Family | She Scribes

Make everynight Karaoke Night with Vivitar’s iSing Karaoke Sound Machine

May 13, 2013 By Kimberly 2 Comments

My children are no longer children - they are teenagers. In fact my daughter will be Sweet 16 in a matter of two weeks. I still remember the day she was born so vividly, and now she’s old enough to get behind the wheel of a car and get a job. Sigh… My ”baby” (my son) will be 14 in the fall. He was a preemie. He weighed 2 1/2 pounds and was 14.5″ long when he was born. Now he’s about 130 pounds and around 5’7″ (if not taller).

As my kids get older it gets harder and harder to find fun activities to do together. My daughter rather hang out with friends and my son rather get lost in the world wide web. We used to do everything together. Now we’re only able to get the kids to have a Family Movie Night with us (depending on the movie), an occasional board or Wii game, going for a long walk some place scenic or a picnic. Other than that there is not much we can convince them to do with us. I guess it’s just not “cool” to hang out with your parents when you are a teen.

A while back I was asked to review the Vivitar iSing Karaoke Sound System from Sakar. Karaoke is such a popular activity that I thought perhaps I could make a Family Karaoke Night with my family. I realize that our music tastes are vastly different, but that is what makes it so much fun.

For the record no one in my family can sing. We’re all pretty bad but that is OK because Karaoke is meant to be fun. We’re not looking to become the next Partridge Family.

The great thing about the Vivitar iSing Karaoke Sound System is that you can use it with most devices including an iPad, iPhone, iPod, Kindle Fire, tablet, computer or CD. These days most families have at least one of these devices, if not more.

The iSing Karaoke Sound System is a lot like a docking station. You attach your device on to a plastic “clip” that holds it in place. The clips hold most devices. The part that your device clips on to swivels 360 degrees so you can see it at just about any angle. The unit also has built in speakers (which were pretty impressive sounding). It also comes with a really cool microphone that is very professional looking. I think my kids were most impressed with the microphone.

I use the iSing Karaoke Sound System you need to download the Karaoke Anywhere app. This app has a pre-existing library of up to 30,000 sounds. You are sure to find plenty of songs the whole family is familiar with. You do get 50 songs to start off with. Sadly many of them my family was not very familiar with. You are able to purchase more songs for $9.99 (5 tracks).

We have not tried it yet but I believe you can use just about any Karaoke application with this device, so you are not limited to the Karaoke Anywhere app. If you Karaoke often and have a favorite app you should be able to use it with the sound system.

I was rather impressed with how well the speakers and sound were. Even without playing music my kids had a fun time using the microphone to amplfy their voices. My son used it to drive our dog bonkers because he couldn’t understand how our son’s voice was coming through the “box”.

The whole set up is super easy. My kids figured it out without me telling them how. It’s pretty much self explanatory. The unit is also light weight and very portable. You could easily take it camping with you, to a friend’s house, in your backyard or your child could even take it on a sleep over.

Sadly my kids didn’t want to have a Family Karaoke Night, and my husband didn’t want to sing with it at all. As for me, I didn’t care. I know I can’t sing, but that is OK. That is part of the fun.

My kids keep this in their room. I suspect that they do use it when we’re not at home. Occasionally they are home by themselves for a bit. I don’t know if they use it together or when they are each home alone. All I know is that I see the microphone moved around as if it was used.

As much as I would have liked to have a Family Karaoke Night, as long as my kids are using it and enjoying it that is all that matters to me.

If you are looking for something fun to do this Summer with family and friends a Karaoke Night would be a lot of fun. You can follow up your next backyard barbecue with a little Karaoke. I think that would be a lot of fun.

Compared to other Karaoke machines the iSing is A LOT less expensive.

For more information please visit www.Sakar.com.

Kimberly

*I received a free product sample in order to do this review. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own and not influenced in any way.

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Filed Under: Family, Household, Music, Reviews, Technology Tagged With: iSing, Karaoke, Sakar, Sound Machine, Vivitar

When all your dreams come crashing down

May 11, 2013 By Kimberly 33 Comments

I am beyond devastated right now. I dare not let my husband or children know how I feel. I’m afraid if I start to talk about it I’m going to start balling my eyes out. I hate crying in front of my kids.

