Archive for Technology/Electronics

Eggy Spelling Grade 1 App Review

spelling 1

 

The final installment of the Eggy apps is the Eggy Spelling Grade 1 app.  The app is available in your itunes store for an ipad with an iOS of 4.0 or higher.

Spelling 2Look at all the options available for your speller!  Each game you can choose has 5 levels. A is the easiest and E is the hardest level.

#1 – Beat the Bomb!

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Your pirate ship is in the water.  You have 15 tries to fill in the blank letter to spell the word.  If you can’t spell the word in 15 tires, the bomb goes off and your pirate ship sinks!

 

 

 

#2 – Check Mate

You need to help edit the “Backwater News” sentences.  Your given a sentence with a word spelled incorrectly.  If you correct the spelling you move to the next sentence.  Incorrect answers lead to a “wrong” sound, you get 2 tries before you move to the next sentence.

#3 – Compound Word Snaps

Aboard “Gallicus 1″ you snap words together to make compound words.

Your given 10 words at the bottom of the screen.  You then must drag each word to make 5 word that will “snap” together or make compound words.  When you finish making your 5 word you click check.  It will them check your work and let you know if you missed any words, then tell you how they should have been.

#4 – Helping Hands

You’ve arrived at “Wendy’s Wonderful Word Factory”, time to start working.  Your given a sentence with a highlighted word, to which you must choose a “helper word” to complete the sentence.  For example – The sentence is ….

“May all your wish come true!”  With the word wish highlighted.  Your then given “s” or “es”.  Then you type “wishes” – so then wish becomes wishes.  Making your sentence “May all your wishes come true!”

#5 – Hit and Miss

Let’s play balloon pop!

Spelling 4

 

 

 

 

 

 

#6 – Quiz Master

Ready to play everyone’s favorite quiz show?!  Do you have what it takes?

“What is the first month of the year?”

J _ _ _ _ _ _

“What do you sleep in at night?”

B _ _

After you type the answer, click check to find out if you spelled the correct answer!

#7 – Stop the Clock

Are you ready?  Think fast.

You are given 5 sentences.  Each sentence has a missing word and each missing  word starts with the same letter.

Once you fill in the spaces, let’s hit the check button and see how many you got correct!

#8 – Two Minute Dash

Here we are back at “Wendy’s Wonderful Word Factory” and the workers need help building a new word wall.  Wanna help?

Each brick shows part of a word.  You have 2 minutes to to make proper words.

#9 – Word Factory

Let’s go back at the factory.  You need to help the workers!  They forgot to add some important letters!

Most of the missing letter are vowel letter.  example “T_ KE”  Then you would choose from the available choices, to make the word TAKE.

#10 Word Works

Some of the words are broken at Wendy’s Factory and need they your help fixing them!

“I like to do jigsaw Puzzl _ _.” you need to type in the correct letters to finish the sentence.

Once all the levels are finished your child will receive a Certificate of Achievement that can be emailed!  Really cute and your child will love to hang up their achieve award!

 

 

 

 


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Tandem Review

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.

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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.

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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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Eggy Sight Words App Review

eggywords-icon-16b7f4a8a3948bbfe6ad43ffc0c45eccHere’s the next review of the Eggy Apps – Reading Eggs Sight Words. Available for your Apple products.

Eggy Sight Words App Review

Eggy Sight Words 3

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.

Eggy sight Words 4

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!

Eggy Sight Words 1

Eggy Sight words 2

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

 

 

 

 


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Eggy Alphabet App

Eggy Alpha 1

 

The Eggy Alphabet App is available for your iPad and/or iPhone in the iTunes Store.

When you start up this app, it asks for your child’s name and each time you log in it will welcome your child.

The home page has 2 available activities “Letter” and “Letter Game”.

When you select “Letters” a friendly voice will tell you to select a letter.

eggy Alpha 2

 

After selecting a letter, they will direct you to select an activity.  Your child can select an upper case or lower case letter for their activities.  The available activities are Dot-to-Dot, Draw the Letter, Copy the Letter, or Letter or Not?

Dot-to-Dot is just that connecting the numbers to draw the letter. It will make your child repeat the letter Dot-to-Dot several times with numbers, then they will take away the numbers are show just dots, then take away the darkened letter to make your child draw the letter by themselves.  I really like the repetition of the letter.

eggy Alpha 4

 

Draw the letter is just that. They give you a blank page and your child will draw the letter.

Copy the letter – they give you the letter and arrows to give the direction your child should use to write the letter.

Letter or Not? and the Letter Game (From the home page) –  It will give you different pictures and ask if the picture starts with  that letter.  For example see below.

eggy Alpha 3

 

Does the word insect start with the letter i?  In this case yes, it does. The next picture may be a vase or flowers.

When your child finishes a level they receive a critter.  We received “Mr. Cheese the Mouse” for playing for 10 minutes straight and “Blue the Whale” for completing our first Dot-to-Dot activity.

