in Eco Friendly Products, Faith and Family Reviews Friday Giveaway, School

Faith and Family Reviews received the following product in exchange for writing a review. While we consider it a privilege to receive free products to review, our reviews are our honest opinion and thoughts of the product.

giveawaygrandmabutton

Congratulations to Betty!!

Comment #53 chosen by Random.org

Thank you to everyone who entered the giveaway and a very special thanks to Easy LunchBox for sponsoring this wonderful giveaway and giving our readers the chance to win some brand new lunch boxes!!!

In our Back to School Product Guide we featured the Easy LunchBox System. We all know how important it is to pack a nutritious lunch for our children. This system is a way for children to take a nutritious lunch without relying on school lunches and junk food in vending machines. (Although this is improving slowly in some schools). The Easy LunchBox gives parents a way to save money on baggies and paper bags as well as a way to save on the amount of waste going in landfills. What exactly is the Easy LunchBox System? (read our Easy Lunch Box System review here)

The Easy LunchBox System is:

* Eco-Friendly
* For Kids & Adults
* Bento-Style, 3-Compartments
* Less Pieces, More Function
* No BPA, Lead, Vinyl or PVC
* Affordable & Durable
* Easy Prep, Easy Cleanup
* Nesting Containers
* Custom, Washable Cooler Bag

http://www.easylunchboxes.com/

The kind owner of EasyLunchBoxes.com has generously offered to give away a container set and one lunch bag (winner can choose color: black, dark red, olive, aqua, or purple ). Retail value ($21.90). In order to win this giveaway, please see your options below:

Mandatory Entry: Visit our EasyLunchBoxes.com and write something learned about their products.

Extra Entries (Please be sure and leave a comment and link for extra entries):

1 Entry: Follow Faith and Family Reviews on Twitter.

1 Entry: Follow Easy Lunch Boxes on Twitter.

1 Entry: Like Faith and Family Reviews on Facebook.

1 Entry: Like Easy Lunch Boxes on Facebook.

2 Entries: Tweet about this giveaway, but only one tweet per day please. Include your tweet url with your comment. You may write your own tweet or use this one:

Giveaway: Enter to win an Easy Lunch Box system @faithfamilyrevw! http://tiny.cc/EasyLunchBoxGiveaway Please share! Thx!

5 Entries: Blog about this giveaway and link back to this post and to Easy Lunch Boxes’ website.

1 Entry for every comment you leave anywhere else on this blog, but please leave a link with your comment!

Details:

This giveaway will run from Sept. 17th until Sept. 30th at midnight CST. The winner will be chosen through Random.org. Winner will be contacted via email on or before Oct. 30th and asked for their contact and other pertinent info. Winner will have 48 hours to send me their info at [ffr] [giveaways] [at] [gmail] [dot] [com] (without spaces and parenthesis). EasyLunchBoxes.com will ship one container set and one lunch bag in the color of their choice directly to the winner. Please note: This giveaway is offered to US & Canadian residents only. Please do not enter this giveaway if have won or received free product from EasyLunchboxes within the past 3 months.

Thanks and have fun!

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Dot Girl Review

Posted by html404 on September 15, 2010
in Personal Care Products

As moms and as parents we often find it hard to talk to our children about tough subjects or personal topics, right? Yet it is part of our job as parents. Growing up I think I leaned more on my friends for information than I did on my parents, just because I was always with my friends. That all changed upon becoming a parent because I began to seek out my mom on different things. So topics like puberty and sex, although not easy to discuss have taken on a more comfortable to talk about because we have tried to answer questions our children have had as they come up and have allowed to be a normal progression in our conversations.

Young girls and boys should be prepared for what puberty will bring to their lives. I do not know of many products geared towards being tools to prepare boys for puberty, I think I know of more for girls. Dot Girl’s First Period Kit is one of them. This kit was created by two moms for their daughters, so that they would be prepared with everything a girl needs for her first period. Not only prepared, but confident for this next step in life’s journey.

Dot Girl creators say,

At Dot Girl we believe that informed girls grow to be empowered women. Our goal is to lessen anxiety for girls about their first period and instead turn it into a positive experience.

