Thursday, April 15, 2010

Easy Lunchboxes

Easy Lunchboxes

What I loved about it.
I am always, always, always trying to make Friday School (co-op) lunches with a mismatched hodgepodge of various plasticware. If I find all the lids, nothing fits right in the lunch boxes or bags. I end up using two lunch bags or packing some things separately in the backpacks or even my purse. I was so excited to get the package on Thursday. That meant I could have a tidy lunch packed for the three of us.
  • I was able to pack each boy's lunch in their own container.
  • They had a clean place at the table for their food (no more reminding them over and over to put their sandwich in the bucket or on a napkin).
  • These are nice when you have no table, just place the container on your lap. (We did this in the car with the littles in their carseats.)
  • Take to a restaurant, divide your meal in half right away. No need for take out packaging.
  • Watching what you eat? Instant portion control.
  • Each lid has a different color, making it easy to personalize contents, and later, get the right container to the family member it belongs to.
Since three containers is the max this bag holds, I added my sandwich in with Xav's. The container is plenty deep to do that. That way, I still had plenty of room on top for three drinks and fruit and crackers for myself.

Things to consider.
  • The strap is short and not adjustable.
  • Only three containers fit in one bag.
  • I recommend one bag for every two people unless everyone needs a bag. That way you can fit two containers and extras (beverages, whole apples, etc.) in one bag.


* These opinions are my own. I was given no compensation for my review. I purchased my EasyLunchbox at a discount through Jasmere.com. I plan to review that experience another time.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Raising Real Men

Raising Real Men: Surviving, Teaching, and Appreciating Boys
Click Here ~~~> Hal and Melanie Young's website

Go to the website above to read a free chapter. With purchase, you can also download a free PDF study guide.

I really enjoyed this book. Hal and Melanie write with just the right combination of frankness and humor. They are serious about raising sons to be God-honoring men. With six boys (and two girls), they have tons of parenting experience to share. It is an easy, friendly read making this book accessible to every parent.

Lots of encouragement and real life anecdotes of their children and boys in general through history. I nodded. I laughed. I totally related! I recommend it to all parents of boys.

**I purchased this book during the preorder. I received no compensation for my opinions. They are mine and mine alone.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Colorbok XY&Z Glitter Alphabet Stickers

I hated these stickers with a passion. I bought these for a homeschooling project for my preschool boys. My plan was to make a board with spaces for the alphabet, 26 upper case cards and 26 lower case cards. First they would need to put the letters in order and then match the upper and lowercase letters. I found a sticker font that was similar to the printed letter. Actually, this was harder than you'd think. Most "A"s have the swoop thing at the top of the lower case version (as seen in this post).

So I found these blue/greenish glitter stickers at Joanne's (which I cannot find online to show a picture to you). Everything was prepped for the project and what should have taken mere minutes became over an hour long fight with these things. They would not come off the backing or separate from the sheet easily. Most of them were torn even when I was very careful. I was too stubborn and irritated to get out the scissors because I shouldn't have HAD to! Many letters had to be pieced together when applied to the cardstock. Even though there were 136 letters on the sheet, I ran out of suitable pieces several times.

These were, without a doubt, the WORST stickers I have ever used.

**I purchased these stickers on sale at Joanne's. I received no compensation. This opinion is mine and mine alone.

Friday, February 26, 2010

Pampers Cruisers with Dry Max

My boys are still in diapers. Some mornings, there is bedding to be washed because of diaper fail. I found a free sample for these diapers on the Pampers website and sent for it. Around the same time, I purchased one of those HUGE boxes of Pampers which came with a sample inside. I had six Pampers Cruisers with Dry Max between the two samples.

These diapers are much thinner than regular Pampers. I usually use Baby-Dri. For three nights, each boy wore a PCwDM. Some of these diapers were quite saturated after 11 hours. Not once did I have to wash any bedding and no pajamas were wet either. These diapers are more expensive, but I was really pleased with them. I am seriously considering buying them for nighttime wear. They are way more diaper than I would use for day use. I mean, seriously, as often as they get changed during the day, I don't see any reason to put them in expensive, ultra absorbent diapers.

These diapers will be available for sale in late March. I think they can be pre-ordered on Amazon and Diapers.com.

**I received three diapers free and three free with a purchase. I was not compensated for this review. My opinions are mine and mine alone.

Hello!

I created this blog to share great finds (or duds) with other moms. Hope you find helpful information here. Feel free to share your related experiences here too.