Universal Deodorizer Bag Review

I was sent the FLAT-D Universal Deodorizer Bag to review and keep. This bag is designed to pull the odors out of your garments. This time of year, with holiday parties going on that you just have to attend, you may find this bag useful.

When you are in a room full of people, you are bound to leave with all kinds of odors on your clothes. Do you really want to send your clothes to the dry cleaner after wearing them once, and only for a couple of hours? Now you don’t have to. You can place them, individually, in the Universal Deodorizer Bag, and have the odors pulled out.

I tried out the bag, and it does work. I had cigarette smoke all in my shirt and figured that if the bag could work on that odor, it could work on any. I had to fold my shirt into the bag, which is not recommended. The instructions say
“Best Usage: Place only one item in the pouch at a time. That item should be laid out as flat as possible so that the maximum exposure to the activated charcoal cloth can be achieved. If clothes are folded and layered inside the pouch, the inside layered cloth cannot get touched by absorbing qualities of the cloth.”

I had no choice but to fold my shirt in half. It is a big, pullover that would only fit inside the bag if I folded it. I placed it in the bag overnight and pulled it out in the morning. It smelled clean. There was absolutely no odor on the shirt.

The downside of this product is that it has a limited life. Quote from the Instructions and Handling page “Limited Life: The activated charcoal cloth that the Bag is made out of has a life to it. It is not infinite. The activated charcoal does get filled up with odor molecules sort of like a sponge. When the bag no longer absorbs odor, its usefulness as an odor absorbing device is ended and then you can use it as a carrying device.”


You can purchase the Universal Deodorizer Bag pictured above on their website for $29.95. They also have different types available for sale. These bags are nice to have on hand to pull out ucky odors in your clothes, instead of taking them immediately to the cleaners.

Fun with K'NEX Toys

As a Team Mom, I was given the opportunity to review two toys from K’NEX, K’NEX 400 Pieces Tub and Sesame Street Neighborhood Collection Building Set. After reviewing, I get to keep these for my kids. I let my son do this review with me. He even let me record him with the Sesame Street set.

The K’NEX 400 pieces Tub is for children 7 years old and older. My son is ten, but his fine minor skills are delayed. We different have that much luck with this toy, but it did show me some areas that my son needs to work on. He was also interested in playing with it. Although he did not have the dexterity to put the tiny pieces together, he showed me where he wanted them, and I would put them together. This is a good toy for children that love to build things and have the fine motor skills of a child that is at least seven years old.

The Sesame Street Neighborhood Collection Building set is for children 2 - 5 years old. We received the 123 Brownstone Building Set from the collection. This was a big success. The big pieces were a lot easier for him to manipulate. He was putting them together, all by himself. Afterwards, he had no problem taking them back apart. The video below is him playing with it in front of the camera. I couldn’t get the whole thing to upload. I had to edit it down to get it to upload into blogger. I did notice problems with his OCD. He placed most of the windows on top of each other. I loved how he actually played independently with these. He also didn’t get frustrated whenever he had a little problem putting them together. I give this set a big thumbs up.

K’NEX is giving their customers a chance to win $1,000 worth of K’NEX Building Sets and to be featured on the KNEX.com site. The contest runs from November th thru December 7th, 2009 on their site. This is a video contest and you can visit K’NEX for the rules and to submit your video. Good luck.

Christmas with Mattel Toys

I am excited to share this review with everyone. Mattel has sent me the following toys to review:

Avatar Vehicle RDA Grinder
Avatar Creatures Dire Horse
Avatar Basic Action Figure Jake Sully
Matchbox Mega Rig Pirate Ship



These are considered boy toys, but I know of at least one little girl that would love them (yes, my daughter). But, I’m not writing this review from her point of interest. This one is about using these toys with my son.

My son doesn’t “play” with toys. He likes them, hoards them, displays them, but doesn’t actually play with them. Now that I am home schooling him, I want to take time each day and try to develop this childhood skill. Easier said than done, right? Well, these toys are inspiring me.

The movie “Avatar” comes out in December. I am looking forward to watching it. I don’t know if it will be appropriate for the kids, so I will arrange for my husband and I to watch it without the kids to determine if they are old enough to watch it. My son might be, but I don’t think my daughter is.




