Purex Powershot Detergent Review

***Disclosure-I am a Purex Insider.  I received this product for review.  All opinions stated are my own based on my personal experience.

As a mom that works full time, I am always for getting products to work for me to help my life.  There is a new product that Purex has designed to help us in our laundry routine.  My husband and son help with the laundry but sometimes this is not helpful.  Especially when they are wasting detergent.

New Purex PowerShot detergent simplifies the laundry routine by taking the guesswork of measuring.  Purex PowerShot is the only bottle that automatically dispenses the right amount of super concentrated formula with 50% more stain fighting power in every drop. 

Now I do not have to worry about my husband or son wasting detergent.  The PowerShot is so easy to use.  

Now, who doesn't like simple and easy?  I know I do!

Keeping Kids Germ-Free During Cold and Flu Season

***Disclosure-This is a compensated campaign in collaboration with Pediacare and Latina Bloggers Connect. All opinions stated are my own based on my personal experience.

These past two weeks have been the most horrible weeks ever. I have been dying sick. I do not wish anyone to be this sick. I did not even have the flu. A cold can lay you out for a couple of days. But I was not the only one sick in our house, so was my daughter. Luckily my husband and I were able to help her as soon as she starting showing signs of sickness. Now we had 2 of 4 people in our house sick. We needed to contain the germs that were already there and prevent any more germs for hanging around and making the rest of my family sick. I know how not to share germs but I need to start teaching my daughter how to stay germ-free this winter. You can never start to young to teach them.

Tips on how to keep the kids germ free during the winter months:

1) Teach them not to share their cups, or grab others drinks. My daughter goes to daycare. The first time she got sick was the first week she attended daycare. The kids at the daycare share everything. I label all of my daughter's cups. They are returned on a daily basis. Also washing kid's cups regularly. I boil my daughter's cups, and straws to kill any germs and prevent any mold from forming.

2) Immunizations and Vitamins. Preventing illnesses can be as easy as taking a multivitamin. They have gummies for kids and adults.

3) Washing hands. All kids love to play, so make washing your hands a little game. They can sign a song, count numbers, or anything that makes it fun or easy for them to remember. My daughter has a step stool next to the bathroom sink so it makes it easy for her to wash her hands anytime she needs to. Frequent hand washing with soap and water or cleansing with any product that has 62% isopropyl alcohol.

4) Wiping and Cleaning kids toys. My daughter has a table that she uses everyday. I wipe this table down and any toys she uses. You can use baby wipes or cleaning wipes. Don't forget to clean door handles, control remotes, sink faucets, stair banisters, refrigerator handles, car door handles, phones, or anything you touch on a daily basis.

5) Sneezing correctly. All my life I was taught to cover my sneezes but never to sneeze into my elbow. If you sneeze into your hands, then you have the germs in your hands. But if you sneeze into your elbow, you can grab a tissue and then wipe your elbow. No spreading germs with your hands.

6) Layering. The weather is crazy. It could change. We have gotten our daughter use to wearing a sweater. In Houston, the weather is cold one minute, hot the next and then back to cold. Our winter's sometimes are a nice Summer temperature during the day but then as soon as the sun goes down, you remember it is Winter.  

7) Cutting fingernails and keeping nails clean. Do you know that germs live under your nails? This is why it is important to wash your hands #3. I keep my daughter's nails short to prevent from dirt, food, and germs growing under there.

8) Blow your nose. I do not know how many times I have seen kids with snotty noses. The crud has to come out. Teach your kids how to blow their noses. Them sucking the boogies back up their nose, or wiping them on their sleeves is not good. I buy my kids the to go tissues that they can carry on them. My son keeps them in his backpack. To go hand sanitizers are great too for on the go.

9) Switch toothbrush. How many times a year do you switch your toothbrush? Germs can grow on toothbrushes. You could be making yourself sick.  

10) Sickness alert. Kids are little and sometimes cannot express themselves or tell you what is wrong. Pay attention to their normal-ness, i.e. how to they normally act when they are not sick. Try catching illnesses early. Teach them to tell you when their tummies are upset, when their heads hurt, or are feeling hot. This way you can catch it early and give them medicine to help them feel better. Therefore stopping germs from spreading at your house, daycare, or schools.

