Glipit Bible

This week I received the glipit Bible I was very excited to get to try out a bible designed for kids. The

glipit Bible has a one-of-a-kind silicone cover. It was designed for kids ages 8 to 12. The silicone cover gives kids a unique way to create their own one of a kind custom Bible. Kids can spell their name, make a design, shapes, or just have fun popping the pieces on and off their Bible cover.  Each Bible comes with over 120 removable silicone pieces in four different colors including glow in the dark. The soft silicone cover is removable and washable and is easy to hang on to. It is written in NLT or New Living Translation. It has 26 pages of extra material in the front of the Bible to help kids know more about the Bible and God's Plan for their lives. The Glipit Bible comes in two colors purple and blue and it sells for about $24.99 and you can find it HEAR.
On arrival I thought this Bible is just cool. The cover looks great we received the blue one. The Glipit
is super fun to play with. I can see my self sitting in church popping these little silicone squares off an on the cover. I love the feel of the cover its soft and comfortable to hold. It has two silicone latches to hold you bible closed which is nice. My only real complaint is the print is very small. The bible is geared toward 8 to 12 year old so I expected a larger print.  I would say it is around a size 9 font kind of small for a child friendly print. Over all it is a nice bible the price is not bad. I love how easy it is to create a custom cover, and the glow in the dark pieces are very fun. So if you are in the marked for a fun bible for an older child this may be what you are looking for.

Disclaimer: I received the Glipit Bible free of charge from Tyndale in order to test this product for the review. All opinions are my own or that of my Kids. 

Rainbow Loom

Everyone has probably seen the Rainbow loom by now. Its been out for a while and with winter well on its way hear in Missouri I thought it would be a great beginning of winter product for the kids. You can buy the rainbow loom for around $16.99 depending where you go to get it. You can buy it directly from the Rainbow Loom site by clicking HEAR. You can also find them on Amazon, Michaels, and from several different sellers or you can get a list of retail stores from the rainbow Loom site Hear.

The basic kit comes with 600+ mixed latex free rubber bands,  the RBL hook with base opener, the Rainbow Loom and a set of directions. The box says 8years old and +  but my 6 year old is using it with adult supervision of course. They have a youtube channel where you can see videos of how to make different bracelets.  You can click HEAR if you would like to see some of demonstrations. 

The basic single pattern bracelets are fairly easy to make. Hotrod Princess picked it up fairly quickly and can now make a bracelet with just a bit of help. She has not tried to make any of the more complicated patterns. It is helping her fine motor skills and its helping her concentration. She has learned if she tries to jump around and doesn't follow the directions her bracelet will fall apart. It is also great for learning to make different types of patterns. I found that the youtube videos really help a lot with the more complicated patters. I made a ladder bracelet this morning It took me about 10 minutes to make it, watching and pausing the video along the way. Rainbow Loom  is a lot of fun. Its prefect for girls in the Tween age group. Once they start making them all their friends will want one. Its a great affordable last minute Christmas gift. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Disclaimer: I received a rainbow Loom and extra pack of rubber bands 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.

Double Wedding Ring

I have reviewed all sorts of products hear on my blog. What can I say I am a mom of many interest.Quilting

is one of my many hobbies. I love making baby quilts for all the new babies in the family. I have done some crazy patterns in the past but there has always been one pattern that I have been afraid to try. The Double wedding ring, it looks so complicated its got lots of tiny pieces and its all curves. My mind just keeps going back to how do I cut all those pieces and have them come out the same. I have just never been brave enough to try the pattern.  A few weeks a go Baycreek Quilting Products offered to send me a Acrylic Quilt template to review. They ask me to pick one that I would like to try. I was so excited I had never used a acrylic template this was going to be new for me. I had to flip through all the templates that they offer and decide on something.  Low and behold my dream pattern also my most feared pattern the Double Wedding Ring. I decided to bite the bullet and give it a try. I let them know what template I wanted and waited for it to come in the mail.

The templates are designed to help you cut your pieces more accurately. They are made of thick acrylic so you can use your rotary cutter safely.  I love love that the writing is etched on each piece so you can identify them easily. Its etched on so it doesn't rub off like paint would. Acrylic Templates save time and fabric and make it so you can cut multiple layers at one time. Baycreek Quilting templates are made right hear in the USA. Price's vary depending on size, color and what template pattern that you order. The one I received is the 15 inch Double wedding Ring. You can find it by clicking hear . The clear 15 inch sells for $24 and is worth every penny. The quality is much better than the ones I have looked at in the quilting stores and the prices are very reasonable.

