Livrada E-book Gift Cards Available at Target & Giveaway!

Posted by html404 on July 15, 2012
in Ebooks, Gift Ideas, Giveaways, Uncategorized

Disclaimer: Please note that I do not necessarily agree with the content of the books listed below. I am more interested in the idea of an e-book gift card.

Most of you know that I love to read. Love, love, love books. They are my dear friends that take me to new places and introduce me to new worlds. E-books have been around for a while. E-readers are still relatively new. I still haven’t gone over to the “dark” side. There’s just something about having a book in hand to read. I am intrigued though and maybe all the new e-readers will improve so much they’ll win me over. Either way, Livrada has come up with a cool new way to give e-books as gifts – Livrada E-book Gift Cards.

Today Livrada is launching their e-book gift cards at ALL Target stores! In this initial launch there are six best-selling titles available. Here are the current titles available:

Fifty Shades of Grey

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest

State of Wonder

Gone Girl

Charles Street

Odd Thomas

No more gift via email or generic gift cards. Our gift cards are replicas of the actual book cover! So grabbing a quick gift, no longer has to feel impersonal.

And they have offered one to giveaway to our readers – YOU!

Now for the giveaway!

Giveaway of Fifty Shades of Grey Livrada E-book Gift Card

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Watch for Brande’s future review of Fifty Shades of Grey and her thoughts on the e-book gift cards! Coming Soon!


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Last Day for the Taste of Chicago 2012 #seemoresights @Transitions @SocialMoms

Posted by html404 on July 15, 2012
in Eye Care, Travel, TV Shows, Uncategorized

It’s been an incredibly busy weekend. We went to look at a vehicle yesterday – a gas guzzler Ford Expedition – but the vehicle isn’t big enough. 🙁 It was older but very clean and in good condition. We are talking about going to two vehicles instead of one big one. Then some of us traveled 2 hours in traffic to the Taste of Chicago 2012. It was busy. Slight rain did not deter people either.

I think it was busier than last year by the size of the crowds, but maybe not.

Lots and lots of people.

We ran into pockets of much needed rain, but it cleared up by the time we got to the Transitions booth.

While my husband drove around the block with our sleeping toddler, my rock star boy, Peanut and I went to get our free vision screening. The screening line went quickly and they were very efficient and wiped off the screening equipment after every person. That impressed me. The screener was very courteous. I didn’t learn anything I didn’t already know – all three of us are overdue for an eye exam and new prescriptions. That means the other three children and my husband are too since it’s been a couple of years since we went to the eye doctor. Bad, I know, but I plan to make our appointments this week as it makes my heart sick to think my children are not seeing as clearly as they should be. I have been experiencing mama guilt since last fall when we didn’t make our yearly appointments.

We didn’t know celebrity chef Robert Irvine is going to be at the Transitions booth today from 11am-1pm. We were very disappointed to find that out there. We like Chef Robert and watch his TV show Restaurant Impossible. The thing is I had already offered to volunteer at a local Folk Festival to help with the kids’ craft table. So even if we had known, my girls and I were already booked. 🙁 Though, my husband could have dropped us off and taken the boys into the city.

If you are planning on going to the Taste of Chicago today, plan to drop by Transitions for your free vision screening and to meet Chef Robert. Even if you aren’t planning on going, Chef Robert is a great reason to go, don’t you think? 😉 Leave me a comment telling me what you’d say if you met Chef Robert or another celebrity chef.

While this is a part of Transitions #seemoresights series, this particular post was not a requirement. I chose to write this myself.


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TCBY Frozen Yogurt Pool Party #TCBYGrocery #CBias

Posted by html404 on July 14, 2012
in Food and Treats, Fun Stuff, Uncategorized


A couple of months ago a fellow homeschooler posted on our homeschool group that a friend was selling their pool. It was only used one season. We thought with all the land we had here that it would be great to have a pool to play in so we bought it. One minor detail….we neglected to ask the landlords first, as we really didn’t think it would be an issue. When we did, they talked among their sibling group – this sibling group manages the property since their dad has Alzheimer’s and is in a nursing home – they said no because it’s a liability. 🙁 You don’t know how disappointed we were. Now we have a nice 15ft by 36″ pool sitting in our garage all boxed up waiting for us to find our forever home….some day.

