Faith and Family Reviews - Product reviews you can trust!

Tax Time! Time to Organize, Again!

Posted by html404 on February 18, 2012
in Business, Organization, Reviews, School, Shopping

I have a tendency to procrastinate over taxes, but this year I have been working hard to do better. I have been sorting my receipts, gathering my mileage logs, adding up my different streams of income and comparing them to my 1099s, plus getting my checkbook and PayPal ledgers either updated or printed off. There is a lot to do to get ready for tax time. I kind of miss the days when I didn’t have to do anything, my husband just took care of it all. But alas those days are over.

Over a month ago, maybe even less, I organized my office. Now, in preparation for tax season my office has got disorganized because I have been going through files and receipts for each business. I am a paper person so there are usually piles of paper here and there. However, I like my desk to be mostly cleared when doing important paper work so I can keep track of everything.

Another thing I like to keep track of is my pens and pencils. I found a nifty little lamp last summer at the thrift store with compartments to keep things on my desk more organized. That’s where I keep pens, pencils, erasers and sticky notes, etc.

We use a lot of pencils between business and homeschooling. During tax season it’s nice to have sharpened pencils on hand, but I discovered that ours had bit the dust and had to buy a new one. Nothing like having tons of pencils in the house and nothing to sharpen them with! Talk about maddening. There were a few different ones to choose from, but I bought the X-ACTO Spira pencil sharpener because I had a coupon. You can even see photos of my shopping trip here.

By the way, the new sharpener works great! Probably won’t be able to keep the children away from it. If you would like to learn more about X-ACTO products, please consider the following pages:

Elmer’s Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/elmers
X-ACTO Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/XACTO

Then have fun filing your taxes! Ha!

This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. All opinions expressed are my own.#CBias #XACTO

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Encyclopedia Britannica Kids – US Presidents FREE App – Only Until Monday!!

Posted by Brande on February 18, 2012
in Deals, Downloads, Education, Family Stuff, Free Stuff, Fun Stuff, Music, News Worthy, Parenting, Politics, Saving Money, School

Hurry! Head to your itunes store and download – Encyclopedia Britannica Kids – US Presidents app for FREE, it’s usually 2.99! This offer expires Monday the 20th at Midnight EST!

Great app, I’m learning a lot myself! It has all the Presidents, when you select a President it gives you their dates in office, who was/is the Vice President, First Lady, when their birthday was/is, and fun facts!

In addition, there is a section of “Did you know?”. At the bottom of the screen, select menu and you are able to hear and see the words to “Hail to the Chief”. There is also a quiz section to test your knowledge.

It’s available for your iPhone and iPad. I checked Andriod and didn’t see this specific app, but did see other apps for US Presidents.

Enjoy!

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Win an iPod Nano and Downton Abbey!

Posted by html404 on February 18, 2012
in Giveaways

Rosslyn and Thomas Nelson are hosting this “sweet giveaway” in celebration of her new book, Sweeter than Birdsong, which I reviewed yesterday. And if you are in the know, then you know that Downton Abbey is the hit new British TV series! Gotta love Sybil, Branson, Mary, Matthew and Violet.

One fortunate winner will receive:

A Brand new iPod Nano (Winner’s choice of color!)
Fairer than Morning by Rosslyn Elliott
Sweeter than Birdsong by Rosslyn Elliott

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends at noon on February 28th. Winner will be announced at Sweeter than Birdsong Author Chat Facebook Party on 2/28. Rosslyn will be chatting with guests, sharing a sneak peek of the next book in the series, hosting a trivia contest, and more! She’ll also be giving away some GREAT prizes: gift certificates, books, season 1 of DowntownAbbey, and a book club prize pack! (Ten copies of the book for your small group or book club AND a LIVE Author Chat for your group with Rosslyn.)

So grab your copy of Sweeter than Birdsong and join Rosslyn and friends on the evening of the 28th for an evening of fun.

Don’t miss a moment of the fun. RSVP today and tell your friends via FACEBOOK or TWITTER and increase your chances of winning. Hope to see you on the 28th!

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.

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When the Smoke Clears

Posted by html404 on February 18, 2012
in Books

When the Smoke Clears is the first book in the Deadly Reunions series written by Lynette Eason. Of course there was romance (and that part was pretty much predictable), but the mystery that kept me sitting on the edge of my seat was anything but predictable!

Lynette kept me intrigued and mystified as to who the perpetrator was surrounding the attempts on the main character Alexia’s life as she returns home for her high school reunion. I was taken by surprise when I figured out who it was.

I shed a few tears as Alexia dealt with demons from her past. It was good to read how her circumstances brought her closer to God and not farther away from Him. We humans have a tendency to run from Him, don’t we?

As a heads up this is a murder mystery with multiple murders occurring, but no really graphic details were revealed.

This book was definitely worth the read and I cannot wait for the sequel!

“Available February 2012 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.”

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Toddlers Helping

Posted by html404 on February 17, 2012
in Family Stuff, Home

One of the benefits of having so many children is that the younger ones actually learn by watching the older children. We do not usually have much fuss when we ask the younger children to do something (oh there are exceptions to that with certain ones at certain times, don’t worry!) It was so cute when we were getting the garlic done because the garbage can was still out after sweeping and our one and only toddler in the house took it upon himself to put it back. Call it his contribution to the family work. But the thing is the garbage can is just as big as he is! You can see baby helping here, proof that toddlers can help. Or sort of. (wry smile!)