This stylish carrying case enables young girls to discreetly store information and supplies at home, on the road, in their backpacks or anywhere so they always feel prepared.

The First Period Kit includes: Period Answer Book, 5 feminine pads, 5 disposable bags, 1 reusable heating pad and 2 hand wipes.

My girls and I really liked this product and thought this kit was very useful. The answer book was well written, discreet (meaning it doesn’t go into other facts of life) and easy to understand for girls starting their periods younger than the norm. It even contained one fact that I did not know or remember. Basically it answers the most common questions about a girl’s first period. We may talk about these things in our home, but this little booklet will be a tool our girls can go back and re-read if they are not sure about something.

The actual kit is a pink circular bag that is made out of material that a make up bag is made of, so it is well-made and should last a girl through her teen years. It has a zipper closure and holds everything needed. It is small enough to fit into a girl’s purse or backpack. My girls thought it was a neat idea.

Thank you, Dot Girl, for the opportunity to review your First Period Kit. We give this a definite thumbs up!

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Wordless Wednesday – Finger Pie

Posted by html404 on September 15, 2010
in Food and Treats, Wordless Wednesday

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Monday Motivation

Posted by html404 on September 13, 2010
in Blog Stuff, Family Stuff, Monday Motivation

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Last week’s Monday Motivation:

~ Try and adopt a new work schedule amidst nursing a newborn and maybe even a daily walk.

~ Try and start getting caught up on my back log.

~ My nesting seems to have kicked in postpartum and I want to purge our house of clutter and things that just take up our time. Things that are not adding value to our lives. Things like extra clothing and stuff we seem to move around and clean but do not necessarily need. Our house is waaaaay too small to have a bunch of stuff AND ten people, so the stuff has to go since the people are here to stay!

~ One of our computer desks have completely fallen apart, so I have to clean off the cluttered one to fit the desk top PC and find a new place for the cluttered mess! Ughhhhh….we’ve been wanting to do this for the past week, but garbage day is tomorrow so it really needs to be done today.

That’s about it. I could add more, but I am trying to only bite off what I can chew.

This week’s Motivation:

It looks like I am working on the same list as last week’s! I got work done for clients but my own blog stuff took a back seat and so did housework and cleaning….sooooo my list is the same. That makes for an easy post today, doesn’t it?! And I honestly was not planning to do that until I re-read last week’s post.

Gotta run as I have children that need the desktop, our oldest needs the laptop and I need to run to the bathroom (too much info, I know!) before I sit down for another marathon nursing session with Sir Eats Alot. Speaking of Sir Eats Alot, here’s a photo from today:

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Grasshopper Snip, Glue and Grow Preschool Kit Review

Posted by html404 on September 12, 2010
in Education, Product Guides 2010, Shopping

School has started and so has the back-to-school routine. But what about our preschoolers? What are we doing to prepare them for school? They are often interested in anything “school” related when they know older children who go to school. Yet so often kids get tired of workbooks and handwriting. Grasshopper Kits are a perfect activity for parents and preschool teachers to use with their preschoolers, not to mention FUN!

About GRASSHOPPER®

GRASSHOPPER® Preschool Prep Kits are designed to get kids ready for school all through play: no workbooks… no pencils… 100% fun!

According to The American Academy of Pediatrics, the average 3 year old is spending 3-4 hours with electronics such as television and video games each day.

The current recommendation states that parents need to introduce more active, goal-directed play into their children’s routine. GRASSHOPPER® Preschool Prep Kits are the answer. Children play games while achieving functional success. All GRASSHOPPER® kits are packed with exclusive materials and games to help create a smooth transition into the world
of education.

GRASSHOPPER® games are clearly laid out in full color guide books with straight-forward instructions and supporting illustrations. All of the materials fit easily into the custom GRASSHOPPER® no-spill carrying case which is designed with organized compartments, an easy snap lid, and a built in easel.

The games all have a ‘back to basics’ slant, with a clever edge so that kids feel like they are playing while they are building their foundation skills for school. Help your child get ready for school the GRASSHOPPER® way!