How can we have a pool party then without a pool? We played in the water at the outside tap. All our garden hoses were out in the garden and in the pasture with the chickens so we filled up water balloons to celebrate and used the water at the side of the house; which also happens to leak and spray all over the place and acted as our sprinkler. We did look for sprinklers at Walmart when we went shopping but there was only one style available and after envisioning the children breaking it, we opted to save the money. Things break easily and fast and lots at our house.

We bought our treats though!

Video of who the little princess above was aiming for! See the video below to find out! 😉

Our pool party was in celebration of National Ice Cream Day, which is tomorrow July 15. It has been super hot here lately. It’s like that every where from what we hear and read. And what better way to cool down than to play in cool refreshing water and snack on some TCBY Frozen Yogurt treats?! Fun, eh?

Leave a comment telling us what flavor frozen yogurt or ice cream you will eat in honor of National Ice Cream Day! Personally, I really like the Vanilla Bean, Orange and Chocolate. All the TCBY Frozen Novelties we tried are a hit with our crew. We really enjoyed TCBY’s frozen yogurt. Special thanks to #CBias for giving us the opportunity to try it for the first time! Hmmm…speaking of treats…wonder if there’s any left?

If you are interested in learning more about #TCBYGrocery, then please join us on Thursday, July 26, 2012 for a Twitter Party from 1-2pm EST. There will be chances to win some cool prizes too! In the meantime, check them out at TCBYGrocery.com, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.


“I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community. This content has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and TCBY #CBias #SocialFabric #TCBYGrocery. All opinions are my own.”


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Nail Buddy Review & Giveaway

Posted by html404 on July 13, 2012
in Guest Post, Uncategorized

A Guest Post

MyCouportiera and Dani Sue Dreams have teamed up with Me4Kids to bring you this amazing giveaway!

My Daughter Delaney loved the Nailbuddy kit from Me4Kids. Read our review by clicking here. Read more


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How to be a Frugal Online Shopper

Posted by html404 on July 12, 2012
in Coupons, Money & Finances, Saving Money, Shopping, Thrifty Thursday

I know most of us are watching our spending these days, especially with gas prices so high. That’s why when I learned of a new frugal website, I thought that you all would enjoy learning about it too, considering that most people desire to know how to be frugal when the economy isn’t at its best. The great thing is I got to speak with the founder as well.

Q & A Session

I spoke to Jon, founder of BeFrugal.com and asked him a few questions. Below you will find our short Q & A session about how to be a frugal online shopper:

TG: What was behind starting BeFrugal.com?

Jon: The whole purpose behind BeFrugal is how and where you spend money. Internet technology makes it all more efficient and getting a better deal when you do buy something. We first started with coupons and that was a huge success. Then we added restaurant coupons, etc. and the cashback on online purchases.

Get an average of 5% Cash Back at 3000+ Stores - BeFrugal.com

TG: What is Befrugal.com and how does it work?

Jon: The first thing is to sign up for a free account on our website. Just an email is required, no credit card. Membership is free. Once your account is set up, then you are free to browse through the tabs. For example if you are looking for an online coupon for a store you want to shop at you can do a search for that store and find coupons. We have over 200 chains of stores. There are online coupons for 40,000+ stores. After you have your coupon, you click on complete purchase. There is an average of $27 off with coupons. We also offer an average of 7% cashback.(This was just recently updated here.) You can double up on cashback and coupons for more savings! The savings can be pretty significant.

The coupons savings is seen at the point of purchase. The cashback is credited to your BeFrugal account and needs to reach a $25 balance as that is the minimum withdrawl.

Shopping Tips

TG: What are some of the biggest shopping tips you can offer my readers?

