Probar III – I’m your number one fan!

Posted on April 2, 2013 by riversmom

The best part may I point out about this review is that exactly one year ago today I wrote my last Probar review! I’m lucky enough to get the opportunity to review these suckers once again! Unfortunately for me the samples we received seemed to be gone within days! My daughter who is totally familiar with their packaging and amazing goodness grabbed one right up as soon as I opened the box. She of couse chose the Cookie Dough

flavor of the ProBar Core™. This isn’t your ordinary meal replacement bar by any means. This little baby packs 20g of protein and is complete with chia and flax seeds. Chia seeds are incredible for many reasons like: high in Omega3′s, great at balancing blood sugar levels, packed with antioxidants and helps to increase energy. Last but not least this bar tastes incredible! I actually felt guilty eating it because the flavor was so convincing of actual cookie dough!

Next in the line up of yumminess they sent was the ProBar Meal™ Superberry and Greens, this bar really is a meal in itself! With low glycemic choices for carbohydrates and the high protein benefits of Spirulina I knew I had to have this one! I’m always looking for something quick to grab on the go, as I think any parent does and this bar really does the trick!

I love all the goodness of the RAW qualities of this bar. Check out this ingredient list! It’s completely packed with high quality antioxidant super foods. I’m a big fan of greens and feel that most of us don’t get enough in our diets and this little bar can really help that!

As a parent we really can’t turn away a good product that can help us with time, health and just plain relief especially when it comes to food. There are so many bars anymore out there and with all the mumbo jumbo of ingredient lists out there it can be completely confusing! Pick up one of these bars and see for yourself, not only can you properly read and sound out all of the ingredients used, you know exactly what they are! And don’t forget they are so good that alone will keep you coming back for more!

The good folks at ProBar have extended an offer to all of my readers please ”like” PROBAR’s Facebook page. Also, be sure to mention our discount code, “BLOGGER” that will get you 40% off your first order

Thanks for reading!

Amber

Posted in healthy snacks, product reviews | Tagged blogger discount, healthy snacks, probar review | Leave a comment

Top Five Tips for Taking the Kids to Disneyland – Mommy Bloggers

Posted on March 5, 2013 by riversmom

Walt Disney World is a magical place, full of memories and fun for young children and parents alike. But, like any trip, you need to be prepared or the trip can quickly become more trouble than it’s worth. Here are five tips to make your Walt Disney trip go as smoothly as possible while maintaining fun for both child and parent.

• Breakfast with the Characters – Whether it’s breakfast with Mickey and his pals or breakfast with Cinderella and some of her many princess friends, you can’t go wrong with booking a reservation at the Royal Table Restaurant in Magic Kingdom’s Fantasyland, amongst some of the top hotels in Orlando. Make sure to book at the Royal Table up to six months in advance. You can also book at any one of the many Disney resorts and hotels that offer Character Dining.

• Travel in Style – The best way to travel through the parks is by Monorail or ferry. The Monorail connects the Magic Kingdom and Epcot Center with Disney’s Contemporary Resort, Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa and Disney’s Polynesian Resort. The ferry connects the Magic Kingdom and Epcot Center with Disney’s Wilderness Lodge. The Campsites are good if you’re on a budget or you just want to camp in the great outdoors.

• Work in a Naptime – A bonus to staying at one of the above hotels is access to the park an hour earlier and an hour later than the general public gets. If you arrive early, you can get in a full morning of fun and then head back to your hotel for a nap and playtime at the pool.

• Baby Care Centers – Instead of lugging around a bulky stroller of your own, why not take advantage of being able to rent one at any of the theme parks Baby Care Centers. Stop by for an extra diaper, a rocking chair or just to get out of the heat. All four theme parks are air-conditioned and have just the things you need for your child.

• Have a Plan – Planning helps you avoid vacation burnout and exhausting days. Try downloading an app that will give you approximates wait times at each attraction. Purchase a FASTPASS, which will allow you to bypass long lines.

If you start planning early, get your kids involved so that they will have weeks or even months to get excited about their magical trip to Walt Disney World. This can be a trip that you all can remember forever.

