Friday, February 10, 2017

Random Tid Bits

  1. What a week! I'm writing this ahead of time. It's Wednesday. It snowed last night. I walked into the classroom, and not one of my student's was in. I suppose I don't blame them. It was pretty slick out, and staying in bed sounds really good right about now!


    I have one student that has been gone 4 days out of 5. That's not cool! There are a few others that have been gone 3. When they get this far behind it's hard to catch them up!

  2. I have a blogger friend that passed away this week. I would message her to chat on Facebook at times. So long Jacqueline Mitchell. You were a good friend. She had Parkinson's Disease. Somehow towards the end of her life her trimmers started to stop. She had a weak heart, and passed away from that. I never met her, but I feel like I did. She was one that would comment on almost every picture I posted. She'd comment often, but the trimmers made it hard for her to type.

    That's the second blogger friend that's passed away. Judy passed away quite some time ago. She was a twinless twin. Her twin passed away years before she did. It makes me sad.

  3. My nephew Emerson has been back in the hospital this week. We were just thinking he was doing great, and then another infection happened. A surgeon had this great idea to dig into him to put this tube to help clean out his gut. Well it keeps getting infected (twice now, since his original surgery). The surgeon didn't believe my sister when she called to have the office treat him. She was bitchy at the doctor the first time, this time she was livid and turned the office in for neglect. I don't blame her at all. They wanted to do yet another surgery, but she and another doctor over road their decision. He's been on IV antibiotics, and they are letting the fluid drain. She made them do a culture of the fluid. They found out he also has a Strep infection in it. He got that from his oldest brother. I've been worried about him. He gets out of the hospital tomorrow (Thursday). I hope he stays infection free!


  4. I oftentimes forget that I have pens or pencils in my ears. Do you ever put pens or pencils behind your ears?

  5. Isaak usually has better handwriting. But I found this quickly written note in his coat pocket at his basketball game. It's all about how his team needs to be more serious at practice. If they clown around Isaak was going to call them clowns

Thursday, February 9, 2017

District Spelling Bee Ahead!

Tonight is Mica's big night! He's been studying for the District Spelling Bee for a few months! Ekkk!

Source
He was picked 1 out of 3 in his classroom to go on to compete with 11 other students at his school. He won that. Now he goes to the school administration building to compete with a lot more students. I don't even know how many he'll be competing against. 

I can tell you this...I'm more nervous than he is. I don't even know why. I mean if he wins I'll be so proud of him. He'll be the first at his elementary to win at that level. If he doesn't win I know he studied his ass off, tried his hardest, and it's great that we won't have to study anymore for words that he'll hardly use. 

These were taken at the last one.


What to Expect:

I don't even know what to expect.

How many kids will be there competing? I don't know
How many people will be there? I don't know
How long will it take? I don't know

Will his teacher be there? Yes, which is great because they have a whole school skate party tonight.
Will we be there? Yes, actually we'll be there early! Mica has to check in at 5:45, so dinner will be on the road for me. I have a bag packed for Isaak - full of quiet things to do.

Even my oldest sister talked about going. My parents (Grandma and Grandpa) are going. My Dad is so funny because my Mom texted me this morning, "Your Dad is dressed and ready for the Spelling Bee. It's not until tonight." LOL! My Dad also called me last night and said, "I have a word for Mica to study! It's 'septic'." I think that's the word he said. I said, "Dad that word would be easy for Mica. The words on his multiple page list are way harder then that is." He even has some French words on there.

How will he start? He starts with a written portion. Then moves to spelling the words out loud.

I'm nervous about the written portion. Mica has great handwriting, but what if one letter looks like another? What if he forgets to put a capitol letter in a word like, "Holocaust", forgets an accent mark in one of the French words, or forgets a space in one of those odd words? He'll loose. But he knows how to spell them. In the end why do I care. He tried his hardest. I love him. There's that part of me that wants him to win because he did work hard for it.

Online:

If you're bored you can view the District Spelling Bee and Mica online!

Follow the bee online at: www.tknomaha.org.

Once at this site, a viewer, chooses the tab STREAMING

Then select Channel 1 (TKN1).

There's no downloading!

