Reviews – Page 17 – Chocolate 'N Children

May 25, 2016May 22, 2016

Healthy Baby Home Party

Thanks to Seventh Generation for this awesome, free, home party! This party box had tons of great Seventh Generation products for me and for my guests!

Seventh Generation is all about high quality, natural ingredients, and being honest and upfront about what’s in their products. The more products I try from this brand, the more I love it!

For starters, this dish liquid, diapers, and baby wipes. I love that the diapers and wipes are free and clear. My little guy has sensitive skin and I have to be careful what brands I use for him. He has no trouble at all with these Seventh Generation products.

I love the wipes, they’re thick and soft as well as fragrance free. Which means that I can comfortably use them for cleaning little faces and hands when on the go.

My favorite item of these 3 though is the dish detergent. It smells so good! It smells like I’m going to the spa every time I do dishes!

Speaking of the dish detergent. It was one of the samples included in my box. I was so excited to share this awesome dish soap with my guests!

Also included was Seventh Generation laundry detergent (which I’m also currently reviewing – so look for a post soon about this product), baby wipes (Seventh Generation seriously needs to sell a big box of these individual packs, they’re so convenient to just have in my purse), Zarbees baby cough syrup (seriously the best! I keep this stuff on hand in the winter), wildflower seeds, coupons, a bingo game, and mighty mealtime toddler meals. Plus some pretty cute brown bags so everyone could easily take their samples home.

I ended up combining my party with Mother’s Day. We were already having a bunch of people over and what better way to celebrate Mother’s Day than sending every mom home with an awesome sample bag?

And last but not least, bobble was one of the party box sponsors and they sent a Bobble Infuse water bottle (and lots of coupons for my guests). I love that the bobble water bottles have a charcoal filter. This way I can easily drink any tap water or water fountain water without having to worry about how clean the water actually is – it’s not recommended for other waters since the filter is just designed to remove impurities from tap water.

My husband stole this water bottle. He’s all about filtered water and was so excited that there’s a water bottle with a filter!

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

This post does contain affiliate links.

May 23, 2016May 22, 2016

5 Must Have Back Yard Summer Items

Summer is truly my favorite season. Spring is a close second though. I love being outside and my kids love being outside. We spend so much time in our yard, we practically live outside in the summer. So, what are my 5 must have back yard summer items?

1. Teeter Totter – I bought this Gym Dandy Teeter Totter for my kids a couple of years ago and it’s the best back yard toy purchase I’ve ever made! They will play and play and play on this thing.

What I really love about this teeter totter is that it’s practically tip-proof. I would have to deliberately tip it over, and that would still take a lot of effort. The kids have no hope of tipping it over, no matter how many they pile on at once.

It has really held up well and my kids and any friends we have over love playing on it! The only down side, you will want 2 people to assemble this, it’s pretty tricky to do by yourself (but not impossible).

2. Swimming Pool – So, I seriously love this inflatable pool. It’s inexpensive and provides hours and hours of play for the kids.

I end up purchasing two every summer, because my kids like to bounce on the sides (which isn’t recommended) and this eventually results in some holes that just won’t stay patched. But at under $30 for the pool, I can handle purchasing two and enjoying most of our summer water play in our own back yard.

If you do purchase this pool, I recommend this foot pump for pumping it up. Trust me, you’re not going to want to blow this pool up without a pump. (just speaking from experience here). The foot pump has lasted me for a couple of summers and is still going strong. I can inflate the whole pool in under 15 minutes with this thing – more like 30 minutes if the kids are “helping”. This pump is under $10 and totally worth every single penny.

3. Bubbles – Lots and lots of bubbles. And if your kids are like my kids. You’re going to want a few containers of these gazillion bubbles. Because not only do the kids blow bubbles, they also somehow dump them everywhere. I get it, the bubble solution is slippery, it happens. This is definitely an “outside only” toy.

If you want to be really adventurous, get this Gazillion Bubbles Hurricane Machine and let the machine do all the work. Though, I personally prefer to let the kids do all the bubble blowing. It’s so much fun for them to run around the yard blowing and popping bubbles! And it burns off more energy this way. The whole goal of yard toys is for the kids to wear themselves out and go to bed early, right?

4. Slip N Slide – I just loved a Slip N Slide when I was a kid and it’s so much fun to watch the kids enjoy this toy as much as I did.

I will say, the double slide like this one is way more fun than the single width slide. I bought this slide for the summer and my kids have a blast racing down this slide. This slide comes with 2 inflatable Slide Boogies that really didn’t survive more than 30 minutes. They switched over to their kickboards and those worked out way better. Plus we now get to use our kickboards for more than just the swimming pool.

Product warning though, if you really care about your lawn, don’t leave the slide staked down in one spot for a week, it’ll kill the grass. This is definitely a play with and then put away type of yard toy. Because no one wants a bunch of mud holes in their yard by the end of summer.

