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Tag Archive for Family Stuff

KidsEmbrace

Posted by html404 on March 29, 2013
in Community Issues, Family Stuff, Kids Stuff, Parenting, Safety

Kids safety is very important to parents. Especially when it comes to transporting children in a vehicle. Most states require a child to be in a car seat. Here in Illinois children are required to be in child restraint system until 8 years old or they fit into a car’s seat belt safely. It’s our job as parents to choose child restraint equipment that is safe to use and properly installed. Sometimes though toddlers can be tough when it comes to getting them into their car seats. My little sister was. Most of our children have done ok. They seem to just get sick of sitting period on long trips! Pretty normal for a child.

For those tougher toddlers, I imagine KidsEmbrace toddler car seats would appeal to these ever-growing, ever-changing children and make them want to sit in their car seat…at least for a time.

Boys familiar with Batman would love the Batman car seat. Girls would love the Dora Explorer seat. KidsEmbrace offers affordable, yet fun car seats for kids.

Have you heard of KidsEmbrace? I hadn’t until now.

This is a featured post.

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Fun in the Snow – Wordless Wednesday

Posted by html404 on March 27, 2013
in Family Stuff, Fun Stuff, Kids Stuff, Seasonal Stuff, Wordless Wednesday

I think this photo says it all – family fun in the snow!

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Zingo! Sight Words Review – TimeToPlayMag.com

Posted by Brande on March 22, 2013
in Education, Family Stuff, Fun Stuff, Kids Toys, Reviews, Shopping, Uncategorized

I was very excited when I won an opportunity to review “Zingo!”for Timetoplaymag.com

I couldn’t wait to tell you about it!

The Thinkfun Company is spot on with this early learning game!

Zingo! Sight Words is a Pre-K version of the classic game of bingo except with frequently used words.

After choosing your Zingo! card, slide the “Zingo! Zinger”. It drops 2 (Two) words, if one of the players has one of the corresponding words on their card, they first must say the word then they may place the word tile on their Zingo! card. Play continues until all 9 spaces are covered then the winner yells “ZINGO!”

Of course you can play the game in other ways. You can have 3 in a row or patterns (X, four corners, picture frame or Z for Zingo!), try multiple cards for more advanced players.

Zingo! is recommended for Pre-K to 1 and I would agree with the age range. My daughter is 4 and not reading yet, however we used matching words so our game slowed down. I would say the word and she would repeat it, then she needed to find it on her or my card.

The only thing I found bothersome is you need to scramble the 72 tiles before you play for the first time. My daughter loved scrambling the tiles, but we needed to put them back int the “Zinger” before we could start the game. The other thing I noticed was the tiles were easy for me to push back in the “Zinger” but a little hard for my daughter.

Great Game! We will be purchasing Zingo! for upcoming birthday parties!

ZINGO!!

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Shari’s Berries

Posted by 278Wife on March 21, 2013
in Food and Treats, Fun Stuff, Gift Ideas, Reviews, Shopping, Uncategorized

Gourmet chocolate covered strawberries and melt in your mouth cheesecake is the key to my heart, and oh boy did Shari’s Berries deliver! I have ordered many gifts from the Internet; flowers, photo gifts, music, etc., but never strawberries nor cheesecake. This gift was intended for myself, but as soon as my husband saw what arrived, I was forced into sharing.

To begin with, the ordering process was very easy. Although they have a multitude of products, it is easy to search for exactly what you are looking for. You can search by occasion, strawberries, chocolate lovers, bake shop, gift baskets, or specials. You can even type in what you are looking for in the search engine and all of your options will come up. Once you decide what you would like to purchase, you are given the choice of what product you want. For example, I chose the Cheesecake Trio and Full Half Dozen Fancy Strawberries, but in the ordering screen I had the opportunity to upgrade to a full dozen fancy strawberries. The next step is to choose the delivery day. When you click on the calendar it shows you when standard delivery would be, and when standard delivery plus an extra fee would be. Once you place the product in your shopping cart, you have the option to include an extra gift such as a card or a cookie. The site then walks you through the checkout process, which is very secure and user friendly. You can order as a guest or create an account. I created an account and am very happy I did. I cannot tell you how many discount codes I have received for future orders. In addition I received a confirmation e-mail with my order number, an e-mail when my order was being shipped with a UPS tracking number, and an e-mail when my order was delivered. This is important to me for future orders. I like to know when my gift arrives at the intended location so I know when I should receive my thank you phone call!

