Archive for Kids Stuff

Halo SleepSack

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.

Having the opportunity to try the Halo SleepSack could not have come at a better time.  Up until about a week ago, my three month old daughter could not fall asleep without being swaddled.  Last week, though, she started kicking off the thin blanket I had swaddled her in and started waking up because she was cold.  She also rolls a lot in her sleep, so the swaddle would come undone.  The Halo SleepSack became my lifesaver!

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The Halo SleepSack is basically a wearable blanket.  It has no sleeves, so it can easily be worn over your baby’s sleepwear comfortably.  The arm holes are the perfect size, not too snug and not too large.  The SleepSack comes in a variety of sizes and styles.  My daughter will definitely be able to wear the size Small for a very long time.  It’s roomy enough for her to still kick and move her body without it affecting her sleep.  My favorite feature of the Halo SleepSack is that it has an inverted zipper.  You can only appreciate this feature if you are lucky enough to change a diaper in the middle of the night!  Since it zips from the top down, you only have to unzip part way to change a diaper without completely disrupting your baby’s sleep.  The material is lightweight so your baby will not overheat, and the prints are adorable!  The best part is that it is machine washable.  I plan on buying another one so I have a spare when this one is in the wash.

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I absolutely love the Halo SleepSack.  I use it as a “sleeping cue” for my daughter.  When I put it on her she knows naptime or bedtime is approaching.

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Halo Innovations’ mission is to help babies sleep safely.  They have definitely achieved this goal with the SleepSack.  Go to their website to see a variety of products they offer for the many different sleep stages of a baby.  They also have some great tips on safe sleep habits for your child.  Remember “Back is Best” when putting your baby to sleep!

www.halosleep.com

 

 


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Back to School with Old Navy #myONstyle @OldNavy




Back to school season is here already, can you believe it? I still have shop to for school supplies but I did take one of our children, our third oldest daughter shopping at Old Navy as a treat and she needed more immediate things than the rest. Old Navy has their back to school promotion going on right now in all U.S. stores – $10 and under – from 8/3 thru 8/14. Old Navy is also inviting parents to come into stores to take a picture of their kids rocking their favorite Old Navy back to school looks in front of the store’s Step and Repeat!

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FFR Old Navy Store_edit


Back to School with Old Navy

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FFR Old Navy Gift Card-edit
Old Navy Gift Card – Accepted via my iPhone since our printer is not working!

I have to admit we headed for the clearance section first. Not only did the bright colors attract my daughter but we wanted to make the most of our limited budget. It would have been easy to spend it all on one or two items, but instead we came out with eight things! Not too shabby, eh?

Old Navy Omi in Children's Section-edit

My daughter is still growing, as a matter of fact she’s taller than me by a couple inches, not saying much since I am only 5’3. I say that because we now have to shop in the ladies or women’s section just so we can get the height part to fit her. We did sneak a peek at the girls section to get a feel for what was available for my youngest daughter. The girls section was tucked all the way back in the left hand corner of the store, but very easy to find.

FFR Old Navy Bright Shorts
She loved these shorts, but wished they were longer or pants!

FFR Old Navy Clothes-edit
O with her clothes selection – 2 dresses, 5 pairs of socks, including horse socks and a pair of black leggings.

FFR Old Navy Horse Socks

Old Navy Kids Section-edit

Don’t forget Old Navy’s Back to School promotion – $10 and under – and consider getting your kids to show of their back to school fashion style in front of the store’s Step and Repeat! After you upload your photo, enter to the Multiply Your Sweet Style here: www.nick.com/OldNavy! It includes an Old Navy $1000 shopping spree, $500 cash to play in L.A and a shopping experience with Jennette McCurdy and Ariana Grande from Nickelodeon’s Sam and Cat!


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Back to School with KIWI Shop

Back to school time! We received a fabulous back to school kit from our the KIWI shop that included eight back to school products. KIWI is a natural, organic online shop offering eco-friendly, organic products for parents, kids and the home.