I think these toys will be good for one on one floor play. I love that the Pirate Ship can be put together in about 30 different configurations. No, we have not discovered them all, but we will work on that. This is a great OT/fine motor skill activity. I think it is better for my son to play with this than legos because you can easily see that the pieces are to make a ship. Plus, with my son also having OCD, he just has to have the pieces together.





The Avatar toys are great. I recommend taking these out of the boxes and wrapping them up for Christmas. Your child will appreciate being able to immediately play with them. I also love the I-tags. These are plastic cards that come with the toys and you use them on your computer. You need to have a webcam in order to use these. I was tickled at how my son reacted to the Dire Horse I-tag. When you go onto their website and activate an I-tag, you are able to see a 3-D image of the character on your card on your computer screen. It’s hard to describe. You really need to go onto their website and watch their demo to understand or buy one of the Avatar toys with an I-tag and try it out for yourself.

YO GABBA GABBA! LIVE: There's a Party In My City

Much to my daughter's surprise (and joy), I was sent the following to review and keep: YO GABBA GABBA! Meet My Family DVD, YO GABBA GABBA! MUSIC IS AWESOME! CD, and YO GABBA GABBA! Christmas in Gabba Land children's book.

I liked them all. YO GABBA GABBA! is one of the few children's shows that teach important life lessons that children can immitate. The DVD helps children understand that it is okay to be shy around new people. It also illustrates how your child can try to overcome this. My daughter has difficulties in social situations, so I like that this addresses this issue.

The CD is great for listening to in the car when your children are driving you crazy. It may get annoying for the adult in the car, but we all make sacrifices. My kids like it and it gives me a little peace and quiet.

The book is neat. I have not showed it to my daughter. I intend to give it to her closer to Christmas. My favorite feature of this hard page book is the two places it has to insert your child's picture. I also like that the characters make each others Christmas presents at the end. This is something we are going to be doing this year and I look forward to it. I also like the fact that I can use this book to explain that Christmas isn't about buying things at the store.

Below is information about the Yo Gabba Gabba! show on Nick Jr. Below that, you will find information about their upcoming Live shows, as well as a link to their site for more information on how to obtain tickets. They are still adding locations for the shows, so if you don't see a location near you, keep checking back.

Yo Gabba Gabba! on Nick Jr. Information

Andy Samberg, The Roots and MGMT were among the celeb guests who appeared with the Yo Gabba Gabba! gang during a week of new episodes, which aired Monday, Oct. 12 – Friday, Oct. 16 on *Nick Jr (*formerly named NOGGIN). Additional guest stars appearing throughout the premiere week included hip-hop legend Biz Markie, teaching preschoolers how to beat box in the recurring “Biz’s Beat of the Day” segment, singer/illustrator/composer Mark Mothersbaugh (DEVO) in the recurring “Mark’s Magic Pictures” drawing segment, skateboarder Ray Barbee and musical guests Reeve Oliver, Lady Tigra and Little Ones. Yo Gabba Gabba!, currently shooting its third season, is created by Christian Jacobs and Scott Schultz and is produced by The Magic Store and W!LDBRAIN. The series airs daily at 1:00 p.m., 1:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. (ET/PT) on Nick Jr. These episodes will be replayed so you can still catch them if you missed!

YO GABBA GABBA! LIVE: There's a Party In My City

Hey, Everybody!

Yo Gabba Gabba! Live: There's a Party In My City is coming your way! Come see DJ Lance, Muno, Foofa, Brobee, Toodee and Plex live on stage.

Tickets are on sale now!! Visit: GabbaTix and Ticketmaster.com.

Monday, 10/19 4:18pm ET: New tickets just released in LA!!
Tickets that were previously held for production reasons have just been released for sale on Ticketmaster.com.

Date, City, Venue,
Saturday, Nov. 14, Los Angeles, The Shrine Expo Hall

Sunday, Nov. 15, Los Angeles, The Shrine Expo Hall

Saturday, Nov. 21, New York, Beacon Theatre

Saturday, Dec. 5, Chicago, Rosemont Theatre

Children under one year of age will be admitted free to sit on a parent’s lap. One child per lap please.

