Kids Email Safe Email for Kids Review

I was well into high school before email came about. Times have changed now and kids are diving into the internet at younger and younger ages. Getting your own email account now seems to be a right of passage and most kids my daughter's age have had email for a while. But the internet is   a scary place for parents, with preditors and all the other things floating around that young kids, have no business seeing. For those younger children who want email, Kids Email has come up with a kid safe email program. We received A one-year Subscription to Kids Email Safe Email for Kids. 

This program is packed with cool safety features. 

Mail Monitoring: This feature allows you to get a copy of each ingoing and outgoing email to and from your child's account.

The Mail Queue allows you to intercept that does not meet the safety rules you have preset for each child.

Time Restrictions: This feature is handy. It allows you to set a time of day and or days of the week they are allowed to use email. You can even ground them... When grounded and they try to log in they will get a personal message from you. I tried this out even though my daughter is not grounded. I put in a message that said YOUR GROUNDED FOR NOT BRINGING ME A CUPCAKE! GET OFF THE COMPUTER AND BRING ME A CUPCAKE! She yelled back GET YOUR OWN CUPCAKE! YOU DIDN'T SAY PLEASE....

Contact Manager: this allows you to add family or friends to your child's contact list. It also allows you to block emails from senders that you don't wish your child to have contact with. I have my daughters account set so that she can only send and receive emails from people I have added to her contact list.

NO ADS big plus!

Spam Filtering: this is great my daughter has yet to receive spam so she is not getting hit with inappropriate content.

Setting Kids Email up was easy to do. It took her longer to come up with an email address than it did to actually set up the account. You can set up the account in one of two ways. As a younger child or as a teen. The main difference between the two is how the email address is seen one will show as @kidsemail.org and the older teen setting the email shows as @kmail.org. The teen option also has a different login page and a more adult feel to it. You can change your child's account from one to the other as they grow. During set up it will give you a list of safety options you simply select which ones you want to use and what things you want to allow.

Once your child logs in they send and receive email just like any other email program. They notice no real difference other than they can only email the contacts I have set in the contact list. The look and feel are very similar to other email programs I have used.


The thing I liked the most about the entire program is the fact that she can only email approved contacts. Currently, it is her email pen pal and me and a cousin. I also like how easy it is to change the settings and that I can check in with her and her friend to see what they are discussing. I like that it gives her some freedom in a safe environment. I don't have to worry so much about who she is emailing or who is emailing her. I also like that I can set time limits, for us she is blocked from email tell class time is over.

What she likes: She likes that she can talk with her pen pal. She enjoys having her own email account and that she can customize it. Kids Email gives her some different background options and allows her to organize her email folders. She can change the font and font color. She can attach a picture if she wants to. (this is an option you can turn on and off in the settings)

Overall we are very happy with Kids Email. I hope you will click the link below and see how the other Crew Families used the program.

Social Media Links:

• Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/KidsEmail.org/ 
• Twitter:  https://twitter.com/KidsEmail   
• Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/kidsemail1/
• Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/kidsemail/    Tag:   @kidsemail   
• Google+:   https://plus.google.com/b/112369875076902375218/+KidsemailOrg

Essential Skills Advantage Complete Home Learning Suite Review

We are testing out a program known as Essential Skills Advantage . They have several options but we received the Complete Home Learning Suite for this review. This is an online supplemental program. It has lessons on different topics, math, science, language arts, reading, geography etc. Has lessons for grade levels K-6th.  How ever not all subjects are offered in all grade levels. The program is composed of 43 individual programs 998 units totaling over 14,000 interactive lessons. Since we are at the end of our standard school year. We have been using this as our summer curriculum. Three days a week the girls do one unit a day under each subject that is available for the grade level that they are in. While this is not a complete curriculum it is a wonderful supplemental program. 