Grasshopper Kit

Our Review

There are four Grasshopper kits altogether, the ABC and Shapes is a combined kit ($49.95), Getting Hands Ready ($29.95), and Snip Glue and Grow (29.95), which is the one we received. I was busy with the Back To School Guide the day that we where going to test this kit, so I told two of my daughters to take the younger children down and use the kit with them. I was surprised that it kept the children busy for at least a hour and a half. This kit is filled with age appropriate activities for preschool age children. Although my 1st and 2nd grade boys found it fun too. The great thing about this kit is that we have used it a few more times since then. Therefore the kit is not just a one time use as it can be used multiple times over until all the materials are gone.

From the ten hands-on games and activities the children participated in from the kit include: gluing little colored pom poms to cards with different characters on them, being creative with a bit of play dough, practicing cutting with scissors and practice cards, blowing bubbles with the bubbles, making paper chains. Everything needed isincluded in the kit. No extra trips to the store or multiple stores, definitely a mom pleaser with that feature! 😉

The Snip, Glue and Grow Grasshopper Kit ($29.95) gets a thumbs up from us. I hope to order the ABC and Shape kit for my little ones, so I will let you know how those are in the future.

For more information visit: http://www.grasshopperkits.com/allproducts.html

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Making Waves – Revell Blog Tour

Posted by html404 on September 12, 2010
in Books

Making Waves

When spunky Marguerite Westing discovers that her family will summer at Lake Manawa in 1895, she couldn’t be more thrilled. It is the perfect way to escape her agonizingly boring suitor, Roger Gordon. It’s also where she stumbles upon two new loves: sailing, and sailing instructor Trip Andrews.

But this summer of fun turns to turmoil as her father’s secret threatens to ruin the family forever. Will free-spirited Marguerite marry Roger to save her father’s name and fortune? Or will she follow her heart–even if it means abandoning the family she loves?

Our Review

Making Waves is a book about family relationships – the joys and challenges. I enjoyed reading of Marguerite’s struggles with certain individuals in her life. Her father’s secret grieved me, but I admired Marguerite’s loyalty to her family and her desire to help.

Marguerite is probably like many of us who have been afraid to confront someone, especially a someone with a stronger personality, with our real thoughts and feelings about a very serious and important subject. In order for a relationship to flourish the people involved have to be upfront and honest, not in a hurtful way, even though the truth sometimes does hurt.

Marguerite is a character who also teaches the reader the consequences of lying. Lying, like many other sins, damages relationships. Better to be honest and establish trustworthiness than risk never being trusted again.

I think most people could relate to something in Marguerite and learn from her character’s mistakes. I could relate more to Trip Andrews and his struggle to trust than I could to Marguerite. I found this book entertaining and wondered from one page to the next what Marguerite would do next.

Making Waves may be purchased through Revell or major book retailers for $14.99.

About the Author

Lorna Seilstad is a history buff, antique collector, and freelance graphic designer. A former high school English and journalism teacher, she has won several online writing awards and is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers. She lives in and draws her setting from Iowa. This is her first novel.

“Available September 2010 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.”

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Pentel Pencils

Posted by html404 on September 11, 2010
in Education, Product Guides 2010, School

Faith and Family Reviews received the following product in exchange for writing a review. While we consider it a privilege to receive free products to review, our review is our honest opinion and thoughts of the product.

It’s back to school time and if your children are anything like mine they go through an amazing amount of pens and pencils! Pentel was kind enough to send us some samples for our Back to School Product Guide and I am finally getting around to writing the review. Readers and PR reps alike have been very patient with me as I try to get caught up.

The samples that I received included Hyper G Ultra Smooth Retractable Gel Rollers (pack of 3), The Study Pack – The Pink Pack! – Pencil, Pen and Highlighter that Pentel sells and donates five cents from every purchase to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, a Tri Eraser and two .e-sharp mechanical pencils that take different size lead (0.7 and 0.5).