Jon: The cool thing about online shopping is that you can do your research first online even if you do your shopping offline. You can print your coupons before going into the store.
1. Shop online as much as possible. No standing in lines with people behind you waiting. Online shopping saves time and gas, which equals money saved too.
2. Budget.
3. Use promo codes.
4. Use BeFrugal.com because it’s much easier to stay organized.
5. Use cashback and coupons.
6. Use a rewards credit card with your cashback and coupons. In most cases you can use all 3 together – $27, 7% and another 1-2% saved adds up.
All of these are available thru BeFrugal.com

I appreciate the time Jon took to speak with me. Please check out BeFrugal.com to increase your savings today.


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Drawing, Art and the Magic Whiteboard

Posted by html404 on July 11, 2012
in Education, Fun Stuff, Reviews, School

My children love to draw. They create paper dolls, they draw pictures of families, animals and have lots of fun doing so. What’s that old saying about idle hands? Well drawing keeps my children mostly out of trouble because their hands are kept busy. They can draw for hours on end and be pretty quiet while doing so…until they start fighting over markers or crayons (grimace). Drawing has been a great activity to do inside during this hot spell we have been experiencing.

Last summer I invested in a number of wipe off activity books so my younger crew could practice writing their names, alphabet and numbers. I thought this would help save on the amount of paper we used, in addition to saving money. They worked really well, except now we go through more white board markers!

Speaking of whiteboard markers, drawing, art and the Magic Whiteboard have been lifesavers for me during times I need to get work done.

Magic Whiteboard is a roll of whiteboard paper that has 25 sheets per roll ($59.99 retail value). It is portable so setting up a whiteboard on the go never got any easier. The surface wipes off really well and is completely reusable. Ripping the sheet of whiteboard paper off straight and in one piece is challenging at times, especially now that my children broke the box the roll came in. 🙁 Update: Let me amend this by saying I completely missed the perforated sheets! It works great even with my broken box. (wry smile)

It works great for keeping little boys busy too. What do you think, is it a keeper? I would have to agree!

Interested in the Magic Whiteboard for your family? Feel free to connect with Magic Whiteboard on their website, Twitter , Facebook or Pinterest. Be sure to check out their other products too while you are there!

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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Cherished Sight & Sights #seemoresights

Posted by html404 on July 9, 2012
in Uncategorized

I think many people, including me, take good health for granted. I enjoy being healthy, but I don’t always make decisions that are good for my health. I don’t get enough exercise and still eat junk sometimes – I try but I really like chocolate and desserts, know what I mean? It’s not just my health I take for granted it’s having all my limbs and all my senses in tact. Just take eyesight as an example. Sure I wear glasses but I enjoy seeing everything around me and have been able to do so since I was born. Can you imagine life without your vision? I can’t. It’s hard enough stumbling through the dark house late at night from my recliner to my bedroom. I cannot comprehend not seeing all the beautiful things round me.

There are so many things in my life that I have experienced from visiting beautiful Costa Rica, the Calgary Stampede, Canada’s capital Ottawa, to the birth of each of my children, our family vacations to Florida, Texas, Georgia and Kentucky. Not to mention my surroundings where we live and where I grew up. I love taking a drive or walk down our road in the morning when there’s hardly any traffic and just enjoying the countryside or simply looking out in our backyard or walking through our fields. Or stopping to watch our chickens and turkeys in their moveable pens. Or what about watching our puppy run all over the yard. Or our children playing with the kittens. These are all sights I have the privilege of seeing every day and would miss without my vision.

My family and I live so close to Chicago we have the advantage of not only enjoying the country but also city sights. We love driving down Lake Shore Drive and seeing all the boats on the water in the summer time or taking in the dolphin show at the Shedd Aquarium or visiting the zoo and all it has to offer. What impressed me most when I moved to Illinois was how tall the buildings are in a big city like Chicago. Coming from the beautiful city of Halifax, Nova Scotia, a metropolis like Chicago makes Halifax (maybe 350,000 people, Nova Scotia doesn’t even have a population of 1 million) seem very small and quaint. I also love the Chicago skyline, it’s one of the things we always point out to our children when driving into the city. It’s very picturesque. If there were no such things as glasses, my husband, five of our children and I would not be able to clearly see all of these wonderful places. I am very grateful for my eye sight and eye wear.

