I tend to gravitate toward award winning books (well, okay, let’s be honest, I will read anything I can get my hands on: cereal boxes, shampoo bottles).
So when I saw that Rules, by Cynthia Lord, earned the Newberry Award, I happily added it to my Amazon cart to reach $25 so I could have free [...]

Commercials lie sometimes. That woman with the incredibly shiny hair on the dandruff shampoo ad? That dandruff shampoo didn’t cause that.
In fact, I have yet to find a shampoo that has anything to do with how shiny my hair is. Recently succumbing to the true brunette in me, I was worried about [...]

Something no one ever told me about being pregnant was that I would find myself a victim of many weird skin afflictions. Sure, I knew about the possibility of stretch marks, but the dryness? The itching? The mystery pustules? These were all new experiences for me. A little research revealed that the best thing to [...]

Do you read Melanie Lynne Hauser’s blog, the Refrigerator Door? If not, shame on you! Melanie is hilarious and her writing is just so…. perfect. She writes about her husband Duh, and her two teenage sons, and a lot about their blocked toilets. She also writes books. Two of them so far. And today is [...]

The Props & Pans team was recently supplied with Fiber One Chewy Bars to sample and review. We all tried them but did we all like them? Keep reading to find out!

I know I do not get the daily recommended intake of fiber that I should, but I’ve really never noticed it affecting me internally [...]

I recently had an opportunity to try Tylenol Rapid Blast Liquid when I was knocked on my proverbial arse by an evil stomach virus.
My entire body ached with ungodly pain but I was afraid to take Tylenol or Advil caplets because I was having a hard time keeping things down. Eventually, I couldn’t take it [...]

So begins Zen Shorts by Jon J. Muth, which is currently our favorite children’s book. It tells the story of Stillwater, a giant panda who suddenly shows up in the backyard of Michael, Addy, and Karl and is quickly befriended by the them.
First, Addy goes to tea with Stillwater; then Michael goes over to [...]

One day, I found myself in my local Whole Foods, trying like hell to use the natural food coupons I had scored from Mambo Sprouts before they expired.
One was for a Cherrybrook Kitchens product of my choice, so I decided to give it a go: cookie, cake and frosting mixes were available, and they are [...]

I have loved the bestselling #1 Ladies Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith, so when I learned that he writes children’s books, too, I was delighted. I looked forward to having my children learn about African geography and culture while being entertained. I checked the recommended age range on Amazon – ages [...]

One of the most depressing things about growing older is that your skin naturally thins and gets terribly dried out, especially in winter. Between the very cold dry air outside, and the heated dry air inside, skin has little chance to stay moist like it does in the humid summer. So supplementing the moisture in [...]

My new best friend is the Dirt Devil Kone. I am probably one of millions who were attracted to this product because of its unique and futuristic design. I’ve always kept a hand-held vacuum in our kitchen to clean up the little messes from art projects, crumbs and spook-poop (our word for dust). My last [...]

Cooking and baking are acts of love in my house. A nice warm pot of jambalaya might as well be a great big bear hug and kiss on the cheek. The more I cook for you, the more you know I love you.
I would love to just curl up inside my new dutch [...]

As a parent of a ardent dinosaur lover who is subjected to hours and hours of questions and conversation regarding dinosaurs, I knew - KNEW - we would be purchasing these Dinosaur Eggs as soon as I saw them. We picked them up at a local flea market but I’ve seen them around other novelty [...]

For the past two weeks I have been using the Wagner Wallpaper Steamer. There is a half-bath in our home that the previous owners left slathered in a dogwood infested dark red wallpaper. It had to go.
As tempted as I am to write a pan for this little machine, it wouldn’t be honest. Truth be [...]

With four kids under the age of eight in our house, one of them a three month old, it is vital to have a safe, entertaining place for the baby to occupy his time when the other three need attention, and a bouncer seat fits the bill. A couple of weeks ago my oldest [...]