Ever since I was a little girl I have always dreamed of having a house. I have always envisioned what my dream house would look like.

When my husband and I eloped we didn’t even have a placed to live. For five months after we married my husband lived with his mom and I lived with my parents. We were an hour’s drive away from one another. We were young and didn’t give it much thought when we jumped into getting married. Having a place to live afterwards should have been our top priority.

We didn’t have much money and we were desperate to find a place. When my husband found our condo, at a price we could afford, we jumped on the opportunity without much thought of the future. By the time we found this place I was already pregnant. Even thought it’s a one bedroom condo we knew we could turn the dining room into a bedroom for our daughter.

We never gave much thought to having another child. A little over two years later our son was born. Having the kids share the converted dining room worked out great for an infant and a toddler. After a couple of years we realized the kids outgrew the small room. We eventually ended up giving the kids the master bedroom (only bedroom) and my husband and I moved into the living room. We started off with a sofa bed, then moved on to air mattresses, a daybed/trundle combo and now we’re back to a sofa bed.

We have always wanted to move but the market has never played in our favor. FINALLY the cost of houses has dropped and we are finding houses that we can afford. For what we are playing for our shoebox sized one bedroom condo (no yard) we can get a lovely three bedroom house with a yard, and even extras (garage, basement storage, an extra bathroom…). Plus I could move closer to my family and friends.

Last year we finally took the plunge and put our place on the market. For what we had it listed for we would have had enough to pay for the agent’s commission, lawyers fees, other fees AND extra to cover moving expenses and inspection on a new place. Most likely we would have to borrow money to cover the down payment on a new place.

Aside from the fact we had the real estate agent from hell representing us, we had no interest on our place. We finally had the price dropped to where we’d have enough to cover the seller’s expenses and $2,000 left over if we were lucky,

After eight months on the market we had a grand total of five people come and see our place. Since we couldn’t stand our agent either we decided to take our place off the market.

With this being a great time to buy/sell a home (people are looking to buy/sell before school starts in the fall) we thought we’d try again. Maybe we’d have better luck this time.

I’ve been getting excited about the possibility of selling our place and FINALLY owning a home. I’ve been watching shows like House Hunters and all those DIY home repair shows. I’ve even been eyeing some great garden products that were shown on QVC just recently. My husband even found an adorable house for sale in the area we want to move to which happens to be one road over from where one of my childhood friend’s live (she’s practically in the backyard!).

I have even been purging our home of stuff we don’t truly need and cleaning like a crazy person in preparation of people coming to look at our place again.

Then it all came crashing down…

We just met with the new real estate agent. Based on what condos are selling for in our complex if we were to list we would have to list at, or below, what we owe. In fact, most of the recently sold condos have sold for $20,00 LESS than what we owe. If we were to list, and sell, most likely we would OWE $$$$$$$$$ in our mortgage and we’d still have to pay the agent’s commission, lawyers fees and other fees. We also wouldn’t have a dime to cover moving expenses, inspection and down payment on a new place. Another words, if we listed and sold for what most of the condos are selling for we would probably be in the hole AT LEAST $20,000.00 (twenty thousand dollars), if not more.

The agent said we could go as a short sale. We might be forgiven of some of our mortgage if we could prove “hardship”. Even so our credit rating would take a ding. My husband has excellent credit (not sure about mine). We also wouldn’t qualify as a hardship because technically we have no debt except money we owe my father and payments for one of our cars.

I know we could borrow the money from my father, but we already owe him thousands and it would literally take us FOREVER to pay him back upwards of $30K.

So that’s it. We’re stuck here. There is nothing we can do.

Now we have to deal with our taxes that keep going up, our common charges (HOA fees) that keep having increases, our teenage son and daughter have to share a bedroom and my husband and I will having to endure all the back and shoulder pain associated with sleeping on a sofa bed. Not to mention not able to have many people over, not able to take in overnight guests, no yard for our pets to run around in and having to deal with not-so-nice neighbor’s below us, across from us, next to us and diagonal to us.

