OraMD - Liquid 3-in-1 Toothpaste, Mouthwash, and Breath Freshener Review and Giveaway

OraMD is a 3-in-1 liquid toothpaste, mouthwash, and breath freshener from Trusted Health Products. OraMD naturally fights: plaque, tarter and gum problem-causing bacteria & fungi with its strong antibacterial, anti-fungal, and anti-inflammatory properties. It also eliminates bad breath and reinforces healthy gums and teeth. All this happens without harmful chemicals! It is does NOT contain: fluoride, Sodium Laurel Sulfate (SLS), Triclosan, alcohol (causes dry mouth), artificial dyes/colorings or GMOs! There are also no abrasives like silica that can harm enamel. The only ingredients are 100% pure botanical oils of almond, spearmint and peppermint. Just place 2-5 drops on your toothbrush and brush with it as usual. There is approximately 400 drops per bottle and you save up to 39% right away when you don't have to buy multiple products to do what OraMD does. One bottle lasts approximately 4 weeks, when following the 4 Step Oral Hygiene Program (at 2 drops per use). Safe and effective for everyone ages 3 and up. It is also recommended by dentists worldwide.

Directions – 4 Step Oral Hygiene Program

1. Brush twice a day in the morning and evening using 2-5 drops of OraMD on a toothbrush and brush normally.
2. Floss every evening before brushing - more frequently as needed. Get any food particles out from between teeth.
3. Rinse with OraMD like a mouthwash twice a day: morning and evening. Just put 2-5 drops into an ounce of water, swish and gargle.
4. Refresh your mouth. Mid-morning, mid-afternoon and as needed: put 2-5 drops of OraMD on the tip of the tongue to coat the gum line and teeth to kill bacteria and keep breath fresh.

My Thoughts:
At first use I didn't like the taste this product left in my mouth. It is fairly potent and has a intense, strong flavor. After using it for a while I got used to the flavor. OraMD cleaned my teeth well and left them shiny and polished looking. Personally, I liked using it after I brushed with baking soda or hydrogen peroxide as instructed for getting my teeth whiter. After a few weeks using the product as instructed I noticed my gums started looking healthier and I had fresher breath. I was very happy with the results. I love that it is a safer more natural alternative than the conventional methods out there. It can also conveniently be carried anywhere with you so you can use it anytime. I love that it will end up saving me money on oral care and dental bills in the future because of its preventative nature.
BUY IT
You can purchase one bottle of OraMD from Trusted Health Products for $22.97 or you can buy two and get the 3rd free for $45.94. Buy 7 for $99 and 24 for $286.80. One Full Year, 100% Money Back Guarantee – No Questions Asked.

FREEBIE
The manufacturer is willing to offer my readers one FREE bottle. They said they would love to have our readers try out OraMD and agreed to send one bottle FREE if our readers would pay a minimal shipping and handling charge. They also agreed to include 2 eye-opening reports called 1) “The 6 Hidden Dangers In Toothpaste” and 2) “Why The FDA Requires A Warning Label On Your Toothpaste.” That’s a total value of over $40.00. Click here to get your FREE bottle and FREE reports now.

WIN IT
Prize: 3 readers will each win a bottle of OraMD

I am trying out Rafflecopter on my blog. Please click on this post link if you do not see the script for it below. Also, if there is anything that is wrong with it let me know by emailing me: finamoon AT gmail DOT com I will try my best at fixing it. Thanks for being awesome readers!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: I received product to facilitate my review and the opportunity to giveaway the same product for free. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any other compensation for doing this review.

Dial Coconut Water Body Wash Sweepstakes on Facebook

Dial® is proud to introduce the Healthier Skin. Healthier You.® Sweepstakes featuring Dial® Coconut Water Body Wash!

One lucky grand prize winner will receive $1,000, while 250 second place winners will receive free Coconut Water Body Wash.

Enter here: http://insiders.purex.com/healthier-skin?id=1254

DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: Thanks to Purex for providing me this promotion information. By posting about this sweepstakes I will be entered to win one of 5 $25 Amazon gift cards for driving traffic using my unique URL! My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any compensation for posting this promo.

Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! Best of Widget! DVD Review and Giveaway

My kids and I have had the great opportunity to review many titles from Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! and so when we were asked to watch and review their Best of Widget! DVD we didn't pass it up. We love Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! Wubbzy is so cute.

This DVD was different from the others we have gotten to review. It was all about Wubbzy's pal Widget. Widget is the busiest builder and fix-it expert in Wuzzleberg. Widget is very busy in these 7 episodes. She modifies a road racer for the Wuzzleberg Derby, tries to become a ballerina, invents a solar-powered super-robot, bulids the ultimate television, searches for her missing wiggle wrench and more! We see machines, workshop marvels and it is all with the Wuzzleberg crew. I love what this DVD teaches.

Widget's Wild Ride teaches:

• safety first (they always wore helmets and seat belts at the Road Racer Rally)
• don't go too overboard or things might go wrong
• spending time with friends is better than winning

Gotta Dance teaches:

• just be yourself
• practice makes perfect

Gidget Super Robot teaches:

• robots and other things can't replace real friends
• when you need your friends they will be there for you

Eggs Over Easy teaches:

• making things easier doesn't always make it more fun
• have more patience
• do things yourself so that you can learn from it

Widget Gets the Blooey Blues teaches:

• to not lose your confidence
• you are a success to your friends
• be happy, not sad
• do things that make you happy

The Super Fixers teaches:

• don't be a couch potato
• get outside and play
• pretending is fun

Bonus Episode: Where's My Wiggle Wrench teaches:

• working together/cooperation
• you don't need lucky items to win
• lost things are usually found in the place you are least likely to look

There are so many great morals and lessons woven into this series.

This DVD has bonus features:
Coloring & Activity Sheets
Bonus Episode
Music Videos

70 minutes long.

BUY IT:
You can purchase the Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! Best of Widget! DVD through Amazon.com at $7.49.

WIN IT
Prize: Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! Best of Widget! DVD

I am trying out Rafflecopter on my blog. Please click on this post link if you do not see the script for it below. Also, if there is anything that is wrong with it let me know by emailing me: finamoon AT gmail DOT com I will try my best at fixing it. Thanks for being awesome readers!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: I received product to facilitate my review and the opportunity to giveaway the same product for free. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any other compensation for doing this review.

Pampers Kandoo Target Sale

Target is having a sale on Pampers Kandoo flushable wipes. Save up to 50¢ on 50 ct. Refill Packs ($1.99 Retail) and up to $1.60 on 400 ct. Refill Packs ($9.99 Retail). Sale ends 3/16/2013!

DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: I wrote this blog post because I thought you might be interested in knowing this information and taking part of this deal. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I will be entered to win a $50 Visa Gift Card for posting. I did not receive any other compensation for doing this post.

Katie Opens Her Heart by Jerry Eicher FWCT Book Review

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

Today's Wild Card author is:

Jerry Eicher

and the book:

Katie Opens Her Heart

Harvest House Publishers (February 1, 2013)

***Special thanks to Ginger Chen for sending me a review copy.***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Jerry Eicher’s bestselling Amish fiction (more than 210,000 in combined sales) includes The Adams County Trilogy, the Hannah’s Heart books, and the Little Valley Series. After a traditional Amish childhood, Jerry taught for two terms in Amish and Mennonite schools in Ohio and Illinois. Since then he’s been involved in church renewal, preaching, and teaching Bible studies. Jerry lives with his wife, Tina, and their four children in Virginia.


Visit the author's website.

