Back before we had kids, DH did a lot of traveling for work. He attended and worked quite a few trade shows each year in various cities across the country.  Whenever I could get away from my job, I would hop on a plane and we would make a weekend vacation of it.

We spent a lot of time on airplanes. Have you ever flown on a plane when someone with strong perfume or someone with body odor boards? If not, consider yourself lucky.  If you have, then you totally understand what I mean when I say that smells (of all kinds) consume the entire plane.  That was me once. I boarded the plane with my own aroma but I didn't realize it would garner such a response. As I situated myself in my seat, someone quite loudly commented on the smell that I had just unleashed upon the entire cabin. "Where did that girl with the Cinnabon go?!"

While I thought they would be delighted to have this deliciously sweet Cinnabon smell to enjoy, I was wrong. They were probably kicking themselves for not picking one up at the Cinnabon that was conveniently located on our concourse. 

Did I feel guilty?  Not one bit.  I savored Every... Single... Bite. And I still think of that whenever I see a Cinnabon store.

Now I get to enjoy that thought even more often. Like every time I go down the breakfast aisle at the grocery store. As I see the Kellogg's Cinnabon bars sitting on the shelf, I smile and reminisce about that plane trip.

So when my Kellogg's representative asked if I would be interested in trying out the new Kellogg's Cinnabon bars, I couldn't type my response fast enough. Giggling about my airline experience the entire time.

A package of Kellogg's Cinnabon bars, original flavor, was shipped to us to try.  I'll be honest and say that while they are delicious, they aren't exactly like a genuine Cinnabon cinnamon roll.  The bars are tasty and sweet but because they need to hold the shape of a bar, they are crumblier like the crust of a pie and less like dough.  If Cinnabon made (or makes) a crumb-cake version of their classic cinnamon rolls, I would say this would be a dead ringer.  Are they worth eating?  Yeah.  As someone who grabs a granola bar when I'm on the go, these are a nice alternative. 

The package advertises "Tastes Great Warm" and to that I'll say "If I want a warm breakfast bar, I'll buy Pop-Tarts."  The problem is that these can only be heated in the microwave on a micro-safe plate.  As I said, I often eat them on the run and stopping to warm them up defeats the purpose.  Even if they tasted great warm, I wouldn't let that be a selling point for me.  They need to taste great cold.  Since right out of the package is how I usually eat granola/breakfast bars, I'll stick with that.

And what did the troops think about them? Miss M doesn't have a sweet tooth so she didn't even try one. DH thought they were good and he doesn't even eat breakfast bars. Miss K and I both loved them. She said "Mom, isn't that the yummiest thing you've ever had?"  The sincerity of a 5 year old is priceless.

Think they sound good? At the time of posting, a coupon for $1 off Kellogg's Cinnabon bars was available at Coupons.com. Pick up a package and try them for yourself!  They also come in a Caramel variety but I haven't tried those.

Thanks again to Kellogg's and their public relations representatives for providing the package of Cinnabon bars for our family to try.  Yum.

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I would like to say thanks, once again, to MomSelect (BSM Media) for allowing readers of SAHM Reviews the opportunity to win a fun prize pack from Zhu Zhu Pets.

Random.org decided the winner would be... Comment #112.

Badger Momma worked hard to earn this win by Tweeting about the contest and taking advantage of the daily entry option.  Congratulations, Badger Momma!  Watch your email for details on how to claim your prize.

1 COMMENT

When I was growing up, I recall many nights where we sat around the kitchen table as a family. Family time is quality time and game time was the best.

I don't know if my brothers enjoyed it as much as I did, but I always looked forward to those sessions. We played all kinds of board games like Life, Sorry, Yahtzee, Parcheesi, Monopoly, Easy Money and Pay Day. Sometimes it was even something silly like Spoons. As we got older, we learned more sophisticated games like Backgammon, Risk, Euchre, Hearts and even Pinochle. No matter what we were playing at what age, it was a time for bonding.

Now I'm a parent and I have the same opportunity to play games with my kids. Many games have changed and evolved but others are still the same.

While we often play games together as a family, it isn't a regular scheduled thing. However, we did take part in Hasbro Family Game Night last night. I had met with Hasbro representatives at a Mom Central cocktail hour during the BlogHer conference. I was extremely surprised and excited to receive a package last week that included Bop It, Pictureka!, Connect 4x4 and Monopoly City. On a prior occasion, through a different PR contact, I was fortunate enough to receive and review Family Game Night for the Wii. I want to make it clear that while the Wii Family Game Night is a blast, this event focused on the fundamental board games that paved the way for it's Wii offspring.

