Just wanted to pop on and wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas from all of us here at Faith and Family Reviews! We hope you remember the true meaning of Christmas.
This photo reminds me of a water color painting but it is one I took with my iPhone on a hike in Nova Scotia on December 1st – I think it is a beautiful view and it was more so in person. More about our trip in the new year!
Are you looking for last minute gift ideas for cats and dogs? We were able to get a few things for our cats and dog for Christmas. I have to say they came in pretty handy and have been a nice addition to our pet supplies and pet pantry!
ökocat Natural Cat Litters
Our children do most of the animal care on a daily basis. Our 14 year daughter assured me that the ökocat Natural Cat Litter worked really well and she could not smell any odor from the cat litter. I cannot vouch for that since I have not been out to the “kitty palace” the children made for them since getting back from Nova Scotia.
Facts About ökocat Natural Cat Litter:
– Natural Pinewood and Paper Pulp
– Industry leading 7-Day odor control
– Holds up to 500% its weight in liquid
– 4 unique formulas include clumping, long-haired, pine, and dust-free options
– Eco-friendly, biodegradable
Available at www.healthy-pet.com
Sherpa® Safety Suite™
We have not had a chance to use this safety suite yet (purple pet carrier not included). It is good for both cats and smaller dog carriers. We got this product for our oldest daughter for when she gets her new cat. It is basically a grey base that allows you to strap your soft carrier into your car with a seat belt. It also works with a small pet carrier like the one we have shown in the photo below.
Facts About Sherpa® Safety Suite™:
– Helps improve vehicle safety for pets
– Fits into standard carseat safety locks
– 6-sided restraint system prevents tipping, sliding, and lateral shifting
– Works with any brand of soft-sided pet carrier
– Safety-tested
Available at www.sherpapet.com
e-Cloth
We got a chocolate brown colored pet bed. Light colored items for pets is not my idea of practical! The first time we gave it to our dog while he was recuperating from being neutered – ouch! It is very soft and he is using it…sometimes…remember, he is an outdoor dog. It rolls up nicely and would be great while traveling over the holidays.
Facts about e-Cloth (from their website):
– Perfect for long car trips, a holiday away, vacation, camping, staying with a friend or even every day use at home
– Plush and deeply padded top
– Hard wearing and waterproof underneath the base
– Can be quickly rolled up, making a perfect travel bed
– Comes with Velcro fasteners and integrated carry handle
– Size: 35.35″ x 23.5″
– 100% Polyester (Waterproof Polyoxford Material)
Learn more about e-Cloth:
www.ecloth.com
www.facebook.com/eclothUSA
www.twitter.com/ecloth
www.pinterest.com/eclothusa
www.instagram.com/eclothUSA
Hear Doggy Toy
Our dog loves to play and chew on things. We gave him the dragon Hear Doggy Toy to give him something to do while he recuperates (in the garage!) after his surgery. But it would be a great little travel toy too!
Facts About Hear Doggy:
– Perfect silent toy for holiday travel
– New characters include Elephant, Gator, Giraffe, and Cow
– Chew Guard Technology™ for tough play!
– “Flattie” (no stuffing) designs
Delightibles for Cats
Does your cat have mouse breath? Does it need freshening? Delightibles is a new breath mint for cats. They are center-filled treats BHA, BHT, wheat and soy free. We received tuna flavored…they do smell like tuna!
Our cat Freckles LOVED Delightibles!
Facts about Delightibles:
– Made in the USA
– Delicious, wholesome ingredients
– 100% guaranteed. Return the product to a local retailer and get a full refund.
– Available in these flavors: turkey, dairy, chicken, tuna, beef and salmon
Merry Christmas to our pets!
“I participated in a campaign on behalf of Influence Central for The Salvation Army. I received a promotional item as a thank you for participating.”
‘Tis the season to be giving and what better way to give than to The Salvation Army. I’m sure you’ve seen people ringing their bells near that red kettle.
