mommy's reviews

Hello dear readers! Here we are on Thanksgiving Day 2013! Hard to believe... :) I wanted to wish all of you a blessed and wonderful Thanksgiving with your family and friends. Hope you have a WONDERFUL day full of fun, food and plenty of opportunities to count your BLESSINGS. Enjoy your day and thanks for being such wonderful readers...I am thankful for YOU! :) ...and a bit of Thanksgiving Day humor for you...love this! :)))

As I sit here in my dining room I can see that snow is beginning to fall. All over the news there are snow warnings for our area tonight through Thanksgiving day and OH how I LOVE snow!! For those of you who dislike snow, well, we are going to get a bunch of it here and if you live in the area - you will get some too! JOY! Seriously though, I do love winter and also love the snow. Before hubby and I were married, he took me skiing. I had never been before and was very excited about getting to try it out. All of my coworkers were wishing me luck and telling me not to break anything and it was a huge joke that I would come back from skiing in a body cast. Well, skiing was nothing like I thought it would be and I didn't wipe out too much. One thing that really surprised me was how hot I became when skiing. The sun reflecting off the snow proved to be pretty unforgiving too as I had a mild sunburn when we got home that day. Who would have thought I would have a sunburn in the middle ...

The Holiday season is rapidly approaching, and for a lot of us that means it’s ROAD TRIP time! Long trips can be taxing on your vehicle, which makes it even more important that it’s kept in tip top shape before you take-off. We always like to have our vehicle get a good once-over before we go on long trips and that often alerts us to issues we might be having with our car. The question is... do you know what it takes to keep up with your vehicles needs? How “car competent” are you? I thought I was VERY car competent until we tried to replace our windshield wipers last night...what a nightmare!! Here are some really quick tips for you to take a look at before you hit the road to celebrate the holidays with loved ones...  Our friends at NAPA AutoCare Centers have created a quiz for you to test your Car Competency before you take the trip. Test your knowledge on basic auto care maintenance, and download some pro-tips along the way. We asked some of our ASE Certi-fied Technicians ...

One of the things we love the most about our house is the view from the backyard. We live in a town, just outside the city limits and we also live in a housing development. HOWEVER, our home is located on the outer loop of the development and we have a huge brush covered field behind us. It is inhabited with deer, foxes and other wildlife. Our children have seen more wildlife here than they did at our other house and it is SO fun to teach them about different animals. We have just begun hunting season around here and the deer are showing up all over the place. They are being scared out of the woods into the open areas and we have been enjoying seeing many deer behind our home. We do not have any foliage for them to eat as far as gardens go and we do have arborvitae trees around our property line which supposedly are deer repellent trees so they stay out of my yard for the most part.  If you are having issues with deer invading your property and devouring  nibbling y...

Happy Monday everyone!! I just wanted to throw this out there for anyone interested. I didn't know Dunkin Donuts had this promotion but I am definitely signing up! Tim Hortons IS my coffee shop of choice but free coffee is good anytime. :) Here's how it works... Sign up for Donuts Perks Here to receive a FREE Medium Beverage of your choice - also you will receive a FREE coupon on your Birthday for a FREE coffee, latte, tea, Coolatta or hot chocolate straight to your mailbox. ●  Your favorite drink–for free*–that’s your first perk. You’ll get a coupon for a free medium beverage in the mail by the end of next month. ●  A birthday drink–it’s on the house. For your birthday, we’ll send you another coupon to enjoy a free* medium beverage of your choice. ●  Email updates on the latest news, offers and DD events in your area. *Free medium beverage of choice includes any iced or hot coffee, tea or latte, hot chocolate or Coolatta® beverage. All cooler bever...

Ok, so it has begun. The season for online shopping has commenced, and with online sales expected to increase 13-15% this holiday season, it’s important to ensure online holiday experiences are safe ones. The holiday season should be fun and festive, and the joy of the season can be lost quickly if people interact with an un-safe website, lose important receipts or blow their budgets . My husband and I want to do most of our Christmas shopping online this year to avoid the crowds at the store so these tips are really helpful for us. Master Lock and Mario Armstrong , Digital Lifestyle Expert™ have provided tips and tools to help navigate the holiday safety, securely and with as little stress as possible. "The holiday season should be fun and festive -- not stressful," said Mario Armstrong, The Digital Lifestyle Expert™ and Master Lock representative. "However, the joy of the holidays can be lost quickly if people interact with an un-safe website, lose important...