One of the ways our family takes care of our eye sight is by regular eye check ups that includes checking the health of our eye as well as updating our prescription glasses. Did you know there are places and events that offer free eye exams? Transitions Optical will have a free vision exam booth at the Taste of Chicago Festival this week. Visitors will be able to receive on-site screenings as well as use their fun photo kiosk that will be available.

You can learn more about Transitions lenses, the official sponsor of sightseeing here: http://seemoresights.com/

Visit the sightseeing tour stop in Chicago: http://seemoresights.com/SightseeingCityTour/Chicago.aspx

More information about the Taste of Chicago event: http://www.explorechicago.org/city/en/supporting_narrative/events___special_events/special_events/mose/taste_of_chicago.html

Dates/Times: July 11 – 15, 2012 • Chicago, IL • Grant Park • 11 am – 9 pm

Here’s to taking care of our cherished sight and cherishing the sights we are blessed to see with our vision. Leave me a comment telling me your favorite sight this summer.

“I received compensation to participate in a SocialMoms and Transitions Optical blogging program. The opinions and ideas expressed here are my own. To read more posts on this topic, click here.”


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Post Bowls of Hope SIMPLE Service Project #PostCFK

Posted by html404 on July 6, 2012
in Giving Back/Charity, Uncategorized

Last week we went shopping at Walmart for Post Bowls of Hope SIMPLE Service Project #PostCFK. You can see all the photos of my shopping trip here. We purchased two boxes of Post Original Shredded Wheat for our family and Post Honey Shredded Wheat for our local food pantry. We also reached out to our church, homeschool group, food co-op and family. We only had a couple actually respond 🙁 Due to time constraints and distance, I did give people the option of just donating to their own local food pantry so they could help people in their own towns. Therefore, there may be more who donated but just didn’t let me know. It’s a little disappointing that more are not open and willing to give to those in need. I understand money being tight etc., but we are talking about a donation of less than $5. How many pay that in their Starbucks coffee or a trip to lunch at a fast food restaurant? Give those up for a day and that equals a box of cereal, know what I mean?

We donate to our food pantry several times throughout the year. I have had a box set aside to donate since our last Champions for Kids event. This project gave me the opportunity to finally take those boxes over. My husband and I went over and discovered it was closed due to it being July 4th. I would have thought they’d still be open as the needy still need to eat on the 4th of July too. They have such unique hours – 9-3 on M, W, F – that without a car during the day, it’s hard for me to get over there unless my husband is off from work. Due to my husband not being a able to get home in time today, we are going to take the food over next week. We have a small box of personal care products and a small box of food items.

In the past when I have asked, the food pantry has stated that they have a need for protein, so I would like to add a few cans of tuna to our box to help with that need since I forgot to pick some up last week. We do have two small jars of peanut butter in our box, but that is not a lot. The food pantry just doesn’t receive a lot of protein.

So has this campaign motivated you to help serve those who may be suffering from hunger? If so, please leave a comment and feel free to connect with Post and Champions for Kids at the following links:

Post’s Facebook
Post’s Twitter Handle
CFK’s Twitter Handle
CFK’s Facebook

“I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and Champions for Kids #CBias #SocialFabric. All opinions are my own.”


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Window Covering Safety Council – FREE Retrofit Kit

Posted by Brande on July 5, 2012
in Baby Products, Family Stuff, Free Stuff, Furniture, News Worthy, Parenting, Safety, Thrifty Thursday

At the Window Covering Safety Council website you can order a FREE retrofit kit for your blinds.  If you have some sort of blinds with a cord, please order these.  Those cords are so dangerous for children, I ordered mine this morning.

Order yours today!


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