Extreme Makeover: Blog Edition

So you may have noticed that my blogs have gotten a much needed face lift lately. This is all thanks to a very talented graphic designer who managed to interpret my lame (that is being kind!) explanations of what I was looking for. Seriously, I think I answered a few questions for her and she nailed the designs on the first try. Very impressive stuff!

I highly recommend her should you have any design needs: headers, buttons, etc. You can find her over at Flibby Pie Graphic Design and her prices are MORE than reasonable. And tell her Wisconsin Mommy says hi!

The New Greener Clorox

Clorox has come out with a new line of cleaning products in response to the demand for products that are safer for our homes and for the environment. Green Works can be found in most stores where the traditional Clorox products are found and includes a number of cleaners such as bathroom, kitchen, glass/window, as well as a concentrate that can be mixed with water.

Green Works cleaners work just as well as their more toxic counterparts without giving off the harsh chemical fumes and residue that can result. Green Works products are made from biodegradable ingredients and NOT tested on animals, two things that are important to me personally. They are 99% natural and have a pleasant scent.

Two things which I really like about these products (and that set them apart for me) are:

1. the fact that they are easy to find in the stores where I am already doing my shopping and

2. the cost which is a bit higher than traditional cleaners but lower than other natural cleaners.

Good for Clorox for taking this step! I hope other companies follow their lead and begin coming out with environmentally friendly lines of products as well.

And the winner is....

Rebecca R! Congratulations...I will be in touch with you next week via e-mail with details on how to claim your prize. Thanks to everyone for entering and check back often for more exciting giveaways!

Homework Helper in a Box

Because I can’t resist worrying about things long before I need to, I’ve been wondering how we are going to deal with the whole “Mom I need to research _____ for school” issue once Little J is a bit older. I am completely against him having internet access in his room and we don’t really have the set up for a centrally located computer where I could keep an eye on him. Maybe we’ll move before it becomes an issue.

But if we don’t, I will definitely let him use Microsoft Student! The folks at Mom Central Consulting kindly asked me to review a copy of Microsoft Student with Encarta Premium 2008. This is a great solution for families facing the exact problem I will be – how to provide a collection of relevant, reliable information without setting your kids loose on the internet. It includes articles that can be accessed through searches as well as an atlas, dictionary, thesaurus, and language translator. It also has a companion, Encarta Kids which is geared younger learners aged 7 to 12.

But, Microsoft Student goes beyond just an encyclopedia. It is a full service homework helper! It includes the amazing MS MATH which includes tools, tutorials and step by step problem solving instructions to help students learn math concepts. Included in MS MATH is a full featured graphing calculator (valued at $100+) AND free online access to “Hotmath” ($49.95 value). Students can quickly find their textbook, and select the problem they are solving. Using the Equation Solver, they can instantly receive step-by-step guidance on how to solve a problem, and what the correct answer should be. (Take it from a former tutor…at $30 - $50 an hour, this more than pays for itself after one or two uses.)

The learning essentials section has great templates to get students started writing reports and presentations. It includes great organizational and brainstorming tools such as K-W-L charts and Venn diagrams that support the types of things your student is learning in school! It even has organizational tools to help with college applications.

The language section is a must-have for anyone who is taking a beginning level foreign language. It supports four languages and can translate either way as well as conjugate verbs. (I SO wish I had this when I was struggling with Spanish in high school!)

The literature feature contains over 1,000 book summaries in a Cliff-Notes type format. The teacher in me cringes a bit at this feature but realizes that most students have access to this type of material somewhere or other and any good teacher can tell whether or not a student has actually read the text. These can always be a good review tool. ‘Nough said.

This really is a great program and is an absolute steal at $37.50. The great folks at Mom Central Consulting and Microsoft have generously provided me with a copy to give away to one lucky commenter. If you’d like to have a copy for yourself, leave me a comment . Please remember to leave me a way to get in touch with you! Our random winner generator (Little J) will be picking a lucky winner out of a hat.
All entries must be in by midnight CST Friday February 29th.

Please check system requirements here. Please read them carefully – I did not and had an old version of Office 2000. I managed to make quite a mess of my laptop and wasn’t able to get much work done for a couple of days until the wonderful folks at my office’s tech-support (thank you guys!!!!) upgraded me to Office 2003 and got me back up and running. Lesson learned!

Need More Time in the Morning?

Yeah right, who doesn't! And what is the one thing that we all know shouldn't fall victim to the morning rush, but often does?
Breakfast.

The folks at Breakfast Breaks know that mornings can be crazy and they have put together a portable, and more important HEALTHY, breakfast in a box. I admit...I was a bit skeptical of these at first. I am a huge fan of convenience, but it usually comes with a high price: empty calories, high fructose corn syrup-laden juice imposters, sugar-loaded cereals...you know what I'm talking about, right?