I have loved all of the Pentel products. The only negative that I have has nothing to do with the product, but my children. My two-year-old broke my “Think Pink” pen, which seemed to glide across the paper and it actually was pink ink, my favorite ink color. And my four-year-old lost my red Hyper G pen. Guess I shouldn’t have shared, huh? (Just kidding!)

Tri Erasers – This is a novel idea and new to me to see an incased eraser like this one. I really like how well it erases and how easy it is to erase with it in this form.

Hyper G Gel Pens– These are a fine tip pen and write well. I’ve had no problems with them thus far.

Mechanical Pencils – Really like these and used all the lead in one already keeping track of Sir Eats Alot’s nursing and input and output 🙂

Think Pink Study Pack – This neat little pack held the pen with the pink ink that I really liked. The highlighter in this pack is retractable as well as refillable, pretty handy.

THINKPINKSTUDYPACK

For more information about these and other Pentel products, please visit www.pentel.com

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Garden Tuesday – Why Eat Grass Fed Beef?

Posted by html404 on September 7, 2010
in Food and Treats, Health & Garden Tuesday

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V-Moda Crossfade LP Headphones Review

Posted by html404 on September 6, 2010
in Product Guides 2010, Technology/Electronics

I received the following product in exchange for writing a review. While I consider it a privilege to receive free products to review, my review is my honest opinion and thoughts of this product.

About V-Moda Crossfade LP Headphones

High-Definition Sound

Featuring patent pending 50mm Dual-Diaphragm High-Definition Drivers, the Crossfade LP delivers the sound of multiple drivers with the efficiency of a single smaller driver. The result is deep vibrant bass, juicy mid-range, and crystal clarity on today’s portable devices without the need for any batteries. The driver’s diaphragm is constructed of a harder inner ring providing an extended high range and a softer outer ring for deep lows, resulting in an unprecedented sound. Supple memory foam ear cushions isolate noise and immerse you into your own world of sound.

Fashion Forward Design

With the Crossfade LP, music lovers experience a sophisticated headphone with a true fashion-forward look. Created with a unique metal “V” design and available in White Pearl, Phantom Chrome and Gunmetal Black, the Crossfade LP gives music enthusiasts a sophisticated headphone with a fashion-forward look. For people on the move, the Crossfade LP is equipped with a detachable cable featuring a three-button remote control and high-fidelity microphone to easily change volume and answer or end phone calls.

Ultimate Ergonomic Comfort

Your headphones are supposed to be comfortable. With the Crossfade LP, you get an incredibly lightweight headphone that you can wear for hours. Using a revolutionary metal “V” design and supple air-cushion memory foam, the Crossfade LP weighs only 280 grams and offers an ergonomic comfortable fit. Relentless research went into the precise shape and materials of the headband and ear cushions, resulting in a tailored, fashionable fit without unsightly gaps and minimal pressure on the head and ears.

Universal Compatibility

Now, your calls and your music are in stereo. Featuring a three-button remote and discrete high-fidelity microphone, the remote/mic cable gives you complete control of your calls and your music. You can adjust the volume, control the playback of your music and video, or record voice memos and answer calls from your iPhone 3GS and more. Plus, you get a long (69”) audio cable with ¼” adapter so you can listen to music from your iPod, iPhone or professional stereo equipment. Want to use the Crossfade LP with your Mac? You can, it’s compatible with the latest Mac products, including the iMac, Mac Pro, MacBook or MacBook Pro and can be used for iChat, Skype, VoIP, and other audio recording applications.

Built To Last

We’re passionate about sound and providing you a durable product. Four years of testing the Crossfade LP on tour and in everyday life situations resulted in a tank-like steel frame, flexible memory headband, and detachable Kevlar®-reinforced cables to ensure unprecedented durability. Our commitment to quality stays with you. Each Crossfade LP is backed by an unrivaled one-year premier warranty. If you’re rough on your headphones, don’t worry. We’ve designed an incredible replacement program just for you. With the exclusive V-MODA Replay Replacement Program, you get a 50% off lifetime replacement guarantee. (Editor’s Note: You can’t beat that!)