Back to School with KIWI Shop

Below are the products we used and reviewed:

Wean Green 4 oz. Wean Cubes, 4-Pack, Garden – I loved these little glass cubes! Not only are they cute and colorful but great for little snacks. I wouldn’t necessarily send my children to school with them because of the glass material but from a storage stand point they are great containers to have in the cupboard. Though a little pricey.


LiceLogic Repel Conditioning Hair Spray
– I don’t think all the girls have used this product yet but one of them said they did try it and liked it. We’ve never had an issue with lice but now that we have this hopefully we will continue to enjoy a lice free life!

Facial Gel Cleanser
– I know one of my girls has tried this product and she says she liked it and how it made her skin feel softer. She was experiencing a bit of a pimple outbreak on her nose and forehead and she stated this Gel Cleanser was helping get rid of it.

Back to School with Kiwi

Eco Lunchbox – made of stainless steel and very sturdy. Love this as well as the crocodile one for younger children.

Safari Bento Box, Green Crocodile – is super cute and our son loved it for his new Vegetable Crayons!

Back to School with KIWI 4

Vegetable Crayons – My almost 3 year old loved “his” organic vegetable crayons! They were easy for him to handle and fun to use. The only thing negative I noticed is the colors are not as dark as the crayon, even the dark blue and green or red for that matter.

Back to School with KIWI 3


Kids AlternaVites STRAWBERRY 30 CT
– all of our children liked the AlternaVites, except for our 14 year old. They reminded her of the antibiotic she use to have to take before she went to the dentist (she use to have a heart condition). All the children who liked the AlternaVites, asked to have their vitamins. That’s always a good sign in our house….when they don’t run away when it’s time to take any sort of supplement! ;)

Back to School with KIWI 2

Artterro Handmade Paper Bookmaking Kit – Our children enjoyed working on the bookmaking kit together. The only thing the younger children needed my help with was the book binding. This kit makes a great rainy day craft project or a 90 degree plus day.

Back to School with KIWI 5

We really love the product mix offered for back to school! It was fun for all of us to go through the products and test them out.

If you would like to win some cool back to school products from KIWI shop, please visit their giveaway to enter: http://www.kiwishoponline.com/back-to-school-giveaway


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CaringBridge

“I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for CaringBridge. I received a promotional item as a thank you for participating.”

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We have friends in our old church who had a child born with a facial birth defect. She has had numerous doctors appointments, wonderful care and has experienced great progress in her growth and development. However, when she was first born many things were pretty much up in the air because lots of discussion and follow up had to be done in order for the parents and doctors to the right path of treatment for this child. In order to keep all of us who were surrounding them with love, care and prayer, the family created a webpage dedicated to update specific for this child. They used a site like CaringBridge to send out updates and photos.

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Most of us have experienced a life-changing illness or had a family member or friend who has. CaringBridge is a nonprofit organization which has served families for more than 15 years, offering hope and inspiration to struggling families. Sona Mehring, the founder of CaringBridge shares a collection of these important hope-inspiring stories in her new book, Hope Conquers All. The stories range from young children with cancer, to adults awaiting transplants, these first-person accounts reveal the importance CaringBridge had in their personal journeys. If you have someone special who needs your love and support through a troubling health issue, or you are even faintly interested to learn how brave these individuals were through such hard times, consider learning more or purchasing Sona Mehring’s book here: http://caringb.org/hope. All author proceeds will go to CaringBridge.


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Sponsored: Headfirst! Expert Advice on Lice – A New Head Lice Resource for Parents

“The below content is sponsored by Sanofi Pasteur’s Headfirst! Expert Advice on Lice campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting. I received a promotional item as a thank you for participating.”

It’s summer and with that comes camp season. Kids playing in close quarters may lead to a common hard-to-treat problem: head lice. If your child brings home an extra louse house
guest (or two) after camp, stay calm and know there are resources available to help.

Web

Headfirst! Expert Advice on Lice
is an educational website created by head lice experts (and moms) for other moms, families and communities to learn about head lice—what they are,
what they look like and how to treat them.

