Category: Lifestyle

September 2, 2018

Your Home, Your Oasis – Keep it Fresh with Febreze Air Purifier

I love my home – I can not wait to come home from a busy day at work to throw off my shoes, get into comfy clothes and just unwind with my kids before we are back out the door for soccer practices. I know I am not alone in this, your home should be the one place in the world that is your special place where you can escape the craziness of life.

The only complaint I have?

Between two dogs and two active young boys, our home can become stinky and full of dust quite fast. There are weeks that I feel I can not keep up with the dust, dog dander and the smell from the soccer cleats (honestly – how is it even possible that cleats can become so stinky???).

But look at those adorable faces – I wouldn’t change it for anything even when you come home and have to clean before you can relax.

To top it off, both of my boys and myself have allergies and asthma which means we have to be extra careful in the home with dust and the dog dander. To combat the allergies and dog dander in the home and to prevent medical flare ups, we make sure that we follow the steps below:

Limit the amount of carpet in the house. Our main floors and bedrooms are laminate which makes it easier to spot the dust and vacuum on a regular basis. I know this isn’t the most budget friendly option for every home but this has definitely helped us out as a family.
Change dog bedding three times a week. Our eldest dog has a skin condition that I like to explain to others as similar to dandruff. Her skin is always itchy and she constantly scratches and pulls off layers of skin and fur. When she has a flare up, we have to be careful and ensure we are vacuuming her sleeping area and keeping her blankets clean to remove the flakes from the floor. For reasons that the vet can not explain, when she has these flare ups her skin also becomes oily and emits a foul smell.
Chore charts to include our children in the dusting, vacuuming and dog walks. We have tried many different methods in the past but we found that recording their completion of chores on the fridge puts a competitive edge to their chores and helps get it done.

The number one item that we have introduced into our home to help improve air quality? A Febreze Air purifier.

This air filter comes in three sizes (table top, mini tower and tower) and has the ability to trap up to 99% of the most common airborne particles like dust, pollen and pet dander with the added bonus of the famous Febreze scents.

We used the tower for the toughest area in our home, the living room, and the table top for the bedroom. Once you have decided on the most appropriate size for the area, set up is extremely easy. We literally pulled the system out, removed the taping, inserted the filter and Febreze cartridge and the unit was ready to go.

We noticed a marked improvement in as little as a day – when the units were operating you didn’t notice the smell from our dogs and the dust didn’t bother us, the air quality in our home was greatly improved. When you forgot to turn the units on and came home, the smells and air quality hit you like a wall (for me I feel it the worst in my sinuses with instant sinus pain, sneezing and irritation).

You can choose from three air cleaning settings on the unit, we had a personal preference for the highest setting for a good portion of the day and using the middle setting at night. The setting choice would come down to how tough the area is with the air particles and smell, since our family spends a great amount of time in our living room and on the main floor – we needed the strongest setting to combat the smells and dust/pet dander. The same applies to the scent setting, you can choose how strong you want the Febreze scent to be. The units are discreet and can be placed in any room without distracting from your décor.

Are you fighting dust and indoor particles? Use my tips above and check out this helpful video that provides you with additional steps to keep your living room clean, fresh and free from airborne particles:

How do you help control and eliminate airborne particles in your home and keep your home smelling fresh?

Disclosure: I received the above mentioned products in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

September 1, 2018

Turn Your Living Room into an Escape Room with MacGyver: The Escape Room Game!

Do you love the thrill and challenge of solving questions under pressure? But maybe you don’t have the time or an escape room nearby? Or friends that are difficult to get together? Then MacGyver: The Escape Room game is for you – it is literally an escape room in a box that can be played in the convenience of your living room.

About MacGyver: The Escape Room

The game includes five roughly one hour-long numbered missions that you will need to work through in order to solve the missions. The game connects with an interactive website that assists you in solving clues and guiding you through the mission. The missions have been designed with MacGyver in mind – inspired from the original show! You will need to work in a group of up to four to escape from an underground lab, land an airplane, survive a dangerous factory, flee from a missile solo and outsmart Murdoc in the finale. Whew – no easy task there, right?

