Children's book fun I

The links in this post are Amazon affiliate links. 


The Wonderful Thing About Hiccups -- Cece Meng

I love storybooks that transition from page to page with a cause and effect.  This is one of those about getting hiccups in the library...and the hilarious results thereof.


Hey, Mama Goose --Jane Breskin Zalben

Another topsy turvy nursery rhyme where the Old Woman in the Shoe runs out of room and decides to move.  This promotes a moving frenzy by lots of characters who are all looking for greener pastures.  The moral is true.  It is not always better somewhere else and they find themselves back at home again before the end of the book.


***Is Everyone Ready for Fun? -- Jan Thomas

Three cows (ahem, D, E, and A) decide to jump on the couch at chicken's house.  They don't quite understand the request to not jump so more antics ensue until they get all exhausted out and finally nap.  The reason I enjoyed it so much is rather self-explanatory.


***Once Upon a Time, the End (Asleep in 60 Seconds) -- Geoffrey Kloske

How often am I guilty of not wanting to tell a long story at bedtime.  These fairytales become all mixed up after a dad decides to condense them.  Very funny as an adult and kids who are familiar with the stories might just catch on...


The Day the Cow Sneezed-- James Flora

As already mentioned, I love the cause and effect style books.  This one is a great example of how one mistake can have some serious ramifications.  Totally exaggerated and blown out of proportion, of course...


Mole Had Everything --Jamison Odone

An opportunity to teach your kids that having "everything" does not equate to being contented.  We can choose to be content whether with much or little...the secret of being content in any and every situation. (Phil 4:12)


***Will You Carry Me? -- Helene van Rossum

This reminds me of my childhood.  Rather than carrying her son home from the park, the creative mom comes up with alternatives that make going home fun.  Flap those eagle wings!  (right, mom? -- Isaiah 40:31)


And with that, I will try to keep up better with the latest and greatest.

Never the same workout twice. Highly motivational and intense workout!

The links in this post are Amazon affiliate links.

Wow! This is intense! I purchased this to make working out at home fun. Both my husband and I can be very competitive when we workout and so this is the perfect game for us.

HIIT stands for High Intensity Interval Training...meaning you push yourself as hard as you possibly can for a short period of time, take an even shorter break and then push again in intervals doing different exercises.

This game makes working out fun because not only are you competing against your workout partner (or your own best score) but you are never doing the same workout twice.

You roll the die to see how many intervals you do per round. Then you draw a card to see how many rounds you are going to complete. A roll of three gives you three different intervals per round (three different exercises) with 5-30 sec breaks between before your longer break of 2-3 mins and then round #2. The interval times can vary too and are based on which card you draw. They are between 10-60 secs long. My husband and I ended up doing 9 different exercises our first time we played this--3 intervals x 3 rounds. There are 2 stacks of 52 exercise cards so as you can see, there can be an immense amount of variety in the game that gets laid out.

The exercise cards are color coded by the part of the body you are focusing on: cardio, core, legs, arms, and chest. There is a qr code and a web address on each card so you can either scan the code on a smartphone or lookup each exercise to watch a youtube video of how to perform each exercise. Each card is assigned a point value and you gain points by completing the exercise at least at 80% intensity during the allotted time. (Easier said than done).

And to add to the fun, there are 4 specialty cards that can help you strategize to gain more points or defeat your opponent.

They give a recommendation for both an android and an apple app that are free and work well to time the game. I am still trying to figure out the apple app...it was not too intuitive, but if I cannot figure it out, I will try another one. There are plenty out there for free. And the app is not put out by stack 52...so no fault of theirs.

The game comes in a nice box for storage. The whole thing looks very high quality. I have already recommended this product to several friends. And have ordered another Stack52 workout game.

It really does make working out fun! And there is nothing needed for this exercise other than some energy and a timer--no weights, no bungees, not other equipment. So it can be done anywhere! I am in decent shape but found this really challenging. The nice thing about this, it can be done by beginners all the way up to serious exercise junkies. As you get better, the exercises can be done more precisely and/or you can add the second die and do even more. Or you can focus on just one part of the body if you want a more specialized routine--super easy with the color coded cards.

And if you want to purchase this game, it is available on Amazon...

The HIIT Interval Workout Game by Stack 52

I give it 5 stars out of 5.

Happy Exercising!

From 900,000+ to 595 and back again...

About a year and a half ago, I found the perfect "job."  I say it was a job, but it was not one that I ever got paid for...not in the sense of money.

I first learned about reviewing Amazon products at discount through a random blog post I read.  After doing some research, I decided to take the jump.  I signed up for a few free sites and was able to view available products from sellers who provided discount codes in exchange for a customer's honest review.  Sellers do this in order to build their brand and in hopes that you like their product.  Many of the products are free...others just heavily discounted.  I was told by my younger sister a while ago that the reason I loved technology and gadgets is because I am an oldest child.  The combination of this trait along with another "oldest child" trait (the quest to research everything before purchasing) made for a perfect fit.