TapToTalk and Our Reactions

If you didn’t read yesterday’s post about TapToTalk, click here to go and read it. Then come back and read this post. Yesterday I wrote about the TapToTalk StarterKit and the design process of for setting up your albums. Today, I want to share how using the TapToTalk has affected our family, especially my son.

My mom has a Nintendo DS Lite that she keeps at the house for the grandkids that come visit. My daughter loves playing it when we go there to visit. Mom was going to give this to us for my son to use the TapToTalk on, but my husband and I decided it would be best to go out and buy one for our son. This way, when we go visit, our daughter can use my mom’s DS Lite to play games and our son would be able to communicate with his.

I love the stylus that comes with the DS Lite. It allows my son to choose pictures without using his fingers. Since my son hates using his fingers to touch (because of his sensory aversion issues) the stylus is an important necessity in making this a successful communication alternative for him.

The stylus is small, another good point and the screen on the DS Lite is very sensitive. This means that my son doesn’t have to apply pressure to the screen to activate a picture with sound. Another great thing about the DS Lite, is that it is fast becoming a common accessory for young kids. Carrying his around does not set him apart from other kids. In fact, it helps him blend in. It is also light and easy to carry.

My husband and I felt that it was important to purchase the protector case for the DS Lite. The last thing we want to do is replace the DS Lite every time my son drops it. Face it, kids drop things. It happens, and to think that it won’t is like sticking your head in the sand.

My son loves communicating with the TapToTalk on the DS Lite. He does so independently. This is such an awesome accomplishment for him. He had become so dependent on taking someone’s hand and using it to communicate. He has always hated using his own finger to type or touch the computer screen. We could get him to do it, but he would always resist.

It had gotten to the point that I honestly believe that he has determined that the only correct way to type or use the computer touch screen is by using someone else’s fingers. (grabbing their hand and guiding the other person’s finger across the keyboard or computer screen).

Since we started using the TapToTalk, he has been independent with communication. We made it clear right at the start, that he had to use the stylus himself. He did try to give it to us and take our hand to communicate, but no one lets him get away with that.

The first time he used this was to communicate what he wanted to eat and drink for supper. The smile on his face was amazing. He answered quickly and was rewarded with what he wanted. Since then, he has used it to tell us how he feels and where he wants to go. I am still building up his library of pictures and his albums. You can have up to ten albums loaded onto your TapToTalk memory card.

Final post will be tomorrow. Please come back to finish reading my review of TapToTalk.

iKnow and Marvelous Toy Review

I was sent Tom Paxton’s children’s book “The Marvelous Toy” and Take Pride Learning’s iKnow Animals, Letters & Sounds Beginning Reading System to review. I enjoy reviewing children’s educational items. Things have changed a lot since I was a child. There are a lot of really great educational products available now that I would have loved as a kid.


Let’s start with The Marvelous Toy, words and music by Tom Paxton and illustrated by Steve Cox. The book comes with a CD that is stored inside the back cover. There are four very nice children’s songs on the CD. The book is a cute story about how one special toy is handed down from father to son for two generations.

I enjoyed the illustrations. They are bright and engaging depictions of the story. I also liked that the author and illustrator both leave what the toy is to the child’s imagination. The words and pictures hint at what it is, but they don’t tell or show you. This gives you, the parent, the opportunity to engage your child’s imagination. This book captures the wonder a child feels when he discovers a very special toy.



The other item I reviewed was iKnow Animals, Letters & Sounds Beginning Reading System. This took me a while to review. It comes with one CD with music and three DVD’s. The DVD’s are approximately 80 minutes in length and are titled, Rain Forest, Africa and San Diego Zoo. They also sent me the iKnow Animals, Letters & Sounds card set.

I thought that the beginning of each DVD was good. I liked the way they started them off with a song and had the words of it on the screen. I enjoyed the combination of real photography and animation. I felt that these were a great way to teach children their Alphabet and animals. I also think that it is great for beginning readers.

The DVD’s cover a lot of animals and provide a lot of information about them. I did think that they could improve a little with the presentation. After the opening song, the rest of each DVD is very low key. I think that children would have a difficult time sitting through one DVD. I would recommend showing them to your child in 15 minute increments. My children liked the videos, but would lose interest quickly. They responded better with me only showing parts of them at a time.