This was my first Acrylic template so I was excited to give it a try. I pulled out my big box of scraps and started cutting. Its easy to use you basically lay it on top of your fabric and use your rotary cutter to cut around it. Each piece of the template is labeled with the name of the template and a letter. It did come with some simple instructions that were easy to follow. The only thing I would suggest about the directions is maybe put the template letter on the picture that they give so if someone was new to quilting they would be able to see how to assemble it a little easier. The templates have a 1/4 in seam allowance already included and this makes for nice cutting and sewing. After I got all the pieces cut out I laid out the arches on the table to make assembling them easier and faster. Sewing on this type of curve can be a bit tricky and I had to go slow. When It was all together this is how it came out. True to the template it was 15 inches. I couldn't be more please with how it came out and how easy the template made it all. 

I wish I had known about Baycreek Quilting templates sooner. These are perfect for both beginner and advanced quilters. I now have several BayCreek templates on my Christmas list.  http://www.quilttemplates.com/

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

Dr. Scholl's Active Series

I am an active person I work out about 4 days a week. Before I had the girls I was a runner, now I do interval work outs and long walks, hikes and bike rides with the girls. About a month a go I received a complimentary set of Dr Scholl's Active Series Insoles from Influenster to review. I haven't suffered from shin splints in years but I tend to get pain in my lower back and feet so I was excited to give them a try. I haven't had a good pair of insoles in years.  The insoles sell for about $18.15 at walmart.  The price is reasonable most insoles are in that range. The active series fit my shoes well I did have to trim the length down a bit as they are a multi size insole and they are full length. I recommend trimming them a little at a time and then trying it in your shoe. I wear a size 9 but I only had to trim the insole down to a size 10. So far they have held up good and give me a decent amount of cushion when running around after the kids or knocking out a interval work out. My lower back feels better after a long day at the park or being on my feet in the shop. They give me good arch support and I like the heal cup. The active series is said to reduce shock up to 40% All in all I think the new Dr. Scholl's Active Series gives a decent bang for your buck.

Disclaimer: I received this product for testing purposes free of charge from Influenster.

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.

Back-to-School Allergy Tips

As a mom with two little girls who both suffer from allergies I am always looking for a way to reduce allergens in our home. Iv been working with The Claritin  Moms Crew to help other moms with munchkins that suffer from seasonal Allergy's.  Today I want to share some very useful back-to-school allergy tips that Children's Claritin sent to me. I use many of these tips in my home and find that they really do help the girls.

1. Be sure to have Children’s Claritin, the #1 pediatrician-recommended non-drowsy allergy brand, on hand!

2. Multi-vitamins are building blocks to having a strong immune system. Make taking a multi-vitamin part of your

child’s daily routine.

3. Let there be light! Mold doesn't like sunlight, so try to keep your curtains open during the day. Should be easy

during the summer months!

4. Did you know that most pillows trap allergens, dust mites, and bacteria? Monitor the cleanliness of the pillow

your child with allergies sleeps on and replace if necessary.

5. Back to school season means lots of laundry for many moms. Be sure to remove laundry from the washing

machine promptly. Allowing wet clothes to sit in the washer means mold can quickly grow there.

6. Monitor pollen counts and adjust outdoor before and after school activities accordingly. Dry, windy days

can be particularly high in pollen.

7. Showering or bathing at the end of the day as opposed to the morning can be helpful in removing allergens

from body surfaces and hair.

8. Stay hydrated! Always send your child to school with a bottle of water. Drinking lots of clear fluids through the

day can help get rid of toxins and flush out body.

9. Peak pollen production typically occurs in early morning, so try to plan outside activities at other times of the

day.

Disclaimer: "As a member of the Children’s Claritin Mom Crew, I receive product samples and promotional items to share and use as I see fit. No monetary compensation has taken place and any opinions expressed by me are honest and reflect my actual experience." 

The LeapReader™ "Ready, Set, Read & Write" Party

I was given the opportunity to work with LeapFrog and MomSelect on a fantastic new Leapfrog Product.

