Faith and Family Reviews - Product reviews you can trust!

Trendy Top Fashion Accessory & Giveaway

Posted by html404 on August 17, 2012
in Giveaways, Reviews

Most woman and girls short and tall struggle with wearing clothing that doesn’t rise up. Jeans are low and tops seem to be getting shorter. The solution? Trendy Top.

The Trendy Top is a fashionable way to make a statement and protect your modesty. What is it? It is a half t-shirt that extends any t-shirt. They sent us one to review and we thought that it was very comfortable and added a cute stylish look.

When they claim to not slide down or slip they mean it. The Trendy Top stays in place even when you are running or walking all over the place. It is so nice to have a product that actually works. No more flash of the belly or rear! Trendy Top also works with skirts and shorts. Not just jeans.

Trendy Top is a great fashion product for every closet. I keeps your body covers while adding a fashionable layered look without added bulk around the waist. With sizes small to XL there is one for everyone. Plus they have a great collection of colors and styles.

Enter to win your very own Trendy Top! Even if you don’t win this giveaway you can enter to win over at Trendy Top’s facebook page. They are giving away a $250 American Express gift card AND a trendy top! Nine runner-ups also win a trendy top. They choose ten winners every week from August 6th-September 3rd.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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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Day Out With Thomas 2012 Opening Weekend

Posted by html404 on August 16, 2012
in Family Stuff, Fun Stuff, Kids Toys

Day Out with Thomas 2012 begins Friday and goes through Sunday, and then again next Saturday and Sunday at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union. The event includes a train ride with Thomas, unlimited rides on all other trains and streetcars, puppet shows, live music, magic shows and more!

Thomas & Friends – Day Out With Thomas 2012 – Mystery On The Rails Tour 2012

To find out where a Day Out With Thomas event is in your state, visit http://www.ticketweb.com/promo/dowt/index.html

All Aboard for Day Out With Thomas

ILLINOIS

Union
August 19-21 & 27-28
Illinois Railway Museum

Each event includes:
25 minute ride with a full size Thomas the Tank Engine™, Storytelling, hands-on arts and crafts, and much more!

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Wordless Wednesday- Little Princess

Posted by html404 on August 15, 2012
in Wordless Wednesday

This weeks Wordless Wednesday is a photo of my youngest daughter playing outside.

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Kidorable Rain Boots & Back to School Sale

Posted by html404 on August 13, 2012
in Kid's Footwear, Kids Stuff, Reviews

It’s been a very dry summer here in Chicago, the Midwest and many other places. We haven’t had much need for our farm boots or rubber boots. My little ones still wear them though and my husband dug his out of the “boot” closet over the weekend due to the heavy dew on the grass. Thankfully in the past week or so we got rain and boots have come in handy for all of our children as they tramp out to feed the animals.

Our little guy, whom we still call “baby” as he is the baby of the family even though he turns two this month, did not have any rain boots. The ones our 4 year old had at his age were worn until they cracked and had holes in them – they were that loved!

Thanks to Kidorable, baby now has boots. They are pirate boots. Fitting since he recently received a pirate’s eye patch and foam sword. He loves his new boots. They are the first pair of footwear he runs to grab when asked to get his shoes to go outside.

And yes he is pretty much in his diaper all the time unless we go out. The first thing he does when we come home is to take off his clothes! At least he knows to keep them on while we are out! 🙂

We have had Kidorable rain boots before when my four year old was younger. They were the frog boots and he loved them too. They lasted him about a year, but that is with constant wear, not just during the spring or fall rainy seasons, as we have worked on farms the past three years now.

Kidorable gets a cute 2 thumbs up from us!

From August 13-31 Kidorable has a back to school sale and promotion going on and they are offering you a discount code!

From ballerinas to butterflies, from frogs to pirates, the styles and choices are sure to excite your children and you! (I know I love all them!) Simply use coupon code SCHOO888 at www.kidorable.com to receive 20% off Kidorable rain boots.

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Raising Financially Confident Kids- A Revell Blog Tour

Posted by html404 on August 11, 2012
in Books, Money & Finances

Money. Something that your child will have to manage for their entire life so why not start teaching them young? Teaching kids about money can be a long process filled this mistakes and life lessons, but a brand new book is making the process easier.