I think this is a good learning system. The cards that come with them come in a box the size of regular playing cards. The pictures are really nice and I loved the raised letter feature on each card. The company has an area on their website that parents can go to for additional resources. It is called Parent Place and you can easily register for it by using your code on the booklet that comes with the DVD set.

Things you can find on the Parent Place include games and instructions to use with the cards, interactive play, and printables. Watching part of a DVD and then going online and doing an activity is a great way to reinforce what your child is learning. I recommend this for parents of children just learning their alphabet, beginning readers, and to teach about animals.

Zhu Zhu Pets Review

I was sent Zhu Zhu Pets to review and love them. They sent me one Zhu Zhu hamsters and several pieces for the habitat. My husband put it together. It was a little too complicated for me to do. I don’t put things together, that has always been hubby’s job. We set it up on the table and my daughter played with it first. When my son got home, he fell in love with it. The little hamster is so cute and it looks real. We watched as it made it’s way around it’s habitat. It would hit a wall, back up and find an opening to go through.

I love that it “thinks” for itself and makes sounds as it scurries around. Here is a video of my kids with their new Zhu Zhu Pet and Habitat. You can purchase them for yourself at stores like Wal-Mart and Target. You can view more videos of the Zhu Zhu pets on their website. I loved watching my son and his reaction to the cute little Zhu Zhu hamster. With Christmas just around the corner, I am going to have to pick up a few to add to the habitat. I can’t wait to see how they interact with each other.

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store & Restaurant Has Come to Town

I was so excited when I found out that my little town was getting a Cracker Barrel. After months of waiting, it is finally open. My husband and I went there for lunch today. Of course, we waited until the heaviest of the lunch crowd was gone. If you have eaten at a Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Restaurant, then you know that it draws a crowd all day long.

We walked into the store and headed over to the hostess station. Luckily, we were able to be seated immediately. This was a first for me. I’m used to waiting for fifteen minutes or more to get seated. It’s been a couple of years since I have been able to eat at a Cracker Barrel. When we are traveling, I keep an eye out for the signs on the interstate that lead to Cracker Barrel. Because money is so tight right now, my family hasn’t been doing much traveling.

I noticed some differences in the restaurant part of this Cracker Barrel, compared to the others I have eaten at. The open dining areas had some tables that were separated with wooden privacy cubicles. Well, they weren’t really cubicles, but they served the same purpose. I thought that this was a great improvement.

My husband and I both ordered the lunch special, meat loaf and mashed potatoes. He had the hash brown casserole as his vegetable choice and I had the chicken dumplings. Everything was delicious. I didn’t even have to add any salt or pepper to my dumplings. I wanted dessert, but was too full. The next time we go, I think I will just get a dessert to eat. I have always loved their cobblers, and now they have a couple of new desserts that look just yummy.

In case you were wondering, the answer is no. No, this isn’t a paid advertisement. No, I didn’t get a free meal or free anything for writing this review. I am writing this because I Love the Cracker Barrel Old Country Store. I love walking around the store and looking at all the merchandise. I love their jars of cobbler preserves (and yes, I have used them and they are delicious). I love the clothes and toys that are sold there. And finally, I love that I don’t have to travel in order to get to a Cracker Barrel to eat. Yeah! Life is great. I am, however, open to doing a giveaway for my readers if anyone in their media relations department asked me. I would also accept any coupons to help ease the hurt my bank account is going to take by eating there with my family every week. (Images are courtesy of the Cracker Barrel Old Country Store. I emailed them and asked for some pictures to use in my post).

Creativity Coloring Kit as an OT Tool

It’s time for an update on the Creativity Coloring Kit from PopArt Toaster. This time, I let my son pick out which stencils he wanted to use. He chose I LOV U and the Birthday Cake. With a little help, he was able to get the stencils into the toaster. My goal is to get him to the point that he can do it completely independently. He was able to push down the lever on his own.