Like I noted above this is an online program so you will need an internet connection to use this program. I felt it covers a wide range of subject areas. All though I would not call this a complete curriculum because it doesn't cover quite everything needed to meet GLE. I do give it high points for a fun supplemental program

 My girls have really liked using this as there summer curriculum. My oldest has a high opinion of the spelling section. It gives her things like word searches instead of just typing or writing the words over and over, and I think that's what draws her to it. I have actually seen an improvement in her spelling and her understanding of what the words mean. 
They have both enjoyed the science units we have tried. We used two of them to go along with what we had just finished up in our regular curriculum. We started with one on the solar system. It was great for filling gaps and brushing up on the topic before we took the end of year test. It covered some things like phases of the moon that our other curriculum did not cover. It really rounded things out well. The girls wanted me to mention that the graphics were great and the activities or experiments were FUN even though they were on a computer.

My little one is my math nut she said the lessons were fun and she didn't mind doing them. She felt they were explained well and frequently ask to do ESA math over a paper workbook. She had no real issues with it and seemed to glide on through each unit. My 3rd grader was a little frustrated at times but we seemed to be able to work though it after I played with the math lessons my self to see how they worked. Her least favorite part was the riddles, but she doesn't like riddles any way so that was no surprise.

Grammar was also an area that my 3rd grader spent some time on. She took to it quite well, She liked the bite sized lessons. She said the smaller shorter lessons made it less over whelming to do. That's a bonus in my book. Grammar can be so over whelming for younger kids. This is broke down about as simple as it can get. 

We hit up the reading section last week. So we haven't been using it all that long and we have only used the story time section. But I like what I see and what I am hearing from the girls. Story time gives a short story then some questions about the story after. The questions all fit the story and the stories are entertaining enough that the girls are not complaining about having to read them. I did find a few things in the first grade reading that I felt were a little below first grade. But you can easily skip over them or just do them quickly as a review. Every child reads at a different level so may be its just my child. 

 I was a little disappointed that all the subjects are not offered for each grade level. But that was my only disappointment and I was only disappointed because we like it so well I want my little one to be able to do all the subjects. 

Click the banner below and read the other crew reviews. 

Social Media Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/skillsadvantage/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SkillsAdvantage @SkillsAdvantage
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/SkillsAdvantage
Google +: https://plus.google.com/u/0/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/skillsadvantage
Blog: http://buyesa.com/blog/

Big Happenings

Some exciting events are about to happen at our house. I have been blessed with two amazing opportunities. In December I will be Joining the 2015 School House Review Crew. Which means I will be blogging more about our weekly activities but I will also be putting out more reviews on some really cool educational products. I am so excited to see what the Crew has to offer this year. This is a Huge Blessing for our Family.
The second big event Drum Role please........... I start my first official collage class I finished my registration earlier this month and my class is set to start in January. I'm only enrolled in one class, its more for personal enrichment than anything else but I am excited and blessed to have the opportunity to take the class. Aroma Therapy is something I have used for years and I have always wanted to take it to the next level.  The girls are enjoying the fact that mommy will have school work to do. I am excited to see where the new year will take us, I hope you be here to enjoy the journey with me. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Yummi Pouch

A few years a go a company came out with pouches filled with apple sauce and other blends that your kids could eat right out of the pouch no spoon required. If you are a parent you have probably fed one to your kid at some time or another. Both of my girls loved them and I found them to be very handy. That is in tell the girls got big and wanted to eat two or three at a time and I realized they were just too expensive for big kids to eat. I always loved the idea though and kept thinking someone needs to make refillable reusable pouches.  Well someone finally did they are called Yummi Pouch you can find them HERE . They come in sets of different sizes and price ranges from $8.99 to $35.00 depending on how big the set is and the size of the pouches. Pouches come in three sizes 2.5 oz, 6 oz  and 10 oz.  They come in white and blue are the solid colors they carry and then they have a set of pouches with patterns on them that are different colors.  Check out the pictures to see what they look like. Yummi Pouch are both BPA and PVC free. The best part they are completely reusable. We received a couple pouches in the different sizes and colors to test out.


First up ease of use they are very simple to use put the cap on the
pouch open the zippered end and pore in what ever puree your kids like and zip it shut just like a ziplock bag. We used apple sauce for our test just because that's what the girls wanted. I used a small funnel which worked well or you can spoon it in which worked equally well.  I found filling easy I did need to rinse off the zipper end of the pouch after I closed it as I tend to dribble a little but its was not a big deal. After I fill them I keep them in the fridge for the kids to grab as a snack or for use to take to the park.  You can also pop them in the freezer for a cold snack or to pack in a lunch box. To eat them you simply twist off the cap and suck or squeeze it into your mouth. They also have a spoon attachment that you can buy if you prefer it. My kids just like sucking it right out of the pouch.