Raising Financially Confident Kids by Mary Hunt is a great book for any parent wanting to teach their kids how to manage money for the rest of their lives. This book doesn’t just teach you how to train your five year old to save, spend, and give-it also shows parents easy ways to get their teenager to manage their money wisely and to earn money without relying on mom and dad.

I loved Mary Hunt’s writing style. She is funny, yet shares her wisdom in such a way that you are never bored. I really enjoyed reading this book and gleaning tidbits from it.

There are quite a few lessons that you can learn from her stories about raising her own children as well as stories that she told about family members. I enjoyed reading about what worked and didn’t work for her family. Mary shared valuable life lessons that any parent could use in teaching their child how to manage money.

Raising Financially Confident Kids is available August 2012 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

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Lethal Legacy

Posted by html404 on August 11, 2012
in Books

I took a break from doing book reviews for a couple months due to not having enough time to read them, but then some interesting titles came through that I had to read! Ever get that bug? I love to read and even though I can use the excuse that reading is my “work” I still suffer from feeling guilty. Ever felt that way? But the pleasure of curling up with a good book usually wins out, eventually.

Anyhoo…on to the book…

Leathal Legacy Review

I have really come to enjoy mystery, crime or suspense fiction. I really like trying to figure out how the plot is going to play out. Irene Hannon has written a series called the Guardians of Justice. I believe I have read one or both of the first two in the series so of course I wanted to read the third and last book, Lethal Legacy.

I loved the main character, Kelly Warren’s, determination. She refused to believe her father committed suicide and displayed persistence in trying to convince the police detectives there was more to her father’s death. I cannot even fathom being able to do that in the midst of grieving, even six months later. Her character definitely lived out the motto, “Never Give Up.”

The detective on the case seemed to have lost his way when he felt God had not answered his prayer the way he wanted Him to. It was a quick reminder to me that God doesn’t always answer my prayers in the way or timing I think He should. His ways and timing are not mine.

One last thought stood out in the book – Relationships are hard work, but in the end it’s always better to mend them before it’s too late and not have to live with regret in the end.

I really enjoyed this book. It was an easy read, which is the kind I reach for when I want to relax. No heavy thoughts for me when I just want to zone out for a little while. For the most part the story kept me guessing. I was kind of surprised when the “mystery” was revealed. The romance part was predictable, but sweet nonetheless. 🙂

Two thumbs up from me!

“This book is available August 2012 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.”

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Back to School Giveaway With Pirate’s Booty

Posted by html404 on August 10, 2012
in All Natural Products, Food and Treats, Giveaways, Reviews, School

It’s back to school time and that not only means school supplies and school clothing, but also packing school lunches! I can’t imagine the morning school routine we’d have if I had to get 6-7 school lunches, school bags and children ready to get out the door! Hats off to you ladies with multiple children! What do you do to make sure their school lunches don’t get boring? After all you are packing lunches for at least 180 days in most states.

Growing up I always seem to have a sandwich, apple, granola bar or sweet for my bagged lunches. My mom wasn’t heavy into convenience foods back then and made nearly everything from scratch. Nowadays, there are so many packaged snacks to choose from, healthy and unhealthy. Our family prefers to eat organic (as much as possible), all natural foods and snacks without artificial flavors etc.

One snack we have enjoyed is Pirate’s Booty Corn Puffs. They are made from aged white cheddar so they are similar to other brands of cheese puffs, only better because they have half the fat! They taste very good and are gobbled up in no time at all by our children. Love the little bags, perfect for little hands and great for travel treats too!

Consider adding Pirate’s Booty snacks to your child’s lunchbox. Their products make a wonderful “Snack Swap!” (we all know kids do this, right?) Pirate’s Booty is a deliciously baked, all-natural snack we can give our children guilt-free. Pirate’s Booty is less fattening and has fewer calories than regular fried potato chips. Pirate’s Booty is safe for kids with allergies as it is gluten, peanut and tree-nut free. Pirate’s Booty contains easy to pronounce ingredients and are made without trans-fats. Pirate’s Booty Aged White Cheddar half-ounce size multi-packs have only 65-calories per pack! A convenient lunchbox treat! You can find Pirate’s Booty Aged White Cheddar half-ounce 12-packs at retailers nationwide. They retail for about $6.99.

Back to School Giveaway With Pirate’s Booty!