SHORT BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Jerry Eicher (nearly half a million copies sold) returns with the first book in another of his delightful series centering on Amish life.

Here is the story of a young Amish girl, Katie Raber, who finds she wants more from life than to be known as simply “Emma Raber’s daughter.”

Product Details:
List Price: $13.99
Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers (February 1, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0736952519
ISBN-13: 978-0736952514

AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:

The early morning sun was rising over the well-kept farms of Delaware’s Amish country as Katie Raber drove her buggy toward Byler’s Store near Dover to begin her day’s work. She squinted when she spotted an approaching buggy in the distance. The horse had its neck arched high in the air. Katie didn’t have to think long before she decided who was coming toward her. Ben Stoll would be holding the reins. It was his buggy. She was sure of that. Ben was one of the best-looking Amish boys around. Blessed was any girl who was invited to ride with him in his buggy—something Katie figured she would never experience. Ben was without a doubt the catch among the community’s Amish young men. A cloud crossed the sun, and Katie held the buggy lines tight as she kept her eyes glued on the approaching buggy. Perhaps she could catch a glimpse of Ben this morning. That was all she could hope for. He was from another world. Ben never spoke to her, and she only saw him at the Sunday meetings and the Amish youth gatherings Mamm allowed her to attend. There he would be laughing and talking with someone else—someone more suited to his taste than “plain Katie,” the out-of-step daughter of the odd widow Emma Raber. Katie could walk right under Ben Stoll’s nose, and he wouldn’t even know a shadow had gone by.

Yah, she was Emma Raber’s daughter. That’s how most people in the community thought of her. She even thought of herself that way—just an extension of her mamm. Mamm was nice enough, and Emma really loved her. So, nee, she wasn’t really complaining. But sometimes her mamm did unusual things, and that made Katie seem so…well, weird to the other young adults in the Amish community. For one thing, there would be no rumspringa for Katie. Everyone else she knew among the Delaware Amish would have their time to run around and try out the ways of the world. But not Katie. Emma Raber wouldn’t even consider such a thing for her daughter. And the Amish youth gatherings were few and far between. Mamm was suspicious of even those. “Too much socializing,” she had said.

She could live without rumspringa. Or without Ben Stoll, for that matter. So what, Katie told herself, it might even be best for her if Ben were unobtainable. He might not be all that wunderbah if she ever got to know him. Katie sighed. These were desperate excuses, and she knew it, but lately Mamm’s restrictions were becoming harded and harder to bear. She was only trying to make herself feel better. Ben was wunderbah. Even her friend Arlene Miller wasn’t above stealing a glance at Ben—and that with her boyfriend, Nelson Graber, sitting right across from her at the Sunday night hymn singings!

Katie wondered if all the girls were as taken with Ben as she was. She was aware of everything about him. She noticed when he wore a new black suit at communion time every spring. She noticed the way his buggy shone when the sun rays bounced off the sides at the Sunday meetings. The boy must spend hours waxing the black vinyl of his buggy, she thought. And most of all, she noticed the way Ben smiled when he was happy, which seemed like most of the time. What would it be like to be the kind of girl who made Ben smile that smile? Ha! Certainly a simple, plain soul like Emma Raber’s daughter couldn’t be such a girl…ever.

Katie tried to look away from the fast-approaching buggy. She was way too fascinated with the boy. If Mamm knew her feelings, Katie knew she’d be given a lecture the size of the state of Delaware and right at the kitchen table after supper. Yah, Mamm would not understand how she felt. Life had been hard for Mamm, especially when it came to men. Hadn’t Daett passed away when Katie was still a young girl? The loss had been so painful for Mamm that she might never marry again.

The beat of horse hooves on pavement grew louder. Katie eased open her buggy door just enough to make sure that whoever was in the passing buggy could see it was her in case a greeting was forthcoming. With her hands on the reins, Katie held her breath as the buggy approached and passed without its buggy door opening even an inch. Katie saw the unmistakable outline of Ben’s face through the small window. His hat was tight on his head, and his eyes were looking straight ahead. The moment passed in a flash without the smallest flicker of a hand wave through the window. And then the buggy was gone.

It was the sun in his eyes, Katie told herself. That’s why Ben hadn’t slid open the buggy door or bothered to wave. But she knew better. Ben wasn’t being mean. No, she just wasn’t worth the effort. He had greater and better things on his mind than paying attention to Emma Raber’s odd daughter. Now if she were beautiful, or charming, or funny, or even talkative at the Sunday-night hymn singings, it might be different. With such qualities, perhaps her plainness could be overcome. But all that was a dream that would never come true. She couldn’t be what she wasn’t.

Perhaps she should settle for Joe Helmuth from down the road. Joe walked with a limp from a hay wagon accident when he was five. He would take over his daett’s farm someday, but the scars from that long-ago day would never leave him. The problem was that Joe didn’t pay Katie any attention either.

Well, at least thinking about Ben Stoll helped ease the pain a little, Katie decided. She was only Katie Raber, after all. The girl who could barely open her mouth without dumb words falling out all over each other. If she could only be more like the rest of the Amish girls in the community. But that could never be either, not with how Mamm felt about things.

Katie slapped the reins against her horse as her thoughts swirled through her mind. She couldn’t remember much about Daett. He’d been gone since she was three years old. She could remember happy times though. Going to the barn with him when they did the evening chores. But that was so long ago. If she only had a daett, Katie decided, life would be different. If Mamm married again, Katie figured both of them would be better accepted in the community and Mamm might change her ways. The most obvious possibility was widower Jesse Mast. And he’d come calling on Mamm again just the other evening. Mamm hadn’t said anything about the visit, but Jesse had surely spoken of marriage.

Yah, Mamm should marry again, Katie decided. Mamm’s sorrow over losing her husband was still written on her face after all these years. Was it not high time things changed? Yah, and Katie would pray about the matter.

Da Hah must already be thinking the same thing if He was sending Mamm a suitor in the person of Jesse Mast. So why couldn’t Mamm see this and accept Jesse’s offer of marriage? Was she turning him down because he wasn’t much to look at? Yah, he was a little rough around the edges. But it wasn’t like Mamm to be so concerned with outward appearance. She went more by a person’s kind heart than how he looked on the outside. Perhaps it was the fact that Jesse’s frau, Millie, had died and left him with a family of five children. Was that why Mamm objected? She didn’t want her household increased so dramatically?

Nee, Katie decided that couldn’t be the reason either. Mamm didn’t mind hard work. And if a large family was the problem, she should have been happy after turning down Jesse. Instead, Mamm had walked around the house with the lines on her face running deeper than ever. So why had she turned Jesse down? That was assuming Mamm had turned him down. The proposal of marriage was just a guess on Katie’s part, but she was sure she was right. It couldn’t have been anything else. The two had talked for a long time while sitting on the porch swing. Afterward, Jesse had stood in the yard for a few moments longer, still speaking with Mamm. He’d held his hat in his hand, the sweat ring in his hair still apparent from where the hat had been pressed tightly on his head. Then Jesse had walked back to his buggy, his head bowed. Even Jesse’s horse, Lucy, had looked depressed as they drove down the lane.

Katie had been ready to ask Mamm what Jesse wanted, but one look at her face caused her to change her mind. Mamm looked troubled and yet, at the same time, ready to give someone a piece of her mind. A question from Katie could easily have resulted in another lecture she didn’t want to hear. A lecture about being satisfied with one’s lot in life and not reaching for the stars. That was the standard lecture Mamm always gave when Katie dared complain about attending more of the Amish youth gatherings.

