Review: Halls Cough Drops

In late April, I was asked if I was interested in being part of a blog tour for Halls Cough Drops.  I jumped at the chance, since I always carry a small bag of cough drops with me in case my throat gets dry while teaching.  I do my best to modulate my voice and speak from my diaphragm, but sometimes I still get a scratchy throat after talking all day.  It's especially bad when my allergies are acting up.

Allergies have been rotten this spring, and I like these sugar-free cough drops to help moisten my mouth and throat as well as the menthol scent to open up my sinuses a bit. The black cherry flavor was good, and the menthol wasn't too strong.  I went through the pack they sent me in just a couple days of teaching.

I tend to always end up with cherry cough drops -- I think it's a carry over from childhood! I will continue to keep a pack of Halls cough drops in my bag!   You never know when you'll need one.

Disclosure: I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Halls and received products necessary to facilitate my candid review. In addition, I received a gift certificate to thank me for taking the time to participate.

Review: Kindercone

We wrapped up our school year a few weeks ago, so it was with great fun we received a Kindercone to review around the same time!  I have heard of Kindercones in the past, and put together something similar when my boys started 1st grade, so I was interested in seeing this product.  Basically, it's a German tradition of receiving a cone of goodies for kids moving from Kindergarten into First Grade.

The cone we received was very large and colorful! It included some pencils, a sweet stuffed animal (which Lydia loves and took as her own immediately), some tattoos and a journal for first grade. I added some small notebooks and candy to the cone before I presented it to my children.

It is definitely cute, and a sweet gift to receive at the end of a long school year.  You can purchase them filled with goodies, or empty from the Kindercone website. They also sell smaller ones, and plain white ones which would be a fun party favor.  They are a perfect gift for this time of year, or even in the weeks leading up to a new school year.

*Disclosure: I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of KinderCone and received KinderCone samples to facilitate my review. Mom Central also sent me gift certificate to thank me for taking the time to participate.*

Seven Years Ago . . .

This was my first-ever post -- made seven years ago today:

In college, someone once told me that I had an "intense and ridiculous need to over-communicate." WHY I remember this 13 years later, I do not know, but it seems an appropriate quote to begin my blog with.


Of course, I now have a one year old hanging on my leg, desiring attention -- and my 2 1/2 year old is pleading that I "PLEASE stop email" -- so I guess this is the end of my first-ever post :)

I know one friend/reader who will remember when this was originally said to me, and knowing her she probably even remembers the name of the person who said it. (Her memory is much better than mine, I can see us sitting in our old newspaper office . . . but I cannot remember his name.)

It's been an amazing seven years.  I've met some wonderful people, reconnected with others, worked with some fantastic companies and had many great opportunities thanks to this blog.  I'm humbled and grateful.

Life has changed quite a bit in the last seven years.  We live in the same house, but we've added a pool and a room.  We added a 3rd child.  We homeschooled the last four years. Bo changed companies a few times. I went back to training and began to get paid for my writing.

I know that life will continue to change and as always, we welcome those changes and the challenges they bring.  I imagine myself continuing to share many of them from my little patch of sunshine.

What a Date Night!

Friday night, Bo & I had the pleasure of going backstage with Jason Aldean, and then enjoying his concert (as well as Brooks & Dunn!) at the Cricket Pavilion. We were the guests of Country Financial and their Road Trips & Guitar Picks program, and we had a fantastic time!

The night started with heading to a backstage area where they were serving delicious appetizers and drinks. We grabbed some food and chatted with some of the other people that were there thanks to Country Financial. We had the chance to have our picture taken with Jason Aldean -- who was a very sweet, friendly young man.

After everyone had the chance to have a picture with Jason, he and 2 of his band members treated us all to a private rendition of "Big Green Tractor" and then did a brief Q&A session.  He shared that his musical influences were Alabama and Lynrd Skynrd and also that his dad helped him learn guitar chords by writing them out on a piece of notebook paper.

He headed off to get ready for his concert, while we ate a few more appetizers and had another drink.  We signed the big poster for his concert tour. Soon, we were encouraged to head to our seats so we did.  The Cricket Pavilion is an outdoor venue, so I was glad we grabbed a couple water bottles to take to our seats!

We sat next to the nicest couple (he is a VP at Country Financial, and his wife was so friendly & fun! I really enjoyed sharing the concert with them.) and thoroughly enjoyed the concert.  Jason and his band were full of energy and full of smiles throughout the concert.  Everyone enjoyed their music and there was plenty of dancing and singing along.  The songs that seemed to have the biggest crowd reaction were "She's Country" and "Big Green Tractor." It was fun when they ended their set with Kid Rock's "Cowboy."

 

We had an absolutely wonderful night, and feel very fortunate that we were given this opportunity. The only thing that could have made the night better is if our kids could have joined us. They all love music, and I think Nate would have been in awe of Jason's acoustic guitar.  We did get them t-shirts, though, which they were happy to model!

You can visit the Road Trips & Guitar Picks website and enter for a chance to win a trip to see Jason Aldean or Jewel in concert! I know you would have a fabulous time!  Also, visit the website for information about both artists and backstage information about their concerts.

*Disclosure: In exchange for posting, I received 2 tickets for the backstage event and concert from Country Financial and Road Trips & Guitar Picks.*

Review: YourSphere, Spheres

With a name like YourSphere, it makes sense that you would find individual "spheres" within the social network. Similar to groups in other social networks, spheres are broad categories (Gaming, Performing Arts, Photography) with smaller spheres within each larger sphere that are created by users.

I logged in as myself to check out the spheres, and found out that as an adult, I wasn't able to join or create any spheres. The spheres are strictly for those 18 and under.  I was able to look at the information in the spheres, and found pictures, videos and many comments.

I asked the boys if they had visited any spheres, and they hadn't.  Nate and I took a few minutes to look at the spheres and he chose to view the Performing Arts Sphere.  He found some of the pictures interesting, but said he didn't really "get" what they were.  We noticed a video that offered some explanation, so he clicked on that and watched the explanation video. 

The video did a nice job of explaining spheres, and he looked at the sphere for a couple minutes after the video ended. Then he said, "Hmmmm.  But what I prefer to do is play games."  He spent about 15 minutes playing some of the games available on the site before heading outdoors. 

So far, I'm finding that my boys are not interested in the anonymity of an online social network.  They definitely enjoy playing computer games, and are happy with the choices available.  They are not so interested in anything else the site  has to offer so far.  Colin did ask some of his friends at his enrichment program if they knew about the site, but none had. I told him I'd share the info with the moms I knew to see if kids he knew might join.

*Disclosure: I wrote this review while participating in the Yoursphere Test Drive program by Mom Central on behalf of Yoursphere. I received a free lifetime Gold membership on Yoursphere.com, Yoursphere t-shirts, and a $50 American Express gift card to facilitate my review.*

Review: YourSphere, Getting Started

The first thing we needed to do to get started on www.yoursphere.com was to set up our accounts.  I set up the parent account first, which was fairly simple and straightforward.  Once that was done, we set up accounts for both boys.

The profile information for the kids included information about what they liked to do, favorite books and movies, and other interests.  Some of the items the boys had ready answers for, others they chose to skip.  They each chose usernames that were not their own names, which I found amusing.

Once the child accounts were set up, I had to activate their accounts before they could begin playing around in YourSphere.

One thing I found a bit annoying (and so did my boys) was the video that popped up when you first visit the site.  I'm sure she's a popular teen singer, but we don't know who she is.  The fact that music immediately began to play when hitting the site is what annoyed me, but the boys did not appreciate her song about kissing.

It was suggested that we find some friends on the site, but my boys were only interested in playing the games that were available.  When I suggested finding friends, they wanted to know who they knew (in real life) that were members.  Since we don't know anyone (yet), they had no interest in friend-ing strangers. I am just fine with that, and didn't encourage it beyond suggesting they friend each other.

If we do know you in real life, and you're interested in joining up, I'm sure the boys would be happy to friend you!  Our unique referral code is YSMC-0057, so feel free to use that when registering at www.yoursphere.com.

*Disclosure: I wrote this review while participating in the Yoursphere Test Drive program by Mom Central on behalf of Yoursphere. I received a free lifetime Gold membership on Yoursphere.com, Yoursphere t-shirts, and a $50 American Express gift card to facilitate my review.*

Review: YourSphere

You may have guessed that I spend a lot of time online.  Some of the consulting/training that I do is about social media and I share different strategies with parents about handling kids and the online world. Some parents choose to ignore the online world and prevent their children from learning about it at all -- which I believe is a mistake.  I would rather kids/teens learn about social media and spending time online while still at home so they can be guided and taught.

I never threw my kids into a swimming pool and assumed they would figure out how to swim.  I went in the pool with them, I held them in the water, I taught them how to make their first swimstrokes.  In the same way, I think parents must guide their kids through the new opportunities and media that is out there.   I do understand that some parents ignore it because they don't understand it themselves, but I always encourage those parents to get out there and paddle around!

One of the sites geared towards kids is www.yoursphere.com.  I was recently asked by YourSphere and Mom Central to check out the site with my boys (ages 8 & 9) and share our experiences here.  Watch for posts in the next few months about what we think of this site.

My boys email a few people, and enjoy playing a few online games.  They also did the bulk of their schooling this year via an online curriculum. I'm curious about this social network for kids and eager to share what we all learn over the next few months.

*Disclosure: I wrote this review while participating in the Yoursphere Test Drive program by Mom Central on behalf of Yoursphere. I received a free lifetime Gold membership on Yoursphere.com, Yoursphere t-shirts, and a $50 American Express gift card to facilitate my review.*

Date Night Tonight with Jason Aldean!

I have to thank Country Financial and their Trips & Picks program for date night tonight!  It's been too long since Bo & I have been out alone together, and May has been a rough month. I'm really looking forward to the backstage experience with Jason Aldean, and then enjoying a high-energy concert while seated next to my honey. 

It's been touch & go about tonight, but I'm glad that I'm finally feeling better and my sweet sister is willing to watch the kids even though Nate is not feeling well.   My husband cleared his calendar of evening appointments, so we are set to have fun! 

Check back this weekend to hear about the experience.

Tell Me Thursday - Musician

This picture is from last Saturday.  It was Nate's 8th birthday and we got him a guitar to celebrate.  This child has always loved music, and has expressed a desire to play guitar for a couple years.  Bo found this guitar a few months ago and knew that Nate should have it.

Now to find him a good guitar teacher!

Our sweet boy still loves being outdoors, music, and all things military.  He is thoughtful, kind and quick to smile.  He is frustrated some days by having a little sister around, but he loves her fiercely all the same. The bond he and his brother have is tight. 

My darling boy is extremely under the weather today, so thoughts of good health would be wonderful.  He was supposed to have his well-child visit this morning, but it turned into a sick-child visit when he woke with a 103 degree fever.  It appears he just has a really nasty sinus infection, as a trip for chest x-rays showed clear lungs (chest pain most likely caused by a strained muscle) I'm hoping a good, long sleep will do him well and he'll wake in the morning starting to feel like himself again.

Review: Grill Daddy

How many times have you seen those "Seen on TV" products and wondered if they worked the way they seem to on television?  I know that I often wonder just that thing, so I was thrilled with the chance to review the Grill Daddy.

The idea is that steam allows you to easily clean gunk and crud off of your grill.  We use our grill ALL THE TIME. You'll find Bo grilling something every month of the year. He has a few brushes to clean the grill, but it always seems like a lot of work and he never does it as often as he probably should.

We received the Grill Daddy and put it to the test right away.  I liked the fact that it was pretty simple.  No batteries, no complicated pieces to put together.  It comes out of the box ready to use (except for adding water)  I filled it with water and Bo pre-heated the grill.

As you can see in the video below, it worked great!  We were impressed with how easily it took off baked-on food and couldn't believe how clean the grill was with very little effort.




If you're looking for a Father's Day gift, I recommend the Grill Daddy. For less than $20, it'll be a favorite gift this summer!

*Disclosure: I received a Grill Daddy as part of a blog review tour organized by Mama Buzz.  All opinions and thoughts are my own, and no additional compensation was provided.*