This is one of the oldest and biggest providers. Established in London in 1865, The Salvation Army has been serving people for about 150 years internationally and over 130 years in the United States.
Here are few great facts about The Salvation Army.
How did The Army’s Red Kettle start? In December of 1891, The Salvation Army’s Captain McFee decided to provide Christmas dinner to the poor. He needed to raise money and put with the approval from the authorities, he place a large pot on the Oakland Ferry Landing in San Francisco. By Christmas of 1895 there were 30 Salvation Army locations.
You can help online or via text messaging! Anyone can become a virtual bell ringer and raise money for their local communities by creating an Online Red Kettle at onlineredkettle.org.” Or “Donors can text the word “KETTLE” to 80888 to make a $10 donation to support the campaign.” End of the year giving is extremely popular and is also tax deductible with the proper documentation, please make your donation by December 31, 2014.
I believe giving is very important throughout the year, however around the holiday’s it seems a bit more meaningful to my family. I look at what I have and wish that for everyone, I have meals on the table and a loving, healthy family. With a 6 year old daughter it’s sometimes hard for her to understand the real meaning of Christmas. I really have instilled that Christmas is not all about gift, but, giving and thoughtfulness.
Please visit The Salvation Army at RedKettleReason.org.
#RedKettleReason #Sponsored #MC
This is a sponsored post. I am a Sears blogger and all opinions are my own.
Are you looking for some last minute Christmas gifts? Sears has some apparel deals going on that you might want to take advantage of:
30% EXTRA off when you spend $150 or more on regular- and sale-priced clothing, accessories, lingerie, sleepwear, shoes & home fashions
25% EXTRA off when you spend $100 – $149.99 on regular- and sale-priced clothing, accessories, lingerie, sleepwear, shoes & home fashions
20% EXTRA off when you spend up to $99.99 on regular- and sale-priced clothing, accessories, lingerie, sleepwear, shoes & home fashions
Simply use this online code: JINGLE
http://bit.ly/1GA5vKc {Coupon is Valid 12/16/14 9:00 AM -12/24/14 11:59 PM}
Happy shopping and Merry Christmas!
We are very pleased to introduce Mr. Sketch markers!
We received the holiday marker pack free from Mr. Sketch!
This was a wonderful review to be able to complete around the holidays. The markers assisted my chidlren in making cards and gifts! Everything tiurned out great! The markers gave great pigment and coverage to the artwork.
We were pleased to see that these markers were the thin markers and not the large chisel tip markers… all of my children found them easy to use an the smells were great!
Mr Sketch offers a variety of scented markers. PLease visit their website for further detail!
We were pleased to review this product! Smiley 360 provided us this product for free to review. Dimetapp is our go to favorite in children’s medicinal products! … We have tried a variety of others … but this one stands true with quaility, effectiveness, and taste. The grape flavor is easy for children to swallow. There is nothing more I dislike more than when one of my cildren spits out the medication I am trying to dispense. Thus, I either mis a dose or try to caluclate how much actually got into the child and dispense the rest. With dimetapp… I have not had any dosing issues because it is taken well… the children like the flavor! YEAH!
As for effectiveness… it works great … it subsides symptoms for the duration of the cold/sickness and helpd the children feel better!
If you would like more information on the product including ingredients and dosing information please click here!
Get your 1.00 off coupon here!
We had the opportunity to review some pet treats not so long ago. Most of them were for our dog but we did get a little something for our cats too. We try hard to feed our animals healthy food and treats. We want them to live a long and healthy life and believe a healthy diet is a huge part in achieving this goal. If you have a pet on your Christmas list, Evanger’s has pet gift ideas to consider for the health of your pet. It is a new pet food brand to us, but here are some facts that we like about them:
Holiday and Kosher Pet Foods
Made in the USA
Over 40 certified Kosher meals for Dogs and Cats for Hannukah
Human-grade, USA-sourced ingredients
GMO-Free, No Preservatives
Even Grain Free
About Evanger’s
Dr. Fred Evanger began making pet food for his champion Great Danes in the 1930s. Almost 80 years later, Evanger’s continues to be the choice of top handlers, breeders, and enthusiasts. Our commitment to using the highest quality wholesome ingredients continues to make us the natural choice of conscientious pet owners.