What The Game Contains

Instruction sheet with link to the interactive website
Five mission envelopes that MUST be opened in order and only in a specific order as you uncover and solve each clue (each mission envelope will contain multiple small envelopes that have clues and more to help you solve the mission).
One utility bag for you to fill up as you go along

Our Thoughts

Having never been in an Escape Room but always wanting to try it out because of the positive feedback we have heard, we couldn’t wait to dive into the game. The instructions were clear and easy to follow, the website is a huge help as it guides you with extra items you may need (paper and pencil, etc..) and when to open the next envelope. You can set up each mission to be completed in a certain amount of time (hard) or no timing (easy), which we set ours to as we didn’t want the extra pressure during our first mission although we kept this setting throughout.

Clearly we had to work on our problem solving skills when we got stuck on clue one! Finding the secret code in the lasers to begin the game – when we realized we were looking in the wrong spot – we were looking on the envelope instead of paying attention to the instructions on the computer which would have guided us to the correct spot – we had a good laugh. Once we got into the swing of it, it did get easier but it was still challenging and full of fun and laughter. The clues have just enough challenge to keep you on your toes but not so much so that you get frustrated and want to give up.

It is important to note, that once you have played each mission – it would be difficult to replay them as you would have a hard time re-sealing the envelopes and clues. It’s not impossible as it would depend on how you ripped them open – so be careful as you open each one. When you compare the price to visiting an actual escape room and the convenience of being able to play at home, this is by far the better choice.

The game is intended for individuals twelve and over, along with one to four players but we included our seven-year old who had a great time assisting us with the clues, writing things down and entering things into the computer (he is quite tech savvy) so don’t let age limit you!

MacGyver: The Escape Room Game is created and distributed by Pressman Toys, who have been helping families have fun since the 1920s! Make sure to follow them on Facebook and Twitter to keep up to date on the newest products, games and more.

Disclosure: I received the above mentioned product in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

June 25, 2018

Take an Adventure This Summer with My Gnome on the Roam

Summer break for children is set to begin in just over two weeks. As parents we may be busy trying to figure out how to fill the weeks. It could be with summer camp, day trips and even daily activities. While fun is always at the heart of what we do, education is so important! We want to keep their minds just as active during the summer months being creative, writing and reading.

What is Gnome on the Roam?

Gustav, the Gnome, is an inquisitive gnome who longs to explore the world outside of his own yard. In order to do so, he needs the help and love of your child to make this happen!

Your Gnome arrives at your home in their own special suitcase ready for your child to take them on an adventure. Your Gnome brings with them a special journal for your child to record their adventures in, Gnome on the Roam book and a very special pen to write with.

When your Gnome arrives you can take some time to decorate him/her to give the Gnome a personal touch and connect each other. We also downloaded the app on the Apple Store to get new ideas, create online journals, upload photos and more. You can also visit the website to get more ideas (resource list), colouring book and the adventurers guide.

I loved that the kit encourages families to explore their world around them and to expand their knowledge when they get home. It doesn’t have to be big adventures, all that matters is that you get away from the television, video games, electronics and get moving and writing. I am a firm believer of always pushing yourself to learn more (I am a forever student always taking another course!) and I want my children to learn the importance of writing, reading and hands on education.

My Gnome on the Roam gives your family the ability to take charge to their own adventures, learn more about each others creativity and personalities and learn new things. Bonus – it keeps everyone busy and interested with new activities throughout the whole summer. While a special activity for your child – it is an activity that the whole family can come together with.

You can connect with Gnome on the Roam on their website, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. You can purchase your own Gnome on Amazon.

Disclosure: I received the above mentioned product in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

May 29, 2018

At Home Teeth Whitening Systems for Sensitive Teeth: Does it Work?

Your teeth are the very first thing a person will notice about you whether you are smiling or not. Without realizing it, we can judge a person by the colour of their teeth, missing teeth and even the angle of them.

While we can’t control genetics, the damage we do to our teeth through eating and drinking can be reversed. Some of our favourite foods and drinks can cause a lot of discolouration to our teeth over time without us noticing. These items include coffee, wine, dark soda, chocolate, candy and berries! I love my coffee and tea so for me removing these items out of my diet would be extremely difficult. In the past, I’ve had Dark Spots on Gums Treatment to cure some dark spots I had on my gums that I thought was a side-effect of coffee and smoking. I have found ways to cut back but eliminating entirely has felt impossible.

Smile Brilliant is an at home teeth whitening system that allows you to reverse the damage done over time from the comfort of your couch or bed (literally). You can easily spend a lot of money on over the counter products which are not guaranteed to work or in an office where you not only lose time away from work but also have to adjust for the cost of these treatments. Smile Brilliant is an easy to use at home system that is tailored to your teeth!

