Fruit Juice Cubes to Beat Boredom

While my kids are home on Winter break, I have been scrambling to fight cabin fever and boredom, because idle children are the root of all evil. That and when my minions get bored they want to pick and poke at each other.

To make things worse, while it has not been too terribly cold, it has been extremely wet, and so the minions have been cooped up inside for the most part.

One thing that never fails as a boredom buster are fruit juice cubes. Normally I pull this out on rainy summer days, but the minions were calling for something sweet and had been suggesting ice cream (Not going to happen).

In the past, I have used just the generic plastic ice cube trays. You know the kind you can pick up at the dollar store. They warp and crack easily, but at less than $5 per the only thing that really hurt was the time it took to go out and buy replacements.

Recently I found a company that called Kuuk and they have silicone ice cube trays. They are extremely flexible and yet still hold up nicely when filled. (The perfectly shaped cubes that come out appeases the perfectionist in me as well. The flexibility of the tray makes it super easy to get the cube out without having to run it under water to loosen them. Just turn the tray over, press on the bottom of the compartment and peel the tray off the cube.

I have used all different fruit juices, let the kids eat them by themselves and even added them to water to "flavor" the water (instead of having the kids drink juice all day).

One fun thing I like to do is add small fruit to each cube like blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries.

You can check out Pinterest for more ideas or let your imagination run wild!!


As always feedback, questions, comments, and suggestions are always welcome. Please remember to follow the blog and register your email address at the top of the page to have new posts delivered right to your email inbox and never miss an update. Disclaimer: please be aware that any item mentioned in this blog may have been received for free or at a discount in exchange for a fair and honest review. The opinions expressed in this blog are my own regardless of how the items were acquired.

Practico Outdoors Camping/Travel Pillow Review

Practico Outdoors sent me their travel pillow to try out and share my thoughts on it with you. See the video to see how it holds up!!

 The bottom line is that it is not a bad pillow. It is actually really comfortable. My minions have been playing with it for two weeks and it has not gotten any leak and it still functions just as intended (which is really saying something as my minions are really rough on things).


As always feedback, questions, comments, and suggestions are always welcome. Please remember to follow the blog and register your email address at the top of the page to have new posts delivered right to your email inbox and never miss an update.


Disclaimer: please be aware that any item mentioned in this blog may have been received for free or at a discount in exchange for a fair and honest review. The opinions expressed in this blog are my own regardless of how the items were acquired.

Post Christmas Giveaway!!!

Hey Everyone,

Audist has sent me an awesome set of ear buds. These ear buds fit comfortably while delivering excellent sound quality. It has a build in mic and control button in line on the cord for easy access. The control button is fairly large and easy to manipulate without having to look down. You can read more about these ear buds at their Amazon listing page: http://foundthis.net/sx3511.




Now for the giveaway details. Like and Share the post on Facebook, and then comment below when you have done so with what you listen to, to help you unwind. Whether you need to unwind from your kids fighting with each other or from work.

On December 29th I will choose one winner and contact via Facebook message with the details of delivery. Remember bonus points to those who can make me laugh!! Now, GO! And may the odds be ever in your favor!!

Contest is only open to US residents.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!

Merry Christmas lovely readers! 

 

I work in part of the retail industry and growing up my mother worked with the United States Postal Service. So for me Christmas was always kind of ad-hoc fit it in where ever, and this year was no exception. My husband and I let our children open most of their Christmas gifts last night on Christmas Eve. These presents include the ones from me and him, and the ones from relatives who live far away and won't be able to make a trip in to visit.

It was a successful unwrapping. The older two professed how much they loved their gifts. Minion Number 3 was actually playing with the toys he had unwrapped. We cleaned up all the wrapping paper and ushered the children off to bed so I could relax a little before going to bed for the night. (Yes, I had to work today.)

As us adults were unwinding my husband pointed out. The kids still believe in Santa. And here we were, Christmas Eve and the children had already unwrapped all their gifts. The husband and I, start wracking our brains to come up with a plan. We found the tricycle we had gotten for Number 3. We hadn't shown it to him yet because it still needed to be assembled. We found a new pair of boots for Number 1; we hadn't shown him them because they were not wrapped due to the shoe box missing its top. So that had my boys taken care of, but what about Number 2? We really didn't have anything left for her that she had not already seen. I go through my closet and I found my stash of yarn and I remembered her begging me to make her a scarf all year long. So I got right to it. About 2 hours later, she had a nice warm scarf folded and sitting under the tree.

This morning when we all got up the older two excitedly ran to the tree. Number 1 tried on his boots and loved them. The first thing out of Number 2's mouth was the exclamation "Mommy made me a scarf!" In a way she didn't care that at first glance she didn't get a Santa gift and she was excited that I had made something for her (*insert sound of heart melting*). However, I felt that it would be selfish of me to rob her of her belief in Santa just so I could receive credit for the scarf I had made. My husband and I corrected her and told her it was from Santa.

Then Number 2 replied "Mrs. Claus can knit?" 

Thank you readers for allowing me to share this wonderful little bit from our Christmas. I hope you all are having a wonderful Christmas/Holiday.
Keep an eye out over the next few days. I have a set of ear buds that I will be hosting a giveaway for soon. Details to come!!

Modern New Mom Survival Kit

 A lot has changed in the world of having children. Parenting techniques have changed and now there are a LOT of different ways to raise your child. New research is constantly emerging regarding vaccinations, breastfeeding, and discipline. The way the hospital treats post-delivery mothers has changed greatly in the past 30 years. I remember when my mother had my younger brother. It was a normal, uncomplicated, routine delivery and yet her stay in the hospital after the birth was 5 days. When I gave birth to my children with normal, uncomplicated, routine deliveries, I was discharged within 48 hours of delivery.


Women are returning to the workforce a lot sooner than they used to.

The following excerpt is from a study conducted in 2014.

"We asked mothers in LTM II about their employment patterns after they had their baby. 
Among those mothers who had returned to paid work, more than a third had returned by 
6 weeks, and most (84%) were back to work by 12 weeks (Figure 8). This represented 57% 
of all formerly employed mothers. They typically returned to the same work setting 
(full-time, part-time or self-employed) that they had been in during pregnancy. Overall, 
36% of mothers had paid work responsibilities by 12 weeks after the birth."

The fact that more women are returning to work and soon than past trends indicate only goes to show the different social climate new mothers are in.

And while advice from mother may get you quite a ways in navigating those early newborn waters, things have changed a great deal since she was in your shoes.

It is for that reason that I have compiled a short list of items that I either had or wished I had during each of my three pregnancies to help weather out the chaos.   


Congratulations! You're Pregnant


While the book What to Expect When You Are Expecting is still my favorite go-to for just about anything pregnancy related, I do like Angie's Congratulations! You're Pregnant as a sort of quick reference guide. It also has a lot of recently updated information especially that pertaining to nutrition. For example, I am a big sushi lover, but decided to go without while I was pregnant. (Fear of raw foods and all) However, Angie shares that most forms of sushi are safe to eat while pregnant as long as the raw fish in it were flash frozen first which most major fishing industries do on the boat right after the fish is caught. The freezing process kills any parasites that could potentially cause sickness. This is good to know and just wish I had known during my last pregnancy.  While there were some topics that I wish Angie had gone a little more in depth with, I do love the book, and as I mentioned above it makes for a great quick reference guide or even a bathroom read (yeah, I spent a lot of time in the bathroom with each of my pregnancies: morning sickness among other reasons.)


Breastfeeding Scarfs


With my first two kids I used receiving blankets, but they can be really annoying to carry around and seriously with a little baby do we really need to carry more things. I used to stash it in the already over-stuffed diaper bag and it would constantly get in the way when I would need to fish out a diaper or a wipe. Not to even mention that I live in the South and covering up my kids with a receiving blanket while they nursed would have both of us flushed and sweating from the heat. And while I loved the bonding time it gave me with my babies, it was rarely a positive experience for me or them when they needed to nurse in public.



That is where this breastfeeding scarf has changed the game for my latest child. I can wear it as an infinity scarf, scarf with hood, or even as a shawl over my nursing tank top. The material is extremely soft and gets softer with each washing. It is almost like butter made into cloth. It is very light weight and breathable and there is enough material there to create a large "tent" area so you are completely covered as you switch sides without having to readjust the cover.

I only wish they had came out with this sooner, so I could have used it with my first two children.






Snug Baby Monitor for Smartphones (Apple/Android)

This is an item that has been made possible due to advances in technology, and now that I have one for my third child, I don't know how I ever got along without it for my first two. This baby monitor connects to the house's wifi network and can be accessed through an app on either an Apple or Android mobile device. The monitor mostly stays in stand-by mode and can either be activated remotely through the app or is activated by either sound or by detecting motion. If the monitor activates itself it sends a push notification to the connected mobile device. Now I can actually get stuff done while the baby is laying down for a nap without having to go check on him every 20 minutes. The monitor takes a little while to set up both physically and on the wifi network. It can be mounted to the wall and the eye of the monitor can do a full swivel for a complete view of the room. Once it is installed and set up it works beautifully.


Resistance Loop Bands


As mentioned in my introduction, women with young babies are returning to the workforce. This creates an even great demand on a new mother's time. Add to that demand the added pressure society puts on new mom's to shed the baby weight and it is no wonder that new mom's can feel overwhelmed.
While I have stubbornly ignored all of society's expectations regarding my maternal stores (I am still about 20 lbs away from my pre-pregnancy weight and the baby is now almost 2) I have found an item that makes working out much easier than going to the gym.

These resistance loop bands come in a pack of five and have different weight resistance. They range from super light (about what you would need for physical therapy) to super heavy (really work on that muscle tone). The material feels strong and durable and I don't have any concerns about them breaking and snapping (although that could be an issue once they become worn). I love how they are compact and offer all the benefits of a home gym without taking up all that space. I also love how I could work out at home during the baby's nap, instead of trying to fit in a trip to the gym.



As always comments, feedback, questions and suggestions are welcome. Please remember to follow the blog and register your email address at the top of the page to have updates sent directly to your email inbox so you never miss a post.

You can also like the blog's Facebook page. I announce on Facebook when there is a new post and will begin running the occasional giveaway soon!

Please note the general disclaimer regarding any item mentioned in this blog. The General disclaimer can be found at the link at the top of the page. 

Another Round of Product Reviews

Here are some more items that I have had the pleasure of trying recently. These listed below made enough of an impression with me that I think they might make a good gift or spark some inspiration for those who are difficult to buy for.


A Gift of a Quiet Night: Anti-Bark Collars (Not to be used on the kids no matter how tempted I am.)


I can't tell you how many times something would sneak across the street (usually a stray cat) and get my dogs riled up for several hours of barking. I am a pretty light sleeper, and that would be all that it would take for me to get little to no sleep and revert back to the zombie like state that had previously only been induced  by having a newborn needing to eat every few hours.

I have a really large Golden Retriever/Lab/Chow mix. He is an adult dog that we "inherited" from a family member. He did not have any structured training in his formative years and as such has fully resisted several months of attentive training methods that worked for my Beagle/Boxer mix.

If I lived out in the country, his barking would not be an issue, but I live in an older well developed and otherwise quiet neighborhood. My neighbors know me and have been exceedingly patient with us and our large dog, but I can tell that their patience is starting to wear a little thin especially as I see the bags and dark circles under their eyes become more pronounced like mine.

For me training collars are the absolute last resort. I started off with the collar on the default setting, since he is a larger breed. At first, it did not phase him at all. I have since increased the level once and I am starting to notice a difference. My dog still barks, but it is less frequent and doesn't last as long. I will probably leave it at this level (5) as long as he continues to show progress. Hopefully in a few weeks we can try just setting it at the audible *reminder* setting.

A Gift of Relaxation: Calming Ocean Waves CD and Wine Aerator

Ryan Judd has composed a beautiful and relaxing soundtrack that will take you to the beach. 


The CD is exactly 1 hour long and offers consistent sounds of waves. There are no jarring noises like seagulls squawking to make you jump and get your adrenaline going while you are trying to relax. The CD comes in a thick envelope-type sleeve and not in a jewel case, which is no big deal to me but I thought I would mention it.

I use this CD for my meditation as well as for white noise to help my toddler fall asleep at nap time.





And when meditation fails to bring me calm and inner peace a nice glass of red will. Although I find that with a lot of affordable reds out there you have to let them breath for quite a while in order to get rid of that harsh tastes.

I found an explanation of this at the site Wonder-How-To: Food Hacks.

When wine is aerated, many volatile compounds like sulfides become oxidized and then turn into vapor. This means they don't end up in your mouth, where they can make the wine taste sour, tannic, or otherwise nasty. Ever sipped a glass of wine that has the taste of rubbing alcohol? That would be ethanol, another volatile compound. Exposing your wine to a lot of air reduces that harsh note as well.

So the longer wine is exposed to air, the more harsh flavors and notes begin to mellow out and blend together. If you have a very delicate older wine, you probably don't want it to aerate for too long or its singular aromas might literally turn into thin air. More recent vintages and very tannic wines (like Cabernet and Syrah) tend to be harsher and more concentrated. These can stand long periods of aeration and be better for it.

Since I usually don't have the patience to sit there and wait for a glass of wine to be ready, I like to lend a little hand to the breathing process. (No, I don't sit there an blow on the wine...anymore.)

I have graduated to using wine aerators. These little devices add air bubbles to the stream of wine as it is poured.

This was actually the second wine aerator I had purchased. While I love the one I originally purchased, it was awfully clumsy to use with out someone lending me an extra set of hands. You literally need three hands with my first aerator (one to hold the bottle, one to hold the aerator, and one to hold the glass.) It is not that big of a deal if you are pouring for others, but pouring for yourself will be a lesson in juggling.

This aerator by Vino Aria. It has a rubber collar on the small end that you shove into the wine bottle for a hands-free aeration. When I first opened up the packaging for the aerator and examined it, I was quite a bit disappointed as it is terribly light. My first aerator is heavy as it is made of hand-blown glass. As I got to thinking about it, the hardened plastic material suits me just fine. Out of all my wine accessories, do I really need another one that will shatter if accidentally dropped? With this one made from the hardened plastic, I feel comfortable carrying it with me and a bottle of wine over to my friend's house for a girls' night in.

A Gift of time: for those who are always late (and by that I mean a watch).

Topaz makes some surprisingly nice watches. The watch face is very nice. It was slightly larger than expected, but that makes sense as it it listed as a unisex watch. It is larger than watches listed as women's but smaller than a lot of watches tailored towards men. The numbers are easy to read and even though I have only had it a few days it appears to keep time well.

For more holiday gift ideas, check out Amazon's list of top toys for the season.



I had mentioned shipping deadlines in my last post.
Here is an update for shipping Christmas presents this year.

These are the published deadlines from the major shipping services.





USPS: December 15 is the last day the USPS recommends you use standard shipping if you want delivery on time; December 19 is the last day for First Class mail; December 21 for Priority Mail, and December 23 for Priority Mail Express.





 




UPS: December 18 is the last day to ship UPS 3 Day Select — if you want packages to be delivered before Christmas Day; December 22 is the last day for 2 Day Air, and December 23 is the deadline for overnight packages to arrive on the 24th.








 
FedEx: December 16 is the last day to ship FedEx Ground if you want delivery by Christmas Day: December 21 is the deadline for Express Saver, and December 22 is the deadline for 2 Day Air. The 23rd is the last day to send overnight packages for arrival on the 24th.



As always feedback, questions, comments, and suggestions are always welcome. Please remember to follow the blog and register your email address at the top of the page to have new posts delivered right to your email inbox and never miss an update.

Disclaimer: please be aware that any item mentioned in this blog may have been received for free or at a discount in exchange for a fair and honest review. The opinions expressed in this blog are my own regardless of how the items were acquired.

Celebrating 500!!

Hello World!

I know things have been quiet the last few days. Things at my day job have picked up and that means lots of overtime had to be worked. Hello 60 hour work week!

On top of that, I had a switch in my medication for my depression. Since I have been managing my anxiety really well lately, I am going back to Celexa from Lexapro. Don't get me wrong the Lexapro is great and really helps, but it also makes me feel sleepy all the time. Without anxiety attacks I can go back to the Celexa which keeps me feeling happy without feeling sleepy. And that was definitely needed for this really long week at work.

Now in spite of the few days' absence, I am delighted to share that this blog has just crossed the 500 lifetime views. I just wanted to say thank you. Because of you guys stopping by and reading these posts, this blog has grown so much faster than I ever expected it to. Knowing that you are out there waiting for updates, keeps me writing. It keeps me going. All of you are great, and I truly appreciate everyone of you.

Hopefully, I am fulfilling my promise to each and every one of you to provide you with amusing and entertaining anecdotes and honest product reviews. I am trying to follow the advice outlined in Halden Zimmermann's Guide to High Impact Blogs to ensure that I am providing focused and quality content. Which if any of you ever decide to start a blog of your own, this book provides you with valuable information without being too burdensome. It is a short read; I had it completely read within a day. It goes over the basics for building and outlining a blog and provides strategies for managing it as it grows to insure sustained growth. You can read more about the author Halden Zimmermann on his website  http://haldenzimmermann.com/  or on his author page on Amazon.com.
http://reviewingwhirlwind.blogspot.com/2015/12/celebrating-500.html


Sorry for that digression.  I just wanted to show my appreciation for all of you.

I will post another round of product reviews for holiday gift ideas within the next 24 hours.