Everyone Knows how much I love Leapfrog's learning products. So this was a great thrill for me to be able to host this party. Our Party was for the New LeapReader Ready, Set, Read and Write. We received a party pack to help us host the party. It contained two Leapreaders pre-loaded with Leapreader books and learning apps special for our party. LeapReader Books including Learn to Write Letters with Mr.Pencil writing Workbook, Talking words factory writing workbook and LeapFrog Disney-Pixar Monsters university 3d book and monsters university 3d glasses, Get Ready for kindergarten book, talking words factory flash cards, two Leapreader sampler books and lots of great information for parents and teachers regarding the new product.

I want to give you the basic information on the new LeapReader and how much it sells for on the LeapFrog site and of course my opinion of the product. First off The LeapReader starter system sells for $49.99 or LeapFrog offers several different bundle packages starting at about $79.99 to around $94.99. They offer the LeapReader pen in three colors blue, purple and green. you can find all this great stuff by clicking HEAR.

The new LeapReader is the complete learn-to-read-and-write solution. It combines all  three literacy skills, reading,writing, and listening. Practicing them together helps children learn the skills they need to help become confident independent readers.
First Up is the Learn to Read portion of the product a little like the original tag system you can touch the LeapReader to any page to sound out words letter by letter. Read the sentences in character voice and play fun games that help to build reading comprehension.  I love that the LeapReader can sound out the words when they get stuck. This is a great feature for new readers like the HotrodPrincess. She knows how to read but still gets stuck on words some times.

The Learn to Write Feature is new and is something the tag system does not do. You can use the LeapReader to trace letters and numbers and write words with interactive guidance as magic ink appears on special mess-free paper.  Thats right this baby teaching writing too and on mess free paper. That means it only writes on the special paper. No scribbles on the kitchen table score one for mom right. The Learn to write feature is Snoopy Girls favorite part. She is beginning to learn to write her letters and numbers and the guidance really helps her to make the letters correctly. The Interactive guidance helps to ensure she is getting the help she needs when I working with the HotRod Princess on something else.

Learn To Listen feature helps kids develop important listening skills, reading comprehension, trivia challenges and learning songs. The smaller kids loved listening to the stories and the bigger kids like the HotRod princess loved the Triva challenges and Snoopy and kids in her age range picked up the songs easily and were quickly singing along.

I also want to say that the LeapReader works with the tag books so all those tag books you already own can still be used a definite bonus way to go LeapFrog for making that possible. I love the big selection of books Leapfrog offers. My girls are book worms and we need lots and lots of books. With a library of 80+ books, audio books, games and more. there is enough to keep my girls reading for a while. The Girls love there tag system but they love the new LeapReader even more. I liked the Tag system but I am truly impressed with the improvements and upgrades that come with the LeapReader and I am so glad we were given the opportunity try it out and share it with friends and family. The party was big hit and the LeapReader is on the must have list for Christmas this year.

Pictures are from the leapfrog site because well I forgot my camera at home I will update with some photos and videos as soon as I get back.


Disclosure: I received these product at no cost to host this party for our friends at LeapFrog and MomSelect.  All opinions are my own or what my kids and guest thought of the product.

LoopRope

I am a do it your self kind of girl.  I can handle everything from building classic cars to wood working to sewing and quilting. I am forever finding my self needing to tie stuff down. When you have to tie something down you have one of two choices rope which is forever tangled up and if you stink at tying knots you risk losing your stuff.  Then there is the bungee cord  they are quick to use but you risk the hook coming loose and let me tell you from personal experience it hurts like you wouldn't believe when hits you, and at some point or another you are going to get caught in the cross fire when you try to stretch it just a little further to make it the right length. I recently found the LoopRope and this baby is a sweet. Its basically a bungee cord with loops along its length so that you can place a clip/hook at various points so you are not trying to over stretch it. You can make it just about any length or tension you need. Click HEAR to see the LoopRope site. They come in 3ft, 4ft and 5ft lengths and you can clip them together with there carabiner clips to make them longer if need be. They come in different packages prices starting at $13.95 on up to $59.95. They also offer different sizes of carabiner clips.

