The BIC® 4-color pen

CONFESSION TIME: I’m a color-coder and I pretty much always have been.  As a little girl, I had a strong fascination for crayons and the 64-box was a must!  As I got older, my fascination extended to things like markers and colored pencils.  Now, as an adult who works from home and homeschools my kids, I have a variety of colored pens, highlighters, and Sharpies adorning my desk space.  If you don’t believe me, here’s proof:

By nature, I’m an organized person – in high school I was voted the person with the neatest locker!  And, when it comes to paperwork, I’m an organizational freak! 

One of my favorite things to color code are my schedules and my calendars.  (Yes, that is plural!)  Here is the posting schedule for Homeschool Mosaics that hangs at my desk:

And here is the wipe-off calendar that hangs beside my desk:

As you can tell, I like color!  Not only does it make me happy, but it helps me to feel more organized.  And, at first glance at either of these calendars, I automatically know what I need to do that day, based on the colors. 

So, when I had the opportunity to test and review the Bic® 4-color pen, I jumped at the chance.  See, there’s a back-story here . . .

When I was a little girl, my mom was in the nursing profession.  And, she had this very pen!  Every chance I got, I snuck that thing out of her pen holder and used it!  I’m guessing she must have used it for marking nursing charts, etc.  But, to me, that pen was a little piece of happiness!  I mean, seriously, 4 colors in one pen! 

My mom’s pen looked just like this one:

Now, here is it, 30+ years later, and I have a pen just like that fascinating pen that my mom had!  And it’s just as wonderful as I remembered. 

And I used it to color code my life planner:

I’m not sure if you can see it well enough – but red is for Brian’s reffing schedule, green is my work schedule, blue is for everything that I need to taxi the kids to, and black is for the extra fun stuff.

And, do you want to know the neatest part?  I received an extra pen to give away to one of my readers or friends.  It disappeared from my desk the first day.  Why?  Because apparently I’ve raised another color-coding freak like me – my daughter Ashley swiped it. 

I saw her using it to color-code her notes at church on Sunday!  I leaned over and whispered in her ear, “Did you take my pen?”  She replied, with a sly little  grin on her face, “Didn’t you have two?!”

And this, my friends, is what I hope you learn from this post:

• Color-coding rocks!
• The Bic® 4-color pen is a classic
• You need one for yourself!

NOTE: I received the pen mentioned above for free as part of a Smiley 360 Blogger Mission.  I only share about products that I have used, believe in, and feel would benefit my readers.

The Smiley360 “Capture Your Summer” Contest”

It’s August 8th already!  Why does summer always pass so quickly?!  Ours has been extremely busy – so that always seems to make time fly faster.  It’s been fun though.  How about yours? 

Recently, I was asked by Smiley360 to share some of our most special, memorable moments from this past summer.  I’d like to share a special moment from each of my 3 children . . .

My oldest daughter, Ashley (18) was thrilled to have her friend from New York come down and visit with us for a week.  We made lots of plans and took her to lots of fun places here in PA.  The girls had a great time together!

My daughter Gracie celebrated her 12th birthday this summer. It’s hard to believe that the tiny baby that we brought home from Vietnam is going to be a teenager next year!  Time flies!  Gracie loves our annual trip to Ocean City, New Jersey – and it’s a good thing, since we celebrate her birthday there each year!

While Ian can find pleasure in almost anything, the absolute highlight of his summer had to be meeting the Marvel Super Heroes at Idlewild park last month! 

Yes, we have most definitely had a great summer!  And we’re not even done yet!  Fall doesn’t start until September 22nd, so we’ve got a visit to Dutch Wonderland, a wedding, several visits with family and friends, and a trip to Walt Disney World to look forward to. 

What has been the highlight of YOUR summer?  Please do share with me!

NOTE: I wrote this post as my entry into The Smiley360 “Capture Your Summer” Contest. As a member of the Smiley Blogger Circle, I am eligible to win a prize.  If you’d like to join Smiley360, you can do so here.

