Scrutiny by the Masses

We're Nutty For Good Peanut Butter

We are some serious peanut butter eaters in our house.  (Well, except for the one allergic kid.  He doesn't eat it - duh.)  We eat peanut butter sandwiches, put peanut butter in smoothies, eat it in recipes, smooth it on banana bread, and even eat it straight from the jar.  We go through, on average, four jars a week.

I told you, we eat some insane amounts of the stuff. 

We have pretty strict parameters for the peanut butter we consume.  No hydrogenated oils, no sugars,just the peanuts and the salt. Usually, we buy the Smucker's, Trader Joe's or Whole Foods, if I'm lucky enough to get there.  But, when the Parent Bloggers Network asked for volunteers to test the new Maranatha No Stir organic peanut butter, I just about broke my fingers typing YES.  We sampled both the creamy and chunky organic no stir peanut butter. 

The big plus for this peanut butter is the no stir concept.  I don't know about you, but I HATE stirring the peanut butter back together again and again. It's definitely a work out for the arms, I can tell you that.   But this stuff stays smooth and creamy, even when it's first taken out of the fridge.  That's a very, very good thing.

I liked the flavor of this peanut butter.  It's smooth and very peanutty.  There are no hydrogenated oils in it, a bonus.  The one drawback - the only drawback - is the added sugar. That might very well keep me from buying this peanut butter.

This is a yummy, delicious peanut butter that you never, ever have to stir.  It's a very good thing. 

How Much Fun Can A Flashlight Be?

Lots and lots of fun, so sez my little girls.  They sleep with them, take them in "forts" and "tents", carry them into the van - flashlights go everywhere with my girls.  Flashlights+ my kids = HUGE success.  I can't tell you the number of times the power has gone out and I've tried to use one of MY flashlights, only to find the batteries dead.  So, yeah, they are big fans.

We were asked if we'd review the Sylvania PalPODzzzz Portable Nightlight.  The box arrived, and my girls tore into it.  "Oh, cute!"  cried one.  And off they ran, to plug it in and see for themselves how wonderful it is.  There was no set up involved at all - just plug it in and you're good to go.

It is indeed a wonderful combination flashlight/nightlight.  We received the ladybug for review, and there is another version, a rocket ship.  The ladybug is a compact, palm sized creature, doubling as a flashlight.  When she's placed on the green leaf, it recharges.  Which, to my delight, meant NO BATTERIES. Which means it will ALWAYS WORK.  The leaf does double duty as both a charger and a nightlight, dimming as the room gets brighter and reversing the process at night. 

It's not too bright- my girls don't like a lot of light at night - but, as we discovered this week, it's the PERFECT amount of light to change your clothes in the middle of the night to surprise (!) Mommy.  Every morning, we hunt for the ladybug, pop her on the charger - in fact, it's someone's chore to do so - and every night, she's right there, waiting for them.  Brilliant.

We highly recommend the Sylvania PalPPODzzz portable LED nightlight for the price of $19.99!

Dreambox Learning - Making Math Fun?

I vividly remember seventh grade math.  I think it was pre-algebra, maybe just general math - but the memory comes not from the skill but the absolute DREAD I felt every day as I walked to the class.  I never understood what the teacher was trying to explain, didn't get the concepts or ideas, and skated away from that class with a low D. 

Sure, I can multiply, divide, convert fractions and do the necessary computations to double or halve a recipe, or determine the mileage - but anything above that might as well be the moon. I've always had difficulty understanding math. My two oldest kids are the same was; we just aren't wired for math. My third oldest is brilliant - no thanks to me - I think it must have skipped around from different family members. 

When I was invited to preview the new online math game Dreambox Learning, I was, I'll admit, kind of skeptical.  I really don't think of math as "fun", although I did learn my multiplication tables by listening to hours upon hours of SchoolHouse Rock.  (I can still sing most of the multiplication songs - karaoke night would be AWESOME with me, yes?)  Dreambox Learning is billed as a fun, interactive site to help kids from K - second grade learn their basic math skills in a fun, exciting way.