“You don’t know how nice you have it,” Mamm would say. “We have enough to eat, a roof over our heads, and horses to drive us to work and church. What more could we ask for?”

Well, Katie thought, there was plenty more to ask for. All kinds of things a young woman could want. Things that were out there just waiting to enrich one’s life—and, happily, things that were not forbidden by the Ordnung. Like liking a boy. Like someday loving a man who would love her back and consider his life empty without her. Someone who’s eyes would light up when he saw her. Someone who called her sweet things on Sunday nights as he sat on the couch beside her. Wasn’t that what dating couples did? Mamm wouldn’t say when Katie asked, other than muttering something about useless talking until all hours of the night.

How could such time be considered wasted? Katie wondered. It would be glory indeed to sit beside a boy—a soon-to-be man so near she could touch him. What delight it would be to hear his deep voice rumble when he spoke or feel his eyes watching her long before she looked up to meet his gaze. Nee, this couldn’t be wasted time. It would be a touch of heaven, and the most worthwhile thing a girl could set her heart on. Especially if the boy were Ben Stoll…

Katie sighed. So had Jesse Mast asked for Mamm’s hand? Had she turned him down? She’d sent him away looking disappointed, so something was going on. And then there was that look on Mamm’s face in the evenings after the sun had set and the house was quiet. Mamm didn’t like the loneliness of their house either—the hours without a man’s voice being heard. She’d been silent after Jesse left that night, staring at the kitchen wall and seemingly more troubled than usual.

What could she do to help? Katie wondered. She should do something, yah.

A car passed Katie’s buggy, its engine roaring. Katie forced her mind back on the road ahead. Her horse, Sparky, knew the way to Byler’s Store. He should after all this time she’d worked there. But even so, he mustn’t be allowed to go his own way.

Ahead of her, Bishop Jonas Miller’s place was coming up. His wife, Laura, was out in the yard hanging wash on the line. Katie leaned out of the buggy to wave, and Laura paused long enough to wave back before bending again to her work. At least the older Amish folk didn’t think she was strange, even with her Mamm the way she was.

Katie settled herself in the buggy seat again. If Mamm married Jesse, she might have to stay home from her job at Byler’s and help with the added work five children entailed. But that would be an attractive kind of work—more normal almost. And it could lead to other kinds of normalness in her life. And perhaps even to a boy sitting on the couch beside her some Sunday night after a hymn singing. Yah, somehow Mamm must be persuaded to accept Jesse’s offer of marriage.

Katie turned into the parking lot at Byler’s and pulled Sparky to a stop at the far end of the hitching rail that was located on one side of the store. She climbed down, unhitched the buggy, and led Sparky around to the back where he could munch at stray pieces of grass during the day. She tied him to the fence with a long rope before walking back to the buggy. She pushed both doors shut before heading to the employee entrance of the store.

Soft Scrub Total All Purpose Bath & Kitchen Cleanser Review and Giveaway

I received some Soft Scrub® Total All Purpose Bath & Kitchen Cleanser to try out and review for free. My husband grew up using Soft Scrub® products for cleaning with and we both love the brand. This is a new and improved formula with better cleaning whitening power and less residue, for better rinsing. It removes soap scum, mildew, dirt, hard water stains, limescale, grease, grime, and food stains. It is safe to use on your stainless steel, chrome, granite, Corian®, porcelain, ceramic, plastic, laminate, and glass-top stoves. It is great for multiple surfaces in the bathroom and kitchen. We love this all purpose cleanser for tile, grout, sinks, showers, faucets, tubs, toilets, and stove-tops. It sure shined up my bathroom sink and made it sparkle.

The bottle design is new also and is easier to handle and hold making dispensing improved. I love the ergonomic shape, thumb slot, and bumps on the side for better grip. It makes it easier to pour and prevents spillage. The cap has been updated too and makes it easier to open with one hand.

I also love the fresh lemon scent! It makes you think you're just cleaning with lemon. This lemon cleanser isn't overpowering and deodorizes things really well. Citrus scents always make me a little more cheery and I can definitely use more cheer while I clean.

You can learn more about Soft Scrub® on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/SoftScrub.

One Surface at A Time® Sweepstakes featuring Soft Scrub® Total All Purpose
One lucky grand prize winner will receive $1,000 and a year's supply of Soft Scrub®, while 250 second place winners will receive free Soft Scrub®.

WIN IT
Prize: 1 winner will win 2 coupons for a FREE Soft Scrub® product.

I am trying out Rafflecopter on my blog. Please click on this post link if you do not see the script for it below. Also, if there is anything that is wrong with it let me know by emailing me: finamoon AT gmail DOT com I will try my best at fixing it. Thanks for being awesome readers!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: Thanks to Soft Scrub® for sending me product for free, promotion information to facilitate my review and free coupons for this giveaway. This opportunity was provided to me because I am a Purex Insider. By posting I will be entered to win prizes. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any other compensation for posting this promo.

My Amish Childhood by Jerry Eicher FWCT Book Review

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

Today's Wild Card author is:

Jerry Eicher

and the book:

My Amish Childhood

Harvest House Publishers (February 1, 2013)

***Special thanks to Ginger Chen for sending me a review copy.***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Jerry Eicher’s bestselling Amish fiction (more than 210,000 in combined sales) includes The Adams County Trilogy, the Hannah’s Heart books, and the Little Valley Series. After a traditional Amish childhood, Jerry taught for two terms in Amish and Mennonite schools in Ohio and Illinois. Since then he’s been involved in church renewal, preaching, and teaching Bible studies. Jerry lives with his wife, Tina, and their four children in Virginia.


Visit the author's website.

SHORT BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Bestselling fiction author Jerry S. Eicher recounts his childhood in the Amish community of Aylmer, Ontario and his parents’ decision to move to Honduras. Jerry also tells of his eventual conversion to Christ and the reasons for his departure from the childhood faith he knew.

Product Details:
List Price: $12.99
Paperback: 256 pages
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers (February 1, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0736950060
ISBN-13: 978-0736950060

AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:

I can still see his face. Lean. Determined. Framed by his lengthy beard. I can see him running up the hill toward our house. He was carrying his bag of doctor implements.

Mom was having chest spasms, and any real doctor was miles away—across four hours of the broken, rutted, dusty Honduran road we took only as a last resort.

The running man was my Uncle Joe. The smart one of the family. The older brother. The intellectual genius. When Uncle Joe walked by, we stopped talking and listened intently when he spoke. On this day, he rushed by, not paying any attention to us children.

I knew he was coming about Mom, but I recall experiencing no fear for her life. Perhaps I wasn’t old enough to have such a fear. To me, Uncle Joe’s haste seemed more entertainment than emergency. After all, Mom had looked fine to me a few minutes earlier.

When Uncle Joe left the house some time later, he issued a favorable report that I never questioned. Nor did anyone else. The mysteries of the Englisha world of medicine were even further removed from us than the four hours to town. Uncle Joe studied the books, and we trusted him.

Years later, when our little Amish community in Central America was on its last legs and held in the grip of terrible church fights over cape dresses, bicycles, singing in English or Spanish on Sunday mornings, and other horrors that the adults spoke of with bated breath, it was the look on Uncle Joe’s face as he talked with Mom and Dad by the fence on Sunday afternoon that made things clear to me. If Uncle Joe thought something was over, then it was over.

Uncle Joe lived below us, across the fields, in a house smaller than ours even though his family was much larger. How they managed, I never thought to wonder. Their house never looked crowded. It was kept spotless by his wife, Laura, and their oldest daughters Rosanna and Naomi. We didn’t visit often on Sunday afternoons. Mostly we children dropped by on weekdays, sent on some errand by Mom or we wandered past on our meanderings around the countryside.

