Last Children's Step Stool You'll Ever Buy

When Morgan potty trained last year, we had to get her a step stool so she could reach the toilet and sink easier. Due to urgency, we purchased the first things we found locally, a 2-step stool we got from WalMart. While it worked really well for the purpose, IT WAS SUCH A PAIN. It didn't collapse and so it took up like 12 inches of floor space in my very tiny bathroom. We were always tripping over it, having to move it or put it up and then scrambling to find it when she needed to go potty--not ideal for a potty training toddler at all.

A couple weeks ago I found this on Amazon and just to have it. Why? It folds. It's pink. It will support every member of my household. It has hearts. And its PINK, did I say that? So how did it fair in actual practice? Here's what I think:

It folds/collapses.
The folding feature is not only super convenient and helpful, but its really easy to do. Both my 4 and 1 year olds can fold and unfold it with easy (and do as they kind of think its a toy sometimes). I love that you can just grab the edge of the heart and lift it off the ground to fold it up. But even better is that when they push it over, it just folds up on itself.

Very well-made.
The plastic is wonderful too! It's very thick and sturdy and it also has little bit of a texture with it so I think it helps grip the feet of whoever is standing on it. Much better than the smooth texture of our old one. 

hearts. Pink. Need I say more?
But most importantly, IT'S PINK AND HAS HEARTS! I was soooo excited when I saw it (so was my daughter). The hearts are super cute too and it makes her excited to use it. 

Supports up to 220 pounds and very light!
It is really lightweight and easy to carry around for her. I have also stood on it (being only 5 foot tall) and not felt like I was too much for its weight at all, and it is advertised to support and hold up 220 pounds!

I donated my old step stool (and my easily attached daughter didn't even care) and I would never go back. This is best step stool we have ever used and I'm considering getting more for my house!


I received this product at a discount in exchange for my honest, unbiased review.

Quaker Oat 3-Minute Steel Cut Oatmeal - Blueberries & Cranberries

So I had heard of steel cut oatmeal for awhile because it is recommended to assist in upping your milk production while breastfeeding, but I had never tried it. 

I got the Cranberries and Blueberries steel cut oatmeal from Bzzagent to try in exchange for my review. 

Let me be honest, my expectations were low. It says on the package that you can't make it with milk, which is the only way I enjoy my regular oatmeal. But I trusted the package and added water before microwaving. 

Note: you have to change the power level on your microwave before cooking, as I have seen some people ignore that advance and not have good results. It is actually much easier than you expect.

You know what? It's great! The texture isn't much different that the oatmeal you are used to (despite looking way different) and the flavor, especially the berries, is wonderful! My 17 month old son and 4.5 year old daughter love it too! We are sold on the Steel Cut Quick 3-minute Oatmeal around my house! Thanks Quaker Oats!

Smead Product Review

I am an organizational FREAK. Seriously, when this package I am about to review came, I squealed with joy and my husband said, (no joke) "Did you get more organizing stuff in the mail?" He knows me so well, that's why he has my heart *swoon*

As many of you know from my previous blogs, I am a tax preparer for my friends and family. I make very little money from it, but I love doing it. Something about the way the numbers all add up on the 1040 and then result in giving my loved ones an influx of cash once a year is calming to me. The biggest struggle I have is staying organized during my crazy tax season (which is about 4 weeks start to finish for me).

I rarely start on one person's taxes before I have finished previous person's, but I do often have the information printed and "queued up" on my desk. That was never a huge problem until this year. I now have a very active one year old who HATES anything on any table or desktop. He feels like it is his sole duty to make sure every surface in my house is clean and clear of all items, regardless of what they are. He, of course, does this by throwing everything on the ground (which also happens to be my short term trash can in my office when I am working). Not good for organization.

This is when one of my new loves entered my life: Smead 12-pocket Stadium File
HOW have I lived without this? Let me show you what my desk organization during tax season looked like before:
PHOTO

But with this organizer, my life changed! (OK that may be a bit dramatic, but you get the point). It holds over 900 sheets, has 12 separate pockets and it stands on its own. Let me be honest, I was worried it would stand up because it is pretty sleek, but I thought I would just find a place to have it laying down and it would still be super useful. But guess what?

IT STANDS!

I'm sure you are wondering what all the files in my awesome standing organizer are? Well, the are from Smead too. The pink ones are Smead SuperTab tab file folders and I really like them. Not only are they pink (my second favorite color) but they are thick and hold up really well. I have some  in this organizer, and some are just being used around my house. Neither have been damaged just from normal wear and tear like a lot of less expensive file folders. My favorite part is the oversized tabs because I have pretty big handwriting, but they would also be good for fitting a lot of words on there. Of course the 1/3 cut tab that are left, center or right make it great so you don't have too many tab on one place ans not able to see what the labels say.

The red, blue and yellow file folders are Smead 3-in-1 SuperTab Section Folders which have to be the coolest file folders I have ever discovered!

Not only do this folders have POCKETS inside (one of the left, two on the right) but hey also have the little tab on top that holds papers in place and can be used as another way to separate papers. I put my bills that I have already paid for the month behind the top tab and the ones I have yet to pay in front of the tab in the pocket. These are also the 1/3 cut tabs so they are large for viewing and writing. My ONLY dislike about these is that my pack was all left tabs. I wish it was a variety of tab positions more than variety of colors.

