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Rentailor – Rent That Fits

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I’ve been on both sides of the rental process. Both as renter and as landlord. And many of the frustrations in this process can be solved by making it easier for renters to find my property and submit an application to view or rent.

Being a landlord is frustrating. But, let’s face it. I hate being a renter even more. My husband and I have been discussing purchasing a new home, and top of the discussion list is how we avoid having to rent during this process. So many of our friends have had to rent for a month or so while they were between houses. Or they sell their house, rent, and then start looking for a new home. The one thing we really want to avoid is renting. Why? Because it’s so frustrating.

I have to call each apartment complex for details, fill out their application, have my credit run a gazillion times, and eventually finally get to look at apartments (or houses).

I know as a landlord, people looking at my houses really don’t want to fill out and pay for ANOTHER credit check, because they’re getting tired of filling out all that paperwork. Plus, paying for application after application is just expensive.

So, here’s where Rentailor comes in, and solves this problem:

  1. Run your credit once. You only have to fill out a credit and rental application once. Once approved, you enter what you’re looking for and look at available rental properties on their site. If you see something you want, you click a button to contact them and submit your application, which has already been processed. No need to fill out more paperwork for every single place you might want to rent. You can submit your application to multiple properties with just a few clicks.
  2. Properties bid for you. Property managers can see your application, and if they have a property that they think you’ll like they can make you an offer. Not only are you looking for something to rent. Property managers are looking to rent to you. Rentailor is all about helping you find what you want for the price you want.
  3. Pay rent online. Once you find your property, Rentailor has a secure online system that you can use to pay your rent online. So even if you’re renting from a private owner or smaller company that doesn’t have an online system, Rentailor has you covered.
  4. Don’t see anything you want, you can ask Rentailor to help you out. They already have your application and can help you find the property that you want to rent.

Rentailor takes the frustration out of renting.

Check them out on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and YouTube as well!

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Valentia Night Revive Retinol Serum – Review

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I received this product free for purposes of my review. All opinions are my own.

It’s just so much fun that the Valentia brand is named after The Roman Goddess of healing, Valentia. She relied on nature’s gifts to heal the citizens of Umbria. And that is what Valentia does as well. Valentia Skin Care products have been formulated with natural and organic cosmetic ingredients that will repair and protect the skin. Their products are free of toxins and paraben-free.

And they work great for me. I have tried several Valentia products and every one of them has been wonderful. Both gentle on my skin and effective. The perfect combination in facial products.

This time I got to try Valentia’s Night Revive Retinol Serum. A transformative retinol serum that fights wrinkles and provides hydration, for visibly smoother, rejuvenated skin.

This Retinol Serum Will:
– Diminishes wrinkles
– Stimulates collagen
– Improves skin tone
– Manages breakouts
– Conditions skin

Specially selected ingredients work together to achieve optimum results.

KEY INGREDIENTS:

– Retinol (Vitamin A): Works at the cellular level to stop winkles, manage breakouts, and evens out skin discoloration.

– Vitamin C: Guards skin against environmental free-radicals to prevent premature aging.

– Vitamin E: Provides intense hydration to diminish the drying effects of retinol.

– Squalane: Derived for pure olive oil to soften and condition delicate skin.

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USAGE:

As with all Retinol Serums, you don’t want to use it every day. I did this without thinking with this serum and used it 3 days in a row, the 3rd day my skin was just a tad irritated. Nothing terrible, but then I remembered reading on the bottle that I probably only wanted to use this a few times a week or every other day at the most. I dropped back to every 3 days and the results are way better – and non-irritating.

I use it in the evening before applying my nighttime moisturizer. It helps my skin absorb my moisturizer better for softer and more moisturized skin. Just don’t use it every day.

This is another great product from Valentia!

Purchase some for yourself at Amazon or from Valentia.com.

Follow Valentia’s Instagram and Facebook for product updates and beauty tips.

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Every Day With God Veggie Tales Devotional – Review

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I Received a copy of this product free for purposes of my review. All opinions are my own.

About the Book:

Every Day with God is the latest 365-day devotional (one for boys and another for girls) from VeggieTales. The updated content and art offer the perfect opportunity for parent and child to share time together each day. Each entry includes a Bible verse, short devotion, Thought of the Day, and prayer. The content will help children learn more about God and develop a daily practice to keep Him close in their lives. The book is perfect for bedtime reading, family devotion time, or as a fresh way to start each day!