They kept goats in the yard, all of them tied with long ropes to stakes. One of them was named Christopher. We didn’t have goats. Dad ran a machine shop, and Mom took care of the garden. Goats were foreign to us. Smelly creatures. Mom scorned goat’s milk, even when Uncle Joe said emphatically it was far superior to cow’s milk.

We all lived near each other in those days—part of a grand experiment to see if the Amish faith could survive on foreign soil.

My grandfather, Peter Stoll, an Amish man of   impeccable standing, had taken it upon himself to lead an Amish community to the Central American country of Honduras. He wasn’t an ordained minister, and I don’t remember seeing him speak in public. Still, the integrity of his life and his ideas so affected those around him that they were willing to follow him where few had gone before.

At the height of the experimental community, we ended up being twenty families or so. We all lived on two neighboring ranches purchased in a valley below a mountain. Most of us had come to Honduras from the hot religious fervor of the small Aylmer community along the shores of  Lake Erie in Southern Ontario or from the detached coolness of Amish country spread over Northern Indiana. Plans were for the two to become one in mind and heart. And for awhile we did.

Those were wonderful years. The memories of that time still bring an automatic gathering of hearts among the Amish who were there—and even some of us who are no longer Amish. All these years later, most of us are scattered across the United States and Canada—except for the few of the original group who stayed behind.

Some of the people credit the joy of those days to the weather in our Honduras valley. And lovely weather it was. Balmy. Hardly ever above ninety or below forty. Others credit the culture. Some attribute our happiness to being so far from the States that we only had each other. I don’t know the full reason for our happiness. Perhaps it isn’t possible to know. But I do remember the energy of the place—its vibrancy. I do know the years left their imprints on us all.

This was my childhood. Those hazy years when time drags. When nothing seems to come soon enough. And where everything is greeted as if it had never been before. To me that land—that valley—was home. I absorbed it completely. Its sounds. Its language. The color of the dusty towns. The unpaved streets. The pigs in the doorway of the huts. The open fires over a metal barrel top. The taste of greasy fried beans. The flour tortillas and meat smoked to perfection. In my heart there will always be a deep and abiding love for that country.

Around us were mountains. To the north they rose in a gradual ridge, coming in from the left and the right to meet in the middle, where a distinctive hump rose into the air—officially named Mt. Misoco. But to us it was simply what the locals called it: La Montaña. The Mountain. Our mountain. Which it was in ways we could not explain.

To the south lay the San Marcos Mountains. At least that’s what we called them. Those rugged, jagged peaks lying off in the distance. I never climbed those mountains, but I often roamed our mountain—or rather our side of it—from top to bottom. On its peak, looking over to the other side, you could see lines and lines of ridges running as far as the eye could see.

A party of courageous Amish boys, along with a few visiting Amish youngsters from stateside, once decided to tackle the San Marcos Mountains. They threw their forces together and allowed two days for the trip. I was much too young to go along—and probably wouldn’t have anyway. But I waited for news of their adventure with interest. They came back soon enough— defeated and full of tales of dark jungles and multiple peaks that disoriented the heart. No one even caught sight of the highest point, let alone the other side.

In the summer, around five in the morning, the Southern Cross—that symbol of Christianity—hung over the San Marcos Mountains. Its haunting figure made of stars swung low in the sky. I would stand for long minutes gazing at the sight, caught up in the glory of it.

I was eight when we arrived in Honduras. We were one of the first families there after Grandfather Stoll had purchased and settled on the Sanson ranch. Dad seemed driven to the move by motives other than adventure. He was unhappy with the ordnung rules in the Amish community at Aylmer, and he wanted change. Change that didn’t include the great sin of joining a more liberal Amish church, of course.

In time Dad came to love the land along with the rest of us. And strangely, he came to love what he didn’t expect—the old ways, imperfect though they had been. My most enduring memory of Dad in those days is hearing him sing the old German songs at the top of his voice over the roar of his machine shop motors. And in the end, it came down to that question for all of them. A choice between what they loved and what they loved the most.

I grew up surrounded by men dedicated to an old faith. I saw those men, most of them my uncles, tested to the core. I saw them wrestle with the old and with the new, trying to figure out where everything fit together. I lived among giants of faith. I saw their agony and their sacrifice. I saw their choices, and it affected me deeply. Their faith had been hammered out back in the sixteenth century, in the old town of Zurich, Switzerland. Back during the time Ulrich Zwingli thundered his sermons in the old Grossmunster Church.

But in the days of my childhood, those stories of   long ago were not mine yet. Those gallant tales of deeds done under fire and sword. Of imprisonment in noblemen’s castles. Of narrow escapes into the Swiss countryside from the murderous Berne Anabaptist hunters. Instead, my memories are of men in my own time. Men who believed that life was not worth living if you didn’t believe in something worth dying for. I was surrounded by men of passion. And if someone should make the claim that these men were misguided, I would insist the fault lay not in caring too much about religious matters. For I learned while growing up among them that this is how a person should live. That true believers follow God with all of their hearts and souls.

Tropical Trio Sweepstakes - Purex, Honey Bunches of Oats, and Outrigger Hotels and Resorts

Tropical Trio Sweepstakes: Purex, Honey Bunches of Oats, and Outrigger Hotels and Resorts are joining forces to send one lucky winner on a tropical paradise vacation to Outrigger Waikiki on the Beach!

Five (5) 1st place winners will receive one-year's supply of Purex Tropical Splash Detergent & Honey Bunches of Oats Tropical Blends Cereal. One hundred (100) 2nd place winners will receive coupons for FREE Purex Tropical Splash Detergent & Honey Bunches of Oats Tropical Blends Cereal.

Enter to win here: http://insiders.purex.com/tropical-trio?id=1254

DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: Thanks to Purex for providing me this promotion information. By posting about this sweepstakes I will be entered to win a Purex Insiders-only grand prize of $1000 and 100 first place winners will receive a $25 Amazon gift card! My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any compensation for posting this promo.

A Home for Lydia by Vannetta Chapman FWCT Book Review

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

Today's Wild Card author is:

Vannetta Chapman

and the book:

A Home for Lydia

Harvest House Publishers (February 1, 2013)

***Special thanks to Ginger Chen for sending me a review copy.***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Vannetta Chapman has published more than 100 articles in Christian family magazines. She discovered her love for the Amish while researching her grandfather’s birthplace in Albion, Pennsylvania. Vannetta is a multi-award-winning member of Romance Writers of America. She was a teacher for 15 years and currently resides in the Texas Hill country. Her first two inspirational novels—A Simple Amish Christmas and Falling to Pieces—were Christian Book Distributors bestsellers.

Visit the author's website.

SHORT BOOK DESCRIPTION:

A Home for Lydia, the second book in a new romantic series from popular author Vannetta Chapman, centers again on the Plain community of Pebble Creek and the kind, caring people there. As they face challenges to their community from the English world, they come together to reach out to their non-Amish neighbors while still preserving their cherished Plain ways.

Aaron Troyer simply wants to farm like his father and grandfather before him. But instead he finds himself overseeing the family's small group of guest cabins nestled along the banks of Pebble Creek. That also means he must work with the cabins' housekeeper, Lydia Fisher.

Lydia is the most outspoken Amish woman Aaron has ever met, and she has strong opinions about how the guest cabins are to be run. She also desperately needs this job. Though sparks fly between boss and employee at first, when the cabins are robbed, nothing is more important to Aaron than making sure Lydia is safe.