Posted in guest bloggers | Tagged traveling with kids | Leave a comment

The Antidote – Why this book is so scarily me!

Posted on February 25, 2013 by riversmom

So a few months back (yes I’m totally behind) I picked up and began to read this interestingly intriguing book because it screamed out to me just by the title alone. See I’m married to an extremely positive man that feeds off happiness and upbeat vibes. I however on the other hand find most of that rather nauseating.

Yep I was that girl in high school that ditched pep rallys and couldn’t stand cheer week. Not because I don’t believe in coming together or camaraderie just simply because it didn’t and still doesn’t seem genuine. I love a feel good story as much as the next guy, however don’t ask me to go to one of those pump you up seminars cause let me tell you it doesn’t work that way for me. It’s all just a silly little joke from my eyes…..

The Antidote describes to a T what this feeling is like for people like myself. Going to those “Get Motivated” gatherings and such seems so forced and that feeling of, hey you MUST participate just makes my skin crawl.

I also really connected with the authors chapter on getting over yourself and setting crazy goals. I may be jumping all over here, but hey this is how my brain has organized it. See on a daily average I set completely unrealistic goals and write up this to do list that I literally know I won’t be able to tackle, however it’s the only way I know how to get the most possible tasks done?! Weird I know.

It’s as if the let down of not completing these tasks makes me keep going to next day, seriously it works for me! The days where I decide to take it easy are the days I want to do nothing, feel down on myself and want to just park myself in front of the television all afternoon.

Finally The Antidote did this for me, which is huge. I’ve always second guessed myself and in the back of my mind worried I was on a destructive path with the constant setting my self up to fail, when in reality this is just how I effectively work. I’m happy to have learned this great lesson and am excited to forge forward on my crazy path of self competitiveness!!

Happy Reading!

Amber

Posted in Must Reads, My Blog | Tagged book reviews, the antidote | Leave a comment

18 Blogs You Can Use to Determine if Your Child is Gifted

Posted on February 24, 2013 by riversmom

February 21, 2013 By admin Leave a Comment

Many parents think that their child is gifted, maybe because he walked before the other babies in the playgroup or was an early talker. However, does this mean that your child is gifted or just really smart? What is the difference between a child who is gifted and one who is highly proficient? As a parent, what should you do to make sure your child is getting what he needs in school? These questions and others will be answered in the following 18 blog entries. If you think your child might be gifted, you may benefit from reading these blogs.

Gifted vs. Highly Proficient

Sometimes children are labeled as gifted when they may just be ahead in their learning. Children who attended pre-school may be ahead academically when compared to a child who had no schooling prior to kindergarten. Does this mean one child is gifted and the other is not? Determining the difference between a gifted child and a highly proficient one is a difficult task. The highly proficient child knows the answers to the questions, whereas a gifted child will ask questions that are beyond the scope of the lesson. Read through these six blog posts and see if your child is gifted or highly proficient.

My View: 10 Myths About Gifted Students and Programs for Gifted This is a smartly written article by an educator who has been involved in gifted programs for more than 20 years.
Is My Child Gifted You’ll find many questions here that can help you determine if your child is gifted or highly proficient.
The Differences Between Bright and Gifted This is a very thorough list of how to tell the difference between a bright child and gifted one.
Gifted or Just Bright? How Does a Parent Know? This post presents different questions to help the parent determine if their child is gifted.
Bright vs. Gifted Children This blogger looks at the characteristics of a gifted child and his social behaviors to determine giftedness.
Bright Student vs. Gifted Learner Several different charts with additional information regarding the difference between gifted and bright are available in this post.

Parental Role

As a parent, you may want to know what your role is in determining if your child is gifted. Decades ago parents sent their kids to school and that was pretty much it. It was the teacher’s job to teach your child. Often, children who are labeled as gifted now were considered unruly or disruptive back then. So much more is understood about learning styles and various special needs that school is an entirely different ballgame now. Parents may have to step in to make sure that their child is getting the attention that he requires to learn and reach his full potential. If you feel your child is gifted and not being challenged enough in class, you have the right to have him tested for the gifted program.

