The Curse of the Glasses

     Glasses for Regan are a necessity of life in our house, and it has truly been both a blessing and a curse. The blessing of course would be that things are much clearer for her with them on, especially in her left eye which is the worse of the two. The curse being that Regan is the only one in our house who wears glasses, and so sometimes if she doesn't remember them, then chances are that no one else will either. To make matters worse since we sometimes give her time off of them like in the summer or weekends, and then when we really need them for church or school it is almost luck when we see them lying on a table as we leave the house or find them at all. 

     The downside for all of this is the we could use back-up pairs, but with the prescription changing minutely every year, she really can not use any of her older glasses. There has been the odd tragic school day when she resorted to a magnifying glass, and I felt like a horrible mother as a result. So a realistic and reasonably priced result needed to be found.

     There is a great solution at Glasses.com a brand new site by the makers of 1-800-Contacts.  They have a huge selection of eyeglass frames for women and the site is easy to navigate. I love that you can upload a picture of yourself and try all the styles on your own face. Regan and I spent a long time figuring out what color and shape she would like best and trying them all on her picture. We know she looks best in rectangular or oval shapes with thin frames, and that is the beauty of the virtual try-on  because you can see for yourself on your own face. I also liked that they have free shipping and free returns, so if it doesn't work just send it right back at no additional charge. It is nice to be equipped with a back-up plan, and no more magnifying glass!

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post by Glasses.com for which the writer was compensated.

Is there a Febreeze Support Group?

     To say that my family has a Febreeze obsession is probably putting it mildly. It is strange  how much that brand has become an intricate part of our lives. I have two bottles at all times, one in my house and one in my car because I can't stand smells in my car. Rebecca on the other hand has her own personal bottle, a room spray and her two bedroom fresheners so she is probably more in need of a support group than I am. She even travels with her her room spray to youth camp this summer and insisted on spraying down our cabin at least once a day so that it would have the smell that she has come to love. The funny thing is the other day when we were shopping she wanted to buy yet another bottle, and I told her it wasn't necessary, and then she said she would spend her own babysitting money because she really wanted a particular scent that she claims smells like Skittles candy. The child really cracks me up!
   The point of Febreeze in Rebecca's room is actually a necessary item. Right now she has volleyball practice at least four mornings a week  with Games on Monday afternoons. She has school cheer practice about twice a week with football games on Thursday evenings. She has competitive cheer on Sunday afternoons and a tumbling class Tuesday evenings. To put it mildly the child is a sweaty energy machine, and by the time I remove all the dirty clothes from the floor....it has still permeated the room. Febreeze not only spares our noses, but also helps her sleep at night without any offending odors. It fits perfectly on the nightstand without being obvious and since it suits her typical chaotic teen room decor. It doesn't stick out like a sore thumb and scream...I am an air freshener!

     To prove my point, here is a picture of her nightstand and you will notice not one Set&Refresh by Febreeze, but two. The one closest to her bed on the left is the scent linen and sky, and then if you look to the right you will see her Hawaiian Aloha scent that she liked this summer. I asked her why she still had the orange one out on her nightstand and she replied that she just liked the color (orange is one of her favorites). But, since the Set &Refresh come with convenient refills I can assure you she will be adding no more colors to her collection just different scents.

     I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Febreze and received a Set & Refresh unit plus refills to facilitate my review and a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.

When did Facebook become my Major News Source?

    On Sunday night I was at church with the girls happily involved in videoing the new rules for the children's ministry program we call Team Kids, when I received an unexpected text from John Mark. There were uncontrollable fires in his parents subdivision in Bastrop, Texas and they had just been evacuated. Armed only with my trusty iphone I immediately checked my news apps....and found nothing. I then turned to the Bing Search engine app, and found a little bit of news through the Austin news station, but not what I was looking for. All information I received came to me from my sister in Austin via text messages or John Mark with news about his parents.
   As Regan and I left the church for the evening (Rebecca was staying the night there to continue taping) I tuned in to my favorite AM news stations, and found the typical evening talk radio political programs.  Didn't Anyone realize there was a wildfire raging through central Texas? There was plenty of news about flood updates on the east coast but nothing yet on any fire burning through our drought ridden land.
   When I arrived home I tuned into the San Antonio network affiliates and all I could find was their late night lineup with still no real news. Next I tuned into the Weather Channel, and finally in the midst of their evening updates was a photo of the massive blaze out of Bastrop Texas, but nothing about where it was headed and what kind of damage had been done. I ended up staying awake waaaay to late looking for some information and there was truly nothing to be found. There were massive evacuations going on and hundreds of homes burning....there were fires popping up all over Texas and I could find out almost nothing when I tuned into the media.
   By the next morning, I was completely frustrated!  When I checked my Facebook though I started to get the real news of what was happening. This is because I found the Texas Storm Chasers page that several of my friends had "liked" and struck a gold mine. There were the actual people involved and affected by the fires updating constantly. They would post where new fires had sprung up all over Texas. There were tracking maps so you could see where the latest blaze had started. And if there was help needed in supplies or evacuating people and animals, this is where people were posting it. Unexpectedly Facebook had become my entire source for all the news I needed.  So in this day and age the lesson learned is that for worldwide news there is still the necessity for FNN, CNN, and MSNBC....but if you want to truly know what is going on in your part of the world you better be on Facebook.

Game Time: Tackling the Past...the Family Movie is Back!

I am a big believer in family movies, and especially if they are about football a sport a truly love. Some of our family favorites include "Remember the Titans", "Radio", and "The Blind Side". it is touching to tell a story with a sport that is so all-american and relatable. Which is why I was thrilled to be able to get a sneak preview of "Game Time: Tackling the Past" brought to you by Wal-Mart and Procter&Gamble who are partnering for a series of family movie nights.

I don't want to giveaway to many details because i want you and your family to enjoy seeing it for yourselves, but I will give a few lessons that I learned. 

• All the fame, glory, and money in the world will not get you what is really important in life.
• Family is everything and sometimes a tragedy can make you realize what you have had all along.
• A  moment of glory at the cost of someone else is never worth it. 

Game Time: Tackling the Past is on Saturday, September 3 on NBC at 8pm ET/7pm CT.  Looking for more information on family movie night and upccaoming events that your everyone can enjoy then go to http://www.facebook.com/familymovienight. 

It is already set on my TIVO  to record it for my family to enjoy with our tradition of popcorn and movie bonding, I hope after seeing the trailer that it will be set on yours too. 

I wrote this review while participating in a campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of P&G and received a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.