I’ve been having email issues, so I didn’t even KNOW I was expecting a review item from Team Mom recently.  Dylan was THRILLED when the “brown truck” pulled up outside with something for him!  Finally!  And my husband was thrilled it wasn’t another delivery from Target.com or Ann Taylor Loft.  But that’s another story for another time.

Anyway, as avid MythBusters watchers, I was stoked to see that it was something related to that show.  We watch it all the time around here.  But we were disheartened to see that the age range for the MythBusters Science Kit was 9+ years.  Dylan is only 4 1/2, even if he THINKS he’s 12.

But then I thought of my nephew, who IS 9 (ish) and I figured we could all play with the “Weird World of Water” kit when we were at my Mother-in-Law’s last week.

Of course, things didn’t quite work out as planned when they didn’t show up that day.  Dylan was SO EXCITED to do the “water rocket” that we figured it would be easier to only do PART of the kit than it would be to tell him he’d have to wait.  He’s a bit on the dramatic side, and after being so good about waiting ALL DAY we couldn’t bring ourselves to tell him that he couldn’t do it at all.

SO, we mixed vinegar (apple cider, because that was all my MIL had!) and baking soda  and launched a rocket!  Onto the roof!  Whoops!

So then we got out the ladder and my husband climbed up onto the roof and retrieved the rocket, which was in pretty good shape, considering.

The patio was another story, as it was kind of covered in apple cider vinegar.  But OH WELL.  Nothing a little hose down wouldn’t fix.

We launched the rocket again, which was a bit of a catastrophe due to user error (fyi:  Adding MORE vinegar and baking soda than is recommended is NOT a good idea! AND, make sure you don’t get distracted when mixing the vinegar and baking soda and try to put the rocket upside down.  Because that reaction happens pretty damn quickly and you just *might* almost take out your two year old.  Not that I would know.)

We were forced to call it a night when we ran out of vinegar.  But the rocket was still in pretty good shape, so we took it home and used it a few more times the next day.  Until it was completely obliterated in one exceptionally violent landing.

All in all, even though we ONLY used the Water kit for the rocket, we really enjoyed it.  Dylan thought that launching a rocket was “AWESOME!” and it even made him a bit more accepting of the fact that a REAL rocket was launched by our house  a few days later.  Which is a big deal given his history.

All in all, I wish we’d taken the time to try out the other activities, like making a tornado in the provided soda bottles (I loved doing that as a kid).  But, even though we “only” made a water rocket, I still would have been happy if we’d paid the $19.99 for it.  My only complaint is that it only comes with enough supplies to make ONE rocket.  There are two bottles in the package, so having enough fins and noses for two rockets would have been awesome.

If you have an older kid you need a gift for, I’d definitely recommend it.  And if you have a younger kid whose smile you’d want to see, I would also recommend it!

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You all are in for a treat, because she wrote a review!

LINDA SAYS:
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When I first heard about “GO GIRL“, I was intrigued…mainly because every weekend I am either at a flea market or a football
game tailgate..places where flush toilets have been supplanted by rows of the ever so chic Andy Gumps.  I’m like most women, the idea of heading into an outhouse that has been occupied most of the day with lots of fun loving, beer drinking men with “poor aiming skills” is not something you relish.  In fact, for me I would rather not drink anything (definitely hard to do when you’re out in the hair dryer like Santa Anna winds Southern California is famous for) than sit in one of those wet, foul smelling, odor challenged bathrooms.

Enter GO GIRL..I got my sample, it was nice and compact and was immediately struck by how easy it would be to transport to any of my events. I opened it up, read the instructions and away I went…and let me say it was so easy and it worked so amazingly well.  I couldn’t believe how simple it was to pee standing up, all these years I never knew what I was missing.   The pink funnel shaped piece (love the color, we still want to feel like a woman while standing) comes with a bag for storage after use. It says that you can throw it away or wash out and reuse. I think I’ll be needing  a lot more of them in the upcoming football weeks. Thank you GO GIRL, you have unleashed my inner male side and I love it…

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When Dylan started preschool last year I was nervous.  Not because he’d never spent that much time away from me, even though he hadn’t.  Not because he was a bit shy, even though he was.  Not because I’m a worry wart, even though I am.

Because I was going to have to pack him a lunch on a regular basis.  A HEALTHY, WELL BALANCED lunch.

I LOVE the preschool he goes to.  They’re laid back and fun and they get to play in mud and if they don’t want to wear their shoes, goshdarnit, they don’t have to.