Whenever I get something to review, I make sure to keep it out of the kids' hands until I'm ready to open it, explain it and photograph it.  Despite Bop It being in the package, they managed to play with it.  I would explain "No, I need to read the directions then you can play with it."  Have you ever seen Bop It?  Well, it doesn't really need directions.  It's like Simon Says... it says "Bop It" and you push the button.  When it says "Twist it" you twist the yellow knob.  When it says "Pull it, you pull the blue knob.  But akin to pat your head while rubbing your stomach, it's not as easy as it sounds.  Theory... easy.  In practice... brain stumper.

There are three options - Solo, Pass it and Party. We enjoyed Pass it the most because you listen to the various cues then pass it along to the next player when it yells "Pass it". It's like a game of hot potato where you need to turn your brain on as soon as it lands in your hands.

It's one of those games that tests your reflexes while also testing your ability to focus. When you're playing the solo mode, you can kind of do it without thinking. On my way up to the bus stop the other day, I decided to tinker with it.  It may be a kids' game, but I found some simple satisfaction in working on my response time. When the girls and I started playing it together, we would all giggle whenever we make a mistake.  My girls both really enjoy the challenge and even played with it while stuck in the car. It has a few volume settings and the lowest did not seem overly cumbersome.   We brought it to soccer practice after opening it and Miss M played it with the older siblings while all the younger siblings on Miss K's team were practicing. When practice was over, they wanted to stick around and play Bop It some more!

The game says that it's for ages 8 and up, but even Miss K at 5 was able to play it - just not as successfully as her older sister. Totally worth the price since it has multiple uses for multiple people.  It's small and portable and not nearly as expensive as the DS that they've been begging to take when we're on-the-go.

We played Bop It in the afternoon then in the evening we opened both Connect 4x4 and Pictureka! In true Family Game Night fashion, all four of us sat around the table focusing on the Connect 4x4 game. Unlike regular Connect 4, this one is open to four players. To make it more interesting, there are two slices to each row so two opponents can actually strategically be utilizing the same space. It isn't just a matter of watching vertical, horizontal and diagonal but you need to look at both sides of it. A player can win by having four of their chips in a row and that means some could be in the front and some in the back. When you go to make a move, you need to think offensively but also defensively with respect to the other three players. On several turns, I caught myself getting ready to drop my piece into a position that would have set up more opportunities for my opponents. I honestly thought that Miss K wasn't going to be able to grasp the depth of the game but was surprised by her well-though moves. In the end, I was so focused on blocking DH from a win that I helped create a win for Miss M. She won fair and square and was a gracious winner, as you can see from the photograph. It was a great time and I was glad to see that both the girls understood the concept and the strategy behind the game.  This is a fun game and I would recommend it over the traditional Connect 4 any day.  As a bonus, all the pieces store easily within the grid and the base folds up.  No box and loose pieces for this game.

After the Connect 4x4 battle, DH retreated to his computer and the girls and I wrapped up Family Game Night with a quick game of Pictureka! The basic premise of the game is that you need to find various objects, pictures or themes within the multitude of goofy pictures on the board. You can't just memorize where things are either because there are cards that initiate the moving, flipping and turning of the tiles that create the board. The goal of the game is to be the first to attain 6 cards. There are three different card types and each has a different objective. The stack that you draw from is determined when you roll the color die at the beginning of your turn. One stack of cards is for you to attempt on your own. One stack allows the highest bidder to make an attempt at earning the card. The third stack is a free-for-all with the first one finding the object in the picture getting to take the card. The only thing that I didn't like is the free-for-all card (the blue stack) was not a plentiful item. It was a very specific picture (as you can see from the photograph) and there was often only one on the board. In one situation, it just so happened that we were not able to find a single one and finally gave up and moved to the next person. I think once we gain some familiarity with the cards, the pictures and the board, we'll have a little less frustration. Overall, however, I felt that Pictureka! was a fun game, diverse enough to entertain a variety of ages and random enough to not feel like you're always playing the same thing every time you unbox it.

When the night was over, we had played each of the games that had been sent to us, with the exception of Monopoly City. For now, DH and I are getting our Monopoly City fill by playing the online Monopoly City Streets game that Hasbro is running in conjunction with Google Streets.  When we do get around to the actual board game, I'll be sure to post a review!

I want to thank Hunter Public Relations and Hasbro for providing the games for our Family Game Night. Quality time like this helps make some lasting memories... I hope when my daughters get older that they look back and cherish these moments just like I do of my childhood.

Sound like fun? (It is!)  Want more information about Hasbro and Family Game Night?  Follow them on Twitter, check out the Family Game Night website or Hasbro's website!

