Baby Gear Product Review: SnoozeShade Plus

A couple months ago, I received a SnoozeShade Plus stroller shade for review.  I was excited to put it to the test, but the weather decided to hang onto winter and early spring snowfall making it difficult to get out and go for a walk.

 

Last week, spring finally sprung in my town.  First on my order of business was to take a walk around the lake and try out the SnoozeShade Plus.

I had read the reviews and the product description, but I was extremely impressed as I pulled the SnoozeShade Plus out of the package to see first-hand what it was like.

It was neatly tucked away inside a pull-close mesh bag for storage.  I was really pleased to see that the Velcro closures were covered in the packaging to protect them from snagging the shade.  This immediately won me over with excitement, as I get so annoyed when this wonderful invention of Velcro snags an otherwise perfectly wonderful garment or item.

I pulled out the SnoozeShade Plus and opened it up to find that it has several loops to fit around just about any stroller, though will not fit on a double-width hood of a double stroller.  It will, however, fit on a single-hooded/kid in a row style of double stroller.  There are plenty of Velcro-looped straps to get the best fit.  If you don’t use all of the straps, just tuck them away..

It is designed with baby and mom in mind.

• It provides 50+ UPF sun protection
• Protects baby from wind and chill on colder days.
• Serves as a mosquito or insect net.
• It works great with newborns through approximately age 4
• It is a universal fit
• It is made out of breathable fabric
• Mom can catch a sneak-a-peek through the front zipper
• It has a 2-in-1 blackout blind and a full sunshade
• It provides black-out from the sun so baby can sleep or a zip-down window, on the dual layer fabric, for baby to look out while still being shaded from the sun.
• It works great while traveling.  It is portable inside the mesh drawstring storage bag, and it helps to keep baby’s sleep routine undisturbed.
• It has a top zipper (at stroller handles) to allow you to quickly check on baby.

The SnoozeShade is sold as:

SnoozeShade Original ($34.99)

SnoozeShade Plus ($49.99)

SnoozeShade for Infant Carriers ($29.99)

SnoozeShade for Playards ($99.99)

They are available online at www.snoozeshadeusa.com. You can also “like” them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.

Disclaimer:  I received a free copy of this product in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations.

Elephant Pictures 101

Since my daughter now owns upwards of 100 elephants, we have agreed that it's time to make the shift from rescuing and collecting all of the elephants in the world to instead begin taking pictures of all of the elephants we encounter.

Well....  There are many.

I was shocked to discover that there are elephants wherever we go.  And, no, I'm not seeing "pink elephants" from too much drinking.

Here's just a few from one day's outing:

Coolest Snow Globe Gift Cards Gift

I realize that Christmas has passed, and we have moved into a new year.  However, I received this coolest gift for Christmas from my niece and just had to share my haphazard tutorial of how to make one for yourself to make your own gift card snow globe.

Hint:  These would make adorable Teacher Gifts for any occasion, and a child could make them with adult supervision with the hot glue gun!

  Yes, they are decorated in Christmas ornaments, but you could just as easily make it any wintry scene to give throughout Valentine's Day, a child's birthday (add a princess theme and some pink tulle) or even a gift just to give during the winter.  You could probably even turn it into a sandy beach/ocean scene with some blue food coloring and a little creativity to give throughout the year.

 Keep in mind that I did not make this originally, I received it as a gift.  But, I pretty much figured out how it goes.

Start with a jar, and remove the label.

Buy a gift card (the ones without the magnetic strip probably work best, but I don't know if this would become damaged when wet or not).  Hot glue the gift card to the inside (bottom) top of the lid.

Note:  When I opened my snow globe to redeem the gift card, this was challenging to remove.  So, it might work best to wrap the gift card inside a clear plastic bag or plastic wrap and glue only the wrapping or outside bag to the lid instead.  Just a thought.  But, I did successfully get all the glue off so I can use the cards.

 Fill the jar with as much glitter as you desire (or other decorations, such as small water-proof Christmas ornaments, little heart glitter (for Valentine's Day) or sea shells and glitter that resembles sand for a beach scene.  Use your creativity and go wild.

Learning to Tie with Pink Elephants and Fleece

If learning to tie shoelaces seems like a lost art, learning to tie knots can be useful.  Well, at least the Boy Scouts still teach the art of knot tying.   And, if nothing else, it's a fun process when elephants are involved.

This is not a paid product review, though if I were to throw in my two cents worth I would highly recommend these kits.  My daughter received hers as a Christmas gift from my sister, but I believe you can find them at Joann's Fabrics and maybe even Hobby Lobby, Michaels or online.

 It began with two pieces of fleece fabric.  One was a solid lime green backing color.  The other was PINK ELEPHANTS!!!!!

 My elephant-loving daughter was thrilled when she got the chance to learn how to tie knots using a No-Sew Fleece blanket kit picturing PINK ELEPHANTS!

I cut the strips of fabric fleece fringe and showed her how to cross the strips to form an "X" and then tuck inside the newly formed circle and puuuuuullllllllll hard and tight.  She LOVED this part.

Soon, I began to tie every other fringe strip leaving the rest to her.

Before long, the blanket was complete with one happy elephant-loving knot-tying girl.

My Thoughts About Newtown Shooting

Please forgive my lengthy comments. I have been numbed, tearful and have so many emotions on what happened in CT. I cannot get these horrific events of yesterday morning out of my thought and, of course, my prayers. I look down this list

 and 14 of these babies were the same age as one of my daughters.

I cannot imagine what Christmas morning, or the last night of Hanukkah will be/was for these families. This absolutely breaks my heart in two. ...

And, I cannot help but wonder if any of them would have one day met up with my daughter as friends, or even as her intended mate, but has now been snatched forever from this world.

To my knowledge, I do not know anyone in Connecticut with children in Sandy Hook Elementary, but my heart grieves with these strangers.
My heart grieves for the kids who saw their friends die in a gruesome manner.
My heart grieves for Ryan Lanza who was initially blasted all over the internet as the killer when it was really his brother.
My heart grieves for the families and friends of the adults and the teachers who acted heroically.

I have questions, like how did this gunman get into the school? And, of course, I want to know why.

And, I realize everyone is going to grieve in their own way and no one means any harm for their knee-jerk first reactions.

I see posts responding to the tragedy blaming guns (neither bans on guns or laws for right to carry will fix this. The same day, 22 children in China were stabbed by not a gun wielding bandit, but a knife-wielding one),

blaming public schools (this isn't isolated to public schools. It happened in an Amish community, a theatre and places of employment in the past),

blaming taking prayer and God out of schools (there were teachers praying with their huddled terrified students, which may have saved their lives)

or even blaming God (God does not make evil happen, but allows it for reasons we cannot yet fully understand)

The truth is that this was an evil act committed in a less-than-perfect world filled with the need for the light of love found only in a risen savior. That's what I believe. This act of horrific violence grieves me, scares me, shakes my sense of security and feeling of safety and makes me want to wrap a blanket of peace around the survivors. And, we cannot let this man's murderous acts to win.

Draw Plus Science Book Teaches Through The Art Of Drawing

Learn Science while drawing art.  Another wonderful book in this “Draw Plus” line of books.  Draw Plus Science by Freddie Levin, published by Peel Productions, Inc.,  is a 64-page fun way to enhance science studies by using art.

My children love this hands-on approach to learning scientific facts.  And, of course, my elephant-loving daughter was drawn to the elephants.

The book is filled with more than 200 drawings and full color illustrations throughout the book.  It is intended for children age 6 and up.  My six-year-old loved it, but so did my 10 and 12 year olds.  I wish I could teach every subject like this every day

Shhhh!  Don’t tell your child they are really learning because they won’t realize the enormous amount of information that is filling their head full of knowledge while they think they are doing nothing more than creating through the art of drawing.  While your child is drawing, he or she is also learning about scientific observation and facts about classification, life cycles, seasons, measuring, recording, variety in nature, climates, inherited traits as well as characteristics of organisms. 

The book is available at area bookstores or your local library.  If it’s not there, ask for it as it would be a sweet addition to any learning collection.  Find it also online at drawbooks.com.

Disclaimer:  I received a copy of this book to my delight in exchange only for my honest review.  I received no other compensation.

The hottest new word game Typecrush is green and made in the USA

If you haven’t heard about this great new game, check it out!  I received a sample to try out for myself with my children in exchange for this review.  No other compensation was exchanged, just my following thoughts about the game:

Typecrush is a simple yet brilliant game that creates teachable moments in the form of a word game.  Included are round colorful cardboard disks with letters imprinted on them.  Each color represents how frequently that particular letter is used in the English alphabet.  The color coding also gives you clues to solving the hidden word games.

The rules are similar to Hangman, but that’s where your creativity is free to launch.  Play the game by your own rules.  The only official rule is that when someone guesses the word they get to choose the next word.  Also, the makers of Typecrush suggest that you play using themes and that players be at least seven years old.

We played it with making crosswords, spelling words on my daughter’s spelling list and by guessing the words that other players created.  Another way to play could be to mix up the letters like a word jumble puzzle or to play matching games, like a game of Memory.

Of course, the game would not be complete until someone spelled the word E-L-E-P-H-A-N-T!

The game is assembled in the USA and is made from recycled materials.  The entire game fits inside a canister that is very portable.

You can find the game at typecrush.com and order it just in time for Christmas, or it may arrive before the 8 days of Hanukkah are over.

TILL MONDAY YOU HAVE A CHANCE TO WIN YOUR OWN:

There is a fantastic giveaway going on at Teachable ScottsTots blog.  All you have to do is comment with a creative vocabulary word (please keep it clean), and you could win your very own Typecrush game.  Once you get your hands on the game, you’ll fall in love and will be building words and creating new games like you’ve never imagined.  Before you know it, your children will be spelling words with ease and begging to play Typecrush to show you’re their newly learned skills.