I participated on this campaign on behalf of Mom It Forward for Build-A-Bear. I have been compensated for this review, but like always all my crazy ideas and wording is mine and I only review products I really love! 

Every little girl is so excited when their talents and strengths start shining through. Nothing brings so much self-confidence as discovering something that you are truly gifted at. It doesn’t matter what that talent is, and for little girls it can be anything from doing great cartwheels, playing an instrument—to being a great friend. My daughter recently started playing the guitar and it is now something that brings her so much joy. She now wants to start her own little band with her friends. Girls who learn when they are young—to be fearless, strong, and happy with the talents they have been given eventually grow up to be amazing confident women. I know that’s what I want for my own daughter and I am always on the lookout for anything that will reinforce those positive traits. 

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I participated in an Influencer Activation for State Farm Neighborhood Assist. I received a promotional item to thank me for my participation.

I live in what would definitely be considered a small town, but what we lack in huge development we make up for in care for our community. Every day I see people on our cities facebook group reaching out to someone in need or organizing a cleanup for an area that has been neglected.

We recently did this cleanup in a hiking area, and now families can go hiking without having to feel like they are walking through a junkyard. So proud of how much we cleaned up that day!

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As we get older we start to realize the most important thing in this world is family. Those precious moments of quality time spent with those we love are priceless. Unfortunately, life gets complicated and the time we have to just sit down with extended family members seems to get shorter and shorter and sometimes the miles between your family and other family members is just too much to visit on a regular basis. 

My kids are old enough now to know and recognize all of their family members and also realize when they miss certain extended family members that live far away. I can count on, at least once a week, hearing, “When are we going to see grandma and grandpa again?” Grandkids and grandparents have a bond that thrives off of quality time spent together, but what do you do when you live too far away or there just isn’t enough time for constant visits? I run into this problem all the time. I want my kids to see their grandparents on a regular basis, but it just isn’t practical all the time. Occasionally we will do video chats so they can at least see each other, but it isn’t quite the same as doing actual activities and having fun together, and I find myself steering the conversation because little kids don’t quite always know what to talk about on the phone.

So how can we get quality time with those we love that can’t be directly with us? Panasonic has a solution for that very problem, and they have now introduced Home Team™ app. Not only can you stay in touch with loved ones near and far but you can also engage in activities like reading stories and playing games that will only help to strengthen the bond you have together. 

My little girl loves playing games with grandma and grandpa and now she can play games with them anytime she wants. We also do homeschooling and there are many learning games on Home Team so grandparents can see and be a part of their grandkids learning. 

Home Team doesn’t just have to be for the grandparents either, I went out of town recently for a press trip and was able to still continue our kids bedtime routine by reading books, asking them about their day and doing hugs and kisses (through the screen lol). My kids were able to feel like I was still a part of their day even though I was far away. Having the ability to stay in touch with them like that was priceless to me. I love my job and I love exploring new places and trying out new things, but a lot of the time I can’t take my kiddos with me and I miss them so much! Home Team gives me the ability to be as close as I can with my family when I am out of town. 

This amazing app would also be so cool for moms or dads that work outside of the home. Why not play a little game of Tic-Tac-Toe or read a book to your kids on your lunch break?! If work is getting you down, playing a game or just checking in with your family and seeing them would definitely brighten your day. 

If you want to create lasting fun memories with family members near and far be sure to check out Panasonic’s Home Team. You can try it out here 30 days for FREE!! (no credit card required) And for more ways to bring you family closer check out some great tips and ideas here! 

I participated in an Influencer Activation on behalf of Influence Central for Sickweather. I received a promotional item to thank me for my participation.

As a mom of young children and a working mom at that, I know I can’t afford to get sick. On average it takes me about nine days to get completely over a cold alone! (Can you tell I have really put some thought into this?) Nine days of me at best working at 50% efficiency, that’s not good… not good at all. As a mom if I am sick I know I can’t take care of my kids as well, and help them to get feeling better if they get sick. Who needs or wants a life-interrupting virus or other sickness? I know I don’t! I recently realized I needed to do more than just walk around avoiding anyone that is sneezing, coughing or otherwise and disinfecting every possible surface around me (looking like a crazy person). Instead I needed something a little more discreet, that’s where the Sickweather app. comes in. Like a superhero keeping me sane and healthy all at the same time. 