From the personalized sign in (which used a picture password - great for pre readers) to the arcade style carnival games, my preschooler and kindergartener were entranced and excited to play.  My younger daughter, who is in preschool, is not technically the target market, but after picking her personalized avatar - an African American with long braids - she was excited to follow her big sister.  One thing I often hate about online games for kids this age is the need for me to be right there - reading prompts or helping them to understand.  Not necessary with Dreambox.  The animated gude walks them through each and every step of the way, explaining the games and concepts clearly and concisely, freeing me to do more important things, like solving world peace cooking a gourmet meal  reading blogs.

Littlest Pet Shop - Those Spooky, Spooky Pets

Am I the ONLY person who finds these animals creepy looking?  Apparently I am, at least in my family - my kids eat these pets up with a spoon. We were delighted when The Parent Bloggers Network asked us if we wanted to review the newest game for DS - The Littlest Pet Shop.

My kids are huge DS fans.  We take the players with us everywhere we go, and it cracks me up to see all of the kids at the karate studio crowded around one little screen, watching each other play. It's a thing of beauty, because, miraculously, no one fights  - they just watch and root for each other. 

Starting with three pets, as you successfully care for those pets by feeding, playing and such, you can unlock and add more animals to your menagerie.  The naming part took FOREVER - names weren't deemed to be cool enough and then someone wanted a name that the other used, and on and on.  Once they named them, they were on their way.  The games were a hit for one of my girls, who is a little obsess with the coloring - Color Craze was a hit.  She colored and colored, erased and re did - I was grateful she wasn't using a ton of paper.

What did I like about this game?  There was no violence.  No hitting, no pushing, no banging or punching, at least in the game.  In order to get their own turn, though - that was another story. It appealed to all ages of kids - from my youngest pre reader to my teen, everyone loved the games and the pets and it was a hit, again and again.  When I asked them to think of a negative about the gmae, in order to balance the review, one of my kids thought for a minute and said, "We don't have two?"

I'm thinking I might need to buy another one - that way, they could all play. At once. 

It's time for the Christmas Cards AGAIN???

If this is your refrain, you want to look at Minted. 

Seriously.  The hardest part of the entire endeavor was taking a good enough picture to coordinate with the scrumptious designs that Minted's design team offers.  THAT was an exercise in futility - first the light wasn't right, then the oldest boy looked idiotic, then the youngest girl wouldn't stop crying - but I eventually had a picture that wasn't too awful.  Except for the goofy look my son kept flashing just as the camera clicked.  I finally went with a picture that everyone else looked good in - to heck with him.

The rest of the process?  It was a snap.  The options were endless, the designs timeless and classy, and the different choices in layout assured me that any choice of card I made was certain to be both personal and representative of our family.  Flat or folded?  Choice of printing?  Background colors? With very few restrictions, the gamut of choices was mind boggling.  And the ability to "play around" with the layouts was too much fun.

Once I completed the process - which took less than 30 minutes - I forgot all about the cards.  Until three days later, when the proof showed up in my email inbox.  It was gorgeous, exactly as I'd planned. I approved the order, and it showed up in my mail box a little over a week later.  To my mind, that's fast for a custom card.  Easy ordering, clear proofing, and fast shipping.  But what about the quality?

The cards were printed on heavy cardstock, and the colors were bright, vivid and exactly what I'd hoped they'd be.  These are fantastic looking cards.  Even with the dopey look on my teenage son's face, I'm glad to send these out.  Just as long as I save one for future blackmail for my son.

Who Wants to Talk Turkey? NOT ME

From The Parent Bloggers:  Holiday time is almost upon us, and with it comes joy, togetherness, and a healthy dose of stress, especially in the kitchen. Whether we’re preparing the entire holiday meal or bringing a special dish, we all want to get it right.

So when it comes to your cooking preparations, tell us your favorite stories from holidays past and present. Did your overcooked turkey send your family for take out? Did you use a frozen pumpkin pie and pass it off as homemade? Or did your mother-in-law throw a fit when your husband chose your stuffing over hers?

We want to know all about your family holiday meals. So dish it out!

I LOVE Thanksgiving.  Love it with a passion that will never, ever die. What's not to love about a holiday that encourages you to make a ton of food, have your friends and family  over to eat until you pass out, and then nap and intermittently watch football.  And I'm a great cook, if I do say so myself.  I can make a great cake, a mean veggie dish, lovely fluffy rolls and delicious fruit compote, not to mention divine cranberry-tangerine relish.  Did you notice what's missing on that list?