Price: $249.99

Our Review

The V-Moda Crossfade LP Headphones are very, very nice! I honestly don’t have anything negative to say about them. We received the Phantom Chrome colored ones. They are extremely comfy, except when I have my earrings in as the stud posts push into my head due to the headphones fitting so snuggly. They also have great sound. I love that I can listen to a show or music and it pretty much blocks out the rest of the noise in the house! The headset we received includes a nice carrying case and we kept the box, as it was well packaged and it gives extra protection during the times they are not being used. I think these are the most luxurious over the ears headset we’ve owned. They even have 24K gold-plated plugs! Although, my husband did mention that he use to own the best headphones available…years ago when he was more of a music connoisseur.

This headphone set is very well made. Right down to the audio cords that are covered with fabric. They are lightweight (280g) and the ear pieces are in a rugged metal V design. They also have air-cushion memory foam on the ear pieces and headband, which provides added comfort. The headset has a durable steel frame. They include audio only and remote/microphone and luxury fabric 3.5mm audio cable. For audio compatibility visit www.V-Moda.com/compatibility

We really, really like this headphone set! I guess the only negative I could come up with is the price $249.99. I know they are worth it because I have seen them and used them, but most families probably would not budget $250 for audio equipment. The thing is, with the size of our family we look for things that will last and that will withstand multiple people using it over and over again and the V-Moda Headphones meets this criteria. We also love their replacement guarantee! (see paragraph above entitledBuilt to Last)

Thank you V-Moda for the opportunity to review this great product!

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Hyper Dash – An Educational Game

Posted by html404 on September 6, 2010
in Education, Product Guides 2010

I received the following product in exchange for writing a review. While I consider it a privilege to receive free products to review, my review is my honest opinion and thoughts of the product.

Overview

Hyper Dash will challenge you to be your best. It takes no time at all to learn, but selectable skill levels and four completely different game modes mean the challenge, like a real sport, will last a lifetime.

Hyper Dash consists of one electronic tagger and five different colored and numbered targets. The tagger plays pre-recorded music and calls out which targets you need to strike. It tracks the amount of time taken to complete each course. It can be set up side-by-side, or spread out across the length of a football field. There’s no limit to the distance between targets. Farther targets result in more running and exercise.

Hyper Dash can be played indoors or outdoors; solo, in pairs, or in teams. Parents vs. Kids is an entertaining option. Cooperative siblings can work together to beat their best time, while more competitive kids prefer the head-to-head mode.

As your speed, skill and agility improve, the series of commands becomes longer and more challenging. Level one calls out the colors you need to tag, level two includes numbers, level three adds special commands (Double Strike, Triple Strike, Reverse, Double Reverse) and level four features Compu-Strike (addition/subtraction problems in which you tag the sum or difference of the numbers called out).

Other play modes include the memory game of Micro Dash and multi-player relay races that promote teamwork. For a game of Hide ‘n Dash, let your opponent hide the targets before you begin. Every game has encouraging cheers and upbeat music to keep kids on their feet, expending energy and having fun.

Features
– Follow the commands and tag the targets with the handheld unit — fastest time wins!
– Set the targets on a table, around the room, or outdoors to test your speed and agility.
– 4 game modes to challenge your speed: skill, memory, coordination and teamwork.
– Play solo, head-to-head, or in teams.
– Music and voice drive the action.
– Includes ergonomically designed Hyper Dash unit and 5 targets.

Recommended Ages
Ages: 6+ / Players: 1-8

Battery Requirements
Requires 3 AA batteries, sold separately.

Retail $32.95 currently on sale for $26.95 on Hyper-Dash.com

Our Review

Most of our children really liked Hype Dash. They thought it was fun. One of our daughters said she could not get to level 2 or 3 on the harder ones. Another one of our daughters said she thought it was cool and that she really liked it. She especially enjoyed the multiplication, as that is what she’s been working on in her school work. Our boys though were disappointed that the game pieces didn’t shoot out like they thought they were going to, but that is the only real complaint we heard from them. 😉

Hyper Dash is educational while being fun. It provides children a way to get energy our of their system while learning, thus making learning a fun activity. It gets a thumbs up from us!

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