You can enter to win the Pirate’s Booty Treasure Box in the above photo. It includes 2 12-packs of corn puffs, a chip clip as seen clipped to the box, 3 Pirate’s Booty tatoos, 2 pirates eye patches and two foam pirates swords. For some reason YouTube doesn’t like videos from my iPhone. 🙁 And I cannot even get QuickTime to work today. Boo, I had wanted to share a video of my boys with their eye patches and swords.

Enter the giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Polly Pocket by Mattel

Posted by Professor on August 10, 2012
in Kids Stuff, Kids Toys, Reviews

Toys! Toys! Toys!

In our house we have a plethora of toys! However, we have recently been introduced to a new favorite toy or my daughters…from Mattel!

POLLY POCKET! Yes this is a name that many of you have heard in the past… but this new Polly pocket is redesigned and WONDERFUL!

My daughters were elated to receive both the following products: Polly Pocket Hangout House Playset AND Polly Pocket Stick N Play Kitchen

Polly Pocket Hangout House Playset

As a mom I was leery of more small pieces to get lost…but with the new playset the pieces are larger and there are suction pieces on the bottom of the toys that actually suction to the playset helping Polly and all of her accessories stay where put. This is definitely a great redesign as in the past some of the Polly pocket pieces and dolls were harder to maneuver and play with because they did not stay put.

The hangout House play set is such a nice dollhouse. It easily stored when not in use and houses all of the little dolls and accessories very nicely.

The set includes:

Polly doll and pet dog

Lots of cute, colorful furniture

Includes an awesome elevator

Third floor transforms from a bedroom to a rooftop pool.

The Stick N Play Kitchen is just as nice as the hangout house…in fact, it is a nice compliment to the hangout house…my daughters play with the right next to each other. They even connect as pictured below!

The best thing about these two sets is that they can be used alone or together. Mattel’s Polly Pocket line has even more Stick N Play Room assorted sets so you could enlarge and diversify your Hangout House…how cool is that!

I have to say that both my daughters (3 years and 8 years) both LOVE this set…even my son (6 years) has occasionally dropped by the hangout house with his Lego mini men figurines to play and visit with Polly. It is so nice to see a toy that actually brings my children together!

Do not forget to visit Polly Pocket by Mattel at www.pollypocket.com for more great playsets and toys!

“I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Mattel Polly Pocket. I received a product samples and a promotional item as a thank-you for participating.”

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Back to School With Boys and Girls Club of America (BGCA)

Posted by Professor on August 10, 2012
in Community Issues, Education, Family Stuff, Giving Back/Charity, News Worthy

Back to school season is here! I know we are in full swing around our house! The children have gathered and packed their school supplies in anticipation of the first day of school…and today we finally got our teacher assignment!

What are some of the things you do to prepare your children to head back to school?

I know we are a fortunate family in being able to clothe and supply our children for the upcoming school year. But we also remember that there are those less fortunate than ourselves and as a family have always participated in programs that assist unfortunate families during the back to school season.

There are many local, national, and global organizations that you can pick from to help the less fortunate…but Boys and Girls Club of America (BGCA) is a great organization that assists children in need.

This year Boys and Girls Club of America (BGCA) and Disney have partnered to launch the Tools for Back to School initiative. This initiative features a pop-quiz style game, where supplies are donated to BGCA for every correct answer you score.

This is a fun way to give back to the community without leaving your home…plus the kids can play too! Here is the link: http://www.bgca.org/backtoschool/Pages/Landing.aspx

I just played the trivia game and got all the answers correct! Can you beat my score? Reminder that each 5 correct answers = school supplies for a club kid!

The BGCA has also partnered with JCPenney – and in August you can join JCP cares and round up your purchase at the register to benefit BGCA. So…take a trip over to your local JCP, get the kids some back to school clothes and a free hair cut (JCP is giving away free haircuts in the month of August). Visit JCP website for more information: http://www.jcpenney.com/dotcom/jsp/browse/marketing/promotion.jsp?pageId=pg40013300014

Well I hope you are getting yourself and your children ready for the start of a new school season! Whether your children are home schooled or attend a traditional school remember that the BGCA website offers different educational content and tip sheets for parents to download and utilize. You can find them on the left hand side of the BGCA site under the ‘Get Ready’ header. You can find these handy tools here:

http://www.bgca.org/backtoschool/Pages/Landing.aspx

BGCA has really outdone themselves with tips for parents and children. I especially like the time management tip sheet that they have available. Do not forget to check the Get Ready section and see if any of the materials can work for you!

“I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Boys and Girls Club. I received a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.”

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