Together they work to make the vacation property profitable, but can they find out the identity of the culprit before more damage is done? And is Lydia's dream of a home of her own more than just a wish and a prayer?

Product Details:
List Price: $13.99
Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers (February 1, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0736946144
ISBN-13: 978-0736946148

AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:

• Prologue •

Wisconsin

May

Lydia Fisher pulled her sweater around her shoulders and sank down on the top step of the last cabin as the sun set along Pebble Creek. The waters had begun to recede from last week’s rains, but the creek still pushed at its banks—running swiftly past the Plain Cabins and not pausing to consider her worries.

Debris from the flooding reached to the bottom step of cabin twelve. She could have reached out and nudged it with the toe of her shoe. Fortunately, the water hadn’t made it into the small cottages.

Almost, though.

Only two days ago she’d stood at the office window and watched as the waters had crept closer to the picturesque buildings nestled along the creek—watched and prayed.

Now the sun was dropping, and she knew she should harness Tin Star to the buggy and head home. Her mother would be putting dinner on the table. Her brother and sisters would be needing help with schoolwork. Her father would be waiting.

Standing up with a weariness that was unnatural for her twenty-two years, Lydia trudged back toward the front of the property, checking each cabin as she went.

All were locked and secure.

All were vacant.

Perhaps this weekend the Englisch tourists would return and provide some income for the owner, Elizabeth Troyer. Guests would also ensure that Lydia kept her job. If the cabins were to close and she were to lose her employment, she wouldn’t be able to convince her brother to stay in school. Their last conversation on the matter had turned into an argument—one she’d nearly lost.

Pulling their old black gelding from the barn, she tied Tin Star’s lead rope to the hitching post, and then she began to work the collar up and over his ears.

“You’re a gut boy. Are you ready to go home? Ready for some oats? I imagine you are.”

He’d been their buggy horse since she was a child, and Lydia knew his days were numbered. What would her family do when he gave out on them? As she straightened his mane and made sure the collar pad protected his shoulders and neck, she paused to rest her cheek against his side. The horse’s sure steady breathing brought her a measure of comfort.

Reaching into the pocket of her jacket, she brought out a handful of raisins. Tin Star’s lips on her hand were soft and wet. Lydia rubbed his neck as she glanced back once more at the cluster of buildings which had become like a small community to her—a community she was responsible for maintaining.

Squaring her shoulders, she climbed into the buggy and turned toward home.

• Chapter 1 •

Downtown Cashton

Thursday afternoon, two weeks later

Aaron Troyer stepped off the bus, careful to avoid a large puddle of rainwater. Because no one else was exiting at Cashton, he didn’t have to wait long for the driver to remove his single piece of luggage from the storage compartment. He’d thanked the man and shouldered the duffel bag when the buggy coming in the opposite direction hit an even bigger puddle, soaking him.

The bus driver had managed to jump out of the way at the last second. “Good luck to you, son.”

With a nod the man was back on the bus, heading farther west. A part of Aaron wished he were riding with him. Another part longed to take the next bus back east, back where he’d come from, back to Indiana.

Neither was going to happen, so he repositioned his damp duffel bag and surveyed his surroundings.

Not much to Cashton.

According to his uncle and his dad, the town was about the same size as Monroe, but Aaron couldn’t tell it. He supposed new places never did measure up to expectations, especially when a fellow would rather not be there.

The ride had been interesting enough. They had crossed the northern part of Indiana, skirted the southern tip of Lake Michigan, traveled through Chicago and Rockford, and finally entered Wisconsin in the south central portion of the state. Aaron had seen more cities in the last twenty-four hours than he’d visited in his entire life. Those had been oddities to him. Something he would tell his family about once he was home, but nothing he would ever care to see again. But passing through the Hidden Valley region of southwestern Wisconsin—now that had caused him to sit up straighter and gaze out of the bus’s window.

There had been an older Englisch couple sitting behind him. They’d had tourist brochures that they read aloud to each other. He’d caught the highlights as he tried to sleep.

He heard them use the word “driftless.” The term apparently indicated a lack of glacial drift. His dat would laugh at that one. Not that he discounted all aspects of science, but he had his doubts regarding what was and wasn’t proven as far as the Ice Age.

According to the couple’s brochure, Wildcat Mountain to the east of Cashton was teeming with wildlife and good hiking. Any other time he might be interested in that piece of information, but he wasn’t staying, so it didn’t matter much to him.

He also learned that small towns in the Driftless Area were at risk of major flooding every fifty to one hundred years.

Staring down at his damp pants, he wondered how much rain they’d had. How much rain were they expecting? He hoped he wouldn’t be here long enough to find out.

Aaron glanced up and down the street. He saw a town hall, a tavern, a café, a general store, and a feed store. A larger building, probably three stories high, rose in the distance, but he had no desire to walk that far because it could be in the wrong direction. Already the sun was heading west, and he’d rather be at the cabins before dark.

Several streets branched off the main one, but they didn’t look any more promising. Pushing his hat down more firmly on his head, he cinched up the duffel bag and walked resolutely toward the feed store.

Instead of heading toward the front door, he moved down the side of the building to the loading docks, where two pickup trucks and a buggy were parked.

Fortunately, it wasn’t the buggy that had sprayed him with rainwater and mud. He would rather not ask information of that person, though in all likelihood the driver had no idea what he’d done. Folks seldom slowed down enough to look outside their own buggy window—even Amish folk. It appeared some things were the same whether you were in Wisconsin or Indiana.

He approached the loading docks, intending to find the owner of the parked buggy.

“That duffel looks heavy… and wet.”

Turning in surprise, he saw a man leaning against the driver’s side of the buggy. Aaron could tell he was tall, even though he was half sitting, tall and thin. Somber brown eyes studied him, and a full dark beard indicated the man was married. Which was no surprise, because a basket with a baby in it sat on the buggy’s floor. The baby couldn’t have been more than a few months old, based on the size of the basket. He couldn’t see much except for a blanket and two small fists waving in the air.

“Duffel wouldn’t be wet if someone hadn’t been determined to break the speed limit with a sorrel mare.”

The man smiled, reached down, and slipped a pacifier into the baby’s mouth. “That would probably have been one of the Eicher boys. I’m sure he meant no harm, but both of them tend to drive on the far side of fast.”

He placed the walnut bowl he’d been sanding with a piece of fine wool on the seat, dusted his hands on his trousers, and then he stepped forward. “Name’s Gabe Miller.”

“Aaron Troyer.”

“Guess you’re new in town.”

“Ya. Just off the bus.”

“Explains the duffel.”

Aaron glanced again at the sun, headed west. Why did it seem to speed up once it was setting? “I was looking for the Plain Cabins on Pebble Creek. Have you heard of them?”

“If you’re needing a room for the night, we can either find you a place or take you to our bishop. No need for you to rent a cabin.”

Easing the duffel bag off his shoulder and onto the ground, Aaron rested his hands on top of it. “Actually I need to go to the cabins for personal reasons. Could you tell me where they are?”

“Ya. I’d be happy to give you directions, but it’s a fair piece from here if you’re planning on walking.”

Aaron pulled off his hat and ran his hand over his hair. Slowly he replaced it as he considered his options. He’d boarded the bus ten hours earlier. He was used to long days and hard work. Though he was only twenty-three, he’d been working in the fields for nine years—since he’d left the schoolhouse after eighth grade. It was work he enjoyed. What he didn’t like was ten hours on a bus, moving farther away from his home, on a trip that seemed to him like a fool’s mission.