TURKEY.  My foe, my arch nemesis, my sworn enemy for life. 

I don't understand it. I can, and do, roast chickens all the time.  Delish.  But I've attempted turkey twice and both times it was a dismal, undercooked failure.  Once, my brother in law cut into the turkey that'd been in the oven for four hours to find that it was still partially frozen.  Two hours later, it still wasn't finished cooking and we resorted to carving off pieces and microwaving plates.  Thank goodness for my entire extended family that my father in law is ALSO a great cook, and he rocks a turkey like no other.  So we split the duties - he makes the turkey, gravy, the stuffing, the mashed turnips (eek!), and I do the rest.  I'm usually on the hook for carrot soufflé, corn pudding, rolls, relish, mashed potatoes, green beans, spinach au gratin, fruit of some magnitude and a couple of desserts. 

This year, I'm going to attempt a turkey.  I plan to brine it, and then follow every single direction that I can find.  I'll be online with Butterball, nose deep in cookbooks, on the phone with my mom and promising anything asked to anyone that offers help. I swear on my foot that I'm going to master a turkey THIS YEAR.  I may have to cook five and get rid of the evidence, but it will get done this year.  It frustrates me no end that I can and have mastered soufflé, french bread, standing rib roast and any number of difficult dishes - and that dumb turkey eludes me every time.  I will master it.  I WILL.

This post was written for Parent Bloggers Network as part of a sweepstakes sponsored by Butterball.

My First Period Kit

What a stressful time in your life puberty is.  Hormone changes causing acne, attitude and an overwhelming desire to cry at the drop of a hat. How did you learn the facts of puberty/growing up/baby making? I remember being given a set of The Life Cycle Library - four red books, each devoted to a certain section of "growing up".  My favorite was the third book - the one that dealt with dating, marriage and getting pregnant.  Wow, who woulda thunk?  <eyeroll>

I decided, when I had my kids, that I'd be open and honest, forthright with answers and approachable.  Having the My First Period kit would go a long way to reaching those goals.  With a 99 minute dvd, Dr. DeFrietas has a warm chat type session with girls in the 9-12 year age range,  covering all the bases (and I do mean ALL the bases, with sections on puberty and menstruation, sex and reproduction and even demos on how to insert tampons and use pads correctly.  In a CHAIR, not an ACTUAL demo.)  The use of red water to illustrate how much fluid is lost was genius - that was something that was new to me and the visual aid was impressive. She even mentioned attitudes and frustrations, and dealing with parents and siblings.

DeFrietas' manner was down to earth, compassionate and friendly, with a handful of silliness and just enough joking around to immediately set everyone watching at ease.  She's the older sister that I never had, and long ago gave up wishing for.

The set comes with a zip case to carry your supplies - man, which of us growing up the late 70's/early 80's who carried a clutch purse wouldn't have appreciated this beauty? 

I loved everything about this kit.  I highly recommend it to everyone with a daughter in the 9-12 age range. 

Many, man thanks to the lovely ladies at The Parent Bloggers Network for the opportunity to review the My First Period Dvd and Kit.

Sleep Is For The Weak

I loved this book.  Loved everything about it.  Loved the authors,the short entries, the topics - even the cover. 

An anthology of some of the best bloggers out there - many of whom are on my daily reads, as well as a few I'd never heard of.  What I love about reading blogs is the honesty.  I know that I can go to a blog and read the "true poop" - no candy coating, no sugar crusting, no rainbows and unicorns.  Just the "Oh, my God, this is so hard and what did I get myself into?"  This book is full of the same.

But the entire book was summed up for me in one sentence by Rita Arens of Surrender Dorothy, one sentence that really sums up my entire parenting existence:

We live the lives in front of us.

Amen.  

One of my favorite essays made me cry.  I've followed Jenn's struggles with her mother, and remember reading about her passing.  Somehow, I missed the essay You Can Never Outlove Your Mother.  Oh, my word. She put into words feelings and issues that I've been struggling with for some time.