PediaCare® is a brand that was founded to develop safe and effective medicines for children, that you can count on.  When your little one starts showing signs of illness, choose from their line of specialized medicines for kids.  

PediaCare® products can be found at a Dollar General near you.

-Use this $1 off coupon to purchase PediaCare's Cough & Runny Nose plus Acetaminophen at your local Dollar General (http://bit.ly/PediaCareCoupons)

-Click here to download the PediaCare® dosage chart, which helps you match your child’s symptoms with one of the Pediacare products. When using the chart, it’s best to weigh your child first to determine proper dosing of PediaCare® products. If weight is not known, use age.

A Royal Princess Birthday Party

It is really crazy but just as one birthday is finishing my brain already starts planning the next.  My daughter was turning 3 this past December.  Her birthday is 3 days away from Christmas.  So I always like to celebrate her birthday before the Christmas holidays begin.  So invitations were created by my friend and she got it just right.

Next, I need to think of the decorations to convert my house into a castle.  Everything a Royal Princess should need...Her theme was Sofia the First.

 A small candy station to greet the guests at the entrance.  A #3 and a crown cut out of corrugated.

 I bought this wonderful background from the party store for only $5.99.  It came with 5 plastic signs.  These are perfect for using at the party and in her room decor after the party is over.  I also found some place mats at the dollar store.

 I also used my daughter's comforter as another decoration piece.  I hung it over the curtain rod.

I used my daughter's fairy tale princess canopy for the backdrop for the cake table.  My coworker made my daughter's cake.  We used my daughter's Sofia the First doll and made the cake around it.  She made a wonderful base.  I used my daughter's Sofia the First table to prop the cake on top of.  She also made me Princess Amber and Prince James cake pops.  These were a great hit with all the kids and parents.   

And my princess had a great time.  For information on my chalkboard wall, check out this post:  Birthday Chalkboard Wall.

Disney Jr-Kate and Mim Mim

***Disclosure-My daughter received some cute bunny ears.  Any opinions expressed are my own.

My daughter is obsessed with Disney Jr.  She gets home and she loves to watch Disney Jr.  I never thought I would be one of those parents, per say.  But I am.  Who cares?  I don't.  You want to know why?  Because they are great shows on the television that are not only entertaining but also teach our kids.  Like the new show Kate and Mim Mim.

I was introduced to this show even before my daughter started watching it.  I really did not think she was going to be as into it as she actually is.  She is currently in the princess mode.  This is a cute story written by two parents.  I like the story lines on every episode.  My daughter just adores Kate and Mim Mim.

This is their Kate.

Kate & Mim-Mim follows the special friendship between a 5-year-old girl named Kate, and her favorite plush bunny Mim-Mim who becomes a larger than life playmate whenever Kate’s curiosity stirs her imagination, and unlocks the door to her fantastical world!

In each episode, Kate and Mim-Mim and their gang of loveable friends discover exciting new places and set off on adventures, all in the hope of solving a puzzling problem Kate has in the real world. When the adventure ends, Kate returns to the real world to tell her parents all about her amazing adventures and how she and Mim-Mim have saved the day.

So check your Disney Jr schedule to see when Kate and Mim Mim are coming on and see if you little enjoy too.  

all Holiday Stain Report

***Disclosure-Sample product was received for review.  All opinions stated are my own based on my personal experience.

December was full of dirty messes.  My daughter's birthday party and all the holidays.  Was your December dirty too?

What was on your menu?  Did you have to take clothes to the cleaners to get stains out?

According to the ‘all Holiday Stain Report:

-Grease and oil top the list of food stains, making holiday gravy a major culprit.

-All those who baked this year, how many stains did you get?

-Casseroles?  Tamales?

Have you tried the all laundry cleaning products?

all® mighty pacs® are conveniently pre-measured to contain the right combination of powerful concentrated detergent with active stainlifters. They dissolve completely, leaving behind nothing but clean.

