Chocolate 'N Children

September 4, 2017September 3, 2017

The Assault – Book Review

I received this book free for purposes of my review. All opinions are my own.

The Assault: Cycle Two of the Harbingers Series by Bill Myers, Frank Peretti, Angela Hunt, and Alton Gansky.

This is Book two of the Harbingers Series. A while back I reviewed book one and liked it so I was excited to receive book two to review as well.

This book was much like the first, with each author writing a section from their person’s point of view. I do find it a bit jolting at times when I switch authors. Mainly because the book is more like 4 mini stories and not one large story, but also the switch between characters when I switch authors always takes me a second. I have to re-orient myself to whom is telling the story – since the stories are told in the first person, and each author writes for a different person.

As the darkness grows with these 4 gifted people be able to stay ahead of it or will it overtake them? The continuing story line is interesting and exciting to read. Because of the 4 different authors it’s a bit unpredictable what will happen to the 4 friends next and what the outcome will be, so it keeps me guessing. Which is always great for this type of book.

This book is easy and quick to read and very entertaining. I enjoyed reading it, and plan to read cycle three as well.

September 4, 2017September 4, 2017

My Crazy, Busy, Too Short, Summer

So, I honestly had planned to write more over the summer. But, it was simply a crazy summer and there was no time. I’ll go into more details in later posts but here’s the highlights:

Hubby was traveling, a lot. He has customers out of state and had to do quite a bit of traveling for work this year. I don’t mind the short trips, but there was this one trip where he was gone for a week, back for a day, and gone for another week. That was tough on the kids especially. We actually settle into a different routine before he gets back and then we have to create a new routine all over again.
We sold our rental house. With 3, soon to be 4 kids and hubby traveling, it was simply too difficult for me to manage a rental on my own. Plus, it’s just not my thing. So we sold it – to a very picky buyer. It’s a sellers market around here and I literally spent two months of my summer tracking down contractors, plumbers, electricians, termite inspectors, etc. Not exactly how I planned to spend my summer. Also, fun story, we had our first buyer fall through and while I thought it was going to be a few days before the house went back on the market, it went back on right away, so I’m driving with the kids (hubby was out of town and my sister was working at the beach for the summer) to the beach and I’m getting all these e-mails from my realtor with all these offers (remember, it’s a seller’s market) for the house. I actually let one offer go without even looking at it because I was driving and had no way to actually read it and then talk to hubby (because he’s in a different time zone working) before the deadline for the offer expired. Frustrating!
I had a baby, actually, I had a baby last week, so at the end of summer. Which means that I was pregnant all summer. Talk about hormones and just being pregnant being in the way a bit. Luckily after the first trimester my pregnancies are about as good as a pregnancy can be, but still, I wouldn’t have planned all this to go along with a pregnancy. I had visions of sitting in the pool all summer…
We actually did join a community pool this summer. My 6yr old learned how to jump off the diving board, and my 9yr old is all about the handstands. The 4yr old just paddles around in his puddle jumper, and life is great.
My mom was diagnosed with lung and thyroid cancer. Back to very busy summer with lots going on at once. I did manage to go up there and visit, around all the existing craziness. She has some great doctors who are optimistic about her recovery. Of course, she’s getting ready to start isotopes treatments right before the holidays this year, which is kind of sad. Once she starts those she won’t be able to be around kids for a while (because she’s radioactive enough to hurt the kids).
Speaking of visits, I did take all 3 kids to the beach by myself. At 8, 6, and 4 they weren’t that hard to manage at the beach, but an 8hr car ride with me being the only driver is rather tiresome. Throw in some construction, mountains, and a few storms and let’s say I’m not really wanting to do that drive again any time soon. I also managed to get them all sunburnt the first day – whoops – and loose my son at a strip mall. And we ate lots of ice cream and I introduced the kids to putt putt golf for the first time. So much fun!

All in all. It was a summer way more packed with emotions, events, travel, and family things than I had planned. And there’s lots of things about this summer that I hope to never repeat. However, we did still have a great summer, and I learned lots of things about myself and my family.

August 4, 2017July 28, 2017

Praying for Girls – Review

I received this book free for purposes of my review, all opinions are my own.

Praying for Girls by Teri Lynne Underwood – Asking God for the Things they Need Most.

If you have daughters and don’t really know how to pray for them, this book is perfect for you. The author has suggestions for praying for your daughters both young and older across 5 different areas of her life.

Each section has several chapters that break down the topic, and each chapter has suggested verses, prayers, and activities for you and your daughter so that you can pray and press into these topics with your daughter and pray some more.

The ideas for engaging with your daughter are simple, practical, and great conversation starters for pressing into some of the more difficult areas of growing up.

For my girls, they’re young, so I think just now beginning to think about their purposes – which is one of the areas covered. There are some great prayers and conversation starters for me to use to begin digging into this a little bit now and then I can add on as they get older.

Praying for Girls was easy to read and is a great book for me to continue to refer to as my girls get older.

July 31, 2017July 30, 2017

3Doodler Party and Review

This is a sponsored post. Thanks to Tryazon for this awesome party pack!

In our party pack we received:

I’d seen the 3Doodler sets advertised and really wanted to get one for the kids but hadn’t done it yet. I was super excited to get picked for this party. And the product didn’t let me down!

IMG_20170717_184345

My 8yr old loves the pen and had no trouble figuring out how to use it. Basically, you have a battery operated pen (rechargeable) that you feed plastic sticks into. The plastic is melted by the pen and you use it to create 3D objects. The melted plastic is warm to the touch but not hot enough to burn or harm you or your kids. And it solidifies completely in about 10 seconds. Even my 4yr old enjoys using the 3Doodler.

IMG_20170727_124424

At 4 he doesn’t quite have the fine motor skills to create anything very impressive but he has a blast doing what his older sisters are doing and crafting with them.

IMG_20170716_202914

I did make him a helicopter and he just loves it! It was actually way easier to make than I expected. The 3Doodler Start kit has templates included and it makes it so easy to create some fun 3D plastic items!

IMG_20170716_131325

Though, sharing is hard, but they managed! We’ve had so much fun with our 3Doodler both at the party and after. And the kids just love experimenting and discovering what new things they can create!

I enjoy crafting and I just love any product that gets my kids creating different things in different ways. This 3Doodler is awesome and so much fun for both kids and adults!

Check out these tips here for getting started with your own 3Doodler.

Or take a look at this YouTube video to help you get started on your first project. It’s so easy and fun!

July 30, 2017

Using Cars.com to Find the Best Car

This is a Sponsored Post

First things first, when car hunting, you need to figure out what kind of car you want. My husband is considering a new car and what he wants is vastly different from the kind of car we looked for when we needed a new family car.

With 3 kids and one on the way, we have a minivan because we need the space. For my husband, he’s often driving his cars to meetings and its just him so we need something smaller, with good gas mileage.

We currently have an older BMW and love it, so we don’t feel the need to switch brands. Which helps narrow down what we’re looking for. It’s just time to upgrade.

So, now that we’ve figured out what kind of car we’re looking for, we have to narrow down our search. No one wants to run all over town looking at cars that they don’t want. So we head over to cars.com and start searching.

Entering search criteria is super easy, make, model, price constraints, and distance from where you live. Everything you need to narrow your search down.

Once you start your search there’s extras you can add to narrow it down. Like, leather seats are a must for us, and since we won’t buy a car without them, there’s no point waisting time looking if the cars don’t have leather seats. And hubby really wants a keyless start so I selected that option as well. That leaves me with 12 options on my first search. By the time my husband looks at it and pares it down a little more based on color and any other particulars that he’d like to see, there’s only going to be a couple that we’ll end up looking at.

On each car’s individual page you can see pictures, contact the dealer, and even see the carfax report. There’s a list of car features, price comparison, and an estimated payments calculator for if you plan to get financing for your purchase.

You can even research a specific car model and see what others say about it. What’s good about it and what people don’t like.

If you’re wanting to research your car before you even start test driving cars.com is the perfect place to start.

July 27, 2017

Back to School With Jane

This is a sponsored post. Thanks to Jane for providing the free back to school items for review! All opinions are my own.

Jane is a daily deal site for the whole family. I got the opportunity to shop on Jane for some back to school items. I bought some backpack tags and a first/last day of school card set. Shipping took a little while on the tags – because they’re custom – and the cards arrived very quickly. I’m very happy with the quality of the items that I ordered. And my kids are super excited to have some cool Back to School items.

First off, have you ever tried to get 3 excited kids to stand still for a picture? It’s basically impossible! I did get their bag tags attached to their bags but they weren’t shy about moving around while I was photographing. They’re apparently all ready to go!
I am quite happy with the tags. They’re a nice thick plastic and my kids names and my phone number are printed on so I don’t have to worry about the information getting lost somehow. This is perfect for if my child looses their backpack or if my child gets lost while at co-op, preschool, or other school activities.

They each picked out their favorite color for the tag. And I think that the tags match well with their backpacks.

Plus the kids are super excited to have their names on their backpacks. I’m sure their teachers are going to appreciate this as well!

The next item I ordered was the First Day of … / Last Day of… cards. The front of the card has The First Day and the back of the card has The Last Day. They come in a deck with preschool to college so I’m basically set for the rest of my life!

I just love the bright colors on these cards! Though, after we took pictures, the kids wouldn’t let me have them back. They insisted on hanging their posters on their walls.

I’m fairly certain preschool is going to have their hands full with him. I was going for a nice picture and this is what I got!

She’s all ready for first grade. Her reading and math have both actually improved over the summer so she’s definitely ready to have a great first grade year!

And this girl is all ready for fourth grade! I’m not sure I’m ready. Seriously, how do I have a fourth grader already? It seems like just yesterday she was a baby.

We had bunches of fun browsing Jane and finding some fun Back to School items. They even have some back to school t-shirts that I suggested to the kids but they thought the posters were way cooler for some reason and since it’s all about them being excited about getting back to School, I got them what they requested.

July 21, 2017July 21, 2017

Review – Nichole Nordeman: Every Mile Mattered CD

I received this CD free for purposes of my review. All opinions are my own.

Nichole Nordeman: Every Mile Mattered CD – I’m constantly looking for new music for me to enjoy and my children love it when I get a new CD to try out. So, we put this one in the car and have been enjoying it this past week while we run errands and such around town.

I somehow had never heard of Nichole Nordeman before this review opportunity – not sure how that’s possible since we listen to a LOT of Christian music in my house and this is her 5th CD!

First off, I’m excited to discover a new artist. She has a great voice and we’ve really enjoyed her latest CD. The music on this CD is soft, gentle, and thought provoking. She sings about her life journey and how Every Mile Mattered. Such a good reminder of how God cares about everything in our life.

Nichole Nordeman: Every Mile Mattered is a great CD and it will be in our car CD rotation for quite a while. Want to know more about the artist? Follow her on her blog: http://nicholenordeman.com.

NN_Primary1

You can get your own copy at:

ITunes
Spotify
Amazon

Also, enter the giveaway below for a chance to win your very own copy of Nichole Nordeman: Every Mile Mattered CD.

Entry -Form

“Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”): Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post.

Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway. If you have won a prize from our sponsor Propeller /FlyBy Promotions in the last 30 days on the same blog, you are not eligible to win. Or if you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.

Winner has 36 hours to respond to winning notification or a new winner may be selected.

July 3, 2017

Pley Subscription Box Review

I received the Pley Disney Princess box free for purposes of my review. All opinions are my own.

IMG_20170611_084243

First off, my 6yr old was so excited to receive her own pink box in the mail! She couldn’t wait to open it.

