Pinned & Done!

I am almost at 3000 pins on Pinterest- to celebrate here are some of my reviews from Pins I've Actually Done (PIADs, if you will)

Oreo Popcorn-

I loved this the minute I saw it! Chucky Sue's two favorite treats combined?! I didn't actually read the recipe, because it looked a lot like puppy chow. I melted white chocolate with a touch of butter in the mircowave, spread it all over the popcorn and then shook crushed oreos all over it. After about an hour in the fridge the chocolate hardened and we munched on it for FHE. Next time I make it,  I'll be more careful about picking out all the un-popped kernels. Those were no fun to bite into! Or maybe I'll just buy those pre-popped popcorn bags!

Rolo Pencils

This is one craft that we're doing for the magazine, A round candy with a Hershey kiss glued to the top to make an adorable pencil! I even made a video tutorial that isn't available YET but will be soon! (Yeah, there's a youtube channel for the magazine too!)

Beachy Waves

This one  I did forever ago, and since I've chopped off all my hair! But it was my go-to "fancy" hair when I had no time or Chucky Sue was being a demanding toddler. The picture doesn't lead to a tutorial (at least the pin I saw- anyone know the source?) You plait your hair into two large fairly loose braids, then twist them tightly away from your face and use the straighter along the "grain" of your hair- meaning you twist it instead of pulling straight down. Then you let your hair cool, or put some curl hold spray stuff (I am such a good beauty blogger.) and voila! beachy waves without the beach or too much product.

Salt Dough Ornaments

Just ask Jake- there's no flour or salt left in this house. Testing a small batch for the magazine ended up as a week long process and it was SO MUCH FUN. I made pre-baked ornaments that will end up in the magazine, plus a bunch of family ones that Chucky Sue helped me color. (Nonie's has a frog, Angelina a butterfly and Chucky Sue chose a moon and stars!) I love that this craft can be adapted for a lot of different age levels. Chucky Sue loved just playing with the dough and squishing it. Older kids will actually be able to design and bake their ornaments or knick-knacks.

Nail Polish Barbie Suits

Chucky Sue has two or three Barbie dolls. One has a molded leotard on, but Chucky Sue being the ultimate american kid, strips her dolls down and plays with them naked. Not so much a problem at home, but at church it can be kind of embarrassing to be discussing modesty and chastity with a naked Barbie being tossed about under the pews. I used some left over bon-bon (remember bon-bon nail polish? These were easily from the 8th grade!) and made the other dolls permanent swim suits.


A lot of articles on the blogosphere are talking about Pinterest's decline, and whether or not the site will stick around and be successful. I think it won't ever regain it's crazy popularity it had a year ago, but it's here to stay if I have anything to say about it!

A Present to Me: Shutterfly Photo Album

Back when we upgraded to Fancy Shmancy Camera Best Buy was running a deal that we would get a free Shutterfly Photo Album with the purchase. I was already in love with camera, but this little perk didn't hurt at all. I went back and forth about how I wanted to use the photo album, a vacation themed one? My own version of the cute ABC book floating around Pinterest? I decided to make it a book by me, for Chucky Sue as she grows up. Some of my favorite memories with my mom is when she was telling about me as a baby or even her own childhood.

The book is full of poems, tidbits, rhymes, and thoughts about my first two years with Chucky Sue. There are very simple pages that I know she'll enjoy now, and then more complex ones for her to grow up with. And then thanks to Fancy Shmancy Camera, I have lots of new photos to fill this book up!

Now there are lots of coupons and promotions going on for Shutterfly, here are a few that I searched out for you lovely readers:

Free Father's Day Card, use the code: CARD4U

10% off entire order, use the code: ENJOY

as always, notify me if you want an extra 50 free prints from Shutterfly by joining through my referral link!

My Favorite iPhone Apps

Because my mom just bought an iPhone here is a list of some of my favorite iApps, I'd have a better intro to this list but I'm still giggling over my mom buying an iPhone!

Instagram (Free)- they turn your cellphone photos into fairly interesting images, if not beautiful! You can also subscribe to your friends and see their photos.

The Monster at the End of this Book ($3.99)-  it's an electronic version of my FAVORITE book, so the high price was worth it. Chucky Sue loves the interactive illustrations, especially when she gets to knock down the brick wall. We also have the sequel with Elmo ($3.99 again).


FlipBoard (free)- This app puts all your "newsfeeds" into one location. I can read Google Reader, Twitter, Facebook, and different news sites all in one app. It works a lot better than the old RSS reader app I had (and paid $0.99 for!)

Lego Harry Potter ($4.99)- This app is expensive too, but it is a FULL video game and not easily completed. You definitely get your money's worth of entertainment. The controls are harder to master, but it's HARRY  POTTER guys. The levels aren't so long that you can't whip it out and finish one in a waiting room or in line at the bank.


Spendings (free)- A very simple budget app. You input how much money you have, wether it be your entire budget, your "fun money" or you just want to keep track of how much you're spending and where. Then, every time you spend money, open the app and add in the receipt. It's a very simplistic bank register that I use to help balance my account with my bank's app.

