Purely Products - a MamaBuzz Review

I received two interesting products from Purely Products to review with MamaBuzz.

Purely Products: Responsible products for responsible living.

Purely is focused on developing eco-friendly products for clean and healthy living for families, while also helping kids.

One is the Pocket Purifier ($29.95), a battery operated germ-killing gadget that uses light to sanitize items. It also has a flashlight on one end, making it dual purpose. "Handheld germ eliminating light uses UV (ultraviolet light) to sanitize surfaces (keyboards, cell phones, computer keyboards, kitchen countertops, sinks, public bathrooms & transportation, toys, pacifiers, bottoms/interior of purses & diaper bags, etc) UV nanotechnology kills 99.9% of germs that cause colds & flu, plus e-coli, salmonella, mold, fungus, and MRSA (staph) without chemicals."

The gadget is small and lightweight, and it broke almost before we could use it. Maybe it does kill germs and the size is right for carrying in a purse, diaper bag, or suitcase, but ours flat out fell apart and we could not get it to stay together. The top wouldn't stay on, the bulb kept falling out - I was not impressed. It felt cheap. (And I wondered, is there mercury, the second-most toxic element on earth, in the bulb? Yes, there IS, and how am I supposed to dispose of the bulb?) When we held it together and tried to turn it on, the light was quite dim. I'm not sure it did its germ-killing job. I took it on a trip with us to use in a hotel, but the fact that it would not stay together was a big problem for me. Mercury exposure is another problem for me. Mercury is a known neurotoxin, not safe at any level or amount. I wish it weren't in a light bulb.

# # #

The Sun Mate ($19.95) is a handy little gadget for determining exposure to the sun, anytime, anywhere. It's easy to use - press the little button and read the meter. For parents concerned with sun exposure, this one fits in a purse or pocket and is simple and quick to use. This one stayed together and appeared to work correctly and is something I wish I'd had a long time ago. Go HERE for 25% off a Purely Products order.

A percentage of every Purely Products sale supports diaperLove, a non-profit providing diapers to children in need. For more info, go to http://www.diaperlove.org/.

Go HERE to read other reviews about these products.

(Disclosure: This is a MamaBuzz Review. I received a Pocket Purifier and SunMate, free of charge, from Purely Products, for the purposes of this review. I am not compensated financially for this review and am not obligated to provide a favorable review.)

Raw Energy, a MamaBuzz Review

I am always on the search to help me feed my family healther foods, foods that they will actually eat, and foods that are gluten free, casein free, soy free, etc etc etc. I figured I'd find a few recipes in a recipe book using raw foods.

Stephanie Tourles brings us, "Raw Energy, 124 Raw Food Recipes for Energy Bars, Smoothies, and Other Snacks to Supercharge Your Body".
List price is $16.95.

I expected that the book would be recipes only. I was incorrect. The recipes do not begin until Chapter 4, on page 94 of a 272 page book.

Tourles gives me an education in all things raw food, starting with the basics, the pantry and kitchen equipment, and raw food prep. Then she launches into the recipes, beginning with nut milks, shakes, smoothies and frozen fruit creams; fruit and veggie juices; energizer bars, balls and bites; nut seed and fruit blends; raw cereals and parfaits; veggie chips, dips and spreads; cold fruit and veggie soups; candy and cookies. Suggested reading, resources and an index finish the book.

I didn't expect nuts to be in so many recipes. We can't use nuts or sunflower products here, nor pineapple, in addition to being GFCFSF. We're watching oxalates, too, which eliminate some more choices. Are there recipes I can use? Absolutely! However, the majority of the recipes use a nut or nut milk, so families with nut allergies may not find a wealth of recipes to use, although there are a few. (I wonder if I use rice milk instead of nut milk in the frozen goodies if I ruin the raw food value?)

Honey Melon Pear Soup - when I find the ingredients in season - look foward to trying that one. Raspberry Ricky Soup sounds tasty, too, and I can make it with no substitutions.

Tourles has me considering the purchase of a food dehydrator. I wonder if I could borrow one to try the recipes for dried zucchini and sweet potato chips?

Tourles has me curious about using bee pollen. She uses it in some of her recipes. I never thought to try that. I'm guessing heating bee pollen would ruin it's raw food value, so I wouldn't cook/bake with it.