The site offers a variety of tools including:

The How to Lose the Lice Guide, with a handy checklist to save time and reduce stress when battling head lice

The Headfirst! Lice Experience video allows you to choose your experience, whether it be you’re not sure you have lice, or you just want to get rid of them:

So if you’re trying to get rid of head lice post-camp, or a parent who always likes to be prepared for next season, visit Headfirst! Expert Advice on Lice for more information.


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Happy Family #hfbrightside



Readers familiar with our blog and family know that we value healthy eating and living. We try to promote products our family is personally interested in and enjoys. We review a lot of green, eco-friendly and organic products because we want to use products that are safe for the whole family. As beginning organic farmers, we desire to eat organic foods, including snacks, because we want to provide only the best food possible for our children. Their future health depends on it.

Happy Family

Happy Family Products_edit

Happy Family offers organic meals and snacks for infants and toddlers (older children will love them too – ours did!). They are also great for traveling.

Happy Family products are a wholesome start for babies and are organic meals and snacks that your toddler will love, ours did!

Happy Family Puffs

Specific Happy Family products include: Happy Baby, Happy Tot, Happy Bellies, Happy Puffs, Happy Yogis, Happy Squeeze and more. Our children loved everything we tried and have asked for more! If you want to learn more about their full line of products or specific nutritional information, visit www.HappyFamilyBrands.com

Happy Family – Bright Side Campaign

As parents of eight children, we know how hard it can be at times to get a child to eat what is put before them. We do not require them to eat a plateful of something they do not like but they have to at least try a little bit of it. We learned that the hard way with our oldest child when she was little and now our youngest children thank us (or maybe not) for our foresight. (wry smile). We actually made her eat a bowlful of broccoli for fussing about it. Amazingly, she loves it to this day. However, we no longer require a full portion of anything be eaten if a child does not like it! That’s our “Bright Side” story because it did end well for all of us and we can laugh about it now. Though at the time it was an ordeal.

Happy Family’s Bright Side Campaign is a campaign that shares:

Stories in a a humorous light on food and feeding challenges that parents have through sharing funny stories told by top bloggers that are then acted out by improv troupe the Upright Citizen’s Brigade.

Happy Family wants YOU to share your personal “Bright Side” or funny feeding stories about food and the challenges that come with raising your children. Part of this campaign includes a sweepstakes. Happy Family will pick a funny feeding story to award $20K towards a child’s college education (the rules and regulations are on their Facebook page). To share your story or to view the contest rules visit: https://www.facebook.com/HAPPYFAM/app_512040132171168

For an example of a funny feeding story, watch the video below of Fellow blogger’s, Jim Lin from Busy Dad Blog, special feeding tactics – be prepared to laugh!

And don’t forget to share your own funny feeding story on Happy Family’s Facebook page for a chance to win $20K towards your child’s education! https://www.facebook.com/HAPPYFAM/app_512040132171168 . If you share your story or link on Twitter, be sure to use the hashtag #hfbrightside.


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Flourish Magnetic Schedule Review & 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.


Flourish Magnetic Schedule Review

Do you desire to be more organized before school starts? Is summer getting away from you without getting daily tasks accomplished? I discovered a handy little tool to help me keep our children on task and to know what to expect each day in our daily routine. It’s the Flourish Magnetic Schedule.

It is very easy to use. Open it up and stick the magnet on the back of the main card, put it on the refrigerator and add the task magnets in your preferred order….ta-da! Done!

Our children like to put the magnets back up after their little brother initially took them all down and stole the task magnets! So far it is staying in place and after the novelty Junior (our youngest) has left the magnetic schedule alone.

Both the children and I like to work with lists for daily tasks and scratch them off when complete. This magnetic schedule allows us to use less paper and gives the younger children who cannot read a little visual of what they need to do.

We’ve only had the magnetic schedule for a couple of days but I like it. The magnets and schedule are made of sturdy material. My hope is it helps the children have something to refer to and learn what needs to be done when and where they should be. I haven’t added any times or anything. I try to be flexible or else I get bogged down by the actual schedule.