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Since Miss M was about 2, we've had our old, essentially useless-to-us, laptop hooked up for her. It doesn't have internet access but plays most children's games just fine. We were delighted that she learned how to properly shut down a computer at a very young age and learned how to maneuver a mouse early on also.

When Miss K was old enough to use it, we started her also. While some parents told me they couldn't believe I let the kids 'play' on the computer so young, I hold steady with my position that giving the kids a variety of learning tools is nothing but good. When complimented by other activities, it just reinforces what they're learning.

One of the types of software we allowed was the JumpStart series.  Although they are games, JumpStart programs are also educational.  Kids learn while they're having fun.  Win/win as long as it is used in moderation.

So when I was offered the opportunity to review JumpStart Pet Rescue for the Wii, I jumped at the chance.  We love our Wii; we've had great experience with JumpStart.  That combination has nothing but potential.

From the minute it arrived, Miss K (who traditionally isn't the gamer geek of the family) was pestering me to play it.  "Moooommmmm... Can I play the video game, please?" "Mom, WHEN can I play the video game?"  Here my child is begging to play an educational game and here I am telling her "Not yet."  In my defense, I didn't want her playing it unless I could be there to help, to learn about it and be able to review it.

Well, she finally got her wish.  We loaded the game and started in.  JumpStart Pet Rescue for the Wii is geared at children ages 3-6.  With that said, my girls (ages 5 and 6) are both at the upper end of the spectrum so I cannot attest to how a 3 year old would do handling it.

Let's start by answering one simple question - Do I feel that JumpStart can maintain their same level of educational presence utilizing the Nintendo Wii?  My answer to that is yes. Because the Wii is so versatile, it's able to make some activities more functional than JumpStart could ever do on a computer.  As an example, in every 'world' the child can find pictures, wave the WiiMote and 'paint' the picture.  A similar exercise utilizing a computer would simply have the child mimicking a scribbling motion with the mouse. 

JumpStart Pet Rescue for the Wii has various worlds that contain different activities, games and challenges.  But before your child can go off and explore, the first thing is to create their character.  Choose different colors and styles of hair, clothes and shoes.  Different expressions of mouth, different skin tone and eye types.  Miss K easily navigated her way through setting up her character and my only complaint is that there wasn't a timer on the process.  She was perfectly happy spending a half hour just creating the perfect little person to run around the JumpStart world. 

In an attempt to NOT sound like a geek, I have to say that the first thing I thought of when Miss K entered the JumpStart Pet Rescue world was "Hey, this looks like a cartoonier version of World of Warcraft!"  As she swam through the water, I wondered if the creator was a WoW fan because the movements looked that similar.  That's not a bad thing... it's a great thing.  I think very highly of WarCraft and seeing these subtle world similarities made me realize that the programmers put thought into how the characters move throughout the world.  They walk around and if there's a bush in the way, they need to go around it.  Water, swim through it.  And waterslides, slide down them.  Yes, there is a waterslide in the game.  First time I saw Miss K go down it, I actually said "Weeeee!"  

It's a game, so you're probably wondering how it can be educational.  My prior descriptions of how the world is designed and character creation make it sound more recreational than educational.  Once inside the world, there are games and puzzles integrated everywhere. One of the first games that Miss K came across was a series of comparison games.  "Smallest to biggest" "Shortest to longest" and even concentration.  After successfully completing, a present is awarded. 


In Musical Caverns, you follow Pierre's path to make your way through the cavern. He shows you the way, then you do the same.  Miss K continually had problems and I wasn't any help.  I'm thinking "Simon" where you follow where he went.  I felt like a bit of an idiot when my 1st grader had to explain to me why Miss K was having trouble.  "Mom, he's making a pattern. She's supposed to do the rest of the pattern by going over that way."  Guess what.  That worked.  Apparently Miss M was listening to the instructions better than I was.  So the Musical Caverns thing is all about patterns - not memorization.  Patterns.  Duh.

Modified versions of games like "Hide and Seek" are throughout the game.  Clues about "hiding behind something green" or "behind the number 2" are used. Although the game states it is for children ages 3-6, I believe that kids who are kindergarten won't benefit as much from the game in terms of 'learning' as a younger child.  For the younger end of the age spectrum, JumpStart Pet Rescue for the Wii is a great opportunity to help reinforce basic principles.  Families could utilize this as a reward to see how well their children learned in their traditional preschool (or home-schooling) sessions.  On the flip side, I believe that kids at the upper end who already know their colors, patterns and other theories can get a self-esteem boost by being able to do the games with high success rates. When I asked both Miss K (age 5) and Miss M (age 6) if it was too easy, they both said "No, Mom, it's perfect." They enjoy it and it has educational properties... works for me.

