Lego Friends: Girlz 4 Life Blu-ray Giveaway

**Warner Bros. Home Video provided me with some of the materials I used in this Blog Post/Giveaway. The opinions I share are my own.**

Mica and Isaak are both huge fan of playing with Legos. They build the sets a few times, then build tons of stuff from their imaginations.

Whenever the boys have friends over they get out their Legos. There are few things as important in life as your friends. No matter how old you are, your friends are there to help you when you’re down, support you when you make mistakes, and be your rock when the going gets tough.

About Lego® Friends: Girlz 4 Life

The new movie, Lego® Friends: Girlz 4 Life, is all about friendship, trusting yourself and standing up for what’s right no matter what the cost. All set to an awesome rock soundtrack you’re going to love! Join Olivia, Stephanie, Emma, Mia and Andrea as they learn that fame isn’t important, it’s your friends that count! Lego® Friends: Girlz 4 Life brings to life (in animated form) the Lego construction based toy Lego® Friends. Lego® Friends invites girls into a universe, Heartlake city, and inspires them to use their imagination to build and role play their own stories with fun-loving relatable characters.

True Friendship in the Glamorous World of Pop!

Join Olivia, Stephanie, Emma, Mia and Andrea, as they learn about friendship, fame and pop star fun in Heartlake City.

The girls’ friendships are tested when mega pop star Livi comes to Heartlake City. When our friends’ hit song “Girlz” is stolen by Livi’s manager, it’s time for a cunning plan.

As the girls try to tell Livi the truth about her latest hit single, they all learn that fame isn’t everything and sometimes friendship is the most precious thing in the world.

Own Lego® Friends: Girlz 4 Life on digital HD 1/19 and on Blu-ray Combo Pack and DVD 2/2
Also be sure to visit the official L2M website to stay updated with all things L2M! www.L2MOfficial.com

Lego® Friends: Girlz 4 Life Blog App

• Grab your pop star microphone because it’s sing-along night! Click the play button to watch the special sing-along music video for Girlz by L2M. 
• Listen to the song High Tops by L2M and click to watch the “Meet L2M” video that introduces the next girl-pop power sensation. 
• Download the Girlz 4 Life Activity Pack and to unlock your inner pop star! Kit includes Selfie props, a “Spot the Difference” game, making the Band DIY pop star instruments, Friendship Card and more! 
• Click on Lego® Friends: Girlz 4 Life Blu-ray Combo Pack for a link where the film can be purchased!

Win it!

Each household is only eligible to win Lego® Friends: Girlz 4 Life Blu-ray via blog. Only one entrant per mailing address per giveaway. If you have won the same prize on another blog, you will not be eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification. You must be 18+ to enter this giveaway. No PO Boxes. Open to the US only. You will have 48 hours to claim your prize.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Random Tid Bits

1. When I review a company, and their product(s) I try and give my honest opinion. I had a company message me thanking me for a professional review. They asked me why I gave them 4 stars instead of 5?
   
   I replied back with, "I love your product. It worked well, and can be cleaned great. It just doesn't come in very many color options. That is why I gave it 4 stars instead of 5."
   
   They messaged me back saying, "What colors would you like to see?" I messaged back, "All the main colors. You do not have any warm colors like red or orange."
   
   They messaged me back saying, "We'll get those colors in our next inventory. Can you please go back to Amazon to give us a 5 star rating?"
   
   I didn't message them back. They told me my review was professional. Do you think that it's professional to mark 5 stars when I don't think it's a 5 star product? It's supposed to be my honest opinion. Not a sugar coated opinion. At times I mentally blacklist a company if they don't send out a product to a winner, or me if I've won. I guess someone asking me to change my rating gets added to my blacklist to.