For the Record:

My Mom texted me, "Do you remember how they had to give you a reduced spelling list when you were a kid? Me, "No, but I know I sucked at spelling." Mica most certainly got this from Travis, and not me!

ahiflower Oil Review

I love to win things! 

Recently I've been participating in Nature Savvy's facebook talks and twitter parties. They happen to land on my lunch break because I'm in Central Time Zone, and they are Pacific. I don't mind eating, and following along. I learn something every single time! They had a speaker that talked all about oils to cook with. I learned a lot. In fact I went to the store, and bought some of the oils they talked about.

Here's a link to their live talk. The talk was between Andrea Donsky and Bryce Wylde. Soon after the talk I went to the store to get different oils to cook with, make salad dressings, and more.

One thing that I have been known to have is slightly high cholesterol. They discussed how ahiflower really helps. I was actually going to buy it. Then I won it!

ahiflower is better than flax. It's not from fish. No more fishy taste. I didn't really mind the fishy taste that fish oil puts out. I never tasted it.


This is the richest effective combined omega 3+6 source from a single plant! Vegetarians can have this. I'm not a Vegetarian, but it's good to know.

ahiflower Oil is branded form of Buglossoides arvensis seed oil. It's exclusively available in nature's crops.

Our bodies more efficiently than Omega 3+6+9. This boosts your brain power!


It was certainly packaged well:


Like Most Pill Bottles I Wish:

The bottle was filled up more, or that they used a smaller bottle to package the pills in.


Dose:

Take 3 pills daily. That's a lot. I have to admit I don't usually take that much. It is all good for me though!


Do you take anything to reduce your cholesterol, or boost your brain power?

Disclaimer: I received ahiflower Oil. I was not asked to review this product. I wrote this post, and was not influenced at all with an opinion. I only review things that I find interesting, or that would benefit my readers or family.

Tuesday, February 7, 2017

WW: Face {Linky}

Once upon a time a few weeks ago two little boys were sick.

I decided that I'd draw on crazy eyebrows with my eye pencil towards the end of the day when they were feeling just fine.


Isaak decided that wasn't enough, so he found my pencil, and drew on a beard too.

Needless to say it was hard to get off. I scrubbed the poor boy's face. 

The next day it looked slightly raw. 

The day after that his skin was peeling. I applied coconut oil. That made his face super red. I dabbed at his face with water and a washcloth to remove the oil, and added non scented lotion, which made his face even worse! 




It was time to send the doctor's office these images. I kept the message brief.

I should note that I rarely contact the doctor's office, but when I do it's always some skin issue. Mica, Isaak and I all have sensitive skin!

In the meantime I had him on some Benadryl, which helped a lot. 

Nurse on Monday Morning: Try some Cortaid, which is a mild Steroid Cream. By the way how did this happen? What was put on his face to make it this way?

I ran through the whole story, and sent the photo of our horrible eyebrows. Can you imagine what their office was thinking that day?

I Get a Message Back From the Nurse: That's a funny picture, but what do you need?

Apparently we weren't on the same page. I found out she was a different nurse. It's no wonder that she didn't know what in the heck I was talking about.

Here's Isaak's as of yesterday. The redness is gone, but he still has peeling on his face.


Here he is today:





Nature's Path - Peanut Butter Granola Review

I love to win things! 

Recently I've been participating in Nature Savvy's facebook talks and twitter parties. They happen to land on my lunch break because I'm in Central Time Zone, and they are Pacific. I don't mind eating, and following along. I learn something every single time! I have to say that I've never participated in twitter parties except for a few times. I never know if I'm putting the information out right. I've won a few things through Nature Savvy though! 

I must have been doing something right.

Once they had someone from Nature's Path as a guest. I love their products. I used to buy their Pumpkin Flax Granola from Costco when we were members. It was so good! I missed it! 

I was super happy to win one of their products. I was tempted to buy what I loved, but decided to buy something new: Peanut Butter Granola. It did not disappoint any of my family! 


We don't have cereal often, but my boys do love granola and oatmeal. Nature's Path is one of their favorites!

