Ultra Bouncing Bubbles Review

Most kids love bubbles. I still enjoy blowing bubbles at 32. There is something therapeutic about it. I remember the first time I blew bubbles with Noah, he was mesmerized.  As he got older he would chase after them and try to catch them. I could tell he was frustrated when he touched them they would pop.  I learned quickly that you can’t really catch bubbles but it is also fun to pop them. He started popping them chasing them. Secretly, we all wish we could hold bubbles and carry them around.  Noah and I still blow bubbles all the time together. There are a million types of bubble wands, guns, fans and other toys. We have owned a lot of them.  We like to make bubbles while we wash our hands.  I showed him how to blow bubbles with his hands. He hasn’t quite mastered that skill yet, but we are practicing. 

So, when I had the chance to receive some Ultra Bouncing Bubbles I was so excited.  Ultra Bouncing Bubbles are bubbles but you get a special glove where you can hold the bubbles and bounce them in your hand.  We really love this product and are having so much fun bouncing the bubbles together.  It is fun to see how many times we can bounce them before they pop.  Sometimes we drop them and then they splat on the ground.  We just laugh and start again.  I think blowing bubbles with Noah is one of my favorite activities because it never gets old. We can do it for hours and still laugh and act silly together.  Ultra Bouncing Bubbles would be a great stocking stuffer for any child. They would also be great gift for your child’s friends.  I have yet to meet someone who doesn’t love bubbles. I am sure if you gave the strongest most macho man bubbles he would blow them.

For more information please visit the Ultra Bouncing BubblesWebsite. 

I received complimentary samples to facilitate my review, all thoughts and opinions are my own. 

The Christmas Web Spring Sale

Christmas is probably my favorite holiday. I love everything about it, especially decorating the tree and the house. I go all out when I decorate. I put out things I had when I was young.  The two white Bears always come out. I also put out different Santas and my Lambchop  Angel.  Christmas would not be Christmas without them.  I am always looking for new decorations and ornaments. This past Christmas Noah made me a hand print wreath that I told him would go up every year. He also made my mom a Happy Holidays rug that will be out too. I know that it is spring and Christmas is merely a memory now, but it is never too early to be thinking about next Christmas.  I pick up stuff for Christmas all year long. While I don’t have my tree up anymore or the wreath on my door, I still like to hunt for things to add to my collection. When we went on the Disney Cruise, I bought my mom an ornament made out of shells and that was in September. We went to the Shell Show again this year and almost bought some ornaments.  

 I really enjoy buying things from specialty stores for Christmas vs. big name stores. I feel like specialty stores really know what they are doing and you can find unique items that aren’t available at like Walmart.   I am looking for quality stuff because I know that I will be using for many years. I am also really big on traditions.  Every year we have always made certain goodies for Christmas.  I now make the same recipes with Noah. I have a recipe that was in a magazine in 1982.  We also always read The Night Before Christmas. I love our traditions but I am looking for new traditions to start too.  I learned about an awesome tradition called The Christmas Web- A Family Tradition.  They were only able to ship in Birmingham Alabama in 2012 but now are able to ship nationally.  The Christmas Web is having a Spring Sale in honor of this exciting news!   

The Magic Wand that is spun by the Elves at the North Pole to spin a web of Christmas Cheer. I can see Noah now, trying to fish for elves on Christmas morning.  It is a really cool concept. It has 70 yards of yarn to lead you to that special gift that you really want.  Like I said before Noah loves to fish so I can see him pretending to fish for his present or have me “fish” for mine.  You can buy The Magic Wand for $10.99

 The Christmas Web offers two different products that I have never heard of.  The Christmas Web also sells a gift set. This would be great for families with more than one child because it comes with three wands.  It also comes with a 52 page hardcover book that tells you and your children how the Christmas Web was created.  You can also access a special website where you can get updates from Santa and your elves all year long.  I think that Noah would like the gift set because he can know why he has The Magic Wand and what powers it has.  I am sure he would read the book over and over.   The gift set is $39.99.

 You can order both items from The Christmas Web. If you use the code SALE in the promo code box you can save 25% of your order.

Check them out and lets all make some new Christmas traditions that can be passed on for generations to come.

Hess Toy Truck and Helicopter Review

Noah loves helicopters. I mistakenly thought he was old enough for a remote control helicopter so I got him one for his birthday. They have age limits on it for a reason. Not for small parts but because it is difficult to land. Well a month later, it broke. He was sad. I started looking for something to replace it. We saw the Hess Gas Station commercial advertising the Hess Toy Truck and helicopter. You get both the truck and the helicopter. Noah really wanted it so I was really excited when I was offered to review it. I had to remind him that it doesn't fly but the propellers move and that was fine with him.

I am impressed with how nice this toy is, normally when you think of gas station toys, it ends up being kind of junky. The toys come with Duracell batteries which is another win for us. I personally think all toys should come with batteries, good batteries that is. I am sure this has probably happened to you. You buy a toy for your child or maybe it's a gift from a loved one and you have no batteries. That is not a fun moment. Noah absolutely loves his Hess Truck and Helicopter set.  He loves to put the truck in the helicopter and fly it on rescue marine missions. My future Marine Biologist is always playing that he rescues sea life and travels to unique places. He even flew his helicopter with the truck in it to Japan.  It will bring him hours and hours of creativity and fun.

For more information please visit the Hess website.

You can purchase the Hess Truck and Helicopter set at a Hess Gas Station near you or online on the Hess Toy Website.  It’s only $26.99 which is a great deal. You can’t get two toys for that price normally.

Hess provided me with a complimentary truck and helicopter for me to review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

ChapStick's Holiday Lip Balm Review

Here is a little known fact about me, well if you actually knew me in a face to face setting you would know this, but I never wear lipstick. I just don’t really like it. I think it looks weird on me.  It just doesn’t look right on me.  Thankfully I use Chapstick like it is going out of style.  I don’t like dry chapped lips. I don’t like the color of lipstick and I don’t like using lip gloss because it feels like I have some sort of sauce on my lips.  I have been using ChapStick for many years. One of the things I really wanted when I was in the hospital when I was pregnant with Noah was ChapStick.  The other was pretzels.  I remember when my friend Adrianna pretended to have a ton of makeup when we were in daycare, I found out all she had owned was ChapStick.  I like my lips to be soft and smooth and it doesn’t hurt that ChapStick actually smells good and doesn’t taste horrible.  I am definitely a lifelong fan.  So when I had the opportunity to try out the new holiday flavors I was so excited.

ChapStick is debuting two new limited edition holiday flavors of ChapStick. They are Apple Cider and Chocolate Truffle. You will definitely be hungry for chocolate after using the Chocolate Truffle.  Who doesn’t love the smell of chocolate? I know I love it.  The Apple Cider ChapStick will remind you of those fall days and holidays with family.  I love the smell of apples too. It may be my favorite scent.  Back by popular demand ChapStick has brought back Candy Cane ChapStick. These lip balms even have a convenient gift tag on the back of each package, taking the hassle out of gift wrapping or adding an extra surprise to gift packaging. Forget the boring old gift tags and use a package of ChapStick to label your gifts. If you shop at Target you can also get the special ChapStick tin that features some of the traditional ChapStick flavors like Cherry, Strawberry and Spearmint. It comes with full sized ChapSticks. It would be an awesome stocking stuffer or holiday extra for anyone. The tin is reusable. After you use the ChapStick you can store little things inside the tin. Noah lost his first tooth so now his tooth is in the tin.  I haven’t used all the ChapStick yet but I didn’t want to lose his tooth.

Speaking of Noah, he loves ChapStick. I wasn’t sure if he was going to try it. He thought it was makeup at first but I told him it was just ChapStick. He tried some with my help and stole my cherry ChapStick, ok so I gave it to him but that is my favorite kind. Now Noah wants to use his ChapStick every hour. I have taught him the important lesson about making sure you roll it down all the way before putting the lid on it. Men can definitely use ChapStick and it doesn’t just have to be the black one. Everyone needs soft lips so everyone needs ChapStick. 