RunKeeper (free)- A handy little tool for exercise! You set up the app to track how far and fast you run/walk/bike/ride. It has coaching options, where a very nice computer voice will urge you to run faster or go for longer. You can share your results with Facebook too- it's great for running teams or exercise partners to keep tabs on each other.

 RedLaser (free)- A barcode scanner app, the first I believe. It's great to have when shopping, you can find a price if a label is missing, or see if you can get a product cheaper somewhere else. It also reads the QR codes on advertisements too.

There's a bunch more apps that I love: Plants vs Zombies, Jelly Defense, Words with Friends, Bananagrams, Scribblenauts, MadGab, the LDS Library, Nora's Bubbles and probably hundreds more!

Book Review: Street Gang

It should be well known by now that I am a nerd. I wear the name proudly. When we first visited our new library, I dawdled up and down the non-fiction section looking for some good biographies and how-to books. I found this awesome gem: Street Gang by Michael Davis.

It is a history of the awesome TV show, Sesame Street! I've loved this show since before I can remember- my mom would turn it on and I'd come crawling as fast as lightning  down the hallway to watch the antics of Bert and Ernie and the lovable Grover. Now that I am a mom, Chucky and I watch Sesame Street together often. It's even the theme of her upcoming birthday party. But all of that has nothing to do with the book.

The book reads very easily- it goes through the many collaborators and creative people involved with the beginning of the show and their resumes, all leading up to when they finally got the revolutionary show on the air. I had not realized how much research went into making an educational television show- they had professors and academic panels reviewing each segment and testing it on preschoolers to see just how much a child was learning from Big Bird and Mr. Hooper. The book also shows a great deal of the politics behind a multi-cultural, woman-lead show. Obviously, I wasn't around then, so I had no clue just HOW much it shook up government funded television. The book is full of great factoids, like how Julia Child's cooking show in Boston opened up the idea that educational television can be enjoyed outside of a classroom setting, or that Joss Whedon's father Tom was one of the first writers on the show! You literally read the show growing from a dinner party question of "Can television teach children?" to a world wide phenomenon in just a few hundred pages.

I highly highly HIGHLY suggest this book to anyone who watches the show- the behind the scenes information is just too interesting to pass up! if you go to Streetgangbook.com you can get the book autographed for free by the author, Michael Davis. There's a whole bunch of information and extra chapters on that site too.

Note: I was not asked to write this review, I was not compensated in anyway, Michael Davis has NO clue who I am. I just really enjoyed the book and thought some of my friends would like it as well.

BookSneeze Review: Love You More By Jennifer Grant

Note: I recieved this book to review via booksneeze.com they did not influence my review in anyway.

Love You More By Jennifer Grant

My Rating: 4/5 Stars

★★★★☆

This book is a quick and fun read. Grant details her life as young mother feeling her family was incomplete, even after having three biological children and despite being physically capable of having more- adopted a sweet girl from Guatamala. She infuses her belief in God and family stories with  modern day politics and ethics surrounding international adoption. Placing letters and emails from her adoption journey in almost every chapter gives you a great insight to the ups and downs of the process.

I loved reading this book. It was quirky and fast-paced, though short. She adds great humor to such serious topics. (and like me, uses parenthetical statements to joke with the reader.) She also has great resources listed in the appendix along with discussion questions which go well with both book clubs and adoption groups. While I didn't learn specifics of international adoption- her own story took almost a year AFTER all the paperwork was completed. I was introduced to roadblocks I didn't know existed and was given a push in a right direction if adoption is something I wish to pursue. I would highly recommend this book to those wanting a personal story about international toddler adoption, not just a textbook like list of "what to expect".

Couples Who Pray by Squire Rushnell & Louise DuArt: BookSneeze Review

Note: I received this book for free as part of a promotion from booksneeze.com, however they did not influence my review in any way.

My Rating: 3/5 Stars

Having grown up in a religious family and continuing to have  such a strong religious support system in my life where prayer is a common and everyday occurrence- reading this book Couples Who Pray by SQuire Rushnell and Louise DuArt was a bit like reading Prayer for Dummies. It was a sweet and simple book full of stories of different couples learning to pray together and how it affected their lives. The chapters are split up into easy to read sections, each with their own story and moral- a perfect book to read while waiting in line or in a doctor's office.  The book focused mainly on communication- both with your spouse and God. It outlined a vague way to start praying, being careful to allow different religions interpretations of scripture, and then challenged the reader to commit to praying at least 5 minutes a day for 40 days with your spouse.

I enjoyed the anecdotes, it was interesting to see how much prayer had changed people's relationships. There were good starting points for people who had never been taught to pray before, a lesson from my childhood I had obviously taken for granted. I would recommend this book to a friend if they needed such basic instruction- it presented the guidelines in a very simple and non-condescending way. The writing style tries to infuse humor and scripture, which keeps the book from being too dry and boring. I got a kick out of the questionaire in the back of the book. It was clearly meant for those who had never prayed together, but helpful to others in different situations I'm sure.

Dora The Explorer

My kid watches TV. Not a lot of it on normal days, but she's been teething this weekend and got a cold on top of that so yes, Chucky-Sue has been watching a lot of Dora. And Diego and Wonder Pets,along with the whole PBS line up. I'm surprised she isn't singing the alphabet in her sleep yet. ( I know I am...)

And I have some questions for the creators of Dora.

1. What parent doesn't question the fact that their five year old daughter's best friend is a monkey that wears rain boots 24/7? Let's just go with the whole she communicates (bilingually!) with animals and fairy tale characters.

2. What five year old is allowed to go through the Forest of 'Thorns and Prickers, over Crocodile Pond and to Gooey Geyser in order to find the big red chicken? I wasn't allowed to cross the street but Dora and Boots get to battle crocodiles!?

3.Has Dora been checked for near-nearsightedness and Alzheimers? She can't seem to see 5 inches in front of her face and she often forgets things, like where she lives (she's needed Map to get her home in several episodes!)

4. This is more for Diego, but he's only a few years older than Dora but is driving through the rain forest?

Comedian Brian Regan explains the show the best way possible:

Jokes.com
Brian Regan - Dora the Explorer
comedians.comedycentral.com
Brian Regan Videos Brian Regan Jokes Brian Regan Standing Up

Now I'm off to snuggle my poor teething toddler!

Bravo ToysRus!

I recently ordered a cute lunch box and sippy cup holder online from ToysRus.com and somehow, it got delivered to someone else. UPS confirmed it delivered to another family or something. I don't know where the miscommunication happened, but it did. I emailed ToysRus asking if I could get a refund, or if they could contact UPS to try to get my package to me. Not only did they try to find my package (they had no luck with UPS) but instead of just a refund, they shipped a whole new set to me  and hopefully it finds it's way to me!

It was a pretty nice surprise when I was expecting a canned "so sad too bad" response. So right on ToysRus, good to know that customer service isn't dead :) 

(And UPS my last name sounds nothing like Calevari!)

I Believe Bunny

I Believe Bunny

a book report by Chucky-Sue, Age 1.

I liked the I Believe Bunny Books. 

The pictures were very pretty.

I was scared when the mouse was in trouble.

But the Bunny and his friends helped him.

I am happy that mommy read me these books.

Even though she won't let me rip the pages.

--

Chucky-Sue really likes books, especially ones with big pictures with lots of things for me or Jake to point at for her. The illustrations in these books are perfect for that. The story was quick and simple, again, perfect for a short attention span. Even though I do know Tish Rabe and help her run her own blog (check it out at http://ibelievebunny.blogspot.com!) that in no way influenced Chucky-Sue take on the books. Anything that can entertain a one year old for 10 whole uninterrupted minutes earns a spot in our bookshelf :)

--

Now on to the fun part of this review, the book is a traveling book! We want the Bunny to go and see fun new places and meet new friends :) All you have to do is follow the instructions pasted in the book;

1. Check in online that you received the book.

2. Read the book!

3. Pass it along to another friend!

You also have the options to post your own review on your blog and send in photos of the book in your home or local landmark.

Please comment here (or email ibelievebunny@gmail.com) if you're interested in being the next person to read the Traveling Bunny!

book reviews: Paper Towns, 13 Blue Envelopes

I got my own library card since I was about 10 years old this past monday. I then proceeded to check out four novels, one biography, two literary magazines and one cookbook.

I've finished two novels, the biography was rather dry (it was Geeks by John Katz, interesting story if you're REALLY into computers.) and the cookbook was about cupcakes, so there was nothing wrong there.

I read Paper Towns by John Green, it was interesting. It was very funny and sprinkled with Harry Potter jokes. but the main story, I guess went over my head? It built up to this great meeting between the main characters and I felt a little let down by the conclusion. It was enjoyable though, and It entertained me as a good book should.

then I read 13 (little?) Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson. I really liked this one. A crazy aunt send her shy, polite niece on a insane scavenge hunt around europe, following the same trail the aunt took when she "disappeared". The characters are sweet and you just want to BE there with the niece. Plus it's got a bit of mystery which keeps it from being a super predictable teen-novel. I just wish it had been longer! I finished it in just a few hours.

Now I need suggestions from you for books to borrow- The Hunger Games that's been recommened to me a gazillion times has a fairly long waiting list. Any ideas dear reader?

Movie Recommendation!

I'm admitting it here first, ever since I saw Toy Story when I was little, I've loved (almost) every Pixar movie. (My only exceptions are A Bug's Life and Cars.) So when I heard about UP, I knew I'd have to go see it.

Elly & Carl, the cutest couple ever!

It's a great movie, with a good mixture of little kid and "grown up" jokes.  But what surprised me was how much emotion was in the movie! I ended up crying a few times after the montages of the main characters. There was also a quite of bit of violence  for a Disney movie- so young, young kids may not like it as much. but I highly recommend seeing it!