This is a great learning app for your beginning readers, writers and learning the alphabet for your little ones.

Best of all Moms & Dads, you can check their progress!

Look for my next app review – Eggy Sight Words!

 


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Kidz Gear Headphones

kidz

Kidz Gear headphones are a line of headphones made just for kids. We’ve been testing out a pair for a few weeks now and we’ve come to the conclusion that they get two thumbs up from us! All of my kids have been using them for school and love them.

The volume and sound that the headphones give is adjustable so older kids can have a louder sound, while your younger child can still have a low sound. All while still giving off a high quality sound.

The overall quality of the headphones themself, is worth the $19.99, but in the hands of young children under eight, they are easily breakable. So we’d recommend that only older kids use these. Otherwise please do make sure that your children know that these headphones aren’t indestructible and may break if misused.

Special features include; a limited lifetime warranty, five colors (pink, orange, blue, green, and purple), and come with an audio control cable. They work with iPads, iPods, iPhones and many other audio devices.

We’ve tested them out on my daughter’s iPod, my iPhone, and our various laptops and they work great.

You can find Kidz Gear Headphones at gearforkidz.com

Oh and these headphones have a lifetime guarantee! If the headphones get broken, Kidz Gear will replace them for free! Bonus, eh?

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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The New Picture Keeper from MailPix

mailpix

I’m an amateur photographer hence I can take a few hundred photos in each sitting. Sadly, I don’t always have the space on my computer to keep what images that I want. I used to use cheap flash drives to keep my photos on, but they were always slow and lagging.

I’ve been looking for a solution to this problem for a long time and I’m happy to say that I found it. It’s almost insane how easy to use the all new picture keeper from MailPix is. In a few seconds you can easily move all your photos from your computers hard drive to the flashstick. I’m not kidding when I say it’s lightning fast.

I’m in love with the picture keeper, I had the chance to test one out and it was so easy to use. It didn’t lag at all and fits a really good amount of photos on it. I’m quite pleased with the features that the picture keeper offers. It’s small enough to fit into a pocket or purse, and is lightweight.

Overall, I’d highly recommend this product to those looking for an affordable and reliable solution to photo storage.

With each order MailPix will include a FREE gift of a picture keeper. To order or check out all MailPix has to offer please visit MailPix.com

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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iPad and Kindle Case Review

I don’t know about you but I enjoy a little color and design in my life.  Christian Inspirations’s iPad and Kindle Cases are beautiful and inspirational.

ipad 13Here ‘s the iPad Case in Spice Bouquet has a magnetic closure.ipad 2

Flip open the flower side and the pattern continues on the inside.

ipad 4Then again to reveal the entire case. Perfect for on the go!  A beautiful note pad and pen are inside.

ipad 5Here is the notepad with an inspirational note (Spice Bouquet is from John 3:16)

There are 4 elastic holders in each corner to hold your iPad securely in place.  Christian Inspirations Cases get even better! They not only lay flat, you can prop them up to watch a movie on your iPad.

ipad 6Here it is full standing and the next photo will show it at a lower angle.

ipad 7These angles are great for when you don’t have a desk.

Case Sizes are –

iPad –  10 3/8″ x 8 3/8″ x1 1/4″

Kindle – 7.5″ x 5.75″ x 1″

In addition to Spice Bouquet there are 5 more designs to choose from.

Marche De Fleurs, Boutique De Luxe, Birds on a Wire, Peacock Fantasy, & The Librarian.

You can find these beautiful cases for your iPad and Kindle on tabletcovershop.com or Amazon.

I had one of those black cases for my IPad, not anymore! I love the vibrant orange color of the Spice Bouquet.  I take my iPad with me to a lot of places, having a pen and paper close by is a super plus. I’m no longer digging in my purse for a tiny ripped up piece of paper and a pen. It’s all right there.

Looking for a gift? Mother’s Day is coming!

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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Otterbox Review #OtterboxKids

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Now that I have an iPhone, I don’t know what I would do without it. I am slowly going digital with almost everything…except books. I mostly use a digital calendar and I am ever so slowly trying to wean myself off of paper lists to digital ones. I use my phone’s alarm to wake me up at 2-2:15am to get up for the paper route. I watch movies and TV shows on my phone. I email, text and call on my phone. I take photos with my phone. My little ones do some preschool on my phone. They even use my phone for piano since we downloaded a metronome app. But I am probably preaching to the choir here as you all possibly feel the same way about your cell phone.

I have Apple Care for my phone which offers repair and tech support help. The thing I did not have until a couple of weeks ago was a good case to protect it from potential drops or whatever my 2 year old can dole out to it. My mom says he’s going to have to teach her how to use my iPhone!

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When I first purchased my iPhone I didn’t like many of the cases. I wanted my iPhone to look as sleek and slim as it did without a case. I really liked my case and it’s done a decent job protecting my phone up for the past year.

