Body Firming Cream

Details: Bonapiel Anti Cellulite and Body Firming Cream with caffeine and retinol.  You can buy this product from Amazon via the link provided.  Comes in a 6 fl oz bottle.  This product will reduce cellulite by creating firmer tighter skin, is one of the best body firming creams because it will visibly improve skin firmness, will prevent the "Orange Peel" skin due to it quickly absorbing into skin, will decrease up to 90% faster within weeks, so you can "Say Goodbye to stubborn Cellulite" and comes with a money back guarantee.  Directions: apply directly to the abdominals, hips, thighs, arms, and glutes.  Massage into skin using a circular motion until absorbed or brush on in even layers with a fan brush.

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

My Review: It has been many many years since I last tried a lotion/ cream that helped fight or reduce cellulite, as well as a body firming lotion.  During those early years of testing I remember it not working.  So I was very skeptical when testing this product out.  When using this product, the first thing you notice is the smell/ scent.  Its strong, a good fresh scent, that will go away once the cream is fully absorbed.  I love products that have this quality!  The cream is CREAM not a LOTION so its thicker, you don't need as much when rubbing it into your skin, and stays on your body all day.  I tested this product on my thighs, abdominals/ stomach, and buttocks.  I really saw the biggest change in my thighs.  They are smoother, the cellulite can't be seen much at all, and when I shave now, its easier, with smoother, less lumpy firm skin.  I didn't see much change in my stomach, but will continue using it to see what happens.  So after using this product for a month I can say there truly is a visible change to your skin, skin is firmer, cellulite does break down more so you see it less through your skin.  I actually felt more confident after using this product that I no longer wear beach shorts when I swim, or go to the beach.

Pros: works, love the scent that goes away once cream is fully absorbed, saw the visible change in my skin, I have firmer more smooth less cellulite thighs now

Cons: none

My Rating: Thumbs Up

Home School Interaction part 2

So for this year's school season, we are really going into Interaction for my kids.  They love school now, so its time to show you what I'm doing to make school more fun this year.  

 Fishing for 100 Days: Last year we tried to focus on having a 100th day of School party, but due to our cercumstance and situation of being on the go since we were living with family in their home, I forgot to keep track.  So this year I'm making it up to them.  Especially since now both kids are in "real" school grades.  Here's our super fun chart, that cost me 50 cents.  Its great!  We use our neon wipe off markers to mark the days we do school.  The kids get 2 options with this.  Have me fill in each school day with the color they choose or have them each take turns coloring the fish in each day.

Last year my children really struggled with "counting their blessings" being grateful for anything, especially really understanding why being grateful and saying Thank you is so important.  So I created a Gratitude Tree last year, that was bigger than this one, but due to space on our walls I had to re-paint a new Gratitude Tree for this year and start over.  But the kids like seeing their Gratitude Tree during our whole school day, so its a great swap.

For my Second Grader, he really wants to know what his schedule is, what subjects he will be doing each day, and how long each subject will last.  So I bought him a Job Chart for school.  I have a list of every subject we'll cover this semester.  Than I color in the subjects we'll do each day.  Then as we complete a subject my Second Grader gets to erase that subject for that day.  So far he's loving it...we haven't kept every subject exactly yet, but its working better than not having something for him to keep track with.

My Kindergartener was getting jealous that his older Brother was having a "School Chart" so it was time to get him his own too.  This one is scaled down for his age, and a little more fun to look at.  So there's an apple for each day, and on each day I will do one of two options.
1. Write all subjects out in the same colored wipe off marker ink,
2. Write each subject out in a different colored wipe off marker ink.

Then he too, gets to erase the subject he has completed.  This is really helping this little guy because he has a short addention span, can't hold still worth beans unless its REALLY FUN for him, or complains that school takes SOOOOOOO long.  So now he knows just how long school will be, and how much smarter he will get each time he finishes a school subject.

Mega Mesh Screen Door

Details: Easy Install's Mega Mesh Screen Door can be purchased via the link provided.  It is a great quality magnetic screen door that are built to last, and keep bugs out.  26 Strong magnets are sewn in to keep the doors easy to go through and quick to close up behind you.  The dimensions are: 36" x 83". The mesh is a micro-mesh to keep the smallest bugs out specifically: flies, mosquitoes, beetles, wasps, moths, gnats, and fruit flies.  This is easy to install,and is going to stay put up even with heavy usage due to the velcro and nails used for installing it.  Instructions come in the package, which include 9 easy steps with colored images and everything.  Can be used in all homes, RV's, apartments and more.  Below are some benefits directly quoted from the company.