You just throw 1 pac in per load.  So before you start your spring cleaning and throwing things out because they have stains, try all with stainlifters.

Fitness Friday-2015 Aramco Houston Half Marathon

2015 has already started challenging me, like 2014 was not challenging enough.  Challenging yourself to complete a race motivates you to get closer to your fitness goals, at least it does for me. I love to run and it has become a big part of my year.  Unfortunately life does happen.  I was so happy when I decided to sign up for the 2015 Aramco Houston Half Marathon.  It was my opportunity to run it under my name.  But like I told you on my Motivational Monday-Never Quit on Yourself, I almost quit before I even got started.

So in order to complete the mileage I was going to run, you need training.  Last year, I did not train and I could have done serious damage to my knees.  This year I decided to train.  I did.  I started the year training with my husband.  Then I had bumps on the road, and stopped consistent training on a weekly basis.  I did something here or there.  I did not clean my eating either.  All the stress I have been under has me stress eating.  Not only that some medication I had started taking, made me gain weight as well.  But I blame it all on me and take full responsibility.  Ultimately we make our choices. 

So on January 1, 2015 with only 17 days before the race, I started training and eating healthier options than I had been.  I went to the gym and my goal-my goal was to keep my knees moving.  I remembered the doctor saying that in January 2014 I shocked my knees from doing nothing to running 13.1 miles.  I did not want to get injured.  All this weight on my poor knees was too much.  I would go to the gym and get on the treadmill for at least 1 hour.  I consistently added more miles.  When I did not do the treadmill, I did the bike.  On weekends, we walked the malls. 

On January 18, 2015, I actually showed up.  I got to the start line and I crossed it.  I had music playing in my ears, the crowds cheering away, and my legs just going at it.  I bought some goo to give me energy along the race, and had some at every 3 miles.  I got a banana from a person in the crowd at mile 9 and saved it for mile 12.  I stopped at every Gatorade and water station.  I walked it out in between, you do not want to slip and fall.  When I saw the finish line, I bolted with a burst of energy that came out of the sky.  I crossed that finish line and never felt better.  I can't believe I almost took this away from myself. 

This are pictures of me, thanks to the Marathon photographers all along the race.  I won't tell you that it was easy to finish.  I won't even tell you it was easy to start.  But I will tell you, that when I did IT FELT GREAT!  I may not look like a runner.  I may be overweight.  I may have asthma and breath hard every time.  I may look like I am walking when I think I am running.  But no one can take this away from me now. 

What are you talking yourself out of?  What have you wanted to try and are not giving yourself a chance to do?  It will not be easy.  It will be hard but that is why it is a challenge.  I am not only a finisher but I am a starter.  Finish that one thing you started. 

I did!  I love the slogan, 13.1, cause I'm only half crazy!  One day, I might go all the way crazy, and go for the 26.2 miles but for now I am enjoying this victory.  

2015 Disneyside @Home Celebration Kit Reveal

 ***Disclosure-I received a Disneyside @Home Celebration party kit.  All opinions stated are my own.

So excited that I once again got picked to host a Disneyside @Home Celebration.  Last year, we celebrated by hosting a Cowboy Mickey/Cowgirl Minnie party.  Did you miss my post, click here?  The inspiration came from one of my daughter's favorite episodes - Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Mickey and Donald Have a Farm.  We had so much fun planning and getting ready for our party.  And I am so excited to be planning this year's party.

But you can't get started without a party kit, do you want to know what is in our kit?

But you do not have to receive a kit to show your Disneyside, you can show it too...Disneyside is in all of us.  We are all big kids at heart.  How do you show your Disneyside?

Motivational Monday-Never Quit on Yourself

The days have been very loomy, gloomy, way past beyond the point of return.  I have been very depressed.  My life isn't going so well.  Work is just horrible and is the biggest cause of my stress.  And I am taking home which is causing more stress.  It seems as I am digging a bigger and bigger hole for me.  Am I ever going to get out or am I going to be found drown in this hole?

