Click the picture above to be entered into Melissa & Doug’s Easter Basket Giveaway!! What child or children wouldn’t love $20.00 worth of Melissa & Doug products for Easter! How cute is Brambles Bunny you can find him and lots of other fantastic Easter toys at Melissa & Doug’s Easter Shop!
Wipes are an must-have essential in a home with children, at least they are in our house. We not only use them for diaper changes, but for wiping faces, traveling and quick cleaning. Our youngest son has learned from our example and likes to get wipes to clean himself up and he will even clean with them. 
This is what he’s doing with the Seventh Generation wipes. Can you tell he’s very excited about helping me with the new wipes?
We have been using Seventh Generation wipes over the past few weeks. They are thick, have just the right moisture and do not seem to dry out, unless of course you leave the flip-top lid open for a day. The ones we have came in packages of 64. The packages are plastic with a closeable lid. We like them and are very grateful for no allergic reaction from baby, like some generic brands we have tried. They are actually pretty comparable to other name brands, but better in terms of being hypo-allergenic, free of dyes, fragrances, parabens and having less harmful chemicals. They score well on EWG.org, which is the kind of personal care product our family wants to buy. They soft, just not as soft as I would have liked.
Here are some product details:
• Available Packaging:
− 64 ct. flip-‐top
− 128 ct. value pack (2 refill packs with re-‐sealable tape)
− 256 ct. value pack (4 refill packs with re-‐sealable tape)
• Significant environmental savings
• Unscented
• Hypo-‐allergenic
• Free of fragrances and dyes
• Free of parabens and phthalates
• Suggested retail price for 64 ct. is $2.99 and is available at Target, Whole Foods and Diapers.com.
Seventh Generation Wipes Review & Giveaway
You all have the opportunity to try Seventh Generation wipes too! Enter the Rafflecopter below for a chance to win a box of four packages of 64 wipes! Giveaway ends Monday, March 18 at 12:00am. Please allow 4-6 weeks for fulfillment of the prize. One package will be coming from Seventh Generation and three will be coming directly from Faith and Family Reviews as our gift to you – and no they aren’t the ones we were sent for review, those are almost gone already!
Faith and Family Reviews received the following product in exchange for writing and participating in the Seventh Generation Wipes Campaign. We are being compensated by Seventh Generation and The Motherhood. While we consider it a privilege to receive free products to review and compensation, our reviews are our honest opinion and thoughts of the product.
Decluttering and organizing has been a recurring theme here at Faith and Family Reviews. It started with a new year and setting goals. Then the news of my mom’s three week visit, which is now only a week away! Eeeks…..going to be busy this weekend!
When I was pitched to review and share about a brand new Decluttering Made Easy ecourse another blogger developed I thought it was an appropriate topic as so many of us do seem to struggle with staying organized and keeping clutter to a minimum.
Decluttering Made Easy is a 52-week long ecourse that includes coaching, exclusive website membership and access to the Decluttering Made Easy Community Facebook page and private forum.
Each week members will receive tips, ideas and an actual assignment for the week to declutter their home and get better organized. Time management is also discussed. Included with the weekly assignments are 15 minute how-to videos, PDF assignments and goal sheets (beginning lessons).
What I Liked About Decluttering Made Easy
The questions and suggestions are great and help make decluttering decisions of what to keep and what to get rid of and how.
Encouragement and support through the Decluttering Made Easy online community, IF you make use of it.
What I Didn’t Like About Decluttering Made Easy
Tiffany really didn’t show us examples or what she personally does. Guess I wanted proof of what she was learning herself. I love real life testimonies and photos of before and after a decluttering session. I would have loved to see what her home looked like and how she stays organized. She does tell her story but you have to read about it on the forum, at least I did.
The course is a bit long and cumbersome, at least for this busy working mom. Even though each lesson was 15 minutes long, the thought of having to sit down and listen to a video, do an assignment etc. made me feel a little overwhelmed to be honest. These days I need something simplified, like the 5 Days to a Clutter Free House.
