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.

Safety First Summit High Back Booster

In our house cars are a big deal. I build classic cars with my dad and both of my girls spend a lot of HERE. Its also available in other colors.

time in the shop. Safety is our top priority both while working on a car and riding in one. Both of my girls rode rear facing tell they were 2 years old because that is the safest position for young kids. We also Harnessed tell they were at the upper limits of there harnessing seats. My oldest who is 7 years old and 47.5 lbs and is 3ft 11.5in tall has just now transitioned to a high back belt positioning booster when she reached the limit of her 5 point harness. My 5 year old is still currently riding in her 5 point harness and has about a year to go in it. She is 43.5 lbs and 3ft 8in tall.  The great people at Safety First provided me with some great tips for child passenger safety week and they also provided me with Safety First Summit High Back Booster to try out with my girls. The Summit High Back Booster is designed to be Forward-facing 22-40 with a 5 point harness system and then converts to a high back booster for children 40-100 pounds.  It includes side impact protection, 4 position QuickFit headrest that adjust with the harness for a better fit, no rethreading to adjust the 5 point harness. It has pivoting armrest and 3 buckle stalk locations, a cup holder and it Meets or exceeds Federal and ASTM Safety Standards.  You can buy the Summit at Walmart the color I received sells for $88.65 and you can find it

Over all the seat has a nice look to it but it is a wide seat so if you need to fit 3 across this may not be the seat for your car.  I did manage to get three across in my 08 Dodge Durango I had a Nautilus  in the outboard seat behind the drive my narrow radian 65 in the middle and I managed to have just enough room to install the Summit in the outboard passenger seat. This made the Nautilus in high back booster mode very hard to buckle there is no way my 7 year old could buckle herself in it but we managed to make it work for a quick trip into town.  Installing the Summit in the 2013 Camry with latch was very challenging. It did not want to tighten down enough It took me 4 try's and all my weight in the seat and fiddling with the latch belt to get it to tighten down. It was some what easier to install using latch in the Durango but it still does not tighten down as easily as my other seat does. I could not get a good install with the seat belt in the Camry but was able to get a decent install in the Durango using the seat belt in an out board seat.

My 5 Year old top harness
position.

My 5 year olds shoulder position

I tested the seat out with the 5 point harness first with both my niece and my 5 year old daughter. My daughter is on the very top harness adjustment and my niece at 3 years old has to use one harness adjustment down from the very top. It was easy to adjust with a quick click of the bar on the back of the seat. Tightening the harness up is very simple there is a pull strap in the front, that you simply tug to tighten. They both say the seat was
very comfortable and I heard no complaints on the trips we took using the seat.  I love the flip up arm rest they make it easier to get kid's in and out when they are not able to climb in on there own. Both girls like the cup holder and the arm rest.

yes I know I did not remove the buckle
stalk in the photo it must be removed
to use the seat as a booster.

Next I tested the seat as a belt positioning booster in my Durango. With both my 7 year old and my 5 year old. They both meet the height and weight requirements to use it as a booster. I buckled my 7 year old in first she is not able to buckle her self in it. She cant quite reach far enough to get the buckle to click but she has trouble with her other booster also. The shoulder belt sits where it should but does not lay flat on her shoulder there is a gap that I can slide my hand into between the belt and the front of her shoulder. The lap portion of the belt rides too high on her, it sits across her belly instead of her upper thighs. She did say it was comfortable to sit in and was quite disappointed when I had to tell her the lap belt did not fit her correctly and the shoulder belt was just too far away from her shoulder.
I then tried the seat with my 5 year old. Much to our disappointment the lap
belt rode very high on her belly and it also left a gap between the shoulder belt and her shoulder. With the Shoulder belt guide lowered down to the height my 5 year old needed,  we had trouble getting the belt to retract properly in the Durango.

Over all for us and the size of my Kids the Safety First Summit works best as a 5 point harness seat.

Disclaimer: I received the Safety First Summit High Back booster as a free gift in order to publish this review. All opinions are my own or that of my Kids.

Adventure Bible Kidz Bibles

Thanks to the great people at ZonderKidz.com my girls and I were given the wonderful opportunity to try out The Adventure Bible. We have received three versions of the Adventure Kids Bible in the last year and have enjoyed them greatly. The first Bible is the NIV edition and it is bound in leather. The second Is the New King James edition and it is a hard back book. The Third is the Adventure Bible for Toddlers. The Leather bound sells for $39.99 and the hard back sells for $29.99. The Toddler bible sells for $9.99. You can check out all the different Adventure Bibles HERE.

First I am going to talk about the Leather bound and hard back Adventure Bible. Both are beautiful children's bibles with lots of color. I do how ever have a preference for the leather bound version and so do the girls. There is just a certain feel about a leather bound Bible that is special. The pages on the leather bound bible have an added design printed on the edge of them that adds a little extra fun to it. The leather bound version also has a ribbon book mark where the hard back version does not.

Both bibles have the same great features: They are full color bibles, "Life in Bible Times" are articles and illustrations that describe what life was like in ancient days. "People in Bible Times" Articles offers a close-up look at amazing people of the Bible. "Words to Treasure" are great verses to memorize. "Live it" are hands on activities that help you apply biblical truths to your life. "Did you Know?" are cool facts that help you understand God's word and the life of faith. Both Bibles are listed for ages 9-12. My 7 year old second grader can read it well and is using it to gain a good understanding of God's word.  Both Bibles include colored maps in the back that the girls just love exploring. I love the "Did you Know" facts I have learned some great facts that I might never have learned. There is also a Bible Memory app that is available on the app store click HERE to check it out its $1.99. The app goes along great with the Adventure Bible we will begin using it next school year as a part of our Bible study lesson. I would love to see the Adventure Bible offered in the King James edition.

 Last but certainly not least we have to Adventure Bible for Toddlers. This is quite possibly one of the cutest toddler bibles I have ever seen. Its a hard back board book so its tough enough hold up to little hands. It covers ten wonderful stories from the Old and New Testament. Each story is written in color and beautifully illustrated and captures the attention of little ones well. The stories are written simple enough for little ones to understand. My three year old niece loves having this read to her by great grandma and has fallen in love with many for the Bible stories included in the Adventure Bible for Toddlers.











Disclosure: I received  these products free of charge in order to publish this review all thoughts and opinions are my own.