Reviews

Miss Humblebee’s Academy (Online Curriculum) Review and Giveaway! 2 Winners!

May 9, 2014 by Sandra 3 Comments

I’m a happy affiliate of Miss Humblebee’s and received a free membership to this program in order to
enrich our home schooling experience and facilitate this review and giveaway.

Home schooling my kids is rewarding and incredibly challenging at the same time.

Truthfully, anyone who makes the decision to home school their kids can tell you that it’s hard work. Some days when I’m teaching my younger kids or helping my older kids with a tough assignment, I come dangerously close to losing my mind.

Personally, I think this is true because we’re home schooling four kids right now. If I only had to teach one or two of them, I think I could handle the task much more gracefully. 😉

But working on and off with my four older kids while my precious 2-year-old daughter hangs thisclose to me most of the day, well, it’s difficult. So when it comes to choosing the types of curriculum and programs that we’ll use in our home school, I tend to lean towards choices that encourage learning without a mentally exhausting amount of “momma involvement.”

Miss Humblebee’s Academy

In another post, I’ll share what’s been working as far as math and typing for Nathan, 13-years-old, and Breanna, 11-years-old. But today, my focus will be on the online learning program, Miss Humblebee’s Academy, that’s working for David, my 5-year-old son.

David’s been logging into Miss Humblebee’s Academy for a few months now, and it’s been a great learning experience for him. I think the reason it’s working is that the lessons are not only educational but also fun and engaging!

I love that Miss Humblebee’s is a full online curriculum. Kids learn math, reading, science, social studies, art, and music. Visually, I like that this program isn’t all flashy. I appreciate the toned down colors of the website and that the program doesn’t include a lot of distracting elements like some other programs.

An Opportunity to Win a FREE Membership

Now that you know about Miss Humblebee’s Academy and how terrific it is, how about an opportunity to win a 12-month or 6-month membership?! 🙂

That’s right! One of my fabulous readers will win a full 12-month membership to Miss Humblebee’s Academy, and another winner will win a fantastic 6-month membership! Woot!

How to Enter the Giveaway

Simply enter this giveaway using the Rafflecopter below. I’ve included options for extra entries, too!

This giveaway will run from now until – May 16th at 12:00am. The giveaway is open to US Residents only, ages 18 years old and above. The winner will be randomly chosen. I will promptly send the winner an email notifying them that they’ve won, and the winner must respond within 48hrs. of the giveaway’s end, otherwise I will have to draw a new winner.

Enter Below
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Have you ever used an online curriculum to help your kids learn?

Sprint’s Creative New Framily Plan and a Giveaway for an HTC One max Smartphone!

May 2, 2014 by Sandra 29 Comments

I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting (#MC) for Sprint. I will receive product samples to facilitate reviews and to thank me for participating. #SprintMom

Oh, you guys.

I have some fun news and an exciting giveaway to share today. 🙂

First, I’m incredibly humbled to have been chosen to be a Sprint Ambassador for the next year or so. This means that I’ll get to test various Sprint devices and service options and then share my experience with you here on The Sensible Mom.

I promise to create fun and engaging posts!

This is the first post in this series. And I love that it includes an amazing giveaway!

But wait — let’s talk about Sprint’s Framily Plan

Before I get into the details of the fantastic giveaway Sprint’s offering one of my readers, I want to talk a little about Sprint’s Framily plan. And, yes, that’s “Framily” not “family,” because the people on your plan don’t have to be family members or even live in the same household.

In fact, your Framily can include you and up to 9 other friends, family members, co-workers, virtual assistants, neighbors, or just about anyone else in your life.

You’ll all get unlimited talk, text and 1GB of data each, while on the Sprint network. Each of the members on the Framily plan receives a separate bill with no annual service contracts or early termination fees (hello!), all for as little as $25 a month per line when you have 7 – 10 members in the Framily group.

At the moment, only my husband and I are on a plan together, and we pay way more than $25 each month (or $50 for the both of us if we were on a Framily plan) on our current phone bill. It would be great if we could put a Framily together and enjoy the benefits of this plan while paying less for reliable Sprint service.

Who would you consider teaming up with for a Sprint Framily plan?

Okay, It’s Giveaway Time!

Now that you know more about the Framily plan, let’s talk about this fabulous giveaway! Sprint has generously offered to give one of my readers an HTC One max Smartphone! 🙂

The HTC One max smartphone offers users a massive screen with a 5.9-inch display and amped speakers for watching videos or viewing pictures on the go. The feature-rich camera offers users the ability to take photos with a fun, artistic flair, and much more!

How to Enter the Giveaway

Simply enter this giveaway using the Rafflecopter below. I’ve included options for extra entries, too!

This giveaway will run from now until – May 5th at 12:00am. The giveaway is open to US Residents only, ages 18 years old and above. The winner will be randomly chosen. I will promptly send the winner an email notifying them that they’ve won, and the winner must respond within 48hrs. of the giveaway’s end, otherwise I will have to draw a new winner.

Enter Below
a Rafflecopter giveaway

A Great Deal for You:

For a limited time, new customers who bring their number to Sprint and sign up for a Sprint Framily Plan can receive up to $300 in credit for their current phone and a Visa Prepaid Card worth up to $350 to cover switching fees! This offer will be available exclusively at Sprint stores and online at Sprint.com from April 4 through May 8.