Hope you are enjoying this gorgeous fall day...I just LOVE this time of year. :) Have a great weekend!

My family has quite a few minor skin issues. It started 5 years ago when our oldest child was born and developed a case of infant Eczema. As a mother, nothing breaks your heart more than seeing your child with a rash that won't go away easily. It seemed I could treat her symptoms and give her relief with creams and lotions but that would not take the problem away completely. My second child was born and his skin was perfect...still is. When Isaac was born he developed a pretty severe case of Eczema and it was predominately in the crease behind his ears. It was AWFUL. Red, weepy and crusted over at times it was obviously an irritant to him and made me feel horrible. He then developed a mysterious pimply rash on his face and the Eczema spread to his hands and legs. The only thing that really helped him was cortisone based creams...as much as I am not a steroid fan, these types of creams worked wonderfully. Now that I have my children's skin issues under some type of control, m...

Recently, I wrote a CleanSmart Hand Sanitizer review and have been enjoying using it ever since. I have even shared some bottles with a friend who has seven children and she too has been enjoying it. Here's a brief recap of CleanSmart... CleanSmart is a breakthrough hand sanitizer that kills 99.9% of germs without drying your hands.  It contains the same ingredient your body has always uses to fight germs – hypochlorous acid.  With simple and natural ingredients, CleanSmart replicates hypochlorous acid so you don’t need to use harsh chemicals to stay healthy this cold and flu season.  Combat the germ season with a breakthrough product that’s alcohol-free, hypoallergenic, and no fragrance has been added. So, I wanted to let you all know that in preparation for cold and flu season, you can enter to win a CleanSmart 2oz spray and one CleanSmart 2oz gel! This is a very timely giveaway and I do hope you will enter! a Rafflecopter giveaway Disclaimer: I rec...

For all of you moms out there that have little girls, how many times have you been spritzing on your perfume, fixing your hair or putting on your makeup when your little girl comes in and wants to "look like mommy too"? I cannot tell you just how many times my 5 year old has walked in on me getting ready for the day and asks to have some of whatever I am applying. She loves to wear my hair barrettes and sneaks my perfume once in awhile. Sometimes her room smells just like my perfume and I know what she has been up to. :) She watches me put on a bit of makeup when I am getting ready for a dinner date with daddy and of course, asks 101 questions about what I am doing and where I am going and when she can wear what I am wearing. I always knew that having a little girl would be fun, I just didn't realize how much she would want to be like me! When it comes to any type of beauty product for my daughter, I like to use products that are as natural as I can find. These day...

It is hard to believe that we are so close to the holidays now...seems like I was just sitting here wishing for cooler temperatures as I dripped with sweat. No central air in our home this summer was pretty brutal and quite challenging at times however, it just gives me more to look forward to next summer when we have central air installed...YAY!  With the holidays right around the corner, I think every woman wants her skin to look its best and I am definitely one of those women! The hot summer sun and dry winds can do a number on one's skin and it is no wonder our faces become so dry. Getting ready for the holiday season is so much fun and this month, you can get your skin looking soft , supple and totally refreshed. “Beautiful” is a revolutionary new product from Trusted Health Products and it is formulated especially for women's skin. This skin care product that comes in a formula for application in the morning and evening uses fruit, nut and plant extracts to "f...

... at 1:00 in the afternoon, I married my forever love. It has been a blast being married to this guy...he is truly the best thing that has ever happened to me! Love having him by my side as we walk down this road called life. Here's to another 100 wonderful and blessed years together!! :)

Tonight is when most people turn their clocks back...just wanted to remind all of you that this weekend is Daylight Savings Time and I am looking forward to that extra hour of sleep!! (Provided my children are not up an hour earlier the next morning......................) Enjoy your weekend! :)

I am not sure how many times a day I am wiping dirty faces and hands...it definitely makes a mom's job full-time though. Sometimes, I lose count as to just how many times I wash MY hands. Goodness, I have two in diapers (trying to potty train one) and I am constantly washing my hands after visits to the changing table or potty. Children sure to require alot of hand washing and it is something that we are trying to teach them to do. Before you leave the bathroom, PLEASE wash your hands. I think every bathroom should have a sign on the mirror or door to remind users to practice good hygiene. One of the toughest things to deal with is going out in public and not having a reliable place to wash your hands. Germs are crawling everywhere and are present on any surface...it is frightening if you really thing about it. I am not a germ-a-phobe BUT I do like to try and prevent the spread of germs if I can help it. When my children are sick, we stay home. If I know someone is sick, I don...