“Sooner I start, sooner I’ll arrive.”

“Plain Cabins are on what we call the west side of Pebble Creek.”

“You mean the west side of Cashton?”

“Well, Cashton is the name of the town, but Plain folks mostly refer to Pebble Creek, the river.”

“The same river going through town?”

“Yes. There are two Plain communities here—one to the east side of town, and one to the west. I live on the east side. The cabins you’re looking for are on the west. The town’s sort of in the middle. You can walk to them from here, but as I said, it’s a good ways. Maybe five miles, and there are quite a few hills in between, not to mention that bag you’re carrying… ”

Instead of answering, Aaron hoisted the duffel to his shoulder.

Throughout the conversation, Gabe’s expression had been pleasant but serious. At the sound of voices, he glanced up and across the street, toward the general store. When he did, Aaron noticed a subtle change in the man, like light shifting across a room. Some of the seriousness left his eyes and contentment spread across his face.

Following his gaze, Aaron saw the reason why—a woman. She was beautiful and had the darkest hair he’d ever seen on an Amish woman. A small amount peeked out from the edges of her prayer kapp. She was holding the hand of a young girl, who was the spitting image of the man before him. Both the woman and the child were carrying shopping bags.

“I was waiting on my family. Looks like they’re done. We’d be happy to take you by the cabins.”

“I don’t want to be a bother,” Aaron mumbled.

Gabe smiled, and now the seriousness was completely gone, as if having his family draw close had vanquished it. As if having his family close had eased all of the places in his heart.

Aaron wondered what that felt like. He wanted to be back with his own parents, brothers, and sisters in Indiana, but even there he felt an itching, a restlessness no amount of work could satisfy.

From what he’d seen of Wisconsin so far, he could tell he wasn’t going to be any happier here. He’d arrived less than thirty minutes ago, and he couldn’t wait to get back home.

Gabe was already moving toward his wife, waving away his protest.

“If it were a bother, I wouldn’t have offered.”

Box Tops for Education: Pantry Stock Up Review and Giveaway

I love to help out local schools with the Box Tops program even though I homeschool. When I heard on February 3rd that the Crestline Elementary school in Vancouver, Washington had been destroyed because of a fire I started collecting Box Tops for them and the Evergreen School District that they are in. More than 500 students and staff were displaced because of the fire and they need all the help they can get to recover. You can also help in sending Box Tops to them too.

Also, Betty Crocker® and Box Tops is having the Sweetest School in America contest for your school to win 250,000 Box Tops (registered schools automatically entered). The school that increases its clip earnings the most wins. Hurry and start clipping for your school! Contest ends March 1, 2013.

Box Tops for Education® and its popular brand partners want us to celebrate with them for raising more than $525 million earned for schools since the program started in 1996. General Mills sent us a Pantry Stock Up gift pack filled with products with Box Tops on them, it includes:

• New Peanut Butter Toast Crunch® cereal
• Nature Valley® Chewy Trail Mix Dark Chocolate Cherry and Protein Salted Caramel Nut
• Fiber One® Protein Bars
• Progresso® Recipe Starters
• Food Should Taste Good® Chips
• Green Giant Fresh® Box Tops for Education pencil pouch
• Betty Crocker® Chicken Helper® Sweet & Sour Chicken and Parmesan Crusted Chicken
• Betty Crocker® Mac & Cheese and Au Gratin potatoes
• Kleenex® wallet pack and 184 count box
• Scott® toilet paper (4 roll) and paper towel roll
• Avery® dry erase weekly calendar
• Ziploc® bowls and bags
• Yoplait® Frozen Yogurt free product coupon

My thoughts:
I have been reading more product labels lately. It is something I am doing for the health of my family. Some labels have ingredients on them that I am not really familiar with. I try to buy products that are good for my family and the environment. The following is my assessment of these products...

Not everyone likes peanut butter in my family so the new Peanut Butter Toast Crunch® cereal was a hit with my kids, but not with my husband. I liked it fine, but am only occasionally in the mood for peanut butter flavored things. The first ingredient in this cereal is whole grain wheat and it has 11g of it per serving (3/4 cup). It also says it is made with real peanut butter, but it is also artificially flavored. If you are allergic to wheat or peanuts this cereal is not for you. These ingredients in it had me looking them up: Maltodextrin, Dextrose, Trisodium Phosphate (TSP), Color Added and BHT. Box Tops located on the box.

The Nature Valley® Chewy Trail Mix Dark Chocolate Cherry and Protein Salted Caramel Nut granola bars were yummy. I loved the Dark Chocolate Cherry flavor. They were really delicious. They have dark chocolate chunks, dried cranberries, dried cherries and whole almonds mixed in with the granola. They contain: almond, soy and may contain peanut, sunflower and milk ingredients (FYI if you are allergic to any of these). These ingredients had me looking them up: High Maltose Corn Syrup, Soy Lecithin, Maltodextrin, Vegetable Glycerine and Mixed Tocopherols. The Protein Salted Caramel Nut granola bars have 10g of protein per bar. These bars have roasted peanuts, almonds and granola with a salted caramel glazed bottom. They were pretty tasty and satisfying, but still not my favorite of the granola bars I received. They contain: peanut, soy, almond and milk ingredients (FYI if you are allergic to any of these). These ingredients in them had me looking them up: High Maltose Corn Syrup, Vegetable Glycerine, Rice Maltodextrin, Soy Lecithin, Gum Arabic. Box Tops on the boxes.

The Fiber One® Protein Bars I received were Coconut Almond flavored. These have 6g total fat, 4g saturated fat and 6g protein per bar. They give 20% of the daily value of fiber per bar.  These bars have a mix of granola, coconut, and almonds dipped in a chocolate covering. They were really yummy. I love coconut and chocolate! They contain: almond, milk and coconut; and may contain wheat (FYI if you are allergic to any of these). These ingredients in them had me looking them up: Vegetable Glycerine, Maltodextrin, Soy Lecithin, Propylene Glycol, Sodium Alginate, Caramel Color, Sodium Metabisulfite, Mixed Tocopherols. Box Tops located on the box.

The Progresso® Recipe Starters Cooking Sauce that I received was the Creamy Roasted Garlic with Chicken Stock. The recipe on the can sounded really yummy...Easy Weeknight Chicken Pot Pie and you could see all the things you would need for the recipe on the label and then peal for the recipe on the inside of the label. You can also scan the label with your smart phone for more recipes. This was very yummy in a easy meal I threw together with some chicken, noodles, and a bag of mixed frozen veggies. You can also eat this as a soup, no water needed. It contains: milk, soy and egg (FYI if you are allergic to any of these). These ingredients in it had me looking them up: Maltodextrin, Sodium Phosphate. Box Tops located on the label.

The Food Should Taste Good® Chips were a great mostly good for you salty, crunchy snack. I received the Multigrain variety. These are tortilla chips/crackers that are made with flax, sunflower, and sesame seeds, quinoa, soy and brown rice. These are: all natural, certified gluten free, certified vegan, certified kosher, low sodium, cholesterol free, a good source of fiber and an excellent source of whole grains. They have no: MSG, trans fat, artificial: colors, flavors, or preservatives. These were really yummy chips. the serving size was the whole 1.5oz bag or about 15 chips. The small bag we received so I wasn't quite satisfied although. I loved the nutty flavor these chips brought to the table. This ingredient label was awesome, save one thing...they do contain corn so there is a chance of GMOs. Also FYI if you are allergic to soy and sesame this product contains it.

