Whomi ~ Planners that are fun AND functional!

When Whomi asked me to review their calendars/planners for busy woman I was more than happy to do so. You see I use a central calendar in my kitchen but what I can never figure out is why most calendars have all that wasted space on the top. I mean I guess it's nice to have a picture there but what the Whomi Color-Coded Family Calendar does is use both the top and bottom of the calendar to provide more space for monthly activities. Who couldn't use more space? Especially space that is color-coded at that. The monthly planner has one big white space per day PLUS there are three different color-coded smaller spaces per day as well which means you can designate a different color per kid for instance. Now that's smart! The price is reasonable too at $13.99 each.



Two other products I had the privledge of checking out was their Color-Coded Agenda and their What To Do Pad.

The Color-Coded Agenda is similar to the bigger family planner just smaller, suitable for those who might appreciate a more portable calendar. This one comes in TWO sizes to meet the needs of busy mom's, original and compact. If you want something for your purse though I recommend the compact size as the original seems at bit heavy to me to carry around in your purse. These agendas are just so pretty too and that my friends is important, who wants to pull out an agenda that's ugly or boring. Being organized doesn't have to be all doom and gloom. Take a look at these pretty designs:

These agendas also come with a heavy duty plastic cover that all moms will appreciate especially if we keep one tucked in our purses where they tend to take a bit of a beating.

Finally the What To Do Pad just makes list making FUN! That's it in the above picture on the left. It's a portable spiral-bound notebook with three separate color-coded pads designed to make maintaining lists simpler because it's divided by task and each sheet is perferated so you can tear off a sheet as you need to. I love stuff like this I really do. I'd especially like to try out the What To Do When Pad as well.

Fun and functional makes me very very happy and I hope it does you as well!!

Thanks Whomi!

Bin Buddies

You know what I admire? Creative people who see a need and fill it, making our lives just a little bit easier. That is exactly what Gretchen from PacEasy has done with her fabulous and innovative product appropriately named Bin Buddies. Bin Buddies are a durable and washable insert for your household totes that offer handy pockets to keep everything tidy and organized for easy access. Bin Buddies come in various sizes depending on the size of tote you own.

I admit when Gretchen first contacted me about trying out this product I was a bit skeptical. I didn't really understand at first what this product was going to do for me or how it was going to make my life better. It wasn't until I opened the package and saw how it worked and all the glorious pockets inside that the lightbulb went off.

I immediately knew what I was going to use this product for. In our playroom, the kids have a Rubbermaid tote that we use to store all the little indoor hockey sticks, lacrosse sticks and balls and balls of all sorts and sizes. I wish I'd remembered to take a picture of how it looked before. You have to imagine that the sticks didn't stand straight up and kept falling over and out and the little balls got buried at the bottom so the kids had to dump the entire tote to just to get one out. It was a headache but the gear was contained and so we lived with it. Until now.....

The Bin Buddie fit inside my tote perfectly and now offers plenty of pocket space for the sticks to stand up straight as well as pockets for the small balls. I really am very pleased with it how easy it was to assemble and the versatility of it. I also love the idea of using it for picnics or camping as well. We already use Rubbermaid totes for all our camping gear but this product will help organize it even further for us.

Totes are an amazing storage tool.....Bin Buddies with handy pockets make them even better!

Happy Traveler Family Gear Bag

I am thrilled, just thrilled to introduce you to this next product. Anyone who has ever tried to travel with kids will appreciate this one. Back in July as I was packing to go on holidays for a month, I desperately looked for something that would be the ideal travel bag for the flight. I was flying with my under two son and I needed something that would accommodate MANY needs plus more. As you know when flying you are only allowed two carry-on bags. One of them for me was my laptop, the other one needed to carry everything else including diapers, wipes, snacks, baby blanket, baby stuffie, baby toys, sippy cups, my water, my purse, a book, sunglasses, camera, and the list goes on and on.

Prior to leaving I pulled out every bag I owned (which happens to be quite a few since I'm always trying to find the one) and not one of them seemed adequate. I finally settled on one though and then proceeded to be extremely annoyed the entire flight when I couldn't quickly find or grab what I needed while holding my squirming, you can't make me cooperate, one and a half year old.

I don't like to be annoyed.

I simply don't have the patience for it.

The success of travelling with babies and kids is based on organization. Organization requires a bag that stands upright on it's own, has multiple pockets for everything under the sun, meets airline requirements, and basically acts as my home on the go. Do you think I'm asking for too much? I assumed I was because if a bag like that existed I didn't know about it.

UNTIL NOW....


Happy Traveler Family Gear Bag

The bag of my traveling dreams has arrived....in bright red no less. Family Travel Gear is a company that understands the needs of traveling families. Of that I have no doubt. When the Happy Traveler Family Gear Bag appeared in my mailbox I open the package with anticipation hoping that I wasn't in for another mediocre bag to add to my collection. Frankly I was pretty skeptical. First thing I saw was the big pocket on front, and then another pocket, and then another one, oh and what's that, another pocket! The pockets don't end it seems and I instantly fell in love.

