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Dial Face Wash Review

My newest product trial is for the new Dial Acne Control Face Wash. I love trying new beauty products!

My first tip for this product, don’t set it on the bathroom counter next to the hand soap, the kids will think it’s for hand washing. My kids love to wash their hands, and they love to use the automatic soap dispensers in public restrooms – you know, I saw that bath and body works has a new auto soap dispenser that sits out your bathroom counter, my bathroom would be covered in bubbles if I bought that! But, I’m way off topic now…

Anyways, don’t leave it out for the kids, especially if your children like to wash their hands as much as mine do!

I do like this soap, it gets my face nice and clean. However, it does dry my skin out a little so I have to use a little more of my face lotion when I’m using the dial face wash. Way better than a face wash that makes my face oily (yes, I’ve tried one that does this and it’s awful!) and with a little extra lotion in the mornings my face is clean AND moisturized so no problems there.

I also don’t have to use very much of this product each time to get a nice lather that makes me feel like it’s doing something good. So this bottle is going to last me for quite a while. Yay!

Also, this product has very little scent, which is awesome, because I really don’t like being overpowered by scent when I’m washing my face in the morning.

I only have occasional acne so it’s not like this product cleared up my face, because my face is already pretty clear. So, no drastic results to show. However, I haven’t had any trouble with acne since starting to use this product so I know it doesn’t irritate my skin and it definitely seems to help prevent oily skin which is usually my biggest facial skin problem.

I’m enjoying using this product and I think it’s definitely getting my face cleaner in the mornings!

Thanks to Smiley 360 for the great product trial!

Click Here for a $.75 off coupon!

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Seventh Generation Natural Hand Wash Review

My second week of product reviews – I have a few lined up that I need to do! This one is also from Smiley360.

I got a free container of Seventh Generation Natural Hand Wash, Mandrin Orange & Grapefruit to try. It’s always awesome any time I get to try products that my family uses a lot of. My kids are obsessed with washing their hands, washing their barbie’s hair, and giving baths in the sink to many other toys such as polly pockets and play food. So, we go through a lot of hand soap around here.

Any time I put a new soap out on the counter it’s pretty much guaranteed that that girls will notice within an hour and give me their “very important” feedback. My kids approved, I had to smell their hands multiple times that first day I set the soap out because they loved the scent and felt the need to share. At least I knew their hands were clean!

I also like that it’s not anti-bacterial. You know how hard a non-anti-bacterial soap that everyone likes is to find? Either I’m looking in all the wrong places or there aren’t a lot of them.

This product smells great, my hands feel clean after using it, it’s not anti-bacterial, it’s made by a company that is good at making natural products, and for $4 on their website, It’s really not any more expensive than the Bath & Body Works soap I usually buy.

Plus, I love the bright colors on the soap bottle, and the citrus scent that I’m trying out is such a clean smell, I love it!

Want to save a little more? For 20% off your online order, click here.

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My Arla Dofino House Party

My latest party from House Party was for Arla Dofino cheese. Honestly, this has probably been my favorite house party so far! I got accepted as a host, sent out my invites, and reviewed the list of items I would be receiving. Insulated lunch totes and cheese. So, I’m expecting cheap lunch totes with the Arla Dofino logo, nope, they were nice Thermos insulated lunch totes in pink, blue, or black. Everyone who came to the party thought they were awesome. Sometimes at these house parties I have trouble giving away the favors (not everyone wanted wooden spoons at one party) but I had no problem getting guests to take these. Everyone needs a new lunch tote!

The cheese shipped directly from Arla Dofino, and I was really impressed with what was inside. Three different rounds – Gouda, Smoked Gouda, and Edam, two packages of sandwich slices – Gouda and Havarti, two triangles – fontina, and gouda, and five blocks of Havarti – Dill, Lite, Creamy, Smoked, and Jalapeño. There was lots and lots of cheese! I was expecting a couple of blocks so I was trying to plan what other things to serve with my cheese, but when my cheese arrived I realized that there was so much cheese, I could focus everything around the cheese.

We had a cheese tray, I cut the cheese in little blocks for easy eating. I did dill and cucumber sandwiches with the havarti dill, these were awesome! I made little cheese crackers with bacon bits on top, warmed them in the oven till the cheese started melting, these were gobbled up first. And the rounds, I set out on the chopping block with some cheese knives. I had pears and apples chopped in squares, and pepperoni and sausage as well as four different kids of crackers.

I’d never tried Arla Dofino cheese before – normally I purchase the store brand from the fridge section – and it was very delicious. Even the jalapeño cheese wasn’t overpoweringly spicy, it was just right. I’m always trying to figure out a good cheese try for holiday parties and after trying out all these cheeses, I now know what cheeses make the right variety cheese tray! Which means, I’ll be buying more when the holidays get here!

This was such a fun laid-back house party, everyone ate cheese, and hung out and chatted for hours.

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Our First Pagent

A few weeks ago my 5yr old tried out her first pagent. If you’re looking for a pagent, National American Miss (NAM) really wasn’t bad. Everything starts and ends on time – and since I love schedules, this was awesome! Everyone’s polite, the kids are nice, etc. I had read up on some reviews before deciding to actually do this, so I wasn’t expecting “Toddlers and Tiaras”. Overall, the pagent is run professionally.

Most importantly, my 5yr old had fun. She’s already talking about going again next year.

Here’s the thing, it’s about $500 just to enter the pagent, plus you have your hotel and food on top of that. However, if you actually want at chance at winning the pagent, you have to enter all the “extra” activities, so the total pagent cost is closer to $1,000 just to enter. The winner does get a modeling contract, so this kind of makes sense. They say all over the place that the extra activities are not required to win, but really, there wasn’t a single girl up there in the “queen’s court” who hadn’t done every single extra activity. So, if you’re going to go, you kinda have to do it all.

Then, you add outfits on top of all this, and things start really getting expensive! They do do a professional photo shoot in the girl’s formal gowns, which is really nice (of course that’s extra).

It was a little tough having the younger kids along – really just the 1yr old was tough, the 3yr old would have had way more fun if I wasn’t keeping up with the 1yr old the whole time. If we do it again I may have to figure something else out for the little kids.

My opinion, it wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought, I’m glad my 5yr old enjoyed it, I’m not sure if we’re doing it again, I’m going to have to think some more about that. The thing is, if you want to win, you really do have to focus some more on modeling and acting and I have to decide if that’s a route we’re willing to let our girls pursue.

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Free Date Night

If you don’t know about it already Bing rewards you for searching using their site. (sign up using my link and I get 500 points) You can earn up to 30 points a day for online searching and 10 points a day for mobile searching for a total of 40 a day, plus they have bonus points and double point days and such, so points add up pretty quickly. Every 450 points I redeem a $5 Groupon credit. There’s other things on there, like Xbox credits and Amazon gift cards, but groupon is my favorite.

So, last month, I had $20 in Groupon credit sitting in my account. I like to spend it on restaurant discounts and then me and my husband go out to dinner or lunch for “free”. WooHoo. So, Groupon e-mails me a discount, if I spend $30 and purchase a groupon through their mobile app (which is already on my phone) I get $10 off. The math is pretty easy, $10 off a $30 groupon = $20, which is the amount of my current Groupon Credits.

I go search Groupon for anything $30 to $40 and see if there’s anything interesting. For $30 I can get a groupon for $60 at the Tennessee Riverboat Company. Not bad, Dinner cruises are $25 to $30 a person so I go ahead and get it. Now, I have a free $60 to spend at the Tennessee Riverboat Company. Of course, we pick the Mystery Cruise because it sounds like fun.

So, the mystery was pretty much what I expected, not that entertaining but still fun, and I think they just threw all the names in a hat and pulled out out and that was our murderer for the night.

Plus you get a 2 hr cruise down the river on a little riverboat. – to put little in context, I’ve been aboard some of the larger old Ohio riverboats like the Delta Queen when it was still operating as a riverboat. I think one paddle-wheel is bigger than the boat we were on for our cruise. Anyways, little riverboat, it was a very nice 2hr ride. It rained the first 20 minutes, but we were inside eating – and the food was DELICIOUS! – so it didn’t matter. After dinner we went up on the deck and the weather was perfect. Saw some really pretty houses – we’re house hunting currently so it was fun to see some of the large houses on the river.

It was fun to do something different for a change (we left the kids with my MIL) and get some time to ourselves. Not sure I would actually pay $60 for the dinner cruise but if you like being out on the water, it’s lots of fun and the food is good.

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Coppertone Clearly Sheer Sunscreen

With summer here my weekly blog post is turning into a bi-weekly blog post. We’ve been spending so much time at the pool that I just haven’t had time. Speaking of pools, thanks to bzzagent for another great Bzz Campaign! And this one was just in time for summer! I received a free bottle of Coppertone Clearly Sheer SPF 30 Lotion for Sunny Days and two mini bottles of  Coppertone Clearly Sheer SPF 50 Sunscreen Spray for beach or pool.

With it being summer me and the kids have fully tested both formulas. (the baby even tried a small taste-test and decided that sunscreen is not good for eating…)

My 5yr old and 3yr old love spraying on their sunscreen, so when we’re at the pool there’s no lack of sunscreen on their skin.

The top features that I love:

1. Non-oily formula – I don’t usually bother with makeup when I’m at the pool so I haven’t actually tried putting on my makeup over the sunscreen, but I’ve put plenty of sunscreen on my face and after application it’s almost like I put my usual face lotion on my face. My face isn’t sticky or greasy feeling, it just feels normal.

2. Light scent – I love that the Coppertone Clearly Sheer Sunscreen has very little sunscreen smell. There’s just something I don’t enjoy about sweaty little kids that smell like a whole bottle of sunscreen, so very little sunscreen smell is sure nice for the drive home from the pool.

3. Doesn’t irritate my skin – back to my face, some sunscreens cause my face to breakout (breakouts are pretty rare for me so I’m never happy when this happens) I’ve been using Coppertone clearly sheer all summer without any breakout problems. Plus, I don’t feel like I’m wearing it even after lathering on a pretty heavy coat!

I’m really liking this new Coppertone Clearly Sheer Sunscreen line and if you’re looking for a light-feeling non-oily sunscreen that actually works, this is a great sunscreen!

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Mom’s Night Out

Does your kitchen ever look like this? I know mine has on many, many occasions! I like to bake, my kids like to bake, and then I get to clean up the mess! This picture is from one of my favorite scenes in Mom’s Night Out.

Looking for something to do for your Mom for Mother’s Day? Take her to the theater to see Mom’s Night Out! I got to see a pre-release showing of this a while back and it’s awesome! It’s the best comedy I’ve seen in a really long time! Hilarious, and heartwarming at the same time.

Unfortunately, I have something every night this week for my oldest’s ballet performance this weekend (I’m not sure who thought that having the ballet performance the day before Mother’s Day was a good idea…) so I won’t get to see it on Opening Day – May 8th. But I’m working on plans to see it with friends next week.

Mom’s Night Out is family friendly, so if you can’t find a babysitter, bring the kids. It’s funny, and it’s a movie that everyone (even Dad’s ) with kids will enjoy.

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Good2Grow Juice

Thanks to BzzAgent I (“I” being “the kids” since the kids actually drank them all and didn’t share with me) got to try a whole 6 pack of Good2Grow juice for free. They also threw in 3 extra bottle caps, which the kids just loved. Plus, there were coupons for a free refill pack with any individual bottle purchase, so I let each of the kids choose their own bottle at the store, then we shared the rest of our coupons with friends.

Want a chance for your own free juices? Click Here to enter their birthday party giveaway!