We’re trapped. There is nothing we can do. My life long dream of owning a house is shattered. It’s not like we can try again next year because our daughter will be a junior in the fall and I’d feel guilty about doing that to her (making her graduate from another school). Not only that, my husband and I are in our mid-40′s. With a 30 year mortgage we’ll be in our mid-70′s and still making mortgage payments. How would we afford that?

Do you know who is the blame for my family never having a house? MINE!

Eight years ago I messed up our finances. I was paying the bills. We were struggling financially and I had no choice but to use our credit card to do things like buy gas or pay for groceries. Soon it became impossible to keep up with the minimum payments so I opened up another credit card. Soon I was “robbing from Peter to pay Paul” (meaning I would take one credit card to pay off what was due on another one). I even had to take out some cash advances. As you know the interest rate is astronomical. Before you knew it we were $60K in debt. I was terrified to let my husband know the truth. He had no clue.

To prevent him from finding out the truth I would intercept the mail so he didn’t see the past due notices. I also used to unplug the phone when he was home so that he didn’t pick up the phone when a phone solicitor called.

I am grateful that he was understanding when he found out. I thought for sure he would divorce me or something. He was really good about it.

We had no choice but to refinance and put the amount that we owed into it. We got rid of the $60K in debt, but our mortgage went up $60K (a couple of hundred dollars more each month).

Had we not refinanced we would ow about $50K on our condo right now. Since they are selling for $110K – $125K we could have sold for $100K and walked away with a $40,000 or so profit.

It’s 100% MY FAULT that we are stuck here. Now every time I hear my daughter say that she wishes should could have friends over, our our dog wanting us to throw the ball for him, I’m going to be reminded of the fact that it’s my fault we are stuck living in a shoebox.

Even if the market improves and we could sell our place for a bit more it won’t make much of a difference. If the prices go up that means the price of houses goes up too. Right now the prices are just right where we can buy a decent house that we can afford. If prices go up we won’t be able to afford anything.

Needless to say I’m not going to have a very good Mother’s Day tomorrow. A good mother wouldn’t have ruined things for her family and make them deal with these living arrangements.

I need chocolate. I really, really, REALLY need chocolate. And a gallon if ice cream.

Sorry to ramble.

Kimberly

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Filed Under: Family, Parenting, Ramblings

Help your child prepare for their “Big Day”

May 6, 2013 By Kimberly Leave a Comment

When you’re a child every day has the potential of being a “Big Day”. That holds true for older children too (teens). In fact, every day has the potential to be a “Big Day” when you are an adult as well.

Some “Big Days” are totally unexpected, like the first time your child learns to ride a two wheeler without training wheels, or the first time they lose a tooth. Other “Big Days” are highly anticipated, like your child’s first dance, or for a teen, their first date.

My children are teenagers now. In fact my daughter is just about to turn “Sweet 16″. She is looking forward to many upcoming “Big Days” including getting her driver’s permit (not exactly something my husband and I are looking forward to – ha ha) and getting her first job. Another “Big Day” that we know is fast approaching is her first date with a boy. Although the longer we can push that one off the happier we’ll be.

To prepare yourself for those “Big Days” it’s important to start your day off right. Aside from getting a good night’s sleep it’s also important to start your day off with a wholesome, nutritious and filling breakfast.

Just this morning my daughter and I were talking about the importance of breakfast while we were waiting for her bus to arrive. She was curious to know why people say it’s important to have a good breakfast so that you can stay focused during the day. My daughter said that no matter what she eats she doesn’t have a problem staying focused and staying on task. I reminded her that almost every morning she has a good, nutritious breakfast. That is why she never seems to have a problem concentrating or getting her work done. I told her that when you are hungry your mind tends to wander on thoughts of food and when you’ll have a chance to eat next, not what happened during the War of 1812. Plus if your stomach is growling you might get embarrassed and be too worried about people hearing your tummy grumbling and not pay attention to what is going on in the classroom.

A healthy and nutritious breakfast can also help keep your child focused so that they do well on an important test (such as a mid-term or final) or an important presentation.

