Totoro Power Bank (Black) Review

  I recently got the opportunity to try a black Totoro power bank. I was really excited because its so adorable. So here is my review:

  Upon receiving the power bank, I had total fangirl squealing going one because... Totoro. Right?! Anyhow. I opened it up to check it out. I had a hard time with the instructions because they weren't very instructive. It was full of the usual electronic warnings, but didn't really explain how to use the power bank or what the lights meant. I figured it out myself pretty quickly and plugged it in to charge.

  The first thing I have to say is that this power bank is adorable AND functional, which is becoming a rare quality in character based items more and more. Fortunately, this power bank not only works, but it also works better than any other power bank I own. After charging, I was able to charge my Samsung Galaxy S6 from 14% to full in about 2 hours. I was also able to charge my husband's S6 from 73% to full, and my tablet from 46% to 92% before the power bank was out of juice. For me, this is amazing as most power banks don't even charge my phone all the way (much less charge several devices) and it was pretty fast at doing it!

  I want to talk a little about the design. This is definitely made out of high quality materials. It feels smooth and matte, and it has some weight to it but its not really heavy. The button is one the nose and is easy to push. The whole set up is pretty intuitive and easy to figure out even if you don't have instructions. I love the lights on the belly and the smile that lights up. Its super cute and makes it easy to see that it is charging and how much power is left in the power bank with just a glance. The lights really add to the cuteness for me. I mean, I'd like it anyway, but the lights make it more unique and attractive.

  My bottom line is this: This power banks is cute and effective. It would be great to have on hand to charge your devices when you're on the go. Its a little large, but still portable and for the price you won't find anything comparable. The only serious downside is that I'm going to have to wrestle my kids to get it back xD

** Disclaimer**

I was provided a product or coupon for testing and review purposes. In order for me to support my blogging activities, I may receive monetary compensation or other types of remuneration for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial and/or link to any products or services from this blog. Please note that all opinions are my own and I will only endorse items which I truly feel are of value to my readers.

AMF's Summer Unplugged

  Are you wondering what to do with your kids this summer?

My kids usually sit around and complain that they have nothing to do all summer and we have a pool! I try to take them camping and other fun stuff, but other than going on vacation, they don't want to do ANYTHING. Do you have the same problem? Are your kids an immovable lump on your couch? What do you do? What summer plans do you make?

  This year, I'm thinking bowling might be the answer.
  AMF has a great bowling deal this summer for kids (and adults too!).
Kids 15 and under get to bowl free! They'll get 2 free games of bowling a day at select AMF centers 7 days a week until 8PM. Summer Unplugged will run from Monday, May 14 through Monday, September 3. AMF is even offering kid's meals for $3.29. Shoes aren't included with the free games, but they're pretty cheap, so it is totally worth it! Free game coupons are emailed every week.

  Head on over to to select a participating location and complete the simple registration form to get started with "Summer Unplugged" for your kids.




  Grown ups can play too! AMF offers a Summer Pass to everyone over the age of 16. The Summer Pass is $29.95 and is good for 2 games per day for up to 4 people ALL SUMMER LONG. Shoes aren't included in this deal either, but again.... they're rather cheap and at around $7.50 per person for the whole summer, its a great deal! The Summer Pass has the same dates and times as Summer Unplugged, so you can use your pass to spend some time with the kiddies, or get away from them *winkwink*.
You can find the Summer Pass online.

AMF is also on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Check them out!


DISCLOSURE: I participated in this campaign as a member of One2One Network and am eligible for a prize drawing. 
All opinions stated in the post are my own

Dreamlights!

BzzAgent is doing some really awesome things with this new "Daily Bzz". I love having the opportunity to get into a program that I normally wouldn't. I especially love Dreamlights. This is my "dope" post telling why I'm excited to join this campaign.






   I have been completely infatuated with fireflies since I was 6. I would catch them when I was camping and put them in a jar. I always kept that jar by my sleeping bag. Those fireflies were my night light until I started getting sleepy and I set them free. I did the same thing every single night. Never even got tired of it. I miss those childhood days. I miss seeing the thousands of fireflies gathered on wild blackberry bushes lighting up the night by the lake. I've tried recreating them at home with firefly magnets, firefly lights, and firefly candles, but its never been the same to me as camping all summer with my fireflies.

   Sadly, I live in an area where there aren't many fireflies, so I can't introduce my children to the wonder of a firefly nightlight or the beauty of gathering fireflies outside of the pictures from my camping trips. I can't watch them light up the bushes and trees like they did when I was a child. We see a stray firefly now and again, and my kids are enthralled, but its nothing like the magic and the wonder that I experienced during my childhood. I would love to bring this to my children, even if it is simulated. My daughter has the same exact wonder and joy that I was filled with as a child. I would love to see her eyes light up at this. I'm sure she's invent a story about the fairies that live inside the jar since fairies are her world.