What’s Your Laundry Detergent of Choice?

Mondays are generally considered “Laundry Day” at my house.  I try to get as much of our laundry done as possible on Mondays, and then just do “straggling” loads throughout the week, as needed.  What about you?  Do you have a designated laundry day at your house? 

As a busy work-at-home, homeschooling mom, I’m always looking for ways to make my around-the-house tasks simpler and quicker.  In the past, I was very “into” making my own laundry detergent.  I did like the feeling of having made it myself, and knowing exactly what went into it. But (and here’s my lazy side coming out) lately I’ve been buying laundry detergent – it just saves me so much more time (and, quite frankly, I like the way it smells!) 

Most recently, I’ve been using all small & mighty.  I love that the bottle isn’t huge and heavy, but it’s concentrated enough that you need very little in a load.  A 64 fl. oz. bottle is enough for 64 loads! 

I had an opportunity through Smiley 360 to try a new product from all – their mighty pacs.

Can you say “easy”?! These little things are a great idea in laundry  detergent!  Each little “packet” contains a pre-measured dose of super-concentrated laundry detergent.  The outer layer of the packet will dissolve in either hot or cold water, allowing the detergent to interact with your laundry – both cleaning it and removing stains! 

What I find so neat about these handy little pacs is that they are so simple and easy to use, and don’t require lifting a big heavy bottle of detergent.  I think these would be so ideal for older people, who maybe have issues with arthritis or muscle problems.  All you do is grab a teeny little pac and through it in your washer – no lifting whatsoever. 

I’ve been using my mighty pacs for about a week now and my laundry is clean, fresh, and stain-free.  Yay! 

Would you like to try all mighty pacs?  Guess what?  If you “like” them on FB, you can get a 75 cent off coupon to use toward your purchase.  I’m guessing that, if you take advantage of this coupon, you’ll probably come back here and thank me! 

NOTE: I received a full-sized bag of all mighty pacs (enough for 24 loads of laundry) as part of a Smiley 360 mission.  I was not required to post a positive review.  I only share items that I feel are beneficial to my readers.

Do You Redbox?

Thanks to smiley360 and Redbox, my family had an entertaining weekend! We were so well-entertained, in fact, that I realize now – after  the weekend has almost come to a close – that I totally forgot to take out my camera and take pictures.  I think part of that was because we were doing what we love best – hanging out as a family, watching movies, and playing games.  It’s what we do best – and we don’t think to immortalize it in photos. 

Anyway, have you rented movies from Redbox yet?  We find Redbox quite intriguing and handy.  Intriguing because we’re trying to figure out how that not-so-large box contains plenty of each movie – and how you can return your movies to ANY Redbox location – so what keeps them from running out of certain titles?  Handy because we don’t have cable tv (which, where we live, basically means we don’t have tv), so we depend on Netflix for our entertainment.  But, Redbox supplies those just-released movies that we’re anxious to see.

So, what did we pick to entertain us this weekend? 

When the evil wizard Gargamel chases the tiny blue Smurfs out of their village, they tumble from their magical world and into ours - in fact, smack dab in the middle of Central Park. Just three apples high and stuck in the Big Apple, the Smurfs must find a way to get back to their village before Gargamel tracks them down. (Rated PG by the Motion Picture Association of America for some mild rude humor and action.)

Our thoughts . . . we loved it so much that, when we returned our movies to the Redbox at Walmar today, we bought our own copy of this movie!  Adorable.  As a person who was not a huge fan of any Saturday morning cartoons (though I did occasionally watch the Smurfs), I must say these little creatures are much more adorable in this movie!