When my children were little I always made sure they ate a healthy breakfast every morning. Now that they are older and make their own breakfasts I make sure that there are plenty of healthy options available to them including plenty of fresh fruits, oatmeal, eggs (or another form of a protein) and high fiber cereals such as Frosted Mini Wheats. In fact, Frosted Mini Wheats are a favorite of my children. My daughter even loves to have them at snacks. She’s even taken some in a baggie to school with her (along with her lunch) to help keep her full throughout the day. Their favorite flavors are Strawberry (I almost always have Strawberry Frosted Mini Wheats in our pantry) and Blueberry. I love both flavors as well as Maple Brown Sugar and Original.

If you would like to learn more about the different varieties of fiber packed Kellogg’s Frosted Mini Wheats visit www.FrostedMiniWheats.com.

Did you know that one bowl of Kellogg’s Frosted Mini Wheats provides your child with a whole day’s worth of whole grains as well as feeds their bodies with 22% of their daily value of dietary fiber. As you know, fiber helps to keep you feeling full and satisfied.

Scholastic even have a special website set up just to help you and your child celebrate the special “Big Days” in your life including first sleep over, first pet, first big game and more wonderful first “Big Days”. You can find great articles, videos, tips and more at www.Scholastic.com/PCBigDay. The site will be updated frequently with new content and information so you should bookmark it and check back often.

Oh how I miss the “firsts” talked about on the PC Big Day website. I still remember my daughter’s first sleep over and my son’s first lose tooth. Some how you never forever those special “Big Days”, no matter how much your child grows.

How do YOU help your child prepare for their “Big Day”? I would love to hear your thoughts. Feel free to comment and let me know. I always love to hear from my readers.

Kimberly

*I was provided the information by Kellogg’s Mini Wheats. This is a compensated post however the opinions expressed are my own and were not influenced in any way.

Filed Under: Children, Family, Parenting Tagged With: Big Day, Kelloggs, Mini Wheats, Nutrition, Scholastic

And so it begins…

May 3, 2013 By Kimberly 16 Comments

I think we’ve been pretty lucky up until now. Our almost 16 year old daughter and 13 1/2 year old son are “homebodies” and don’t go out much. They don’t get into trouble except for typical teenager stuff like being lazy and disrespectful. What I mean by trouble is that they don’t break curfew and things along those lines.

We haven’t had to worry about our son because he doesn’t really have any friends. He never hangs out with anyone. He has plenty of acquaintances but no one he can truly call a best friend. We even offer to drive him and a friend to the mall, or take them to the ballpark, but he declines.

Our daughter has a new best friend weekly (or so it would seem). You know how teenage girls are. They can be very “flighty” and fickle. One day they are best friends with a girl and the next day they are enemies only to be best friends again a day or two later.

Even though I was a teenager at one point I can’t keep up with who likes who, who wore what, who is “besties” with who and what girl is sworn enemies with what other girl.

Teenage Girls = DRAMA!

A few times senior boys have shown interest in our daughter, but she always does something to push them away before anything can even develop. Not that me and my husband mind (she’s not yet 16 – she will be in 3 weeks). She’s still young.

She did have a “boyfriend” (I use the term loosely) two summers ago. They went to school with each other but never spoke with one another. One night on a sleepover at a friend’s house the girl Oovoo’ed (video chatted) with the boy because they were friends. My daughter started talking to the boy too and soon they became friends. The boy then asked her out and they started “dating” online (as only 14 year olds can do). They never met face to face but as far as they were concerned, and all their friends, they were a couple.

The boy kept pushing for my daughter to hangout with him so they made arrangements to meet for lunch at a local McDonald’s (how romantic! LOL). I dropped my daughter off and went food shopping at a grocery store near by. She knew the rules (don’t leave the restaurant, no kissing…). Shortly after I dropped her off she was texting me about how she didn’t want to be there, and she DOESN’T like him after all, and how does she let him down without hurting his feelings. The boy even gave her a necklace when he met her at McDonald’s which made it harder for my daughter.

