Saturday, December 7, 2013

Whistlefritz, French for Kids {DVD Review}

One thing that my kids do not have in school is a foreign language. I know learning languages is best when kids are younger. In other countries it's common for them to know more than one language. Here in the US we're lucky if we know our own language. I'm trying to help our kids learn Spanish and French.

I have the wonderful opportunity to introduce to you the award winning Whistlefritz's new DVD. It's called: French for Kids: Dedans et Dehors (Inside and Out).



It's for ages 2 to 7. I tell you our 8 year old Mica is glued to the TV when it's on. He likes Whistlefritz! Mica likes it just as much as Isaak, who is 5 years old. We have one of their Spanish DVDs to. We got the Spanish one when Mica was about Isaak's age.

This is Mica's drawn version of Fritzi when he was 5 years old.



I can understand why they like it so much. Their company has won 49 awards! It's used in schools and purchased by many homeschool families.


A few things that their DVDs include:
  • Cool Actions
  • Animation
  • Lively Music
  • Tons of Fun
About French for Kids: Dedans et Dehors (Inside and Out)

Fritzi’s in the house!  But oรน est Fritzi?

Finding the mischievous mouse Fritzi is just part of the fun in this lively language learning program from Whistlefritz, the award-winning producers of the Spanish for Kids series of DVDs and CDs.

This French immersion DVD welcomes you to Fritzi’s house, where up or down, inside or out, there is lots to learn and plenty to do.

It allows kids to explore every area of Fritzi’s house, from la chambre (the bedroom) and la salle de bain (the bathroom) to le salon (the living room) and la cuisine (the kitchen).

It's an engaging interactive format teaches children basic greetings, positional words, food, daily activities, numbers, and more.  But that’s not all! Nous allons chanter et danser!  (We’re going to sing and dance!)

This DVD will have children on their feet dancing along to upbeat rhythms.  Dedans et Dehors is an engaging blend of colorful backgrounds, charming animation and live-action that kids will want to revisit again and again.

This DVD includes an easy-to-use translation guide for parents and teachers, who are first time learners of French, as well as French subtitles.

Designed for children ages 2-7, Dedans et Dehors is fun for all ages!

Like Whistlefritz on Facebook.

Mica and Isaak liked this DVD just as much, if not better than the Spanish one we already have. I'm glad we have something educational to pop in when we're busy making meals. That seems to be a good time to have them watch their movies.

Disclaimer: The opinions on the post are my personal take on the product. This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose. Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review. I did get products to help with the review.  
 
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I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Sing, Sing a Song Saturday

Sing, Sing a Song Saturday is all about me discovering something that is different to post. I don't want to post things that you and I have more than likely heard before. I want to find something different. It could be from another country, someone singing from the streets of NY, and more.

Last week I skipped Sing, Sing a Song Saturday. I wanted to spend as much time with family as possible. Plus getting holiday things done was a plus to.

This week I wanted to share something unique. It's close to Christmas. Even if you don't celebrate the holiday, it's close to a new season. That's a reason to celebrate to. To me it's the time of year to feel all warm and fuzzy.

There is a nonprofit organization called Pro Infirmis. They are all about giving people that have disabilities a feeling of acceptance. I followed them before I had a nephew that has disabilities. It's a Switzerland organization, so I can't understand what they are saying, but their message speaks past their language.

Source
 What does this have to do with music?

Since I didn't cover anything last week, I'll cover the organization as well as the band featured in the video. It to is also very interesting.

 Because Who is Perfect? - Music: Lost At Sea By: Dave Thomas Jr.


The original video that drew me to Pro Infirmis. I've shown it before. It still makes me tear up towards the end.

Get Closer - Music: The Funeral By: The Band of Horses

 

Like Pro Infirmis on Facebook.
Follow Pro Infirmis on Twitter.

Dave Thomas Jr. (featured in the first video) is a songwriter and singer from England. He has an eclectic range of styles and skills. He also works with the indie band out of Chicago called Money Penny.

singer songwriter from England with an eclectic range of styles and skills, from writing and producing for his alter ego ‘The Lost’ signed to Island Records in the UK, to writing with Echo & The Bunnymen for their upcoming release ‘The Fountain’.