This summer, Judy Moody is planning the most super-duper, double-rare summer vacation ever with best friends Rocky and Amy. Except that it turns out Rocky is going to circus camp to learn to tame lions, Amy is headed off to Borneo with her mom to save a lost tribe and Judy is stuck home with her pesky little brother Stink and second-best friend Frank Pearl. Just when she thinks things are as rotten as they can be, her parents announce that they will be going to California and Judy will have to stay behind with her Aunt Opal, who she's never even met! It looks like Judy's best summer ever has just become her way worst summer ever. But feisty, fearless Judy Moody never gives up. With help from some unexpected sources, she's headed for a summer full of surprises. (Rated PG by the Motion Picture Association of America for mild rude humor and language.)

Our thoughts . . . Glad I rented this one, rather than buying it.  It was ok, but not the kind of movie I’d want to watch over and over again.  Gracie, who has read the books, said lots of it was taken directly from one book or another – which made the movie much more interesting for her.

In this 19th Century-set story, Jane Eyre suddenly flees Thornfield Hall, the vast and isolated estate where she works as a governess for Adèle Varens, a child under the custody of Thornfield's brooding master, Edward Rochester. The imposing residence - and Rochester's own imposing nature - have sorely tested her resilience. With nowhere else to go, she is extended a helping hand by clergyman St. John Rivers and his family. As she recuperates in the Rivers' Moor House and looks back upon the tumultuous events that led to her escape, Jane wonders if the past is ever truly past. (Rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America for some thematic elements including a nude image and brief violent content.)

Our thoughts . . . This one was a disappointment. I was anxious for a new adaptation of the book (which Ashley and I read together last year for school).  This one just didn’t do it for me. I realize it’s a long book and there’s a lot to squeeze into a 2-hour movie; but they just missed so much. I think that, had we not read the book and seen another adaptation previously, we wouldn’t have even really “got” the movie. 

Oh, and get this --- did you know that, in addition to movies, you can also rent video games from Redbox?  We got to try out Go Vacation for the Wii. 

Take a trip to Kawawii Island, a virtual resort for the entire family with dozens of co-operative and competitive activities and events to meet the needs of each and every family member. There's something for everyone from extreme activities like sky diving, surfing and white water rafting to sports like beach volleyball, skiing and tennis. Want to explore the island? There's horseback riding, scuba diving, snowmobiles and many different vehicles for travel around the expansive locales. Take some time to relax and play some miniature golf, have a snowball fight, shoot water guns or play some carnival games. Go Vacation encourages parents and kids to participate together in group activities featuring simple gameplay, multiple challenges, hours of play and fun for the whole family! There's never a dull moment when you Go Vacation! (Rated E10+ by the ESRB for Cartoon Violence.)

Our thoughts . . . Well, let’s just say that Brian, Ashley, and I haven’t had a chance to try this one  because Gracie and Ian have been quite the little game hogs.  The first words out of Ian’s mouth the past  few mornings are “Can I play Go Vacation now?”  Seriously.  I can say this – it’s cute to watch!  You can choose a generic Mii character, or use the one you’ve already got set up on the Wii.  The outfits on these Miis and the settings on the games are really realistic and cute.  It looks a bit confusing for me; but the kids picked it right up, with no problems.  I think it’s a keeper!

So, here’s the rundown . . . Redbox Rocks!  I’d love to hear about your experiences with Redbox.  Any good movies to recommend?  Do tell!

Oh, and here’s some fun information for you - - - Redbox is also hosting a cool contest that your readers might want to know about. The Redbox 12 Days of Deals & Prizes offers daily prizes from December 13 thru December 24. Text FUN to 727272 for instant savings of 25 cents - $1 off of your movie and game rentals, as well as a chance to be entered to win a daily prize from Redbox. Each day, a random drawing will select a winner with top prizes from Sony, Wii, Barnes & Noble, Activision and more.

And the coolest part is the disclaimer - - - I got all this (5 free Redbox rentals and a Wii game that we get to keep and enjoy) from smiley360 – just for trying it out and writing about it on my blog.  Simple enough, right?  You could too – just click on the smiley360 link and sign up TODAY!