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Princess Kaiulani – Movie Monday

Posted by html404 on April 28, 2014
in Entertainment, Family Stuff, Movie Monday, Movie Review Monday, Movie Reviews, Movies, Uncategorized

We watched the movie Princess Kaiulani on Amazon Prime a couple of weeks ago. It was available free with our Prime membership. Amazon describes the movie like this:

This gorgeous, sweeping historical epic tells the story of the final days of Hawaiian independence and how one young princess stood up to the impending takeover of her nation.

Wikipedia says, “This is a 2009 movie based on the life of Princess Kaʻiulani (1875–1899).”

B’s Review of Princess Kaiulani

B is our 15 year old daughter.

I’ve always liked and respected Princess Kaiulani (ka-e-oo-lani). She is a great role model for young girls. I have read about her countless times, including her biography.

I went into this movie knowing it was a Hollywood film and that it would be different. It turns out it was pretty accurate.

I had a couple of problems:

1. The romance. There really was no romance in the princess’ life. In the movie on the other hand, I felt romance was the focus. They did not need a romance in the movie. More of her past, her relationships with her family members and her fight for her country would have been nice.

2. Princess Kaiulani was a Christian and her faith was a big part of her life and her fight. In the movie, this was not so. Her faith was downplayed, I found that pretty disappointing.

There were many smaller details, but I will overlook them for now.

I really enjoyed seeing the movie. Princess Kaiulani is one of my heroes and I loved being able to see her story come to life on the screen. They did a great job with the movie and I loved the period costumes.

I loved that they filmed in Hawaii as well as LA. It was fun to see which scenes were in Hawaii.

All in all it was a pretty good movie.

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Men and Their Toys – Wordless Wednesday

Posted by html404 on April 23, 2014
in DIY Projects, Farm Stuff, Products for Dad, Uncategorized, Wordless Wednesday

About three weeks ago my husband borrowed a Case mini loader to move moldy hay and manure. He had fun but said it was difficult to keep it stable at times as it wanted to tip over. So there was a bit of a learning curve for him! Men and their toys!

What kind of toys does your significant other like to “play” with?

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$100 Amazon Gift Card Blast

Posted by html404 on April 22, 2014
in Blog Stuff, Giveaways, Uncategorized

Makobi Scribe is bringing you this Amazon Pinterest blast where one lucky reader will win a $100 Amazon gift card. The giveaway is open to everyone and provided by Makobi Scribe. Good Luck! If you are a blogger, you can sign up for this blast here.

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Zarbee’s Naturals

Posted by html404 on April 22, 2014
in All Natural Products, Free Stuff, Health, Health and Wellness, Products for Dad, Products for Mom, Seasonal Stuff, Uncategorized

“I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Zarbee’s Naturals. I received a promotional item and a product sample as a thank you for participating.”

My husband is affected by seasonal congestion and sinus issues. In the spring, in the fall and especially if the mold counts are high. We all have issues with mold and sadly discovered it in the home we rent. Thankfully the mold guy was here today to take care of the house so maybe our suffering will be alleviated.

3 Natural Remedies that Help Hubby’s Seasonal Congestion and Sinus Issues

1. Peppermint essential oil. Hubby simply just inhales the peppermint right from the bottle.

2. Breathe Again. This we apply to our chests or throat, depending on the symptoms we are experiencing.

3. R.C. Is another one we apply to our chests.

And now Zarbee’s Naturals Seasonal Relief.

About Zarbee’s Naturals Seasonal Relief

We like that Zarbee’s Naturals is plant based made from the plant Butterbur, and well, natural. Here are some facts to consider about Zarbee’s (taken from their website):

– Readily available in Europe, clinical studies have shown Butterbur to effectively combat congestion.

– It’s safe to use routinely; you won’t develop an intolerance.

– It won’t make you jittery or tired.

– Zarbee’s Naturals Seasonal Relief is intended for children 12 years of age and above.

What on earth is Butterbur?