I was pleasantly surprised when I opened up my box of Breakfast Breaks and found.....
100% real juice
whole grain cereals
100% natural dried fruit
(The stuff I was already giving Little J anyway!) plus
a spoon, napkin, AND a wet wipe already packaged up and ready to go, all I needed to supply was the milk for the cereal.

Now on an average day, I can probably handle getting all of this together for my child on my own - but the next day was the day that we needed to bring my parents to the airport for their early morning flight out of this wintry abyss and getting out of the house on time was going to be a struggle. Throw in ANOTHER snowstorm and a frantic call from my mother saying they would like to leave an hour earlier than planned and my whole schedule went completely out the window.

Enter Breakfast Breaks! Little J happily ate his yummy, nutritious breakfast in the backseat while I drank down a Grande Latte (at least it has calcium) for my nourishment. Now, if they can come up with an adult version that can be eaten with one hand while battling airport traffic in a snowstorm....

Breakfast Breaks come in four varieties.

I love you, You love me...NOT!

Okay, I admit that's a strange title for a Valentine's day post, but I DID get your attention didn't I? Don't worry, Big J is not in the doghouse. (The man bought me a much wanted Roomba for Valentine's Day - he is very NOT in the doghouse!)

No, I am referring to that most annoying Barney song - know the one I am talking about?? Luckily we managed to navigate the whole kiddie music scene without turning to the purple dinosaur. Thanks to some pretty cool friends who already had kids, we were introduced to Dan Zanes, Justin Roberts, The Imagination Movers and Laurie Berkner early on in the game and found them quite tolerable.

As great as these artists are, they are still singing kid music and they are still very much Little J's CD's. Recently, I was given a CD that BOTH Little J and I adore. It is called "That Baby CD" and I cannot say enough great things about it! It contains wonderfully done acoustic covers of songs that you have actually heard outside of a preschool classroom. Songs that you have heard - yes! - on the radio...songs by Bruce Springsteen, The Pretenders, Fleetwood Mac, Bob Marley, The Beatles and more.

Not only are the song choices great, but the arrangements are simple and beautiful. The singers are perfectly chosen to compliment each song and the words are easy to understand, even for a preschooler. My personal favorite is Songbird. The beautiful vocals accompanied by a haunting violin and guitar are just breathtaking. I have to admit that this CD has been getting heavy rotation (can you say that with CDs?) in the car, even when Little J isn't riding with me.

There is also a companion DVD ( named of course That Baby DVD) which features children dancing and lip synching the songs as well as puppets and other visuals. In between the songs are mini-lessons on letters and numbers. It is both interesting and calming at the same time. Little J was absolutely taken with it and has asked to watch it over and over again.

The CD is absolute must-have for anyone with ears. You can bundle it with the DVD for added savings and create a great gift for a baby shower, birthday, or any special occasion. An added bonus? If either ever becomes scratched, the company will replace them free of charge!Want more information or to listen to some samples? Click the logo below and check out their website. Pick up a CD/DVD for yourself and one for a friend - you will not be disappointed!

Froose

Is your child CONSTANTLY asking for juice? I know Little J is, and I began to worry that perhaps all the juice I was giving him wasn't the best for his little growing body. I do water it down quite a bit, but still...is there something better out there?

Turns out, other moms are wondering the same thing. And some of those moms are inventors and nutritionists and in a position to do something about it. And one of those moms invented Froose.

Froose is the brainchild of Denise Devine, a Mom of three, who was working for a major food company and was herself frustrated by the lack of healthy choices for her young children. Her Mom-instincts kicked in when she noticed her son drinking fruit juice all day long and then, after filling up on empty calories, she'd find him not hungry for dinner. She set out to develop a nutritious smoothie-like alternative to juice incorporating whole grains, complex carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, and fiber. After several years of research, in collaboration with The International Food Network at Cornell, Denise now holds 19 process and composition patents that ultimately enabled her and her team to create a drink that suspends whole foods in liquid form. The resulting beverage is Froose.

With statistics about childhood obesity growing scarier every day, it's great to have a drink that combines the best of whole grains and fruit in one nutritious, portable package. Froose comes in grab-and-grow™ 4 oz. juice boxes, making it a convenient, tasty and nutritious alternative to juice. One box of Froose contains only 80 calories and a healthy amount (3 grams) of fiber. Sweetened with organic brown rice syrup, a complex carbohydrate (which means No Sugar High and No Empty Calories!), it is also wheat and gluten free.

Learn more about Froose at (where else?) http://www.froose.com/ ! You can place an order there and try it for yourself.