Yes, I know life does not always go as planned.  When life kicks you down, get back up.  But when you get kicked one to many times, you just wanna a break, so you stay on the floor.  Once on the floor, you start to think just stay here.  I have been in a serious funk.  But there has been one thing that I could not avoid.  Last year in June, I signed up for the Aramco Houston Half Marathon.  I was picked.  I knew I had enough time to train and I was so happy.  But little did I know how my life would be in the months to come.  I had been going to the gym and working out with my husband.  Work was work but I left it at work.  My kids, well kids are going to be kids.  It all fell apart.  Little by little, it all kept falling and falling.  I started giving up on things one at a time.  Don't get me wrong I tried several times to get it back to where I was but it just seemed as I took one step, I was thrown five back.  The half marathon kept getting closer and closer.  All I wanted was for it to be over.  I told my husband I was unable to do it and that he would have to run for me.  He actually said "No".  Can you believe him?  I ran a race for him and he couldn't even help me out this time.  Registration for the half is $125 and I of course didn't want it to go to waste.  This was the first Aramco that was under my name.  What was I going to do?

A little before New Year's, life kept kicking me down.  It seemed as if it was out to get me.  And I had nothing left to give.  New Year's Day came and there was a small light.  I decided this year my resolution was to REFOCUS.  RE was going to be a big part of this year.  Whether it was to REview something, REthink things, REsolve matters,  REdefine, REnew, etc...  So on this day I decided I was going to run the half marathon.  I second guessed myself from January 1-16.  I still was wishing my husband would say he would run it for me.  But yesterday, January 18 I completed my 4th half marathon.

On Saturday when we went to the expo, someone said you have done the training, you have done all you can, the hardest part is done.  All I could think of was my hardest part has yet to come.  In life, the hardest parts are yet to come because the things we accomplish are done.  Each thing life presents at that time will be the hardest thing you have to face in life, whatever it may be.  How will you face that?  Will you quit on yourself?  The hardest thing for me to do was not to quit on myself.  To start to believe in myself again.  The easy way was to quit.

Whatever you are going through know that you are the one going through it.  YOU can make it all better.  YOU have the power to make it better.  Are you a quitter or are you YOU?

To RENEW.  To find a new NEW.  This is my new NEW.  I lost focus somewhere in 2014 but as I entered 2015 I am reminded that there are going to be times I am going to lose it all, but I can REFOCUS.  Each time something happens I will remember to REFOCUS. 

Have you had a moment when you quit on yourself?  Did you refocus?  What helped you?  Are you still lost?  Do you need some REfocus in your life? 

Avengers: Age of Ultron – New Trailer

***Disclosure-No compensation was received.  Informational post only.

Hey Marvel fans, A new Avengers coming soon...so excited

When Tony Stark jumpstarts a dormant peacekeeping program, things go awry and Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, including Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye, are put to the ultimate test as they battle to save the planet from destruction at the hands of the villainous Ultron.

Paddington Movie Review

***Disclosure-I was invited to an advance screening of this movie for review.  All opinions stated are my own based on my own opinion.

Have you ever heard of the Paddington bear?  I had but I didn't know his story, or the story behind the cute bear, but now I do.

My family had a good time watching this cute movie.  I recommend it for all ages.  My husband, myself, teen and toddler all liked the movie.  It made us laugh.  My toddler was into the movie the entire time.  She even was talking back to the screen at one time.  There is adventure in this story as it is played out on the screen.  Here is the trailer:

Synopsis: From the beloved novels by Michael Bond and producer David Heyman (HARRY POTTER), PADDINGTON tells the story of the comic misadventures of a young Peruvian bear (voiced by Ben Whishaw) who travels to the city in search of a home.  Finding himself lost and alone, he begins to realize that city life is not all he had imagined - until he meets the kindly Brown family who read the label around his neck that says “Please look after this bear.  Thank you,” and offer him a temporary haven.  It looks as though his luck has changed until this rarest of bears catches the eye of a museum taxidermist.

I recommend this movie for the entire family.  So grab your kiddos and head to the movies.  Enjoy.