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Junior Edition: Reverse Charades Review

Posted by Professor on December 1, 2012
in Family Stuff, Fun Stuff, Gift Ideas

Reverse Charades ~ Junior Edition

Reverse Charades is a hilarious twist on a classic stand-by (where one person acts out words for the team to guess ~ boring)! With Reverse Charades, the entire team has 60 seconds to act out as many words as one person can guess. It is fast paced, fiercely fun team competition that is an absolute riot with families. work teams, school groups, party-goers or among a few close friends. But be warned… you are in for big ad dangerous does of fun!

Contains:
360 double-sided word cards
sand timer
instructions

Basic rules (from the publisher):
1. Split into teams of three or more. Decide on a number of rounds or a point target to win.
2. 1 word guessed correctly = 1 point. Each team has one minute to guess as many words as possible.
3. Each team selects a guesser (everyone gets a turn) and the rest of the team acts out the words.
4. Shhh! Not a peep among the team members.
5. Ready, set, go!

720 words, for 6+ players ages 6 and up, geared towards Kids & Family.

Our Review:

This was a great game for our family. We brought it to Thanksgiving at my in-laws …and played it with everyone! We played with a total of 4 teams ranging in age from 4 – 65. It really was a great game for everyone.

I am sure you are asking exactly what is “junior reverse” charades. Basically it is the same thing as original reverse charades except it is geared towards children and family. For both versions of reverse charades the concept is very similar to the traditional version of charades… EXCEPT that the “team” acts out the word or phrase and only “one” person guesses. The game is only a slight change to the traditional game but LOADS of fun!

One thing we liked was the “boxed” format. Usually we play charades with everyone throwing ideas in a bowl and one person choosing from what everyone has written…then one person is the timer and so on. With this game everything is done for you (except acting out the silliness). We liked the addition of the double-sided word cards and sand timer…it took the hassle and thinking (time it takes to think of something to put in the bowl for the opposing team) out of the game!

This game will give us material to talk about for years! Everyone had fun with the silliness of the game. I actually think the adults had just as much fun as the kids laughing and acting out fun scenarios! We sincerely endorse this game if you are into silly family fun! If you have a family game night …this should be on your shelf!

For more information on the game and other products please visit: http://reversecharades.com/about-us/

Don’t forget to enter our Reverse Charades Review and Giveaway to win your own Reverse Charades game!

Faith and Family Reviews received the following product in exchange for writing a review. While we consider it a privilege to receive free products to review, our reviews are our honest opinion and thoughts of the product.

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Reverse Charades Review and Giveaway

Posted by html404 on November 30, 2012
in Contests, Faith and Family Reviews Friday Giveaway, Family Stuff, Gift Ideas, Giveaways

We love to play board games at our house but in recent years we haven’t played too many of them. Favorites include RISK, Monopoly, Stratego, Life, Checkers and Chess. Games in our home haven’t been very respected and pieces get scattered and lost, the box gets broken, then the board and so on. Our rule is we’ll replace them if we find them for $2 at a garage sale, which is where most of our games have been found.

When the opportunity came up to review Reverse Charades – the Original Edition I thought it would be fun and a break from our board game sabbatical. Not that Reverse Charades is really a board game since it has no board, but you know what I mean.

Reverse Charades Review

Our family was divided on how they liked Reverse Charades. We had older children who were not too keen about standing up and acting in front of us, even though we are their family. We had others who really liked the game and thought it was fun and continued to play it even after we quit due to little ones needing to be put to bed and certain grumps who were being “Debbie Downers” Always has to be one…

Over all I think most of us enjoyed spending some family time together doing something different. It was good to laugh and work together (we helped younger ones with their words).

The game itself is played just like charades always has been or at least how I remember playing it. The game box contained a set of cards and a timer. It retails for $23.99 and has gotten rave reviews across the web and beyond.

So if you are looking for something fun to do over the holidays seriously consider a game like Reverse Charades…..

Reverse Charades Giveaway

And you now have a chance to win your own Reverse Charades game!

