Category Archives: FRN

FRN, household

One Time Review

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I have been afraid of having wood outside. There I have admitted it. I am afraid of the upkeep. I have seen to many decks, siding and deck furniture that is just bleached out and sad looking. The issue is that it is nice enough to be outside in Fresno pretty much all year long. That plastic furniture has to replaced just about every year and natural wood siding looks so much better painted.

Well, there maybe a solution to my fear. I got a chance to try One TIME Wood Protector (in order to review it) and I was very pleased. To start with, you couldn’t see any brush strokes. This is a relief because stressing about brush strokes has always been a huge deterrent to these type of projects. I loved the fact that this was actually soaked into the wood. I did a side by side with a competitor’s sealer and theirs just sat on top. It also spread across my line. The material says that it covers twice as much square footage as the competitor and after watching spread I tend to agree. I also am happy about the fact it is for all kinds of wood (old, new, natural, treated) and that it works for at least 7 years.

If you want to try this great product One TIME Wood Protector is offering my readers 10% off! Just use the code One TIME on their website.

(This is an FRN Review)

FRN, gift worthy, giveaway, kids

Cart Stopper Review and Giveaway!!!!

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It has happened to all of us, parents or not. We wheel the cart up next to the car and while we start unloading it starts rolling away. Some times it is right into the main parking lot and sometimes into your ankle. Then add a baby in the cart and you can imagine how intrigued I was to review this nifty little gadget called the Cart-Stopper.

The Cart-Stopper has a suction cup that hooks onto you car. Then there is a toggle on a cord that goes on your cart. This is a really cute idea. Back when I had just 2 little ones would have been when I would have used this the most. When you get the first child at the cart you would know that the cart couldn’t have possibly run away. I hate having to link my foot into the rack on the bottom or, even worse, rest the cart up against my van. I was impressed how well it suctioned to my very dirty van. It was small enough to fit in my very crowded purse and it was easy to hook on with only one hand. I think this is a great little gift for that new mom you know or the new mom of 2 would be even better!

Win it!
How would you like to win your own Cart Stopper?
To enter:

* Go visit the My Lil Monkey’s Website and tell me what color you would like (just follow the order now button but you won’t actually have to order;).
* A random winner will be selected and notified on May 13th.
* The winner will then have 3 days to claim their prize.

To earn extra entries, you may do one or all of the following. Each one counts as an extra ticket but you must leave a separate comment for each one.

* Subscribe to my feed.
* Mention this giveaway on your blog with a link back here.
* Subscribe to my Twitter
* Tweet about this!

This giveaway is open to addresses within the US. Please leave a way to contact you in case you win.

If you want to see more giveaways pop over to Making Money Keeping Money to see more giveaways on Contesting Monday!

(This is a FRN review)

bath and beauty, FRN, giveaway, kids

Kinesys Sunscreen Review and Giveaway!!

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I am white. I don’t mean ethnically but I have that slightly transparent, glow in the dark white skin. I can’t tan. I burn bad, turn bright red and then turn white again even if I don’t peel. In addition to my fairness, sking cancer is prevelant in my family. So as you can imagine sunscreen is important in this house. I recently received 2 bottles of sunscreen to review from Kinesys. I received the Kids SPF 30 sunscreen. It is a pump spray that said that you didn’t need to rub it in, which I doubted, but I was really surprised that if you hold it away from you a good distance you really don’t need to rub it in. With 4 kids to sunscreen, that saves an immeasurable amount of time and annoyance. It is also fragrance free, which I loved! You really had to hold their arm to your nose to smell any tell tale sunscreen smell. I also received the SPF 30 Girl Sunscreen (yes, that is what it is called) which is Vanilla Green Tea scented. Is smells very nice, not to heavy and very pleasant. This also was a truly no rub spray.

Both of these appear to work very well. I only say appear because it has either been so hot you aren’t going out (96) or very mild so I haven’t gotten a chance to try it out as thouroughly as I would like. It is very light feeling so you don’t have that oily heavy feeling. It also watches off very easily. My only issue is that they are water and sweat resistant and not proof. Since it is often over 100 here during the summer and water is a big cooling tool, that isn’t the best for us. But over all there are really nice products! Kinesys is offering a 10% coupon Code BRC10 (free shipping on orders over $45 AFTER the discount) on all purchases right now! But what is better than a coupon? Winning it free of course!

Win it!
How would you like to win your own 4 oz Kid’s Sunscreen and 4 oz Moisturizer?
To enter:

* Go visit the Kinesys website then come back here and tell me 1 fact you learned!
* A random winner will be selected and notified on May 6th.
* The winner will then have 3 days to claim their prize.

To earn extra entries, you may do one or all of the following. Each one counts as an extra ticket but you must leave a separate comment for each one.

* Subscribe to my feed.
* Mention this giveaway on your blog with a link back here and to Kinesys.
* Subscribe to my Twitter
* Tweet about this!

This giveaway is open to addresses within the US. Please leave a way to contact you in case you win.

If you want to see more giveaways pop over to Making Money Keeping Money to see more giveaways on Contesting Monday!

(This is a FRN review)

FRN, gift worthy

Joolwe Pendant Review

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I recently received this pretty little silver heart pendant to review from Joolwe. This is so sweet and simple. It really seemed to dress me up and I got quite a few compliments on it. I love it! It is really pretty with both blue and clear stones that sparkle. What more does a girl need?

This is just one of many great pieces they carry. They have the simple pieces and they also have those wow pieces. So go over and check out all the neat stuff Joolwe has. Also, if you happen to like jewelry they have a great blog!

(This is a FRN Review!)

FRN, kids

Tie Buddies

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Ok, I admit it. My oldest child, who will be 8 in June, couldn’t tie his shoes until last couple of weeks. We bought NerdBug the neatest Spiderman shoes last fall, thinking that would encourage him. But no, no shoe lace tying. That was until I got Tie Buddies. These are little plastic pieces that slip onto shoe laces to work almost as a pull tab. This helps get over the hardest part, forming and keeping the loops. You get directions that are easy to follow.

At less than $8 these are a great deal. I admit, it is an especially good deal for me because I have another 3 kids that I am going to use them with. But even with one, it would totally be worth it.

I love these! And the NerdBug loves these! He looks cool sporting his nifty SpiderMan shoes. So go check them out and tell me how much you and your kiddos love them too!

(A FRN Review)

FRN, gift worthy

Life on Record Review- A Memorable Gift

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I recently got the opportunity to review Life on Record and let me just say, this would be a very unique gift! Basically you are creating cds that are full of recording from loved ones about the recipient. It is super easy to set up. You just call in a leave a welcome message (they even provide a sample message). Then you invite people to call and leave messages of things they like and remember about the person in question. There are easy to follow instructions that you email out to people. Then you are faced with a choice. You can have them burn everything to a cd (for an added cost) or you can just manage all your recordings on iTunes. Then burn your own cds and as many of them as you want. It is that simple.

I love this because it is a truly special because it is made by all those who love you. It is almost a living scrapbook. (I see a further project coming). You don’t have to worry about yellowing or any of the standard concerns with keepsakes like this because it is all cd. I could see this being a great baby shower gift with parenting and well wishes or a wedding gift. The possibilities are endless. So go check out Life on Record for that next gift you need.

(This is an FRN review)

FRN, gift worthy, kids

Bright Star Kid Review

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Aren’t these the cutest graphics? This is just a sampling of the pack of wall graphics I received from Bright Star Kids for my NerdBug. I have wanted to do the kids rooms for a while but my problem has always been that they want wall paper decorations and I don’t want to have to take them down. (I am assuming that they will want things changed a little between 7 and even 10, as far as maturity) These are awesome because they go up easy and come down easier. This pack came with 189 different decals in various sizes and 4 colors. You can place these decals on the walls and then take them down and put them up somewhere else! I love this feature because I am a commitment phob when it comes to decorating (what is I put it somewhere and hate it;) but it is also a good solution for someone in an apartment because it doesn’t leave any marks or gunk on the wall. Given this set is for a 7 year old boy’s room, I was very happy that they are water proof so you can wipe them down but you could also use them in a kid’s bathroom.

The website is awesome because it has a gallery of rooms that you can look at (and copy in my case). They also gave me the idea to paint around 1 side in a different color and give the shape a shadow. I thought that was so cool;). I really liked working with this company too! They are in Australia so shipping to the US takes a bit but they have such a quality product it is really worth it. They also don’t just have wall shaped decals. They have other decals, labels and the like.

Right now they have quite a few things on sale but just in case you want something that isn’t on sale they have given me a coupon code for all of you! Use FAMILYREVIEW for 20% off from March 25-April 25 in the promo code box at checkout. Remember it isn’t good on any of the things already on sale.

So go check them out and let me know what you think!

FRN, giveaway

Exergen Review/Giveaway

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I got the great opportunity to review the Exergen Temporal Thermometer. I have 4 kids and it seems I have to take all of their temperatures in a row. That takes forever and they don’t really care for it either. So this thermometer was a real blessing. You just sweep it across the the temporal artery in the forehead. It captures the infrared heat that is emitted and then reads out the highest temperatures that it senses (out about 1000 a second). I was pretty impressed with how well it worked. I did some unscientific tests by taking my temp orally and with the Exergen and was pleased with the results.