Benefits of Mega Mesh
✓ Magnetic hands-free entry
✓ Pet friendly access
✓ The low-cost way to economically cool your home
✓ Protection for your family from invading insects
✓ Easy installation
✓ Optional push-pin fixings included

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

My Review:  I got this product to use in my apartment for the deck once the weather isn't so humid.  However, when I first ordered it I didn't realize that nails and double sided sticky velcro were still used to help hold this up, so I have not been able to install this in my apartment.  However, other complexes may have less strict rules.  This is a very good idea especially for people who live in the south.  We tried this in the door frame of my In-Law's back deck door, but it wasn't wide enough to adhere to the walls of the door frame so they haven't been able to use it either.  The last place we plan on testing it is at my Great Grandma's house which is a Double Wide trailer.  Those doors just might have the 36" wide measurements that will allow me to put it up and finally take pictures of it being used.  So until that time, I am unable to actually get it up on the door frame for pictures.  I love that pets can easily go through the door, and that the magnets will quickly close it up once they are through.

What I have been able to test is that the velcro is strong, the magnets work great, the mesh is high quality, meaning its not easy to poke a hole through, sunlight still gets through the black mesh screen.  I love the idea behind this, I love how pet friendly this is, and can't wait to try this out on a door frame that will actually work with these measurements.

Pros: light weight, easy to use, magnets are really strong, mesh is high quality

Cons: the mesh door measurements aren't the standard door frame measurements anymore, so it has been difficult finding a place to actually fit this mesh door.  Most are taller and wider at least that is what I have seen in the 5 homes that I have tried.

My Rating: Thumbs Up and Thumbs Down.  Thumbs up for the idea and quality, Thumbs Down because I wasn't actually able to use this the way its intended.

Australian Tea Tree Oil

Details: Australian Tea Tree Oil can be purchased via the link provided.  It is a versatile essential oil that is a fighter against: acne, fungus, lice, yeast infections, skin tags, cold sores, dandruff, fleas, and a whole bunch of other harmful things.  Because this is an essential oil it is pure enough and strong enough to use when making your own: natural/ organic shampoos, lotions, soaps, facial cleansers and even toothpaste.  Comes in a 4 fl oz bottle, and a FREE 100 page "How to Use" guide that gives you 53 suggestions on how to use Tea Tree Oil.

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

My Review: When I got this product I showed it to my Mother-In-Law who was more excited that I got it than I was.  I've used shampoo and conditioner with Tea Tree Oil in it, but other than that, I've had no other experience with this essential oil.  But because I had heard of it I was very curious about it, and wanted to learn more, and see what else it can do for my body.  Let me tell you, getting this product is cool, but having the company give you a free "How to Use" booklet is super helpful.  There are so many ways you can use this product, I didn't even know.  Just to name a few benefits that I personally found interesting: Its great for shampoos and conditioners to help improve the quality of your scalp.  It can be made into a spot remover. You can make a deodorant from this product.  A sore muscle relaxer.  These are just a few things that you can use Tea Tree Oil for.

When using this product I specifically used it to help my scalp and hair (because it leaves your scalp tingly and super clean feeling like a scalp massage), to remove skin tags, and as a skin toner or soother.  This is basically an essential oil so the scent/ smell/ fragrance is strong, REALLY strong.  So follow the recipes other wise you'll have that smell about you all day long.  As I have been using this product, I have to say I really love the feel of this when I use it for my hair, skin and scalp.  I see really good benefits, when using those recipes.  I haven't been brave enough to try making the deodorant, detergent, or anything toothpaste/ mouth wash wise.  I also haven't been brave enough to make the stain remover recipe either, but I think I will give it a try because I have very active children and stains seem to follow them with all their clothes: school, church, and play.  For the few items that I've tried I have been pleased with the results.  However, there is only one negative thing I can say about this product is that one the bottle's label itself it mentions that you can use this product to remove skin tags, but the "How to Guide" doesn't tell you how, or give you a recipe to make and follow.  I wish there was more information about this specific product use.  Other than that I'm happy with using this product, and the results I'm getting.

Pros: love the product, love the benefits, LOVE the "How to Guide"

Cons: there aren't recipes or how to guides for all the benefits mentioned on the bottle's label

My Rating: Thumbs Up

Magnetic Toys for Children

Details: Magnetix explore your creativity with magnets, rods and marbles.  Comes with 42 pieces, 12 balls, 30 rods.