Decluttering Made Easy Giveaway
Need extra help getting organized? Enter to win a year of full access to Decluttering Made Easy!
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. It also contains an affiliate link in an attempt to earn money to support this blog for those who sign up by using it.
Julie is celebrating by giving away one of the new Paperwhite Kindles, Downton Abbey (season 3) and hosting a fun Author Chat Party on Facebook. (January 31st)
One fortunate winner will receive:
Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on January 30th. Winner will be announced at “The Tutor’s Daughter Author Chat Party on January 31st. Connect with Julie, get a sneak peek of her next book, try your hand at the trivia contest, and chat with readers just like you. There will also be great giveaways – gift certificates, books and season 3 of Downton Abbey!
So grab your copy of The Tutor’s Daughter and join Julie on the evening of the January 31st for a chance to connect with Julie and make some new friends. (If you haven’t read the book – don’t let that stop you from coming!)
Look for my book review of The Tutor’s Daughter on Monday!
Learning a second, third or even fourth language is an investment into the future since so many jobs now desire people to be bilingual. After all, we are a multilingual country made up of many differing cultures. Being bilingual or multilingual is also an asset when traveling to different countries.
I grew up taking French from fourth grade through a couple college courses, which I ended up dropping (and regretting) due to it overloading my course load. Though I never became fluent in French, I still remember and recognize words – the benefit of learning the language from a young age.
Simple phrase that says, “Hello, how are you? I am fine/good, thank you.”
For the sake of this post, I did have to look up the spelling of my French though!
We have exposed our children to other languages, mostly French and Spanish. We lived across the street from a Hispanic family for over ten years and our oldest was really interested in Spanish for a while. At a young age listening to our neighbors speak in their native tongue always intrigued her.
Language Stars is an organization offering play-based, full-immersion foreign language classes to children ages toddler thru 5th grade. Language Stars has centers and satellite schools in two metro areas – Chicago and DC.
From January 14th- 27th Language Stars will be hosting Open House Weeks so you can experience Language Stars firsthand and get to:
You can reserve a spot for Language Stars Open House today by filling out the form at http://www.languagestars.com/openhouse2013 or call 866-55-STARS. If you sign up, you will be able to take in a language class with your toddler or allow your preschool through 5th grade age child take in a class on their own. They offer time choices and even offer a snack and ask if your child has any food allergies at the Language Stars Satellite schools.
Already enrolled? Receive $100 OFF your tuition for every family you refer who enrolls through January 27, 2013.
Visit Language Stars on the web:
Language Stars DC FB page-
http://www.facebook.com/LanguageStarsDC
Language Stars Chicago FB page-
http://www.facebook.com/LanguageStarsChicago
Enter Language Stars iPad Mini Giveaway
Language Stars will be giving away 2 iPad minis- one for the Chicago market and one for the DC market (valued at $329). Below you can enter to the iPad Mini Sweepstakes for the Chicago area:
Have you ever thought to or wanted to put your child in language classes? What languages do you speak?
“This blog post is part of a paid MtoM Consulting, LLC and Language Stars blogging program. Ideas and opinions are my own.”
Most moms of infants have some knowledge or experience with swaddling a baby. With my firstborn, the nurses in the hospital swaddled him in a receiving blanket. They did it so securely and fast, like second nature, and made it look so easy to do. When I arrived home I tried my hardest to swaddle him in a blanket, but I could never do it tight enough to make him feel secure. I tried using a swaddle I received from my baby shower, but he never liked it because it would not allow him to have his arms out.
The Zen Swaddle solves both of these problems and does even more than I could have every imagined. First of all, it is ultra soft and machine washable (very important for busy moms). Next, it is weighted with poly-beads in specific areas to make your baby feel as though you are still holding her. The construction of the wrap helps the baby sleep through the startle reflex, common among most infants. The Zen Swaddle was designed in a way to fit newborns all the way up to 14 pounds. My favorite feature of this product is that it offers an arms-out option, perfect for babies like mine that want the security while being able to move their arms.
