Black Friday Savings from FabKids!!!

Disclosure: This is  a sponsored  post. All opinions stated are genuine and my own.

FabKids has rain boots!
That tab you see on the back of them, makes them a cinch to pull up, even for little hands.

What oh what is that I see over at FabKids?? Oh yes, they do now have rain boots, and we absolutely love them! These boots are stylish, functional, sturdy and fun. 

VTech Has Done it Again with their Amazing Kidizoom Smartwatch DX!

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. All opinions stated are genuine and my own.

Oh yes it is Black Friday today and I know a lot of you are going to be out and about shopping. Good luck to you and I wish you well. I didn’t look at one ad for today, not a one… but I will surf the net come Cyber Monday. Whatever you decided to do, or if you’re opting out of both and just shopping when the urge hits, I do have a great gift idea for the children on your list. The Kidizoom Smartwach DX is a great wearable gadget for the kids that does so much more than tell time!

The VTech Kidizoom Smart Watch DX takes photos, shoots videos, records your voice and it has a fun feature to change your voice recordings too. It also has an alarm clock built in, and a timer.

It has an easy-to-use and fun-to-learn tutorial to teach you how to tell time.

The smartwatch has a calculator that adds, subtracts, multiplies and divides,

and it provides a calendar, with different backgrounds for the appropriate month.

There is also a nice selection of fun games too. My favorite is the Super Snowboard game, and little man likes Tic Tac Toe. It is touch screen and two players can play (at the easy or hard level), and so far he’s beaten me at it two to one (probably why it’s his favorite). ;)

My son loves all of these features, but his favorite thing right now is by far, the pedometer. He absolutely loves running around and counting how many steps or movements he has taken to get from Spot (A)to Spot (B).

His second favorite feature is the monster identity finder. That’s a little game where you put your finger on the touch screen, it scans it and it tells you what kind of monster you have been deemed. He plays that one first every time he straps on the watch.

You can plug the watch into the computer and connect to VTech’s Learning Lodge to download fun clock faces or different photo themes (some are already included so you don’t have to, but it’s really fun if you do). You can also transfer photos from the watch to your computer.

If the techie in you is wondering what this watch does, it’s actually pretty impressive for a kid’s ‘toy.’ The touch screen is 1.44”, the video resolution is a 320 x 240 pixel or a 160 x 120 pixel, the video length limit per file is 60 seconds and the focus range is 1.5 feet. The Kidizoom Smartwatch DX holds approximately 1,600 photos , and stores approximately 11 minutes at 320 x 240 pixels and approximately 23 minutes at the smaller pixel size. The file formats are standard baseline JPEG for the photos and AVI (Motion JPEG) for the videos. It uses a Micro USB 2.0 cable (included) to connect to the computer.

So...VTech, who always makes such great items for the kids has done it again! The watch is easy to use, and it’s a lot of fun. You can choose which color you like for the band (we chose blue for ours).  This watch allows the kids to have a lot of high-tech features mom and dad have, without having to worry about them getting broken. It’s a win-win all the way around and absolutely the perfect gift idea for so many ages! It is recommended for ages 4+.

The Kidizoom Smartwatch DX is available in stores everywhere. You can learn more about the VTech Watch by visiting the website. You can also follow along on Facebook and/or Twitter. 

2 winners! One Step Ahead Extra-Long Travel Cot with #Giveaway

 Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. All opinions stated are genuine and my own. NOTE: The sponsor has upped the ante and is now giving away a cot to TWO lucky winners!

What's in there, Grandma? That's what she was asking me. :)

This little gray carrying case garnered some attention when I brought it into the house.  Looks like a chair, right? It's not a chair, but it does have a handy nylon case, just like those chairs sometimes do.

Trudeau Does Water Bottles Right (especially good when you're lost in a corn maze)!

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. All opinions stated are genuine and my own.

What oh what do I have??? Some new Trudeau water bottles, one with a fruit infuser! The bottle on the left is a Rejuvenate Glass Hydration Bottle and the one on the right is a DNA Hydration Single Wall. Very intresting names, I know... 

23 Things to Do Before You are 11 1/2 and Other Great Book Titles

Quarto Children's Publishing USA is the place to look if you're shopping for children's books. Chock full of interesting and amazing titles, these hardcover selections are also gorgeous to look at and fun to read. We recently ordered a large selection of books from them, and I wanted to share them with you. One of the books, 23 Things to Do Before You are 11 1/2 (funny title, right?) instantly grabbed the attention of my 8yr. old, and we have been building and contemplating projects from that book every since. See the results of our first project below. 

This is the book. Besides loving the title, we also love the content. Inside there are all kinds of projects to do. Some are easy enough for the kids to do alone, others (like the Go Kart) require adult supervision.

We decided to attempt the Super Solar Oven, one of the easier but still very cool projects included in the book. The idea of this one was to show the kids how solar heat could be used to cook an egg.

We gathered our supplies, all supplies that we already had in the house, and went outside to get things going.

Here my son is gluing foil on the sides of the big box. You can see he's already cut and lined the smaller box with black construction paper (black absorbs the heat).

And here he is putting the final touches on it. He's crumbling up the newspaper to fit around the gaps between the big and the little box.

When the solar oven was ready, we cracked the egg, and covered it with the box top we made, complete with a plastic covering. Then we went to the park to play for an hour or so, while the egg was cooking.

