Week 2 check in

So it has been an insane week! I meant to post this Monday, so lets hop in the way back machine and pretend.

So no visible change. *I normally suck in. Letting it all be relaxed for reality! That's ok. I am in this for the long haul. I am not dieting and exercising. I am eating healthy and training. I am stronger than I was yesterday. I am way stronger than I was last Monday.

M: Ran C25K week 1 day 1. I did not finish because I had to meet with a trainer.

T: Ran C25K week 1 day 1. Followed by 1 hour of pilates.

W: Biked for 30 minutes then walked/lunged back and forth in the pool with the baby clinging to me like a koala bear.

TH: In door trampoline place.

F: Ran C25K week 1 day 2. 

S: Ran C25K week 1 day 3. I made it!!!

Su: Swam with the kids.

So it wasn't amazing or anything. I didn't break any world records but I did beat my record. When doing C25K I walked at a pace of 3 and ran at 6. I have tried C25K in the past and every time the kids have pooped out on me or I have given up. I have never had the consistent speeds the tread mill give me. I LOVE IT!!

My girl has started walking with me in the gym. I hope I am setting a good example for her. This isn't just a mommy making changes this is the whole family making changes kind of thing.

Lifeproof iphone 6 review

Last October my dear husband bought me an iPhone 6. We got the apple care for it so he said I really shouldn't worry about getting a case. He is the kind of person who can carry an iPhone around and have it naked without a single issue. He has never broken a device. Ever. Me well that's another store. I have the grace of a hippo then add in the logistics of 3 kids.  In January I dropped my iPhone getting out of the car and it landed face first on the asphalt. Off to the apple store where they were too busy to get an appointment so I invented the scotch tape over the face trick till we could get an appointment where they handed me a shiny new phone after I paid $80 for my 1st and hopefully last apple care replacement.

I decided I didn't want to break another phone so I ordered a lifeproof case off Amazon. I also ordered an iPad mini case to try to make sure we didn't break that as it did not have apple care. My phone case didn't stay waterproof for long. The 2 year old managed to break the plastic film over the flash with rendered it no longer waterproof. I really like that it was waterproof because we had tons of fun taking under water pictures.

The process of filing a claim is so incredibly easy. My case looked terrible. To get the charger cover to open the rubber was wearing away. The edges were beat up. The color wasn't bright and shiny how it was 3 months before. Most importantly the flash plastic film was damaged allowing in water. Lifeproof sent out another case.

About 3 months later it happened again. Broken flash cover and the seal in the charger cover went missing again. So here I am on my THIRD cell phone case in 9 months. At $85.19 a case I feel bad that they keep dying. My husband says not to worry since the company spends about $0.10 to build them.

In the end I LOVE my lifeproof phone case. I am not sure how long they will keep sending me new cases. At a life span of a new case every 3 months I don't think their generosity will last much longer. I feel like the value of having a case that is durable and does it's job is worth the cost.

Lifeproof cases are life proof they just are not toddler proof.

I have not had as good of luck with my iPad mini 

Lifeproof iPad mini case: a tale of sorrow

Back in January I bought a lifeproof case for my iPad mini and my iPhone 6. The sorrow of the 6 case can be found here.

Let me start by saying that I loved my iPad mini case. It had this super cool cover that kept the screen fairy protected from scratches.  It couldn't stand up on it's own but hey other than that no complaints. There was a cool strap (remember the strap it comes back to haunt me) so I could put it on my shoulder like a purse. Best of all it was water proof. Having a 2 year old in the house means that everything being water proof is usually just a good precaution to take.

Things were fine till one day the 2 year old decided it would be super cool to pull out the yellow seal from the flap that opened to protect the charging port. I found it and put it back. I even super glued it back into place and she removed it again. I decided whatever it isn't like the iPad was going near a toilet or pool it will be just fine. Then the cover broke off. I paid $35.99 on amazon for the cover and $44.95 for the case. It just falling apart in 8 months seemed ridiculous. Since my case no longer passed the water proof test (and either did my phone) I placed a claim on all 3 items.

Guess what! They did not ship a replacement cover. They also shipped the WRONG iPad case. I noticed the cover was missing as soon as they sent the shipment so I sent in an email inquiring about the cover. The representative noticed the error and decided to send out a mini case, they even overnighted it!

So here I am with my 2nd iPad mini case. The world is a happy place. It is water proof and all shiny and new. Still no cover. I sent 3 emails inquiring about it. No luck. I filed another claim and nothing.

Wednesday I asked my dear son to go get it for me from upstairs. He decided to grab it by the strap and it hit my husbands steering wheel and pedal stand. The impact hit on the case. You know that case that is supposed to be shock proof. GUESS WHAT.. it isn't.

See that TINY scratch next to the home button??

It caused this:

Rest in peace sweet iPad. You lasted a whole 2 years. At $400 that is $0.55 per day. I supposed I got my $0.55 a day out of you. (To repair the iPad it would have cost $150 at an aftermarket not apple store)

I gave Lifeproof a call and spoke with the most amazing representative. He was great. Unfortunately they don't guarantee the shock proof status. He sent me out a new case and FINALLY the defective cover replacement.

We drove to the apple store where they gave me $100 for my broken iPad. I bought a new iPad air 2 because my husband is amazing and takes wonderful care of me. We had planned to buy a new iPad in the future (in a few months). The plan was for dear son to get the min and me a new iPad since Osmo was on it's way and that would be super cool to use on a larger device. Well now we will just be sharing the snazzy new iPad which will be guarded and handled with kid gloves.