But, they do have one rule that’s kind of hardcore, and I have to say I LOVE it.  They’re not allowed to have sugary items in their lunches.  Which means no cookies, brownies, rice krispy treats or chocolate goodness.  Not even cupcakes for a Birthday celebration.  I’ve never asked, but I’m pretty sure that applies to my Banana Bread with chocolate chips.  Which is a bummer for Dylan.

I was excited to hear that Team Mom was going to hook me up with Safeway and Warner Brothers so I Dylan could try their new line of pre-packaged foods for kids.

The Eating Right line is, according to the information I received:

…meals, snacks, cereals and drinks your kids will love- and you’ll feel good about.  Eating Right Kids is a full line of foods that are not only tasty, but better for children. It has been formulated to standards based on most recent dietary recommendations and regulations from several federal and state agencies.

Which, I mean, HELLO?!  Pre-packaged stuff that is healthy, that makes putting lunch together at 6am faster AND that Dylan likes?  I’m ticked pink at the thoughts of it.

Dylan was STOKED when the package arrived.  Mainly because it wasn’t shoes for me from Target, but also because it was a cute little lunch pack JUST FOR HIM.

He insisted on opening it RIGHTTHEREONTHESPOTOHMYGAWD.  He and his brother insisted on trying the Chewy Fruit bar right there on the spot.  They inhaled it like they hadn’t just consumed 435 dinosaur chicken tenders.  It got two thumbs up.

I made Dylan wait until school the next day to try the rest of it, but it too was a success.  Everything except for the canned pasta product.  That’s something they would NEVER eat, even after my best efforts at cajoling.   Who does’t like Spaghetti-O’s?!

I will definitely be buying some of the Eating Right Kids line for Dylan’s school lunches.

Though I’m pretty sure the Chewy Bars and their chocolate layer aren’t welcome at his school.  :0)

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Holy cow you guys. I did it. I actually finished the EA Sports Active 30 Day Challenge! Honestly, I didn’t think I’d be able to do it. Neither did a few other people *COUGHmeghanCOUGH*.

But here I am, DONE. I’m kinda proud of myself.

I really can’t say enough about the 30 Day Challenge. It’s fun and it’s effective. You feel like you’re playing a game, but you sweat and you burn and you feel good about yourself when it’s done.

I have some friends that want to borrow the system and honestly? I don’t think I can lend it out. I plan on using it multiple times a week for the foreseeable future.

Final results – down five pounds. I’m almost eating like a regular person (which for me, really, is normal). And the best part? I am down a pants size and NOT down a bra size. Sorry if that’s TMI, but it’s so nice to lose in the tush and not the chest.

Has anyone else had such great results?

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Read my first post here!
Read my second post here!
Read my wrap up post here!

I was looking at the calendar my EA Sports Active 30 Day Challenge keeps for me, and I was shocked to see that I am more than two thirds of the way through my challenge. I’ll be done next week. I can’t believe it.

I am still really enjoying the challenge. It isn’t a chore or a struggle to play. I can finish most work outs in under 25 minutes, so I always can fit an exercise session in. Not that I’m doing much else, but that’s beside the point.

I really only have one complaint about the game, and it’s only on one exercise in particular. When I do squats (my most loathed exercise), the nunchuck doesn’t always register my movement. Considering how much I HATE squats, I get annoyed when I have to repeat them unnecessarily. But, I have figured out a work-around, and I’m pretty sure the problem lies in my height and not in the program.

I’m down three pounds, and my appetite is still improving. I’ve given up on hoping to sleep better, but I think a smaller pants size isn’t out of the question. I’ve already gone in a loop on my belt buckle!

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Read my first post here!
Read my second update here!
Read my wrap up post here!

I have been doing the EA Sports Active 30 Day Challenge for over a week now, and I have to say I am really, really impressed! I’m already seeing results.

Because I’d mostly just been sitting on my couch or laying in bed, I wanted to ease my body into exercising regularly. The EA Sports Active has different intensity levels for their workouts (a big relief). I started with the lowest intensity, and by the end of my first week I’d upped the intensity level to moderate. And, shockingly, I could handle it!

This isn’t to say the game is easy. Far from it. Every workout had me huffing and puffing and breaking a sweat. The first few workouts left me so sore I longed for my first off-day. But, surprisingly, I was excited to work out again once that off-day was over. I know this is because the workouts are actually fun – they feel like games, not like exercise.

My biggest problem with the Wii Fit is that I would pick the same exercises over and over again. The EA Sports Active chooses the workouts for me. This makes me work out my entire body, which is great. If I had my druthers, I would do the boxing exercise all day. It’s a great release for me.