When we came back, the sun had completely moved, leaving our eggie in the shade!! I was going to move the whole contraption over to get the hot sun on it again, but little man checked it...

by picking up the entire egg, lolol!!!  He ended up a gooey mess. And the egg did not get cooked. We could see, however, how the sun had started to cook it when it was still hot. We will be attempting this one again, earlier in the day when the sun isn't going to move so quickly. :)

That is just one of the many great books offered by Quarto Children's Publishing, USA (note, there are tons of adult sections too on the Quarto website). There are books for teaching, exploring, crafting and just flat out entertaining.

The selection on the Quarto website is extensive. There's sure to be something (or many somethings) to catch your eye.

My 8-year old was loving, How to Build a Car, a new release book that teaches not only mechanics, but also friendship and team work.

The illustrations are fun in this one too, and I think if this were 'The Outsiders' the mice would definitely be Greasers. ;)

He's also loving this big book, A Journey Through Space. This one includes a poster too, and it tells informative facts about each planet.

I wish I would have taken a picture of the funny little spacecraft that flies around on a lot of the pages. Every time my son saw it he would break out in peals of laughter. It's just a little boy in a spaceship, but my son thought it was hilarious that he kept turningshowing up as we were turning pages.

This is a good book for quizzing too. My son retained a lot from this book, and that makes me happy.

The World Famous Cheese Shop Break-In had a touch of humor as the mice kept trying to break into a cheese shop and ending up in other stores instead. The end was a surprise twist that gave us a good chuckle.

Daddypops was definitely a determined, if not successful cheese burgler. ;)

Spot the Reindeer at Christmas is a great winding-down book for the kids. It's a snuggle-time-on-the couch kind of book, as you huddle up together and try to find the reindeer on each of the pages.

This is a generously sized book too, so it would be amazing for gift giving.

We liked all of our books, and will absolutely be shopping Quarto Publishing in the future.

You can learn about these selections, and many of the other great books too over at Quarto Publishing, by visiting their website here. You can also follow them on Facebook and/or Twitter.

Amwell is Giving You a Free Visit with an Online Doctor!

This is a sponsored post with Mums the Word Network and Amwell. All opinions are my own.

What will you see with Amwell?
In the big picture on your screen (seen in my screenshot above), you will see your online doctor.
In the bottom right, you will see yourself. The sidebar will be a transcript of your conversation.

Who is that in the big picture? That is an Amwell doctor, and I talked to her online. Amwell is amazing when you have something to discuss, a question to ask, or  you just need to 'visit' with the doctor but you don't really want and/or need to leave the house.

I'm thinking it will be perfect for flu season. Inevitably everyone catches the flu at least once each season in our house. Having to drag them (or yourself) out to the doctor's office when they (or you) don't feel good at all, because you want/need an excused absence (i.e., doctor's excuse) can be a pain. Now you won't have to... your visit can be right there in the convenience of your own home, while the kids are cozied under their blankets and getting some well needed rest.

Using Amwell is really very simple, and it's perfect for moms (and dads) for all kinds of things. You can use it for information, advice, answering a question, etc. It would be perfect for new moms who really want to have a question answered, but don't want to take their newborn or little one out of the house to have to seek the advice. . My little (now big) girl fell off of the couch once where she was sleeping (before she could roll over on her own!!). She bumped her head on the coffee table next to it, and I was a nervous wreck. I took her to the doctor, where I was told I'd already done all I could do (an ice pack to the head), and just to observe her behavior and not let her sleep for awhile, to be safe. I could have gotten all of that information from home, and instantly, if I'd have used Amwell.

It would be perfect for moms of toddlers too, especially when they're experiencing something new. I remember freaking out when my child came home with a 'your class has someone with lice in it.' note. I was a young mom then, and that note about sent me over the edge (lol, don't fault me, I really was young). ;) If Amwell had been around back then, it surely would have saved me a lot of grief.

A greeter will offer a pre-recorded greeting while you wait.

When you use Amwell, a greeter will come on the screen and offer you a pre-recorded message while you wait. At the top of the screen you will see how long your wait is, and how many patients are ahead of you. You will also have the option to cancel your request if you would like, or need to do so. 

When it's your turn to talk, your doctor will appear on the screen. Your picture will be on the lower bottom right corner. On the right of the screen you will see a real time transcript of what you are saying to each other. You can see and hear your doctor, and he or she can hear and see you. It is like having a real conversation, via your electronic device.
Everything is smooth and easy to do, even for the computer novice. This is a service I can see myself using time and time again. The convenience is second to none, the doctors are board-certified, and you can use this service on your phone, tablet, or computer.

Amwell offers traditional physician services, as well as visits to a therapist or a Dietician. The fees are reasonable, the doctor is 'in' 24 hours a day, and no appointment is needed. I have used this service before and I know I will use it again.

You can learn more about Amwell by visiting their website.

All Mail4Rosey readers can get one free visit to experience Amwell on their own. You're welcome. :)

Here's your code: CARENOW20 

I encourage you to give it a whirl. I think once you've tried it, you'll find that it really is convenient for a myriad of things that you might come across.

Now I have a question for you. Can you see yourself using an Amwell online physician, therapist, and/or Dietician?