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Baby Magic Bath Caddy Baby Review

Posted by Brande on April 8, 2013
in Fun Stuff, Gift Ideas, Kids Stuff, Kids Toys, Reviews, Shopping

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.

Baby Magic Bath Caddy Baby Review

Move over Baby Magic shampoos! Baby Magic now has baby dolls! This adorable little 8 inch doll smells REALLY good. She has that new baby powder smell. Mmmmm… takes me back. The Baby Magic dolls are perfect for little hands.

She comes in a bath caddy basket with a duck, shirt, headband, small towel, and I can’t forget 3 pretend Baby Magic bottles. Our Baby Magic is currently drying off in our bathroom. My daughter really enjoyed giving her baby a bath, the baby doll was however a bit slippery once she was wet (but, really most babies are, right? lol….). The duck, bottles and towel were great for pretend play and she enjoys washing her baby each tub time.

Here is our Baby Magic Baby before her first bath.

This is a great gift idea!

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Baby Magic Bath Caddy Baby is available at your local box store.

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Transformers Prime Beast Hunters

Posted by html404 on April 7, 2013
in Kids Toys, Reviews

Our boys seem to love anything to do with building. They love to build with random pieces of wood they find lying around and have even built camps with it. Hence, it’s not too surprising that they love Transformers. The option of taking apart and rebuilding a toy into a completely different figure also really appeals to them.

So they were thrilled when we got the Transformers Prime Beast Hunters Deluxe Assortment for review.

From the minute they saw the box and toy, smiles never left their faces. My two oldest sons checked the toy out and declared it “cool” and wanted to play with it as well, but my younger two boys were instant fans.

My boys had no problem at all reshaping the toy from fearsome dragon, into the powerful hunter option. They have a blast playing with their new toy and love the cool colors. Not to mention, they really, really like the dragon wings and weapons that the hunter carries.

The toys seem well made and the quality is good. At least from a mom’s perspective. So far my boys haven’t done a number on it. Yet. Then again, they also really love their new toy so I’m hoping they’ll take good care of it.

The Transformers Prime Beast Hunters are just a small part of the wide range of Transformer toys. This new line features more colorful figurines and powerful weapons that little boys are sure to love. Plus who wouldn’t love having a toy that goes from beast to hunter? They also have the hunter vs automobile, motorcycle, and truck mode that boys are sure to love as well.

You can get connected with Transformers on Twitter and Facebook.

You can find the Transformers Prime Beast Hunters Deluxe Assortmant at Hasbro Toy Shop for $14.99.

Disclaimer: I am part of the Mom It Forward blogger network. Mom It Forward and Hasbro partnered in support of this campaign. Hasbro compensated me for participation in this campaign. However, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

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Tandem Review

Posted by 278Wife on April 6, 2013
in Fashion, Reviews, Techie Stuff, Technology/Electronics

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.

I am always trying to stay current with the new fashions, especially when it comes to accessories. As crazy as it sounds, my cell phone has now become an accessory that expresses who I am. Normally I buy a pink case to cover my iPhone since pink is by far my favorite color. When I heard about a phone case that had images from top photographers of the world it immediately piqued my interest! Tandem is a company that sells high quality prints and iPhone cases at quality prices. They offer five different collections of photos to choose from: Underwater Dogs & Pets, America’s National Parks, Abstract, Nature, and Urban Environments. The images are all from the world’s top photographers.

Tandem offers three different styles of cases, the Barely There, Vibe, and Tough. I was able to try the Tough case for an iPhone 4 in the Paradise image. When I took it out of the package I immediately was drawn to the vibrant colors and how perfect the image looked. It instantly relaxed me and made me want to go to the beach. It had a very smooth feel to it and I was very anxious to try it on my phone. The case I currently have is three pieces and a pain in the butt to take on and off. The Tandem Tough case slipped on in seconds. I loved how easy it was to put on as well to take off. I like to clean my phone, so being able to quickly remove the case was a huge plus to me! The case had two pieces; a black flexible rubber to cover the phone and the hard case to protect the phone. The rubber piece seemed a little too stretchy, mostly on the bottom. I think if it was a little stiffer it would have fit nicer. Once the case was on, I held it up to my ear and loved how it felt. It was very easy to hold and felt good in my hand. It easily fit all of my chargers, adapters, and charging docks. The Tandem case was extremely durable. My toddler likes to play games on it and he definitely dropped it a few times, and the case didn’t crack, chip, or move. The case was a little heavier than my other one, but I feel it is much stronger and more durable.

Overall I was very impressed with the Tandem case. With so many beautiful images to choose from, you could change your case daily to go with your mood! Tandem offers a 90-day Limited Warranty on all of their products. Check out their website to see all of their amazingly brilliant images. They are truly breathtaking!

https://tandemstock.com/shop

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Honey Bunches of Oats Greek Honey Crunch Blog Tour

Posted by html404 on April 4, 2013
in Food and Treats, Health and Nutrition, Reviews, Uncategorized

Disclaimer: I am part of the Mom It Forward blogger network. Mom It Forward and Honey Bunches of Oats partnered in support of this campaign. Honey Bunches of Oats compensated me for participation in this campaign. However, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Our family is pretty big on oats and yogurt so when the opportunity arose to review a box of Honey Bunches of Oats Greek Honey Crunch, we jumped on it. While we love cereal, it is a treat when we have it because there are not too many boxes big enough to feed our family. We tend to eat bread, bagels, eggs, homemade pancakes and waffles for breakfast since those foods go further. Cold cereal is sooooo easy though…much less fuss and mess! Definitely a life saver on busy days. We appreciate that aspect of cold cereal.

Honey Bunches of Oats Greek Honey Crunch is made with oats, whole grains and Greek yogurt, plus some other ingredients you can check out at the link above. Greek yogurt is thicker, smoother and seems to have more substance to it than regular yogurt. It also tends to have less sugar and is more tart than sweet, which is a lot better for us health wise.

Once we added milk to our cereal we could not really taste the yogurt very much and that may be why my daughter said it needed more yogurt. If you like granola…granola anything, you’ll like, and even love, Honey Bunches of Oats Greek Honey Crunch.

Honey Bunches of Oats Greek Honey Crunch has:

Four nutritious grains: rice, wheat, oats and corn
33g of whole grain per serving†
5g of protein per serving
4g of fiber per serving
80% of the recommended daily value of iron per serving

We all enjoyed eating Honey Bunches of Oats Greek Honey Crunch! It tasted yummy! Our only complaint is there wasn’t enough of it.

You can follow Honey Bunches of Oats via Twitter (@HBOats) or Facebook.

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Speedeebee!

Posted by Professor on April 4, 2013
in Family Stuff, Gift Ideas, Girl Stuff, Kids Stuff, Kids Toys, Reviews, School, Uncategorized

Can you beat the best? Are you the speediest in the hive? Join the fun with the ultimate word game. Roll the dice to serve up your challenge and be the first to call out a word. May the brightest bee prevail!

Speedeebee is another awesome game from Blue Orange Games. Speedeebee has 150 fun challenges and four alphabet dice. Players race to find words containing or excluding the letters shown on the dice. Speedeebee keeps everyone buzzing with exciting simultaneous play. There are no waiting turns in this family word game! The variety of challenges and dice combinations makes Speedeebee different every time it’s played!

Contents of the game:

50 cards
4 alphabet dice
Illustrated rules

Skills of the game:

Cognitive speed
Vocabulary
Spelling
Reaction time

This game is recommended for ages 8 to adult and accommodates 2 to 6 players.

Click here to see the game in action!

Our Review:

We LOVE this family game! This is certainly a new favorite for family game night at our house! Speedeebee gives the brain a workout! We loved that this was not only a fun game but also a great learning tool! This game is reminiscent of speed tests at school… it gets the children (and adults) into the practice of thinking quickly. We played this game as a family…and had a blast. Even my 4 year old had a great time identifying letters on the dice. Even though she could not spell we adapted her role to finding letters. The game is age appropriate from 8 and up…but we did not want to exclude our little one from family game night. My other two children who are 7 and 9 played the game with ease (my 7 year old is reading at a higher level so this game was appropriate even for him).

As a mom and “collector” of family games I love that this game is in a small convenient tin. No large box to store and it travels nicely. This game fits easily on our game shelf and can easily be put into a purse or bag for travel use! I also love the fact that the container is made of tin… so often the sides of our game boxes break and I need to tape them up…no worries here with strong tin construction!

Overall, what a fun family game! This was truly enjoyable to play! This is definitely an addition to our family game night and impromptu game nights!

For more information about this and other Blue Orange games please visit:

http://www.blueorangegames.com/

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Healthy Classroom Station Review

Posted by Professor on April 3, 2013
in Cleaning, Community Issues, Education, Health, Personal Care Products, Reviews, Uncategorized

The Healthy Classroom Station Review

Kimberly-Clark Professional is taking the lead in helping transform schools into healthier learning environments.

Good Hygiene habits should begin early. The Healthy Classroom Station brings accessible product solutions to the classroom. Students learn to WASH, WIPE, and SANITIZE to help reduce the spread of germs.

Statistics show that the average student misses 4.5 school days each year due to preventable illness. Symptoms of illness are bad but so are the side effects… when children are ill their performance suffers. Student absences are linked to lower achievement and higher school dropout rates. Even when ill students are physically present but they often perform poorly. Further more, it is not only the student that is affected but parents’ work in affected. In the U.S., caring for a sick child results in 126 million lost workdays and $14.5 billion lost in productivity annually. This affects schools because schools spend over $2 billion on substitute teacher pay each year. Studies show that teacher absenteeism also affects student achievement.

Absenteeism starts with presenteeism ~ coming to school sick. When ill students touch a doorknob, keyboard, desk or other surface, they leave germs that can live up to 48 hours. Other students and teachers pick up those germs, and the cycle continues.

Kimberly- Clark Professional has come up with a solution to combat germs in the classroom. The Healthy Classroom Station!

The classroom Caddy creates a fun, engaging way to promote good hygiene in the classroom. Fill it with the hand sanitizer, tissue, and surface wipes to create a Healthy Classroom Station. The Classroom Caddy boasts a durable design, suitable for use by children age 3 and above (patent pending).

Contents of the Caddy:

KLEENEX Hand Sanitizer ~ effectively kills germs on hands with a foam formula that is perfect for schools. It is 99.9% effective against most common disease-causing germs in as little as 30 seconds. One step sanitizing solution. NO rinsing required.

KLEENEX Anti-Viral Tissue ~ moisture-activated middle layer that is scientifically proven to kill cold and flu viruses.

SCOTT Surface Wipes ~ safe enough for children to use. Clean high touch surfaces by removing soil, dirt, and other contaminants without the use of disinfectants. Alcohol and bleach free. Safe for children to use.

Our Review:

This is a neat innovative product! We really liked the Classroom Caddy and the Kimberly-Clark products. We used the products at home in order to do this review… but I WILL be giving a caddy filled with new products to my daughters preschool class. I wish I had more of these to go around as my other two children’s grade school classes could certainly benefit from a germ fighting kit!

On to the review… the caddy effectively fits all of the products securely and it easily fits next to the sink on the counter. The Hand sanitizer option is a nice plus. Having the sanitizer in a convenient pump and in the handy caddy location proved useful. I also liked that the sanitizer was of the foam variety. The foam seems to be easier for the children to dispense with less mess. The KLEENEX anti viral tissue is very nice. I must admit that I have not used this version of KLEENEX before this review…. But it is very soft and easy on the nose…plus it has the anti viral properties that are a large plus! Most of all I LOVED the SCOTT surface wipes. This is a great product! I often use regular sanitizing wipes on my counters and sometimes a bleach spray on the doorknobs. I LOVE the option of having an alcohol and bleach free product to wipe off the doorknobs and children’s toys, etc. This is a much safer option!

Overall we LOVE the Caddy and all of the contents. As I mentioned I intend to refill it and give it to my daughter’s preschool. I think that these are wonderful product to combat germs. How convenient not only for schools, but for anyone really! Think about it… homes, homes schools, daycares, in home daycare, etc… Wow! So many places…so many uses! Thank you Kimberly-Clark Professional!

For more information about these products and other solutions for your home or school, visit www.kcprofessional.com

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Freshfoods Cook-n-Blend Baby Food Maker Review

Posted by 278Wife on April 2, 2013
in Appliances, Baby Products, Food and Treats, Health and Nutrition, Parenting, Reviews, Uncategorized

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

When I think of making baby food I think of a long day of lots of work, lots of mess, and no fun. When my son was ready to eat baby food I bought a hand food processor, determined to make my own food. It lasted for about two days. The food was always too thick and chunky and I never knew if he was getting enough nutrients. It was just easier to buy the baby food, even though I wasn’t crazy about all of the ingredients in some of the foods. Now that he is a toddler, he is picky and will only eat certain foods. If only there was a way to get him to eat more nutritious foods in an easy way…there is! Introducing the Freshfoods Cook-n-Blend Baby Food Maker, the answer to all of my problems.

This baby food maker is for the whole family. It has two different texture settings, smooth or chunky, making it perfect for your growing baby and toddler. It also has a smoothie blade attachment so you can make healthy smoothies for the whole family. I was a little hesitant at first to try it, since my previous experience with making baby food was unsuccessful. Once I pulled the Cook-n-Blend Baby Food Maker out of the box, I thought it looked more like a juicer than a baby food maker. The size was perfect, it was a little smaller than a 2-slice toaster. The bowl can hold up to 3.75 cups, or 4 meals. Putting it together was easy, it came assembled! I skimmed through the recipe booklet that came with it. It came with great meal ideas written by world-famous child nutrition expert, Annabel Karmel. I chose to do the Banana and Blueberry puree, but replaced the blueberries with strawberries. For some odd reason, my son is not a fan of strawberries so I was anxious to see if he would like this.

To begin with, I filled the reservoir with water to level 2. There are three different water levels depending upon what you are making.

Next I filled the steam basket with three strawberries cut up and a whole ripened banana. They also include a half steam basket that can be placed inside the large basket so you can seperate foods and flavors. I love this option since you can easily cook two different items at once. After I added the food, I placed the lid on top and replaced the canister back into the baby food maker. I plugged it in and pressed the green on/off button to start cooking.

After a a couple of minutes steam started to build up in the steam basket. The bananas and strawberries began to cook.

After about 14 minutes, I heard a beep and the green light turned off. I carefully opened the lid, hot steam came out, and I saw very mushy fruit.

Next I dumped the fruit into the glass bowl that had lots of yummy smelling juice in it.

You can then choose which texture you want, smooth or chunky. I chose chunky so I replaced the lid and turned the knob to chunky. After about 5 seconds I realized it was fully blended. I removed the lid and saw a wonderful puree. It smelled so fresh and looked so smooth, I couldn’t wait for my son to taste it.

I poured the puree into a 4oz cup and told my son I made special applesauce just for him. Now remember, he does not like strawberries. He took a spoonful and said, “Mmmmm, mommy this is good applesauce!” He gobbled the entire cup and I was thrilled! That right there, sold me on this food maker. If I could make my picky three year old eat something he did not like, I could make many other healthy foods in there and he would have no idea what he’s eating.

Clean up was a breeze! Most of the pieces are dishwasher safe, which is exactly where they went. I wiped the machine clean and placed it back on my counter. I will definitely be using this all of the time! Some of the features that I really like are that it is a 4 in 1 baby food maker. It cooks, blends, reheats, and defrosts. Since it steams all of the food, it retains most of the vitamins and minerals, making it extremely nutritious and healthy. With one quick pour you can then blend the food into either a chunky puree for toddlers or a smooth puree for babies. The Cook-n-Blend Baby Food Maker is extremely versatile. The instruction manual has a cooking guide which tells you what level water to add for different foods and approximately how long it takes to cook each food. My only minor complaint on this product is I wish the instruction manual was a little more detailed. The first time I tried using the baby food maker I was kind of nervous about doing it right. I thought it was going to be more complicated than it actually was. After you make the food once, though, you see how easy it is and probably won’t even need to look at the manual again.

Overall, I was highly impressed with the Freshfoods Cook-n-Blend Baby Food Maker. I am anxious to use it not only on my baby who’s on the way, but also on my toddler to sneak in some veggies without him knowing. Freshfoods also offers other great products to help with making your own baby food including Stackable Cube containers to store the baby food and Freezer trays so you can easily freeze your baby food so it is ready when you need it. Their products are of high quality and are reasonabley priced. Go to this link for a $20 coupon off a Freshfoods Cook-n-Blend Baby Food Maker and $1 coupon off a Freshfoods accessory:

www.nuk-usa.com/promos/nuk-fresh-foods/blogger

To see all of their products go to their website:

www.Nukfreshfoods.com

Be sure to like them on Facebook:

facebook.com/nukUSA

To meet other moms working hard to keep their families healthy and living green check out:

www.greenmomsmeet.com

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PouchPop Review

Posted by 278Wife on April 1, 2013
in Baby Products, Food and Treats, Gift Ideas, Kids Stuff, Parenting, Reviews

Pouch food for babies and toddlers is the new preferred feeding method for many families, mine included. Feeding by pouch is not only convenient, but it promotes self-feeding, which is a great lesson for babies! One of the downfalls of most pouches, though, is the feeding part is made of hard plastic with many ridges. This can be very cumbersome for babies. Not anymore with the PouchPop.

The PouchPop topper is the convenient, soothing, and safe solution for pouch feeding. Made out of soothing hospital grade silicone, it easily twists onto any baby food pouch. I tried it out on some GO GO applesauce, and it twisted on easily and was just as easy to take off. I had my toddler try the pouch without the PouchPop and then with the PouchPop. Once I twisted the Pouchpop on, he did not want me to remove it. He said it was easier to drink from and that the applesauce came out faster. He also said it felt “cool” in his mouth. I liked how smooth the PouchPop was. It covers all of the ridges and “ouch points” on pouches, so I never have to worry about him hurting the inside of his mouth. This is definitely a safer option for babies. Best of all, it is dishwasher safe!

I love that PouchPop toppers are sold in a package of four and are reusable. I can keep a couple at home and a couple in my diaper bag for whenever I need them. They are also pediatrician recommended. These would be a great gift and are available at Amazon.com. For a 25% discount enter Topper13 (case sensitive) during checkout.

For more information visit their website:

www.pouchpop.com

Be sure to “Like” PouchPop on Facebook and follow PouchPop on Twitter.

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New Balance Running Shoes

Posted by html404 on March 31, 2013
in Products for Dad, Reviews, Shoes & Footwear, Shopping, Sports

Remember this photo?

My husband needed new shoes so I got him some New Balance running shoes to review. New Balance has a proven track record for us. They wear well, they last, they are comfortable and we like the look of them. They are actually one of our favorite shoe brands.

These are the ones I got for him:

New Balance 940 Optimum Control

Robert says these New Balance running shoes are very comfortable. More comfortable than other shoes he has tried. He’s kind of tough to buy for though. Not to be repetitive, if you remember a previous shoe review he did, but Robert has a high arch so finding a shoe that fits well and accommodates his arch is difficult. We usually cannot buy online, he has to physically be there to try them on. Unless it’s New Balance running shoes because he knows his arch supports will work in them.

He loves his New Balance 940 Optimum Control running shoes!

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Eggy Sight Words App Review

Posted by Brande on March 30, 2013
in Education, Fun Stuff, Parenting, Reviews, School, Techie Stuff, Technology/Electronics

Here’s the next review of the Eggy Apps – Reading Eggs Sight Words. Available for your Apple products.

Eggy Sight Words App Review

When you first begin this screen will pop up and they will ask you to select a level. This app has a total of 10 levels and 250 sight words.

The options are Chicken Run, Turtle Tap, or Penguin Plunge.

All of the options games are the same, it just matters on your animal preference you’d like to start with first. You are given a sight word and then eggs are tossed around they have many sight words on them. If the egg matches your word you touch it and the app will say the word. If you choose the wrong word or miss your sight word it cracks. As you continue to play the game the eggs go faster, watch out for the flying animals, objects and rotten eggs! Don’t forget to collect puzzle pieces and happy face eggs along the way!

When you continue on to the next round you spell the word. It will toss eggs into the air with letters on them. Then you choose which eggs spell your sight word.

They have a bonus round with gold eggs – you must try collect/tap 100 eggs. If you tap an animals, pan, or other flying object, the game ends and you need to retry. This is a great hand eye coordination tool.

In the tools section you can select and appropriate setting – Slow (age 3-4), Medium (ages 4-5), Fast (ages 6+).

Really cute app, my 4 year old daughter did okay when the eggs were going slow, once the eggs sped up it was hard for her to keep up. This will be a great app for her once her motor skills and eyes can recognize the words faster. When the eggs were going really fast, it was hard for me to keep up sometimes. lol….otherwise, great learning app!

Look for my next Eggy App Review – Eggy Reading