I am so proud of him. To many, these may not seem like major accomplishments. For us, it is huge. When we sat down to do the coloring, he resisted. We used the blue food coloring pen on the birthday cake. He didn’t want to do anything, but did attempt to put a little color on the toast. He was a little upset after putting the first mark on the Birthday Cake piece of toast. He tried to rub it off with his fingers. When that didn’t work, he then put a mark on his finger and attempted to lick it off.

I am not sure what the point of that was. Maybe he wanted to taste it, and figure out why it was ok to write on his food with it. The second piece, the I LOV U, was easier. We used orange and he scribbled on it quickly. He also used more pressure than I have seen him use before.

Working with my son is sometimes like putting together a puzzle. At first, I may not understand what is going on, why he does or doesn’t do things. In time, I am able to put together the pieces for a clear picture of what is going on. We are at the beginning of this puzzle. He is trying to figure out what this new activity is all about. He is trying to figure out what the point of it is and why it is suddenly alright to color his food? I believe that last night he was trying to figure out what the difference is between the coloring pen he was using and regular markers. I am glad he didn’t put it into his mouth and I hope he doesn’t try to put ink markers in his mouth or write on himself with them.

I am looking forward to more discoveries as we continue to use the Creativity Coloring Kit. Be sure to keep up with my weekly updates. I would love to hear from you any suggestions for future uses with this. I would also love to hear from others that are using this as an OT tool, too.

Creativity Coloring Kit

6 Image Creativity Coloring Kit Plastic Toaster
Black (CT-819CCKB) White (CT-819CCKW)
Plates included: double hearts, flower pot, Luv U, snowflake, smile face, birthday cake






Remember my Tasty Baker Review and Giveaway? Well, the company approached me about trying another product. This time, instead of a review and giveaway, they wanted my feedback about how their products could benefit the autism community.

I agreed and requested that they send me the Creativity Coloring Kit Plastic Toaster set. I felt that this would be a great product to try with my 10 year old son. My son’s writing skills are just starting to develop. He is ten, and it just goes to show that it is never too late for him to learn something new. He has sensory issues with his fingers and visual motor processing issues. When using a pencil, his grip and use of the writing utensil is very tentative.

I am going to do a once a week post about how my son does with the Coloring Kit. Instead of doing a one post review, we thought it would be nice to document his progress. I introduced this to my son Saturday. I used the flower and smile face stencils. He liked having bread with these pictures stenciled into them. The coloring pens that come with this set are food coloring pens. They require more pressure to apply the color to the bread than my son is willing to do at this time. I expected this. I am hoping, in time, that coloring his toast and then eating it will be enough of a work/reward system to get him to make progress in this area.

I look forward to the coming weeks. It will be interesting to see how my son progresses with his fine motor skills by using the Creativity Coloring Kit and Plastic Toaster as an OT tool. I have attached a picture of my son’s first attempt at using this below. I have also included a picture of my daughter’s first attempt. (My daughter is 6 year old and NT) Can you tell which is which?

Diamond Rio's New CD The Reason

The country music band Diamond Rio has been quiet for some time. If you have been wondering if they would come out with a new album, you can stop wondering. Diamond Rio will be releasing their latest album titled “The Reason” in stores on September 22, 2009.

I remember their songs “Meet in the Middle,” “Norma Jean Riley,” and “Love a Little Stronger.” I loved those songs, and still do. My whole family has always loved Diamond Rio. Our favorite music genre is country music.

I was excited to have the opportunity to receive an advanced copy of “The Reason” to review on my site. I have to be honest and say that I did not like this CD. Even when I was listening to “Into Your Hands,” “My God Does” and “Moments” and tears were streaming down my face, I did not like it. I did not like having my emotions, my heart, raked over coals. “Moments” is so beautiful, it touched my heart in a way that only one other singer has ever done. The songs on this CD are all Christian based country music songs.

Diamond Rio is known for their heartfelt and moving songs with a message in them. Listening to this CD, I felt like I was on an emotional roller coaster. Every song hit close to my heart and they deeply affected me. You don’t have to wait until September 22 to get a preview of the album.