And after all that, I haven't said a thing about why it's called "Pet Rescue".  It's because in one of the worlds, the child is able to adopt a pet and do various activities with them.  Let me make it clear that it is nothing like Littlest Pet Shop or Webkins so don't let the name throw you off.  JumpStart Pet Rescue for the Wii is a learning tool disguised as a game.  Would I recommend it?  For younger kids, definitely.  Even for kids that are starting Kindergarten that had limited preschool exposure.  For kids that are well-established in Kindergarten? Probably not unless there are younger siblings in the house to utilize the game when they outgrow it. 

Thanks to JumpStart and Knowledge Adventure for providing this game for us to review. Don't have a Wii? Check out the online game! For more information about JumpStart, find them on Facebook, Twitter or read their blog!

1 COMMENT

Back in August, I had the opportunity to test and review Zhu Zhu Pets for MomSelect (BSM Media).

The only thing better than getting to try out newfangled toys is actually getting to give them away. If you didn't have a chance to read my original review, stop over there now because there's going to be a test involved to win this one.

Okay, I fibbed, there's not going to be a test. But I sure would appreciate it if you checked out my review before you entered the contest. Wouldn't make sense for you to win a prize that you don't know anything about, right?

The Prize: Zhu Zhu Pets and BSM Media have provided a Hamster and a Spiral Slide and Ramp! (approx value $30)

Participants -

...must provide an email in the first comment, email me directly with an email address or have email accessible from their profile.

Sometime on September 25, 2009, a winner will be chosen at random (using random.org) from all valid comments left. Winner has 72 hours from posting/notification to respond. If winner cannot be contacted, I will move on to the second random selection.

How to enter:

For the first entry (required) -

(1) Visit the Zhu Zhu Pets website.

(2) Come back here and tell me which of their products looks like the most fun.

If you want to increase your chances of winning, here are some options to earn additional entries -

-- Three Entries:  If you have a blog or website, add my button to your page. (Here's the code:)

<center><a href="http://www.sahmreviews.com" target="_blank"><img alt="SAHM Reviews" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v737/ia2ca/Sahm/SahmReviews125.jpg"/></a></center>

-- Two Entries:  Publish a blog post regarding this contest and link back to it.

-- One Entry: Share on Facebook. Come back and leave a comment.

-- One Entry (Daily):  Follow me on Twitter and Tweet this contest with @SahmReviews referenced. Comment with your link.

-- One Entry: Subscribe to my feed via RSS or email.

-- One Entry: Follow me using Google's Friend Connect feature.

-- One Entry (Daily): Read any of my non-giveaway reviews and leave an appropriate comment on that post. Come back here and leave a comment stating which product/post you left a comment on.

Thanks MomSelect and Zhu Zhu Pets for providing the prize for this fun giveaway!

148 comments

Miss K just turned 5 this past week. As I tucked her in the night before, she said "I'm going to be bigger tomorrow." "You sure will be, Honey. You'll be 5!" We said our good-nights and I looked forward to wishing her happy birthday in the morning.

DH and I picked up one of her favorite treats (Chili's Boneless Sweet Chili Glazed Wings) and headed to have lunch with her at school.

But she baffled us and wouldn't eat. Overwhelmed, I thought. Instead, she looked at me all sad and said "I'm the same size." It took only a second for me to understand what she meant but DH didn't hear her completely and asked "What do you mean?" She held up her hands and said "I didn't get any bigger today." It broke my heart because I only recently retired some of her 18 month pants that I could no longer say were 'capri' pants. They fit her waist but they are much too short.

But I'm a fan of shopping only when I have to or when the price is just right. We shop at garage sales for used clothing, but often find great deals at stores like T.J. Maxx and Marshall's when we're looking for new clothes.

When one of my public relations agents asked if I wanted to prepare a "Back to School" clothes shopping review of either T.J. Maxx or Marshall's, I laughed because we're frequent shoppers at both - for the kids, for DH, for me and as gifts.

Well, I received a $25 gift card to shop at T.J. Maxx so we told Miss K that she could pick what she wanted. Away we went...

After perusing the entire store and trying on multiple items, we were ready to check out with 11 items - 3 for Miss K, 2 for me, 4 for hubby and 2 for a friend and her fast-growing teenage son.  Grand total?  Hold onto your hat... $36 before tax.

Funny part is that the three items for Miss K accounted for more than half the total bill.  Two dresses and a two piece outfit. that weren't on clearance - still, those items were only $19.  Because the purpose of the promotion was "Back to School" we felt that we needed to spend the $25 gift card on just Miss K.  (We gave Miss M the $25 Marshall's gift card that is actually part of a separate review.) Miss K desperately wanted matching shoes, but TJ Maxx does not offer shoes for children or men.