Magnetic Schedule for Kids 1

Not only does Flourish have this product but also other products helpful to all moms – because the products have been created by moms.

About Flourish

Moms Flourish is a new direct sales company providing innovative products for moms and kids. To make life just a little easier. Moms can also earn a little extra money for their families by joining for as little as $59.

Flourish Giveaway

Right now there’s a contest going on, which ends August 7th, the winner will be announced during the Twitter party on August 8th at 6pm PT/8pm CST/9pm ET #momsflourish. You can enter the giveaway below or visit their Facebook page. Look at all the products offered in the giveaway!

Prize_Flourish_Aug8

a Rafflecopter giveaway


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Jamba Juice Review

I received this product for free from the sponsor of the Moms Meet (TM) program. May Media Group LLC, who received it directly form the manufacturer. As a Moms Meed (TM) blogger, I agreed to use the product and post my opinion on my blog. My opinions do not necessarily reflect the opinions of May Media Group LLC or the manufacturer.

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We’ve been on a journey to improve our eating habits and quality of food ever since our children were little and we learned about the harmful affects of dyes and preservatives found in mainstream food. We don’t always get it right but growing our own food is certainly helping us move in the right direction, as well as increase the nutritional value of a lot of the food we eat.

Our children are not that picky. We’ve always required them to eat at least some of the food they say they hate or don’t like. We also find they are more open to trying new veggies if we grow them ourselves. I love the summer when they can just munch on fresh picked vegetables straight from their little garden patch! Remember, they even eat green smoothies!

We recently had the opportunity to try Jamba Juice. Jamba Juice is a restaurant retailer offering better-for-you foods, including fruit and veggie juices and smoothies.

Jamba Juice

 

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Did you know:

  • Only 8 percent of Americans achieve their recommended target for fruit in an average day
  • Only 6 percent of individuals meet their recommended target for veggies in an average day
  • 1 percent of adults and 2 percent of children meet both their recommended fruit and veggies servings each day.

**Source: State if the Plate: 2010 Study of America’s Consumption of Fruit & Vegetables

 

Jamba Juice Review

 

Jamba Juice Review Kids_edit

We tried Jamba Juice’s new Tropical Harvest™ Smoothie and the Jamba Kids™ Berry Beet It!™ Smoothie.

The Tropical Harvest™ Smoothie contains: Mangos, peaches, yellow vegetable juice (sweet potato, carrot, butternut squash), passion mango juice, ice and is only 230 calories.

The Berry Beet It!™ Smoothie contains: Strawberries, mangos, bananas, mixed berry juice, carrots, beets, broccoli, spinach, kale, lettuce and is only 190 calories.

My children loved the Berry Beet It!™ Smoothie. All of them drank it with gusto. They even liked the Tropical Harvest™ Smoothie. I, on the other hand, am not a huge fan of mangos. However, it grew on me as I drank it. To me the mango really came through. Otherwise, I actually preferred the Berry Beet It!™ Smoothie.

Jamba Juice Review_edit

These smoothies were very flavorful and made a great treat on a hot day. The only thing we didn’t care about was the price. They are pricey. We realize we are paying for quality but it’s an ouchie on the pocket book when a smoothie outing costs our family over $30! They sure are tasty though!

Feel free to check Jamba Juice out on Facebook.


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Polly Pocket Lea Fashion Collection and Wall Party Tree House

“I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Polly Pocket. I received product samples to facilitate my review and a promotional item as a thank you for participating.”

Polly Pocket Lea Fashion Collection 1_edit

I have to admit we do not buy a lot of toys. Easy to understand when you realize and understand we’ve been buying real, live animals instead. Nevertheless, one thing our children have always, always enjoyed is people figures of any kind, which is why the Polly Pocket Lea Fashion Collection and Wall Party Tree House appealed to me for our youngest daughter.