What I loved the most about this system is that you first have to complete your own dental trays. The package comes with enough material that if needed due to an error you make trying to create the impressions, you can always redo your dental trays. The components were easy to mix together (they felt like Playdoh) and easy to place into the trays. Once the trays were ready to insert into your mouth (one at a time) you were sailing. I did find that I produced a lot of saliva at this point, so don’t leave the bathroom when completing this part. My kids had a great laugh as saliva was dripping out of my mouth. I had this unexplainable fear of my teeth coming out with the trays (I have a fake tooth on a bridge at the front of my mouth) and it did not do any damage at all to my bridge or tooth. Once the trays have been left to harden, your next step is to mail them off.

I received my personalized dental trays back within two weeks from the USA. It was pretty neat to see the impressions of my teeth and how well they fit into my mouth. I think that this is the part that makes the biggest difference and sets this system apart – it is fit to your mouth and teeth, leaving no area untouched. The initial package came with the de-sensitizing gels and whitening gels that I would need. Each syringe has enough of the gel to complete 3-4 applications, the syringes looked like they would be awkward to use at first but it was quite simple to open them and apply them to the dental impressions. After that it was just a matter of applying the impressions to my teeth and waiting the recommended time, easy peasey right? The impressions did feel awkward on my teeth the first time I put them in because I wasn’t used to them. After two usages this feeling went away and it was like they were just my own teeth.

Here is my before photo:

You can see the stains from the coffee and tea on all my teeth especially the ones in the front. It is one of the few things that I am actually quite self conscious about and it causes me not to smile as often as I would like.

Here is my before and after photo together so that you can truly appreciate the difference it made:

I was so impressed with the difference the trays made in just under two weeks. I used them only for thirty to sixty minutes a day for that time frame and after each usage I noticed an improvement. It really helped me with my confidence and smiling more because I was not as self conscious about the colour of my teeth.

The system is easy to use, affordable and can be easily done from the comfort of your home. I felt supported by the entire Smile Brilliant team throughout the whole process as well as them providing me with tips and tricks to get the most out of the process. These tips included:

brushing your teeth with only water before applying the trays
whiten for 45 minutes to 3 hours a day (never overnight and never for greater than 3 hours)
rinse your trays with cool water
brush with a non-whitening toothpaste
avoid food and drinks that can cause stains

If you don’t like the thought of using teeth whitening kits and would prefer to visit the likes of a Cosmetic Dentist in Vista, CA, then this is still an option. What I would recommend you to do, is see which one suits your lifestyle best before making a quick, uninformed decision. Take your time and I hope you find your happy medium, reaching your goal of sparkly, white teeth!
THE GIVEAWAY!

Want to win your own Smile Brilliant Kit? Enter now to win by clicking on the link below which will take you to Smile Brilliant to enter.

Win a Smile Brilliant System

Don’t want to wait? Head over to Smile Brilliant to order now and receive 20% off your order using coupon code: workingmommyjournal20

Head over to Smile Brilliant now to learn more about their home teeth whitening system and to order your own. Make sure you are following them on Facebook and Instagram to keep up to date with all the latest news and deals.

Disclosure: I received the above mentioned product in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Tooth Whitening Gel

May 14, 2018

Start the Victoria Day Long Weekend with a Bang with Bigelow Tea #TeaProudly

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #TeaProudly #CollectiveBias

Victoria Day long weekend, a weekend that so many of us view as the unofficial kick off to summer in Canada. This long weekend has so many great memories tied to it for me, from camping to fishing to fireworks. Despite the weather still being chilly, as children it never seemed to bother us. We were ready to begin our summer adventures!

Now as an adult with my own kids, the Victoria Day long weekend is a very special time for us. It is affectionately known as our ‘outdoor spring clean up’. Our kids look forward to this weekend every year as we always open the pool over the three days. The pool is still frigid but our youngest always braves the elements and dives right in. I watch in horror as he does this and stand back as far as possible to avoid being splashed by the water and to protect my favourite cup of tea. I feel extra spoiled this year as Bigelow Tea have six new flavours of their famous organic tea here in Canada! To learn more about the new flavours and to purchase a box of their new tea, hover over the picture below to click over to Walmart to purchase one of the new flavours!