Parent Advocacy Model – Are My Child’s Needs Being Met? Follow the flow chart on this blog to see if you are happy with the progress your child is making in class.
Gifted Students Have ‘Special Needs,’ Too The feeling that the brightest children are not being taught to their full ability and that changes should be made to the system are shared in this post.
Gifted Education Often, the needs of gifted students are not treated to the same level as a child who has another special need, such as ADHD. This blogger discusses this issue in depth.
Parents’ Experience of Rearing Gifted Children An interesting overview of what parents noticed about their gifted child while he was growing up is presented in this blog post.
Parents of Gifted Kids Need This Information from Dr. Linda Silverman Here you’ll find information about the struggles of parenting a gifted child, as well as several links to other helpful information.
The Role of Parents in Identifying Gifted Children This article is full of interesting information about what parents should watch for if they feel their child is gifted.

Testing for Giftedness

There are differing opinions about when a child should be tested for the gifted program. If you test a child in kindergarten, are you truly finding the gifted kids or just the ones that are ahead of the learning curve? How should a child be tested? These questions and others will be discussed in the following six blog articles.

The Myth of Testing for Giftedness This blogger feels that testing kids for giftedness is invalid.
Schools Make Changes in Testing for Gifted Students Rules are changing, and some parents could pay to have their kids tested for giftedness.
Gifted Testing A breakdown of how some kids are tested for giftedness is presented in this entry.
Testing Your Gifted Child: The Pros and Cons Points to consider before testing for giftedness are presented here.
Testing for Giftedness Read the story of this blogger’s journey through the gifted testing process.

Posted in guest bloggers | Tagged gifted children, signs of a gifted child | Leave a comment

A Mom’s Guide to Balancing Work and Family

Posted on February 19, 2013 by riversmom

Busy Moms Guide to Balancing a Healthy Schedule

As the Mommy Wars wage on, the longstanding battle between working mothers and those who stay at home can get particularly nasty. When over-scheduled, over-tired working moms have trouble striking the delicate balance between parenting and maintaining a demanding career, many find themselves unsure of where to turn, suffering in silence rather than opening the proverbial can of worms. Finding ways to balance work and family isn’t easy, but it isn’t altogether impossible, either.

Establish a Routine

Laying down the groundwork for a consistent and reliable family routine is almost always a struggle in the beginning. Changing not only your own habits, but also encouraging a change in each member of your family’s lives, takes its toll in the beginning. However, when you are able to establish a workable routine for your family, it can help make a noticeable difference in the way your household runs, and even free up more time for all of you to spend together.

Understand the Power of “Me” Time

When you feel as if you’re always running on just slightly less than enough sleep, the idea of getting up even earlier or staying up even later can be downright repellent. Carving out a few minutes of time for yourself each day, even if it’s only 10 or 15 minutes, lets you recharge your internal batteries and prepare for upcoming tasks without being forced to attend to an unexpected crisis.

Encourage Independence

Helping your children learn to take charge of as much of their own morning routine as reasonably possible not only frees up a bit of time for you to attend to your own needs, but also encourages independence and self-reliance in your kids at a relatively young age. While you certainly don’t want to rush your child into completing tasks he’s not quite developmentally ready for, you can squelch the urge to be a helicopter parent while simultaneously allowing yourself a bit of space.

The Caregiver Conundrum

If you don’t have a caregiver that you absolutely trust, there’s a good chance that you’re going to struggle with the tasks before you each day as your mind wanders back to the kids. Finding the perfect nanny or care center can be an overwhelming and time-consuming task, but it’s one that pays off in spades when you’re able to confidently and competently manage the demands of your daily life without worrying about your kids’ welfare.

Schedule Religiously

It may feel a bit silly to schedule out something as small as a 10 minute coffee break, but do it anyway. Maintaining a detailed schedule allows you to break your day down at a glance, figuring out how much you still have to do and where you need to be before you’re able to settle in at home for some family time. Don’t underestimate the power of the smartphone planner; mobile devices today can manage almost every aspect of your professional and personal life, usually down to the minute.