I'm always thrilled to find new recipes to try, recipes that everyone in the family can eat. Thanks to Raw Energy, I have a few new recipes to introduce at home. :)

FYI: Tourles blogs here; she has a fan page on facebook.

I was given a copy of Raw Energy to review for MamaBuzz. I received no compensation for my review. I am not required to provide a positive review.

Tim McGraw's "LOVE Your Heart"; a MamaBuzz Review

Love Your Heart by Tim McGraw and Tom Douglas

Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Ages: 4 – 10
Price: Hardcover $16.99

"Love Your Heart" is an adorable book and story. The illustrations are engaging, the colors are delightfully girly, lots of pretty pinks and purples, and the story is one that any one who has had an opportunity to perform in a talent show can relate to. What is my talent? What can I do?

"Love Your Heart" is a story of perspective taking, putting self in the shoes of another, recognizing a need and a way to meet that need by giving of self. "Love Your Heart" is a fun book to enjoy together, offering opportunities for my little girl to make some self-to-text and text-to-self comparisons and to perspective take.

To see a flip version of the book, visit here.

The second book in Tim McGraw’s My Little Girl series is a heartwarming story of a little girl’s selfless act of kindness.

Tim McGraw and songwriter Tom Douglas once again join forces to write another book about the precocious Katie and her dad. Katie has many talents, but she wonders which one will win her school’s talent show. With the help of Dad and her faithful dog Palio, and after several amusing mishaps, Katie finally chooses one talent that includes Palio. But at the talent show, she decides to drop out of the contest to help her friend, showing kindness is the best talent of all. Katie’s proud dad reassures her that she did the best thing and that while he loves many things about her, he loves her heart most of all.

Tim McGraw is: dad of three daughters, husband to Faith Hill, Country music superstar, Grammy Winner, American Music Award Winner, People™s Choice Winner, highest grossing tour in history (with wife, Faith Hill), and has sold more than 35 million albums. Yet, beneath all the accolades beats the heart of a dad who immensely loves his family.

Tom Douglas is a singer-songwriter who graduated from Oglethorpe University and received an MBA from Georgia State University. He is the writer of hits “Little Rock” by Collin Raye, “The Gift” by Jim Brickman, “Love’s the Only House” by Martina McBride, and “Grown Men Don’t Cry” by Tim McGraw. He and his wife have three children.

Disclosure: Mama Buzz and reviewers received a complimentary copy of this book for review purposes.

The Busy Couple's Guide to Sharing the Work and the Joy, a MamaBuzz Review

As part of MamaBuzz, I was given a review copy of The Busy Couple's Guide to Sharing the Work and the Joy by Kathy Peel with advice for men from Bill Peel, 220 pages, list price $16.99 from Tyndale .

I'm not sure if my getting this one to review is ironic or serendipitous. More probably, it's another example of my being given exactly what I need at the right time. A God-incidence.

I figured this one would send my guilt soaring and overwhelm me.

I was prepared to not like it when it sent my guilt sky high as I went into "extreme overwhelmed" mode. (I'm overwhelmed to begin with-I don't know why I think a book would make that worse.)

And you know what? I am pleasantly surprised.

Kathy Peel and Bill Peel have packed the pages of this book with information, facts, anecdotes, forms and worksheets. Yes, you'll need a pen or pencil, a highlighter, and maybe some sticky notes as you read this one. The intro is available here.

Page 42, left side bar, has a "CAUTION!" for us: "The every day tasks of home life have become so burdensome that one in three Americans say some days they would rather sta at work than go home and face their list of household to-dos, according to iRobot Corporation's 'Balance at Home' survey."

And this book breaks down and tears apart the little details and big details of how to make home life NOT so burdensome. The Peels begin with relationships (the introduction is called, "Getting from Me to We"). (If you're familiar w/ the intervention often associated for autism, RDI(r), the authors and this book remind me of an RDI(r) Program Certified Consultant for the HOME and FAMILY.)

After the introduction, readers are given nine chapters:

Chapter One: The Business of Doing Family
Chapter Two: Managing Your Time and Schedule
Chapter Three: Managing Your Home and Property
Chapter Four: Managing Menus and Meals
Chapter Five: Managing Relationships with Family and Friends
Chapter Six: Managing Your Finances
Chapter Seven: Managing Special Events
Chapter Eight: Managing Yourself
Chapter Nine: Family Team-Building Workshop

The Peels give readers a section of resources in the back of the book.