Aside from Miss K's purchases, the rest were all clearance items at $1, $2 and $3!  By shopping when there are bargains, and not necessarily scheduling shopping trips, I'm able to capitalize on those clearance deals.  The clothes at T.J. Maxx are name brand and the original ticket prices are well more than what we paid.  I've never had to check the label for "irregular" and have never had an item that had some kind of hidden flaw.  $36 couldn't buy 1 item at many stores but bought 11 items for us at T.J. Maxx.

Now, I said I was reviewing TJ Maxx as part of their "Back to School" promotion.  Honestly, for us, "Back to School" is when we shop for school supplies not clothes.  But for people who make clothing shopping part of their back to school routine, a store like T.J. Maxx is a great place to get name brand clothes at discount store prices.

If you haven't shopped at a T.J. Maxx before, be sure to stop in.  It's one of those places where consistently dropping in for a quick look can pay big dividends.  Some days you won't buy anything (although we usually walk out with at least something) then BOOM, one day you walk out with 11 items for under $40.

Thanks to T.J. Maxx and Rocket XL for the opportunity to let Miss K add 3 adorable new outfits to her wardrobe!  She looks great and had a ball on her shopping spree!

3 comments

Ever since my mother-in-law got her new answering machine, it's been stuck with messages on it.  People who have never been to her house before graciously point out to her that a message is waiting.  My MIL's not one of those technologically challenged people, either.  She has messages stuck on her answering machine because she wants them there. She proudly says "I know, thank you.  It's my grandgals. I don't delete those so I can listen to them whenever I want"  It used to only be one message... then two.  I think she's up to at least three now.  Most get deleted but not those. 

The first of those messages is a few years old.  She's going to freak out if her answering machine ever breaks.

When MomSelect (BSM Media) mentioned in one of their newsletters that Grandparents.com had developed an online service to send voice greetings via email, I immediately responded. "Tell me more, tell me more. I think it's perfect for my mother-in-law!"

How does it work? With phone in hand and computer at your fingertips, log onto "YourVoice" at Grandparents.com and dial the designated phone number. It's an automated system so just listen for the prompts.  To begin, you enter the pin number displayed on your computer.  Then it tells you to record your message.


When you're done, it even tells you to return to your computer and hit the "I'm done recording" button on the Grandparents.com page. 

The next screen looks just like a standard web-based form for sending email.  You fill in your name exactly how you would like it to show up on the letter to your recipient, you enter your email (use a real one so the recipient knows that it's not spam), enter the recipient's email and, if you choose, a message.  That's it.  Done. Couldn't be easier.

Lickety split, your voice recording is on it's way. When I did my first sample, I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly it arrived in my inbox. 

Rather than selecting a recipient, I selected my own email for both the sender and recipient so I could see the difference in the emails.  The  "from" address on the recipient email was the email you previously entered.  By utilizing a familiar address, the YourVoice message is less likely to get sucked into a spam filter.  The email was titled "You have received a recording from Grandparents.com!" and within the message, it displayed my name, just as I had typed it on that 'email' page. 

The link included in each email took me to the same place on Grandparents.com.  From there, you just click the play button and listen to the message.  As many times as you want.  But it's more reasonable to just download it, in my opinion.  After all, if you just wanted to leave a message that would go away, why bother doing it online?  Downloading is easy... there's a note that says "Download this recording".  The two ** next to it points to special Firefox instructions - which are merely "Right click and select "Save Link As." 

After doing my test run to see how it worked and get screen shots, I waited impatiently for the kids to get home to put it to the real test.  Each of the girls recorded a message for my mother-in-law.  When my MIL called to let me know she received them, she was bubbling.  She was very excited to hear the girls' voices and already said she was downloading them to her desktop.

 I proceeded to tell her about YourVoice and we discussed the program.  I wanted to know what she thought of it and whether she thought it was a good service.  She said it was excellent. - she loved receiving the email with the kids' voices.  We both agreed that a pitfall to the program is that it is imbedded within the Grandparents.com website and is aimed primarily at Grandparents.  There's nothing wrong with the Grandparents.com site, but the service is so incredible they need to get it mainstream. 

I said to my MIL "When I was working, it would have been nice to have a service like this to call in sick."  Jokingly, she said "I can see someone proposing using it... or a Dear John."  We bantered several silly ideas off each other for about five minutes.  When the kidding was done, the concept sunk in that it had some real-world applications that would be wonderful for archival purposes.  She said "I think it would be neat if the kids used it to send a message to themselves on their birthday. 'Today I turned x years old. This is what I did to celebrate my birthday...' then they can go back and listen to them all when they're older."  I agree with that because even though video cameras are more common than they used to be, not everyone owns one.  Not everyone uses theirs.  YourVoice can be used to create audio for a digital scrapbook.