Kick Guilt to the Curb

Feeling remorse about the fact that your children are in the care of others is natural and normal, but it’s also a feeling you should squash whenever it rears its ugly head. Remind yourself of all the opportunities that your children have because of the income you bring in and how much you’re able to provide, and make a promise to clear out an entire day to spend quality time with them. In order for those promises to spend time with your children to be effective at warding off that guilt, however, you’ll have to keep them. When the weekend rolls around or you’re able to take an impromptu vacation day, spend every waking minute of it having fun with your kids. Don’t let the demands of work pull at you for a full 24 hours, so that you can return with fresh eyes and a clear head, free of nagging guilt and regret.

Don’t Be Afraid to Say “No.”

When you’re accustomed to taking on more than you can handle and managing every aspect of your professional life as well as running a household, it’s understandable to feel as if no one is quite capable of handling things in a manner that lives up to your standards. Reminding yourself that it’s okay to say “no” and okay to let someone else take the reins for a while may take a bit of conditioning and lots of effort, but the ability to delegate tasks and entrust them to other people will relieve some of your stress.

Read Original Article Here

Posted in guest bloggers, My Blog | Tagged busy family, healhty mom, mom schedule | Leave a comment

Top 10 Games Your Kids Will be excited for in 2013

Posted on January 28, 2013 by riversmom

Online computer games are highly popular at present, and this popularity is something which is only set to increase over the coming year. Thus, keeping that in mind, take a look at the top ten games which are set to take the internet by storm in 2013:

Toy Twister

This is one of the popular free kids’ games offered by Cartoon Network. It features the popular cartoon characters Ed, Edd and Eddy. In this game you are balanced on a plank of wood. You need to collect toys in your bag. However, the more toys you collect the harder it is to balance. So make sure you don’t fall off of the wood.

2. Refridger-Raiders

This game is based on the popular cartoon show Tom and Jerry, and what is so great about this game in particular is that you get to choose to be either the cat or the mouse. If you decide to be Tom then you have to throw balloons at Jerry and his friend Nibbles. If you play as Jerry then you have to drop food to Nibbles without being hit by Tom.

3. Clone A Doodle Doo

In this game you have to build a fence in order to capture chickens and enclose them in a small space, this makes them duplicate and you’ll gain points. You can’t hit the chickens whilst building the fence though.

4. Chaos Tag

It’s all in the name with this game; you have to tag as many opponents as possible. But, it is by no means as simple as that; you will have obstacles in your way, making this a lot of chaos!

5. Fast and Flurrious

In this game you get to choose whether to Buttercup, Blossom or Bubbles from the Powerpuff Girls. This is one of the many free kids’ games which are available from the cartoon network. In this snowboarding game you will have to score as many points as possible whilst collecting items and jumping down the slopes. Moreover, you will get to pick your own slope and your own snowboard.

7. Scooby Trap

Who doesn’t love Scooby Doo? In this game you have to help Scooby rejoin the gang, but there are lots of monsters and baddies in the way. So, make sure you sneak past in order to avoid any trouble!

8. Food Bash

This game contains a wealth of different popular cartoon characters, including Johnny Bravo and the Powerpuff Girls. Food Bash is a great load of fun as you will be involved in a food fight with these characters. The goal is to hit them five times, but make sure that they don’t hit you five times first or the cartoon characters will win!

9. Trap-o-Matic

This game is another one which is based on Tom and Jerry. In this game you get to play Tom and of course the aim is to catch Jerry. You have loads of different devices in your box and you need to create a trap which lures Jerry to the cheese on the mouse trap.

10. Holiday Design Workshop

In this game you can use premade designs or start from scratch in order to create your own holiday gift cards. This is great for those who have an artistic side!

11. Whuzzat?

This is a Johnny Bravo game whereby you hear a series of sounds and then you have to play them back in order to complete the level.

From Chaos Tag to Scooby Trap; there are some great games which are set to take the online world by storm in 2013!