One box is $29.99 – including shipping or you can get a subscription for $27.99 a box. Boxes ship every other month so you can send your princess 6 boxes a year.

So, what comes in a princess box? I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I was actually surprised by the quality of the items.

IMG_20170611_084547

The box transforms into a castle – my kids thought this was so cool!
When you sign up, you give your child’s t-shirt size. This t-shirt is so cute!
The book has a story about the princess and some little activities
The figurines were by far my daughter’s favorite – she combined those with her new castle and has had so much fun!
The crown is beautiful and even has a little rose in the center.

IMG_20170612_101709

This box contained some really great items that were lots of fun for my daughter to play with. Would my child enjoy a box like this every other month? Yes, she would. Just guessing what princess will come next would be fun and the box items are well selected and so much fun!

You can find out more information on the Pley Disney Princess Website.

And check out my daughter unboxing her new Pley Disney Princess Box.

June 21, 2017

Threads of Suspicion Review

I received this book free for purposes of my review. All opinions are my own.

Threads of Suspicion (An Evie Blackwell Cold Case) by Dee Henderson

This book is about Evie Blackwell, an investigator who is great at cracking cold cases.

She’s such a great investigator she gets appointed to the Illinois Governor’s Missing Persons Task Force.

Evie gets to pick her own case and gets one that is truly puzzling and proves to be harder to solve than she expected.

With lots of twists and turns along the way. New friendships, old friendships challenged, and unexpected events. This book was a great mystery.

The author, Dee Henderson did a great job of keeping me guessing all the way to the end. Who did it? Where is the missing person? And how will Evie keep up with it all and her personal life at the same time?

A great mystery!

This post does contain affiliate links.

June 3, 2017

Dr. Rogers Restore – Review

This is a sponsored post.

IMG_20170526_170310

Dr. Rogers Restore is a petroleum-free ointment that can be used as an alternative to neosporin, vaseline, and such. Designed by a mom who wanted something better for her kids. This is an all-purpose ointment designed for dry, damaged skin, lips and nails. Other uses incude razor rash, diaper rash, chafing, wound care (for small cuts), scrapes, abrasions, insect bites, stings, chapped lips, callouses, etc. Basically, all the stuff I use neosporin and vaseline for.

IMG_20170526_163900

Free of petroleum, lanolin, parabens, phthalates, sulfates, fragrance and common allergens. Dr. Rogers is made with all plant-based ingredients.

First, I tried Dr. Rogers out on my cuticles. Our spring has arrived by kicking off with 80 degree weather, then cooling down to 60 degrees and then back up again. This constant temperature not only has us all wondering what to wear each day, but it dries out my hands and I notice it first on my cuticles. So for a couple of days I just put a little bit right on my cuticles where my nails were feeling extra dry.

Dr. Rogers doesn’t smell like anything – in that it has no smell that I can tell. It’s basically a clear ointment, so, I was a bit skeptical that it was actually going to do anything for me.

I used it for two days – twice a day – and my cuticles are no longer dried out. So, it definitely worked.

IMG_20170526_155111

Of course, since I’m trying out this cool new product, the kids had to get in on it. I suggested that they try it out on a scratch and see if it helped – usually we use neosporin. Or the girls could try it out where their flip-flops were rubbing their foot – which I use vaseline for. All the kids managed to find a scratch or irritation of some sort to try this out on. I’m sure they invented a few “injuries” as well because that was a good way to get to use more!

My oldest girl and my son both have skin that’s sensitive to scents and dyes so I’m very careful with what I let them try out. Of course, this stuff seemed pretty good, after I had tried it, so I let them use it how they wanted.

IMG_20170526_153113

I didn’t notice any real difference is result between using Dr. Rogers or my usual products. They basically seem to work the same. And since this product is supposed to be a replacement for similar petroleum- based products I would say that it works as advertised.

It did not irritate my childrens’ skin, it’s easy to apply, and it did what I expected it to do. Plus it’s plant based instead of petroleum based. In my opinion, a great product.