Amalah's  This Week in Guilt crystallized my feelings regarding my return to work last year.  I can not ever seem to do the right thing, to say the right thing, to pack the right thing.  It's good to know that I'm not alone.

Grace Davis, in her entry on The Menopausal Hut, made me long for the very same thing - a place to go, to relax and rejuvenate, to become one with myself.  A girl can dream, right?  I SO want to be Grace when I grow up!

I'm giving away a copy of Sleep Is For the Weak, thanks to the kind ladies from The Parent Bloggers Network.  I think every mother should have a copy of this book, so leave me a comment if you'd like to be entered in the random drawing.  This is one must have that everyone MUST HAVE.

Yoplait

We eat a BOATLOAD of yogurt in our house.  It's tough to find the yogurt that meets my high standards.  I like it free of HFCS, high in fiber and calcium, and lower in sugar.  I don't want my kids having candy or sprinkles in their yogurt, and they don't want chunks - the little ones especially request "smooth" choices.  One of our favorites is Yoplait.

With the recent addition of Omega 3-DHA, and 25% less sugar than most offerings out there, the smooth texture and with the beloved inclusion of such favorites as Dora, Diego and Blue, Yoplait is in my shopping cart again and again.

Thanks to The Parent Bloggers Network, I have a prize to give away.  Leave a comment, and I'll utilize random.org to draw.  What's the prize"  A Yoplait Kids cooler and a My First Brain Quest game, along with a coupon for a free siz pack of yogurt.  AND, there's a great coupon offered to any interested - $1.50 off, available just for printing.

What are you waiting for?  Go get some great yogurt already!

Getting Ready For School the Leapfrog Way

I've got a kindergartener and a preschooler this year.  It's a crazy, wacky time, and sometimes I fail at getting the books read to them in the timely fashion.  Yeah, I've got older kids who can read to them, but they aren't always delighted to fill in for me.  That's why I was so delighted when the lovely ladies over at The Parent Bloggers Network asked me to review the Leapfrog Tag Reader and the Savvy Source Quiz. 

Having a child with a little bit "different" of a learning curve makes learning to read challenging.  Luckily, the skills that she might be lacking in were covered in the quiz - see that long widget over on the left sidebar?  It asks questions in a multitude of areas, and then personalizes activities and games for your child, based on how he or she scores.  The quiz was super fast and very straightforward. My daughter came out well ahead in a few areas, and lacking in others - pretty much exactly where I thought she'd be, but it was great to have the reinforcement.  It recommended toys and activities that would help increase her weaknesses. One other awesome bonus - the widget is income generating, and they are looking for more bloggers, so if you'd like to add it to your sidebar, leave me a comment here. 

Along with the quiz, I was sent the brand new Leapfrog TAG reader and a few books.  My two younger daughters ATE this product UP.  They loved having the stories read to them, and it was neat to hear all of the different voices and inflections that the Leapfrog team chose - in particular, the Kung Fu Panda readers were hysterical.  Ozzie and Mack had my older kids creating nonsense rhymes, and listening to the reading of Chicka Chicka Boom boom reinforced to me that I'd been reading it right all along. The stylus is pen shaped, and that is a bonus to my kids - I don't hold a pen correctly myself, and I've had my hand slapped by more than a few kindergarten teachers, because I taught my kids the "incorrect" way to hold a pencil.  Using this stylus they learn the proper technique without, or in spite of, me.  I really like the option of levels - the beginner can have every word read to him, and a more advanced reader can pick and chose; say, if there is an unfamiliar word. 

The download was a cinch.  It plugged in to the computer and downloaded from the internet, and was ready to go in just minutes.  I never even needed the instruction manual.  In fact, I walked away at one point and returned to find my ten year old daughter had completed the next three steps.  One other great feature - the headphone jack.  With six kids in the house, there are often multiple DS gsames, GameCube, Computer games and the television playing at once.  Having a headphone jack helps all of us - it cuts down on the overall noise level in the house, and it helps my sensory overwhelmed child have the ability to tune out everything else and just listen to her story. 

I really liked both the Savvy Source Quiz and the Leapfrog TAG.  I highly recommend both.  Many, many thanks to the lovely ladies over at The Parent Bloggers Network for asking me to participate!