It’s both a humble weed and a powerful plant. Butterbur grows wild along rivers, ditches and marshes worldwide, though ours comes from farms in Germany. Its sparse, red flowers shoot up in early spring, followed by huge, heart-shaped leaves.

Europeans have benefitted for centuries from its effective properties, but it’s less well known in the U.S. So Zarbee’s is working hard to get the word out about this great, natural solution featuring the power of natural Butterbur.

Every time anyone visits the Seasonal Relief Project website to share how Zarbee’s Naturals’ Seasonal Relief with Butterbur worked for them, the brand is donating to four causes that support exposure to and the protection of fresh air, including Fresh Air Fund, Children & Nature Network, and Moms Clean Air Force, and Healthy Child Healthy World. You can visit and sign up for a free sample, try it and share your experience and Zarbee’s will donate to one of the above charities! Zarbee’s is also available at CVS and Target. Remember, it is intended for children 12 and over.

“These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any diseases.”

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Week #18 Saturday Top Five Laughs

Posted by html404 on April 19, 2014
in Animals, Family Stuff, Farm Stuff, Fun Stuff, Humor, Saturday Top Five Laughs, Uncategorized

Slowly getting back on track with our Saturday Top Five Laughs and joining Mel over at The Mommyhood Chronicles for week #18 (for us) in the Saturday Top Five Laughs of the week.

6. This will probably sound really bad but here it goes….B and I were out grocery shopping and stopped to get gas. At the gas station there was a group of male bicyclists. Now I wasn’t being naughty or anything but happened to look at the behind of one of them as he stood up to cycle. I noticed something on his butt and couldn’t figure out what it was so I looked at the other bikers’ behinds as they all rode off. Then it dawned on me, “They have a padding on their butts!” I exclaimed to B. B said, “Shhh Mum the window is open!” I turned to her, her face is beet red and she was covering her face with her book. I said, “Why are you red?” You didn’t say anything, I did! Apparently, I had embarrassed her! I didn’t know you could buy shorts with padding! Yeah, I’m from the dark ages, can’t you tell?!

5. Jr. said, “Super Jr.!” (Proceeds to put underwear on his head! What is it with boys and underwear on their heads? Although, our girls did the same thing!?) Our six year old said the same thing about himself, minus the underwear on the head. I think he had a blanket around his shoulders.

4. Escapees. Annabeth is an escape artist and we had to finally put up cow panels around the rest of the goats pasture. Poor Hazel is just too pregnant to do much escaping! Thanks to the goats stellar example the sheep are becoming quite adept at escaping as well.

3. Selene one of our kittens was at the newspaper warehouse this morning when we came out to load up the car! We figure she must have been somewhere under the car or on something under the hood. Smart kitty to stay put for a 6 mile drive! B liked having her company on the route.

2. Last weekend I took six of the children to see Captain America (a certain birthday girl decided she wanted to see this movie over going to the mall 😉 ). We were a few minutes late, nothing new there for our family, so we were in a hurry to find our theater and take our seats. We went in and sat down with the movie already in progress. I felt completely lost and the movie quality was awful. I ended up checking emails and Facebook on my phone wishing I had sent my husband! Soon my oldest was nudging me to look at the credits. It was over. 40 minutes into the show! Come to find out we had entered the 3D show! Argh. Thankfully it all worked out and we caught the later show. Not without my husband having to come pick up B so she could go home to milk and bring her back. She made it just as the movie started the opening scene. But talk about feeling like an idiot! lol!

1. This wasn’t as funny for us (it will be to you!) as it was annoying. Jr. somehow got the voice on our Kindle on for the visually impaired. It took us 2-3 weeks to finally get it off. I must not have used the right words in my search to turn it off because my husband found it by searching for “can’t get my Kindle to stop talking” on our Amazon account. Hubby said other people searched “Kindle won’t shut up” lol!

What funnies happened to you this week?

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Buying a Cow

Posted by html404 on April 17, 2014
in Animals, Family Stuff, Farm Stuff, Uncategorized

Did you know that many of our animals we did not set out to buy? They sort of just happened at the right time and place (seller). Guess what? We bought another cow. Yes, another cow. Heifer actually since she has not yet had her first calf. It’s an investment really. You see, Eclipse (a.k.a.) Miss Moo is struggling to carry a calf. We are pretty sure she’s been successfully AI’d (artificially inseminate) twice now but has lost both calves early in pregnancy. We AI’d her again last Tuesday with a Dutch Belted cow (oreo cookie cows! 🙂 ). Due to the trouble we’ve been having with her, I’ve been in touch with the farmer who had Miss Moo before the man we bought her from last spring. That farmer, farmer J, has been very helpful and resourceful in answering my questions and giving me more of Miss Moo’s history. When I reached out to farmer J a few weeks ago after Miss Moo’s most recent pregnancy loss, farmer J shared she was about to put Miss Moo’s daughter up for sale. This cow has the same calm temperament, is purebred Guernsey and is just going on three years old – due to calf in September with a Guernsey/Jersey cross! This cow wasn’t even been named yet so B got to name her Comet. Comet was delivered to our farm on Friday night.

Another reason to buying a cow (or another cow in this case) is because when you have more than one cow it is easier to document their heat cycles. Now B has been very good at noticing Miss Moo’s cycles but with our less than stellar success rate in getting her bred/carrying a calf, another cow could help us in that process. Plus, we’ve wanted a calf from Miss Moo and this guarantees we have one, in case we continue to fail in breeding Miss Moo. We have a nice retirement plan in place for Miss Moo if that happens.

Things we look for when buying a cow:

– Temperament is the most important to us. Yes, even more than production at this point. If our children are going to be the ones handling 1200 pound animals they’ve gotta have a calm disposition.

– Udder. We look at her udder. Though in Miss Moo’s daughter’s case, she hasn’t produced milk yet but B will want to check her teats etc. to see how she looks and will be like to milk. Otherwise we would try milking her to see how well she stands etc. We missed seeing Comet has a fifth teat, but that won’t affect her milking since it is behind all the rest. This would be important if she was being showed, but she won’t be.

– Body condition, though we didn’t know anything about this when buying Miss Moo, I didn’t suspect it would be a problem since she is coming from a good farm. But we are still learning about body condition for heifers so what do I really know?

– Halter and leading. We halter Miss Moo and lead her with a lead rope. Comet has not been led or haltered so we had an interesting time of it on Saturday the day after she was delivered. I was quickly reminded why I was so hesitant to buy a young heifer! Comet has not been handled much at all since birth as she was put out to pasture with the herd until she was bred and ready for sale. I am happy to say she is slowly getting better.

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Snow in April – Wordless Wednesday

Posted by html404 on April 16, 2014
in Seasonal Stuff, Uncategorized, Wordless Wednesday

Cannot believe after two days in the 70s we got snow. I know, I know, we’ve had snow in April before but it is still truly undesirable, you know? This photo is from two days ago.

We have men here working on the soffits so that is the equipment you see in the fore ground.

What the weather like where you are?

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$100 Amazon Gift Card Blast

Posted by html404 on April 15, 2014
in Blog Stuff, Giveaways, Uncategorized

Makobi Scribe is bringing you this Amazon Facebook blast where one lucky reader will win a $100 Amazon gift card. The giveaway is open to everyone and provided by Makobi Scribe. Good Luck! If you are a blogger, you can sign up for this blast here. Good luck!

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VTech Alternative Easter Basket Ideas and Giveaway

Posted by html404 on April 15, 2014
in Fun Stuff, Giveaways, Holidays, Kids Stuff, Kids Toys, Reviews, Techie Stuff, Technology/Electronics, Uncategorized

“The VTech product, gift card, information, and additional gift pack have been provided by VTech.”

Easter is only days away, are you ready? VTech has some alternative Easter basket ideas and a giveaway to help you celebrate this spring holiday!

Did you know that VTech consults with a panel of experts on the development of its learning products? VTech supports you as your child continues to grow and reach new developmental milestones by offering a variety of age-appropriate toys. Here are the VTech products we reviewed:

InnoTab®Doc McStuffins Software Cartridge (Ages 4-7 years; MSRP: $24.99)

– Learn reading, vocabulary, observation, logic, memory, math, visual skills, creativity, healthy living and more! The Doc is in!

– Read a story about Lambie and Doc in an e-book, color in Doc’s Big Book of Boo-Boos and play games with Doc and her friends.

Our Review: This was great for all three of our younger children. Considering the fact they all love animals and we just got our own lamb, it was very cute and timely! Our children love their InnoTab 3S so I don’t think we could go wrong in any cartridge at this point!

InnoTab Sofia the First Software Cartridge (Ages 3-6 years; MSRP: $24.99)

– Seven learning games and two creative activities teach counting, colors, patterns, problem solving and more! Join Sofia on this wild and thrilling day!

– Learn how Sofia becomes a princess in Story Mode with the interactive e-book. Take pictures with favorite characters and scenes (camera activity compatible with any InnoTab® system with a camera).

Our Review: Our eight year old daughter loves princesses so Princess Sofia was perfect for her. Even though it is geared towards younger children she enjoyed playing the activities. Our younger boys benefited from the educational activities as well as had fun in the process.

Go! Go! Smart Wheels® Vehicles (Ages 1-5 years; MSRP: $7.99)

– These electronic play vehicles are perfectly sized for little hands and entertain children with a light-up button that activates music and sounds.

– Little ones will also learn about different letters and vehicle names through pretend play.

Our Review: Our three year old loved his VTech bulldozer. Everything about it. If he couldn’t find it, he was asking where it was and the hunt was on! We’ll see how long it lasts. Parents may not like the sounds it makes though!

Switch & Go Dinos®Turbo Assortment (Ages 3-8 years; MSRP: $9.99)

– Kids can rev up the action with flywheels that let the dinos race and roar across the floor. Each dino also emits realistic vehicle and dinosaur sounds and phrases that teach fun facts about each dino.

– The range features six new dinos, including Dart the Triceratops, Zipp the T-Rex, Spur the Stegosaurus, Fray the Ankylosaurus, Cruz the Spinosaurus and Spinner the Stygimoloch.

Our Review: Our six year old really liked this product. I am not sure if he took it apart at all yet but he has been playing with it and taking really good care of it, as is characteristic of him and his belongings. We haven’t had it long enough to see how long it will last long term but so far so good.

You can stay up to date with VTech at the links below:

· VTech website

· VTech Twitter

· VTech Facebook

VTech Easter Basket and Giveaway

Wanna win? Enter to win your own VTech products in the giveaway below! Ends 4/30. Happy Easter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Best Colleges 2014 Book

Posted by html404 on April 14, 2014
in Books, Education, Homeschooling, Money & Finances, Parenting, School, Uncategorized

This is a sponsored post.

I am entering a new phase of parenting in that I have a child looking at colleges! Very weird for me! Bobbie is doing all the research for college requirements, SATs, applications, etc. U.S. News & World Report provides college rankings every year. I thought their new Best Colleges 2014 book would be helpful to my daughter as she narrows down her college choices.

About Best Colleges 2014

Here are four things Bobbie took from the book and the rest of the post is basically written by her, not me:

• It provides information on colleges all across the United States for students of all backgrounds and interests.

• Gives advice for students who don’t have straight A’s and encouragement and support for getting into college.

• Provides a checklist for preparing for college, which she thought was really helpful.

• It offers information on everything from the application process, getting financial aid, to finding the right school.

Best Colleges 2014 was very helpful and gives you a good idea of what you need to do to prepare for college, as well as offering encouragement and advice from high school students who have already gone through the college process.

The checklist provides a detailed step-by-step list of everything you need to do starting at 9th grade and ending with acceptance into college.

They didn’t limit the advice to students seeking to gain entrance to an Ivy League college; they had several sections dedicated to helping B- students get into a great college.

The sections on gaining financial aid were incredibly helpful and something we definitely need help with in knowing how to apply for the different financial help available to us.

If you would like to pick up a copy of Best Colleges 2014 , use the following code SCHOOL25 to receive a discount!

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