Format: Trade paperback
Page Count: 384
Trim Size: 5 X 7.25
Retail Price: $9.99
Reading Age: 4-7

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My girls are 8 and 5 and they just love this book! The devotions are short and easy for them to understand. In fact, they’ve basically taken the book for themselves and hidden it from me. They’re having so much fun doing this together that they’ve asked me not to read it to them. They want to do it themselves. Each evening the 8yr old will read a devotion (or 2) to the 5yr old before they go to sleep. This is in addition to our usual family devotion each night.

I think it’s so awesome that my girls want to learn more about God together and it’s a great start to them learning how to have their own devotions instead of just family devotions.

We received the girls version of this devotion. And the girls are loving all the VeggieTales princess pictures and such that are throughout the book.

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At $9.99 this is an awesome devotional book to read to your young child or to have an older child read to a younger child. Whether you’re wanting this for your children or as a gift for a child in your life, this is such a fun and exciting devotional for children.

Every Day with God Boys
Every Day with God Girls

Plus, if you have Amazon Prime, shipping is free!

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What’s even more exciting? I get to give one away! The winner gets to pick the boys or girls version. So, let me know in the comments who you want to win this for and how much fun you’re going to have sharing it with them. And enter the giveaway for a chance to win a copy of Every Day with God.

Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”): Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post.

Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway. If you have won a prize from our sponsor Propeller / FlyBy Promotions in the last 30 days, you are not eligible to win. If you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.

If winner has not responded within 36 hours of attempted contact, another winner may be selected.

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Vibrance Healthy Hair Vitamins – Review & Discount

I received this product free for purposes of my review. All opinions are my own.

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I just love beauty products! I love trying out new nail polishes, new hair styles, and new makeup! What’s even more important than having fun with my beauty products is maintaining healthy nails, healthy hair, and healthy skin.

About

These Vibrance healthy hair vitamins are designed to help me maintain healthy hair. Because styling my hair is no fun if I’m fighting with hair that just isn’t in good shape.

Each soft capsule is packed with 23 vitamins, minerals, and herbs, including Biotin and OptiMSM®, that revitalize your hair from the inside. These nourishing ingredients support the growth of thicker, longer, and stronger hair.

Vibrance products are made in the USA without any extra fillers, binders or junk. They use only the purest and most potent natural ingredients. And they’re gluten, wheat, and dairy free!

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Plus they have a 90 day guarantee. You can purchase these vitamins at their online store or at amazon.com.

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And, they have a special promo on their vitamins. You can get a bottle for just $5! Check out their giveaway here, and try these out yourself.

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Review

Side note: Capsules use fresh and natural ingredients, and may have a “smell”. They recommend airing out the bottle for a few seconds for the smell to go away. I’m glad I knew this when I first opened my bottle, because it did not smell good! After leaving it open for a minute or two it was fine though.

Also, if you don’t like taking pills the contents of the capsule can be opened and put into a smoothie! I don’t really drink smoothies so I haven’t actually tried this, but it sounds like a great idea for if you’re not wanting to swallow a capsule.

My hair is pretty good and I was already using a vitamin with biotin before this, so I wasn’t expecting dramatic results. They say to try it for 30 days to see results, I’ve been using it for about 20 days now and haven’t really noticed a difference in my hair, which means that it’s definitely as good as the product I was using previously.

My hair is still soft, shiny, and strong. It’s ready to go for any way I want to style it!

What I really like about this product is that it’s made in the USA and it doesn’t have extra fillers or binders. I’m pretty sure my previous vitamins have fillers and binders and gluten. With Vibrance I don’t get any of these, and I still get the benefit of great hair! And it’s quite nice to know more about the vitamins that I’m taking.

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Smart Stuff Sunscreen Review

I received a free product for purposes of my review. All opinions are my own.

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We love our end of Summer family vacation at the beach and this sunscreen arrived just in time for me to test it out on our many days of sun and sand. A good sunscreen is an important beach essential. So, I was pretty excited to try out SMART STUFF sunscreen.

SMART STUFF™ products are all natural and effective for children and adults alike. They are also environmentally friendly.  A portion of the profits from SMART STUFF goes towards supporting Luv Michael, a non-profit dedicated to educating, training and employing individuals with Autism.

In fact, doctors Lisa A. Liberatore, MD and Dimitri N. Kessaris, MD have an autistic child who was the inspiration behind them creating the SMART STUFF brand.

As physicians, they understand a product’s effects on a molecular level. As parents, they simply won’t compromise when it comes to health and safety of their family and friends. SMART STUFF was born from necessity, and based on one simple concept: well-designed products should work great day in and day out without compromising your health. Sounds great to me!

I got to try out SMART STUFF 30 SPF Mineral Sunscreen.