 I received the 5ft LoopRope Cargo Tie Down that comes with two stainless steel carabiner clips it sells for $23.95 Found Hear. I have tried the LoopRope out on a lot of things lately to see how it performed.  I strapped some lumber together with it. It worked well the loops gave me just the right length. The carabiner clips close completely around the cord so I didn't feel like it was going to pop loose. I tried the hooks on the edge of a truck bed a place where they can often times come loose and they held well I believe its because I could use the loops at different points so that it was not over tightened.  We ran it across the middle of our E-Z UP and hooked the clips on each side so that we could use the loops to hang out LED lights from. I even use it to strap the lid down on the trash can when our friendly raccoon decided to rummage in it for a midnight snack. It holds a trash bag on quite well too. It always seems to be the perfect length. I also love that I can hook more than one together to make it longer if need be. I even used it to strap down the bikes in the back for the truck. I love love love that it doesn't tangle up like rope does. It also fits neatly in the back compartment of the durango so that I always have it when I need it. The longer I have it I find my self wanting a few more of them. They would make a great clothes line for camping. I am thinking of getting a couple for my dad for Christmas this year they would be a great gift. 

Please remember that LoopRope is stretchy like a bungee and can snap back if you over stretch it. Use caution and take care when using. LooppRope should never be stretched over 50% of its un-stretched length.

Find LoopRope on: Facebook
See some videos of LoopRope in action on YouTube.

                                                                                   

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

Quietest classroom sharpener giveaway

In May I did a review on the Quietest classroom pencil sharpener. Its the best pencil sharpener we have ever had. The makers of the Quietest classroom pencil have given me the opportunity to host a Giveaway! That's right you have a chance to win one of your own. You can enter below you must have a US mailing address to enter. You must like classroom friendly school supplies on Facebook and follow my blog and leave a comment with an email address so that I may contact the winner.

 http://www.classroomfriendlysupplies.com/

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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.

Spring In your step

If you have kids like mine you probably know how it is to try and keep there allergies under control in the spring. As a part of the Children's Claritin Mom Crew I get to try our come great Childrn's Claritin products and I get tips and tricks to help my kid's through allergy season and I get to share it with all my mommy friends who's kids suffer from allergies. This month I received the 2013 preparedness checklist and tips to help keep me and my mommy friends prepared for 2013. It covers things like CPR flue season, spring cleaning and allergy removal just simple things you can do to make allergy season a little better. I also received a nifty box of Children's Claritin which is always handy to have and some flex-able hot and cold packs to share.

Disclosure I received these products free of charger as a part of the Children's Claritin Mom Crew.

CafePress

This week I was given the opportunity to select an item from http://www.cafepress.com to review. I
selected a T-Shirt because well I just love T-shirts with cool saying on them. Their are a tone of options on the site and it took me forever to decide what I wanted to get. I finally decided on a breast cancer awareness t-shirt. I always have a difficult time buying shirts on line. I never seem to get the right size. So i measured and used the sites sizing guidelines to choose a size. The shirt I wanted said that it was fitted and ran small so to size up if I did not want it to be snug. So I sized up one size and made my order ordering is very easy and simple.  The shirt came very quickly I believe it shipped out the next morning and arrived with in the week.  To my surprise my shirt was too big. With my measurements I guess I should not have sized up. But my measurements are always between two sizes. I contacted customer service to ask about returning it for a size smaller. I filled out the little form and stated that I wanted to exchange it for a smaller size gave the item number and the new size that needed. I got a reply back from customer service a little later that day. They told me they wanted me to be completely happy with my order and they would send me a replacement right away. I love great customer service and this place has good customer service to get back to me the same day and send out the replacement order the day after. I received the replacement T-shirt very quickly it actually got to me a day sooner than they had said it would.   

The Shirt fit wonderfully its comfortable and the quality of the shirt is great. Its made of a nice soft cotton so its perfect for every day. It washes well and hardly even wrinkled when I forgot and left it in the dryer over night. It line drys well too.  The color and style of the printing is vibrant and beautifully done.  Way better than most of what I have bought at some of the chain stores. I haven't noticed any fading either so I am confidant that it will look good for years to come.  Check out the Picture to see just how cool the shirt really is.

All in all I found the prices on the site to be very reasonable.The variety of items that they offer is great they have everything from clothing to I phone cases to water bottles.  I cant wait to order something else. Click the links to Check out some other great items like birthday invitations, Business Cards, greeting card templates.