Be sure to check out more items from Shoplet:

Office Supplies, Promotional Products, Medical Supplies, Office Stationary

HP Product Review

I'll admit it, I am HUGE Hewlett-Packard HP fan. I bought a desktop computer from them in early 2009 and it still works just as fast and accurately today as it did the day I set it up--I have a lot of stuff stored on it! In fact, I just today had to finally replace my wireless keyboard and mouse that came with it (after 6 years!) but only due my children damaging them, not because the product was faulty! In fact, my keyboard only had to have the batteries changed TWICE in 6 years. Needless to say, they make a very quality product and I always feel like they stand behind their items.

As a gift, I received HP EcoFFICIENT paper to try at home. OK, I admit it, I thought, "What could I say about paper? Isn't all paper the same?" But I was actually surprised at how different this paper was from all the others that I had owned and used before (many different brands and colors and weights).

So this paper couldn't have come at a better time for me. I am a seasonal personal tax preparer for my friends and family and despite everything in this world being done electronically, I still do have to print some forms for my records (and theirs). This year, I actually had to mail in two state returns and an amended federal return. Why is this relevant? I'm getting to that.

When I opened the first pack of paper, I was shocked at how thin the paper felt. I instantly new that I would like this more of just about any use (my daughters watercolors are the only exception to that). I am kind of a weirdo about the texture and sounds made by paper (I buy notebooks based on how that page sounds when I turn it after I have filled it with writing). This was so lightweight and made the slightly, soft crinkle when moved around just one page--almost like tissue paper.

So my next thought was, "is this going to print well on my inkjet printer and not bleed through the page?" See for yourself! The photo below is of printed words on this HP ecofficient paper (on the left) and of a much thicker Target brand paper (on the right). The Target brand paper is about 10 times thicker and feels almost like cardstock compared to the HP paper. As you can see, both have equal amount of showage from the back of paper, I almost dare to say that you can see through the HP paper LESS. (Ignore my messy desk)

So why did I mention the taxes I am mailing to the IRS? Because the weight of this paper allows me to get an amended federal return and all the supporting documents mailed in just a standard envelope through the post office and not be too bulky or weigh too much for just one stamp! Seriously, I could fit at least twice as many pages as standard paper (but I'm daring to say more like 5 times as much) with it being the same weight (which does matter to the post office when sending things standard mail AKA third class).

To compare the stats (which mean nothing to me) on these two papers: The Target brand is 20 lbs and 75 G/M^2 and the HP brand is 16 lbs and 60 G/M^2. (as seen on the product photo at the top of this post)

Argan Oil Hair Mask Review

I love love love this stuff! I have the problem of buildup in my hair from cheaper hair products so I wanted to try this to see if it helped at all.

The smell is AMAZING! My husband literally asked me if he could eat it (my answer would be no, just to be safe). I mostly use it as a replacement for my standard conditioner but I have used it as a hair mask after washing and both results are the same. My hair feels healthier, lighter, cleaner and just FRESHER. I am so in love. I can't ever use anything else! New staple in my bathroom!

Get your own here

Desk Pad Organizer Review

 

Being a blogger and manager of my household, I do a lot of work at my desk and it usually looks like this ----> 

(note: this is not my desk because I far too ashamed to show you my actual desk).

So office supplies like pens, pencils, paperclips and just about anything else that is smaller than an 8.5x11 piece of paper, gets very easily lost in the piles.

Artistic sent me their Executive Desk Pad Organizer (and made me feel super special for being sent something with 

'Executive' in the title) to help simplify my life.

I have a desk with a pull out keyboard slot, which is where I store desk pad organizer. I'm pretty sad because it was damaged in the move and no longer rolls out, but if it did, it would be super easy to just roll out that part of desk when I need something from the convenient storage spaces up above (so this minor inconvenience is due to my broken desk and not my amazing Artistic Desk Pad.

The Desk Pad is made out of super thick cardboard and covered in "fine-grain leather-like" material that looks very sophisticated and professional. I almost feel like I should be an exec!

My favorite feature has to be the cover over the storage spaces at the top. I have two small ones and they love to mess with my stuff, plus I am very clumsy so I tend to knock things over and spill things a lot. I can have a load of paperclips in one of the small trays and not spill them, in part because of the cover.

I think the only thing I would change about this would be to offer different styles. My desk is set up in the way that it would work better for me if the storage space was on one set or another, but remained the same size that it is now.

Disclaimer: I received this product complimentary in exchange for my review on social media, but my thoughts and opinions are my own and I would never recommend a product that I do personally enjoy or find of quality.

Promotional Products, Medical Supplies, Office Stationary

Meet Lulu!

Meet Lulu is a magical coloring book that includes a stylus crayon for your iPad or Android tablet app (download of the app is free).

Here's how Meet Lulu is different than most other coloring books for kids: you can color on the pages or you can scan the pages into the app and color on your tablet device.

I tested this out with my 4 year old daughter. She looked the pictures and was really excited to have a special crayon that she could use on my iPad. Each page has a QR barcode that you can scan in the app to bring up that page, but it was kind of unnecessary because the app has the whole collection of coloring books listed and the pages easily displayed for the child to choose to color.

The stylus crayon worked, but not the way I wished. It has a rubbery tip and I wish it would slide along my iPad screen a little better, but my daughter didn't notice or care. The worst part is that my daughter decided to put the crayon in her mouth and bit it on the tip so it does not work pretty much at all anymore. However, the app works just fine without the crayon stylus and she still has the coloring book to use real crayons on.

The illustrations in the book were very adorable and my daughter thought they were so cool to color. It's really ideal for traveling or in the car because my child can color without needing any crayons--just her finger and my tablet.

I didn't see an option to save your progress on a page and come back to finish coloring it, but my daughter was a big hog of my iPad so I can't be sure that there isn't one somehow.

Great app and lots of fun for both of us. Neat idea!

Get yours here

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.