   I love how the Dreamlights look very authentic. Its almost exactly what fireflies look like inside of a frosted glass jar. I love imagining the stories my daughter would make up. I love giving my daughter the power to believe in fairies and fairy tales. I love the warm feeling I could get just from gazing at it and recollecting those carefree kid days where I had nothing more important to do than catch bugs. These are all the reasons why I'm excited to join this campaign.



  As the days get longer, and the nights get warmer, people are venturing outside their doors and enjoying the moonlight. As they walk down streets and paths, the flickering lights of fireflies are hard to miss. During some summers, trees would light up with more fireflies than there were stars in the heavens, turning the whole sky upside-down. As kids, many of us ran through our parents' back yards, collecting fireflies in jars. They'd flicker inside, blinking out their little buggy code to each other. We would wonder what their bio luminescent blinking lights were actually saying. No - nothing that heady. In fact, their gentle flickering communicates their ability to mate and their location - the entomological equivalent of "Hey baby! Over here, good-lookin'! So where bugs fail us, robots fill in. These robots come in the form of tiny LEDs inside a frosted glass lantern. You can set them to glow as long as they have power, or only when you shake the lantern. Don't worry about harming the little fellas - they aren't real. Your karma is safe. So traipse across your moonlit garden again, like you did when you were a kid. Set it on your night stand to offer a soft soothing glow while you sleep, or just take a walk using the lantern as cool illumination as you go. The fireflies won't mind - in fact, they'll probably come to check out the hot little robotic numbers inside. 

Are your children scary?

My children are scary. My daughter is 8 (almost 9) and she acts like a teenage girl. My son is 11 and he acts like a teenage girl....
In the past, I've always tried to be rational and responsible when dealing with my children's outbursts.

For example:
"But, Mom! Everyone else is wearing make-up in 2nd grade! Why can't I??!!"
Because this is not "tramp training camp".
I don't say that, but I'm thinking it. Instead I take a deep breath and say "What other parents let their kids do is their business. You're my business, honey. Girls that are wearing make-up at 8 years old are trying to look and act older than they are. You're 8, Morgan. Try to be 8! You'll be older soon enough and you'll have the whole rest of your life to wear make-up."

"I hate you! You're the worst mom EVER!"
What I really want is to stick my tongue out and say "I hate you too, stupid head!".
Instead, I calmly say "You can hate me if you want, and I'm sorry that you feel that way, but I love you."

With my other child it's not much different:
"I don't want to put my laundry away! This isn't fair! You make me do everything!"
[inner voice] You do nothing. You don't even pick up after yourself. You play video games, leave butt-prints in my couch, and make my life miserable every chance you get....
 "Son, I'll gladly put your laundry away if you'd like to go to work for me, wash and fold the towels, sweep and mop, load the dishwasher, take the dog for a walk, dust, and cook supper. No? That's what I have to do today, so I don't think its much to ask for you to put your own clothes away after I kindly washed and folded them for you."

My children are the ones that make other people decide against reproducing. My kids make me understand why some animals eat their young. I'm torn between telling them the bald-faced truth, and being a mature, caring adult. Occasionally, I can diffuse a situation with humor, but more often than not they make my head explode. I've been known to use sarcasm.... heavily. I've been known to yell back. But, I always try to be mature when my kids act like spoiled brats. The fact that they act like spoiled brats kind of shocks me to begin with. They don't get everything that they want. I've tried to instill values in them. I've taught them right from wrong. AND I've always been a super-cool punk-rock mom!

How would they feel if I threw a fit because I couldn't have what I wanted. What if I refused to do anything? What if I hated them and slammed doors? What if I went out in public in a ripped and stained red shirt with yellow plaid shorts without brushing my hair or teeth?

Last week, I had enough of the door slams. When my son slammed the door, I proceeded to tell him he was doing it wrong. I then demonstrated the proper way to slam a door and made him do it the "right way" for nearly a half hour. I won and there hasn't been a door slammed since. Yesterday, my daughter started screaming and flipping out because she couldn't find her favorite shirt. I yelled gibberish and flailed my arms around. When she finally stopped her tirade and looked at me in shock, I calmly said "Now you know how ridiculous you look screaming like that."

Obviously I have to be just as obnoxious as they are to get my point across. I guess when I say what that sarcastic little voice inside my head WANTS to say, they get the point much better than when I try to be calm and understanding. To think that these are just the 'tween years. As teens, I'm probably going to have to resort to psychological warfare. I'm going to have to shave eyebrows and draw mustaches while they sleep. I'm going to have to drive them to school in pajamas with feet. I'm going to have to saran-wrap the toilet. I can't wait.