The Green Giant Fresh® Box Tops for Education pencil pouch is a small green zippered pocket that has the Green Green Giant Fresh® and Box Tops for Education logos printed on one side. The zipper is reinforced well and it looks like it will hold up to a lot of zipping. It has two pencils, a pen and a lip balm inside with the logos also on them. The school/office supplies are great for homeschool. The lip balm is has no smell and is SPF 30. Lip balm has active ingredients of Octinoxate, Octocrylene, Octisalate, and Oxybenzone.

The Betty Crocker® Chicken Helper® Sweet & Sour Chicken and Parmesan Crusted Chicken are meal helpers in case you need to throw together a meal quickly and/or don't know how to with your own ingredients at home. They are both fairly new flavors. I tried out the Parmesan Crusted Chicken one. It is spiral pasta with sauce and some seasoned crumb coating for the 1 pound of chicken that you provide to go with it. The directions are easy to follow. I found though that my homemade white sauce for noodles was better than this boxed stuff. I think I could have done better myself homemade and with less filler ingredients than this had in it. Of course if you have little to no cooking skills or looking for something to whip up super quick I guess this is better than nothing. The Parmesan Crusted Chicken contains: wheat, milk; may contain egg and soy (FYI if you are allergic to any of these). These ingredients in it had me looking them up: Dextrose, Polydextrose, Monosodium Glutamate (MSG), Sodium Phosphate, Sodium Alginate, Monoglycerides, Sodium Caseinate, Mannitol, Silicon Dioxide. The Sweet & Sour Chicken has white rice with a sweet and sour sauce and seasoned cornstarch coating for the chicken you provide. It contains: soy, egg, and wheat; may contain milk (FYI if you are allergic to any of these). These ingredients in it had me looking them up: Maltodextrin, Caramel Color, Yellow 5 & 6 Lakes, Red 40 Lake, Sodium Phosphate, Silicon Dioxide. Box Tops located on both boxes.

The Betty Crocker® Mac & Cheese and Au Gratin potatoes were both super simple to make and you can use them as meal additions. The Mac & Cheese was different to make than other macaroni and cheese products I have made because you didn't have to drain the noodles before you add the cheese and other ingredients, but it did take more stirring than normal. You just add all the ingredients together that it calls for on the back of the box and stir frequently. After heating to boiling you reduce the heat and simmer about 12 minutes, also stirring frequently until pasta is tender and sauce thickens. I received one box of the Extra Cheesy and one box of the Twists. Both have very similar ingredients and contain: wheat, milk and soy; may contain egg (FYI if you are allergic to any of these). These ingredients in it had me looking them up: Maltodextrin, Xanthan Gum, Potassium Phosphate, Yellow 5 & 6 Lakes, Sodium Phosphate, Tocopherols, Silicon Dioxide, Soy Lecithin. Box Tops located on both boxes. The Au Gratin says it is made with 100% real potatoes and has a cheesy, creamy sauce. Inside the box it comes with a bag of dried potatoes that are already sliced thinly and a package of powdered cheese. I crave Au Gratin potatoes a lot, but really the homemade isn't that difficult to make. This just cuts down on preparation. I loved this great comfort food's cheesy deliciousness and these were eaten up quickly. This contains: wheat and milk; may contain soy (FYI if you are allergic to any of these). These ingredients in it had me looking them up: Maltodextrin, Potassium Phosphate, Potassium Chloride, Monosodium Glutamate (MSG), Sodium Citrate, Mono and Diglycerides, Sodium Phosphate, Yellow 5 & 6 Lakes, Silicon Dioxide, Sodium Bisulfite. Double the Box Tops located on box.

The Kleenex® wallet pack and 184 count box are nice to have especially if you have germs going around the house. The wallet pack is especially useful to take on trips. They are both unscented. The tissues are 2-ply and soft for raw noses. These are great for everyday sniffles, sneezes and tears. However these are not very environmentally friendly as they are whitened with chlorine bleach. Box Tops located on the box.

The Scott® toilet paper (4 roll) and paper towel roll were very nice to receive. The toilet paper/bathroom tissue was extra soft and unscented. These were 1-ply and was a bag of 4 double rolls (308 sheets per roll). Says septic safe, but I wouldn't put anything down a septic that you didn't eat or drink first. Box Tops located on bag. The paper towels are quilted with a ridged design that quickly absorbs to clean up messes. They seemed durable and had 52 1-ply towels per one roll. Box Tops located on bag.

The Avery® dry erase weekly calendar is a PVC free wipe-able, removable peel and stick home and family organizer. It sticks to most clean non porous/textured surfaces and is 12"x6". This particular one was a nice moss green with butterflies in one corner. It is wonderful, but I wish it was magnetic instead because I would love to be able to remove it multiple times and have it still be able to stick to the surface. I have a filing cabinet and a fridge that I would love to move this back and forth to. Otherwise this will help me stay more organized with meal planning and other things. Box Tops located on packaging.

Ziploc® bowls and bags will help me stay organized in the kitchen as well. The bowls (4 of them) each come with their own lids and have a Smart Snap Seal® that makes closing the lids easy. The lid also has a place to write with a permanent marker the date of when you placed contents into it. The bowls and lids are dishwasher (top rack), freezer and microwave safe. They are BPA free and recyclable at participating retailers in the U.S. The bowls can hold 24fl. oz. (3 cups) 709ml. These are great for storage of leftovers or food, baked goods, or crafts. The size is perfect for homemade salsa and a green or fruit salad. There are marks along the side of the bowls for measuring and pouring. The bottom of these have texture for better gripping. I think these are great because they are re-usable and hold a fair amount. Box Tops located on the box. The bags were sandwich size bags in a 100 count box. I love the Smart Zip Seal® that you can feel come together between your thumb and pointer finger. These are also BPA free and recyclable at participating retailers in the U.S. Ziploc has partnered with Recyclebank and this product gives you 12 points towards gifts. These bags are not recommended for liquids or use in the microwave. These bags are the perfect size for sandwiches or a small amount of something and are 6 1/2 inches by 5 1/2 inches (16.5cm by 14.9cm). Box Tops located on the box.

The Yoplait® Frozen Yogurt free product coupon entitles you to one (1) FREE Yoplait® Frozen Yogurt Original or Greek Pint or Frozen Novelty Carton and expires the end of this year. These come in such delicious flavors as: Frozen Yogurt Bars Honey Caramel, Frozen Yogurt Bars Raspberry, Frozen Yogurt Bars Peach, Frozen Yogurt Bars Strawberry Banana, Greek Black Cherry, Greek Blueberry, Greek Honey Caramel, and Greek Peach. These are so good! I love yogurt and frozen yogurt is especially good on a hot day. These contain: milk and eggs (FYI if you are allergic to any of these). Some of these products contain these ingredients in them that had me looking them up: Carrageenan, Inulin.

WIN IT
Prize: One lucky reader will get a chance to stock their shelves with these great household brands too.

I am trying out Rafflecopter on my blog. Please click on this post link if you do not see the script for it below. Also, if there is anything that is wrong with it let me know by emailing me: finamoon AT gmail DOT com I will try my best at fixing it. Thanks for being awesome readers!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: I received product to review and the same product to giveaway for free. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any other compensation for doing this review.