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Sweeter than Birdsong

Posted by html404 on February 17, 2012
in Books

Yes, I have been at it again and had a reading spree! Ha! Sweeter than Birdsong is written by Rosslyn Elliot. This book revealed the harsh realities of a behind the scenes look at one wealthy family’s home life in the 1800’s. Appearances are not always as they seem. 150 years ago the line between one’s pocket book and status in society was of much more importance than it is today. Though depending upon the place or people it can be very much alive today as well. The wealthy seem to have to put on airs and keep one’s appearance impeccable. God forbid there should be a tarnish on one’s image! That alone was a societal faux pas! One reason I am glad I did not live in that era of our history. I think the pressure would have stolen all my joy!

I admire people who take risks for the good of others even when it is not socially acceptable. Today those people would include midwives and God-fearing politicians going against their political party’s “norm”. That’s all I can think of off the top of my head. In Sweeter than Birdsong those individuals were a part of the Underground Railroad. They obviously took great risks and paid a huge price if they were caught or if word leaked to members of their community. And it grieved me to relive what the blacks had to go through to fight for their freedom.

I enjoyed the personal journey of the main character, Kate Winter. Her shyness and fear of public speaking is something that I can definitely relate to. I loved how Rosslyn used Kate’s experience with the Underground Railroad to propel her to take courage and speak up for what is right. She lost her fear and shyness when it came to defending the innocent. It took seeing the “under world” to realize that her problems were quite petty and insignificant compared to those of the fugitives.

There was one surprise that I loved in the book and that was what happened to Kate’s mother at the end of the book, but I don’t want to give away any spoilers so that is all I will say about it!

This book with all of its impossibilities gives hope for change and shows that when we use our God given talents for God’s glory we will find life more rewarding, no matter the monetary cost.

Read an excerpt here.

For more about Rosslyn, visit her website.

Link to buy the book.

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5 Ways to Use Garlic

Posted by html404 on February 17, 2012
in All Natural Products, Food and Treats, Health, Health and Nutrition

I had so many ask me what I was going to do with all our garlic last week that it inspired a post topic for this week! We enjoy using fresh garlic over powdered. While we like it I have to admit that we do not use it a ton. Guess we don’t want to smell like garlic!

5 Ways to Use Garlic

1. Antioxidants. Garlic has a powerful antioxidant. Studies have shown this – especially aged garlic. Antioxidants can help to protect the body against damaging free radicals. There are claims that fermented black garlic contains even higher antioxidant levels than normal cloves, which is very interesting and something I did not know. (Source: Garlic Central) In our home, we make a mixture of garlic and honey to help combat scratchy throats at the onset of a cold. Only a few of us can stand it though, especially since the daughter that mixes it up LOVES garlic!

2. Antibiotic. Modern science has shown that garlic is a powerful natural antibiotic. The bacteria in the body do not appear to evolve resistance to the garlic as they do to many modern pharmaceutical antibiotics so the health benefits can continue over time rather than helping to breed antibiotic resistant “superbugs”. Too bad medical professionals wouldn’t use this more often! (Source: Garlic Central)

3. Insect Repellent. Garlic not only repels mosquitoes, but it also repels ticks, fleas and other parasites. (Source: Life Hackery) Great for us and our pets!

4. Natural Pesticide. Commercial pesticides are harmful not only to the environment, but to humans and animals. Garlic is all-natural but it can be as effective as any commercial counterpart. Mix garlic cloves and extracts with pepper and a bit of soap to make a homemade garlic pesticide. Some gardeners have found this garlic mixture effective in keeping animals such as rabbits, deers, and groundhogs away from their gardens. (Source: Life Hackery)

5. And of course. Cooking. It can be sauteed, dried, roasted or pressed and added raw to salad dressings and such.

There are many other uses for Garlic, this is only a small sampling. It is one herb that we shouldn’t live without!

Sources:
1 and 2 from Garlic Central.
2 and 4 from Life Hackery.

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Family Dollar Coupons

Posted by html404 on February 16, 2012
in Coupons, Deals, Free Stuff

Another Facebook find this week was a link to Family Dollar Coupons. Not sure if you knew Family Dollar offered coupons, but I didn’t and since that is a store in our new town, I checked it out. While our family cannot use most of these, I thought I would pass on the savings to all of you! These coupons are only good thru 2/18.

You can also discover more ways of saving by “liking” Family Dollar on Facebook

Happy couponing!

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Join BzzAgent to Sample Products!

Posted by Brande on February 16, 2012
in Blog Stuff, Coupons, Deals, Food and Treats, Free Stuff

Here’s BzzAgent!

BzzAgent is a WOM (Word of Mouth) Marketing Company. It’s free (one of my favorite words!). You take surveys (very simple on question) about items that pertain to you. This way BzzAgent can find / offer you samples that would interest you and your family. I signed up a few weeks back and got free coupons to sample Dr. Oetker Ristorante Pizza. After you test your product, you need to go back to BzzAgent to write a review. The better your reveviw and sharing the more products you’ll get.

I gotta tell you. We tried the Ristorante Pizza Mozzarella for lunch, I loved it! I’m usually not a huge fan of frozen pizza. The crust was crunchy and the pizza was very flavorful. You know how sometimes, frozen foods smell better than they taste. Not this pizza, the tomato, mozzarella and pesto seemed like they were made that morning. I really enjoyed this pizza and I’m heading back to the store to stock up! Ristorante Pizzas come in six (6) flavors – Pizza Spinaci, Mozzarella, Funghi, Vegetale, Quattro Formaggi and Speciale.

Enjoy!

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The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Goes Digital!

Posted by Brande on February 16, 2012
in Downloads, Ebooks, Education, Family Stuff, Free Stuff, News Worthy, Parenting, Products for Dad, Products for Mom, School, Techie Stuff

Homeschool parents, this one is for you! This app is available for Apple & Android devices! Now you can read “The Old Schoolhouse Magazine” at home or on the go for FREE!

These are very interactive apps. You can watch videos, zoom in on advertisers, web links to order, and more!

Here’s the links! Apple App – FREE Android App – FREE

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