Enter to win your own Reverse or Jr. Reverse Charades (Jr. Reverse review will be posted tomorrow) Charades set in the form below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Faith and Family Reviews received the following product in exchange for writing a review. While we consider it a privilege to receive products to review, our reviews are our honest opinion and thoughts of the product.

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Mom Essentials Giveaway

Posted by html404 on November 19, 2012
in Baby Products, Contests, Gift Ideas, Giveaways

Did you hear? There’s a Mom Essentials Giveaway being hosted by Brilliant Baby Products and their clients! There are nearly $1000 worth of products being given away by nearly 10 different brands:

SoftBums
Baby Blowout Blocker
Bella Binky Blankets
Bobalong
Elli & Nooli
PRK, Inc,
redsnapper baby
zCush

Looks like lots of baby products…great for upcoming Christmas, birthday and shower gifts! All you have to do is enter!

Leave me a comment if you are expecting or recently had a baby or know someone who is! Do tell, eh?

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Pinypon Party Review!

Posted by Brande on November 14, 2012
in Fun Stuff, Gift Ideas, Holidays, Kids Toys, Reviews, Shopping

I was very excited when I received an email saying Faith and Family Reviews was chosen for this Pinypon Party! I love to review new toys and I know my daughter does too! We live in Northwest NJ and lost our power on Monday October 29th due to Hurricane Sandy. I got the congratulations email Nov 1st (thank you iPhone) and this HUGE box came within the next day or two, which was such a treat for my daughter since we didn’t get our power back until November 7th. Needless to say we started our party early, thanks to MommyParties.

Here’s a picture when we opened the box.

So, a few of you are probably asking “What is a Pinypon?”

These little guys are Pinypons. They are all interchangeable.

Mix and match their legs, bodies, hair, and heads. Some even have 2 different faces on each side. Get product for small motor skills for the pre-schoolers.

Here’s the party set up! MommyParties graciously sent two sets of Vans, a few extra dolls and an extra baby doll to giveaway at our party.

Pinypon Party Review

We played find the Pinypon card to win a Pinypon. In addition, there was a drawing out of a hat for the extra Pinypon Van and the Baby. The Mom’s took extra coupons to pass around to other friends. So, everyone went home happy with their new toys. Due to all our outages and impassable roads, some of our party goers were unable to attend. I did have a parent ask that I not post pictures of her children and I am respecting their privacy.

All in all, Pinypon and Nenuco are great toys. Pinypon dolls do come with some very small pieces and parents should watch their children with the dolls and pieces. The recommended age on the box is 4 and my daughter is that age. She did wonderfully with them and loves them.

Here’s a few pictures of her playing with them.

Visit Pinypon and Nenuco on Facebook or Twitter Pinypon and Nenuco

Be sure to check out their websites too!

www.pinypon.com and www.Nenucofamosa.com

Oh and as a side note, with the holidays upon us this would make a great gift idea for the little girls in your life. Christmas, birthday etc.

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Operation Christmas Child #OCCGiveBack

Posted by html404 on November 6, 2012
in Family Stuff, Gift Ideas, Giving Back/Charity

Years ago at a church we attended we participated in Operation Christmas Child with our two older children, they were wee things, but I don’t think we have done it since. The past couple of years one of our daughters has been asking to do up shoe boxes for children but we just have never got around to it….shame on me! Then BlogFrog sent out an invitation to participate in this year’s Operation Christmas Child shoe box campaign. Of course I had to do it, if only to hold myself accountable to get it done! I still found myself getting the shoe boxes and contents for it together at the last minute due to my tooth issue and the fact that I never put it on my Google calendar. I had it on my blog calendar and BlogFrog’s calendar but not mine, which is the one I use to send myself reminders of events, important posts coming due etc. We finally took a trip out one day last week to gather enough items to do four shoe boxes – 2 boys and 2 girls. I paired up our children so they could all participate in putting a box together for a child.

The shoebox campaign is a wonderful way to teach our children kindness, compassion and generosity! At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I love opportunities like this because it helps us instill these values in our children by doing not just saying it.