What are the costs? It's not a toll-free number so long distance charges apply. Luckily, we have unlimited free long distance so we can use this service as often as we want without any fees!

Does it require an account or activation? Nope. As you can see from my screen shots - I went through the entire process, sent, received and listened to - without ever logging in.

Is it secure?  I don't know but I was curious if someone else could easily listen to my messages.  So I went to mine, changed the URL a few different times to see if I could access what other people had recorded.  It gave an error each time.  It's on the internet and not password protected so I'm sure there's a way - but at least the messages aren't sequentially numbered.  I, personally, wouldn't use this service to convey personal information such as phone numbers or addresses.

What's the catch? You need simultaneous internet access and phone service to be able to record your message and your recipient needs a valid email address. That's it.

Benefits?  Free. Easy. Inventive. Green. Fun. The applications are endless.  A voice recording to wish someone happy birthday instead of sending a card that will just get thrown in the recycle bin.  Or a child's voice to send to a parent who is currently on tour of duty or away on business.  It's even a great way to make an announcement like "He proposed!" or "We're expecting!" when you're unable to get a hold of someone on the phone.  Better yet, just an archive of someone's voice so yo can listen to it whenever you want.   

I gave some thought to using this for Miss K to send digital thank you notes to her classmates for their gifts.   At her age, it would require too much coaching telling her who to thank, what she received from them, etc.  For someone older or even someone who usually doesn't write thank you notes, this is a great alternative. If I received this type of thank you from a mom-to-be thanking me personally and specifically for a shower gift, I would think it's fine.  It's personal, it's a less time-consuming and less costly method than traditional thank you notes, it's quick... and it's environmentally friendly.  Making clear that this is NOT an E-card but a personal voice message, I would love to hear what other people think of receiving digital thank you notes such as this.

To celebrate Grandparents Day on September 13th, try the "YourVoice" service.  You'll see how easy it is and I'm certain that the grandparents in your life will be just as excited as my mother-in-law was.

1 COMMENT

Elizabeth received Clean+green (Sea-Yu) at no charge for the purpose of preparing a review for SAHM Reviews. The following content was provided by Elizabeth:

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We have all kinds of smell producers in our house-- compost, cat, dog, not-quite-potty-trained twins, a cloth-diaper-wearing baby. We clean the litter box, the trash can, the compost bucket, the diaper pails regularly, but that doesn't stop the smells from trying to take over.

I think with smells, generally, you one of two choices: 1) live with the odors and just get used to them; or 2) spray the house constantly with some odor-covering product to try and mask the scents. Baking soda may work in the fridge and in the washer, but it's messy for other application. Our trash can is clumped with it and it still reeks.

So I was happy to try Clean+green (Sea-Yu) products that were sent to me by awesome Mom blogger SAHM Reviews. They are "all natural and pet-safe" according to their packaging. I've given them the run-around here's the results:

• The Furniture Refresher isn't just for furniture and pet beds. I sprayed it directly onto the litter after scooping. Urine smell was reduced significantly. (I think Betty would agree that it worked. I am not sure if it is related, but she hasn't been avoiding me as much lately! Cats!)

• Used the Refresher in the diaper pail... sprayed in and took a big whiff. The odor was gone "on contact," as promised. These are just cheapy, $10 plastic pails from Wal-Mart that my in-laws picked up. I hate them because they don't seal, but with the odor spray that might not be such an issue any longer.

• Sprayed the Refresher into the rolling bin for our trash and inhaled. Phew... might need a couple applications there! The instructions didn't say it would work for garbage pails, but I like all-purpose products when I can get them. I'll keep trying it again.

Clean+green sent me a "Carpet and Upholestery" spray as well that has the same ingredients -- cane sugar derivatives, botanical extracts and hydrated cellulose, along with water and a nitrogen propellant for the canister. I'm not sure what the difference is between the products except the upholstery products claims to "remove stains" as well. So far, no we haven't had any yucky pet stains to clean up (we don't have much carpet), but I might try it on the oil spot on my comforter.

Other Products, Other Places
I haven't yet tried the product on my compost bucket-- I'll comment here when I do to let you know how it goes. I also need to try it on the leather sofa, but I'd prefer not to, since that would require one of the girls to have an accident during naps. No thanks for now. And I'm thinking about checking out the "Auto" product for my stinky minivan-- it's supposed to be for pet smells, but really, aren't the kids kind of like pets?