5. Kite – Because summer isn’t summer without getting at least one kite stuck in a tree. Luckily, so far, I’ve managed to rescue all kites without actually climbing the tree. We’ll see how much longer that lasts!

I haven’t bought this kite yet, but it’s on my wishlist. This kite is so colorful! And it looks way easier to fly than the cheap ones from Wal-Mart. Which my kids like pretty well. They will take those kits and run and run and run, then sit down, catch their breath, and repeat. A kite is perfect for wearing out the kids.

What items would you add to this list?

This post does contain affiliate links. If you purchase one of these items, please use my link. I get a tiny commission for sharing 🙂

May 22, 2016

Healthy Baby Home Party Application

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What is a Healthy Baby Home Party?

Seventh Generation’s home parties are powered by people like you who are focused on creating a healthy environment for the next generation. Developed with input from non-profit partner, Healthy Child Healthy World, they are a great way to get together with friends, share helpful information, and make an impact!

Healthy Baby Home Party kits are provided to all selected hosts and are filled with educational info about our environment, helpful tips, a fun game, and samples and coupons from Seventh Generation and other favorite family-friendly brands like bobble, American Meadows and Zarbee’s Naturals.

What is the Application Process?

Sign up at generationgood.net to join the Generation Good community, or log in if already a member.
Accept the Healthy Baby Home Party Application offer on your Generation Good dashboard and complete the application.
Applicants will be notified by mid-June if they have been selected to host a party, via an email to the email address assigned to their Generation Good member profile.
All selected applicants will then need to confirm their participation by accepting the Healthy Baby Home Party Mission in Generation Good and confirming their shipping address.
Hosting spots are open to US residents only at this time. Canadian parties are planned for later in 2016!
Full terms and conditions are available within Generation Good in the “Healthy Baby Home Party Application” offer.

I just did a Healthy Baby Home Party a few weeks ago and it was awesome! (my post about this is coming up this week so check back and see what all came in my box) Seventh Generation has some terrific products – especially for those of us moms who have kids with sensitive skin.

May 17, 2016

ESV Family Devotional Bible Review and Giveaway

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

The ESV Family Devotional Bible is a hardbound colorful Bible. It retells 130 key stories from the Bible with full color illustrations for each story, as well as placed within the Bible text where it is found. The stories are simplified and easy for children of all ages to understand.

The ESV Family Devotional Bible is designed to help families read and apply God’s Word together. This full-color edition features the complete ESV text interspersed with engaging illustrations and gospel-centered devotions related to key Bible stories—guiding families through the entirety of God’s Word over the course of a year. Each devotion also includes discussion questions and suggestions for additional reading, helping families develop a habit of reading the Bible together and applying its truth to all of life.

My family is really enjoying this Bible. Each of the stories is 1 to 1 1/2 pages long. The perfect story length for young children! Each story also has 3 discussion questions at the end. I’m not sure who’s enjoying these questions more. Me or the kids! They listen better to the story because they want to answer the questions at the end. And I love hearing their answers. It’s always interesting to me how they can hear things in a Bible story that I never thought of.

I’ve been using this Bible for our evening devotions and it has really helped to enrich this time together and to introduce the kids to Bible Stories that you don’t find in Kid’s Story Bibles. (Like Abraham rescuing Lot when he was captured by enemy armies).

Each story has an accompanying picture, so the kids gather close so they can inspect the picture while I’m reading. This also helps to keep their attention on the devotion.

I especially like that the stories are placed in context among the verses. This makes it so easy for me to look at the actual text and answer any questions the kids have about the story.

This is an awesome Family Devotional Bible!

To find out more about this Bible or to purchase it you can go to Amazon, or visit Crossway Books on Facebook or Twitter. (Note, they sent me links to their giveaway which has already ended – enter my giveaway below for a chance to win an ESV Family Devotional Bible)

Enter below to win your very own copy of this great ESV Family Devotional Bible to share with your family.

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May 14, 2016

League and the Lantern – Review and Giveaway

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

Brian Wells is a concerned dad who couldn’t find quality entertainment for his kids. He has worked and produced 15 TV movies for major networks, and this is his first book.

The League and the Lantern is the first book in a new adventure series for middle-school readers. It all starts when a dangerous organization invades Jake Herndon’s seventh-grade sleepover. He escapes along with two new classmates, Lucy and TJ, only to face a 48-hour fight for survival on the streets of Chicago. The kids unravel a mystery dating back to the Civil War, and an incredible secret about Jake’s family. Along the way they learn unexpected lessons about courage, family and friendship.

Not only is this book fun for kids to read, it has 140 key vocabulary words hidden in the story and includes several historic sites on their adventures through Chicago.

The author also does a buy one – give one campaign to get books into the hands of kids who cannot afford their own copies.