Author bio –

CJ is a freelance journalist. She writes on a variation of different topics, including; free kids games, fashion tips, health and safety, and much, much more.

Posted in guest bloggers, kid activites | Tagged games for kids, kids activities, things for kids to do | Leave a comment

6 Weeks to OMG…….(Old Mushy and Gross)

Posted on August 9, 2012 by riversmom

Ok so I never write a review if I don’t even believe in what the product is offering or presenting to their customers, readers or whatever the situation. However when this book presented itself to me I couldn’t help myself. See unlike many bloggers or women who are super duper struggling with weight loss, I have extensive knowledge and education in Nutrition and Exercise. So to put it simpler I completley understand what your doing to your body when starving it or depriving it of what it needs. Hence the intense desire to write this frustrated post!

The authors of 6 Weeks to OMG needs to take a nutritional course, it’s almost hilarious the advice or tips they claim to be handing out. Here are a few notes I took away that I’d really like to set the record straight on:

Skip Breakfast: Really……really? Did you know that depriving your body of a meal whether it be breakfast or lunch can alter your blood sugar levels? The human body can only sustain regular level where you don’t see an insulin spike on average from 2-4 hours. If you’re more active or have a higher metabolism this time window will shorten. Ever feel that light headed, low energy, can’t think clearly feeling when its been a few hours since you ate? Well thats your body saying hey, I’m entering a hypo glycemic state, sugar levels are rising and I need some fat protein and carbs to balance myself out. Simply denying your body of this crucial start of the day meal tells your body “hey, we aren’t going to eat for a while so start taping into muscle storage for nutrients” Yes thats right, when you don’t eat your body starts to break down muscle tissue for energy therefore decreasing lean mass and increasing fat mass. It also sends a message to every cell in your body that the next time you eat it needs to take that food and store it as fat so it’s more prepared for the next time you decided to go 10 hours without eating. Not to mention when you wake up, you’re body is already in starvation mode. Most people have their last meal around 6 or 7 at night. So when you go to sleep you’re body waits a good 12 hours on average until it gets more nutrients. So think about what you’re doing to your blood sugar levels by holding off on breakfast.

Broccoli can be as bad as Coke: yes this is as ridiculous as it sounds. To compare the two is just a riot in itself. Ingesting Coke at all when trying to stay slim is the first mistake you can make on the road to better health and weight loss. I understand that the purpose of this portion of the book is to get readers to listen to the idea of a low carbohydrate diet and increase protein intake, which yes higher protein diets have shown in studies to help the dieter increase body fat, however you must be careful when cutting carbs. Here is a few reasons why.

Carbs: This is an incredibly important element to every meal or snack you should be eating, finding the best source is key! Did you know that carbs are what make you sane? The facilitate digestion, they get the credit for mental clarity, energy to chase your kids, heart and liver function and so much more! When choosing what carbs to eat it’s not about cutting them out and barely having any it’s about the carb source, look for green leafy vegetables rich in nutrients to help fight off disease and other ailments. Don’t grab refined products, or processed items in a can. Shop the produce section ONLY for your carbs. You want to loose weight? Ditch the sandwich for a salad or some raw veggies with hummus! If you want to know the aboslute best carb sources check the glycemic index. A lower glycemic value will get you longer lasting fullness, lower release of insulin in the blood, therefore creating satiety longer!

This is the last rant I have on this post (sorry, I just hate misguided information) Don’t think of your meals as meals or snacks as snacks. The most important thing to remember and always think about is your blood sugar levels and always keeping your body happy when it comes to what it needs. So if you’re up at 5 am for work and don’t get to sleep that night until 11. Don’t cut your body off after three square meals. Your body doesn’t function off the nutrition it receives day by day, it functions off of meal by meal. So providing your body with the right portion of protein, carbs and fat at every meal will get you the best overall results inregards to weight loss, energy levels, mental clarity and well being.

I love to get into this stuff so if I’ve raised any questions with this post email me, I’d love to hear your thoughts, even if you hate what I had to say!

Amber
amber@thehealthybelly.com