I love the fact it comes with its first 9-volt battery. I also like that you can switch it from Farenheit to Celsius, for the pure nerdyness if nothing else. Some tips. Take the cover off. I know it seems pretty basic but I forgot and couldn’t figure out why it was reading low. Don’t do repeated swipes, apparently the temp with then drop. If you aren’t sure about the reading, wait a little bit and try again. Also, in the packaging there is a booklet but it is kind of hidden between 2 pieces of cardboard. Make sure you grab it before you toss the package.

My real problem with this is the fact I didn’t have it with my first kid almost 8 years! You can get this at a variety of places but Amazon is always one of my favorites and at under $35 it is a great deal. Even better though….

Win it!
How would you like to win your own Exergen Temporal Thermometer?

To enter:

* Just leave me a comment telling me who you would use it on!
* A random winner will be selected and notified on April 21st.
* The winner will then have 3 days to claim their prize.

To earn extra entries, you may do one or all of the following. Each one counts as an extra ticket but you must leave a separate comment for each one.

* Subscribe to my feed.
* Mention this giveaway on your blog with a link back here.
* Subscribe to my Twitter

This giveaway is open to addresses within the US. Please leave a way to contact you in case you win.

If you want to see more giveaways pop over to Making Money Keeping Money to see more giveaways on Contesting Monday!

(This is a FRN review)

FRN, gift worthy, giveaway, kids

DaBib Review and Giveaway!

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Look below for the review and giveaway!

Ok, I love this bib! Now I am a mother of 4 kids and the oldest (by a lot of 5 kids) so I would say that I may be a bib expert. Once again I say, I love this bib!. DaBib has many great design features. First, it is dual layer with a micro fiber terry cloth on the front and a water proof cloth back. I love that it is water proof but not plastic so it doesn’t crack or wear. I have already washed it quite a few times and there isn’t any wear on it. I love the neck. It is a high cloth neck that is like a cuff so it keeps the crumbs and dribbles out. Because we all know. The worst things are the ones that get past the top of the bib. It wraps around with velcro and is adjustable. There is a 2 or 3 inch strip that you can adjust on. It also has a pocket on the front. I love a pocket on bibs but you can’t ever clean them out all the way and they just don’t stay open to catch enough. Well, the makers of DaBib seemed to find a way around that. The pocket is attached from the back and then you flip it to the front. Then it stands out a bit and to clean it just flip it back so all the crumbs (or oatmeal in my little one’s case) don’t end up in the washer.

So I love this bib. My biggest problem is that I didn’t find it until my 4th and last kid!

Win it!
How would you like to win your own bib from DaBib?

To enter:

* Just pop over to the DaBib site and then come back here and leave me a comment telling me which one of these great bibs you would want to win.
* A random winner will be selected and notified on April 14th.
* The winner will then have 3 days to claim their prize.

To earn extra entries, you may do one or all of the following. Each one counts as an extra ticket but you must leave a separate comment for each one.

* Subscribe to my feed.
* Mention this giveaway on your blog with a link back here.
* Subscribe to my Twitter

This giveaway is open to addresses within the US. Please leave a way to contact you in case you win.

If you want to see more giveaways pop over to Making Money Keeping Money to see more giveaways on Contesting Monday!

(This is a FRN review)

FRN, giveaway, household

Windex All in one Review and Giveaway!!!

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So Windex has come out with a new window to help you clean your outside windows. I am horrible, I barely ever wash my outside windows because it is such a pain. But according to studies I am in the 80% majority who avoids it. So I was really intrigued when I received the new Windex Outdoor All-in-One Starter Kit.

I was really impressed how easy it was to put together. All you do is slip one end onto the other and twist. Then you just lay the pad on the end and it just velcros on. The pad is cool because 1 does about 20 “standard” windows. I am not sure what that means but it did all mine. I also like that you can put it on an extension pole to reach even further.

To use it you wet down your windows, then just wipe them down with the tool, then rinse your window off. There is a severe problem. You then can tell how dirty the inside of your windows are but there are worse problems;). This really works well. There weren’t any streaks left or any dirt. That really says something because I don’t have grass. So my windows are always dusty and just spraying them down doesn’t work. A final benefit is the price. The starter kit is only $15 and the refill kit is $5.

We here at the NerdFamily highly recommend Windex’s All in One. They have a great coupon on refill pads or you could win a starter kit here!

Win it!
Want your own Windex All in One Starter Kit?

To enter:

* Just leave me a comment.
* A random winner will be selected and notified on April 8th.
* The winner will then have 3 days to claim their prize.

To earn extra entries, you may do one or all of the following. Each one counts as an extra ticket but you must leave a separate comment for each one.

* Subscribe to my feed.
* Mention this giveaway on your blog with a link back here.
* Subscribe to my Twitter

This giveaway is open to addresses within the US. Please leave a way to contact you in case you win.

If you want to see more giveaways pop over to Making Money Keeping Money to see more giveaways on Contesting Monday!

(This post was written for Family Review Network as part of a program by SC Johnson, who also supplied the product for review and give away.)