***Disclosure: I received complimentary samples to facilitate my review. No other compensation was provided, and all opinions are 100% honest and have not been influenced in any way.*** With the Holiday season upon us, many people are still making mad dashes to the store and shopping online to get those perfect gifts. Sadly, there are people out there who prey on others during this peak shopping time.
True story: Just this past week, we received a fraud alert from our bank. We found out that someone had tried to purchase $1600 in airfare to Italy! Yikes! Thankfully, our bank is very on top of their game and alerted us immediately. Still, we had to cancel our check card and have a new one overnighted to us. You can avoid having this happen to you by shopping safe this Holiday season. Master Lock and Mario Armstrong, Digital Lifestyle Expert™ have provided tips and tools to help navigate the holiday safety, securely and with as little stress as possible. 1. Make smart online purchases. The convenience of online holiday shopping can quickly be derailed if you become a victim of identity theft due to sharing your credit card and shipping data with a non-secure site. Before entering any personal or financial information, check to make sure the website is secure. 2. Click with caution. Consumers may be bombarded with link-heavy holiday emails this season sending well wishes or advertising hot gift items and sales. Consumers are advised to click links with caution to avoid a malware-spreading site. 3. Set and track your budget. Avoid post-holiday regret or debt by setting a realistic budget and tracking your purchases to ensure you adhere to it. A variety of apps and websites can help you with your budget tracking goals, such as Mint.com or the Master Lock Vault. 4. Keep digital receipts. Easily file away receipts from your holiday shopping in one place to cross-reference purchase dates and totals with your bank and credit card billing statements to check for any unfamiliar charges, or to facilitate easy returns after the holidays. 5. Don't leave a digital trail to your gift purchases. If you are using a computer that other family members use and don't want them to see what sites you've visited, enable your browser's private browsing feature when researching and buying gifts.
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***Disclosure: I received complimentary samples to facilitate my review. No other compensation was provided and all opinions are 100% honest and have not been influenced in any way.*** I have always been more of a shower person than bath person. Don't get me wrong, I love the occasional bubble bath. I just usually don't have the time to enjoy one with 3 kids to care for, a house to maintain, and of course, work here on the blog. So a 10 minute shower is usually my only time to relax and pamper myself with all of my "smell good stuff", as my husband calls it. He doesn't know the difference between all of my body scrubs, shower gels, etc. I don't know about you, but taking a shower in peace is one thing I look forward to every day. It definitely doesn't happen that way the majority of the time, though...It seems I always have little people barging into the bathroom to interrupt my "me" time! So I try and make the most of my showering time, even if it does end up being brief because someone tried to flush a cat down the toilet. (True story....Never let your husband "supervise" 2 and 3 year old when there are video games in the house!) Recently, I discovered a product that brings a spa-like experience into your shower. The Rejuvenator Microbubble Shower Head may look like an ordinary shower head, but it's anything but. This awesome product has Microbubble technology that produces millions of tiny bubbles that gently deep clean and exfoliate, leaving your skin and hair feeling absolutely amazing. The best part? Even if you're taking a super-hot shower like I prefer, you're never left feeling parched or dried-out. Here's a bit more info about the Rejuvenator and why it will change the way you look at your shower!
***Disclosure: As a Smiley360 Blogger, I received complimentary samples to facilitate my review. No other compensation has been provided and all opinions are 100% honest and have not been influenced in any way.*** This time of year, for some reason I end up always feeling run down. I don't know if it's the insanity of the Holiday season and the 5 million things I have to get done in a day, or if it's the frigid weather here in Ohio that I doubt I will ever truly get used to, but I usually end up feeling completely drained and just...well...blah.
Recently, I received a package full of Airborne products to try out for myself. This is a brand I have heard of but never tried, so I was eager to see what all the hype is about. ***Disclosure: I received complimentary samples to facilitate my review. No other compensation has been provided and all opinions are 100% honest and have not been influenced in any way.*** One of my favorite things about the Holiday season is that I get to cook....A lot! It seems I am always in the kitchen making appetizers, desserts, and of course delicious casseroles and main dishes. I love to cook, so any excuse to feed people I can find makes me giddy with excitement.
This year, we plan on making a lot of fruit dishes. My kids are more than a little obsessed with fresh fruits, and I prefer healthier options than cakes, pies, and pastries. (Of course we will be making some of those as well.) The folks at Driscoll's Berries are excited about the Holidays, too. They have tons of fantastic Holiday berry recipes that are perfect for entertaining. I found so many mouth-watering appetizers, desserts, and main dish recipes on their website, and I will definitely be trying several of them. Perhaps I will even make this adorable and very festive Very Berry Holiday Tree! ***Disclosure: I received complimentary samples to facilitate my review. No other compensation was provided, and all opinions are 100% honest and have not been influenced in any way.*** When I was a kid, it seems that every year I received some sort of building toy for Christmas. My little brother and I would spend hours and hours building towers, houses, and even odd looking block creatures. We'd play together, and would play quietly, since we were so engaged with the building projects at hand. (And my poor parents would get a break from Mike and I trying to kill each other!) Now that I am the parent of 3 kids, I totally understand why building toys are all the rage. They help little ones with so many different skills from hand-eye coordination, creativity, and if playing with a sibling, teamwork. My youngest children love building, so I knew that this Christmas, there would be tons of MEGA BLOKS toys under the tree. My little ones will be receiving the Billy Beats Dancing Piano, as well as a MEGA BLOKS First Builders Big Building Bag and Character sets. These are super-fun products geared towards toddlers and preschoolers, and are sure to be a huge hit!
