SodaStream Review

Pros:
Fun to make at home, no carrying or storing heavy bottles from the store, less plastic waste and recyclables, lower in sugar, lots of flavors available, no high-fructose corn syrup, no aspartame, no electricity required.

Cons:
Majority of flavors (diet and regular) contain sucralose, similar or higher cost than purchasing bottled soda, more time-intensive than just pouring.

Summary:
If you would like to easily make soda in your home in a variety of flavors for a cost comparable to purchasing popular name brand sodas, this is a great little machine!

Full Review:

Honestly, we are not super big soda drinkers...but Friday night is our party/game night and we go through several bottles of soda per week!  After realizing how much time, energy and money we spend purchasing, carrying home and storing soda, and then returning the bottles...SodaStream started sounding like a great idea! 

The SodaStream machine allows you to make soda in your home or anywhere in any way you want to! Assembling the machine was fairly simple ... just insert the CO2 tank, fill the reusable bottle with COLD water (we noticed room temperature doesn't work as well), and then press and hold the carbonation button about 3 times.  After (and only after carbonation), you can either add one of the many SodaStream flavor syrups, or add juices, flavorings, and/or sweeteners of your choice.

Since we had a large variety of flavors to try and a large group of people, we found it simpler to just fizz the water and then let each person measure out a flavor shot into their own glass. It was also nice as sometimes our friends leave the top to the bottle unscrewed. With SodaStream, no problem - just re-fizz the water!

It was great to have so many flavors to offer guests without taking up huge amounts of counter or storage space with bottled soda!  Everyone was able to find flavors that they liked.  We did notice that the regular (non-diet) soda has a much lower sugar content than regular bottled soda because it contains a mixture of cane sugar and sucralose.  There are some naturally sweetened flavors that are sweetened only with cane sugar and taste great! We loved the natural variety ginger-ale and cola flavors.  We wish there were some options that contain Stevia, but we are going to experiment and try making some of our own flavors.

Since the SodaStream is powered only by the CO2 tank, it could easily be brought to a party, the park, or to camp and stored without worrying about cords or temperature changes. We look forward to trying some of the other available flavors.

Visit SodaStream on Facebook and Twitter.

Disclosure: We received the SodaStream and accessories listed above for review. The opinions we have expressed are honest opinions and have not been influenced by the companies providing the product. No other compensation was received.

Signing Time On Demand and iPad 3 Sweepstakes!

                                                   

Pros: No commercials, watch any time or place, watch on a variety of media options, entertainment on the go, always there for you to load onto future computers, phones, or tablets!

Cons: Cost may be a factor..especially if you want them all!

Summary: This is a great stuff-free gift you can give your children or others that they can continue to use for years to come!

Review :

My 4 Year old was thrilled when she saw the pictures on this post and said, "Oh I LOVE 'silent' time with Alex and Leah!"  :) We've loved these videos since our children were babies, but since we bought our first dvd's, a few of them have gotten scratched and no longer work.  We love the idea of Signing Time on demand! No more storing dvd's or worrying about them getting scratched. And if you happen to get a new computer, phone or tablet,  you can just log in and reload the videos you've already purchased!

We received the digital video from Series 1, Vol. 5 video, ABC Signs..  This video teaches the sign language alphabet and also includes signs for numbers 1-10.  For those of you who aren't familiar with Signing Time, they are wonderful instructional videos geared towards children from infants to around 8 years old.  We love it!  These are great videos to have your children watch over and over again when you are waiting for doctor appointments or traveling, etc... These videos are also great tools to use in the classroom to promote better communication or to teach a second language. 

Click below to download a free Signing Time on demand video and enter to win an iPad3 until May 18, 2012!

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.

Make Your Own Spring Fairy Garden...

 My kids have been wanting plants and garden things in their room.  We decided to make little fairy garden terrariums in plastic containers... These Parmesan cheese containers make a great little no-spill garden and are super easy for little hands to fill!  They are also great for teaching about the water cycle as you only have to water once as long as the lid stays on.

 1. Clean out container and remove label.

2. Place small gravel, or aquarium rocks in the bottom for drainage. *If you have some activated charcoal (available in most garden centers or aquarium stores) add a couple tablespoons to keep the little garden fresh.

3. Spoon 3 inches of potting soil into container.

4. Add a small plant and/or moss of your choice and just enough water (We used a pretty ivy sprig).

5. Decorate with tiny plastic fairies, animals, dinosaurs, marbles or pretty rocks.  Close lid tightly.

Enjoy! :)

Mother's Day Printable Games Review and Coupon Code

Pros: Lots of games to choose from, Save to your computer to use for years to come, Game categories include: kids, couples, or large groups.

Cons: Cost may be a factor if you are only interested in one or two games.

Summary: Python Printable Games is a great site if you need fun holiday games and activities for your family, classroom, or Mother's Day gathering. 

Coupon Code(25% off good till 5/5/12): BLESSINGS25

Review:  Looking for fun activities to keep kids busy while Mom relaxes? Or holiday conversation starters for a family dinner this Mother's Day?  Python Printable Games has  Mother's Day Printables you can order and download to print at home. This Package includes 20 games!

A few of the game titles included are:

• Mother's Day Trivia
• Mother May I?
• Mother's Day Keepsake Kids' Craft
• Around the House Tidy Up Hunt
• I Love You In Any Language
• Crazy Cookie Recipes
• Famous Moms and Daughters Celebrity Trivia
• Romantic Coupons for Mom and Dad
• Flowers Trivia
• Homemade Matinee Kids' Acting Game
• (View the complete list here).    

Some games are appropriate only for couples while others are designed for kids or large group settings. There are lots to choose from!  Some are even useful as general party games to use on other holidays or special occasions. You can save the entire package to your computer and print as many as you wish for years to come! You can also order individual games if you are only interested in one or two.

Our favorites so far include: 

 "Around the House Tidy Up Hunt" which is a printable card game with tasks for kids to race to complete in order to pamper mom on Mother's day or any day.  I don't know about you, but we can never seem to get enough clean-up games over here...  With four kids in the house, the more cleaning up, the better! :)

 

"A Mother's Day Keepsake" which is a fill-in-the-blank questionnaire for kids to write about their mom.  My kids love fill-in pages and when completed, they are so much fun save or scrapbook and look at in years to come!

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.

We have a TTC Kit Winner!

We have a winner of the Trying to Conceive Starter Kit Giveaway!  Thanks everyone for entering!

Congratulations to Brooke, entry #124!

Free Family Fun Subscription...

 

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Grace Garden

This year we made a "Grace Garden" for Easter.

 We filled a basket with an empty cave (made from air-dry clay), a wooden cross made from sticks, lots of green plants and a butterfly.

The grace garden helps us remember our garden fall and His garden grace. 

You can read a beautiful post explaining how to make one here at A Holy Experience.

Increase Your Baby Chances and Enter to Win a ConceiveEasy Starter Kit ($152 value)!

One of the very best days of my life was the day I became a mom!  I remember how much we wanted a baby and I will always remember the excitement of being pregnant for the first time.  It was so much fun announcing our baby news to friends and family!

I know that for some couples, it can be a very long wait which can create lots of stress on their relationship... Studies show that it becomes increasingly more difficult to get pregnant in your 30's and 40's. I was surprised to read that healthy 30 year olds have only a 20% chance of conceiving naturally and healthy 40 year olds have a 5% chance of conceiving naturally. 

The great news is that if you are wishing for a baby, there are ways of increasing your chances of conceiving more quickly and easily than ever before!  ConceiveEasy has developed a Trying To Conceive Starter Kit claiming a safe, all natural, 100% drug-free product called FertiBella. Clinical testing showed FertiBella to increase fertility in most women an average of 33% in as little as 28 days!

Also included in the kit is information on how to get pregnant as well as education on common causes of infertility. The ConceiveEasy website offers a phone number to call and talk with a specialist about any questions or concerns before purchasing their product.

Win it!
ConceiveEasy is offering one Be Blessed follower a 2 Month Supply ConceiveEasy TTC Starter Kit (a $152 value) with your choice of bonus gifts! Feel free to enter for yourself or a friend.

One winner will receive ConceiveEasy's Months 1 and 2 Starter Packs and may also choose one of the following bonus gifts:

Bonus gift #1: 20 Early Result Pregnancy Tests
Bonus gift #2: 20 One-Step Ovulation Tests
Bonus gift #3: 10 Pregnancy Tests and 10 Ovulation Tests

St Patrick's Day Activities For Kids

I was just searching for some fun things to do with my family on St. Patrick's day and thought I'd share...

1. Read a story about the real St. Patrick. or Watch "The Story of St. Patrick"(Chapter 6) on the Veggie Tales Sumo of the Opera DVD. 

2. String fruity Cheerios to make rainbow necklaces and bracelets.

3. Make "rainbow" pictures on paper with  Fruit Loops and glue..

4.Eat lots of green foods...kiwis, salad, cucumbers, parsley, cookies, grapes, etc... use your imagination!

5. Go to your local St. Patrick's Day parade or festival.

6. Wear lots of green!

7. Here's a tutorial on how to temporarily color hair with chalk pastels..in case you want green hair. Don't forget to paint your nails green! :)

What do you like to do on St. Patrick's Day?

Happy St. Patrick's Day!