Jim Henson's Pajanimals Play Date DVD Review and Giveaway

PAJANIMALS is co-produced by The Jim Henson Company, Sprout and Sixteen South Television. This cute TV series airs nightly on 24-hour preschool television channel Sprout® during its The Good Night Show and also airs on NBC on Saturday mornings as part of the NBC Kids programming block. This show follows Cowbella (the cow), Apollo (the dog), Sweetpea Sue (the horse) and Squacky (the duck) as they take young viewers on exciting imaginary adventures with song, dance, new friends, and lessons to learn in every episode. PAJANIMALS teaches important social and emotional skills that preschoolers need to move through their days successfully, especially during bedtime.

February is the month of love with Valentine’s Day (February 14), Celebration of Love Week (February 10 – 16) and Love Your Pet Day (February 20), and Pajanimals want to help you celebrate by offering free PAJANIMALS - themed Valentine’s Day printable cards available now at http://www.sproutonline.com/printables/pajanimals-printable-valentines-day-cards

In the PAJANIMALS Play Date DVD distributed by NCircle Entertainment you get to see 5 stories:

• I'm Sorry, Really Sorry (teaches the importance of forgiveness and the words, "I'm sorry")
• A Colorful Problem (teaches the importance of sharing)
• Game Day (teaches the importance of exercise and having fun with your friends)
• The Rocket Ride (teaches the importance of telling the truth and knowing that your friends will be understanding)
• Share Day (teaches the importance of knowing that everyone has been nervous at some point, overcoming shyness, and that with friends you can do anything)

Includes these songs:

• Pajanimals Bounce (an upbeat song to get the wiggles out before bed)
• Our Friendship Song (great song about friendship)
• Brusha, Brusha, Brusha (great song about brushing your teeth)
• Stick to the Plan (song about bedtime routine)
• Jiggle, Jumble and Jump (an exercise song)
• Pajanimals Freeze Dance (a song about a game called Freeze Dance)
• Octopus Huggle (cute song about hugs)

Approx 60 minutes long

I had my daughters watch this before their bed routine. My daughters loved this DVD! They danced to the songs and shortly after it was over wanted to brush their teeth, get their PJs on and go to bed. This DVD has cute Muppet characters that come to life with song and dance. Each story teaches great morals and lessons that are reiterated at the end. I enjoyed watching these with my daughters and seeing them enjoy themselves.

BUY IT
You can purchase the PAJANIMALS Play Date from NCircle Entertainment for $8.99

WIN IT
Prize: Jim Henson's Pajanimals Play Date DVD

I am trying out Rafflecopter on my blog. Please click on this post link if you do not see the script for it below. Also, if there is anything that is wrong with it let me know by emailing me: finamoon AT gmail DOT com I will try my best at fixing it. Thanks for being awesome readers!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: I received product to review and the opportunity to giveaway the same product for free. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any other compensation for doing this review.

Snuggly Toes Review

Snuggly Toes are feet warmers made from all natural alpaca fibers that are first spun into yarn, knit into a "blanket," then felted into fabric. Each "blanket" is felted 3 times to make Snuggly Toes very durable. Just slide them into a boot, shoe or slipper and the alpaca fibers make a soft cushion under your feet, wick away moisture and keep the bottom of your feet nice and toasty warm. Alpaca fibers are naturally warmer than wool. Snuggly Toes are made in the USA at Springtime Farms right here in Oregon. They are also machine washable on cold and should be air dried. They are also free of dyes, pesticides and bleach.

My husband was diagnosed with Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) last year. What that basically means is that his autonomic nervous system doesn't function properly and because of this he has problems standing for long periods of time and has to sit/lay down or he: has an abnormally large increase in heart rate (called tachycardia) and a decrease in cerebral blood flow which causes dizziness and trouble thinking. It is very hard for him to maintain homeostasis when changing position. He also gets extremely cold extremities because of the POTS so I decided my husband could benefit more from these than I, so I got a pair of size men's 12 for him to try out. His boots that he inserted them into are a size 13 wide and they fit wonderfully.

He told me that the Snuggly Toes kept the bottoms of his feet snug and toasty warm. He loved how perfect they fit in his boots and that they were comfortable to walk on. He said it was like walking on a thermal cloud. We did notice that some of the alpaca fiber got stuck to the bottom of his socks when ever he pulled his feet out of his boots but that was to be expected. We are very happy with Snuggly Toes and how well they worked.

Snuggly Toes are wonderful for people that generally have cold feet or need some extra thermal protection from brisk autumn air to cold winters. They are perfect to use in your boots or shoes out in the freezing snow or rain. They are also fabulous for use with a pair of slippers inside the home. Great for snow boots, hiking boots, wellies, tennis shoes, slippers, Crocs, etc. No more Jack Frost nipping at your toes :)

BUY IT
For $39.95 you can purchase a pair for women or men. For $14.95 you can get them in kids sizes. You can also find other products for purchase on the Snuggly Toes website like alpaca: pet beds, yarn, roving, fawn fiber, bedding, hats, magnets, and wreath and bird nest materials.

DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: I received product to facilitate my review. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any other compensation for doing this review.

Real Kids Shades Eye Protection For Kids Review and Giveaway

Everyone knows that the sun can damage the skin and most parents know to whip out the sun screen to lather on their family before they go outside as a protection from harmful UV rays. But did you know that UV rays from the sun can cause permanent damage to the eyes. Eyes can not repair themselves like the skin can and the damage can build up over time. UV rays can also still do damage anytime of the year and even on overcast and cloudy days. This is why it is so important to protect not only your whole family's skin, but also their eyes when they are outside.

Real Kids Shades is a great company that promotes sun eye protection for kids. They sell a wide variety of stylish sun glasses with super sun protection for babies, toddlers, and kids up to age 12. These sunglasses have a number of wonderful features which make them even more desired for a parent to purchase for their kids:

• Third-party verification of 100% UV-A/UV-B protection
• Durable - shatterproof and impact-resistant polycarbonate lenses
• Wrap-around frames to protect from peripheral light
• Comfortable fit - not too tight, not too loose
• Transparent enough to see your child's eyes
• Tested to contain no lead, BPA or phthalates
• Affordable - prices range from $14.99-$39.99

Teela received the Flex Duo Shades for 3 - 7 Years in Purple/Pink to try out. The Flex Duo Shades for 3 - 7 came with a reusable pouch and removable neoprene® strap. They have flexible rubber frames that are a great fit for Teela's head. They are also rustproof and waterproof proving to be great when she is playing in water or in the rain. I had a lot of trouble getting the neoprene® strap on her sunglasses, so I just left it off. It would be a great addition if I could get it on easier. Teela does keep the sunglasses on her face so hopefully she won't misplace them or have them fall off. She really loves them and wanted to wear them all day when we first got them. I had to tell her they were only for outdoor use. So when ever she goes outside now she puts them on.

Jaedan received the Xtreme Gear Convertible for 7 - 12 Years in Silver to try out. The Xtreme Gear Convertible for 7 - 12 Years came in a reusable zippered case with foam padding inside. They have a small button on each side where you can slide the temples (arms/sides that are placed over the ears) off and replace them with bands that snap into place and can be adjusted. Before putting them back in the case you have to put the temples back on or they will not fit. Also, even with proper adjusting my son had problems with the lenses fogging up. I am not sure what to really do for this issue. Otherwise he really liked them and thought they looked cool on him.

WIN IT
Prize: Win one pair of Real Kids Shades - winners choice (style, size and color).

I am trying out Rafflecopter on my blog. Please click on this post link if you do not see the script for it below. Also, if there is anything that is wrong with it let me know by emailing me: finamoon AT gmail DOT com I will try my best at fixing it. Thanks for being awesome readers!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: I received product to review and one to giveaway for free. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any other compensation for doing this review.