In the "Busy Couple's Guide", the Peels compare running a family to running a business. They set up a family model based on the model that successful businesses use, beginning with the seven family manager departments (chapters two through eight are developed around the seven departments).

The Peels give me permission to read the book out of order (I tend to read books like this out of order anyway). They tell readers in the introduction, "Don't try to make too many changes at once!"

The Peels write as if they're chatting with me in the family room, and they share anecdotes from their own marriage, which makes them authentic to me. I relate to a lot of what they tell me.

Suggestions are simple and practical, and there are some that I think I can make right away without feeling overwhelmed. (My mind wanders to Charlotte Mason's philosophy of habit formation, and the Peels are right to tell readers not to make too many changes at once. We want to get some new and positive habits established, habits that will stick.)

I'd like to have two copies, one for me and one for my husband, to work through at the same time. It's not exactly Bible study material, although the Peels do incorporate scripture and Biblical foundations, yet, I think it would be a wonderful book for a small group study.

Reflection on our situation: In the "Managing Your Time and Schedule" chapter, Peel makes a comment about a time when "Mom and Dad were readjusting to the nonnegotiables of a small baby." Autism sent us into that time of "nonnegotiables" for a much longer time that is typical, that added more to our "to do" lists of things to manage and schedule. That was a time when I was under an incredible amount of stress that seemed unmanageable. The Peels don't address special circumstances that can create even more unbalance in a family such as a child with a disability like autism. When my daughter w/ asd wasn't sleeping much (the first five years), I spent the bulk of my time, attention, and energy on her needs (from therapies and therapists to diet to all things biomedical). I look back and don't know how I'd have done anything any differently. We needed another person or two to stand alongside and help us.

The timing of my receipt of the book is really good for me. I've recognized the need for some changes; I'm read to tackle some of the changes; now I've got the book to help me prioritize and begin.

The book's focus on relationships and on the family as a "team" hits close to my heart. As the challenges of autism decrease at home, we as a family are more equipped than ever to grow into a team. We're a little bit delayed (by the challenges we had in the past), but that doesn't mean we're out of the game.

I google everything. (I google; therefore I am. *wink*) I found Kathy Peel's web site HERE, where she offers free forms and information.

Publisher: Tyndale House
Price: Softcover $16.99

Author Bio (from Tyndale Site)

Kathy Peel is founder and CEO of Family Manager, a company that trains women in the art of family management. She has written 21 books, selling more than 2 million copies. Her latest works are The Busy Mom's Guide to a Happy, Organized Home (winner of the 2009 Gold Mom's Choice Award) and Desperate Households. She is AOL's Kids & Family Coach, and she contributes to many publications, including FamilyFun, Parents, Woman's World, Family Circle, and HomeLife. A popular speaker and media personality, Kathy's Family Manager makeover stories have appeared on programs such as Oprah, The Early Show, The Today Show, and HGTV.

Potluck Survival Guide, a MamaBuzz Review

I received a free copy of "Potluck Survival Guide, Care & Feeding of the Athletic Supporter" by Cherie Kimmons, from Five Star Publications ($24.95), to review for MamaBuzz. Kimmons signed my copy, too! I love that special touch!

What a *fun* cookbook! :)

Potlucks can be intimidating. Deciding on the right dish and figuring out how to multiply the recipe for a crowd can leave me stuck (okay, absolutely frozen) in procrastination. Cherie Kimmons wrote this cookbook for people like me, who need some help when it comes to preparing for a potluck. I have a baseball player at home, and I suspect that as one of his #1 athletic supporters, I'll be using this cookbook a lot in the years ahead.

Anyone who needs a tried and true potluck recipe will like this cookbook.