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This sunscreen is water resistant – for 40 minutes, but if you’re not in the water you can wait about 2 hours before you need to reapply (depending on your skin). Water resistant is an essential to any sunscreen on the beach, since we spend a large portion of our time surfing the waves.

I like that this SMART STUFF sunscreen has no synthetic chemical sun filters, it’s non-whitening, free of parabens, PABA, Petroleum, Phthalates, and Gluten. And it’s also eco-friendly and bio-degradable. And it’s made in the USA.

I think it smells like basically nothing, but both of my girls complained about the smell. I think they’re just used to the usual sunscreen smell and this one is different since it’s mineral based. Honestly, once I rub it in, I don’t notice it at all (unlike traditional sunscreen).

It takes a little extra time to rub in – if you don’t take the extra time you’ll look white for a little while, so just rub it in a bit longer. And, it’s impossible to rub in if you’re wet, or close enough to impossible that it’s just not worth it. You’ll want to towel dry before reapplying if you’ve been swimming. The first time I tried to reapply, I had some very white-faced children because it just didn’t rub in on their wet faces. I learned my lesson and dried them off the next time and it rubbed in just fine. It’s not sticky and doesn’t seem to make my skin as oily (especially my face) as my usual sunscreen.

For an SPF 30 it seems to last a long time and I’m very pleased with the sun protection it provided me and my children. We spent many hours in the sun, reapplying as needed, and it worked better than I expected. Actually, I think it worked just as well or better than my usual sunscreen.

If you have sensitive skin, or just don’t like the chemicals in traditional sunscreen, you should give SMART STUFF sunscreen a try.

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The Biggest Story – Review & Giveaway

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I received this product free for purposes of my review. All opinions are my own.

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The Animated Short Film: Featuring beautifully animated illustrations adapted from the book, The Biggest Story: The Animated Short Film will captivate children and parents alike as they see how all the classic stories in the Bible connect to Scripture’s overarching message about God’s glorious plan to redeem his rebellious people.

This is short animated story of the Bible for kids. It’s only 26 minutes total and it’s divided into 10 chapters.

It’s simple, fun to watch, and all 3 of my kids liked it (even the 3 yr old). They do a really quick walk through of the Bible starting in Genesis with Adam and Even and ending with how all of this leads to Christ and God’s plan to redeem us.

The animations are quite interesting and I would honestly watch it several more times just to see more of the animations.

The narrator is the same as the Audio Book. We watched the DVD first and while the kids liked it, I thought the animator was a bit monotone for them and they probably would like the audio CD. Boy was I wrong. We’ve only watched the DVD once but the kids have listened to the Audio Book at least 10 times now.

IMG_20160830_223352982The Audio Book: This audio book of The Biggest Story — written and narrated also by the best-selling author Kevin DeYoung—leads kids and parents alike on an exciting journey through the Bible, connecting the dots from the garden of Eden to Christ’s death on the cross to the new heaven and new earth.

This CD is the same story as the DVD. My kids love listening to it over and over while they play. It’s only 26 minutes long and they have listened to it at least twice a day since we’ve gotten it.

I honestly assumed that with the animations on the DVD my kids would prefer that, but while they like the DVD they would much rather listen to the Audio Book and play while listening.

Either way, I like that they’re hearing over and over the progression from Adam and Eve to Christ, and how God has a plan of redemption for each of us.

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Want a copy of The Biggest Story? Enter below for your chance to win.

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Valentia Pure Glow Brightening Moisturizer – Review


I received this product free for purposes of my review. All opinions are my own.

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Valentia Pure Glow Brightening Moisturizer – A lightweight fast absorbing cream that illuminates skin while providing all-day hydration.

This Brightening Moisturizer Will:
– Lighten dark spots
– Restore skin radiance
– Even skin tone
– Diminish fine lines
– Provide all-day hydration

Specially selected ingredients work together to achieve optimum results.

KEY INGREDIENTS:

– Botanical Hyaluronic Acid: Floods skin with moisture, supports skin elasticity, and plumps skin from within.

– Kojic Acid: Controls melanin production and prevents dark spots.

– Ginseng: Boosts skin firming collagen, fights wrinkles, and gives the skin a brighter and more energized look.

– Safflower Oil: Repairs skin’s natural moisture barrier and provide superior skin protection.

– Shea Butter: Infuses skin with a myriad of vitamins and nutrients for superior skin hydration and nourishment.

MY RESULTS:

I just love Valentia! I’ve liked every product of theirs that I’ve tried and this one is no exception. It is lightweight, absorbs quickly, and is easy to rub on to my face. The bottle is easy to use, and I don’t have any trouble getting exactly the amount of moisturizer that I want to use.