I found washing to be easy they are dish washer safe just rinse with warm water expand and put them up side down in the dishwasher so the zipper part is facing down. I wash mine by hand because well we don't have a dishwasher at the moment.  I toss them in a sink of hot soapy water with the caps off and swish them around this usually gets them clean. Some times the zipper will get a little yuckie but i found a small brush like you would use on a baby bottle nipple works well to clean the zipper. It also fits in the spout nicely.

I was a little worried about the zipper popping open when the girls squeezed them because lets face it they get a little rough some times. So far we have never had one come open I even gave one to my two year old niece just to see if she could pop it open.  We found them to be tough pouches and I think they will last a long time. We have taken them every where to the park, on walks, in our back packs. Yummi Pouch has become our go to snack when we are out and about. I am truly happy with them in every way. I think I will get a couple of the pouch covers to help keep our Yummi Pouches cool this summer.

Disclosure I received this product free of charge so that my family could test them out and tell you what we thought. I did not receive any money for this review all opinions are mine or that of my kids.  

Tommee Tippee Sipppy Cut

Introducing the Tommee Tippee limited edition sippy cup line. It's called the "Three Ring Circus" Collection. It features a new design on the brands signature spill proof Drink Cup, Sporty Bottle, Spout Cup and Straw Cup. Check out he picture to see the new designs. They are now available at Babies R Us they sell for right around $7.00 for a 2 pack and come in both boy and girl colors.
I used Tommee Tippee spill proof drink cups when the girls were younger I think I had all the styles at one time or another. I honestly loved the cups they worked great and I think the only time I ever had trouble with them leaking was when my daughter would get the lid loose.  They are great cups and they both of my girls loved them. We received a two pack of the new straw cup design and even though my girls are a tad big for spill proof cups they are in love with them. My 4 year old has drank so much water in the last week I am starting to wonder if she is going to float away.
I only have one small issue with the new straw cups we received. Some times the girls complain that they cant get anything out of it when the cup is full.  I think the girls are just sucking too hard on the straw and collapsing the soft flexible portion of it. They are older kids 6 and 4 and have more sucking power than a toddler does.
Like many spill proof cups there are a couple pieces you need to take apart when you wash. Its not a big deal for me and I found them to be simple enough to take apart and put back together.

Disclosure: I received a two pack of the Tommee Tippee Straw cup to test out for this review. All opinions are my own or that of my kids.

Closer to Nature Orthodontic Pacifiers

Both of the girls were very picky on what pacifier they used.  We had a bunch of them laying around

pictures provided by tommee tippee.

that they did not like.  Tommee tippee was one that my youngest preferred. tommee tippee is announcing its new pacifier that is now available at Target, Babies R Us, and Buy Buy Baby. The new Pacifier set sells for about $6.99. The new pacifier has some great new features that I know my girls would have loved.
The new pacifiers are similar to tommee tippee's signature bottle line and use a nipple that is similar to the Mother's breast. They are specially designed for baby acceptance from the first attempt. They feature a symmetrical orthodontic shape and a traditional shield style with fun modern designs.  tommee tippee pacifiers are made from BPA and phthalate-free silicone. They are available in three sizes 0-3 months, 0-6 months an 6-18 months. The pacifiers come in both boy and girl colors and re dishwasher/sterilizer safe.

I received both a boy color and a girl color, I love the different sizes my girls used to gag on the pacifier if they were too big.  They are equally adorable I love how soft the nipple is it feels softer than some of the ones he girls had. The curved shape would fit baby's face comfortably and I love that the ring lays flat so that its not bulky.

Disclaimer: I received a couple sets of Pacifiers from tommee tippee free of charge in order to test this product for the review. All opinions are my own or that of my Kids

Homeschool Helper App

As some of you know I homeschool my two girls. On challenge of home schooling is record keeping. I am lucky enough to live in a state that doesn't require a lot for record keeping. That being said I keep track of more than what my state requires mostly so that I can see there progress. We do a lot of on the go learning and hauling my laptop around is not always the best of options. I also find my self spending an hour or more every night logging lessons, time and grades for just one child. I will have a second grader and a kindergartner next year. With my current system that would mean 2 hours or more a night just for logging hours grades and assignments. Not counting the time that I will have to spend pulling together the next days work. I knew I needed an easier and faster system if I am going to survive next school year.

Home Page and super cool steaming coffee cup

I have had an android tablet for a couple years now. I mostly just use it for reading. I really don't have that many apps on it but it seems to go every where with me so I will always have a book. One day it hit me wouldn't it be great if there was a Homeschool app. Guess what I found the HomeSchool Helper App. Its available for both android and Ipad, and nook color and you can get it in the amazon store for Kindle.  It sells for only $4.99.  I immediately sent them an email and they agreed to let me review it.

The price is amazing  for less than meal at McDonalds I could get a HomeSchool app that would make my day easier. You just can beat $4.99. Its a one time cost including all updates.

Grade Calculator 

Some of the key features of the HomeSchool Helper are: the ability to track an unlimited number of students, manage students over multiple school years I love that I will be able to use this for years to come. You can duplicate students for effortless setup of similar students, record grades and track lessons for up to 14 different subjects, per student.  It has a grade calculator with (pasting ability) that makes figuring our grades so much easier. You can do a separate grading scale for each student and you can use a grade based or pass/fail based for your grading. Create lessons for any subject, the Lesson viewer provides calendar view of all lessons, with drilldown, You can auto create batches of lessons to save you time gotta love time savers. It has great lesson features that allow you to bump lessons, copy lessons and mass delete lessons. You can auto create grades from any lesson to avoid duplicate keying.  HomeSchool Helper has the ability to do lesson reports with parameters that can be emailed to students. You can also manage book list, field trips, task list. You can track daily attendance with no keying. It gives me the ability to Track time spent on each lesson with reporting this is  an important feature as it is a state requirement for us and I was very happy to see it. Reports can be viewed, saved or emailed for storage or printing. and you can do reports for just about everything (ex: report cards attendance, summary's and more)

Attendance Calender 

This app is beautiful It looks like a fancy planner when you open it. You click the steaming coffee cup for your settings. There is a sticky note for your help button. The eraser is the edit button. Click the pencil to add a new student. There is even a ticket you click for family field trips. The opening lay out is beautiful and so easy to use. I had both girls listed as new students with in minutes.
The grade calculator is probably one of my favorite features. I love that I can use it with out closing the assignment I am working on. It makes putting in grades and assignments so much easier.  I can add as many school years as I need to. There is no limit on the number of students. So I can use this baby forever. We do a lot of field trips and its great that I can log them while we are there and make notes. Being able to print off my records is also an important feature for me. I feel the need to have hard copies of everything, it makes it easy for me to print and store this years records with this years portfolio work that I am required to keep. The only feature that might be missing is the ability to create transcripts for high school students.  For us its not a big deal, there are lots of programs to help you write transcripts when the time comes.
HomeSchool Helper keeps everything together in one nice neat package. It keeps track of everything I need. Its easy to use and it looks beautiful. Best of all the price is fantastic for my classroom budget.  Below you can see the HomeSchool Helper App Trailer it shows you some of the great features of the app.

Find them on Facebook
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Buy that app on Amazon
See the website

A big thanks goes out to HomeSchool Helper for providing me with a free copy of the app to review all opinions are my own.

Cuppow

Hear in Mo we drink our sweet tea from a Mason Jar. What can I say its just the way things are done around hear. While surfing around online one day I discovered Cuppow. If you drink from a Mason jar Cuppow products were made just for you. Cuppow makes these great mason jar drinking lids and a lunch box adapter called the BNTO that allows you to store dip right in side your wide mouth canning jar for lunches on the go. The Adapter lids allow you to turn any mason jar into a travel mug and they come in several different colors and you can get them for both wide and regular mouth jars. The adapter lids sell for $7.99 and the BNTO lunch box adapter sells for $7.99. The are all made of recycled BPA free plastic and are Made right hear in the USA and packaged with recycled material. you an find them by clicking HEAR

I received one wide mouth drinking lid and one regular mouth drinking lid and one BNTO to try out. To use the drinking lids you unscrew the jar lid replace the seal with the cuppow  screw the lid back on the jar and your done. They are reusable and have held up well with all the washing they have gone through in the last month. I only have the two lids so they get washed a lot. The hole on the drinking lid is designed so that you can used a straw in it. I don't normally drink with a straw but I tested it out just to be sure it really would fit and it worked wonderfully.  With Cuppow I don't worry about my drink getting spilled so much and its super comfortable to drink out of.





I also received a BNTO this was a totally new but I was excited to try it out. With the BNTO you will need the both the ring and seal to your jar. Take off the ring and seal put your snack in side in our case it was celery sticks. Drop the BNTO into the jar put in your dip ranch dressing for us. Replace the seal and ring and your set to go. Its completely reusable and it looks super cool and its all in one so it saves space. The girls though it was handy they kept asking what else we could put in it, one of them even suggested soup in the bottom and small soup crackers in the BNTO. Chips and cheese, Oreos and Milk the list goes on and on.


Disclosure: I received this product at no cost for review. All opinions are my own or what my kids thought of the product

Hot Straw

Have you ever burned the heck out of your mouth or spilled hot coffee all over your self while trying to take a drink of hot coffee while your driving. Yup been there done that several times. And how hard is it to take a drink of something hot while walking and push a stroller.  Lets face it its tricky but moms do it every day.  What mom is going to go with out coffee right.  Well Moms and coffee drinkers let me introduce you to my little friend the Hot Straw. I received a package of blue Hot Straws to try out. Hot Straw is a special straw designed for drinking hot stuff. Get this it doesn't melt or get soft in hot liquids. It Helps to prevent spills, Keeps Teeth Whiter, Its BPA Free, Dentist recommended reusable and Eco-Friendly. Wait there is more Its made in the Good Old USA. An get this its got a flat design so it fits in those funny lids that come on to-go cups.  You can find Hot Straw at www.hotstraw.com . Hot Straw comes in red blue pink and green. They come in two different lengths so you can order a straw to fit your favorite cup they come in 9in and 7in lengths. They are sold  for $ 8.49 and come with 4 in a pack. Or you can order combo packs for $15.29 and $25.99. Hot Straw even sells a cleaning tool for getting your straw super clean it sells for $3.50.

Pros:

• Well I love Hot Straw I can take my coffee with me in the car not worry about spilling it all over my self while trying to drive. 
• It is shaped to fit in the hole on those funny lids that come on to-go coffee cups.
• Its BPA Free  
• IT'S MADE IN THE USA
• Hot Straw is Dentist Recommended
• Its REUSABLE
• The Kids love drinking hot coco out of it and less of it ends up on there shirt.
• I also feel the price is affordable and budget friendly since they are reusable and should last a while if you take care of them.

Cons:

• Your are still drinking something hot and you still need to be careful.  OK so that is not really a Hot Straw con but I couldn't come up with any real Cons  

Disclosure: I received this product at no cost for review. All opinions are my own or what my kids thought of the product the photos are my own of the product I received but the logo at the top is from HotStraw.

Thera Pearl

Over the last 5 years my girls have known there share of boo boos. We have been very lucky to only have minor bumps and scrapes and nothing serious. Those minor bumps and scrapes still hurt though and I have found a great product to make those minor bumps and scrapes feel better. Children's Pals by the Threa Pearl company http://www.therapearl.com/products/pals-for-kids/ 


Children's Pals sell for $5.99 and I would love to have one of each. There is Ping the Panda, Buddy the puppy, Ribbit the frog, and Pearly the Pig. All four are just adorable we were given the opportunity to try out Ribbit the frog. He is a cute little green frog that measures 3.75 in x .75 in x 5.5 in he fits in the palm of the girls hand quite nicely. Just chill a Pal in the fridge or freezer or you can pop it in the microwave. Then apply the cold or heat for up to 20 minutes. Of course you need to be careful that you don't get it too hot. Please use caution and common sense when using a Pal. Children's Pals have won a Parent Tested-Parent Approved award for quality and appeal. They were tested by and independent lab and verified that there are no heavy metals, VOCs or BPAs. Pals are safe hypoallergenic and reusable. 

We got Ribbit in the mail last week and right away I stuck him in the fridge. It gets cold quite quickly and I love that i can put it in the fridge or freezer. I also love that I can heat him up a bit if we need a heat pack for some reason  The girls played with him for a while testing him out on various areas where they might get a boo boo. This weekend Snoopy stepped on a bee at park and we got the chance to use him for real. He worked very well I carried it in our lunch bag with my frozen water bottle to keep it cold. Yes I could have just stuck my frozen water bottle on the sting but that would not have been as fun or as flexible as a Pal. This cute little frog had her smiling in minutes.  Ribbit is a great little guy and we have used him on everything from scrapes and bruises to itchy mosquito bites.  Ribbit has become a great friend and we plan to keep him around for as long as we can.

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The Best part about Children's Pals: 
They are reusable
Can be use for Hot or Cold
The Price is fair.
They my girls feel better when they get a Boo Boo and that is priceless.

 

Click below to Find Thera Pearl on
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Disclosure: I received the Children's Pal free of charge in order to test the product to write the review. All opinions are my own or that of my kids.

FunBites are Back

FunBites are back to kick off the new school year with a cool new shape Triangles. We got the opportunity to work with FunBites again.  We love the other FunBites shapes that we tried out last year and were excited to add Triangles to our collection. We use them on everything sandwiches, pancakes, french toast, cake, toast, cheese, hamburgers you name it we have probably tired to cut it with FunBites. We found the triangles to be just as easy to use as we did the other shapes. The girls love cutting things up with them. FunBites makes perfect bite-sized pieces for school lunches trips to the park etc. Hears how you do it and a little bit more information in case you didn't catch it last time.

FunBites is the first state of the art kitchen tool that cuts kids food into bite sized fun shaped pieces. They are 100% made in the USA!,they are BPA Free and top Rack dishwasher safe.

To use follow 3 easy steps:
Step 1: place FunBites cutter on top of food. Remove popper top and set to the side.
Step 2: Grab cutter handles on both sides press down firmly and rock 5-6 times to cut through the food.
Step 3: Lift the cutter up, insert popper top and pop out the bite-sized pieces!

That's all there is to it.

Hears a Quick shot of the FunBites triangle straight from the FunBites site.












Disclosure: I received the FunBites Triangle shape free of charge in order to test the product to write the review. All opinions are my own or that of my kids.

Dial A Smile Teeth Whitening System

www.whiteninglighting.com 

Every mom wants one of those movie star gleaming white smiles. But like most moms I feel having it done at the dentist is just too expensive and time consuming.  I am teaching two kids and trying to keep a house up and running. I don't have time to hit the dentist office just to whiten my smile. Well this week my movie star white smile came to me in the mail. Yup I received a great little package from the Dial A Smile Professional Home Teeth Whitening system. Its called whitening Lightning its a professional home teeth whitening system. You get 3 treatments in the box and it says it will teeth 3-4 shades whiter in 20 minutes. You can find it hear www.whiteninglighting.com  and if you use this coupon code  Juliekit at check out  you can get the kit for $69.00. its a lot cheaper than going to a dentist and I can do it in my house while the kids are working on a project or napping. 

Ok so whats in the box you get 1 paper shade dial, 1 dispensing tub, 1 hand held LED light, 1 gel syringe that contains 3

treatments, 3 teeth wipes, 1 applicator brush, and 3 vitamin E swabs. and some directions.

So basically you hold this shade guide up to your teeth and determine what shade your teeth are.  First you squeeze out 1.5ml of the whitening gel into the dispensing tub. Then you use one of the teeth wipes to dry all of your teeth using a circular motion. next you snap off the blue striped end of one of the vitamin e swabs and apply it to gums and inside of lips it helps to protect your lips and gums from the whitening gel. Next you use applicator brush and brush on a generous amount of the whitening gel to your teeth. You want to be sure to smile wide to limit how much gel gets on your lips and gums. Then you turn on the LED and hold it no more than 1-2 in from your mouth for 20 minutes. The directions also say that you can put it directly in your mouth but it may cause sensitivity so do what feels comfortable. So that's the short version of the directions. 

So this after I read the directions a couple times over I decide why not give it a try. I take the little shade dial in the bathroom and determine my teeth to be between a 4 and a 5. Next up is drying my teeth with the wipes this part was not so bad and went rather quickly. I applied the vitamin E swab trying to be sure I get my gums and lips covered good.  Next comes applying the gel. try to smile big and apply this stuff to my teeth really wasn't hard because HotRod Princess was standing next to me making faces and whose not going to smile at that.. I Opt to put the light in my mouth because honestly I can see my self holding this thing 1-2 inches from my mouth while i try to smile and help the girls do class work. I set the timer for 20 minutes. ....... and I wait and wait and wait. ok who knew 20 minutes could be this long right. I feel like a total goof ball walking around the house with this blue light in my mouth but hey the girls think its funny and kept making faces at me.  My 20 min is finally up I brush off the gel and bam my teeth are noticeably whiter about 2-3 shades. I am quite happy with it so I decided to store my other two applications in the fridge( the directions say I can do that) and use it at a later date. The company does recommend not eating or drinking anything that can stain your teeth with in 24 hours.  Results will vary and how long it last depends on what you eat and drink but that goes for whitening treatments done at dentist offices also. Its also not recommended for expectant or nursing moms.  

Before

after

                                                                                    
Disclosure: I received this product at no cost for review. All opinions are my own or what my kids thought of the product.

90 Days Thru the Bible

I recently got the chance to review a book for the Tyndale Publishing company. the book is called 90 Days Thru the Bible. First I want to give you the blip from the back of the book. 

as you can tell the pages are well loved. 

Embark on a 90 day journey to understand the heart of God's story like never before. You may believe the bible's overall message, but have you truly grasped the whole story We know god's message of love is so simple that even a child may embrace it, and His epic story is complex enough to mystify even the most curious intellect. We want to understand the Scriptures more deeply, to fully share in the Great Story that God has been telling throughout the ages, though perhaps we aren't sure where to start.

In 90 days Thru the bible, acclaimed writer Chris Tiegreen and Walk Thru the bible guide you through the various sections of scripture, meditating on how each story and theme, like the pieces of a puzzle, beautifully contribute to God's masterpiece of love,faith, and salvation. You'll come to understand the true heart of God- and the awe-inspiring story He's telling in your own life-in an incredible new way. 

Im a busy home schooling mom I am a very religious woman I have a strong belief in God. But to be honest I cant always find the time to read my bible. So when I got the chance to try out 90 Days Thru the Bible I was excited to give it a go.  90 Days Thru the Bible is a nice little devotional. It does not go in depth with the Bible but it does gives a good general understanding of the Bible and what its about. I like that the devotional gives a simple understanding of the scripture's being taught. It gives me reflection questions at the end of each days lesson.  This  helped me to further explore the scripture that was taught that day and what it means to me and the way I lead my life.  90 Days Thru the Bible is a wonderful way to get in touch with the Bible and all that it can teach us. It has encouraged me to find more time to read my Bible and be closer to God. 

You can find 90 Days Thru the Bible at a lot of book stores but Ill give you the link to amazon in case you would like to try it out.f  http://www.amazon.com/90-Days-Thru-Bible-Devotional/dp/141435309X

Its also available on amazon in the Kindle Edition.

Tyndale House Publishers has a lot of amazing books that me and the girls would love to read you can check out the company hear http://tyndale.com to see all they have to offer. 

 

 

Disclosure: I received this product at no cost for review. All opinions are my own or what my kids thought of the product.