My oldest isn’t quite to middle school so instead of reading it herself, I’ve been reading it to all the kids in the evenings. They are all loving the story (even the 3yr old is paying attention).

The story is fun, entertaining, and appropriate for kids. As a mom, I always enjoy giving my kids books that have family friendly content.

You can go to their website League & Lantern to purchase your own copy.

You can also visit them on facebook, twitter, instagram, and youtube.

And, I get to give away one copy! Enter below for your chance to win.

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May 12, 2016

Make Money Shopping Online

This post is sponsored by Giving Assistant.

Giving Assistant’s goal is to solve one of online shopping’s most frustrating problems. Promo codes rarely work! You know, you find a code, enter code, and it’s denied. Repeat 5 times and then give up. The entire process is frustrating.

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Giving Assistant is a free digital loyalty program, over 1,100 largest retailers, avg. of 5% cash reward after each online purchase. Giving Assistant’s solution is to always provide a discount. They have 3 types of discounts.

Promo codes – Percentage off, coupons, and deals. For example, Walmart has lots of online deals listed like up to 80% off electronics.
Charity Donation – You can designate a percentage of your cash back to go to a charity of your choice. You can pick any percentage from 0% to 100%. Amazon, which is one of my favorite online retailers. You cannot earn cash back from them, but you can donate to your favorite charity every time you purchase. So, even if you can’t get something back, you can help out your community when you shop. I’ve selected my favorite local charity as my designated Charity.
Cash Back – You can get cash back through Paypal or as a mailed check. For example, Bed, Bath, & Beyond offers up to 10% cash back on purchases. Your cash out minimum is $5 so it’s pretty easy and fast to rack up cash back credits.

How Giving Assistant Works

Retailers pay them a commission for purchases originated from their website. Typically a percentage of the sale (avg ~5%).
For purchases originated by members they pay the entire commission as cash back directly and digitally to the members.
For non-member purchases they retain the commission, and make a small donation to Feeding America to give one meal.
Members are given the option to automatically donate any % of their cash back to any charity of their choice.

My Experience

I tried out Giving Assistant for the first time this week and it is so easy to use! I needed to order a wedding present for my sister from her Bed Bath & Beyond wedding registry, so I created my account on Giving Assistant (which took less than 5 minutes), searched for Bed Bath & Beyond, and went to their page.

For each retailer there’s a list of instructions so you know what you need to do to earn your cash back and what you can earn cash back for.

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If you’re looking for deals before you shop, just close this little pop-up and you’ll see the full deal page.

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I didn’t need any of these deals so I just clicked “shop now” and did my shopping. Once at Bed Bath & Beyond’s website, I searched for my sister’s wedding registry. I selected and purchased her gift.

A couple of hours later I received this e-mail.

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So, I bought a wedding present AND earned some cash back. Pretty awesome and easy! In my Giving Assistant account it lists this total under Pending Earnings and it says that the cash back will be released between 15 and 60 days depending on the retailer. It won’t actually be in my PayPal for a couple of weeks still, but it will be a nice surprise when it arrives.

Earn $5 for Signing Up

One more great deal. Sign up through my referral link and you can earn $5 just for creating an account. And I get $5 too! Pretty awesome. Then go shop at your favorite online retailer and you’ll be all set to get your Cash Back in the mail or via PayPal (just set this up under your account settings)

This is a sponsored post. This post contains affiliate links.

May 5, 2016

Valentia Skin Detoxifying Clay Mask – Review

The Roman Goddess of healing, Valentia, relied on nature’s gifts to heal the citizens of Umbria. Whether matriarchs seeking to maintain their youthful look or farmers seeking help for sun damaged skin, Valentia used berries, herbs, barks and other natural ingredients.

Just like their namesake, Valentia Skin Care products have been formulated with natural and organic cosmetic ingredients that will repair and protect the skin. Valentia products are Made in the USA, Vegan Friendly, Cruelty Free, and contain Natural and Organic Ingredients.

I received Valentia’s new Skin Detoxifying Clay Mask for free to review.

KEY INGREDIENTS

– Kaolin Clay: Clay minerals draw impurities, improve skin tone, and tighten pores for smoother firmer skin.

– Plant Stem Cells: Naturally decreases the level of pro-aging toxins and works to soother the skin, reduce redness, and improve evenness.

– Spirulina: A botanical stimulant full of vitamins that hydrates the skins surface and contributes to tissue regeneration of the skin.

– CoQ10: Lessens the appearance of wrinkles by reducing free radical damage and stimulating health collagen production.

– Hibiscus & Cranberry Fibers: Both lend their anti-aging properties to firm and reinforce the skin, helping to reduce the creation of new wrinkles.

I love this Clay Mask. It’s so refreshing. My skin feels smooth and refreshed after I use it. And it smells so good!