Our Shoe Boxes

As I said before, I decided that we’d do four shoe boxes because I thought it would mean more to the children if they were able to pair up with a sibling and do some of the gift selections and shopping on their own…with a little guidance and a few parameters.

We chose a few things from our school supply stash and then we went to Dollar General, Family Dollar and Walmart for the rest.

Here is a video of the children as we put the shoe boxes together:

Our older boys were probably the least enthusiastic and our older daughter had to take our youngest son out of the room before we even started because he was trying to eat the treats we bought for each shoebox!

Junior was after all the treats for the shoe boxes so my oldest had to take care of him while we did up the boxes! Then he got into a tube of toothpaste. Never a dull moment around here.

I am never for sure how much the younger children take in on projects like this, but I do know from raising our older daughters giving back projects eventually means a lot more to them than it did. That’s why I like doing special compassion projects to make them aware of other people’s needs and put them first instead of themselves.

We are already planning on participating in putting together shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child next year! We thought we’d start right away so we could give more shoe boxes – my second oldest’s idea.

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Christmas Shopping

Posted by html404 on November 1, 2012
in Coupons, Family Stuff, Farm Stuff, Gift Ideas, Shopping

It’s the beginning of November and we all know what that means, right? The retail Christmas shopping season has officially begun. As I eluded to in a post last week, I have a few more hard-to-get gifts to buy. Robert’s mom and his aunt are super hard to buy for because they have everything and to be honest I never really know what they will absolutely love. I may just opt for sending them flowers as that is something either of them buy for themselves. And then our little 6 year old niece will be easy to buy for, not to mention fun!

We might be buying ourselves electric fencing and a solar panel with battery pack. A farm expense, but out-of-the pocket expense since our farm is not yet turning enough profit to cover it. Now some of you may not “get” that but we value our poultry “friends” and the food they provide for our family. Now that it’s cold outside the children are tired of always having to chase them when it’s time to bring them in after we let them free-range. The only thing is the electric fencing won’t be much help once the snow flies but we will be able to get a little use out of it if I get it ordered this week. Regardless, it will be needed in the spring anyways.

What about you? Starting your Christmas shopping? Looking for sales? K-Mart is hosting a Family and Friends sale this Sunday, November 4th. Visit Kmart.com to download coupons and get started on Christmas gifts for your family and friends.

This post is sponsored through a Mom Bloggers Club member program. All thoughts and opinions are our own.

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Courageous Teens Review

Posted by html404 on October 31, 2012
in Books, Gift Ideas, Reviews

Once again I turned to my daughter Peanut to read and review a book for me. This next one is called Courageous Teens written by Michael Catt and Amy Parker. It is a book spin of the movie Courageous but as the title indicates it’s especially for teens. By the sounds of Peanut’s review she was pretty impressed. So read on…

Courageous Teens Review

I loved Courageous Teens. It really convicted me not to want to be happy being an average Christian or a second best Christian. It motivated me to want to be the best Christian I can be. It was really encouraging.

I liked the fact that the book had questions at the end of each chapter. The questions challenged me to want to try to be a better Christian or better person and to trust God more.

I will definitely read this book over and over again. It was an awesome book.

Two thumbs up for me!

Theresa here, I think this sounds like a great gift idea for a teen in your life who needs enouragement in their faith walk.

on behalf of Peanut.

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Super-de-duper $10,000 Sweepstakes from GradSave

Posted by html404 on October 8, 2012
in Education, Gift Ideas, Saving Money, Thrifty Thursday, Uncategorized

Got little ones? Want to start saving for their college education? Then you’ll be interested to know about this $10000 Sweepstakes from GradSave, after all it’s never too early to start saving for college:

Be sure to read more about eligibility rules and prizes here. Odds of winning depends on how many entries received.

