All posts by NerdMom

Life on Record Review- A Memorable Gift

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)

Bright Star Kid Review

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!

Schleich Action Figures


I recently got some of the cutest action figures for the kids to play with from Schleich. I got a variety of animal figures (including this pig) and they are great. They are made out of a nice rigid plastic. This really means 2 things in this house. They are too hard to let the 20 month old to play with but they are firm and strong so the kids can’t break them but can play a lot. My 3 older kids love to sit and play with them all as a big group and what mom doesn’t want to see that? You can get these figures in many places including Target and, my favorite, Amazon. So go get some of these great figures!

Exergen Review/Giveaway

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)

Meal Plan Monday

I just got home from a great concert event so I am pulling this together real quick.

Monday: Corned Beef, Beer Bread, Broccoli
Tuesday: Chicken, Rice and Broccoli (NerdDad’s on his own)
Wednesday: CheeseBurger Pie, Broccoli
Thursday: Boneless Ribs, Rice, Broccoli
Friday: Pork Loin Chops, Mashed Potatoes, Broccoli

Hell’s Kitchen 3/26

So Ramsay really lost it on J last week and tossed him out. So who will he toss out before elimination? I agree with LA that Ramsay doesn’t see what happens behind the scenes because if he did Lacey might not still be there.

So Ramsay plays a little trick on everyone. He says he is making a steak and scallop tar-tar and then asks them to taste it and tell him what they think. Now there was tuna instead of steak and sea bass instead of scallop. Everyone just says how great the scallops and beef were. So the challenge is the taste test. LA chose to sit out because they had to even out the teams. This is always fun. Andrea thought that filet mignon was liver and Romaine was celery. Robert thought that turnip was cream of broccoli? Giovanni thought that lobster was egg yolk and Robert thought it was mushroom. Carole did pretty well. Paula and Danny got Minestrone soup and had to guess the 10 ingredients. In the end the red beat blue 8 to 7. The prize is the photo shoot in TV Guide. The blue team has to make lunch and wait on the red during the photo shoot. They also have to prep both kitchens for service. Lacey is such a problem. I am really curious to see what the kitchens are running short on.

So the kitchen opens and they have actors in the dining room. Paula gets her first risotto wrong and Robert is made that Ramsay told Ben to help him. Carole was struggling in the meat station. Lacey was completely lost on the blue’s meat station. So they started telling her each little thing to do. She was lost and said she couldn’t cook meat then Ramsay tossed her out. Ramsay went and talked to her and let her back in. Then Robert split his pants and didn’t even blink. While Lacey said she was lost Carole said the complete opposite. But Carole was just as lost. Then Ramsay ended up tossing Lacey out again. This time he took her jacket and told her to say goodbye. Back on the red side, Carole was just floundering. The 3 guys on the blue team pulled it all together but the red team got shut down with 5 people and without finishing service.

So the blue team won and the red team was set to get a consensus to pick 2 who should be leaving. I don’t think he is throwing anyone out. They couldn’t come up with an actual consensus. But in the end Paula said it was Carole and LA. Ramsay wanted to know who the other one under debate was. So he called LA, Ca role, and Andrea up. Ramsay did end up throwing LA out.

So we got rid of 2 this week. Let’s see who can cut it.

DaBib Review and Giveaway!

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)

Windex All in one Review and Giveaway!!!

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.)

Blog Party 2009!!!!


I want to welcome everyone who has found me by way of 5 Minutes for Mom’s Ultimate Blog Party. I just took chocolate chip cookies out of the oven so come on in and make yourself at home!

So a little about the NerdFamily. Well, we are nerdy;). I love to blog about anything that interests me! I blog about anything nerdy, politic, crafty, or just anything that strikes my interests. I am a stay at home, homeschooling mom to 4 kids. Yes, that means I am a little nutty but fun;). So please look around at some of my posts and let me know what you think!

So, why am I posting this? Well, I want to welcome some new readers but I also want to win stuff! I am interested on prizes #89, #21, #22, #68, #109, #113, #118

Musings at the Gym

So I was walking on the treadmill and they have different tvs going. A news story came on about the economy really hurting people who have kids who are in private schools. Apparently many people are taking out 2nd mortgages in order keep their kids (elementary aged kids were the ones shown here) in private school. You have to be kidding?!?!?

Tell me why homeschooling isn’t a better option than this? Is it really better to have to have both parents out of the home working (possibly 2 jobs)? Wouldn’t your kids be better served to have a parent around every once in a while? I have known a few families where mom has worked just for the private school tuition and that was before the economy issues. They are sure that this is the better education and experience for their kids. This is the thing that angers me about anti-homeschooling parents. It is the mentality that the personal financial sacrifice is the nobler one. I wonder if it is that they don’t actually value the personal position of parent. The impact you have on your child’s life simply by being present. And that doesn’t even account for the clear academic benifits to having the small group learning environment (which has been proven repeatedly) and the over all desirability of homeschoolers to colleges.

Ugh! This is what happens when I go to the gym at 6am;).