My Review:  My kids love magnets on our fridge, love magnetic puzzles, games, and toys.  We have a huge collection of magnetic "rocks" from a science museum that our children get to play with for school time.  But they wanted something more fun and creative.  We were given a set of Magnetix which the boys fell in love it.  Basically its a set of toys where you have plastic rods with magnets in both ends of the rods, and you have metal marble sized balls.  You can build anything with these rods and balls.  Some rods are longer and others shorter, you can find them in various colors.  But this one set didn't have enough rods or balls for my children to be really creative.  So I was lucky enough to find a set of 42 pieces for $4 on Ebay with free shipping.  TOTALLY amazing right?  That's what I thought.  So I bought 6 packs.  I should have bought more, but we now have roughly 300 pieces of these Magnetix toys and its a great start to the collection our kids can play with.  We use these toys for our home schooling, for their play time, when their bored, and as a family.  This is really a great toy, and I'm very excited to have a good starter collection of them for my children.

Pros: fun for the whole family, great for home schooling, science classes, child friendly,

Cons: none

My Rating: THUMBS UP

Home School Interaction part 1

This is my first year where I'll actually be accountable for Home schooling 2 children.  I will be doing Kindergarten, and 2nd/1st grade too.  We are in our own place now, and actually worked all summer on creating a fun, school area/room for me and the kids.  Since we're going to be stable in our own place I no longer needed to have a Home School on the Go.  So now I'm focusing on a fun, interactive home school experience for myself as Teacher, and for each of my children.  To start this interactive focus off with, I found some awesome calendar/ weather charts that are high quality enough/ strong enough that kids can use it without ruining them.  First off, my Calendar package that I bought on Amazon here.

package

what's included

well sewn quality

here's what it looks like today!

Pros: I love this whole package, love the images, love the colors, love the ease of use for children

Cons: none

My Rating: THUMBS UP

 Secondly, here's my Weather package.  I bought it from Amazon here.  My children and I love charting weather over a monthly basis.  It helps make our school day more fun, and brings in science weather into a more focused understanding.

Here's the company who sold this product online

Kaplan mailed my packed all bent up...not cool

numbers, days of the week, and weather images galore!

There are no perforated lines, so I had to free hand cut these out.

I was able to get all the pieces to lay flat after a few
days of being flattened by heavy books.

Their cards for "past, present, future" measuring were WAY too big, so I cut off about 2/3s off.

here's what it looks like today as we use it!

Pros: love the chart idea, love the images, love the hot, cold, windy, foggy cards as well, easy for K-2 aged children to use

Cons: I don't like how I had to free hand cut all these cards out, I don't like how I don't have any storage options attached to this chart, I am still disappointing that this company bent the chart when shipping it

My Rating: Thumbs Up still works well over all

Face and Body Exfoliation

Details: Exfolimate's new Face and Body exfoliation product is a 2 piece exfoliator tool set. Can be purchased on amazon via the link, and or through the other provided link. Gentle exfoliation with micro groove technology.  Australian Designed.  This products helps give you healthier younger looking skin, give you smoother shaves and waxes, helps if you use spray on tans so that your skin absorbs it evenly, improves your make up application with smoother, unclogged skin, prevents ingrown hairs.  Directions: wet skin in shower, when its supple gently glide the Exfolimate with slight pressure at a 90 degree angle along the contours of your skin, using the face and or body tool.  Just rinse off the debris off the metal skin smoothing edge and hang dry when done.  Maximum 4-6 glides over each piece of skin.  Can be used by men or women.  This product can be used on all skin types, do check your metal allergies first.

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

My Review: When I first saw the package and read about this product I thought they were offering a really nice scrubby or brush, or product similar to a pumice rock.  So when I saw the metal edged plastic wedge, I was totally surprised.  In addition, I was very skeptical about this metal piece actually working, and worried that it was sharp and would be slicing or cutting open my skin.  I tested my face first, and WOW, completely surprised that it actually works.  The first time I tested this product, I first washed my face free of makeup, then did a deep pour cleanse, then used the metal exfoliator on my face, even after 2 face washes, that exfoliator still got a TON of gunk off my face.  It was gross, cool, and weird all at the same time.  So then I decided to test out the body exfoliator.  When I tested that I didn't notice as much stuff coming off my skin, but my skin has been smoother, my leg shaving is better, with less ingrown hairs.  So its working.  It works.  Surprisingly it works WELL.  I have to recommend this product because it works.  I am still so baffled that it does.  I was completely ready to give this product a thumbs down, but I can't.  This  product can be used daily or periodically in the shower or bath...basically you can use it as often as you want without it causing damage or harming your skin.  It is best to use this in the shower after your skin is very wet and "supple" because it opens up your pours and softens your pours so the gunk can more easily be removed.

Pros: works!

Cons: none

My Rating: Thumbs Up