“DIAMOND RIO TO PERFORM ON FOX & FRIENDS’
ALL AMERICAN SUMMER CONCERT SERIES AUGUST 21ST

8/18/09

This Friday, August 21st, acclaimed six time vocal group of the year (ACM, CMA) and GRAMMY ® nominated Diamond Rio will perform on Fox & Friend’s All American Summer Concert Series. The band will perform the first single “God Is There” from their 11th album The Reason, which will release on Sept. 22 . Fox & Friends airs on the Fox News Channel daily from 6-9 am EST, and is one of the most popular morning shows on television.

While in New York the band will also tape interviews with Fox News Radio and Premiere Radio Networks.
###

www.diamondrio.com
twitter.com/diamondrioband “

Ecover Green Cleaning Products Review

I hate cleaning. The only reason I do it is because no one else will. Also, my mom did a great job raising me. My biggest problem with cleaning is that the toxic fumes from the cleaners I use make me sick. That is why I agreed to do try out a couple of products from Ecover and see if using green products to clean my house would be better.

They sent me their All Purpose Cleaner and Bathroom Cleaner. I immediately went to work reviewing them. Yes, I cleaned. I started with the bathroom. I decided that I would compare the Ecover Bathroom cleaner with the 409 that I normally use. Both cleaned my daughter’s water based paint off of my molding in the bathroom. They both cleaned the dirt and grime from the bathroom sink, toilet, and shower/bathroom.

What is the difference? The Ecover Bathroom Cleaner did not make me sick. I was able to say yes to my daughter when she asked if she could help. I found myself cleaning areas in the bathroom I usually ignore, just because the smell of the cleaner was nice and my daughter was having a lot of fun.

I also compared the All Purpose Cleaner from Ecover with 409 in the kitchen. Once again, both did a good job. Again, the difference was in the scent that I was breathing in. By using the Ecover products in my house, cleaning changed. I no longer have to make myself sick when I clean. I also do not have to worry about how the toxic fumes would affect my kids.

The only negative about the Ecover cleaning products is that they do take a little more elbow grease to get off the tough dirt. For ordinary dirt and grime, though, they worked just fine.

KIDZUI Internet For Kids

KIDZUI is a browser for kids. It allows kids to access the internet, and parents will know that they are only accessing child friendly sites. I like knowing that my daughter can click on anything and I don't have to worry about her stumbling onto an inappropriate site. My daughter enjoys having a lot of different and new things to do. My son enjoys the music sites on KIDZUI. The first thing I did when I started using the KIDZUI was click on a YouTube Alvin and the Chipmunks song. Both kids came over and they were hooked.

I am putting their press release that they sent me below. It includes a link to their site. Downloading KIDZUI was easy and the basic membership is free. There are a lot of extras that you can sign up, for a monthly or yearly fee.

********** MEDIA ALERT **********

KIDZUI (www.KidZui.com) PRESENTS THE “KIDZUI KID-GENERATED VIDEO CONTEST”

Contest Brings Kids and Families Closer Together Through an Opportunity to Win $500 and a Lifetime KidZui Membership for the Family and Every Computer in their Community Center and School


What:
KidZui, the internet for Kids, unlocks a revolutionary online experience that brings families closer together, breeds independence and confidence in kids, and gives parents piece of mind knowing their children are safely exploring the internet. KidZui has launched an online video contest that encourages families to create and submit a 30-45 second video showcasing why they feel KidZui is so amazing. By submitting a video kids will be immediately entered to win $500 and a lifetime KidZui membership for their family and every computer in their school and community center. Runners up will win $250 cash, and 6 months of KidZui membership.

When:
All entries must be submitted by midnight July 31st, 2009.

Where:
Rules and Directions for submission can be found at:
http://www.kidzui.com/go/summer-videocontest

Mix1 Review

I was lucky enough to receive a box of Mix 1 drinks to try out and review for on my blog. Mix 1 has two products: Enhanced Protein Shake and a Hi-Antioxidant Fiber Drink. Both come in bottles ready to drink, just chill and shake. They also come in a variety of flavors. The Enhanced Protein Shake comes in blueberry-vanilla, lime, mango, mixberry and tangerine, while the Hi-Antioxident Fiber Drink comes in dark-berry and orange-carrot.