(A "sidebar" that I cannot resist: Does the term "athletic supporter" automatically take you to the scene in the movie, "Grease" where the school secretary is making announcements over the school PA system, and she says, "If you can't be an athlete, be an athletic supporter!" LOL)

Kimmons explains that we can benefit from her mistakes, that she "takes the fear out of feeding kids about whom you may no nothing in the way of food preferences"

Potluck Survival Guide is more than a collection of recipes. Kimmons gives readers a lot of information about how to choose a menu for the audience, options like different kinds of food bars, how to tweak recipes, how to calculate quantities, how to choose the best ingredients, and decorating the venue. She writes in a style that has me imagining I'm sitting across the breakfast bar from her, having a cup of hot coffee as she shares tips and recipes from her experience.

NO, IT IS NOT A GLUTEN FREE COOKBOOK, and most of the recipes contain not only gluten, but casein/milk, too (Kimmons uses a lot of cheese and cream of something soups). However, while the book leans toward folks who don't have problems w/ gluten or casein, there are a quite a few recipes that could be made fairly easily with GFCF ingredients. If you're a GFCFer, you'll find enough recipes here to take to a potluck that you can eat and no one will know that they're "special" recipes. Here are some I found (there are more): Oatmeal Casserole (page 51) is one breakfast item that could be made GFCF with gluten free oats. Sloppy Joes (page 71) is GFCF. Nana's Brisket (page 76), a "Hall of Fame" recipe, can be made GFCF. Flank Steak Pinwheels (page 77) can be GFCF. Chicken Paella could probably be made GFCF (is there a GFCF Kielbasa-style sausage?). Confetti Rice (page 132) and Butternut Squash Casserole (page 133) could easily be converted to GFCF.

There are no photos of recipes or recipe prep in this cookbook. (I like photos.)

Recipe samples are HERE. Instructions for how to request a free recipe card from the "Hall of Fame", Nana's Brisket, (the inspiration for the cookbook) are HERE.

I'm tickled to add this cookbook to my collection!

Big Thoughts for little people; a MamaBuzz Review

Big Thoughts for Little People by Kenneth N. Taylor
Ages 3-7
Hardcover retails for $14.99

Best-selling children's book author Kenneth N Taylor and illustrator Andrea Petrlik Huseinovic have published a new book: Big Thoughts For little people, ABC's to help you grow. It is written for young children, and I requested it because I'm looking for developmentally appropriate books for my daughter who is playing catch-up, developmentally.

She and I have enjoyed this book!

I like the way Taylor set up the text and Huseinovic's illustrations are delightful. It's a winner from beginning to end.

Each letter of the alphabet has two pages. On the left side of the fold is a giant letter accompanied by four pieces of what I'll call "text". First is a short poem that uses the letter several times. Second is a short paragraph, each five or six sentences in length, that talk about something that is happening in the illustration on the right side of the fold. Third are three questions for the child and parent to ask and answer. And last, is a Bible verse (some from the Old Testament and some from the New Testament) that is related to the poem, paragraph, questions and illustration.

The illustrations are full of items and actions that begin with the corresponding letter.

It's adorable!

RDIers, the "same but different, different but same" "variations on a theme" possibilities are big in this little book. My daughter becomes quite anxious when she sees what she thinks is "too much" text on a page. When I opened the package and began to look at the book, she curled up next to me, and I waited for her reaction. Our first read-through, we read JUST the poems and looked at the pictures. We didn't try to read the paragraph or answer the questions until a later read-through. We've really enjoyed the book. I think it would be a wonderful addition to a church nursery or toddler room or a sweet gift for a baby or toddler.

* Mama Buzz, and reviewers, were provided with a complimentary copy of this book for blog tour purposes* "This is a Mama Buzz review. The product was provided by Tyndale House for this review."

The Tallest of Smalls; a MamaBuzz Review

*This book was given as a complimentary copy to Mama Buzz and reviewers, for blog tour purposes.*

The Tallest of Smalls by Max Lucado
Ages 4-7
Retails for $16.99




__._,_.___

Max Lucado with illustrator Maria Monescillo brings us "The Tallest of Smalls", a book written for young children about self worth, "a parable from Max Lucado's "Fearless" (according to the book jacket).

The story took me back in time to games in PE that had two team captains choosing, one at a time, team members from the students in the class. I was much older than the 4-7 year old crowd that this book is written for. "Pick me!" runs though the mind of every child in the class, who is hoping NOT to be the very last person chosen. Loyalties of friendships are often set aside during these team picks as the captains try to stack their team with the better athletes. It's a set up for a lot of hurt feelings.