I'd buy this product for smell reduction, but only because I have real issues with it at the moment. I am not fond of having another non-recyclable canister around, so that loses points in the Less is More filter I use to scrutinize what we're bringing inside. (Edit by Nicole: Following this post, I was contacted and told that the cans are 100% recyclable. I was unable to locate that fact on their website, but I mentioned that they should add it.)

One more test I have try-- keeping it on the bedside table for those unpleasant husband-farts. Hope it works!
SeaYu products are available at Amazon but you can also find them at a store near you. If you're eco-conscious and want more information about Clean+green or SeaYu Enterprises, check out their blog, their website, on Twitter, Facebook or even request a coupon! Thanks, Elizabeth, for your review!

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I love SAHM Reviews - sharing life stories and relating them to a product.  But there are several products that I'm asked to review that I either can't due to time restraints or won't because it's just not a product that fits into our household.  For example, there are some fantastic baby products on the market these days but I wouldn't be able to provide a baby review because there isn't a baby in the house. Sure, I can talk about a product and give you specifics about it... but if you want generic facts, the manufacturer's product page or a site like Amazon is much better. 

What SAHM Reviews is trying to achieve is showing the integration of various products into life.

Since I can't write about everything but still want to provide that content for my readers, I've decided to expand.  I'm gradually adding contributing writers starting with some people I already know and work with.

Elizabeth from Honk If You Compost is the first contributing writer on the list.  She's a world-traveler, having lived overseas for a period of time.  She's passionate about the environment, as evidenced by her blog.  When one of my PR contacts pitched Clean+Green on behalf of their client, SeaYu Enterprises, I immediately thought of Elizabeth.  She welcomed the idea of writing for SAHM Reviews and I welcome Elizabeth aboard.

I've been working with a few other writers for various household products, pets, crafts and baby products.  But I'm on the lookout for more.  I'm hoping to create a special button that says "Contributing Author for SAHM Reviews" but I'm not there yet.  There are only two requests - (1) Make it a story where you  provide details about the product.  (2) If you receive a product for SAHM Reviews, feel free to post short teasers on your own blog, social networking sites, etc directing them to your review at SAHM Reviews.

If you have an area of expertise and would love to create story-based reviews for SAHM Reviews, please send an email to Nicole at SAHM Reviews with your qualifications and samples of your writing style. 

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So what did I think of them?  Here are some of the highlights (as well as lowlights if I felt any) about each of the games.

I'm a big fan of games but traditional games leave us crying for space.  Two of the games we received were virtually the size of a deck of cards.  The small plus entertaining combo makes these a huge hit!

Say Cheese!: It's a fast paced game consisting of cards and dice. The pictures on the dice reflect various characters on the cards.  Roll the dice as quickly as you can and compare what you roll to what is on the cards.  If the two characters on the dice matches the two on either of the cards that are showing, then you yell "Cheese" and grab the card.  Flip over another card and everyone starts rolling again.  If you match both cards, then you yell "Double Cheese" and grab both cards.  Continue to flip and grab until all the cards are claimed.  Person with the most at the end wins.  It's a super fast game but crazy and a lot of fun.  It's one of those games that you can just tell was inspired by a college-level beer drinking game.  Worth the price of admission? Absolutely.

Too Many Monkeys: This game involves a deck of cards where the goal is to attain the numbers 1-6. Everyone starts with 6 cards facing down and taking turns, you attempt to get them all flipped upright.  In the same style as gin (the game, not the drink!), you can draw from the stack or from the discard pile.  If you draw a 4, you replace the 4th card in your row and unhide the new number.  If it's a 3, you replace the 3rd card in the row and continue until you duplicate a card or flip a card that halts your turn. Sound complicated but it's not... Miss K (4 at the time we received the game) followed along just fine.  There are "Skip" cards that allow some strategic play but for the most part, it's luck of the draw. When someone flips all their cards, they begin the next round with one less while their opponents keep 6 until they win a round. Each round is pretty fast paced but if you have a large number of people playing, it takes an unbelievable amount of time for someone to win 6 rounds.  Worth purchasing?  If you have more than a few people who will play. While it is a time consuming game when you add more players, it isn't nearly as much fun when only a few are playing.

Of course, traditional boxed board games are cool too but I guess I wouldn't classify these next two as board games. Boxed? Yes. Board? No. Bored? Definitely not.