Remember, if you are ordering from Amazon.com we are now less than two weeks away for the Christmas order deadline for most of the items on the site that are shipped by Amazon. For orders to be delivered before Christmas with two day shipping, the order needs to be placed no later than 1pm Tuesday, December 22. Always check the order confirmation email for the most accurate estimated delivery day. That will be the one that takes into account where your items are coming from as well as where they are being delivered. Also, please bear in mind that the Prime two-day shipping will generally guarantee that the item will only be in transit for two days and does not cover the amount of time the fulfillment center may need to put the order together. The shipping guarantee means that if Amazon and the carrier are not able to get the item to you by the date in your confirmation email, then any extra you paid for that faster shipping can be refunded. Last but not least, try to be nice to any customer service representative you may need to reach out to for help. Most of the time, they will try to do everything in their power to make the situation right, and they really do understand the frustrations you are experiencing. Just please, try not to take it out on them.

'Tis the Season for the Sniffles

This time of year always ushers in dread as cold fronts bring with them biting winds that drive everyone in doors. With the minions all going to school (the youngest in daycare), these little petri dishes manage to bring home every cold, stomach bug, and flu out there. Thank goodness they have been vaccinated against antique diseases, otherwise we probably would have lost minion Number 2 to pneumonia all Oregon Trail style after attempting to ford a river.

Recently I learned, that it is not the cold itself that makes us sick; as my grandmother told me (yours probably told you too) "You'll catch your death of cold!"

But from what I have learned the cold temperature itself does not make you sick. Germs make you sick. Cold temperatures can make things a little more difficult for your body's immune system to respond and fight off those invaders, but for the average person in decent health (not the really young, really old, or those with otherwise already compromised immune systems) the affect of colder temperatures on the body remains negligible. The more likely behavior that explains why winter heralds in as the season of sickness is that people spend more time indoors. It is too cold to go outside. There aren't as many daylight hours in the days surrounding the winter solstice. This increases our proximity to other carriers *ahem* I mean, family members which increases our changes of contracting a pathogen our bodies have not yet had.

Here is a fun and informative video from ASAP Science explaining the same concepts above in more detail.

I remember my first winter in college. I was the sickest I had ever been. I don't even remember what it was that I had. I just remember running a really high fever for several days. The fever was so high that my eyes would water and the tears would feel almost boiling hot. I was concerned with how high the fever was to the point that I would only sleep with someone in the room to watch me ( I was afraid it would get to the point that I was delirious. I would tell you the exact temperature however, my college dorm kit did not include a thermometer. I only remember when I finally went to the clinic on campus after missing a full week of classes, and they took my temperature there, the nurse exclaimed in surprise, "Oh my, you are running a fever of 102."

I looked at her and said "Oh really? That's concerning, considering this is the best I have felt all week."

I firmly believe that if a thermometer had been included in my "off to college" kit, I would have checked my temperature at least once and my room mate would have forced me to go to the campus clinic much sooner. Since I try to make sure that there is always at least one thermometer in the house, whether or not I can find it is a different story as my minions find taking their temperature amusing.

A thermometer is just a thermometer. They are all the same and just measure your body temperature.

At least I used to think so. That was before I had my first child and before he ran his first fever. I have learned the value of quick read thermometers, especially when you have a sick non-cooperative toddler who does not believe you when you say that you need to take their temperature to figure out how sick they are.

FamFave has created a quick read thermometer and one of the best features about it (other than the speed which provides results in about 10-25 seconds) is the large and well lit display. Now low light in a room you have designated as the sick bay is no longer an issue as the green back light allows you to quickly retrieve the measured temperature. FamFave had definitely won over this mom of three with this thermometer.

FamFave has created a special offer for Reviewing Whirlwind readers. 

Click on the picture to the left, add the item to your shopping cart and then enter the promotional code T53OFF4U at checkout to receive the item for the promotional price of $7.97. That is a 53% discount off the regular price of $16.97. And remember, Prime members get free shipping items shipped from Amazon. Satisfaction guaranteed - 100% money back guarantee - no-hassle refund available, just contact Amazon if you are unsatisfied for any reason.

As always, comments, questions, suggestions, and feedback are always welcome. Please remember to follow the blog and register your email address at the top of the page to have updates sent directly to your email inbox so you never miss a post.

Disclaimer: Any product mentioned in this blog may have been received for free or at a discount in exchange for a fair and honest review. The opinions expressed above are my own regardless of how the item was acquired.