You can read all about the benefits of Mix 1 on their website. They are all natural nutritional drinks, gluten and casein free. They taste really good. My daughter says they taste like yogurt. I don’t think so. I don’t like yogurt and would not drink anything that tasted like it. To me, they taste like fruit smoothies. My favorite flavor is the orange-carrot. My husband’s is the Mango flavor. I don’t like Mangos, so I will leave that one for my husband.

My son fought me when I tried to get him to drink one. He doesn’t like to try new things. My view point is, if he has not had a food or drink item before, he has to try it before I allow him to refuse to eat or drink it. So, I did what any good mom would do, I made him take a sip. Afterwards, I put it on the table and walked away. He then preceded to pick up the cup and drink the whole thing. Mommy knows best. I knew he would like it if he only tried it. You can purchase Mix1 online from Amazon or locate a store that sells them on the Mix1 website.

Today's Farm Freeze Dried Snacks Review

Finding healthy snacks that my kids will eat isn’t easy. They both like candy and chips. I limit the amount of both that they are allowed to have. Justus Foods has a line of healthy snacks called Today’s Farm. These are freeze-dried fruit snacks that come in apple cinnamon, pineapple, peach, and strawberry. They sent me a bag of each to try with the family.

I liked the strawberry best. My kids liked the pineapple and apple cinnamon. The bags are .75 oz and easy to put in your purse or your child’s lunch box. They are also very sweet. The freeze dry process pulls out all the water and leaves you a sweet, crispy treat. I could only eat a few at a time, because of how sweet they are.

These snacks are 100% fruit. There are no preservatives used and they are cholesterol free and fat free. My son will not eat fresh fruit. He likes this form and enjoys snacking on them. You can visit their website for more information or to make a purchase.

Guiltless Gourmet Chips Review and Sweepstakes

Baked, not fried. Those are the words I look for when buying chips. They are healthier and I like to make healthy choices for snacks that my kids like. My son loves chips, especially tortilla chips. I limit the amount he is allowed to have, because even a healthier version can be unhealthy for a child if he or she eats too much. My son can sit and eat a whole bag all by himself.

Guiltless Gourmet sent me a bag of their Blue Corn Baked Tortilla Chips. At first, my children were not sure if they would try them. It was the color that put them off. They are a dark blue, almost black tortilla chip. They did try them and they approved. My son approved so much, that I had to lock the bag up in the pantry so that he would not eat the whole thing.

These chips are free of saturated and trans fat. About 18 chips are 120 calories and contain 3g of fat. The chips are salty, that is my one criticism or this product. They contain 180mg of sodium in one serving(18chips) and you can taste the salt. They also come in a variety of flavors: Blue Corn, Chili Lime, Yellow Corn Salted and Unsalted, Spicy Black Bean, Mucho Nacho, Chipotle and Chili Verde. To solve the problem of salt, I will get the the Yellow Corn Unsalted chips.

Guiltless Gourmet is holding a special sweepstakes that runs from May 15, 2009 to September 30th, 2009. The Grand Prize is a 4 day/3 night stay at a five-diamond Las Vegas Resort, a $1,500 Gift Certificate to a spa and $1,500 in cash. There are also other prizes that can be won during the sweepstakes: fifty $100 gift cards to either the retailer where you purchased Guiltless Gourmet Tortilla Chips or an American Express gift card, and product coupons for a bag of your favorite Guiltless Gourmet Tortilla Chips.

You enter by purchasing a bag of specially marked Guiltless Gourmet chips that contains a unique code. This code can be redeemed at www.GuiltlessGourmet.com. Consumers can win instantly and every person that enters a code on the site is automatically entered into the Grand Prize Drawing. Guiltless Gourmet chips can be found at Shoprite, Wegmans, Kroger, Safeway, Publix, Whole Foods, Giant Eagle, Raley’s and Albertsons. There is also a store locator on their website for you to find the closest store that sells Guiltless Gourmet chips. Enjoy and good luck.

Safety Tots

Teaching children how to identify dangerous situations and how to make the right decisions can be challenging. Teaching these to a child with autism is even more challenging. My son, as well as many other autistic children, do not have a sense of danger. They have no fear for anything. My son learns about danger and getting hurt by experiencing it.