His acoustic songs are written from the heart, and recorded in the early hours of the morning when everyone else is asleep. 

Source

3 Wishes By: Dave Thomas Jr.


Like him on Facebook.
Follow him on Twitter.
Follow him on YouTube.

PREMIUM Solid Cordz® 1 Foot Extension Cable (5-pack) Review

The holidays bring frustration in our home with cords. We actually had to go out to buy yet another power strip because we couldn't find ours from the year before. Do you have this same problem?

It seems like our cord for our Christmas tree is always just a little too short to reach the outlet. 

I got Premium Solid Cordz ® 1 Foot Extension Cable (5-pack) to review. This seems to be the answer to our problem! Now we won't have a cluttered up mess under the tree. You can get these cords for $14.99 on Amazon. The original price is $29.99, so that's a really good deal!


Here's what they look like in the packaging:


Here's what one of them looks like plugged in:



I like how it cleans everything up under the tree. I understand why the warning label is so big, it has to be, but it's kind of an eye sore. I'm sure I'll be taking it off.

Check out the pictures below. Everything looks so organized.



Features: 
  • Money saving and Convenient 5-pack
  • 12" length to provide an organized and clean look
  • Equipped with a 16AWG wire gauge to make them more sturdy
  • Underwriters Laboratories (UL) listed
  • CSA Approved for top quality
  • Heavy-duty molded ends
  • Indoor use only

Benefits:
  • The power strip becomes liberated
  • A staple for any
  • Perfect for the office and home
  • Get the full use of your power strips and outlets with our high-quality liberating extension cords
  • Just plug those big bulky power adapters into our cables and plug the cables into those previously unusable outlets
  • Replace different power strips with one unit by utilizing slots!!!

Product details:
  • Part Number SC-3001
  • Item Weight 1 pounds
  • Product Dimensions 8.7 x 4.8 x 2.5 inches
  • Origin Imported
  • Item model number SC-3001
  • Item Package Quantity 5
  • Cord Length 1 Feet
  • Indoor Use Only
I'm going to keep a few for us, and put the rest in a gift to one of my random co-workers. I just think that with working with a bunch of Technophiles that they'll love them to!


Disclaimer: The opinions on the post are my personal take on the product. This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose. Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review. I did get products to help with the review.  
 
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I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Friday, December 6, 2013

Duck

This is why our boys are not involved in ball sports, they duck whenever a ball comes their way.
The other night we went to Family Fitness at the Y. They were playing kick ball. Kids as young as one were playing. Mica was in out field. I told him what to do.
I looked over and he's sitting on the ground with his hands over his head. I said, "What are you doing?" He said, "Mom I know you told me what to do, but I'm not stupid! I don't want to catch that ball that coming at me. I'll get hurt!" I said, "Whatever Mica. It's supposed to be fun."

Random Tid Bits

  1. Daddy was talking to me about how his co-workers think he's not being the husband he should be because he doesn't get me flowers for Valentines Day, birthdays and so on. I've told him that if he gets me flowers consistently I will be annoyed. I don't like him wasting our money on things that are going to die. He is really wonderful and makes me jewelery sometimes. That's much more unique, and special in my mind. Plus he has gotten me flowers a few times. Because it's infrequent, it's much more special. I don't like when people tell someone how they should be. It's like someone telling me how to discipline my children. If I want your advice I'll ask for it. 

  2. My students in one class are working on a campaign for a nonprofit organization of their choice. They have to do a flyer, a mailer of some kind, a billboard-bus bench-environmental graphic {one of their choice, not all of those}, and a blog. It needs to look consistent. Once their design is done for one thing, they carry that same look throughout. I've been showing them things with their blog weekly. They have to make more than one page for it. The additional page is the nonprofit's mission statement. They have to have the nonprofits social media buttons that link up, 5 to 7 posts, a banner, a share button, and a disclaimer at the bottom saying that it's student work. Anything that they share from the actual nonprofit they have to source. I've shown them how to do each thing more than once. I record the lectures, and put them on the server for them to watch. I had a lot of them wait to do a lot of things with their blog until the last minute. For some reason there is a vast difference of students in the class. We have very smart workers, students that don't try that hard and on top of it do not ask questions, and a needy student that doesn't try at all to figure things out for herself, but wants A's. Let's just say after that day I was tired!

  3. My sister that is pregnant decided to go with a name I picked out again! I love picking out baby names. I picked out Emerson. His name is from Ralph Waldo Emerson. The new baby's name will be Edison. My Dad had an uncle named that. Old names are coming back. My Brother-in-law is one of those people that wants all his kid's names to start with the same letter. I think that would get confusing.

  4. Each time I'm done with something, I think of something new I have to do. I can see why people get stressed during the holidays. I always feel a lot better after finals are done. I'm not stressed, I'm just super busy! 

  5. People were complaining at work about how it's so cold out. The temperature took a dive. I said, "I don't care what it's like outside. I'm just happy that Travis "Daddy" cleaned the garage out. My car now fits in it!" :)

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Presto Photo Book Review

I was so happy to review a photo book by Presto Photo Book! I've never made a photo book before. At first I was intimidated. With Isaak getting sick, holidays, and finals coming up I just was overwhelmed with life. Once I did it, it really wasn't that hard. I did spend a lot of time on it though. I can now say I'm hooked. I want to make more!

I made a photo book filled with photos of our trip this summer.


Presto Photo has photo books, cards, calendars, and a bookstore. Their site allows you to choose templates, pick how many pages you want, and there is a lot more customization. You can add and subtract pages, while you're in the process. It took me awhile to upload all the photos I wanted to use. I had so many to go through. Some I wanted lighter, some I wanted darker, so I had to do some editing to do in Photoshop before I even began. I think their site was easy enough to use. It was more on my end with my own photo editing that took time.

Here are some of the many photos I uploaded.

You can see how the photo looks within the page. The image below shows you how you can crop the photo if you choose. The greyed out images on the top bar are the photos that were already picked to use in the book. That way you know that they've been used once already. The side bar shows all your pages. You can go back and change your mind on the photo selection if you choose to do so. I did have a little problem with my images that needed to be flipped. I got them flipped ok, but when I went to crop them in the zoom section, it still showed them sideways, which made it hard to see where to crop them.


This is one of my page layouts.


My book is packed full of high quality photos. I tried putting everything in order. Except for Carhenge. It was one of our first stops, but I wanted more of the nature shots to come first.






I choose to review a photo book for Daddy. It's going to be a Christmas present from me and the boys to him. That was another difficult thing, trying to make my book in private!

I generally have this fear that my codes won't work online. I could just see myself going through all the time of making a book, and then to find out that the code won't work. Guess what? It worked!

I am really impressed with the quality and how amazing my photos looked. I am impressed with how easy the site was to use, their great prices, the shipping was fast, nothing was bent, and it looked great! I highly recommend Presto Photo Book!

Have you ever made a photo book?

Visit Presto Photo Book
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Twitter

Disclaimer: The opinions on the post are my personal take on the product. This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose. Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review. I did get products to help with the review.  
 
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I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

WW: Breakfast Burritos {Linky}

I try and make breakfast burritos at least once a year. Every year they are bigger and bigger.






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I have two new giveaways up. They are low entry giveaways, so if you have a moment enter please. I'd be happy to comment a few times on your blog if you enter them.

Confessions of a Teacher Recruiter: How to Create an Extraordinary Resume and Hook Your Dream Job Book - Ends 12/9 US

Piczzle - Win a Small Cardboard Custom Picture Puzzle - Ends 12/9

Disclaimer

The opinions on this blog are my personal take on products and topics relating to motherhood. This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me.

I am not compensated to provide opinions on a variety of topics. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are my own. If I claim to show knowledge of certain topic or product I will only endorse products or services that I feel, based on my expertise, are worthy of such endorsement.

If you have any questions about this blog, or want to get in contact with me please email me at: anapeladay@gmail.com