ChapStick® seasonal varieties are available November 1^st in the cough and cold aisle at food, drug and mass retailers for the SRP of $1.01-$1.99. *ChapStick® Chocolate Truffle can be found exclusively at Wal-Mart.

·        To help prevent and temporarily protect chafed, chapped or cracked lips, apply ChapStick®  balm liberally as needed, particularly before sun exposure, dry, cold or wintery conditions. *Consult a doctor before using on a child under 6 months of age.

The ChapStick® product and information have been provided by Pfizer Consumer Healthcare.

Red Envelope Review

I had the opportunity to check out the Red Envelope website and review an item.  RedEnvelope.com has a lot of really cool items. They are a part of one of the best companies to buy gifts from.  Since Noah is in kindergarten and the holidays are coming up. I had started thinking about teacher gifts for Noah’s two teachers. They are both amazing women and they have really made Noah’s transition in to school very easy.  I really cherish them and I wanted to give them a gift as our token of my appreciation. They have gone above and beyond the normal teaching duties. When we went to Meet the Teacher Night, she found out he loves fish so for The Great American Teach In she had a curator of a local museum come in and talk to the kids.  I wanted to find something that we could give them that they don’t already have. I wanted to find them something unique that they would really love.

 I thought about all the possibilities of gift cards, cheesy world’s best teacher items, apple themed things, school supplies. My mom is a teacher and I have taught in preschools before so I know what things teachers would like and what they don’t. I know that all gifts are appreciated though.  RedEnvelope.com helped me find the perfect gift for each of them. I wanted to get them both the same thing, because I don’t know a lot about their personal lives.  I ordered The 100 WishesCandle Set. It is absolutely beautiful.  It has two candles with 100 wishes each.   I thought that I would split it up and give them each one. There is one green one and one blue one and they are covered in inspirational words that when you light it the words glow.  I really think that this is a unique and positive gift that will give them a calm sense after a crazy day of 18 Kindergarteners.  It’s hard to go wrong with a candle, even if it is just for décor. The candles are 3 inches wide and 6 inches tall. I want a set for myself because they are so gorgeous.  Ordering was so easy and fast. I can’t wait to give Noah’s teachers their holiday gift with a nice card expressing how much they mean to us.

I had the chance to receive a gift card from RedEnvelope.com all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Personal Creations Review

I had the opportunity to check out the website PersonalCreations.com they have all kinds of gifts for everyone. I think it is really cool because almost everything can be personalized. When I think about reading catalogs when I was a girl the store would offer to personalize it, for a ridiculous fee. I like that Personal Creations will not only personalize almost everything but they will do it for free.  I think that personalization gives it a special touch. My son is a kindergartener so things with his name on it are really cool to him.  I had a hard time choosing what I wanted to review.  They had  personalized Christmas ornaments, toys, jewelry, home items and so much more. There are so many things I want from Personal Creations.  Once I made my choice ordering on the site was very easy!  It wasn’t a long and drawn out process it took me a couple minutes to check out. 

I received the LEGO Flashlight for Noah. It is so cute. It is a big LEGO man with his name on it. He will absolutely love it. I can’t wait to see his face when he sees it. He is a huge LEGO fan and he likes flashlights. He has a Thomas one but now that he is six years old he has definitely outgrown Thomas.  I also ordered an ornament for our Christmas tree. Noah loves to fish. He likes to fish with me but he also likes to fish with his uncle Mike they have guy time.  The ornament says Fishing Buddies and they both have fish and their hats say Noah and Mike. It is so cute.  As I have mentioned before our Christmas tree is full of ornaments from the past and each has a story. Now for years to come Noah’s fishing ornament will remind us both of how he loves to fish with his uncle Mike.  It will also be special for Mike because Noah and he are very close.  Everything came in great condition and I can’t wait to hang the ornament and see Noah’s face when he has his flashlight.

I was given the chance to receive a gift card from Personal Creations to facilitate my review.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.