An example of this is something that occurred this week. My son had a swimming lesson and my husband took him. The children needed to jump into the pool. My son would not, so my husband pushed him into it. Now, he is afraid of standing at the pool or trying to jump in. He is not afraid of the pool itself. He will get in on his own, but he has learned that he if someone is standing next to him, he will be pushed in.

This is typical of how my son learns. He will not know that something will hurt him unless he has experienced it for himself. I was sent the Safety Tots learning DVD from Smart Kids Software to review. I was looking forward to it and immediately began using it with my son and daughter. This DVD is a series of cartoon scenarios that illustrate dangerous situations and has the child choose what actions should be taken for each situation. It is also entertaining and fun for young children Pre-K to Grade 2.

I think this DVD is a great learning tool for safety. Some of the topics covered were fire safety, electrical safety, pool/water safety. There are many different situations that are covered and they are all presented at a level that a young child can understand. It was interesting to see the answers my children picked. It served to open a line of communication between us in a way that I had not considered. My son still does not understand why some of his choices were wrong, but he knows what he is supposed to do in that situation. I hope, as he gets older, he will begin to understand. My daughter has a better understanding of how to react to different dangerous situations. This DVD has taught them a lot and I hope it will continue to do so.

Body Glove Review

My kids had a great time reviewing these two items from Body Glove. My daughter reviewed the Learn to Swim set and my son reviewed the Hydro Sling. Both were very happy with their items.

The Learn to Swim set is a pair of inflatable arm bands, an inflatable kickboard and fins. All three are covered in fabric. The fins are a combination of fin and shoe. They are easier to walk in and stay on the feet when swimming. The fabric on these is more comfortable in the water than plastic inflatable products. I noticed that my daughter doesn’t slip off of the kickboard and there are even hand grips on either side of the kickboard.

I really loved the Hydro Sling. It comes with foam inserts or inflatable inserts. They sent us the one with the foam inserts. My son didn’t take right to it. At first, he was confused and anxious about what he was supposed to do with it. Once we got him to lay on it, he started to relax and really enjoy himself. The Hydro Sling clinged to him just like a glove. I didn’t have to do any repositioning once my son was laying on it. One thing that I really loved was that he was in the water with my husband and me, and he was independent of us. Here’s a picture of him in the water with the Hydro Sling. He's not out there by himself. There is a string attached to the Hydro Sling that attaches to your wrist. This keeps you from losing it in the water when you are not on it. My husband has hold of the string. You can view all their products on their website, Body Glove.

Pace Salsa Verde Review

Pace has several great sauces to spice up your meals with. Yesterday, I tried out the Pace Picante Sauce on my fresh Garden Salad. Today, I tried the Salsa Verde. I took some left over breakfast sausage, put it in a skillet, added some eggs to make scrambled eggs with sausage. I scooped them onto plates for the family and topped the sausage and scrambled eggs with the Salsa Verde.

The flavor was amazing. The sauce has just the right combination of jalapenos and tomatillos. It brought my simple breakfast up to a new level by adding tangy flavor and a little spicy kick. There's no limit to what you can do with the different varieties of Pace sauces. Check them out for yourself and remember to enter their giveaways.

Handstand Kids Cookbook Review

It’s a tradition as old as time. Moms teaching daughters how to cook is an activity common in most households. It’s not just daughters, we are also teaching our sons. Handstand Kids understands the importance of teaching your child how to cook and have a line of products that you can use to teach cooking in a fun and engaging manner.

Handstand Kids Cookbooks combines learning how to cook with learning about a country. Each cookbook has information about a country, it’s people and language. The recipes in each cookbook are based on the ones for the country the cookbook is designed around. The pictures help your child identify ingredients, measurements and cooking utensils. Each recipe is designated a level. The levels range from a little help from mom to a lot of help from mom.

I reviewed the Chinese Cookbook by Yvette Garfield. It came in a Chinese takeout box package and included two chopsticks. My favorite recipe is the Chocolate Noodle Clusters. This is a Level 1 recipe and requires very little help from me for my children to do. My son loves getting out and putting away all the ingredients when I am cooking. My daughter loves mixing everything together. The three of us make a great team. If you are looking for a cookbook that is child friendly, visit Handstand Kids and find the right one for your family.