Can You See What I See? Although this is a boxed game (smaller than a traditional lunch box), it is just a bunch of I Spy cards. Two sets - The "Keep Me" cards and the "Find Me" tiles. A designated number of the larger "Keep Me" cards with the collage of items are handed out to the players face up. The smaller tiles each contain one item that can randomly be located on the "Keep Me" cards.  One at a time, the "Find Me" tiles are flipped to reveal an item and players scour their own cards for that particular item. Each of their own cards that contains the item gets put into a pile. When someone gets all their cards, they win. That's the version for the little kids - there's a more difficult setup for older kids.  The girls really enjoy this game, but I feel like they are too advanced for the easy version and not quite ready for the harder version.  I'm giving it a little time and plan to reintroduce it at the more difficult stage to see how they do.  Would I buy this? Possibly. It's best for someone with kids around 4 who like playing a good game of search and find.  On the flipside, it would be very fun for a family with kids 7 and up who can strategically think through the "Expert" level of it.

Ring-O Flamingo:  This game will cure you of any desire to play carnival games at the fair.  Using a launcher, you attempt to ring a flamingo.  Once you get the hang of how to launch the rings, it's less frustrating, but being good at launching doesn't guarantee you'll win.  Bonus points go to the first person to ring any given flamingo so someone who is accurate at landing several 'firsts' can easily pull ahead of someone who rings lots in the same place. It's fast paced and appears messy but is a quick cleanup and easy to immediately start another game.  My only complaint with Ring-O Flamingo is that the glue used to hold the flamingos onto their base isn't strong enough. One of the flamingos came loose on our very first time sitting down to play.  No biggie though as it's something that super glue could easily resolve.  Seriously, that's my only complaint about it... except that I'm consistently inconsistent.  One game I could be right on the money with most of my launches and the next, they're flying across the room.  Guess that's half the fun.  And it's way cheaper than a carnival game.

These four games were provided at no charge by Gamewright for the purpose of this review.

Interested in more about Gamewright games? Catch up with them on Twitter, Facebook, on their website or go straight to Amazon to purchase some of their games - they're fun and they are affordable.

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Last year for DH's birthday, we planned a short family vacation.  I made reservations at a German restaurant and attempted to plan a special birthday 'cake' for him.  We used to enjoy Eli's Cheesecake before moving to Los Angeles but the store here in Iowa that carried it has since gone out of business.  Since our vacation spot was in Wisconsin and within the Eli's area, I figured the stores there would likely carry his favorite flavor - Eli's Chocolate Chip Cheesecake.

But shy of calling all the stores or driving around, I didn't really have a way to locate the cake of choice.  So I contacted Eli's directly.  Their staff took the time to look up which stores were on their delivery list and where I could shop to get our Eli's fix.  Customer service like that is hard to come by these days. 

Prior to that, the last time we enjoyed Eli's was when DH had some shipped to his company in Los Angeles.  Unfortunately, awesome cheesecake has a very short shelf-life when surrounded by a ton of employees.  DH managed to set aside a few pieces to bring home... probably because he knew he wouldn't get back into the house without it.  Smart man, I tell you.

Even this past spring, we even drove from store to store while visiting DeKalb, Illinois - once again in search of a store carrying Eli's Chocolate Chip Cheesecake.  It was a last minute idea so we didn't have the opportunity to inquiry with their customer service department like last time.  Alas, we didn't find what we wanted and were totally disappointed.  It's just one of those things you look forward to.

So as BlogHer09 approached, I raved (to any non-Chicago person that would listen) about how awesome Eli's is.  It's one of those must-experience things about Chicago.  I did things like telling friends via email.  When someone on Twitter asked for dinner recommendations, I suggested they just pick up an Eli's cheesecake and make dinner out of it.  How do you think Eli's responded to this?  They contacted me directly and offered to supply Eli's cheesecakes for an event we were having on the Wednesday night prior to BlogHer.  How on earth could I resist such an offer?

They shipped a Cheesecake Tower and a Tira Mi Su for guests at our event to share. I was never a fan of cheesecake growing up, but after trying Eli's Chocolate Chip Cheesecake at the Taste of Chicago after meeting my husband, I was a convert. It became my favorite. The tower contains a plain cheesecake, a chocolate chip cheesecake and a turtle cheesecake. Eli's has several other flavors, like Triple Chocolate, that make my head spin and my mouth water but those weren't among the ones at our party. But that's okay because the tower by itself was delicious and way more cake than we could eat anyhow.

But I guess what really impresses me is the customer service at Eli's. Sure, I've blathered along about products I love before - either here or on Twitter. But seldom do they contact me to say they love hearing how much I enjoy their products.

Eli's is a small company with a big heart... and awesome food.  Please check them out at their website, their blog, on Facebook or even on Twitter.

Special thanks to Eli's for supplying cheesecake and Tiramisu for our pre-BlogHer09 event. 

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