2. I generally just throw the boy's clothes at them in the morning and say, "Time to get dressed!" One day I asked Isaak to pick out his clothes the night before. This is what he had laying out:





3. At times I think artists would make great secretaries. Well...only the organized ones. I teach Color and Design Theory. If a student turned in a project that looks like the kid's school flyers I'd fail them. Oh my goodness there is no contrast. Do not put black type on blue paper, red type on black paper, or yellow type on white paper. You need really good lightly to read most of the kid's flyers from school.



4. We've been looking into middle schools for Mica. There are a few school around here that have 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grades. I signed him up for one, but who knows if he'll get in. I guess the area that lives there gets first dibs on if their kid(s) go there, or not. On one hand it would be nice to have Mica and Isaak in the same school another year. On the other hand I don't care for the 5th grade teachers at the boy's school right now. Time will tell. 


5. When I was younger if someone said the same thing at the same time as you we both said, "Jinx you owe me a Coke!" The boys say this all the time, and for them it never gets old. Except they yell out, "Jinx you owe me a soda pop!" Did you ever say this growing up? What did you say?

Vector Back Brace - #1 for Targeted Lumbar Compression (L) Review

My husband's family has a history of back problems. He has been down on his back at times. It doesn't help that he's a dental technician; where he hunches over a lot. We recently got Vector Back Brace - #1 for Targeted Lumbar Compression (L) from BioSkin to review.

It comes with a Hot/Cold Gel Pad. Many get pads are only cold, or hot, but usually not both. Different pains require different temps.

To heat:

Microwave on high for 30 seconds. Flip the pad every 10 seconds. We heated ours up, and had no leaking problems.

To freeze:

Place the pad in the freezer for at least an hour. This does require more planning.

There is a pocket in the brace for the Hot/Cold Gel Pad. This is really handy!

The brace looked a little complicated to me at first. Let me tell you it's not complicated to use at all! It has thick velcro in the center, and a pulley system to pull and attach. Everything is pretty sturdy! It should be snug, not tight. Travis had no problem pulling it to fit right. 

Wash:

If you need to wash it it's hand wash only. You can use a detergent, but it needs to be a mild one. I make my own, so that's what we'll use. I wasn't expecting to wash this any other way. Sticking something in the machine that has a lot of velcro seems like you're asking for it to break down. Hang it up to dry. 

What Travis Thought:

My husband likes this so much that he brought it to work for his co-worker to try. His co-worker has been in and out of the hospital with back problems.

This may be something we get for my in-laws next year. It's handy, and they have back problems!

Cost:

$153.95, but on Amazon it's for sale for $99.95! I think this is a great price considering the costs of going to a chiropractor over and over again. Prevention is key! 

The Hot/Cold Gel Pad

Front View

Have you, or anyone in your family had back problems?

Disclaimer: I received the product above in exchange for a review. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Mad Libs Valentines

Are you wanting to give fun Valentines that are not sugar coated? My kid's school has been moving away from school treats. I think they still can give Valentines that have treats, but they have to be sent home to eat.

I've been trying to figure out a way to make Valentines fun without spending a ton of money. I saw the "You Rule" Valentine - It's a wooden ruler with a Valentine wrapped around it. I love it, but man wooden rulers times 50 or so kids is a lot of money!

I bought a thick Mad Libs book at Target. It was more cost effective then their smaller books. You can get it on Amazon. They also have Valentine themed books on Amazon that I didn't see in the store. I'm going to put one or two sheet(s) of Mad Libs rolled up with each Valentine, along with a pencil.

If you like these Valentines, feel free to download them (see below) to print off. 

Mica changes his mind on his favorite color, so I went with red, in his Valentine's background.

Mad Libs Valentine

Isaak loves sparkly shimmery gold, so that's the color of his background.

Mad Libs Valentine

Smarty Pants

Last week Mica forgot his homework for the first time. I was highly annoyed; not because he forgot it, but because he acted like it was no big deal that he forgot it.

He likes to compare himself to other kids in class, which is normal for that age. I don't want to hear about how Joe forgets his homework all the time, and that it's no big deal that he forgot his homework just this once.