Ways We Eat It:

  • Sometimes I just put a little on top on plain Greek Yogurt.
  • Other times I have a small bowl full with plain unsweetened almond milk.
  • It tastes good alone for a snack, but we usually have it for breakfast.
There was a time in my life where I tried getting a sugary cereal - like most kids eat. Mica said, "I can't eat this stuff!" I've been buying, or making healthy cereals ever since.


Healthy:
  • This cereal is USDA Organic
  • It's listed as being Non GMO
  • 4 Grams of Fiber
  • 30 Grams of Grains
  • 7 Grams of Protein

Ingredients:
  • Rolled Oats
  • Evaporated Cane Juice
  • Soil Oil
  • Peanut Butter
  • Brown Rice Flour
  • Roasted Peanuts
  • Oat Syrup Solids 
  • Sea Salt
  • Tocopherols (Natural Vitamin E)
  • Molasses
All the ingredients are organic.

My kids have never appeared to have any nut allergies. I do find that the boys and I are sensitive to milk. I've read, and have been told that if you have skin allergies like eczema it's best to stay away from cow's milk. We do have plain Greek yogurt, but try and stay away from milk if possible. We use unsweetened almond milk. At times I make our almond milk.


Nature's Path granola was in the natural section of the grocery store. Check it out! You won't be disappointed!

What is your favorite healthy cereal, or granola for the morning?

Disclaimer: I received any Nature's Path product, and chose Peanut Butter Granola. I was not asked to review this product. I wrote this post, and was not influenced at all with an opinion. I only review things that I find interesting, or that would benefit my readers or family.

Monday, February 6, 2017

Dentist

I know some people that absolutely HATE going to the Dentist. I don't hate it, but it's not a wonderful feeling having people pick at your teeth either. I wouldn't put it up there with going to a party.

My oldest sister used to cry, and freak out every trip to the Dentist. I'm thinking that it was possibly because our Dentist was our Orthodontist too. She had to have a ton of work done to her teeth. Any time a kid has a lot of pain associated with something they aren't going to like it.

Our boys have always enjoyed going to the Dentist. In fact at the old office Mica asked if he could have his birthday party there. Why? Because they had a HUGE fish tank in the lobby that he liked. It was good that they started the boy's off with showing them the tools instead of them going right in to do their thing.

Remember back in the 70s where there were ads that mentioned that fluoride is important to have in toothpaste? Well I'm here to report that I haven't been using fluoride for the last 5 or so years. Guess what? I haven't gotten a single cavity. I do have to say that cavities do run in genetics. My poor older sister is adopted, and got a lot of cavities growing up.

I use charcoal toothpaste. It's odd brushing with black toothpaste. I've tried switching back, and normal run-in-the-mill toothpaste tastes fake to me now. Charcoal toothpaste makes my mouth feel clean all day.

It would be kind of like having REAL Maple Syrup and going to Mrs. Butterworth's. I grew up with real syrup. When I go out to eat I know when syrup is fake.

I've only have 5 cavities in my life, and they were all at the same time. I skipped going to the Dentist when I was in grad school. A bad choice on my part!


Do you mind going to the Dentist? Have you had a lot of cavities in the past? 

Sunday, February 5, 2017

The Cutest Magnetic Whiteboard Dry Eraser Set - Adorable Cat Review

I'm happy to share with you The Cutest Magnetic Whiteboard Dry Eraser Set - Adorable Cat I got to review. They are really cute!

The set comes with 12 erasers. That's a lot of erasers! My aunt has a big Easter Egg Hunt for the kids on Easter, so I plan on donating many of these erasers to the hunt. There's 13 kids all together, but I got a set of 12 dogs and a set of 12 cats to review. There's plenty to go around.

They came all packaged up with each other. The packaging seemed good, and it shipped really fast!


Price: 

$9.99 for all 12 erasers! Buy one and get 30% off Lovellio's Charming dry erase calendar. I didn't read close enough to know that I could buy a calendar for 30% off. I may have gotten one, or two.

Choose From 2 Prints:
  1. Loyal Dog
  2. Adorable Cat
I hope they expand to have other animals too. Possibly add a fish, or I'd love a hedgehog set. Cats and dogs are the two animals that most people would have as pets.  
A Great Gift Set: 

This is a great set to get. Especially if you get the calendar that is 30% off. You could give this set to kids for Valentines, Easter time, a Birthday, to a Teacher for Teacher Appreciation Day and more.