Keeping yourself well in a sea of illness might seem impossible, but Sickweather is now your new tool to help you navigate that sea. 

Now obviously there is more than just the common cold or flu floating around out there and the Sickweather app will warn and alert you to anything in your area that might be a possible health threat.  

You are probably asking about now, “how exactly does it do all of this?”  Now here is when it gets really cool… Sickweather works just like a weather Doppler. Sickweather shows you a forecast of the sicknesses in your area that are happening right then. Now this is amazing for this time of year when it seems everyone is getting a cold or flu, but I can’t wait to be using this during allergy season. Our family gets allergies really bad and we will be able to possibly prepare before it hits us. 

Our family also travels a lot and I can’t wait to use this app next time we are out of town. The last thing you want while on vacation is to get sick. We recently visited New York and all of New England, this was almost a two week trip and I remember worrying about one of us getting sick while we were out and it ruining part of the trip. I found myself being super paranoid and wishing I knew the information Sickweather could have informed me of. We went through almost eight states, that’s a lot of different areas that could have completely different sicknesses to worry about. This will be a lifesaver and huge stress reducer next time we travel.  

Once you have downloaded the free app, that’s right I said free, you will be able to see sicknesses in your area and also get alerts sent to your phone when a new illness pops up. Sickweather not only gets information from members that submit when someone in their family gets sick, but it also uses social media to get a bigger picture of what is going on near you! 

Check this out: 

Isn't that so cool?! So whether you want to just avoid the common cold or you want to avoid what might be spreading around at your child’s school or an outbreak of something even worse be sure to head over and grab the best tool out there to help you stay healthy… Sickweather. 

Alphie the Squid is an ocean exploration game that allows the user to follow an adorable little squid, named Alphie, through the deep blue sea to discover fish and aquatic creatures while racking up points to move to the next level.  The game is not only fun, but also educational.  When playing the game, the user needs to understand the characteristics and abilities of a real squid in order to effective conquer the enemies and rise to the top of the oceanic food chain aka become a big squid.

The game is extremely user friendly and suitable for adults and children alike.  Upon launching the game, the user can view the gallery which details the creatures and treasure fish that the user will need to discover.   As the user discovers the various animals, the picture becomes clickable and a short summary of the animal is available to the user.  Below is a picture of the gallery with the Giant Squid activated:

After a review of the gallery, the user starts at “The Beginning” of the ocean (the follow on levels have aquatic oriented names such as Blue Lagoon and Current Rides).  The purpose at this point is to swim along the ocean, eating fish and avoiding enemies.  The user only needs their finger to direct Alphie through his habitat.  Any user that is familiar with a touch screen phone or tablet will have no issue using the game.  Below is a picture of a seemingly satisfied Archie after he discovered a Parrot Fish!

The navigation of the game is simple and small pop up window will appear periodically and provide key directions, such as to avoid certain dangerous creature as Alphie is approaching an area infested with that particular animal.  As the user gets further into the game, the abilities of the baby squid become more integral to the success of the game. For example, Alphie can camouflage himself and then hypnotize his target in order to successfully capture and eat his prey. 

Overall the graphics of the game are great.  The colors are vivid and the detail of the sea life and the seascape is true to life.  The music is nice, elevator type music that won’t get on your nerves and there is an option to shut the music off completely.  The various prompts and pop-ups that appear throughout the game are helpful and not annoying.  This isn’t really a game for speed.  It is more about collecting the fish, learning about the fish/creatures,  moving to the next level and exploring numerous facets of the ocean.  This is a perfect game to play with a child to take advantage of all the learning opportunities without worrying about failing a level by running out of time. 

This is a paid app that I downloaded from iTunes and used an iPad to play it. The company that produces the game, Crystal Entertainment, has a solid online presence with an abidance of information to assist in the purchase decision or to help along the way after the game purchase. 

If you have an android device you can snag it for FREE on Amazon!

Make sure you like Alphie on Facebook, or follow him on Twitter.  You can also find him on Google+ and a game trailer can be found HERE.

The game can be purchased via the following links:
:: iTunes
:: Googleplay
:: Amazon