Do you have the same problems? How do you deal with your 'tweens?

Weekend! Yay!

  So.... its the weekend. Finally. 
I love my weekends. I literally do nothing. I sit like a lump and complain if anyone asks me to do anything that even remotely sounds like work or chores. And I usually pity the fool that asks for a weekend ANYTHING, because if you're ruining my Saturday, I'm not being polite about your opinions on what colored furniture you should have in your basement.

I finally finished my order for Shutterfly at 5am. I decided to buy photobooks for a few people and order my Christmas cards. I got some prints too, but at 5am, I can't be very sure that I ordered anything more than the same print over and over. Oh well. I'll share my 2 favorite pictures of my children. One is because they're insane, and the other is evidence that I'm not the one abusing them :/

  And of course, I included these pictures on my Christmas cards. I'm not one to claim my children are anything other than the mean, hateful, abusive kids that they are. A very good example is what my son and daughter did this morning. I woke up at 10 am to Jacob beating Morgan with a PS3 controller, and of course Morgan has to get even, so 10 minutes later she junk punched him when he walked out of his bedroom. Gotta love them kids xD


At least I have my Saturday. Tomorrow I'm obligated to actually do things. I have to do shopping for Thanksgiving dinner. I've been putting it off, but I've decided to finally do it. Don't get me wrong, I'd tell my family they're having Ramen for Thanksgiving and they'd probably just shut up and like it. I just don't like Ramen.


I'm thinking that its a Subway night. I don't like cook on Saturday, so we usually eat whatever leftovers we can find or we order something or I toss something in a pot and pretend like its a meal. Subway sounds good. I'm a little upset that they don't have the $5 foot longs around here anymore (Go team Chuck? xD). But I like Subway, and thus we shall have it. Because I said so.

A new day, a new layout

   Finally finished the layout. Its nothing fancy, but it suits me. Not quite sure why I decided on a Bleach theme, but I like it. Hopefully it is easy to navigate and read. I'll be getting the rest of the pages up soon. If anyone reads this and has a tip, leave a comment so I can make my layout more friendly.


   Today was a blah day. I woke up late, so we had to rush, and then I spilled coffee all over myself. Although, the highlight of the morning was when I stood on my porch in my coffee covered pajamas and screeched at the bus driver. 

   I hate my kids' bus driver. There has never been a meaner, more nit picking bus driver on the planet. Now, I realize that my kids are far from perfect, but if you're going to try to kick one of my kids off the bus for looking behind them, you probably deserve to be screeched at. 

   My son, Jacob sits in the back of the bus. He brought me home a letter yesterday saying that his behavior was up for review and he may get kicked off the bus. The list of offenses included: "Looking over shoulder when asked to stop repeatedly", and "Getting an attitude and being disrespectful when written up". To be fair, I made sure of the facts before I got angry (I called the bus aid). Jacob was on his butt in his seat, and he wasn't actually causing any trouble. Who are you to govern where my child looks. lady? And what harm comes to a child looking out the rear bus window? Once I was sufficiently upset, I sat down and had a talk with my son. I asked him to give his bus driver a message for me.... mostly my son just said "I can't say that mom!", but after the offer of pizza as a reward, he agreed to tell his bus driver my message. 


   Call me a bad parent if you'd like, but I took great satisfaction in seeing the look on the bus driver's face when my son stood at the curb and told her very loudly "My mom says she's going to kick your ass if you don't stop being mean to me and my sister for no reason!" The woman looked like she peed all over herself. Then she had the nerve to start yelling at me about how he was never permitted to ride the bus again because "cursing on the bus" is against the rules..... 
This is the part where I ended up screeching on my porch in my pajamas. My son had not been on the bus when he cursed. He was actually in my front yard, so the rule doesn't really apply. Take that, you mean bus driver! 

   AND I get pizza for supper! xD 


   Normally, I wouldn't react this way, but my kids have had the same bus driver since they started school (Jacob is 10, and my daughter Morgan is 8) and this lady has always had a problem with my kids. I remember incidents last year where she would take things away from my daughter and refuse to give them back. Once thing that sticks out in my mind was a rock. My daughter is a dedicated artist and she loves making things. This particular rock was one of several that she has on her dresser. She searched high and low for the smoothest, roundest rocks, and then she painted them to look like lady bugs. She was taking one in to school for show-and-tell that day, and the bus driver decided that she must have "stolen" it. Even though my daughter's name is on the bottom of this rock, the bus driver confiscates it and writes my daughter up for stealing someone else's property. I'm very sure there are tons of kids that paint lady bugs on rocks by the name of Morgan that ride that bus, right? <insert eye roll> I just don't have the patience to deal with people like that.


   Welcome to my life.