Not Your Ordinary Stationery Set:

Lovellio makes their sets fun by adding cats and dogs to their sets.

Other Perks:
  • The erasers are also great for small little hands. I like that they are square instead of the big erasers that are used most of the time.
  • The erasers are magnetic. How cool is that? I tested them out on our refrigerator, and they worked. 
The only downfall I saw was that some of the dog prints are great prints, while others look a bit faded.


Are you a dog or a cat person? 

I don't know if I ever like one over the other. I'm allergic to both. I think cats are fluffy cute, it's nice that they can be on their own during short trips. Dogs are more of a companion, man's best friend - right? Dogs make their owners more active because they have to walk them often.  

Disclaimer: I received Magnetic Whiteboard Dry Eraser Set - Loyal Dog to review. I wrote this post, and was not influenced at all with an opinion. I only review things that I find interesting, or that would benefit my readers or family.

The Cutest Magnetic Whiteboard Dry Eraser Set - Loyal Dog Review

I'm happy to share with you The Cutest Magnetic Whiteboard Dry Eraser Set - Loyal Dog I got to review. They are really cute!


The set comes with 12 erasers. That's a lot of erasers! I'm going to give the kids some erasers for Easter. I'll hand off a few to my nephews, and others I'll take to school.

They came all packaged up with each other.


Price: 

$9.99 for all 12 erasers! Buy one and get 30% off Lovellio's Charming dry erase calendar.

Choose From 2 Prints:
  1. Loyal Dog
  2. Adorable Cat
A Great Gift Set: 

This is a great set to get. Especially if you get the calendar that is 30% off. You could give this set to kids for Valentines, Easter time, a Birthday, to a Teacher for Teacher Appreciation Day and more.



Not Your Ordinary Stationery Set:

Lovellio makes their sets fun by adding cats and dogs to their sets.

Other Perks:
  • The erasers are also great for small little hands. I like that they are square instead of the big erasers that are used most of the time.
  • The erasers are magnetic. How cool is that? I tested them out on our refrigerator, and they worked. 
The only downfall I saw was that some of the dog prints are great prints, while others look a bit faded.


Do you use a dry eraser board? We have one that we use daily.

Disclaimer: I received Magnetic Whiteboard Dry Eraser Set - Loyal Dog to review. I wrote this post, and was not influenced at all with an opinion. I only review things that I find interesting, or that would benefit my readers or family.

3D Jigsaw Puzzle Review

I like to get fun puzzle things for the boys. The puzzle I have to share with you is called: Lando Cubes: 3D Jigsaw Puzzle.


This set the boys are getting when it's Easter time. Our Easter Bunny likes to set out some things that are fun, and candy.

The shapes can be torn apart, and you have to figure out how to put them back together again. It's not easy. I knocked one apart, and did get it to go back together after a few minutes.

The three Cubes:



This is my favorite one! Why? Because the colors remind me of the movie E.T. and candy Reese's Pieces.


Cost:

It's listed as being on sale, but it doesn't give the original price. This set is $16.99 + it has free shipping for Prime Members.

S.T.E.M.:

This helps with S.T.E.M. thinking, which stands for: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math.

S.T.E.M. helps mentally prepare little and big brains for preplanned thinking, and problem solving. Kids and adults that play with puzzle type toys have better test scores, and they exercise their brain.

S.T.E.M. uses convergent thinking. That means that there's a preplanned way of thinking with only one result in the end. I think devergent thinking activities are great to do as well. That's more free play with lots of creative options to achieve one result in the end.



The Benefit of Puzzles:

Put down the smartphones, kindles and other devices and stimulate your mind instead. This isn't an old-fashioned flat puzzles. Solving problems through trial and error, developing kids are able to form neurons and literally GROW their brains!

Challenge For All Ages:

Users of all ages (7 and up actually) can benefit from this brain exercise that sharpens your logical thinking and promotes creativity. Not just a kid’s game!


I've always loved puzzles. Do you?

Disclaimer: I received Lando Cubes to review. I wrote this post, and was not influenced at all with an opinion. I only review things that I find interesting, or that would benefit my readers or family.

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