The Zen Swaddle comes with very clear step by step instructions to show exactly how to swaddle your baby. It can be found at select retailers as well as online and is available in three new prints: Dots, Wheels and Pods:
http://nestedbean.com/products
I can’t wait to use this on my new little one in April!
This video will give you an overview of how the Zen Swaddle works:
Zen Swaddle Giveaway
You can enter to win your own Zen Swaddle below!
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.
You all know that I love to help in charity outreach when I can. But I really don’t think I’d be willing to jump into a frozen lake during the dead of winter.
My friend and fellow blogger Jen from Life With Levi is competing with a local PR rep to raise money for Haiti Outreach by jumping into a frozen Minnesota lake next weekend. That’s dedication, eh? To help spread the word, she’s giving away $20 PayPal cash to one lucky winner! She’s even pre-written tweets you can send out in exchange for entries.
By the way, she loves to win that’s why I’m reaching out to you to help her out! So in the name of charity outreach and jumping into a frozen lake…brrrr! Please support her effort!
I received a link back in exchange for sharing this post.
eco.Kids is hosting a giveaway with us! You can read our review of them on the blog: Kim’s review
eco.kid’s products are all natural and safe for your babies. We love how they also work. Unlike most organic products that only do half the job, these do more then their fair share. Plus they smell good too!
You can enter to win below! They are giving away ten products. Which adds up to five winners winning two products each.
For the past few years our oldest son has been asking for a BB Gun, remember Ralphie asking for “the holy grail of Christmas gifts….Official Daisy Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle!” in the movie, A Christmas Story? That may even have been what started our son’s desire for all we know! But we were very hesitant to buy one for him because of fear. Fear that he wouldn’t be responsible with it, fear he’d get hurt, or fear he’d shoot some other person’s eye out. Like the adults in the video clip below:
I had to share that clip!
We ended up using our son’s desire for a BB gun to motivate him with his school work. He got the BB gun for part of his 10th birthday gift at the beginning of this year and for accomplishing a milestone in school. Then we made him work for his BBs in the form of reading books! He also had to show us that he understood gun safety and could be responsible the BB gun.
However, that BB gun didn’t even last through the summer. We were very disappointed in the quality. Our son was disappointed not to have a BB gun anymore. We’ve wanted to replace it and finally did; just in time for holiday gifting. One of our family traditions is to get each of our children one larger gift, plus a few smaller ones, so we bought our son a Daisy Red Ryder BB Gun at Walmart for his larger gift. Silly me had to ask where I’d find BB Guns – Sporting Goods for those of you who draw a blank like I did – we found them just fine. The Daisy Red Ryder was actually on sale too – bonus!
The new gun is bigger than our son’s first BB gun, which I think he’ll like. But Daisy Outdoor Products seem better made. This gun is made of wood and metal not plastic. If Daisy Red Ryder has been around for nearly 30 years, surely it will be durable enough to last a young boy’s love of shooting it. He’ll be so surprised as he’s not expecting it! I can’t wait to see his face.
Gun Safety
Gun Safety is very important and since it has been several months since our son has used a BB Gun, we will be going over safety issues again. We even bought him safety glasses. Here are a couple important ones to remember:
Learn more about gun safety.
The new BB gun will create lots of outdoor family activities as we watch our son improve his markmanship ability. Fun for our whole family. Now your family can enter to win a Daisy Red Ryder!
Daisy Ryder Giveaway
To enter to win a Daisy Prize Pack that includes either a Daisy Red Ryder or a Pink Carbine Model 1998 (your choice), BBs, and safety glasses, fill in the Rafflecopter below…
I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and Daisy. #CBias #SocialFabric
Coffee lovers, bloggers and giveaway lovers will delight in this upcoming opportunity to help promote and participate in a Keurig Vue V700 Brewing System. Check below for complete details:
Hosted by Mom To Bed by 8 and Donna’s Deals and More
Prizes: Keurig Vue V700 Brewing System + K-Cups
Event dates: 1/7 – 1/20 and 1/21 – 2/3
Have fun!