Of course I just had to open these great toys, at least temporarily, to see how the kids reacted for review purposes. Luckily, Sophie and Xander are still very young and by the time we open gifts on Christmas morning, they will have forgotten that they'd already played with them! (We hope!) It’s the great home flooring debate! Carpet and hardwood flooring are two of the most popular flooring styles, but which one is best for you? Below are a few pros of both, to help you decide between the two.
***Disclosure: I received complimentary samples to facilitate my review. No other compensation was provided, and all opinions are 100% honest and have not been influenced in any way. Are you an animal lover? If so, you know that while having fur-babies brings tons of joy, it can also bring some very nasty smells. Whether it's urine, feces, "cat gak" or just the smell of animals in general, pet-owners face quite a challenge eliminating pet odors. Sure, there are candles, potpourri and scented oils. These are wonderful and smell nice, but they don't truly eliminate the offending odors. Often times, they don't even cover them up.
We have tons of pets. Okay. Tons is a bit of an overstatement. But we do have both cats and small dogs, and they can definitely put out some odors! In fact, whenever there is ANY odor in my home, chances are, our pets are the culprits. Here are the usual suspects. This is Pringles, Havarti, and Truffles. They're a sweet bunch of kitties, but their litter boxes aren't quite as nice.... ***I received complimentary product as well as compensation to facilitate my review. All opinions are 100% honest and have not been influenced in any way.*** Folks, I have a dilemma when it comes to Christmas time. You see, I have 3 kids, but there is a HUGE age difference between my oldest and my younger children. Kyle is almost 14, and Sophie and Xander are preschool aged. That means there is about 10 years between him and Sophie, and 11 years age difference between him and Xander.
Usually this age gap works out very well, since he is an amazing and very helpful big brother. Usually. When it comes to the Holidays, I have found myself begging and pleading with him to pretend there is a real Santa, for his brother and sister's sake. This is usually met with an exaggerated sigh and some serious eye-rolling. Thankfully, Kyle hasn't let the proverbial cat out of the bag yet. But if he ever does, I am armed with proof that Santa is not only real, but that he's been sighted in our very own house! Check it out! ***Disclosure: All info and promotional items have been provided courtesy of Tortle and 2 Red Hens. All opinions are 100% honest and have not been influenced in any way.*** If you're a mom, you're probably all too familiar with "Flathead syndrome". Thankfully my kids didn't really end up with this, but I know of many children who have been diagnosed with this syndrome.
How do babies get Flathead syndrome? When a baby is born, their skulls are still rather pliable. Since babies spend a great deal of time on their backs since it's the safest position for them to be in before they're truly mobile, they're at great risk of developing this problem. The incidence of Plagiocephaly and Torticollis (or Flathead syndrome) has increased to epidemic proportions since 1992 with more than a million babies being diagnosed with the condition each year in the U.S. alone. If left untreated, there can be long-standing problems. Treatment is frequently expensive and can be somewhat uncomfortable for a baby. Plagiocephaly and Torticollis are almost 100% preventable with repositioning. There's also a great product called the Tortle that can help prevent Flathead syndrome. This is a cute little lightweight beanie that not only keeps baby's head warm and cozy, it also gently redirects baby's head from side to side when they're laying down, preventing a flat spot from forming. ***Disclosure: I received a complimentary sample from Click Communications to facilitate my review. No other compensation was provided, and all opinions are 100% honest and have not been influenced in any way. All images are courtesy of Click Communications.*** Are you mad for mischievous, meddling minions? I know we are! It seems that there is a bit of a cult following for the Despicable Me movies, and for good reason....They're hilarious! It's no wonder that on Halloween I spotted about 500 minions out and about collecting sweet treats, and several birthday party themes I have been noticing also include these pint-sized characters.
In case you didn't already know, Despicable Me 2 is available NOW on Blu-Ray+DVD! And, this blockbuster release includes 3 side-splitting new mini-movies, too! Check out this fun video clip straight from Despicable Me 2. I dare you not to giggle! |
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I'm Brandy, a happily married, proud Mom of 3 amazing kids. If you're interested in building a working relationship, please feel free to e-mail me at: NewlyCrunchyMamaOf3@gmail.com Links We Love :Archives
June 2023
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