She eventually was honest with him before leaving McDonald’s and they “broke up” there and then. He was mad at her for a while, even calling her nasty names (not in person but to their friends). Soon it all died down and now the two of them barely acknowledge each other at school.

Last summer our daughter had an on going thing (via text) with a really sweet boy. We never met him but I did read some of the texts and he seemed like a nice boy. He wanted to hang out with our daughter but she kept coming up with excuses. Finally they stopped talking to one another and he asked someone else out. They have been dating ever since.

When school started this year another boy, a senior (our daughter is a sophomore) wanted to drive her home from school the very first day. NO WAY! She knows the rules – NO GETTING IN CARS WITH BOYS, or teenage girls too for that matter. Not all teens are great drivers.

Things have been pretty quiet and we haven’t heard about any boy stuff for months. Then a few weeks ago, out of the blue, our daughter asked if she could meet her best-friend-of-the-moment at the local ballpark (minor league stadium) to watch a varsity baseball game. That was VERY suspicious. Our daughter is not into sports and knows nothing about baseball. We had a feeling boys were involved. She did mention one boy that was going with her friend, but they are just friends.

I dropped our daughter off at the ballpark and waved hello to her two friends and waited until they were inside the stadium. As per our daughter her best friend’s dad was also there and would drive them home.

Fast forward a few days later. I had to take our daughter to the doctor to make sure she didn’t have Bronchitis. While we were in the examining room waiting for the doctor to show up the truth came out.

The male friend that was there with them (the one I saw) left right away. Her friend wanted to go to see a boy she likes on the baseball team. ANOTHER boy, one who her friend supposedly used to like, was also there. Apparently this boy has eyes for my daughter. Judging by some pictures I saw on Facebook (yeah, I stalk my kids – I need to know what is going on), her “best friend” was getting a bit cozy with the boy that supposedly likes my daughter and that her friend “used to” like. Her friend never went to see any of the players on the team. It all seems pretty suspicious.

Meeting a boy there was not the bad part – the bad part is that she lied about he friend’s father being there (he wasn’t) and it was the boy (the one who likes my daughter supposedly) who drove them home.

She broke one of our MAJOR RULES – No getting in cars with boys!

I think I must have turned purple at that point because my blood pressure hit the roof. I lectured her until I was blue in the face. She apologized profusely and said she felt awkward that he wanted to drive them home and her “best friend” said “yes”. She felt like she was put in a bad situation and felt she had no choice but to say “yes”. Supposedly the boy wanted her to sit in the front seat (another HUGE no-no!) but her so-called best friend hopped in the front with the boy she said she no longer liked and my daughter sat in the back. She had him drop her off up the hill from where we live and walked home so we didn’t see her get out of his car.

I never told my husband any of this. He knows she met a boy at the ballpark, but he knows nothing about getting in the car with him. I HATE keeping it a secret from him but I know how he will react and he will go ballistic and totally lose it. Heart disease runs in his family and even though his ticker is OK I worry that too much stress will give him a heart attack. So I’m trying to minimize the stress by not telling him.

I haven’t heard anything about that boy since, until now. Yesterday my daughter asked if she could hang out with her friend again. She said they were going to the ballpark. I looked at her and said “boys?” and she just smiled. So yes… they are going to meet boys. Something that I am NOT comfortable about, but I know it’s inevitable. She knows all too well that if she gets into a car with a teenager again, especially without me knowing, she will be grounded for the remainder of this year, if not longer.

As if that wasn’t enough our son, who never wants to leave our home and has no friends, was asked to go to a carnival being held at a nearby town. From what we can tell it’s a group of kids, mostly girls but with a few boys too. We’re not sure if our son wants to go because he was asked to go and desperately wants to have friends (real friends), or he likes one of the girls.

We’re assuming they want to meet during the day, however the carnival is being held in a not-so-nice town, one with a high crime rate. I’m sure there will be Police around, but we can’t help but worry about our 13 year old walking around like that. He even wants to bring his video camera so they (him and those kids) an make silly videos while they are there. I am NOT happy with that idea at all. He’s way too trusting and I can see one of the kids walking away with his camera, or having to stolen. Case in point, on a school field trip to NYC a “friend” said he was hungry and knowing my son had money on him, asked to “borrow” money to buy a hot dog. My son gave him a $20 bill and never saw the change, nor did the boy pay him back. We’ve been trying to get the name of the boy but our son refuses to give us his name.