5 Reasons to Love Relished Foods

March 22, 2014 by Sandra 6 Comments

This is a sponsored collaboration with Relished – a fresh ingredient and recipe delivery service
that delivers to roughly half the U.S.

I know I haven’t been around much lately. 😉

We actually went through a crazy move that seemed to go on forever. I was a stressed out mess during part of it, but thankfully, we’re finally settled now and mostly unpacked in our new home.

Life is back to normal, and I couldn’t be happier. After everything we’ve been through the past eight months, I crave normal living like never before.

I just want to cook, clean, homeschool my kids, and do laundry. Doing these things makes me incredibly happy right now. Does that sound crazy?

I don’t know…

What I do know is that in the midst of getting back to normal, I stumbled upon a service that I can’t stop talking about. It’s called Relished, and I’m completely impressed with this food and recipe delivery service. It’s just awesome!

Why?

Well, allow me to explain. 🙂

Top 5 Reasons to Love Relished Foods:

Reason #1: The only ingredients I needed to have on hand to put together mouthwatering meals were salt, pepper, oil, and water. All of the other ingredients were delivered right to my doorstep, and they were fresh coming out of the box.

They also stayed fresh for days in my refrigerator. I prepared three Relished meals in all with ingredients that came from one shipment.

Reason #2: Relished sends entire meals that are easy to prepare, and they come with step-by-step instructions, so there’s no guessing what to start cooking first or which ingredients go together.

The best part is that your finished meal looks just like the meal on the recipe card. (Below are the Sous Vide Short Ribs)

Reason #3: Relished has a scrumptious, diverse menu that changes on a weekly basis. I’m thinking the Kung Pao Chicken would be amazing to prepare for a date night with my husband in the near future. 😉

I love the colorful, fresh salads Relished offers on a regular basis, too.

Reason #4: I absolutely loved that while following the directions, I was learning how to cook foods I’ve never made in the past. I’ve never made quinoa or black lentils, but I know how to now.

I also roasted baby carrots in a way I never have in the past. Oh, they were so good!

Reason #5: Meals are full of flavor and just good! I’m not even kidding when I say that the meals I made with Relished foods taste far better than food served in most table service restaurants.

My husband is still talking about how much he loved the short ribs.

If I had to sum up my experience with Relished, I would have to say, it’s a convenient, doable, delicious way to make an awesome dinner for your family while spending less time in the kitchen and more time enjoying everyday (normal) life.

I can’t wait to place my next order. 🙂

UPDATE: You can use the code TheSensibleMom to save 60% off your first Relished order! This offer is good through March 31, 2014.

Relished is a Chicago based fresh ingredient and recipe delivery service that ships to roughly half the United States. Be sure to stop by their website to see if they ship to your area, and follow them socially here on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.

My 3-Day Skinny Limits Raw Juice Cleanse

February 2, 2014 by Sandra 2 Comments

I received this product for free from the sponsor of the Moms Meets program,May Media Group LLC, who received it directly from the manufacturer. As a Moms Meet blogger, I agreed to use this product and post my opinion on my blog. My opinions do not necessarily reflect the opinions of May MediaGroup LLC or the manufacturer of the product.

Juicing is something I’ve been doing for almost two years now.

But as with most other things in my life, everything changed in August 2013 when David was diagnosed with a rare blood disorder. I couldn’t fit juicing in the way I once did. Life was far too unpredictable and hard to be able to juice with any real regularity. I didn’t want to give it up, but then again, I didn’t have time for it.

So I just let it go, and with that, I let go of any hope of being able to do a juice cleanse in the foreseeable future.

I definitely noticed a difference in my body when I stopped juicing. I still tried to eat healthy, but it’s hard to eat well when you’re constantly going to doctor’s appointments, the emergency room, and (my least favorite) the hospital for stays that lasted anywhere from one day to one month.

Because of all this, my weight increased, and I ended up gaining around 10 pounds in six months. 🙁

Not good.

Skinny Limits Raw Juice Cleanse
Fast forward to January 2014, and things finally changed when Moms Meet offered me the opportunity to try a 3-day Skinny Limits raw juice cleanse. We were living at the Ronald McDonald House at the time as David was still recovering from his transplant, and juicing on my own was still out of the question. So, as you can imagine, I jumped at the opportunity!

With a Skinny Limits, all the work is done for you. The juices are delivered fresh and raw right to your home. I was sent a three-day supply for a total of 18 bottles of juice.

For the juice cleanse, you drink a total of six bottles of juice per day. And these juices actually taste really good.

Be Sure to Read the Directions Before Starting the Cleanse
There is a method to the way you consume the raw juice. All of the bottles are numbered, and you’ll want to drink each bottle of juice in the right order for the cleanse to be most effective.

Over Ice?
I love drinking my juice over ice. You don’t have to, but if you want to get a little fancy with the white Crescent Moon juice, feel free. 🙂

It’s delicious.

How I Felt During the Cleanse
I’ll be completely honest and tell you that I didn’t feel great during the cleanse. I had headaches two days in a row, and I felt like I was moving in slow motion at the beginning of the cleanse. This is completely normal, because when you’re cleansing your body, you’re detoxing. And that can make you feel icky.

But guess what? After the first day, I no longer felt bloated, and I actually woke up with energy.

When the cleanse was over, I knew my body had done some serious detoxing, and I felt better, overall.

I’m going to try to do another juice cleanse in the near future. This time I’ll do it with my husband, because then we can cheer each other on. 🙂

After all, two is better than one, right?

Have you ever tried a raw juice cleanse?