I put it on and left it on for 15 – 20 minutes. Then washed it off as the instructions specified. The results were great. The clay mask left my skin refreshed, smooth, and clear.

The Valentia Skin Detoxifying Clay Mask has a bit of texture to it. The instructions say to rub the mask on and then exfoliate when you rinse it off. This didn’t work really well for me. It was difficult to exfoliate and rinse the mask off with a washcloth at the same time. It worked way better to use a circular motion to rub the mask on and basically exfoliate at the same time. And then just rinse off when the mask set time was over.

My most important test for a good mask is whether or not my face breaks out the next day. I did not have any trouble with my skin the next day, my face was still refreshed and clear.

To keep up with Valentia’s Newest products you can follow them on Instagram and Facebook.

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

April 27, 2016April 20, 2016

King’s Folly Review

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

King’s Folly (The Kinsman Chronicles) by Jill Williamson

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It grabbed my attention on the first page and held it throughout the entire book. This book is gripping, exciting, and an overall terrific read.

From the back cover: “Their Battle for the Throne Has Just Begun. But Will It Matter if the World They Rule Collapses Into the Sea?

The gods are angry.

Volcanic eruptions, sinkholes, ground shakers–everything points to their unhappiness. At least that is what the king of Armania believes. His son Prince Wilek thinks his father’s superstitions are nonsense, though he remains the ever dutiful First Arm of Armania.

When a messenger arrives and claims that the town of Farway has been swallowed by the earth, the king sends Wilek to investigate. But what Wilek discovers is more cataclysmic than one lost city. Even as the ground shifts beneath his feet, Wilek sets out on a desperate journey to save his people and his world. But can he do it before the entire land crumbles?”

My opinion: This book is truly as exciting as it sounds. With nonstop action, adventure, and intrigue throughout. I couldn’t put it down. Who will become king of Armania? Will it be Prince Wilek or someone else? And with all the natural disasters, will there even be a kingdom to rule in the end?

If you love excitement, you’ll love this book!

You can purchase a paperback copy or a kindle version on Amazon. And for around $10, it’s worth every penny!

I received this book free for purposes of my review. All opinions are my own. This post does contain affiliate links.

April 20, 2016April 20, 2016

EVERPRO® GRAY AWAY Temporary Root Concealers Review

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I received a free bottle of GRAY AWAY temporary root concealer spray for purposes of my review. All opinions are my own.

GRAY AWAY temporary root concealer spray:
No mixing, no mess – just spray and go! With a unique, pinpoint applicator, GRAY AWAY temporary root concealer spray delivers targeted coverage for quick and precise results, while the revolutionary, self-adjusting color-matching technology blends seamlessly with hair color for a natural-looking finish. The current product line is made up of 3 colors (Black/Dark Brown, Light Brown, and Lightest Brown/Medium Blonde) that cover 9 shade levels and is offered in an aerosol spray can form.

I received a light brown to test and I couldn’t be more pleased with how well it blends with my hair and conceals gray. I have just enough gray that it’s visible at the roots and I find it a bit too noticeable when I part my hair a certain way.

Convenience – this GRAY AWAY temporary root concealer spray is super easy to use. Just spray it in dry, styled hair and let it dry for 2 minutes.

You can also use it in dry, unstyled hair and style later, but I ended up having to spray more on when I did it this way because I parted my hair in a different spot when I styled it than when I sprayed it.

Effectiveness – the GRAY AWAY temporary root concealer spray stayed in my hair until my next shampoo. It did not brush or rub out during the day, and as you can see in my before and after picture, it did a terrific job of concealing my gray hairs without being at all noticeable.

I tried to rub it out during the day. I’ve had other concealers rub off onto my hands every time I touch my hair and it’s very important to me that I not get brown all over my hands when I touch my hair. This product did not rub off at all.

Before and After

Quality – GRAY AWAY temporary root concealer spray works great, it conceals gray so well and it lasts until my next shampoo and does not brush or rub out throughout the day.

And that pinpoint applicator is so easy to use! I didn’t have any trouble spraying just my roots and only my roots and not the entire bathroom with this applicator. I did throw a towel over my shoulders just in case, but it wasn’t needed.

Price – At $10 a bottle the GRAY AWAY temporary root concealer spray is a great deal. You can purchase it at the Gray Away website. And as a special reader discount you can receive 20% off with the code NOGRAY20 if you order before May 31, 2016.

Recommendation – I would definitely recommend this to a friend. It’s easy to use, works great, and it’s just what I need to easily and quickly conceal my gray roots.

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

April 20, 2016April 20, 2016

Liquid Chalk Markers Review

I just love how vivid these colors are! They’re nice and bright and show up well on surfaces.

They’re easy to wipe off, have no smell, and are super easy to use. It’s so easy to create my own great-looking window or chalkboard designs with these markers!

Go here to order your own package.

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