As far as my goals, I’m doing well. Exercising has made me hungrier – normally a bad thing, but since I’ve been on the “grief diet” I haven’t been eating much. I’m feeling a little stronger physically. Sleeping is still a problem for me, but I do notice that I feel tired sooner, so while I’m still not sleeping well, I’m getting in bed earlier than usual. I’ve only dropped one pound, but my clothes are fitting MUCH better. I think I might go down a size during the challenge! Hopefully I’ll soon be able to put my retail therapy to good use.

Is anyone else having results yet?

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This is a compensated review from BlogHer and EA Sports Active for the Wii

Read my first update here!
Read my second update here!
Read my wrap up post here!

A few weeks ago I received an email from BlogHer Ads looking for bloggers that might be interested in participating in the EA Sports Active 30 Day Challenge. I read the email and instead of immediately being turned off by the idea of exercise, I saw the opportunity it provided. As you know, I’ve been through a lot lately. I spend a lot of time inside, not doing much. By taking the 30 Day Challenge, I would be forced to get up and get active for at least 20 minutes every day. This would be a big change from my usual schedule of sitting on my couch or laying in bed. So I expressed my interest and a few days later I got the word I was chosen for the challenge.

This past January I posted my weight loss goal on my blog – to lose 20 pounds by my 30th birthday. I’ve lost ten pounds so far but I’ve been stuck for a while. I’m sure that if I started exercising I would be able to chip away at the last ten. With my birthday looming on June 27th, I have extra motivation to kick it into gear.

I’ve read amazing things about the EA Sports Active! I know many people have lost weight, which I definitely wouldn’t complain about, but I’m not hung up on my weight anymore. My main goal is to be healthy and focus on doing something good for me once a day. My hope is that by being active, I will have a healthier appetite, sleep better, and feel better, too.

I hope other people will join me on my quest to get active and healthy. Who’s with me?!

Check out the progress of the rest of the BlogHer reviewers and enter to win one of 5 copies of EA Sports Active!

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For more information visit our sites.  Heather and Meghan.

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Meghan Says:

I know it will shock and amaze you to know that I’m a *teensy* bit picky about the way my laundry smells.  For as long as I can remember, my laundry has been washed in a specific detergent brand and dried with Bounce sheets.  And if someone ever borrowed something of mine and was kind enough to wash it before returning it, I was SURE to re-wash it before I would wear it again.

I know, I’m totally high maintenance.

So when we were offered the opportunity to review Gain detergent I was REALLY unsure of how I felt about it.  I mean, in 20ish years, I’ve never switched from my usual laundry detergent, so I wasn’t entirely sure that I’d be able to find ANYTHING good to say about it.

But, I’m happy to report that I was VERY pleasantly surprised.  The first two Gain detergents I tried were Original scent and Apple Mango Tango.  I figured I should start off slow, so I did a load of blankets in Original scent.  And when I pulled them out of the drier, there was definitely a scent to them, but it wasn’t AT ALL over powering.  Which I was very happy about, because I was really worried it would be.

Then, I got a bit more adventurous and did some towels in the Apple Mango Tango.  And…I wasn’t AS pleased with it as I was with Original Scent.  It was a little too overwhelmingly sweet smelling for my liking.  But, if you’re someone who loves scented stuff, you’d probably enjoy it.  At least, I THINK you’d enjoy it.  I really wouldn’t know.

Anyway, the Gain people were kind enough to send me a bottle of Lavender Lilac Moment to try as well.   And try I did.  Almost as soon as it arrived at my door, I had my sheets stripped from my bed and in the washing machine.  In my world, there’s not much that’s better than getting into bed with clean, fresh smelling sheets.  And I was not let down.  It didn’t bring me back to my days of living in New York and smelling REAL Lilac (which is one of my favorite scents) but the detergent left a subtle hint of  flowery goodness on my sheets.  It was very relaxing, which is exactly what you want your sheets to be!

I have to say, I think I’m a Gain convert.  And it REALLY shocks me to say that.  The Original scent left my laundry with a crisp and refreshing scent, while the Lavender Lilac was perfectly soothing.  And, as I suppose you want from any laundry detergent, it CLEANED our clothes.  Which is REALLY important when you’ve got two boys running around and getting messy.

Plus, DJ’s happy because I’ve been doing laundry on a regular basis.  At least, more regular than my usual haphazard schedule.  :0)

Heather Says:

When we were approached by Gain to test their detergent, Meghan (of course) found something weird to worry about. I mean, this is the girl that worried about how WATER would taste. I know you all are expecting me to say, “and then I complained about having to do laundry!” but I didn’t. I actually LIKE doing laundry. I KNOW. I am a riddle wrapped in an enigma, slathered in secret sauce.