"The Tallest of Smalls" is about a boy named Otis who is the smallest of Smalls, and he's waiting, begging, to be chosen to receive a pair of stilts so that he can parade around among the folks in town who were not chosen. When he gets his stilts, he is a mess. He stumbles and loses his stilts. He soon learns that doesn't matter, because with Jesus, we all already matter.

The story is written in rhyme, with short sections of a Du Seuss-like poem on each illustrated page. Some of the illustrations are what I'd call cute, and some are notsocute. (I think some the faces of the people in the story are a bit scary looking -- some of them have no noses and some have no mouths.)

For a child with language delays, I think this poems that make up this story may be a challenge to grasp, although the ending is clear as Jesus tells little Ollie, "You're precious, my Ollie, not too short of too small; I made you, remember, you're mine after all."

The Blue Umbrella; a MamaBuzz Review

The Blue Umbrella is a novel written for the 9-12 year old age group, a story about little Zac Sparks's journey through good and evil after he was orphaned when his mother was struck by lightening. The 400+ page story takes readers to the town of Five Corners, a town that is filled with mystery and bizarre characters.

The Blue Umbrella: A Novel

My middle school princess and I read the book from cover to cover. She read it first. She enjoyed the twists and turns of the story and gives the book a thumbs up. She says it's like the "unfortunate events" series, but different. I'm more of a "Little House" (Laura Ingalls Wilder) series kind of reader, and this book is not "Little House, and the twists and turns left me more and more unsettled. My daughter kept encouraging me to keep going because she thought the ending would be something I'd like and she was right. The resolution at the end of the book, though, is worth reading the story (for me).

Author Mike Mason calls the story "a work of literature with an allegorical dimension," explaining that, "An allegory tends to feel wooden because there is clear one-to-one correcpondence between all the elements of the story and some other reality."

I am surprised to see the recommended age range is from 9-12. I'd suggest the book for tweens and teens.

Mason has me thinking about the good characters and evil ones and the words spoken and events and how they played out, and relating them to what I know. He's set my mind in motion, that's for sure, because I keep running parts of the book through my mind.

*This book was given as a complimentary copy to Mama Buzz Reviewers by David C. Cook and Mike Mason, for blog tour and promotion purposes.

The Blue Umbrella: retails for $14.99

Ages 9-12

Enjoy a free excerpt of this book at Mike Mason's website.

The Blue Umbrella, by Mike Mason from David C. Cook on Vimeo.

Guys are Waffles, Girls are Spaghetti, a MamaBuzz Review

Before an illness and job tranfer that sent us moving across the country interrupted graduate school, I was working toward a Master's Degree in marriage and family therapy. My area of interest was (still is) the communication differences between males and females.

I spent a lot of time studying brain differences and reading the widsom of folks like Deborah Tannen and John Gray. I remember at one point, asking my husband to read one of Dr Tannen's books, and having him ask me if she had met me, because she described me to a "t".

The differences between the way men and women use "talk" is absolutely fascinating to me. Males and females think differently, and Tannen goes into great detail about how the play of young boys and young girls differs in huge ways. The information I studied in grad school is presented to adults -- probably not very appealing to tweens and teens.

I never gave a thought to talking to my middle schooler about those differences. Nope. It never even crossed my mind.

And then, in the mail one recent day, we get a brand new book that does just that AND it's written in a way that appeals to pre-teen and teenage readers:

Guys are Waffles, Girls are Spaghetti
by
Chad Eastham
and
Bill and Pam Farrel

Retails for $12.99
For Ages 12- 17

from Thomas Nelson

Almost as soon as it arrived, I handed the book to my middle schooler, who disappeared into her bedroom with it. I could hear her giggle and laugh out loud, and I asked her what was so funny. Yep, it was the waffles and spaghetti book!

A few days later, we were talking about the fact that different states have different ages for teens to begin driving, and I said I'd prefer later than earlier, because the teen's brain isn't fully developed yet, and Miss Middle School Princess interrupted me and gave me a detailed explanation why and she told me she knew because of the waffles and spaghetti book.

I finally got the chance to look at it for myself. I got to see what my girl laughed out loud at -- Chad Eastham is so funny! Chad Eastham and Bill and Pam Farrel do a really nice job explaining the differences in the ways males and females think and interact. Check out the excerpts here. The waffle and spaghetti analogies are spot on.