While my boys are working on the pool, I am busy working away at my gardens – pulling out weeds, replacing soil and planting my vegetables now that the fear of frost over night is gone (knock on wood as we all know how quickly weather in Canada can change).

In order to prepare for our busy long weekend, we have to be super organized and start picking up supplies and planning out the weekend roughly two weeks in advance. We find that this gives us just enough time so that if something unexpected pops up, we are still prepared.

Two weeks before the official long weekend, we begin to create a supply list for both my husband and I. My husband’s list will have all the pool supplies (pucks, chlorine, etc.) and mine will have the garden supplies and food that will be needed (because lets face it – boys can eat and Mom definitely deserves her favourite drinks if she is going to be on her feet all day).

I always include some of my favourite items that help me to relax during this very physically demanding time. For me, the best way to relax and unwind is with a steaming cup of organic Bigelow tea. I love how a hot cup of tea melts away my problems and makes me feel that I can accomplish anything I put my mind to. There is a reason why so many people wont tackle a problem until they have had a hot cup of tea! This has been engraved in me through my Mother – she loves her tea and whenever we had a busy week or day, tea was her go to.

My Mom instilled a great love of tea but she always taught us to be picky with choosing the tea brand as that makes or breaks a cup of tea, this is why Bigelow Tea has been my go to drink. I was stoked to find out that Walmart now carries the six new flavours of steeped Bigelow Tea.

You can just imagine my joy at finding ALL of the six new flavours (Chamomile Citrus, Earl Grey, English Breakfast, Green Tea with Pomegranate, Lemon Ginger and Green Tea) at our local Walmart when I went to get groceries. You can pick up all six new flavours in the tea aisle at Walmart while picking up your other items in the grocery department at your local store.

A week before make sure to take a final stock of all of your supplies and items that you purchased to make sure you have enough and that you didn’t miss anything. If you need to, head back to Walmart to pick up any forgotten items. If you did forget anything – don’t be hard on yourself, with kids and life it is easy to forget items!

I use my Friday night to prepare the meals and snacks for the next day, from preparing meat to cutting up veggies to making lemon ginger oatmeal bites. My oatmeal bites are a family favourite that uses the Lemon Ginger Bigelow tea to give a burst of flavour and energy which we all need come Saturday morning and mid-day.

The bites only use three ingredients (bananas, oats and Lemon Ginger tea) and take under twenty minutes to prepare and bake, I love simple recipes in my house and you couldn’t get any simpler or healthier in my mind. The bites do have to be refrigerated but they taste great cold as the flavours seem to be that much richer the next day (find my recipe for them at the bottom of this post). I end my night with a warm cup of Chamomile Citrus tea as I find it helps get my mind and body ready to sleep.

With everyone excited on the Saturday, it can be hard to remember to eat a healthy breakfast but it is so important in order to keep our bodies energized for the day. That is why I love those oatmeal bites! We can eat them on the go or even come back to them as we need to – pair it with a cup of Lemon Ginger tea and you are set for the day.

Above all else, enjoy the craziness that is the outdoor spring clean up. It can easily get boring for young children, so take breaks to have fun – blow bubbles, use chalk, let them ride their bike and even use their water guns to help water your newly planted seeds. Cherish each one of those memories because too soon the kids will have grown up and started their own long weekend memories.

Lemon Ginger Oatmeal Bites

Ingredients

2 ripe bananas
1 and 1/2 cup of oats (may need up to an extra 1/4 cup of oats depending on the size of your bananas)
2 Bigelow Lemon Ginger tea bags
1/2 cup of boiling water

Directions

Preheat your oven to 350F.
Mash the two ripe bananas in a large bowl with a fork.
Boil 1/2 cup of water and add both bags of Lemon Ginger tea. Steep for five minutes. Allow the tea to cool for an additional five minutes. Add the tea to your bananas.
Add in the one and a half cup of oats. If the mixture is too wet due to the size of the bananas used, add in a little bit more oats. The mixture is supposed to be wet so be careful not to add too much.
Bake in the oven for fifteen minutes. Allow to cool before serving.

The oatmeal bites should be refrigerated after being prepared.

How do you celebrate the Victoria Day Long Weekend? Do you have a fond memory or favourite tea attached to the holiday? Tell me how you #TeaProudly over the long weekend!

Make sure to follow Bigelow Tea on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to keep up to date with new flavours and more.