THEN....I saw one pocket in particular and nearly wept with tears of joy. Ladies there is a pocket on the side of this bag.....are you ready for this....for the portable DVD player AND slots for the DVD's!! I'm seriously not kidding! I had a separate bag for the DVD player when I travelled and had one of my bigger kids carry it on but it was just one more thing to worry about.

On the other side of this is an insulated pocket for sippy cups or bottles plus there is also a pocket for my camera, a pocket for my wallet and airline tickets, a pocket for my magazine and did I mention that the glorious front pocket includes a FULL BODY changing pad and numerous pockets for diapers, wet wipes holder, ointments and more. Oh.My.Word. All this AND it meets airline carry-on sizing requirements. Get out of town.....literally.

And less you think this bag will just sit in the closet when not in use, think again. This beautiful bag of amazing possibilities can also be used as a back seat kid’s organizer/toy box and snack bag for car travel.

Family Travel Gear doesn't just sell bags either. They are a family owned and operated business inspired by their personal travel experiences with their own children and sell many other travel products as well to make your life easier. They claim to personally test all of their products and you know what, after seeing this bag and what it means for all my organized future travels, I believe they do just that.

Thank you Family Travel Gear!!

Organizing Bags

So if you've read my blog for any amount of time or well even just this week (lol) you know I have this obsession quirk about keeping all things similar contained in one place. As many of you know this isn't always easy when you have kids. I have noticed that as my kids get older their toys get smaller so in an effort to keep all those little pieces together I use a lot of ziploc baggies. I like them for a number of reasons some of which include; they set boundaries for the kids and make cleanup easier for them, they are clear allowing you to easily see what is inside and they come in a number of different sizes which is helpful. However there are some downfalls to the baggie idea. This first being that using plastic baggies is obviously not a great idea for small children for safety reasons and the other is that they don't take a lot of abuse and quickly can get worn out and have to be replaced.

So when Lara my Lazy Organizer friend asked if I wanted to review the Organizing Bags she designs I jumped at the opportunity because I had a feeling they were going to be right up my alley and I was right! Let me just tell you that these came in ever so handy last week when I completely went through and organized the kids rooms from top to bottom to make room for all the new Christmas toys.

I enjoyed these bags immensely for reasons similar to the baggie idea plus more:

1. they work great for containing "like with like"

2. they are clear on the front so you can see what is inside
3. they are durable and reusable
4. the zipper is on the side rather than the top which means that you can actually fit more inside since the inside stays the same size and doesn't get narrower at the top like a baggie does. It also means you can access items stored near the bottom quicker and easier (a plus for kids)
5. two sizes to choose from which is very nice
6. the bigger size bag has a handle - great for kids to carry around their toys (especially great for travelling)

7. not a safety hazard

Take a look at some of the ways I used them:

to organize my son's pirate men collection

to organize my daughter's Barbie petshop collection

to organize my son's Klutz pirate ship building collection (this set didn't even come with a box so I was really happy to have this solution to keep all the pieces contained)

Finally I created this diaper changing kit to keep in my church bag along with my bible, church library books, snacks, etc. This really works for me because it means I don't also have to bring the diaper bag with me and now if I have to take my son out during the service I can just grab this bag (love the handle) and go and my two older kids can keep the church bag with them since it contains their snacks/books.

To purchase these bags and to also see the different ways Lara uses her bags you can visit her site here or click on the link in my sidebar. Thanks for a great product Lara!

DaysAgo Digital Timer

I kill house plants, there I said it! My husband is the gardener of the family and he makes me paranoid about over watering, so because I can never remember when I watered the plants last, I just usually don't. Once I see the leaves turning yellow I take a pretty good educated guess that it's probably time they had a little drink. Aren't I clever? Usually by then, of course, it's a little too late and they end up taking a trip to the D.U.M.P!

A fairly new product has come to my rescue! DaysAgo is the first and only digital day counter that removes the guesswork of knowing how many days ago a food container was open or in my case how many days ago I watered the plants! By "counting days up," the DaysAgo can track food products that spoil quickly, including baby food, sauces, salsas or just about anything else you need to keep track of.

Honestly, until the Company contacted me, I had never heard of DaysAgo so when they offered to send me one to try I was thrilled. Anything that allows me to free up brain space has got to be a good thing. Now that I've had the opportunity to try it out, I am happy to report I love it!

I particularly love that it is a simple gadget that is re-usable, versatile and easy to use. It also attaches to a variety of surfaces with a magnetic or suction backing. I just keep mine on the fridge and after I water the plants, it's quick and easy to simply re-set it and start again.

This device was inspired by the need to track freshness of baby food which lasts for only 2-3 days, but upon its invention, the list of uses expanded quickly to include pasta sauce, salsa, soup broth, leftovers, applesauce, etc... I know for myself how many jars of baby food I ended up having to throw out because I couldn't remember when I opened it!

All and all, this is a terrific product for a pretty good price. I found them online at Solutions for $9.95 for a pack of two.

Now I have no more excuses for killing my house plants, unless of course you count laziness!

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