Read. Write. Mom!

Holiday Prepping with the Brother P-touch PT-H100 Label Maker #sponsored #MC

Posted on November 19, 2013January 10, 2016 by Mandy

I participated in an Ambassador Program on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Brother P-touch. I received a product sample to facilitate my review and promotional item as a thank you for participating.

I am so excited about the upcoming holidays! I love to decorate and have everything organized and easy for me to find. I love making lists and feeling accomplished as those holiday preparations get checked off. However, my system isn’t really so much a system but more like a big mess. Our decorations are scattered hither and yon, some in storage and some in closets. I constantly make notes for myself about things I want to remember to do, so there is a perpetual scattering of sticky notes all over my desk. Every year I declare I will not be so unorganized the next year, but the cycle just continues.

I am now a Brother P-touch Ambassador, and I am looking forward to using my new Brother P-touch PT-H100 label maker to help me get organized for the upcoming holidays.

I have big plans for this baby, and I know this will help me on my journey to finally become more organized when it comes to holidays preparations. I can’t wait to share how I use the label maker over the next few weeks. I already have a couple of major tasks I want to use it for. I’ll be gathering up storage supplies over the next week and diving into the great Christmas ornament/décor organizing job. We also celebrate the holidays at three different places, so this label maker will help me keep track of gifts and other items that have to be transported to three different homes. And to help with that sticky note problem, I purchased a small notebook to keep with me to jot down those ideas and personalized it with my new label maker.

Right off the bat, I was so impressed with how easy it is to set up this label maker. Installing the tape cassette was a breeze (which comes in several styles, by the way) and I love the variety of frames and auto designs already installed on the label maker. This guarantees your labels will never be boring looking. It also prints one to two lines of texts, has an automatic shut-off if not used in five minutes, and has built in memory to save up to nine of your favorite labels. That’s smart!

To celebrate their 25th Anniversary, Brother P-touch will be having special promotions and deals at office super stores and and other retailers.

Fresh Step Triple Action Cat Litter #plantpower Review & Giveaway

Posted on November 19, 2013January 10, 2016 by Mandy

I love our cats. Our male cat, Clyde, has been a part of our family for 13 years. We have had our female cat Pearl for 5 years. We are “cat people” through and through. They bring us comfort and companionship and are totally spoiled. Cats are pretty self-sufficient, and that’s why they are the perfect pet for our family. We’ve even learned how to cope with those 4 A.M. feedings that Clyde insists he needs. There’s only one downside to owning a cat, and that’s the constant battle with the litter box. We have two litter boxes that are scooped at least three times a day and thoroughly cleaned out and fresh litter added weekly. However, battling immediate litter box smells is a problem. If I am home, I scoop them out as soon as possible. Sometimes we may be away from the home a few hours, only to be greeted by those smells at the door. It’s frustrating to me because I am a neat freak and want my home to smell as clean as it looks.

Fresh Step Triple Action cat litter has plant based extracts added for even more odor elimination. It was hard to turn down an opportunity to conduct a sniff test with my cats to see if they could smell the difference, so I set out each container to see which smell our cats preferred. Each of these containers had a small sample of litter from three major brands (including Fresh Step) and some garlic extract added in the litter samples.

THE SNIFF TEST

Clyde is eager to help!

Clyde is pretty sure Container B smells the least like garlic.

Clyde chose Fresh Step!

Even smelling for myself, I could immediately notice the difference in the Fresh Step litter and the other leading brands. Naturally, I gave our cat litter boxes a good cleaning and filled them up with Fresh Step! I’ve been able to tell that the Fresh Step is definitely making a difference in how the litter box smells all throughout the day, whether it’s been scooped or not. I’m only sorry I didn’t try this brand sooner!

Fresh Step is revolutionizing cat litter by adding natural based plant extracts to its litter. The plant extracts in Fresh Step litter contain two main ingredients: chlorophyll and essential oils. Chlorophyll actively binds to odors and eliminates them from the air. Meanwhile, the essential oils act as a force field, blocking odors before they leave the litter box. Activated carbon and added plant extracts fight all three sources of odor: urine, feces and bacteria. The new and improved Fresh Step litter retails for $10.29 for a 20 lb. box and can be purchased at grocery, pet specialty, mass merchandise and drug stores nationwide.

SAVING THE WORLD ONE LITTER BOX AT A TIME

Do you love cute cat videos? C’mon, I know you do! Check out this cute Cat Galaxy video to see how Fresh Step is eliminating smelly litter box odors one litter box at a time!

CONNECT WITH FRESH STEP

Want more great information on Fresh Step’s line of products? Be sure to connect with them through these social media outlets:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/freshstep

Twitter: www.twitter.com/freshsteplitter

Tumblr: http://smartestcats.tumblr.com/

The official hashtag for all social media channels: #plantpower

GIVEAWAY

I have a Fresh Step Cat Litter coupon good for a FREE 14 lb. Scoopable litter to give away to 5 lucky blog readers! To enter, just fill in the Rafflecopter form below. Giveaway ends December 8, 2013 at 12 AM CST. US ONLY. Void where prohibited. Winner must respond to winning email within 48 hours of being sent or a new winner will be chosen. Coupon for cat litter expires December 31, 2013.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Send Your Child On a Reading Adventure with Travels with Gannon and Wyatt (Review & Giveaway)

Posted on November 17, 2013January 10, 2016 by Mandy

It’s no secret that I love children’s books. Growing up, I was a big fan of chapter books and hated when they ended. Do you have middle grader who loves to read? If you’re looking for a series of books packed with action, adventure, and tons of learning along the way, you need to pick up the Travels with Gannon and Wyatt series. Travels with Gannon and Wyatt is a middle-grade adventure series written by Patti Wheeler and Keith Hemstreet.

Gannon and Wyatt are twin brothers who travel the world and log individual journal entries about their adventures from their own points of view. In these journal entries, the reader learns more about the places they visit, making this book not only a fun read but also an educational one. The Travels with Gannon and Wyatt series include:

Botswana (released May 2013)
Great Bear Rainforest (released October 2013)
Egypt (to be released January 2014)

My son and I read Egypt, which will be released in January. I thought the book was just wonderful and I love the diary-like style of the writing. I thought the character development was thought out really well, as the twin share a love for adventure, yet have their own unique way of expressing themselves through writing. I love how the book was packed with teachable facts and the pictures included were actual black and white pictures of people, historical places, and the animals of Egypt. My son is only seven, but I have started reading chapter books to him at bedtime. He loves learning about different countries and often seeks out this type of information on his own, so he enjoyed this book immensely. It gave us lots to talk about as we read and we can’t wait to dive into the other two books.

As a children’s librarian, I know it can often be difficult to get kids excited about reading, especially when it comes to reading a chapter book. However, I feel like the Travels with Gannon and Wyatt series would appeal to young readers more than the average chapter book, simply because it is packed with so much extra, like the facts and pictures dispersed throughout. I think the mark of excellence in a book is its ability to make you dream and be transported to another place. This series absolutely does both. I can’t wait to share these books with some colleagues that serve students in grades 5-8. I know they will want to purchase these to get their students excited about reading.

Be sure to head over to the Travels with Gannon and Wyatt Facebook page where three Kindle Fires are being given away in November and follow them on Twitter.

GIVEAWAY

I am so excited to be able to give away all three books in the Travels with Gannon and Wyatt series to one lucky reader! To enter, use the Rafflecopter form below. Giveaway ends Sunday, November 24, 2013 at 12:00 AM CST. US ONLY. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED. Winner MUST respond to winning email within 24 hours of email being sent.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.