I can apply makeup over this moisturizer without a problem and my face stays moisturized throughout the day.

It has practically no scent, which I just love in my facial moisturizer.

Valentia uses natural ingredients and the Valentia Pure Glow Brightning Moisturizer is working great on my skin. My face is moisturized, soft, clear, and bright. I’m loving this moisturizer.

For beauty tips and ideas you can check out Valentia on Instagram and Facebook.

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Ark Skincare: Age Targeted Skincare Products – Review

I received these products free for purposes of my review. All opinions are my own.

ARK Skincare is an award winning British skincare brand loved by Beauty Editors at top magazines like ELLE and Glamour ! ARK Skincare products uniquely treat skin at every age providing a daily skin regimen that protects, defends, and defys. Created in England, ARK Skincare products deliver professional, salon grade results using the most innovative natural formulations. The result is a highly effective personalized skincare regime for every individual.

The ARK Skincare family of age targeted products is divided into three age intelligent product lines to treat skin. Complemented by the Skin Perfector range of treatment products and the Skin Essential range of daily necessities, Ark Skincare offers a solution for all of your skincare needs.

Since I’m in my 30s I got to try the Age Defend Ark Skincare line. This line is formulated for women in their 30s and 40s and is designed to reduce wrinkles and moisturize my skin.

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ARK AgeDefend Replenishing Moisturiser

This is a twice a day (morning and evening) facial moisturizer. Designed for women in their 30s and 40s. It’s designed to reduce wrinkles and moisturize my skin. Because in my 30’s I want to keep my skin healthy and protected so I can maintain good skin as I age.

My first big beauty product concern is scent. It’s really important to me that I like the scent of whatever beauty product I’m using. This AgeDefend Replenishing Moisturizer smells great. I think it’s the combination of the SheaButter, Kiwi, and Blue Lotus. It’s refreshing and relaxing at the same time. The perfect scent for morning and evening. The scent doesn’t linger long, I really only smell it until I have the lotion rubbed in, which is perfect.

Next up is convenience. This bottle is easy to use and non-messy. Both very important. I just push the top down a little bit and I can easily get the amount of lotion that I want.

Last but not least, effectiveness. I’ve been using this for a week and have not had any breakouts or other problems with this product. My face is moisturized throughout the day without being greasy, and since this is non-greasy my makeup goes on fine over this moisturizer.

This is a great facial moisturizer and it is refreshing and works well on my skin.

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ARK SkinPerfector Hydration Injection Masque

This Masque is formulated for all ages. The older you are, the longer you leave it on. You can even leave it on overnight if desired.

Since I’m in my 30s I followed the directions and put the masque on for 10 minutes.

The masque feels like a thick lotion when you put it on, it smells great, just like the AgeDefend Replenishing Moisturizer. It’s a relaxing and refreshing scent. But not that strong because I’m pretty sure that only the person wearing the masque can smell it.

It also goes on clear. With it on, my face just looked a little shiny. Which wasn’t enough to alert my husband to the fact that I was wearing a masque.

I put the masque on, said goodnight to the kids, and sat down in the kitchen to wait until I could wash it off. My husband walked over and I was barely halfway through warning him when he gave me a big kiss on the cheek. And then there was no need to tell him that I had a masque on. The masque apparently does not taste very good.

The masque was easy to wash off with warm water and I applied my ARK Age Defend Replenishing Moisturizer afterwards. My skin was soft and well moisturized.

Both of these products work well, are non-irritating, and smell great! For more information and to find the products designed for your skin check out Ark Skincare’s Website. You can shop by age, skin concern, and product type to find something that’s just right for you.

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Nexabiotic Probiotics Review

I received this product free for purposes of my review. All opinions are my own.

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Probiotics, I hear that term tossed around but what exactly are probiotics? In the normal human gut there are over 100 trillion bacteria. As you get older, get stressed, or take antibiotics those normal good-guy bacteria die off. These probiotics do everything from helping to break down food, providing essential nutrients like vitamin K, and keeping the competing bad bacteria at bay. Sounds like a good thing to me.

Why do we need probiotics? Typical modern diets are too sterile, loaded with antibiotics, and not diverse enough to maintain optimal probiotic levels. Our food supply is now more processed, sterilized, and loaded with more antibiotics than ever before. Basically, we’re not getting enough bacteria and such in our diets, our food is too clean.