Otterbox Review

I really wanted something stronger to protect my phone after seeing what happened to an acquaintance’s phone. Think crushed screen. Yikes! That’s when the Otterbox came across my path and I decided to give it a try.

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It takes a bit of finagling to get the Otterbox to fit the iPhone. I had a rather clumsy result. My husband is the one that got it to fit better. Note that I did not take it a part to show you the different pieces! You can check them out here: http://www.otterbox.com/

It took me a few days to get use to the extra bulk with the three pieces of the Otterbox, but I like it. I feel like my phone is safer and better protected.

The Otterbox comes in a wide variety of colors and patterns. I’m a plain Jane and chose black for practical reasons, like the dirty wouldn’t show up as much, especially with little fingers using it almost as much as I do!

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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Demise of Guys Because of Technology?

Gregg over at My Job Chart shared an article about the book The Demise of Guys and the alarming trends about guys and technology. It’s quite sobering when you think about it. Like Gregg, we have four boys to raise and we want to raise them to be responsible adults, not game junkies.

Demise of Guys Endorsement

We’ve used media to motivate our boys to work, they seem to need more motivation than our girls ever did. Either that or else our memories are very poor! But we limit the amount of time we give them on the computer, games and watching movies.

One of the many reasons we moved to the country was to create more work for our children…say what?! I can hear some of you screaming, but it’s true. We want our children to know how to work hard, be responsible and be high functioning adults. Not lazy, not gamers etc. but able to provide for a future family. After all God made work and regardless of what many may think work is good. Just look at where He put Adam and Eve after he created the, in the Garden of Eden to tend and keep it.

Take a good look at this infographic…

Heads Up on being Heads Down

What does it reveal to you? Do you see a problem trending towards the demise of guys because of technology and other unhealthy internet use? (Do not want to even use the term for fear of who it will bring to my website!) Leave my your thoughtful comments!


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5 Last Minute Stocking Stuffers

If you are heading out shopping this weekend and still need a few stocking stuffers, we have some ideas for you! Below are some products we have recently tried and reviewed or have used in the past. From techie stuff to kids toys, there are last minute stocking stuffers for nearly everyone in the family!

1. Shredz. We got our first snow the other day and our boys have been outside playing with their new Shredz action figures and accessories. The boys really like them! The photos speak for themselves.

2. Eco.Ditty. Eco.Ditty is a company that offers eco-friendly, organic cotton, reusable sandwich and snack bags.

3. Fruit. My mom use to always put a huge apple and orange in our stockings. We never saw that size of fruit any other time of the year.

4. Love’s Christmas Journey DVD. We won this movie in a drawing or something and received it this week. Planning on watching it this weekend or sometime over Christmas.

5. PlayMG. PlayMG is a portable mobile gaming device. It is very cool. So cool that my husband and I have enjoyed playing NBA Jam. ;) If you knew us, you’d know that we both love basketball both watching and playing, but don’t do much of either anymore. Though PlayMG is a pricier item for a stocking stuffer, it is the size of a perfect last minute stocking stuffer, especially if you are stuck in what to get a special someone. No need to buy extra equipment, as it uses a standard cell phone charger to charge. Accessories can be purchased separately, like a case, charger etc.

We have really been enjoying learning to us our PlayMG, but I wouldn’t say it hasn’t been as user friendly as I would like. It took me an email and a couple calls to support and I still cannot get the internet to work even though my WiFi says it is connected. I have to call them again after Christmas. The game has frozen on us a couple of times causing us to reset it by pressing the brightness and volume down buttons, which I need to ask about. Support has been great though.


There were a couple of cards like this and that was the extent of instructions. :( It came beautifully packaged though in a nice box that slide out like a drawer. Too bad my children sort of wrecked ours already or I could show you how nice it was.

I will say that so far the PlayMG has been a motivator for my boys (9 and nearly 11) to do their chores, so it is working in the sense that I want it too. I like that it is portable and needs no other service other than WiFi and it will work with our NetZero device. I also like that we can use the Bill My Parents card. I added $20 to it and Bill My Parents added another $10, so I can use that as an extra incentive for chores. OR if certain individuals are not complying then I can say I get to spend the money instead. Hoping I don’t have to resort to that but if I have to play hard ball I will!

The Bill My Parents card works like a debit card but teens cannot overspend if there is no money on the card. Parents can be notified via email of purchases etc., but they will not be able to get a report of websites visited or what their kids watched. That’s a downfall, if you ask me. I like that it’s a debit card. Now that my girls are getting older, it will be a useful tool to use to educate them about responsible credit card use.

Overall, we like PlayMG, I just wish more instructions came with the device on how to get everything set up -email, internet etc. This is a great device that gets my children OFF my iPhone and onto THEIR games without expensive cell phone charges or contracts.

Have fun with any last minute shopping, visiting or preparing you have to do this weekend!


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