“I was compensated to share this information. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”

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Back to School ~ GUTZY GEAR ~ Review

Posted by Professor on August 27, 2012
in Family Stuff, Fun Stuff, Gift Ideas, Kids Stuff, Kids Toys, School

GUTZY GEAR. Collect Them ~ Trade Them ~ Change Them. Gutzy Gear is a great, new way to express yourself by customizing your backback, sports duffel, messenger bag, and more! Gutzies are cool looking removable patches. Gutzies stick to a Gutzy strap cover that you put wherever you want to go Gutzy! With 56 Gutzies in a series and new Gutzies constantly being introduced, you can collect and trade a world of Gutzies. But Gutzy Gear is even more… Gutzy Gear is a lifestyle! Gutzy Gear is about showing the world who you are, taking chances and being the best YOU you can be. So wherever you are, whenever it is, whatever the plan… GO GUTZY

OUR REVIEW:

We received a Party Pack of Gutzy Gear.

The pack included:

~ Backpack strap covers

~ Gutzy Hat

~ Gutzy Visor

~ Gutzy Patches (Packs of 2)

~ Gutzy Games

We had a wonderful party thanks to Gutzy Gear. We had both boys and girls at our party ranging in ages from 2 years to 10 Years old! All of the children were enamored with Gutzy Gear! They were elated each to receive a pair of backpack straps which came with one Gutzy (smiley face) patch. Each child then had their name drawn (to make the picking order fair) to choose the Gutzy 2 pack of their choice. Of course once each child had their Gutzy Gear on their straps …they began to trade. It was so nice to see the children engaged and getting along. There were enough Gutzy Gear patches to go around and all 15 guests were happy!

We also played some matching games courtesy of Gutzy Gear… the games were fun and entertaining. The young children really liked this part of the party. The game basically was like the traditional memory game only the children had to match up Gutzy halves…once they found both halves they made a “whole” and thus made a match!

Unfortunately, my battery ran out of my camera before I could get a full group shot at our party but here are some of the older children with the little ones enjoying their Gutzy Gear!

Some trading going on…

Finally… all Gutzied Up!

The children ALL had a wonderful time with their Gutzy Gear…trading and giving… it was so nice to see the children interact in such a fun and creative fashion.

Visit www.gutzygear.com for information on the product and where you can purchase your very own Gutzy Gear.

The website even has E-cards, Downloads and Virtual Gutzy Gear…this is the next step in our families Gutzy adventure …so be sure to check this out before or after you get your very own Gutzy Gear!

I even saw some additional items that may be added to our Christmas list (I saw a neat Gutzy Collectors Book and Gutzy to go strap)…so yes we will purchase these fun patches again and again!

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UV Skinz Review & Giveaway!

Posted by Brande on August 3, 2012
in Baby Products, Children's Clothing, Fashion, Fun Stuff, Gift Ideas, Girl Stuff, Giveaways, Health, Kids Stuff, Reviews, Safety

It’s summer time which means most people will be spending lots of time outdoors! With the sun being so harmful, sunscreen isn’t enough! UV Skinz has a wonderful line of 50+ UV sun protection clothing for everyone in the family! This company is approved by the Melanoma International Foundation as well as an iParenting Media Award Winner!

Kids sizes range from 6 months to 14 and adult sizes go up to a size 4 XL! UV Skinz carries shirts (long and short sleeve), hats, shorts, gloves/sleeves, shades, and sun screen! It’s a one stop shop for sun-protective clothing for the entire family!

My UV Skinz Review:

My daughter received the Pink Mermaids sunwear set, which included a reversible hat, short sleeve swim shirt, and shorts.

This picture is with the Mermaid side of the hat.

This picture is the reverse side of the hat which is pink.

I have a very active, wiggly 3 year old. Sometimes trying to put sun screen on her is like trying to put it on a cat! I always miss a spot, however, with her new outfit I can worry less. The shirt covers her arms to her elbows and the hat is wide brimmed for fun at the beach. It’s light weight and doesn’t make her hot. I love the modesty of the entire outfit. It’s very age appropriate and fun!

It also washed up nicely! Gentle wash and drip dry.

UV Skins has my vote for UV-protective clothing! Check out their website to buy yours today! You can also find them on Facebook and/or Twitter.

Special Offer: BLOGS15 code that you can use for a 15% discount on UV Skinz’s site.

Now for the Giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway