Family Briefs

I follow most rules I’m given or imagine . . . except when it comes to eating. I like to eat what I want and when I want. A bowl of Rocky Road ice cream before bed fills my sweet dreams just fine.

So when the folks at underWAY and Smart for Life wanted me to participate in their blog tour, I was a little disappointed to receive instructions with their products. Granted, they were giving me directions on how to eat COOKIES, keeping track of anything more than my four kids is more than I can take on right now.

But they sent me FREE food and drinks to try, and I’m not one to waste ANYTHING if I can possibly help it. So, even if I don’t follow the directions, I can still get something out of it, right? Absolutely!

Now, the cookies were probably the biggest disappointment. If you’re expecting your grandmother’s homemade chocolate chip cookies, you will be sorely disappointed. Set your sites more toward a thick, dry protein bar and you’ll be much more satisfied. After the first cookie (and disappointment that they weren’t full of sugar), these cookies made the perfect little snack. These little treats made me feel fuller and want to snack less. In addition, eating one close to mealtime helped me eat a smaller meal.

The bagel bites and Smart Crunch snacks were pretty good too. I guess slathering French Onion dip on the bagel bites was against the rules, but they needed a little something more. ‘Course I’m used to chips and dip for a snack . . . a habit I could afford to change (which, by the way, is part of the idea behind Smart for Life - re-training your eating habits).

My favorite items that I received from underWAY and Smart for Life were the cupcakes and the Appetite Suppressing Beverage. The cupcakes had enough sweetness in them that they satisfied my dessert cravings after a meal (most of the time :).

The drinks were awesome! I am not a huge water drinker (which this diet really advocates, so I’m working on re-training on this habit), so I drink lots of flavored waters and other beverages like Lipton Green Tea, Sobiwater and Fuze. While those that I buy are low calorie, they do not suppress my appetite (in fact, they probably do the opposite). In one bottle of underWAY beverage, you get the equivalent of 9 grams of fiber in only 20 calories! You feel fuller and snack less. What’s more, the bottles are two servings, so I drank half between breakfast and lunch, and the other half between lunch and dinner WITHOUT SNACKING! Then I had a diet cookie before bed with a glass of milk!

So, while I’m not likely to jump onto the cookie diet bandwagon (’cause I’d just break the rules anyway), I really do like some of their products. I’m gonna go check out their website and see about some more underWAY beverages . . . and maybe try the Smart Dressings . . . and I definitely want to try the coffee creamer!  What looks good to you?  Order today, as they’re happy to offer you a special 10% discount code for underWAY and Smart for Life products. Please use MCUS10OFFUW for underWAY products at www.underWAY.com and MCUS10OFFSFL at www.smartforlife.com. These will go live July 2nd and expire August 30th.  Hurry!

I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of underWAY and Smart for Life and received samples of the products to review.

When I was given the opportunity to participate in a blog tour for the book, You’re Not the Boss of Me by Betsy Brown Braun, I was immediately interested.  The subtitle, “Brat-proofing your 4- to 12-year-old child” screamed out for me to jump in - with four kids, aged 3, 5, 7, and 10, I SO needed to read this book.   My 10-year-old thinks he knows more than God, and I’ve renamed my 3-year-old “Sassafras” because of her persistent sassy-ness!

Betsy Brown Braun offers pages of thoughtful parenting advice in easy-to-understand parenting language.  What she says really makes sense for the parenting issues we each face.   She begins with instructions on how to use the book (which I LOVE):  “begin with the chapter whose subject matter interests you the most . . . read the chapter, absorb the information . . . .work on that one trait until you feel comfortable  with the suggested techniques . . . you just can’t rush the parenting process, nor can you master it all in one sitting.”

I think we often read through parenting books, grabbing at whatever little tidbits we can to try to implement everything into our parenting to immediately make things better.  We become overwhelmed and frustrated.   When the newly-learned parenting techniques don’t work, we toss up our hands at “another failed attempt.”  Braun is wise to offer this advice in the preface to her book.

Each chapter begins with no-nonsense information about the particular skill you want to work on (empathy, responsibility, honesty, respect, etc.), including how children develop around this skill.  Then you’ll find a list of “Tips and Scripts” for working on a particular skill.    I LOVE this “quick reference” part of her book.  I can go back and remind myself of something with just the bold print of each tip or find the tip I need to work on and read the short paragraph relating to that specific tip.

For example, the chapter on respect (the chapter I started with)  includes tips and scripts such as:

• Substitute the word “respectful” for the word “appropriate”
• Allow your child to disagree with you
• Respond to rule- and limit- breaking calmly but with authority
• Saying nothing can be a powerful response
• Speak to the behavior, not the child
• and many more!

I have a feeling I will keep this book on my nightstand and refer to it on a daily basis!  There are so many realistic ideas and suggestions that it should be easy to find something that works for each of my four children, even Ms. Sassafras!

I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of HarperCollins and received a copy of You’re Not the Boss of Me to facilitate my review. Mom Central also sent me a gift certificate to thank me for taking the time to participate.

We just got back from a whirlwind Spring Break road trip.  We stayed in New Orleans for a couple of days, drove on San Antonio, TX,  for six days, then headed back to New Orleans for an overnight stay, then back home.  Whew!  Where was the vacation???

If my husband had his druthers, we’d drive straight through and everyone just pee in a cup when needed.  Fortunately, my mother was along with us, so we got to stop every two-three hours.

While hubby gasses up the van, we back up the line to the restrooms.  While we’re standing there, the kids get the gimmies - they eyeball all the yummies surrounding them in the “quick mart.”   That’s why I keep a good supply of snacks in the car - makes it easier to say no.  It doesn’t reduce the whining, but I feel less guilt feeding them something!

A few years ago, I chose a kid-size shoe box with Buzz Lightyear on it to be our snack box.  Crackers and goldfish got smushed in a bag - how is it that everything on a trip eventually makes its way to the floor?  Anyhow, in a box the snacks remain in tact.  I choose from our variety of snacks at home and shove as many of them in the box as I can, knowing already that not everyone will be happy and whatever I choose, will not be fair to someone.  Who cares, right?

So when there get to be too many “he touched me’s,” “she’s leaning on me,” and “he’s breathing,” comments, I whip out the snacks.  Hubby was especially happy this time ’cause the guys at Jerky.com sent us some Spencer’s Beef Jerky samples to try out.  They have a couple of new flavors - Orange and Mango.  Both were labeled as “Sweet and spicy,” and I was only stupid brave enough to try a small bite of the Mango flavor.  Husband LOVED them.  Me?  Flavor was good, texture was good,  and the after-burner stayed with me through most of Texas.   Their beef jerky really is good . . . I just think I like the pineapple better :)  .  If you want to hear more about what my husband thought of the jerky, you can hear his upcoming podcast on the subject at Southeastern Backpackers.

So pack a snack box on your next trip.  When the kids start whining, you can tell them to “stuff it!”  Then head on over to We Are That Family for more Works For Me ideas!

MOVE OVER KINDLE

Sylvan Dell’s innovative eBook format promises
to improve reading speeds, comprehension, and language learning skills

MT PLEASANT, SC - Sylvan Dell Publishing goes LIVE this week with its next generation eBook, proving the company represents “so much more than a picture book;” it represents a full-fledged campaign for literacy in America.

From Sylvan Dell publisher and co-founder Lee German: “These are the most technologically advanced eBooks in the world today, featuring Auto-Flip, Auto-Read, and Selectable Language. There is nothing even close to this on the market. Amazon/Kindle and Barnes & Noble eBooks are not even in the same category. I encourage parents and teachers to take a test-drive and see for themselves. Let the children play with these for a few weeks, and you’ll be amazed at their excitement and improved reading performance. For children wanting to learn a foreign language or ESOL families learning English, these are phenomenal tools.”

Below is a link to a trial of all 45 Sylvan Dell eBooks:

http://www.sylvandellpublishing.com/ebooktrials.php?e=MSBL9J

Code expiration date: 10/31/2009

For guided directions: http://www.sylvandellpublishing.com/documents/eBookOperatingInstructions.pdf

“Whether in Auto-Flip or Manual Mode, switch back and forth between English and Spanish text and audio (more language choices on the way) and remain on the same page,” said German. “With the addition of Auto-Flip and Auto-Read features, our Sylvan Dell eBooks are powerful literacy and language learning tools to complement our mission of teaching ‘Science and Math Through Literature.’”

Sylvan Dell is no newcomer to literacy education and no stranger to technological advances. Since the company’s founding in 2004, co-founders Lee and Donna German have been ahead of the picture book publishing curve. Last year, Sylvan Dell awarded free eBook site licenses to over 2600 elementary and Title I/III schools nationwide through their School Resource Grant Program.

What’s next? According to German, “We want moms, dads, and grandparents to be able to record a reading of our books and add that audio to the language selection list. This is especially important for military families with a parent overseas. We are also developing an iPhone, iPod, and iPod touch application so that our eBooks will be available on handhelds and an online data capture system to allow teachers to track student reading and quiz performance.”

Sylvan Dell eBooks are available on the company website, http://SylvanDellPublishing.com, as are an array of free educational resources, which include Teaching Activities and Interactive Math and Reading Comprehension Quizzes. For more information about the eBooks, visit http://www.sylvandellpublishing.com/ebooks.php. For more about the eBook Resource Grants: http://www.sylvandellpublishing.com/ResourceGrant.htm.

You know all those little pre-packaged fruit snacks? They come in all shapes - princess, Dora, smiley faces, and on and on - the manufacturers make these VERY appealing to little people! I don’t buy them, however, citing to my kids that “it’s not on the list so we’re not buying it.”

These little packages simply don’t provide any snack-worthy benefits, and the dentist says they are awful because these little sugary “snacks” stick to kids’ teeth. So, we only enjoy these “fruit snacks” when they are included in a birthday goody bag or the kids go to grandma’s house. I wish there were a REAL fruit snack that the kids enjoyed as much . . .

Ta da! Here enters Doug with Jerky.com. Doug contacted me about trying some of his products and reviewing them, and you know how I’m all about FREEBIES! He sent me some pineapple jerky for us to sample. The kids quickly devoured it, and my husband almost didn’t get to try it. I salvaged a package for him so he could share his thoughts on it too.

With four children, we’re on a pretty tight budget these days and I was disappointed to find that the pineapple jerky wasn’t $1/box like at the grocery store. Of course, it’s much better for you - why is it that it costs so much to eat healthy?? Well, that’s my soap box for another time. Anyhoo, where was I . . . oh yes, my budget. We buy pineapple every week, have a food dehydrator and decided we could duplicate Doug’s creation - I mean, the label says the only two ingredients are pineapple and honey. How hard could it be?

Apparently they have a magical brew there at Jerky.com. Our jerky just didn’t measure up . . . it fell flat. So, guess we’ll splurge every now and then . . . ‘course with Father’s Day coming up, I should have already ordered one of their Beef Jerky Gift Baskets. You have to splurge a little on fabulous fathers, right? I’m really eyeballing this one. Reckon’ they could get it here in time? I’m off to order!

As I find another podcast coming together, I’m very excited to be ahead of schedule! We may actually be finding our “podcast groove.” Maybe - you be the judge!

We started off talking about some of the struggles we’ve experienced with helping our kids get enough sleep. There was a great interview that we heard on a Jumping Monkeys podcast that gave us lots of fascinating facts about how our bodies react to not getting enough sleep. It certainly gave me a lot to think about (especially after I put our podcast intro at both the beginning AND end of today’s podcast! Not to worry, Rylan pointed out my error and it’s been fixed!).

We went on to discuss our kids’ latest idea to manage their screen time. We touched on the subject in a previous podcast when the topic was a fantastic family meeting we’d had. It’s a great system that’s been working beautifully during the school year. We may really put it to the test here in the first few weeks of summer, so we’ll be reporting back on modifications and improvements we make along the way!

Finally we talked about some of our favorite toy companies that stand behind their products (Tonka, Air Hogs, and Melissa & Doug, to name a few). Of course, what we found that we REALLY love are the kinds of toys that you can “add on to.” You know, something you can add to an existing toy to revive it - like a new Playdoh mold or a blender for the toy kitchen. We’ve added a couple of cool pirate accessories to our backyard play set, and the kids haven’t been able to resist playing on it - even though it’s been 90+ degrees!!! It’s been quite a treasure!

We hope you enjoy the show, and we’d love to hear your feedback. We might even build a future show around your comments or questions! If you’d like to subscribe to our show, you should be able to find us at iTunes by searching for “FamilyBriefs.”

When I think about how much time I spend in the kitchen, it sometimes makes me mad! After the school and preschool drop-offs, I usually spend 30-45 minutes cleaning up from breakfast. Then I spend 20-30 minutes preparing lunch, after which I spend another 20-30 minutes cleaning up. Dinner prep usually takes around 30 minutes to an hour (depending upon that day’s menu), and then cleaning up usually takes another 30 minutes or so. While going out to eat would Read the rest of this entry »

Do you know how many brands of baby wipes there are? Billions! Well, not really; but it sure seems that way when you’re standing in the baby wipe aisle trying to decide which ones to get.

I’m frugal in many ways, and I don’t apologize for using “off brand” diapers.” I did a comparison between name brands and off brands somewhere along the way (using coupons, of course!), and I determined that the off brand was just as good (and sometimes better) as the name brand diapers (obviously, they aren’t paying me to tell you this).

But when it comes to baby wipes - Read the rest of this entry »

Have you ever used these? Oh, I was skeptical at first. I’ve used the feather dusters. I’ve used the electro-static dusters (if that’s even what they’re even called). So I just figured these little Swiffer dusters would move the dust around just as well as these other tools.

I decided to take the plunge and purchase a little Swiffer Duster Starter Kit a little over a year ago. I’ve been VERY pleasantly surprised with the results! I still use my feather duster for some cobweb dusting, but I give the kids the electro-static dusters because they are completely useless to me (the dusters, not the kids ). And I really thought with 4 kids and a dog in our house, we’d be burning through those little refill duster packs like toilet paper. Not so, thank goodness (remember, I try to be frugal)!

Now, I’m not a frequent duster by any stretch of the imagination. I actually have this really complicated rotation system for dusting each room in the house that I Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve decided to start sharing something that is a favorite of mine on Fridays - I need a little more structure in my life this late in the week, so maybe this will help us both!

I needed some personalized note cards for our business, and just couldn’t find anything locally that I was willing to use. Then I stumbled across Oopsie Daisy Designs. A few emails and a Paypal transaction later, and I have these personalized business cards that impress our customers!

This is not my first purchase from Oopsie Daisy Designs - I’ve ordered Read the rest of this entry »