So here I am with the husband being given the brand new iPad mini case and beautiful cover. A Lifeproof case I can't use and an iPad that is all naked.

Can you feel me twitching from it's lack of safety?? Fact of the matter is no matter what case you put your iPad in is it really ever "safe". Lifeproof is supposed to be shock proof and it wasn't. It definitely wasn't toddler proof.. oh wait it was the 6 year old who broke it. It has apple care and I hope that will be enough. (*note* the mini did not have apple care since it started it's life as my husbands and he dislikes things like apple care.)

#ipad #ipadmini #lifeproof 

Osmo is Amazing!!!

This is when I disclose the emabrassing full truth. I totally saw a Facebook advertisement at 1 am, I seriously thought a friend had shared it, and went down a rabbit hole. I didn't realize it was a rabbit hole of amazing and I am so glad I fell down it. I found a few youtube videos of kids trying it out and knew that we had to have it! I hate that Facebook targeted me and I fell for it hook line a sinker, but maybe just this once I will be ok with it. No more clicking Facebook targeted adds.

I quickly learned that if I bought one I could gift one to my children's homeschool academy. I patiently waited 7 days to participate in the buy one gift one program. That says a lot since I suck at patience and it would have been so much easier to just run down to the Apple Store and buy one. We both win so it was worth the wait.

Shipping was pretty quick considering it came from California to Florida in 7 days. It is an amazing time we live in. Not as quick as Amazon Prime but worth the wait.

I love the packaging! All the boxes magnet to each other. The boxes themselves have a magnet in the lid. There is a place for everything to be neatly put away. It is nice and compact and easily fits in my mom bag. 

So what can it do? A better question would be what can't it do. There are many features we haven't even explored yet. I have briefly browsed the teacher curriculums. Even though we haven't tried every single feature I am absolutely in love with this product and so glad I purchased it for my children. They want to play with the words and are excited to build puzzles. Having children that range from 2-10 this is a product I see myself using for years to come. Osmo is rated through 6th grade. It is something I enjoy sitting down with my children and playing with them. I may have played tangrams while they were sleeping. <shhh don't let them know>

First impressions:

THIS is what it is all about! Do you see that face? It is the face of joy associated with sneakily working on letters. No way learning and having fun?!

Osmo is not made for tiny people. I was trying to figure it out and the 2 year old decided she needed to try. 

I absolutely love all the different word levels. It isn't broken up by grade specific levels. It allows a child to sit down and build words and solve for missing letters without being labeled into age but rather skill level. 

The tangrams starts off at easy and builds out into a tree of super cool shapes to build. I played around in the medium level which takes away the color and goes to just black shapes. The kids really love the tangram puzzles! 

We had a meet up with other homeschool kids and I let them give it a try. Everyone who touched it really liked the things it had to offer. 

Concerns:

The different word levels are a little confusing. I haven't fully figured out how to get to exactly what I want on the first try. I eventually find it though. I am hoping (and the documentation says it will) that different levels will work well for a wide range of ages.

There is downloadable content to work on small 3 and 4 letter words but I would LOVE to see more content added that focuses on each letter sound. So far all I see is A words. It would be also great if they created a pre k level for learning letters. Since all the letters are already there it would be fairly easy to add content for early letter sound learning.

Users! There really should be log ins for multiple users. I can see issues with children doing the tangrams and getting upset that puzzles have been unlocked by siblings and they have lost their place.  My 10 year old opened most of the levels. Now it is odd to load up and be unsure where "you" last left off for the 6 year old.

My daughter had trouble with the art tracing. I think it is something you just have to practice with.

The adults even gave it a try tracing cursive letters (that is hidden and I haven't found it again). Once you let go of having to be "perfectly" inside the lines it is much easier.

Ready to buy one for yourself?? You won't be disappointed. <ok maybe you will be but I am in love!>

An Invocation for beginnings Week 1

My motivation thanks to Ze Frank

My past failures at follow through are no indication of my future performance...


Let's start this shit up...

It's the most unflattering picture ever. Unfortunately it is the truth. Not sucked in or chin lifted taken from above.. the raw sucky truth.

Yesterday I joined the YMCA. Today I ran for the first time in months. It was glorious. I can't wait for tomorrow.

Yesterday I stopped eating meat. I have been watching my water intake and counting calories. I am ready to sweat and be a majestic fucking creature. 

Girl Meets World

I just started watching Girl Meets World with the kids streaming on Netflix. Can I just say oh my. OH MY! Sweetest show ever. Just watched episode 2 where Cory gives Maya a phone and colored pencils and tells her that if she something beautiful happens to draw him a picture. Tears. It was worse that a Hallmark card commercial.

Do you ever see a show that has this amazing family and you look at yourself and think am I being "that" kind of parent? Am I raising children who can take on the world and be amazing? I want to be a loving supportive mom who raises fierce, creative, intelligent, confident children. Most of all I want them to feel loved.

Osmo

Last night I found the most amazing product!! It is called Osmo and I can't wait for it to be delivered! The best part is when one is purchased one is gifted to a school of your choice. Just from the videos I know I my kids are going to love it.

https://www.playosmo.com/?r=5478207532826624