SoapTime

Everyone knows when kids get sick the hole house ends up getting sick. The best way to prevent a illness is proper hand washing. With cold and flue season in full swing. I thought there was no better time than now to show off a great new product called SoapTime! SoapTime uses a multimedia "Edutainment" experience of lights, music, and fun facts to keep kids at the sink for 20 seconds. the proper time to ensure clean hands. SoapTime's elephant, ABC and Earth shaped soap bottles snap onto the SoapTime smart Base. The Smart base provides 6 unique songs and factoids for each bottle, which play during its custom LED light shows. Sells for $16.95 for a 4 piece set you get 1 Smart Base 1 Elephant bottle, 1 ABC bottle, and 1 Earth shaped bottle. Each soap bottle is 8.4 oz.


You can click HERE to buy it at SoapTime's secure E-commerce site.
You can check out the SoapTime website http://mysoaptime.com has some really great stuff and you can even listen to some demos of the SoapTime smart base.

I love SoapTime its adorable and it works!  SoapTime gets my girls to wash there hands.We have been using it for about two weeks now and we have use three bottles of soap. Yup we have really really clean hands in our house. The girls love this thing so much they are even singing along with the songs. Check out the video below of the HotRod Princess and Snoopy singing along as she washed up before bed.

The Base has some cool fun lights the girls like to wash there hands in the dark because they think the lights are cool. The lights show up really well in the light too. The volume is great, Its loud enough for them to hear it well but not so loud that it runs you out of the bathroom. The Smart base runs on 3 AAA batteries and is still going strong after 2 weeks and three bottles of soap. Led lights help keep the batteries going stronger longer.
All the bottle shapes are nice but the girls have taken to the elephant for some reason could be the cute elephant head. The soap doesn't have much of a smell to me and I like that, I hate heavy scented soap. All of the SoapTime soap is Non-Toxic and Non-Antibacterial. The Elephants soap is beautiful purple colored and has a very light lavender scent. The ABC soap is orange in color and has a light citrus scent. The Earth bottle is a nice shade of green and has a light apple scent. I love the apple scent the most the girls don't seem to have a scent preference.

I thought everyone might like to see what SoapTime looks like in the dark so I did a video with the three different bottles. I played one audio from each of the bottles. The earth shaped bottle was first, the ABC bottle was second, and the elephant bottle was last playing my daughters new favorite tune.

 I can see SoapTime sticking around our bathroom for a long time to come. 

Disclosure: I received this product at no cost for review. All opinions are my own or what my kids thought of the product.

Eitech Construction Set

I have two little girls who are builders they love putting things together and taking them apart. When I got the opportunity to work with Eitech on a review of one of there products. Eitech makes construction sets for kids. They have kits to build cars plains, dump trucks, tractors, buildings etc. You name it they probably have a construction set to build it. We received the Basic Helicopter Construction set. It is geared for ages 6 and up you can find it hear on there site http://eitechamerica.com/Basic/C47/Eitech_C47.html  sells for about $12 depending on where you order from. They have a wide selection for different age groups from as little as 4 years old to 8+. Prices vary depending on the item.  Hear are a few of the construction sets they offer.

The Eitech Construction Set we  received is for ages 6+ so mommy had to help with the assembly a little. My oldest is 5 and she is very handy with a screw driver. The kits come with everything you need to construct your kit. Ours included a little screw driver and a small wrench to tighten the screws and nuts.  The directions are simple pictures showing you in stages what to assemble next. For the Kit we received there are three pieces that you will have to bend a little the directions show you which ones to bend and how.  The parts were very easy to bend with just my fingers. It was simple to assemble took me about 10 minutes because I stopped to take pictures. It went together nicely and looks just like the picture on the box.  The main rotor and tail rotor even spin very cool in the girls opinion. It is a little smaller than I expected it fits in the palm of my hand. So I wouldn't leave it laying in the floor.

 I took it back apart again so that the Hot Rod princess could try constructing it. I had to help her some with figuring out what part to assemble next but she didn't have any trouble tightening the screws but she did need a little help getting the nuts started. It took her a bit longer to assemble it than it took me but she is only 5.  All in all its a great product that looks and feels like it will hold up as long as it doesn't get left in the floor for mom to steps on.

I think Eitech Construction sets would be a great gift for any little builder. We plan to get a few other models for the girls to construct. http://eitechamerica.com 







Disclosure: I received this product at no cost for review. All opinions are my own or what my kids thought of the product.