Good2Grow has an apple juice and a fruit and vegy juice. My kids loved both of them! The kids are picky about their fruit and vegy juice – they won’t drink V8 because it’s a little gritty – so I’m really happy to see them drink the Good2Grow juices. The juices are 100% juice so I know the kids aren’t getting a ton of sugar.

Plus, the tops are spill proof so if they sneak the juice off to their room I don’t have to worry about it spilling.

I just can’t give these to my 10 month old, the lid pops right off every time he throws it from his highchair – to be fair, I haven’t found a cup yet that fares well when he throws it, so he’s currently only allowed water when he’s eating.

Also, since Kroger sells them, and Kroger is my preferred grocery store, they’re super convenient for me to pick up for a picnic, party, or just a snack!

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Tone Body Wash

Thanks to BzzAgent I got to try Tone Body Wash in Petal Soft with Pink Peony & Rose Oil. I love trying new bath products, especially products that smell as good as this Tone Body Wash!

Tone has Body Wash and Bath Bars, my preferred format is the liquid body wash so I was really happy that I got to try the body wash and not the bar soap (and my 9 month old is on this “eat Daddy’s bar soap” kick so it’s better if I don’t have any extra bar soap in the bathroom for him to eat).

Their products have cocoa butter, white clay, and alpha-hydroxy fruit acids that help keep your skin moisturized and nourished each and every day!

Honestly, I’m not really picky about what in my soap as long as it smells good, lathers well, and leaves my skin soft. It just sounds cool to say that I’m using soap with white clay in it! Sounds very premium, maybe that’s why I like it so much…

Tone Body Wash smells great, and leaves me smelling great after my shower! It lathers well so I feel like I’m getting as clean as I can. And it leave my skin feeling soft and moisturized after every shower. After all this cold weather my skin really needs more moisture!

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Mom’s Night Out – Review

Got to see a pre-release screening of Mom’s Night Out with some friends Thursday night and I loved it! The first pre-release I’ve ever seen so I didn’t know what to expect. I had three other friends who came as well so we had a nice group going. My husband was a little nervous about feeding the baby and getting him to bed on his own (the movie started at 7:00pm which is right when we start our bedtime routines) but things went pretty well for him. The baby ate 3 pieces of french toast and then didn’t drink very much of his sippy cup, which concerned my husband a little – but I’m sure the little guy was just stuffed from his dinner and wasn’t hungry for milk. Which definitely seemed to be the case because he didn’t wake up any more than usual last night.

Back to the movie…so we get to the theater and walk in and there’s a table set up on the way in to our showing, everyone gets a swag bag. Awesome! I was going to be really disappointed if they didn’t give us something. There was a magnetic notepad, pen, car sticker, resource DVD, two movie posters, nail file, some little cards, keychain, and my favorite “Dad’s Big Book of Tips for Moms’ Night Out”, hilarious tips for Dad’s watching the kids.

So I’m already excited. Then, what I hadn’t realized before, during the introduction, I discover that the movie is created by the same people that made Fireproof, which I haven’t actually watched but it gives me hope that the comedy will be a clean comedy. You know, I invited friends to this, all of our husbands are home with the kids, I’m really hoping for a good movie!

Mom’s Night Out is hilarious and heartwarming at the same time. They did a great job on the movie, me and my friends thoroughly enjoyed it!

The comedy was clean so you could take kids to the movie (though they probably won’t find it as funny as parents do). There were only 3 men in the entire theater last night, which I expected because the marketing for this movie has been primarily to moms. But, I’m sure that men will love it just as much as women do.

It’s a nice, happy, hilarious view of motherhood and parenting and left me, as a mom, re-engergized for the stage of motherhood that I’m in. (or maybe it was the giant piece of New York Style Cheesecake that I ate after the movie…)

I really think any mother would love this movie, regardless of how old her kids are. It comes out May 9th, just in time for Mother’s Day. So if you don’t have plans for your mom yet, try dinner and a movie, and you’ll be glad you did!