Calendar Sponge Review

Cleaning is not one of my favorite things to do. It is more a chore than something I enjoy or even want to do. Everyone has that chore that they hate, they would rather do anything than this chore.  My most hated chore is dishes.  I have to do them, but I am not smiling when I do them. I love to cook but I am really messy sometimes, so cleaning up is always a pain in my side. I used to want to get married or have a boyfriend so they would do the dishes, so I wouldn’t have to.  I really don’t like cleaning the kitchen at all.  When I was younger I would put water and soap in a bowl and say oh it is soaking.  I am sure we all have pulled that move. Unfortunately, I do have to clean the kitchen and do dishes because I don’t have a kitchen cleaning fairy to magically make my kitchen and counters shine.  I use sponges a lot especially when Noah spills milk and applesauce, it is a quick clean up and it is easy to just throw in the dishwasher. When I was younger, before I was a mom, I didn’t realize you need to change your sponges out. I thought as long as they are sponges, they were fine. I was wrong. You are supposed to change them every month.  Thankfully I never got sick from using “expired sponges”.  How does one keep track of when their sponge needs to be changed. I don’t think writing on it will do any good, since it I constantly wet and soapy.  I guess you could write it on a calendar, but what if you forget to do that. You would have to mark it each month.  I am pretty busy and I don’t even own a normal calendar at the moment.  Even if I had one, I wouldn’t remember to look at it.  I would forget to buy a new sponge at the store.  It is really hard to remember to change your sponge out until now.

I had the opportunity to work with a company called Calendar Sponge. When I learned about Calendar Sponge I was like that is brilliant.  You get twelve which is a year’s supply of sponges. They have the month written on them. It is part of the sponge it’s self so you always know if it is time to change the sponge.  If it’s December and you are still using November’s sponge well… you need to change it.  I really like the scrubbers on the sponge too, that are great for the stuck on stuff. They are well made, high quality materials.  It’s even something Noah could keep tabs on. I sometimes ask him what the date is.  He thinks I am testing him, not that I have no idea. There is no second guessing how old your sponge is anymore. Even if you alternate colors you still have to remember the color of sponge you are using.  I think that Calendar Sponge would be a great Stocking Stuffer.  It is a practical and fun invention. There is no excuse ladies for your man to use an old sponge again.

For more information and to order please visit Calendar Sponge

I received a sample package of Calendar Sponge for review purposes, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Art 101 Review

As a mother of a budding artist, it seems like I can never keep enough art supplies in our home.  It seems like he is always losing colored pencils or running them down to where they have to be sharpened daily.  He really enjoys art class at school where he has had the chance to try out other mediums of art.  I really love that he is an artist, because I am extremely unartistic. He did not get the art gene from me.  I am great at coloring but that is about it. I took ceramics in high school thinking I would be good at it, I was not.  I really want to foster and embrace his love of art and implement some of the techniques that he has been learning at school.  I think in order to be a great artist you have to have talent, and the proper tools to succeed. There are a lot of art sets out there. I know, I have been looking for a while to get one for Noah. Most of them are just crayons, colored pencils and markers.  We have so many crayons that they fill a medium sized plastic box. I wanted to find more than just the standard stuff he was already used to and possibly starting to grow bored with.  We had the opportunity to work with a company called Art 101.  Art 101 sells really cool quality art kits for children and adults.  They have artist sets, and even a kid’s line called Art 101 Kids.

I finally found the art set I had been looking for. It has some of the basics and some not so basic items in it.  We received The Art 101 179 pc Double Sided Trifold Easel Art Set to try out. The Art 101 179pc Double Sided Trifold Easel Art Set comes with 48 crayons, 48 oil pastels, 24 color pencils, 19 watercolors, 12 markers, 10 sheets of paper, 4 large clips, 3 paper clips, 1 Art 101 Painting and Drawing Guide, 1 sketch pencil, 1 paint brush, 1 ruler, 1 eraser, 1 color wheel, 1 palette, 1 pencil sharpener, and 1 sponge with a double sided easel in a trifold organizer case. This set is every artist’s dream. Noah really likes the easel because he can draw and paint at different angles.  He says you can never have too many colored pencils which have been his tool of choice lately.  I was never really big in to colored pencils. I liked crayons.  He is also a great painter so we will have fun painting on our balcony with the watercolors.  I don’t really know too much about pastels so we will learn together. I forgot to mention that I am taking Art Classes. Noah is teaching me at art class. We have so much fun together. I try really hard but even then he thinks some of my creations are silly looking. Hopefully through the extra art lessons and the new set we received from Art 101, there might be hope for me after all.

This is a great gift if you have an artist or artists in your family. It is a great set because like I said, it is more complex than a hand full of crayons, colored pencils and markers.

For more information please visit Art 101. You can find Art 101 products at Amazon, Toys R US and Target.

Thank you to Art 101 for providing the sample for our review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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.