I had reviewed 2-3 products on Amazon before I started this.  I kept seeing products that were available for people who had an Amazon ranking of less than 500K.  Who knew Amazon even gave ranking to reviewers???  It was a whole other world of which I had yet to learn.  My ranking was far from that...900,000something.  I was shocked to think that there were that many Amazon reviewers...little did I realize that I have seen since a ranking of 2million something so I was doing pretty well.  :)  I started small.  I reviewed some cell phone car holders.  As well as some vitamin supplements.  These items are pretty low down on the food chain.

As an oldest child, I can be a very detailed person...perhaps more detail than the average person wants, but...  I write reviews that are detailed and as quantifiable as possible.  I don't give as much opinion and more facts to allow you to decide for yourself.  Both pros and cons.  Since I am such a researcher when I purchase items, I knew there is often a dearth of such reviews.  Many give two thumbs up but without the details of what the item can/not do.  Or how well it works in comparison with other products etc...  I must have resounded with the other first born purchasers because my reviews kept being marked as helpful.  This in turn dropped my reviewer ranking and allowed me to review more new and exciting products--like bluetooth headphones, bluetooth speakers, colored pencils, kitchen appliances, clothing, bags, cameras, camping gear, household stuff...you name it!  I could only justify this non-paying job if I didn't spend any money so almost all the items I reviewed I received free "in exchange for my honest review."  The few I paid for were no more than $1-2 and were covered by Amazon gift cards that I had gotten for doing surveys or swagbucks.  Once I saw my ranking dip below 5000, I placed a goal on myself to get below the 1000 mark.  You earn "badges" from Amazon for being in the top 1000 reviewers and also another one in the top 500 of reviewers.  I knew the lower I got, the more competitive it got and the harder it would be to get a top ranking.  By this time, I had learned quite a bit more about this subworld of Amazon.  It could get nasty and bitter.  I determined to stay out of the picture as much as possible and just focus on reviewing.

The day came.  I dropped below top 1000 reviewers on Amazon and got my first badge.  Now there was the label "top 1000 reviewer" next to my name on Amazon!  The goal then moved to being top 500 reviewer.  Meanwhile, I was getting to do what I loved!  I was being contacted by companies directly to see if I was interested in trying out their latest products for free.  I was getting to try the newest items that just hit the market--often about 20-30 items a week.  I was one step ahead of the fads.  Maybe in some small way, I was helping create or destroy fads.  My ranking hit 595.  I was getting 10+ positive review feedbacks/day (this is one of the main criteria in ranking).  I was only days away from hitting top 500 reviewer status.  Then Amazon froze the rankings for a couple of months.  I was just waiting for it to unfreeze again...

And then one day, just like that.  It was all gone.  That morning, I had gone to look at potential items to review, checked my account, pondered what I was going to review that day.  By mid afternoon I had received an email from Amazon saying that I had violated my terms of reviewing and my reviewer status was rescinded.  "This was a final decision."  There was no explanation of what terms were violated.  I was quite familiar with the terms of service and had never knowingly violated these terms.  There were a few times in the past, I had accidentally left off the required disclosure at the end.  These had been addressed and the disclosure added.  Since then, I had been ultra careful to include it EVERY SINGLE time.  My reviewing days were done.  BUT what was far more crushing...ALL my reviews....EVERY SINGLE ONE (of more than 700)...were removed with no warning.  No time to copy them for my records (true...one thing this first born did not remember to plan for).  Just gone!  Hours and hours and hours and hours of time.  I have since written two emails to Amazon and tried to appeal.  Both with no response.  Amazon, the world's mover and shaker is too big to get personal or get any answers.

So many raw emotions swirled through me.  There was freedom.  No longer was I a responsible slave to writing reviews.  My time was my own...and my family's (although I woke early and tried to avoid taking family time to do any of this).  I knew if there way any struggle with pride, that too was gone.  And yet, I had found something that I loved to do!  It was all taken away in a second!  So unexplainedly. So completely.   I kept coming back to the fact that this was NEVER outside of God's capable hands.  How happy I am that my hope does not lie with Amazon but with a good God!

Isaiah 40

7The grass withers and the flowers fall,

because the breath of the Lord blows on them.

Surely the people are grass.

8The grass withers and the flowers fall,

             but the word of our God endures forever.”


Addendum:
It has been about a month.  I had already started this blog about 3 years ago but had never populated it with posts.  I will be posting a few of my favorite review items back onto this blog in the coming days just in case you, like me, are a first born child who likes to research before purchasing.  :)