When the package arrived it was very nicely packaged with an ice pack that kept the yummies nice and cold. The strawberries were carefully packaged in a tray with each strawberry in their own indent so each one was perfect on arrival. As soon as I opened them I wanted to take a bite! I restrained myself, though, and put them in the fridge. They suggest eating them at room temperature, but I like my strawberries cold so I kept them cool. I received a total of six dipped strawberries. Two were milk chocolate dipped in nuts, two were milk chocolate dipped in chocolate chips, and two were white chocolate dipped with milk chocolate swirls. Both my husband and I loved all three kinds, our favorite was definitely the milk chocolate dipped in chocolate chips. They were simply mouth-watering! It is suggested that the strawberries be eaten within 48 hours and we did not have a problem doing that; they were so delicious!

The cheesecake also arrived in a seperate box. When I first opened them, I was surprised by how small they looked. I thought they could be eaten in about three bites. The cheesecakes looked absolutely deluctant, though. Even though I thought they looked small, I decided to be nice and split them with my husband. Each cheesecake had a plastic wrapping around them to keep them in contact, which was very easy to remove. Once I unwrapped one and split it in half, I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t as small as I had thought. Half of one was a perfect amount for me. The three different cheesecakes included a New York Cheesecake, a white chocolate cheesecake with a chocolate candy on top, and a chocolate rocky road cheesecake, which was by far our favorite! The cheesecake was the perfect consistency, not too heavy and not too light. We thoroughly enjoyed them! The cheesecakes need to be eaten within five days or they can be frozen.

Overall, Shari’s Berries was truly a great experience. I loved the comfort of shopping online and choosing exactly what I wanted. The ordering process was very easy and I loved the confirmation e-mails and coupon codes for future orders. The packaging was great, everything arrived looking perfect. Best of all, both the strawberries and cheesecakes tasted out of this world. Shari’s Berries is a great company to order through that offers quality gifts for every occasion.

To place an order go to:

www.berries.com/mothers-day-berries-sbn

For coupon codes to use on your order go to:

http://www.berries.com/coupon-codes.aspx

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

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My Very First Easter Story Sticker Book

Posted by html404 on March 18, 2013
in Books, Family Stuff, Fun Stuff, Gift Ideas, Holidays, Kids Stuff, Reviews

Easter is less than two weeks away and this is my first post about anything pertaining to Easter. We don’t even have any plans yet either, which is how it has been for the past few years. Our children, however, have been enjoying My Very First Easter Story Sticker Book by Lois Rock; illustrated by Alex Ayliffe.

This is a traditional Easter story book about Jesus dying on the cross, however, it leaves out why He died. Yes, He died to make the world a better place, but He died for our sins. That little piece of truth was missing, which was disappointing and seemed dumbed down, in my opinion.

My Very First Easter Story Sticker Book has a twist on the traditional books, as it has an activity at the bottom of each page and children can put stickers in the appropriate pages.

My almost 7 year old and 5 year old loved this book. They really enjoyed putting the stickers on the pages and were eager to finish putting them on – I made them do it in stages so to make it last longer. They just finished it up tonight.

This book may be purchased through Kregel Publications for $5.99 and is paperback.

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Happy St. Patrick’s Day

Posted by html404 on March 17, 2013
in Family Stuff, Fun Stuff, Holidays, Seasonal Stuff

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Or as some say, Happy St. Paddy’s Day! Especially to all of you who are Irish!

Today is usually a day when you can witness the Chicago River being green. Yesterday they dyed it that color in celebration of today’s Irish holiday. The St. Patrick’s Day parade was also yesterday, plus there are other special celebrations of this day going on around the city. Visit the Chicago St. Patrick’s Day 2013 website.

To be honest we have never really done much other than maybe wear green for St. Patrick’s Day. I have witnessed the Chicago River being green, but have not attended the parade or any other of the St. Paddy’s Day festivities.

Here are some fun facts about St. Patrick’s Day (source: Chicago Tribune):

– There are some 36 million people in the USA who boast of an Irish heritage. 9x that of the population of Ireland itself!

– St. Patrick’s Day was originally a religious Christian holiday. The holiday honored St. Patrick who shared his Christ with Ireland in the fifth century.

– Today the holiday is a celebration of everything related to the Irish.

– March 17, 1762 marked the first St. Patrick’s Day parade in the world. It was held in New York City.

So do you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day? Are you wearing something green, cooking something green or attending any St. Patrick’s Day festivities?

Another inspired post from Mama Kat’s writing prompts: Write a blog post inspired by the word green.

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Clevamama

Posted by 278Wife on March 12, 2013
in Baby Products, Family Stuff, Fun Stuff, Kids Stuff, Kids Toys, Reviews

Clevamama is a company that strives to create products that make the lives of parents easier. They sell baby products for bath time, bed time, feeding, and safety. I was sent four different products to review including an Infant Formula Travel Container, ClevaPortions freezer and storage pots, a Splash & Wrap Baby Bath Towel, and a Clevabath Extra Long Bath Mat. All four Clevamama products were of great quality.

The Infant Formula Travel Container looks similar to other formula containers on the market, but have a few unique characteristics that make it that much better. It has three seperate compartments to hold three premeasured amounts. The container is tall so it can hold at least two scoops of formula in each section. It features an easy pour spout that is longer than others I have tried. This is a huge plus for me, since sometimes water from the bottle would splash back into the formula container making a mess. This is almost impossible to do with this formula container. It also has a secure snap top lid and special finger grips on the side for easy pouring. Best of all is it is BPA free and dishwasher safe for easy cleaning!

The ClevaPortions freezer and storage pots are a great product for parents who make their own baby food. It features eight storage pots with individual lids. Each pot can be removed seperately without using any of the other pots. Basically, you can make eight different pots and freeze them, and only take one pot out at a time when it’s time to eat. This makes it a breeze for travel in that you only need to bring as many pots as you’ll need, rather than bringing an entire tray of baby food. You also have the option of using only a few pots a time, rather than the whole tray. Many of the other baby food storage systems I’ve used you must unthaw the entire tray or try to pop out one of the “food ice cubes” yet more than one would always come out for me! The whole Clevaportions tray is a little smaller than an ice cube tray. Each pot holds up to 2oz of food and are safe to use from freezer to microwave. You can either feed from the pot or push the food out into a bowl. For me, I just feed right out of the pot. Who wants to do more dishes? Not me! The pots are dishwasher safe and see through so you can see what is inside of each pot. I love this product and highly recommend it to moms!

The Splash & Wrap Baby Bath Towel is another genius product designed by Clevamama. I cannot tell you how many times I have gotten soaking wet from taking my son out of the bathtub. With this towel, it is almost impossible for this to happen! The towel features straps that snap around your neck so the towel fits like an apron. Then you simply lift your baby or toddler out of the tub, place them inside the towel and you can hold them without your body getting wet. The towel also features a hood, so their head doesn’t get cold and straps on each side that you can tie around your waist (I didn’t feel the need to use these). Wearing this towel like an apron makes it easy to dry your child off since both of your hands are free. The towel is 100% cotton, is machine washable, and is VERY absorbent. It fits a newborn all the way through a four year old. It is ultra soft, even after washing it, and has a cute neutral teddybear on the hood. This was definitely one of my favorite products!

Lastly, I was able to try out the Clevabath Extra Long Bath Mat. I love that it covered pretty much the entire bathtub, and not just the middle. It has many little suction cups all over the bottom to keep it secure to the bottom so it doesn’t move. These did not work as well as I had hoped they would. Only about half of them would stay suctioned down, but the mat still did not move. The material is made of a soft non-slip material that is ultra cushiony and dries very fast. The bath mat also came with a free kneeling cushion. This was great! My knees always hurt after bathtime, and this cushion is made with the same material as the bath mat, so it was very soft and very cushiony. Overall a good product.

Clevamama offers many unique baby items that definitely make it easier on parents. I cannot wait to see what they will come out with next! Check out their website to see where their products are sold.

http://www.clevamama.com/

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

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5 Things to Do in Our Town During Spring Break

Posted by html404 on March 11, 2013
in Family Stuff, Fun Stuff, Home, Kids Stuff, Seasonal Stuff, Travel

We do not have a lot planned while my mom is here. Our beast is out of commission. It broke down a couple of weeks ago right at the end of a farmer friend’s driveway when we were visiting to learn more about goats. Our 14 year old has been interested in goats for…oh…about five years or more I’d say. We gifted her an educational goat class through one of the local farm organizations one year for her birthday and this year we plan to give her a goat. So what we’d do, but what another family chooses to do on Spring Break will probably completely different.

Here are 5 things to do in our town during Spring Break:

1. Go to the theater. Surely there’s one family friendly one playing.
2. Visit a park. Depending on the weather you might be able to hit a few during the week of Spring Break.
3. Go to the Farmers Market.
4. Coordinate a visit to a local farm. This is for the sake of other families since we live on a farm. But even so we enjoy visiting other farms and learning from them.
5. Travel to Chicago to visit a museum or Shedd Aquarium. This is something we plan to do in the fall when the public schools are back in session and the crowds are minimal.

So what is there to do in your town during Spring Break?

Inspired by another one of Mama Kat’s writing prompts: 5 things to do in your town during Spring Break. Mama Kat’s prompts sure came in handy when it came time to do up blog posts in advance for my mom’s visit!

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Flexible Spending Accounts Can Save Your Family 40%

Posted by html404 on March 6, 2013
in Family Stuff, Health, Money & Finances, Saving Money, Uncategorized

It’s been a number of years since we did any health care “shopping” and it really isn’t a problem if you know your way around, however, it can get overwhelming because of the various options available. Something like, Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs), can offer relief from increasing health care costs, because these benefit plans rely on pre-tax money for qualified health expenses.

Not only can you save on FSA eligible products, but an FSA also gives you access to health care services and thousands of everyday products such as sunscreen, contact lens solution, band-aids, heat wraps and baby care – a bonus for families like ours.

How Does FSAs Work?

Each FSA plan year, employers take money out of your paychecks based on how much you choose to set aside. Beginning in 2013, FSA plan contributions are limited to $2,500 per person. Before you get an FSA, it is vital to calculate how much you want to spend using your FSA.

A word of caution…because FSAs are “use it or lose it” any money unspent is forfeited when your plan year ends. Some employers provide a grace period – or an extension of coverage – up to two and a half months. One big deadline coming up is March 15. Do you have FSAs? Better check to see if you need to use any of your FSA funds before March 15.

FSAstore.com is a one-stop-shop stocked exclusively with thousands of FSA-eligible products, a national provider database and a Learning Center that answers FSA-related questions. You can save on FSA-eligible products throughout the year with FSA Store’s special offers. Check these out before your grace period ends on March 15.

This is a featured post.

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CraftProjectIdeas.com

Posted by 278Wife on March 5, 2013
in Crafts, Family Stuff, Fun Stuff, Gift Ideas, Kids Stuff, Parenting

CraftProjectIdeas.com is dedicated to kids’ arts and crafts projects for preschool children through tweens. The website offers step-by-step instructions to inspire kids with arts and crafts. The products shown on the site are all available in the Kids’ Crafts aisle at popular retailers. CraftProjectIdeas.com has a “How To” section featuring basic techniques, a featured material for each month, rainy day projects, seasonal projects, and even a teacher’s corner. There’s also a “Products” section, which shows an array of different materials and craft kits, a “Videos” section showing clear concise directions and what the end project should look like, and a “Store Locator” where you can find a store that carries the products. My favorite feature of the site is the Project Finder search engine. Just choose the age, season, theme, and materials and it will find a project you can make!

I received a wonderful selection of products from them including the following:

Glow in the Dark Alphabet Beads

Metallic Pony Beads

Large Bling Acrylic Jewels

Shimmer Poms

Neon Glitter Shakers

Craft Buttons

Multi-Size Suction Cups

Mini Wooden Clothespins

Skinny Sticks

I decided to help my toddler make some Valentines for his grandparents with some of the supplies. I had some red and purple foam sheets on hand so we used those as our base. I also had pink foam stickers that he enjoyed sticking on. To add some more sparkle he stuck on a few Large Bling Acrylic Jewels. They were super easy to remove from the sheet, and they stuck on easily to the foam. Then I had him pick out the letters to his name, “R, O, C, K, Y” from the Glow in the Dark Alphabet Beads and we glued them on each valentine. The beads were nice and flat and glued on easily. Finally we used the Neon Glitter Shakers to finish the valentines. I wished the glitter would have come out a little better than it did. You had to hold it at a certain angle for enough to shake out. Overall, we had a blast making them and the grandparents LOVED them!

We also decided to make some picture frames for some birthdays that are coming up. I had my son color the Skinny Sticks with markers and then we glued them into triangles and squares. Then we glued Craft Buttons onto each corner. I loved how flat the buttons were; it made them very easy to glue on. To finish off the triangle picture frame we glued on Shimmer Poms to the Craft Buttons. These took a little effort to stay glued on, but with enough glue they finally stuck. All we need to do is add a picture to the back, and they will be perfect!

All of the products I received were of excellent quality. The colors are so vibrant and the pieces are very child friendly to use. My favorite part? Most of the bags are resealable so you when you are all done with a project you can seal the bag without losing any extra pieces! I am so excited to make even more projects with my son. He loves doing arts and crafts and doing projects teaches him so many skills. The sky is the limit with all of the inspiration from CraftProjectIdeas.com!

<em>Faith and Family Reviews received the following product free from
<a href=”http://www.Craftprojectideas.com“>www.CraftProjectIdeas.com</a> in exchange for writing a
review about these crafting supplies. While we consider it a privilege to
receive free products, our reviews are our honest opinion and thoughts of the
product.</em>

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