I was given two scents, Original and Lavender Lilac. I was all about trying the Lavender Lilac because I like it when things smell fresh and clean, like they were dried on a clothesline. I could tell as soon as I opened the bottle that I would like the smell. It didn’t disappoint – my clothes were left smelling really…CLEAN. I know that’s lame, but I like to put on a fresh shirt and smell the detergent scent on it. It makes me FEEL clean to smell something so nice all day.

I used the Original scent on Maddie’s clothes and sheets. I’ve been slowly phasing her out of the baby detergents, and the Original scent was perfect for her stuff – it still smelled nice without being TOO MUCH. Not that the Lavender Lilac is too much at ALL, but you never know what a baby will react to. Especially MY baby. I’m a little worried I have a mini-Meghan on my hands.

When I asked Mike if he liked the smell of the laundry, he actually TURNED AWAY from a basketball game long enough to look at me and say, “yeah.” If that isn’t a ringing endorsement, I don’t know what is.

The Best Part:

If you head over to the Gain website right now, you can  hear an exclusive track from the self-proclaimed Gain fanatic (and ridiculously adorable) Mandy Moore.  PLUS, until April 15th, you can enter to win a concert by Mandy in your hometown!  All you have to do is share your “love at first sniff” moment!  The more entries from a particular area, the better chance you have of winning, so get your friends and family on the Gain boat and have them enter as well!  So- GO!  Get over there and enter!  And be sure to invite us over if  Mandy ends up performing in your town.

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I LOVE giving my kids cereal for breakfast.  It’s the perfect thing for me in the morning, because it doesn’t require a lot of work, they can eat it themselves and it’s nutritious.  At least, the cereal *I* buy is nutritious.  I don’t buy “sugared” cereal.  And unless my husband has been on a solo shopping trip recently, I don’t have “sugared” cereal around.

So when I was given the opportunity, much like Heather had before, to join the General Mills Blog Tour I was curious to see how I’d feel about the product.  And when a box of Cocoa Puffs Combos, Chocolate & Vanilla, arrived at my door, my  husband was excited to see how he’d feel about the product!

You see, as much as I don’t buy sugared cereals, I don’t buy sweets.  The occasional pack of cookies or brownies, or pint of ice cream, makes it’s way into the house, but I do my best to avoid buying it.  I just really don’t feel like we need the extra calories in our lives.  And if it’s not in the house, there’s not temptation to eat it.  Which means that my husband generally has cereal if he wants dessert.  And Cocoa Puffs are the PERFECT cereal for him and the boys to have at night.

It didn’t take long for him to break into the box and get a bowl.  And it didn’t take long for the boys to catch on to the fact that there was something to be gotten into.  Zach was in his lap in no time flat insisting on “sharing” and Dylan was immediately asking me for a bowl of his own.  They all thoroughly enjoyed it, as was evidenced by the fact that the entire box was gone in a matter of days.   Cocoa Puffs Combos contain a mixture of chocolate and vanilla puffs, for a super flavorful cereal.  Dylan had fun getting only chocolate or vanilla puffs with each spoonful and Zach, well, Zach ate whatever came his way.

And what I like most about it is that it’s fortified with a bunch of stuff that’s HEALTHY.  Like Calcium, Vitamin D, Iron and everybody’s favorite, Niacin.   And getting my kid’s extra calcium is always high on my list.  On the off chance we don’t get enough calcium from the copious amounts of cheese we consume, it’s good to know that we’re getting 25% of our daily recommended allowance from one bowl of cereal (with milk).   According to the Grow Up Strong website, tofu is a great source of calcium as well.  And believe me, Tofu isn’t making a strong showing in our diets anytime soon.  Or ever, really.  (Be sure to visit the Grow Up Strong site for more nutrition information and for a money saving coupon)

It’s also low in fat, so if I’m jonesing for something sweet, I’m not going to feel guilty having a bowl.  And, really, it only has 1.5 more grams of sugar than the other cereal we eat regularly, which, in the grand scheme of things, isn’t a whole heck of a lot.

I’ll definitely be buying Cocoa Puffs Combos again.  And we’ll be enjoying it for dessert on a regular basis – and as an occasional breakfast treat.  And I’ll feel good about buying “sugared” cereal that’s also good for us.

But shhh…don’t tell my kids.  I want them to think it’s something extra special!

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