I wonder why I hadn't thought about explaining some of this to my kidlet (but she probably wouldn't have listened to me, anyway!).

It's another one of those books I'd have liked to have had as I was in my preteen and teen years. The information and insight would have been helpful during those years where I never felt like I measured up. It answers so many of the questions about why are boys like that??? And it does so in a light, fun way, even though the subject matter is serious in some ways.

Book Synopsis from the back of the book

In this hilarious, yet amazingly insightful book, discover the secrets behind why guys and girls think and act so differently. Guys' brains have little compartments like a waffle, and there they keep most aspects of their lives separated. Girls brains are like spaghetti, because they tend to keep everything in their lives connected. Learn how to talk so a "waffle" will listen, and how to understand the "spaghetti-ish" conversations that you will encounter your entire life. Learning about waffles and spaghetti will make a difference in real-lilfe issues like dating, sex, friendships, body language, and communication skills of every kind. So dig in for the insights you've been craving.


*Disclosure: This book was provided to the Mama Buzz site and Mama Buzz reviewers, free of charge, in exchange for today's blog tour*

Buy		Read

Five Star Publications, Inc: Designer Copper Bookmarks

Designer Copper Bookmarks
by
Five Star Publications, Inc.

It's beautiful jewelry for a book!

Made in the United States (in Arizona), of beautiful copper, Linda Radke, president of Five Star Publications, Inc, offers a choice of three designer bookmarks for readers and gift givers.

Priced at $11.95, the bookmarks are "custom-designed using quality copper and Swarovski crystals and pearls."

Five Star Publications, Inc., sent me, at no charge (in order to review here on my blog), the angel design. Readers, I gushed when I opened it -- the bookmark is beautiful! As I anticipated receiving it, I was afraid the copper would be flimsy, and it is not. How can it be thick enough to hold the page, while not marring the page, but not be flimsy. Well, somehow, it works! :) The little angel is adorable.

I've never used a fancy bookmark -- I'm the one who uses bookmarks made from card stock and loses them and winds up using simply a scrap of paper. This is one we'll keep up with at our house, and for the time being, my middle schooler and I will fight over share it. I don't recommend it for small children because of the little pieces and parts. And my daughter who is on the autism spectrum might lose it.

The bookmarks are available in three designs; in addition to the angel made with a divine crystal and opulent pearl, FSPI offers a paw print with a blue crystal and a crystal-packing star motif as well.

The company press release suggests using them to decorate your holiday trees, too.

I like them because they are made in the USA, they're beautiful, and they are easy to ship or take to family for folks who are many hours away. Shipping gifts or traveling with gifts can be challenging, and finding small-in-physical-size gifts that are substantial in quality is important.

You may order them via the Five Star Publications catalog.

Redefining {beau*ti*ful} by Jenna Lucado with Max Lucado

I remember being a teenager, with all of the insecurities that come with that stage. Dealing with the image looking back at me in the mirror (never what I wanted it to be); navigating the course of friendships and boys; wanting to be liked by everyone -- I went through what everyone goes through at that age.

Jenna Lucado (daughter of pastor, teacher, and best-selling author Max Lucado) did too.

I would have liked to have had a book like this when I was a teenager. Sometimes, teens don't realize that the feelings and experiences they have are common to all teens.

Jenna relates to young girls with stories from her own tween and teen years. Whether the reader has a wonderful relationship with her dad, or doesn't know her dad, or anything in between, Lucado and her dad write for every girl as she shares from her heart and from scripture, the definition of "beautiful" from our Heavenly Father.

In Redefining Beautiful, What God Sees When God Sees You, ($12.99 from Thomas Nelson) Jenna covers all of the topics that can create insecurities for tweens and teens in a book/journal that guides readers through a journey of redefining beautiful, a definition that comes through the eyes of a Father.

My 12-year-old was too busy with homework and the review period too short for her to get to do more than skim "Redefining Beautiful," and she says it looks "cool!" and she asked me if she could write in it. (ABSOLUTELY!) I'll follow up with her input when she's had time and space to dive into it.

Watch Jenna Lucado chat about the book HERE.