Polly Pocket Wall Party Tree House 1_edit

Ever since we got the packages, Blondie and her brothers have been pretty much playing with them non-stop, except when chores have to be done and they are called away from them. Blondie has been quite generous in sharing her new toys. However, the youngest has been teasing her quite a bit and taking things on her- aggravating to say the least.

The Polly Pocket Lea Fashion Collection and Wall Party Tree House have been a huge success here at our house and I have a funny feeling more will be added in the future if Blondie has anything to say about it – especially when it comes to using her own money!

Polly Pocket Wall Party Tree House 2_edit


What My Daughter Likes About Polly Pocket Playsets

Polly Pocket Wall Party Tree House 3_edit

They are fun!

They are fun to play with!

They are easy to carry around.

I like to change Lea’s clothes.

I like that I can put Polly Pocket’s tree house on the wall.

I like to play me and Polly Pocket’s friends are playing around.

Mommy note: The pieces are very small so be aware if you have little ones younger than four.

We would highly recommend a Polly Pocket Playset for the little girl in your life. They are very inexpensive, at least for our children’s birthday or Christmas budgets. If you have birthdays or need a late end of school year gift, we would like to share that purchasing either of these Polly Pocket products is easy if you click on the Amazon Social Store below.

Enjoy! We are! ;)


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Tips For Keeping Kids Entertained

This is a partnered post by a guest writer.

Avoiding in-car boredom on your summer break

It’s the time of year when we’re all taking to the road with the kids in tow, and it’s time to get your thinking cap on to find ways to keep the kids entertained. We all find long car journeys boring, but for excitable kids with heaps of energy, they can be an even bigger challenge.

PassSmart have written a few tips to keeping in-car boredom at bay, which, hopefully, will keep the dreaded “are we nearly there yet!?” away.

Design their own game

Getting the kids to create their own game is bound to keep them occupied. If you’re going on holiday or a day trip, they could design a game to do with your destination. So, for example, if you were on your way to Disneyland, a) you’ll have some VERY excited kids, and b) they could draw or write a letter to each Disney character they want to meet.

By keeping their mind on the destination you’ll be able to keep them thinking about what they’re going to do rather than the boring journey which comes first.

Plan you breaks

Keeping Kids Entertained

Plan your breaks strategically to make sure the kids get a chance to get out of the car and stretch their legs. The more energy they use up during your stop off, the less restless they will be in the car. Try and stop off somewhere where they can get out of the car and have a little run around. This isn’t always possible, but you could consider taking a scenic detour to find somewhere away from the main roads.

Beware the sugary snacks

The best part of going on a road trip is often the in-car snacks, but try not to let them over do it with the sugary treats. Staying still in the car is tough at the best of times, let alone on a sugar high! Instead pack snacks with a natural energy boost like fruit, nuts and raisins. For something a little more appealing, you could make your own ice poles with fruit juice and pack them in a cooler bag, ready for lunch.

You don’t, however, have to cut out the sweets completely! Instead, try to impose an evening curfew for sweet snacks and, ideally, let the kids have them before you stop off for a break so that they can burn the energy off.

Old-fashioned fun

You don’t have to have an iPad, a portable DVD player and a Nintendo DS to keep the kids happy in the car. Great old-fashioned games like I-Spy or lorry spotting are fantastic ways to keep the kids occupied, and, you never know, you might even have fun too!

Take it in turns to choose a game you want to play and the kids won’t be able to complain about your choice of entertainment. You can even put an educational twist on some in-car games, like, for example, the alphabet game. Get the kids to read license plates and think of an animal/food/country/color relating to each letter. You might be surprised at how long in-car games keep the kids occupied for, and, best of all, they won’t cost you a cent!

Avoid music battles

Trying to decide what music to listen to in the car can be a headache in itself, but there is a way to keep everyone happy. Unless you all have different devices to listen to, you’ll know that someone has to compromise. Get the kids to choose 5 songs each and then take it in turns to play one of their choice. You may have to listen to a few Disney classics, but at least there’ll be no squabbling to contend with!

Finally, drive safely and enjoy your trip!


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