We’re torn about letting him go. We’re excited that he actually wants to go hang out with children his age, and not hide away at home like he always does. For my husband and I this is a bit deal. A very big deal. We’ve dreamed of this day for a very long time. At the same time it’s at a carnival in a bad part of town. The only thing I can think of is taking him and then staying but following the kids around at a distance to keep an eye on him. I just don’t want him to find out.

So now I have to stress out about our daughter meeting boys (senior boys no less!) at the ballpark and our son wanting to hang out with kids at a carnival in a not-so-nice part of town.

I already lose sleep and stress out over my kids (grades, getting into college…) now I have to add boys and friends into the mix. Egads! There goes my hair. I can feel the gray hairs bursting out of my scalp as I write this.

My kids are good kids, and they know right from wrong, but they are also very gullible and give easily under peer pressure. I don’t want to prevent them from living life and enjoying their youth, but at the same time I’m a mom and I worry about their safety and well being.

I know many of my readers are parents and grandparents. If you have any words of advice I would certainly love to hear them. I’m sure many people have had to face similar situations. Feel free to comment and share your thoughts.

Kimberly

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Filed Under: Family, Parenting, Ramblings, Teens Tagged With: Dating, Rules

Protect you and your loved ones against a silent killer

May 1, 2013 By Kimberly 1 Comment

Your home is suppose to be your safe haven. It’s a place where you and you family should feel safe, secure, happy and content.

Most people do what they can to make their homes even safer for their families including installing alarm systems, adopting a big dog, installing fire alarms, keeping the home free of hazardous materials and even disinfecting surfaces to protect against germs and viruses.

Sometimes it’s the things you don’t see that are the most dangerous. The most dangerous thing you can’t see in your home is carbon monoxide (CO). You can’t see carbon monoxide. You can’t taste it. You can’t even smell it. Most times people don’t even know it’s in their home until it’s too late. Carbon monoxide can kill a family within MINUTES. That is how incredibly dangerous and deadly this “silent killer” is.

Did you know that carbon monoxide is the leading cause of unintentional poisoning deaths in the United States? Each year, fire departments respond to an average of 72,000 CO poisoning incidents, according to the National Fire Protection Association.

It’s scary to think that most homes have a potential source for carbon monoxide that many people are unaware of. Things like fireplaces, furnaces and even your water heater can potentially leak carbon monoxide into your home. Any fuel-burning appliance can. According to the U.S. Census, while 75% of all homes have a potential source for carbon monoxide.

Everyone knows that homes need to have smoke detectors. In fact some places even require it. I am not sure if it’s the rule every where but if we were to sell our condo we would need to install a smoke alarm in the bedroom. We have one outside of the bedroom but as per our former realtor it was mandatory that there be on inside the bedroom.

We all know that smoke alarms save lives, but a smoke alarm cannot detect carbon monoxide. For that you need a CO alarm. Sadly only half of the homes in the US have working CO alarms. Many alarms are either no longer functioning or do not have working batteries. It’s important that you check (and replace) the batteries in you CO alarm like you would your smoke alarm.

Did you know that the average CO alarm only has a life span of 5-7 years on average? Many people assume that a CO alarm will last for many years, but that is not the case. They need to be replaced every few years, even if you replace the batteries regularly.

I would also recommend dusting them off. We had ours go off a few years ago and the many from the power company told us that they get filled with dust and that can effect how well they work.

This spring, Kidde, makers of many safety products, released its Worry-Free Carbon Monoxide Alarm. The Worry-Free Carbon Monoxide Alarm is the first and only UL-listed CO alarm proven to provide up to 10 years of protection. That is almost twice the lifespan of other available alarms.

Kidde’s Worry-Free CO alarms contain a sealed-in lithium battery that powers the alarm for a decade. That means you don’t have to worry about batteries losing their power and needing to be replaced on a regular basis. It also help to eliminate that annoying low-battery chirps.

