The Perfect Gift for Moms or Moms to Be

Recently, I was introduced to a new subscription service for moms like me...moms who care about being healthy, about the health of their children, about the health and wellbeing of our earth.

That subbie box is Ecocentric Mom.

 

What is Ecocentric?

Reviewed: The NEW Keurig 2.0

A few weeks back I was thrilled to receive the brand new, not even in stores yet, Keurig 2.0 brewer.

Influenster sent it to me complimentary for review and testing purposes.

Ivory Soap Clouds Experiment (Summer Time with Kids!)

Yes, it's been almost 3 weeks since my last post.

It's summer!

Plus, there was a holiday...AND my 41st birthday!

There's a garden to tend, a pool to clean, and

grass that just. won't. stop. growing.

I decided to incorporate a couple of my kiddos and do an experiment with the bar of Ivory soap I received (free) in my TLC VoxBox from Influenster.

 

To make soap clouds...super easy...super cool...

you'll need:

 

I confess...my "house" sometimes stinks. Here's what I do:

Right now I'm living in a travel trailer. A 5th wheel to be exact. It's a new 5th wheel, and a nice one, if I do say so myself. In fact, it's big enough that our whole family (minus the oldest child who is now in college and living in the dorms) is quite comfortable in it.

 

There's one little problem. It often stinks. Yep, my "house" stinks. There, I said it. I can admit that my house stinks. Have you ever had 5 people in a travel trailer for months at a time? Dirty clothes tend to smell up the place. And Oh My Word, have you ever had to smell a full black holding tank? Help!

6 Reasons I Don't Like My Sleep Number Bed

I've had my queen size Sleep Number bed for a year and a half. In that time, I've come to realize a number of things about my bed that I wish someone had told me before I sunk big $$ into it. I reckon it might be nice of me to share it with ya'll so you can be aware before you make a decision whether or not you want to sleep on it for the next 10-20 YEARS. Yes, the life expectancy of the Sleep Number mattress is 20 years. That's a big commitment. 

Before I get into the details, you need to understand that a Sleep Number bed is a glorified air mattress with 2 separate air chambers. Do you understand the way an air mattress works? Then you will "get" my explanations below quite easily. If you aren't familiar with the functionality of an air mattress, you may need to stretch your imagination a bit to fully comprehend my reasons.

It's also important that you understand this bit of important info:

If you like your mattress softer, then you must have less air in your side. If you like it more firm, then you will have more air in your side. That's how it works. I prefer mine a medium softness/firmness. Maybe a touch more on the soft side. So I have mine somewhere about 1/2 to 2/3 full of air, I suppose. We didn't opt for the more expensive Sleep Number bed that has the digital readout which tells you what number you have yours set to (1-100). So we have no idea what "setting" we fancy. We just air it up/deflate it until we find the setting that feels right. Now, on to my reasons.

Here are 6 reasons I wish I had not bought it.

ChicWrap: Plastic Wrap Made GREAT. Seriously. Giveaway!

Would you let your younger kid tear off some plastic wrap?

Me neither. Those vicious serrated metal strips have claimed far too many victims.

O! My Awesome New Mop (No, Not My Hair, Silly!)

I've owned quite a few mops over the years. I was ecstatic back in the day to get to trade in my old-fashioned sponge-type mop for the new Swiffer one. It was so handy, so quick and so much less icky.

But then, as I kept having to buy new pads and new spray stuff, over and over, I began to see the ridiculous outlay of cash it truly required. So, I saved up a little money and bought the Bona mop for wood floors. It had a washable pad and no spray thingy at all. I just had to put floor cleaner in a spray bottle with some water and spray by hand as I cleaned, tossing the pad in the wash afterward. I loved that I didn't have to keep throwing cash in the trash, literally. Alas, after a number of years it eventually broke.

Christmas...Clean?

One word that doesn't typically come to mind when thinking on the delights of Christmas?

Clean.

Do YOU Do Toilets?

If there’s one household chore that has “ick-factor”, it’s scrubbing toilets. I think you’d have to be a freak-of-nature to enjoy scrubbing toilets. That’s why I (and many other people) have tried every new toilet product that has come out over the years. I’ve tried special scrubbing brushes, special scrubbing chemicals, those little things that clip to the side of toilet & purport to keep things cleaner for longer while giving you fantabulously fresh scents, those interesting little tablets that you drop into the tank & they’re supposed to prevent the need to clean for 2000 flushes or so, and probably a few others I’ve managed to forget. I’ve even gone quite simple and used plain old baking soda or a sprinkling of Borax. So, in light of my quest to avoid “doing” the toilets, I was excited to receive a Scrubbing Bubbles One Step Toilet Bowl Cleaner Starter Kit free from BzzAgent.

Ready To Stir Things Up? Stick Blenders!

I make a lot of things from scratch around here. In part, to save money...in part, for better health...and, in part, because it usually tastes much better. So, I have a lot of tools that help me do this.

After an ant invasion over this past weekend, we cleaned out & re-placed all my lower cabinet "stuff". There were a number of items that I decided that I could live without, seeing as how I hadn't used them in a year or more. But, there were some things I realized I use a lot. My Hamilton Beach 2 Speed Hand Blender is perhaps one of my most-used tools.

Early Childhood 20 Drawer Organizer

So, I've been toying with the idea of using "workboxes" in our homeschool. They are the latest "fad" sweeping the homeschool community. Because of the way my mind (and my kids') works, I think these will really serve us well. If you want to know more about workboxes, just go to http://www.workboxsystem.com/ . While my version is my own adaptation due to space & aesthetics, it is generally the same principle. Instead of using clear shoe boxes & a rack, I went with Early Childhood's 20 Drawer Organizer in rainbow colors. The drawers aren't as large, but I think they will work fine for us.

I found this organizer as a link on someone's blog, as a recommendation for the workbox system. I purchased it from Sam's Club online. It was 93.62 after taxes & shipping. While the directions weren't very clear, it was pretty easy to put together. Gavin & Jada helped me out. Gigi stole parts and looked cute. This is certainly lightweight, and not something I expect to last for 10 years, but it is really cool & should serve it's purpose for at least 5 yrs. I feel that it was worth it. The drawers are translucent and easily removeable. It has locking casters, so you can roll it around if you need to. It's also available in a 10 drawer unit & a squatted 10 drawer, as well as a gray/chrome unit for those who don't want rainbows. It remains to be seen how it will stand up to 4 kids' wear, and constant usage...but I think I did good!

My Review of Wire Guard 2-Pack

One Step Ahead

Wires — out of sight, out of reach. TV cables, speaker wires...those electrical cords lining your walls are hazardous to your little explorer! Tuck them away into unobtrusive Wire Guards — they stick to your molding and blend right in. Includes two 16" strips and adhesive tabs.

Wire Guard 2-Pack

Nice product

momof4@peace South Alabama 2/9/2009

 

4 5

Gift: No
Pros: Easy Use, Useful Application, Beautifies childproofs
Cons: Not big enough
Best Uses: Accident Prevention, Neatness
Describe Yourself: Parent of Two or More Children

We had some ugly wires crossing the living room next to the baseboard. Our child doesn't actually bother them, but they are very ugly. I saw this and decided to try it. It's a good product, and I intend to order a couple more...but I really wish these were longer (for the price, esp). It's just some cheap plastic for the most part so I don't see why it costs what it does. Yet, I will order more. This blends in so well against our white baseboard that you have to look carefully for it in the picture - which is the desired outcome, of course!

product next to baseboard

: Using Product, Picture of Product

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My Review of Flushable Wipes Container

One Step Ahead

Make good hygiene easier: put those flushable wipes at your child's fingertips! This handy container hooks right to your toilet paper holder, where kids can't overlook it. Great for potty training, encouraging independence, and building neat habits. Holds all standard wipes (not included).

Flushable Wipes Container

Good Helper

momof4@peace South Alabama 2/9/2009

 

4 5

Gift: No
Pros: Portable, Easy Setup
Best Uses: Hygiene, Traveling, Toilet Training, Potty Use
Describe Yourself: Parent of Two or More Children

Good product. My dd had to reach around to the back of the toilet to get the wipes, which was pretty hard for her b/c she's so small. This product helps make potty time a lot easier for her. Plus, it helps eliminate clutter and looks a lot nicer than the pack sitting on the back of the toilet.

wipes caddy

: Picture of Product

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Robotic vacuums, or "Mom's finally gone hi-tech!"

So, I'd seen one of those little robotic vacuums at my aunt's home several Christmases back and I was thoroughly intrigued. I noticed that she didn't have carpet and figured that the robot was her way of dealing with the necessary daily cleaning that comes with non-carpeted floors. However, since there were so many folks there (my family is HUGE), I didn't bother to stop her and interrogate her on the qualities of her little robot friend. But, that little robot had firmly implanted itself in my subconscious for a later date.