Probiotics supplement the gastrointestinal tract with those known, good, beneficial organisms. Probiotic supplements are one of the most popular health supplements because they actually work to help maintain digestive health. There’s a lot that’s not known about probiotics, but from what is known, we need them to keep our digestive system healthy.

Nexabiotic is one of the top selling probiotics on Amazon. It’s advanced formula combines 23 different kinds of probiotics into 1 small capsule. Or, for the kid’s version, one chewable, tasty, tablet.

All that to say, I’ve been wanting to try a probiotic so I was pretty excited to get to try some for me and for my kids for free!

I got to try the adult version, kid’s version, and infant’s version.

These adult pills are pretty small, but if you don’t like taking pills, the capsules can be opened and mixed in with foods. I personally would rather take a pill, so that’s what I did.

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It’s recommended that you take this on an empty stomach. Though, luckily not required. I could never seem to remember to take it before eating so I usually took mine about 30 minutes after a meal.

I eat pretty well – lots of fresh veggies and such – so I didn’t notice a huge difference. The big thing for me is it didn’t bother my stomach, which means it must be working pretty well. I’m usually pretty sensitive to supplements of any kind – even children’s vitamins can bother me – so to take something that is good for my digestion and didn’t bother me a bit is pretty good.

I swallowed mine with water. It has no aftertaste or anything like that. So, all in all. These are easy to take and seem to be working well for me.

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The kids have little citrus flavored tablets. They’re not very sweet. The kids like them. They’re pretty small. Dissolve quickly. Not highly flavored but they taste ok.

Keeping up with the kids diets can be a challenge. So every little bit helps. It’s nice to know that they’re getting good things that will help keep their digestive system healthy.

Allergy warning, on the back of the bottle it says that these probiotics are processed in a facility that may process milk, soy, wheat, egg, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, and shellfish. We’re not allergic to anything, so I was comfortable using these. But if you or your child has any of these allergies, this may not be the best probiotic for you.

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The baby version is more complicated to use. I have to mix it in with food or drink. My youngest is 3 and he felt that this was an unacceptable way to serve him probiotics. Mainly, he doesn’t like me mixing stuff in his food. It had nothing to do with the taste – which I didn’t notice a taste when I tried it.

My older kids thought it wasn’t fair that I mixed stuff in his food and not theirs, so if he really doesn’t want it, the older kids are more than happy to eat it for him. I think for a younger child who’s not really that opinionated about the precise details of their food, this would work pretty well.

For more info check out Nexabiotic on Amazon or on Nexabiotic’s Website.

I received these products free for purposes of my review. All opinions are my own.

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Family Christian Store – Review & $25 Giveaway

I received a $25 gift card to Family Christian in exchange for my review. All opinions are my own.

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Family Christian Store is a one stop shop for all your Christian Book and Media needs. They have Bibles, Books, Music, DVDs, Kid’s Items, and even apparel.

They’re the exclusive retail partner for Active Faith Sports. A line of workout apparel with Christian-inspired designs and messages. You can check out their promo video for more information.

The closest Family Christian is 3 hours away from me so I chose to shop online with my gift card. I had way too much fun spending it and ended up spending a bit more because they have so much great stuff!

IMG_20160311_135336386_HDRI started by looking up Julianna Deering. I had read her book “Dressed For Death” a while back and liked it. It’s the third in the series and I’ve been wanting to get the first two. Since I can spend my gift card however I want I decided to get these.

Family Christian had a buy one get one 50% off sale, so with the sale price, I was still below my $25 with two books.

And I should add, that they were easy to find. I just searched for the author and all her books popped up and I added the two I wanted to my cart.

I still had a few dollars to spend.

I made the mistake of telling the kids they could help me pick something. They wanted about 20 DVDs so I think I did pretty good convincing them that they could live with 2. Of course, we had to get 2 since everything is buy one get one 50% off. And I can’t pass up a sale.

For the DVDs I  just browsed the kid’s DVD section. They have a huge selection of DVDs which was why it was so hard for my kids to choose. I browsed a few other sections as well just to see what they have and always found what I was looking for.

Sale

Family Christian has a buy one get one 50% off sale on their Books, Music, and DVDs until August 25th. This sale is good in store and online. And I just love finding books on sale!

You can mix and match items and categories to get the deal, your two items don’t have to be in the same department.

AND I get to give away a $25 Family Christian Gift Card to one lucky reader! Enter below for your chance to win.

“Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255:  “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”):  Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway.  Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation.  I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post.

Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway.  If you have won a prize from our sponsor Propeller /FlyBy Promotions in the last 30 days, you are not eligible to win.  Or if you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again.  Winner is subject to eligibility verification.