When he did his homework the next night it took him more than a few hours to do it. He's learning division, and it's something that is difficult for him. Math has always been his weaker point in school. With reading, history, science, and art he excels. Of course that week they had a sub on Monday and Tuesday. Mica just didn't get what he was doing.

He still uses touch points with math, and hasn't really learned his math facts like he should. I had this problem as well. Travis was one very frustrated parent.

Travis decided to have a conversation with Mica's teacher. His teacher said, "Everyone knows Mica is one of the top ones in class, but he doesn't ask questions when he doesn't get things." Travis said, "That's Mica. He thinks he knows everything, and is too proud to admit he doesn't know something." He told her that Mica still uses touch points to do his math. She said, "You mean to tell me that he doesn't do his flashcards every night after his homework?" Travis said, "He's supposed to be doing those every night, isn't he?!"

Travis confronted Mica about his flashcards. Mica said, "I figured I'm one of the best in the class. I really didn't NEED to do those flashcards." Cocky! I hate that his class has labeled him as a smart kid. Whenever we see the Special Smarty Pants Teacher she says, "Your boys are so smart. I just LOVE working with them!" That doesn't help with Mica's cockiness! Isaak's smart, yet humble. Mica's smart and cocky!

I always tell Mica that I went to a Special Smarty Pants Teacher to; only mine was to get extra help to try and get smarter. Yep I was in the dummy classes. I begged to move up to be with my friends that were smarter than me. I did not test well at all, I always did my homework, which put me grade wise in the A and B range.

We've told Mica time and time again that we all have our strengths and our faults. I explained that everyone gets things at different times. I've also told him that in the future girls do not like guys that think they are better than everyone else. 

Mica's been doing flashcards on multiplication and division, Isaak's been doing flashcards on addition and subtraction everyday since Travis talked to Mica's teacher.

Mica had his first coding class at the library. I asked him how it went. He said, "Well I coded some Minecraft, but I thought I was going to code a website." It was one of those moments where if I was drinking water I would have choked from laughing so hard. He was there for one hour!

I'm happy that Mica is confident. I don't have to worry about building him up. I'm glad he's excelling in school. I often wish he was more humble though.

WW: Goodbye M's Pub {Linky}

There's something cool about old buildings. What makes a building that doesn't talk cool? Maybe it's the old painted signs, the texture, and vines on the outside brick facade. Perhaps it's the fact that you know many souls have been in that old building. People older than you that enjoyed that same space that you were in. It could be the food, the lighting, or the art that hung on the walls inside. It's as if buildings really can talk.

We've had a lot of talk around town about old buildings. First there was ConAgra Foods that decided to uproot their business to move to Chicago. They've been here as long as I can remember. The town tore down old buildings just for ConAgra. Omaha even gave ConAgra tax cuts to stay here. When they talked about moving many people were pissed. Jobs are being cut, the historic buildings were demolished long ago, and we can't have them back.

The guy that owns Omaha Steaks also owned a few historic buildings. The city wanted to buy those buildings to make parking garages. That didn't set well with people around here.

Then a fire happened. Not just a little fire. A big fire. There was a -20 wind chill the night the fire was tackled.

Source

One of the waitstaff at M's Pub smelled gas. No one else could smell it. She ran outside to see if someone was working on anything. Sure enough there was. Those people are more than likely going to have a huge lawsuit! The waitstaff told everyone to get out of the building! Shortly after an explosion occurred. Only a few were injured from glass windows. Thankfully no one died.

I was worried about my brother-in-law who is a firefighter. Years ago he helped put out a different fire in the old Butternut building - also downtown. He was not on duty that night.  Firefighters from all stations were called to tackle this fire.

Now M's Pub looks like an ice building. They have thawing machines out there. Other businesses are shut down from water damage. It's like a ghost town in our downtown area. It makes me sad. I think about jobs lost, people loosing their homes above the space, and sadly this building spoke to me; proving that building do in fact speak.

Source

When I went there this weekend instead of people playing music by the cobble stone streets, shoppers going from one shop to the next, it was like a ghost town. 

Mica was staring at a bit of history. Remembering when he went to eat at M's Pub.

Someone's apartment; no longer livable.

 

A historic building left burnt, iced over, and fenced off.

 

I'm happy no one was hurt, but I'm sad this piece of history is gone. 

 

Wholesome! Live Sweetly

I won a wonderful set from Wholesome! Live Sweetly's facebook page.

They sent me:

• Organic Honey
• Raw Cane Sugar
• The Cutest Wholesome Live Sweetly Mug

This weekend I used a little of everything that they sent me.

Breakfast:

• Dark Black Coffee in the Mug They Sent Me
• A Small Glass of Juice
• Plain Greek Yogurt With Homemade Granola on Top
• Oatmeal With Unsweetened Almond Milk, Freshly Ground Flax Seed and a Little Wholesome Live Sweetly Honey in Mine and a Spoon Full of Sugar in the Boy's 
• An Apple Cookie: Slice an Apple, Spread Peanut Butter on it, Sprinkle a Few Mini Dark Chocolate Chips, and Sprinkle Sliced Almonds
• Steamed Kale

Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. I don't like the rushing around, but I love breakfast food, and being together. 

It's even more special now that I have that mug with a heart for a handle. :) 

I love Wholesome's values as a company! We don't have a lot of sweet things in our house. When we do I like it to be organic, natural and Non-GMO. All things that Wholesome stands for. They are Fair Trade Certified, Organic, Kosher Free, Vegan Friendly, Natural and Non-GMO Project Verified sweeteners sourced from ethically and environmentally responsible growers and manufacturers. 

I limit our sweets, but I don't take them out entirely. It's good to know Wholesome provides safe and flavorful sweeteners that are produced with respect for food safety, the environment and human welfare.

They believe in the importance of sustainable and organic agriculture to encourage a safe and beautiful future for the planet and its people. Sustainable farming is critical to a healthy planet and healthy people. They believe that the farmers who feed the world every day deserve a fair price for the crops they grow.

It helps when I see a company that has great values. They are not just in the business to make money. It extends way beyond that! 

Disclaimer: Wholesome! Live Sweetly did not ask me to write a review. I'm just sharing their products because I believe in them. I won products from Wholesome's facebook page.

Pearl and Silver Earrings 'Nocturnal Symphony' Review

I don't collect shoes, or purses, but I do collect earrings. I have quite a few earrings from Novica. Recently I got Pearl and Silver Earrings 'Nocturnal Symphony' to review.

I love that these are different than any other pair I have. They add a splash of uniqueness to what I'm wearing. They go with a lot of different colors: Grey, black, blue, white, or even blown. I feel like the earrings are neutral enough that they could go with almost anything. 

After Christmas I did go get a box of clear plastic earring backs for my fishhook earrings. I was having the worst luck with them wanting to pop off when I took my coat, or shirt off. That problem was solved. I never see fishhook earrings come with backings. 

These earrings cast a spell of elegance and charm. Nareerat crafts them by hand on strings of silk featuring pearls and glistening glass. The pearl stone is my most used birthstone. Alexandrite is June's official birthstone, but not very many people use that one because the stone is so expensive. I love pearls. Black pearls in specific add a unique quality to jewelry. They are so pretty!

Novica takes pride in their products. They always have their jewelry in a special bag that's a keepsake. Most of the time I toss the packaging. Not when I get things from Novica.

A little book comes with every purchase. Inside the book it tells you about the product.

Features:

• Sterling Silver
• Freshwater pearls 
• Glass on silk
• Hook earrings

Cost:

• $39.95
• On sale for $17.09

Measurements:

• 3.2" L x 0.8" W x 0.4" D

Do you like earrings? What's your favorite clothing accessory?

Disclaimer: I received one or more of the products mentioned above for a discounted rate. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.