Against the Grain
The following photos are of Against the Grain, Grain Free Jerky and another pellet like grain free treat that Padfoot is eating in the bottom photo.
Padfoot LOVED his treats, as you can see in the above photo! He really got into them. 
Evanger’s Organics for Cats
We do not know about you but we usually share our holiday meals with our dog and cats. We have to get after the children for giving our pets our favorite pieces of meat! Evanger’s Organics for Cats has a healthy option of Turkey Butternut Squash Dinner, which your cat is sure to enjoy this Christmas or Hannukah season! I know ours did. I did not realize until after the fact that my photos of the cats eating did not turn out well so I do not have any photos of them gobbling down their treat. But I assure you they LOVED it!
You can find more information at www.evangerspetfood.com Your pet is sure to enjoy some of these new holiday favorites!
With the arrival of Christmas, that means holiday travel. This post is a little late in the season, but are you planning a holiday road trip? Maybe these tips will help you as you prepare to travel with your family…
1. Make lists. Your to-do list before you leave, one for items to pack or bring, include food, clothing, toiletries and personal items, and finally, one for to-dos while on vacation – places to see, people to visit or call, etc.
2. Map out your journey. GPS and smartphones are wonderful and I love having them available to me. However, they are not always right. So pack a real life map and gather your children around to map out what roads you will take, which states you will drive through and what cities you will pass by. If you have time, plan some side trips too! If you homeschool, make it a school project for your children to learn something new about the state or city in which you will be visiting. Older children could handle doing this for each state and city you pass through.
3. Reserve your lodging ahead of time. Reserving your lodging ahead of time prevents you from the disappointment, not to mention the inconvenience of possibly not finding any a vacancies at hotels you just happen to stop at for the night. The holidays are busy so plan ahead.
4. Check the weather forecast for your destination, as well as any place in between. This will help you be prepared for winter road conditions, enable you to bring the proper attire and possibly prevent you from driving in any bad weather.
5. Share your plans with your family. This could be the family you are visiting, God forbid they leave for their own vacation, not knowing you are coming to visit! Or this could be family you are leaving behind, just so they know where you are going and how long you will be gone for, in case of emergency.
Yep we had some unhealthy Christmas cookies. Not sure there really is a healthy cookie, right?
M & M Christmas Cookies
My 14 year old made the cookies and my 13 year old took the photo. That’s called team work! 
I love my coffee, it’s my morning go to beverage. Waking up early while everyone is still sleeping and having a cup of coffee in the morning is my time. I’m typically a milk & sugar type of gal. However, NESCAFE with Coffee-Mate introduced me to 3 creamy and great tasting flavors French Vanilla, Original, and Hazelnut. Well, my mornings have been more inspiring and tasty with these new NESCAFE with Coffee-Mate flavors. Just the aroma that floats around my kitchen when I stir in the French Vanilla, Hazelnut, or even original is uplifting. They have made my mornings even more enjoyable.
No need for a coffee maker or single cup brewer with NESCAFE with Coffee-Mate. Just put 2 tablespoons of NESCAFE with Coffee-Mate in your cup and add 6 oz. of hot water, stir and that’s it! Coffee with creamer – mmmmm….. so good!
Go and treat yourself today!
Who wants a coupon!? Click here!
Don’t forget to like our friends at NESCAFE and Coffee-Mate on Facebook or follow NESCAFE and Coffee-Mate on Twitter.
#NescafeCoffeemate
“I received this product for free from Smiley360 in exchange for my honest review. You can join Smiley360 here!”