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

Speed

I have been trying to teach the Hotrod Princess how to skip count for a couple months now. This seems to be something that she is having a hard time understanding. I have been looking for different ways to help her get the hang of skip counting and I have finally found a fun game that seems to work. Its called "SPEED". its made by highhill educational supplies and you can find it on amazon for about $18.99. You can click HEAR to find it.  "Speed" is  a fun card game that teaches kids to multiply and how to multiply faster. It even helps teach skip counting. Once kids are familiar with the numbers in a game, multiplication gets easier. The game consist of eight decks of cards 2's - 9's in which kids learn skip counting. Its a two player game where players play against each other to see who can get rid of all of their cards first. "Speed" is a great hands on multisensory game that is short and quick. Its perfect for kids that have short attention spans. The repetition of the game helps kids with memorization. Its great for all learning styles.

one of our games 

We have been playing "Speed" for a few weeks now and I can already tell that it is helping the Hotrod princess with her skip counting. We are still working with the 2's right now. I went over the directions a couple times to be sure I understood how to play the game and what the rules were. I explained it to the Hotrod princess and then showed her what we had to do. She picked up how to play the game very quickly.  Over the last few weeks she has gotten faster at playing "speed".  She now makes less mistakes when skip counting by 2's. I can only see things improving from hear as we advance through the game. I think my skip counting is even getting better. I have noticed that I am getting faster at figuring out what cards I can play next.  We have so much fun playing "SPEED" that she often chooses "Speed" over many of our other games. Its a very fast game so we can usually squeeze in a game or two while we are waiting for it to be time to go some place. It has become a great rainy day activity that we really enjoy . I cant wait for Snoopy to start skip counting so they can play together. She is already sitting with us when we play.

I wanted to see how my sisters son who is autistic would like the game. They came up this weekend and we played a few rounds. He did very well with it and seemed to enjoy playing the game with us. It was easy for him to understand how to play and I think it will help him get better with his multiplying skills. He learns best with hands on activities and "SPEED is very hands on. It's a fast game so his hands are constantly moving. This is very good for his need to fidget,  it keeps him moving and doing quickly which also helps with concentrate.

Their is also a "SPEED" app for the I Pad the light version is free and the full version is 99 cents. You can click hear to read some more about it hear on her blog.
You can also check it out on facebook

All in all "SPEED" is a great educational game that I am more than happy to have in my house. Its worth every penny.


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

The Quietest classroom Pencil Sharpener

Its no secret that I love a great classroom product and I love sharing them with you. On my quest to find something new this year I came across  http://www.classroomfriendlysupplies.com the makers of The Quietest Classroom Pencil Sharpener. That's right folks a pencil sharpener that's actually quiet. The Quietest classroom Pencil Sharpener has a sleek retro design an all metal frame and blades. Automatic stopping once the perfect point is formed. It works on all standard sized pencils. Has a clear disposal try that comes out for easy cleaning. Its so easy to use even my five year old can do it on her own. I also love that they sell replacement blades and they are very affordable. A single sharpener sells for $24.99 and comes in Blue, Red, Green, and Black. A package with one replacement blade sells for $14.99. They also sell a Teacher Specials where you get 3 sharpeners for $53.97 that's $17.99 each a great deal if you need more than one sharpener.

Me and the girls have been needing a good quality pencil sharpener for a while now and we were very excited when it arrived. We received the blue sharpener to try out in our home class room. The color is a tad lighter than what it looked on my computer screen but we all know how screens vary in color. It came in a box like most things that are shipped to you. Then the sharpener its self was in a clear flexible plastic box We are currently using it to store our sharpener tell we get the shelf for the classroom built. Then it will be clamped to the shelf. Assembly was super easy you basically have to put the blades in through a hole in the back and turn the locking ring. There is a hole on the front of the sharpener that you can insert the provided clamp into so that you can clamp it to a table or you can leave it portable. We are truly in love with the Quietest Pencil Sharpener. Its simple to use my kids cant keep sharpening the pencil away to nothing. It hardly makes any noise at all. Its a beautiful color so it looks cool in my class room also known as my living room. It can be clamped to a table or shelf or it can be left portable did I mention its got grips on the bottom to help keep is from slipping both when clamped down and portable. Its sharpened every pencil in the house several times over now and the girls are both writing more just because they want to use the sharpener to sharpen their pencil again. Its so easy that even my 3 year old can do it on her own. She says its hard to turn but she always gets the pencil sharpened. The only slight issue I have had with the sharpener is the clamp. The part that goes into the sharpener its self needs to be a bit longer. We have had it slip out of the hole a couple times. Its really not that big of an issue and would not stop me form buying the sharpener. because it really does do a Wonderful Job. Check out the video clip below to see it in action.

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