Here is some more information about the Kidde Worry-Free Carbon Monoxide Alarm.

Benefits of Worry-Free Carbon Monoxide Alarm

Goodbye late night low battery chirps: The sealed lithium battery is tamper proof and provides 10 years of continuous power, meaning no low battery chirps or battery replacement

Longest Sensor Life Available: Carbon monoxide sensor is proven effective for 10 years – nearly twice as long as some models

Money Savings: No batteries to buy and replace every six months, save up to $40 over the life of the alarm

Quick and Easy Installation: Simply slide the alarm onto the mounting bracket and it activates automatically. Place on a desk, shelf, table or the wall.

It’s Always On: 24 hr/day, 7 day/week protection from CO

End of Life Hush Button: After 10 years of power, the alarm will sound a warning to indicate it needs replacing. The hush button will temporarily silence the warning for up to three days.

Overall Product Line Features

UL Listed – tested by an independent nonprofit testing agency to ensure it meets the US standard

85 decibel alarm – loud enough to wake the average sleeping adult

Nighthawk electro-chemical sensor, which is proven to be the world’s most accurate based on claims by major manufacturers

Test-Reset Button tests the alarm circuitry and horn, resets memory after alarm has sounded

End-of-life signal chirps every 30-45 seconds when alarm needs to be replaced – approximately 10 years after power

Deactivation switch disables the alarm and makes the batteries safe for disposal once the unit has reached the end of its 10-year life

Tamper resistant feature prohibits a disabled alarm from being placed back onto the mounting bracket

10-Year Limited Warranty lasts the life of the alarm

The Kidde Worry-Free Carbon Monoxide Alarm is available at Home Depot. There are two different models. They range in price from $40 – $50.

For more information about the Kidde Worry-Free Carbon Monoxide Alarm, and other Kidde products, visit their home page www.Kidde.com. You can also follow the brand on Facebook and Twitter.

Kidde is also hosting a sweepstakes on their Facebook page.

Kidde is hosting a “Worry-Free Spring” sweepstakes on its Facebook page where you could win a $300 gift card to The Home Depot or Wal-Mart. Visit their Facebook page (linked above) to enter.

Kimberly

*I will be receiving a gift card for my participation. There is no other compensation. The opinions expressed are my own and were not influenced in any way.

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Filed Under: Family, Household, Safety

Extraordinary #MOMents – Win prizes & help raise money for cancer research

May 1, 2013 By Kimberly Leave a Comment

I want to share with my readers a special campaign that Wet n Wild Beauty is doing, in collaboration with the Noreen Fraser Foundation (NFF), called Extraordinary #MOMents. The campaign is not only meant to celebrate moms but also help support women’s cancer research.

If you are unfamiliar with the Noreen Fraser Foundation, here is a little more information.

The mission the Noreen Fraser Foundation (NFF) is to raise funds for women’s cancer research and awareness of the importance of early detection. NFF supports translational cancer research aimed at developing new prevention methods, diagnostic tools and non-toxic therapies to treat women’s cancers. Our hope is that until there are cures, women’s cancers will become manageable diseases controlled with targeted therapies that protect patients’ quality of life. While we focus on several types of cancers as opposed to just one, the research we fund is focused on making a real impact on women’s lives.

Most woman reading this post are most likely familiar with Wet n Wild Beauty products. They are sold pretty much every where.

Did you know singer Fergie (Black Eyed Peas) has her own line of cosmetics through Wet n Wild?

The Extraordinary #MOMents campaign encourages individual to enter why their mom is extraordinary. Entering is easy. Simply share a photo of your mom on the Wet n Wild Facebook page along with a special memory of your mom and what makes her amazing.

For every #MOMent that is shared, Wet n Wild will give $1.00 to the Noreen Fraser Foundation to support cancer research.

In addition to helping to raise money for cancer research and sharing with the world what makes your mom so special, two people will also receive a Wet n Wild gift package valued at $100.00. Another winner will receive a year supply of makeup for both them self and their mom.

A panel of influential judges will determine the winner, which will be announced on Mother’s Day, May 12, 2013: