We Love Pan!

We were so excited to be contacted by the nice people at Hullabalu to see if our kids would be interested in taking their new app – Pan: The Fearless Beribolt, for a test run (it’s now available in the App Store for iPad – $3.99).  Of course we said “YES!”

Pan is one of the first interactive storybooks for kids on the market right now, and I gotta tell you, my kids just loved it!  Pan is an adorable purple panda bear who is on a mission to find her parents.  With so many children (including my own) being so tablet-savvy these days, using interactive storybook apps seems to be a natural extension of, and companion to, reading.  And although the app suggests ages 4+, our little Jace, at age 2, was able to touch the characters to make them talk, and could scroll through chapters effortlessly   Cool huh?

I’ve always loved stories, and grew up surrounded by books.  And I have always been very keen to expose my children to the joys of story telling and using their imaginations, whether it be through books, educational television shows, and now, apps.  How lucky are our children to have all these amazing choices, literally at their fingertips?!

Pan is such a lovable, engaging character, that my children were able to sit still (a miracle in itself!) to enjoy Pan’s entire story.  They loved the vivid imagery, the beautiful colors and the characters’ sweet voices.  I loved the fact that the words scrolled along the bottom for my little reader (Griffin, age 5) to follow along with.

In conclusion, we love this app.  We also love the idea behind this app for children who are learning to read, and we can’t wait for the awesome team at Hullabalu to come out with a follow up to Pan’s adventure.  For more info on the company, check out this great article

Two thumbs way up from us here at the TestosterZone!!

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Please note that we were given a free copy of this app to try and were not given any monetary compensation for this review.  These opinions are strictly my own!

Things My Dad Has Taught Me – a Top 10 List

So, I’ve written about my Dad quite a few times on this blog.  You can get caught up here, here and here.  In the spirit of Father’s Day weekend, it was completely necessary to dedicate a post to my Dad, however, I though I’d keep it light this time

I decided to do a top ten list of the important things my Dad has taught me over the years.  Actually, I’ve only posted the top ten things that are safe to be published.  I’ve deemed dirty jokes, crossdressing, and anything to do with DIY alcohol unnecesary for this list.  As if you didn’t know where I get THAT part of my personality from.

*Caution, old photos ahead…

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THINGS MY DAD HAS TAUGHT ME – A TOP 10 LIST

My Dad has taught me….

1.  That girls can do anything boys can do…

2.  How to use a power drill, check the oil in the car and how to hot wire a ride-on lawn mower.

3.  That traveling is great education…

4.  How to spot a good deal…

5.  That it’s ok to take chances in my career choice…

6.  That giving to others is not optional…

7.  That you don’t need a lot of money to make a child happy…

8.  How to drink a beer…

9.  Not to be a drama queen…

10.  And how to choose the best husband…

I had a great childhood, and I’m happy to say that a big readon for that is because of my father.  He is kind and generous and the life of the party.  He is dependable and supportive and I’m proud when people tell me that I’m just like him (for whatever reason that may be… )

Father’s Day now holds extra special meaning for me because of the fact that I’m completely surrounded by men.  I take my role as a Mom pretty seriously, and I’m happy that my boys have some great men in their lives to look up to.  I will teach my boys to be just like them

So Happy Father’s Day to my father, my father-in-law and my husband who’s turned out to be a pretty great Dad himself.  How lucky I am to be surrounded by such great men who love their families and set a great example for their children and their grandchildren.

Have a great weekend – is it beer o’clock yet?????

 

Wednesday Quickie – Battling the Sicks and a “Special Photo”

Ken snapped this pic of me and the boys last night:

Just ignore the fact that the boys are eating popcorn out of mugs with spoons, and that Jace is punching himself in the head.  The important part is that Mommy is in the photo.

Hey Mommies, every once in awhile, you gotta get in the photo!  Even if the photo is, ummm, special.

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We’re battling pink eye this week.  It’s lovely and I may not be around as much.  The good news though, is that I have some really exciting things for you, coming very soon, to the TestosterZone.  I’m super excited!  Just a couple of weeks to go……

Happy Wednesday!

Girlfriends

We’ve been fighting off germs all week.  Stuffy noses, coughs, and crankiness we can shrug off.  But fevers make us stop and take notice.  And that’s why Griffin is laying beside me on the couch right now instead of being at school.  Sometimes sick days can really throw us for a loop as we scramble to adjust work schedules and dog walks, but we welcomed today’s sick day as a much needed break from a crazy week.

I knew it was officially a bad week when Ken and I both declared on Wednesday that it felt like Friday (that’s never good).  You know those weeks when the kids are kind of sick?  Not sick enough to stay home, but just sick enough to be super cranky and not sleep at night?   And you’re kind of sick too, but not sick enough to go to bed?  You’re just sick enough to be cranky and not sleep at night?  Yeah, that’s us this week.  We were supposed to spend the week preparing for a yard sale this weekend that won’t happen now because there is a tropical storm headed our way.  A tropical storm.  In June.  Honestly.  But, since we weren’t feeling good, all we did was gather a bunch of stuff and pile it up in the rec room.  Awesome.

I know we all have weeks like this, it happens to us a lot.  And I know it’s not big deal really, but it is tiring when you just can’t seem to get it together, right?  Luckily for me, I have great girlfriends who are great Moms, and they get it.  They really get it.  And we laugh because after we speak, because we remember that we’re not alone (it’s easy to forget).  To prove my point, here are some gems from an email conversation I had with my friend, Sasha, yesterday:

….alcohol and sleep would both be soooo cool
right now.  Actually, enough alcohol TO sleep would be even better, hahaha

 

….He won’t come inside, he won’t get dressed, won’t get in his car seat, won’t eat anything!  It’s ridiculous! The only good thing is that he’s still small enough that I can pick him up and it doesn’t hurt too bad when he kicks and slaps me!

 

Last night the kids ate half a watermelon for supper.  That’s it…half a watermelon!

 

…Well, what did you expect when you dumped your yogurt on him AGAIN??

 

Nice, huh?!  I’m not going to tell you who wrote what, and hopefully Sasha won’t kill me for posting this (hi Sasha!), but I find every once in awhile we need some reassurance that we’re not doing it wrong, we’re doing it the same as everyone else.  A reality check.  Feeling like a crappy Mom?  You are not alone!  Feeling like your kids are little aliens?  You are not alone!  Feeling like you’ve eaten chicken nuggets and frozen french fries every. night. this. week?  You are not alone!   Feeling like a tropical storm just ripped through your house?  YOU ARE NOT ALONE!!!

That’s what girlfriends are for.  And if you’ve got some good ones, like I do, consider yourself lucky because they’re hard to find.  I mean, who else can you talk to about your rotten kids and your “lovely” husband (i.e the luckiest man in the world)?  These relationships are important ones that deserve some special attention.  Forget the housework, call you girlfriend!  It’s a much better use of your time than folding stupid old clothes

So today we’re resting, and watching cartoons again.  And I’m happy with that.  If I’m lucky, I’ll get some KD and grape juice for lunch too.  Because Sasha made me smile yesterday and that’s getting me through today’s sniffles and coughs.  Yay for girlfriends!

Happy Friday!  Have a great weekend – hope everyone stays dry

 

What’s New? Weekly Update With Crappy iPhone Pics

If this week was a sign of what the summer weeks will be bringing, I’m going to have to buy a LOT more wine because it’s going to get rough.  What started out as a cold, rainy week escalated quickly to an almost unbearably hot one, that culminated in Sunday night meltdowns of epic proportions.

Let’s start at the beginning.

Griffin took his turn at being Student of the Week at his school.  On Monday morning, he was supposed to bring in a poster all about himself, bring in a special book to read…all that good stuff.  So on Monday morning, as we were leaving the house, he decided to tell me about it.  That’s when I found the crumpled up notice at the bottom of his backpack (along with a cookie that had been there for a very, very long time) with all the details.  Well sh*t.

So Monday night was a scramble to pull something together.  He did a great job, I only helped a bit.  Here it is as a work in progress:

And the final product.  It looked great before he got his hands on a hole punch, but I think the added holes on the side take it to a whole new level…

This week, we said hello to our new family pet.  It’s a snail.  Apparently there were two in here, but one “turned to dust.”  This lucky guy survived.  His name is “Griffin Hotdog.”

And then it got hot.  Really hot.  And you know it’s hot when the pets sleep like this:

Poor things with their fur coats.  At least the june bugs are keeping them busy in the evenings

The boys deal with the heat by eating Freezies and ice cream sandwiches all day.  Confession: that’s what I do too.

And if that doesn’t work, just act like a dude and strip down to your underpants.

Confession: this is not what I do.

So by the time the week was over and the mercury was hitting over 30 degrees, the boys were a mess.  The heat, the running around, the not-sleeping-because-it’s-too-hot, and perhaps a few too many Freezies resulted in two little puddles of children last night.  Apologies to anyone who saw us wrangling two hot messes into the van at the soccer field last night   Let’s just say that last night was a order-take-out-and-drink-beer-after-the-kids-went-to-bed kind of night.  Glad it’s over.

And I made a promise to Griffin that today after school, we would do nothing.  Nothing.  We are going to sit on the couch and watch cartoons and not run around all afternoon.  Because that is an awesome way to spend a rainy Monday afternoon.  So if anyone is looking for me today, I’ll be on my butt, watching Pokemon, not in my underwear.

Happy Monday!

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PS. Did anyone notice what I posted on my FB page yesterday?  I’m very, very, very excited to be hosting some exciting things here on the blog this summer that involve fellow mom-preneurs.  I can’t divulge the juicy details just yet, but if YOU are a fellow mom-preneur, you may want to get in touch with me to get involved.  Just sayin’