Kid Kraft Bucket Top Train Set

  Details: A wooden train set, and wooden train.  Comes in a plastic bucket that holds all 61 pieces.  The mountain top of the bucket is part of the train set the trains can be pushed up and down.  This only comes with a 3 piece train.  This comes with a 8 piece airport with a plane, helicopter, tower and landing pad and runway.  There is a fire house with a truck and people, and a police department with people and a car that can ride on the train track.  There are lots of trees and signs.





Information: I bought this from Amazon.com for Christmas for my boys.  They love this!  The trees are more realistic than the other train set they have.  This came with no broken pieces or anything wrong with it.  I have posted a review on both Amazon, and Ebay.com.  This is super easy to put together for 5 year olds, but not very easy for 2 year olds.  My kids love to play with the train, the airplane and the helicopter all together.  Even though there is only three train cars in this set, the fire truck, police car, and air plane fit on the track. Which is really nice when more children are playing with this toy.  Train lovers and especially boys love this product!  There is only one thing that I will complain about: the magnets on the trains aren't very strong and barely keep the train cars together.  

                                                                My Rating 

Glass Castle Memoir

Details: Written by Jeannette Walls in 2005.  This is a memoir of Jeannette and her 3 siblings as they grew up in harsh unconventional ways.  Rex and Rose Mary Walls Jeannette's parents were poorer than poor, and lived on the go, in scary places, with little to no hygiene and with personal addictions that always came before the care of their children.  Rex is drunk addict to alcohol.  Rose Mary is a romantic artist addicted to sugar.  This book is being filmed as a movie.

Information:  This is not a happy story, this is not an uplifting story.  I read this as my book club's March book.   Within the first 10 pages there's so much language (swearing, vulgar, crude, and plain nasty language) that I had to skip a few pages until the language calmed down.  Not a great start to a story.  As I kept reading I kept hoping the story (life of Jeannette) would get better, happier, and safer.  But no such luck.  These Wall kids suffered more than most people even imagine could ever happen at all in the US.  Its so sad.  I cried a few times because its such a depressing story.  Throughout the whole book I hated Rex and Rose Mary!  What kind of parents would do such horrible things to their own children?  Then I became furious at all the adults at the schools these children went to for not investigating their story, even when they had the impression that something wasn't right.  I am so proud of and impressed with Jeannette and her siblings.  They are so strong, and true, as they were easily able to forgive and get over the horrible life they were born into.  I love that they've learned to work hard and have become successful!  Just seeing what they've gone through and how positive and strong they are is inspiring, but not enough for me to buy or reread this book ever again.  I don't know if I could handle the movie either.

Pros: The only thing that was positive about their story is that the kids were able to escape before more damage could have happened.  And in the end none of the Wall children hated, their parents.  They forgave their parents and even came to understand why their parent's lived the way they did.  I could never read this book again, because I don't like depressing, sad stories.  But if you can stomach this type of memoir than read it.  If you enjoy true stories, memoirs, and autobiographies this is perfect for you!  The plot is a swirling twist of the unexpected throughout the whole book.

Cons: I don't recommend this for the tender hearted, the weak stomached, the emotional woman, and its not recommended for anyone until the age of 16!  There is tons of really bad language, some worse than swear words.  There is sexual abuse, child abuse, child neglect, lying, stealing, smoking, drug use, sex, immoral behavior, alcohol, prostitution, child slavery (of Jeannette by her father), and graphic imagery of children getting badly hurt, and burned.

                                                                                My Rating

Here is an interview clip of Jeannette and her mother!  This is why I give this book a thumbs up.

Diarrhea Tips

Everyone has issues with Diarrhea at some point in their lives, and usually its during the winter because of the cold weather where colds and the flu in who knows how many different strands is going rampant around your city, town, school, church and probably your home as well.

Tips I have learned over the years:

1. Acidophilus: is a natural product that you can get in capsule form.  I've seen it as a white powder.  I buy this at Target.  My pediatrician told me to get this for my 1 year old who had diarrhea for 6 weeks due to an allergy that we couldn't figure out.  It was the worst ever, blow outs from his diaper like a new born, stinky, burned skin, and so sore that half the time he wouldn't let me wipe with anything because he was in such pain.  As adults you can swallow this pill form, but for children just pull apart the capsule and dump the contents into any liquid except water.  Milk works best: at the time we put it in Almond milk, and have even done juice.  Directions on the bottle, but because this is natural the doctor said if its really bad you can use it more often.

2.  Eat Yogurt: which has Lactobacillus acidophilus which is friendly bacteria that aids in getting rid of diarrhea.  Any yogurt will work, but for quicker results and faster relief eat plain sugarless yogurt (Greek, Goat, and the Mountain Land brand of yogurt are all recommended by Naturalists).  You can add honey if you need a sweetener.

3. You can lose a lot of liquid in diarrhea, but you also lose electrolytes, minerals such as sodium and potassium that are critical in the running of your body. Here's how to replace what you're losing:

• Drink plenty of fluids. Consume two quarts (eight cups) of fluids a day, three quarts (12 cups) if you're running a fever. With the fever drink Gatorade to give you the eletrolytes, and to reduce the fever. Plain water lacks electrolytes, but it's a good, gentle-on-the-tummy option that can help you replace some of the fluid that you've lost. Other choices include weak tea with a little sugar, sports drinks such as Gatorade, flat soda pop (decaffeinated flavors such as ginger ale are best), and fruit juices other than apple and prune, which have a laxative effect.
• Buy an over-the-counter electrolyte replacement formula. Pedialyte, Rehydralyte, and Ricelyte are available without a prescription from your local drugstore. These formulas contain fluids and minerals in the proper proportion.

Whatever you choose to drink, keep it cool; it will be less irritating that way. Sip, don't guzzle; it will be easier on your insides if you take frequent sips of liquid instead of guzzling down a glass at a time.

4. Primadophilus Children: My Aunt bought this to help my 1 year old stabilize his stomach and bowel movements.  Its a powder with FOS: or bifidobacteria and lactobacilli.  This is for children ages 0-5 years of age.  The potency is 3 billion CFUs per teaspoon for the entire shelf life.  It also contains NutraFlora scFOS- the preferred probiotic food source.  Once serving is given daily until child is feeling better.  This mixes easily into any liquid, but I put it in my son's Almond milk when he first woke up in the morning because he can't have anything in his stomach before taking this.  And mornings were the only time this would work.

Other Tips: Chamomile & Peppermint tea sometimes help, but does help soothe the stomach whenever you are sick.  Potatoes, rice, carrots, tapioca, and other starchy foods are all good foods to eat when you have diarrhea.  Blueberries are another good natural remedy.

                                                                     My Rating 

Vaseline Tips and Tricks

It makes your eyelashes grow:  Lather Vaseline all over your eyelashes overnight and watch them thicken, even without a prescription!  Here's the thing with this though, its hard to get this on your eye lashes without getting into your eyes so I use an eye lash brush, or even a super soft child's (clean unused) toothbrush to brush on the Vaseline.  Don't use during the day, it leaks into your eyes and hurts or irritates them (from experience).
 Dry cuticles: Store a mini-Vaseline container in your purse and utilize for emergency dry cuticle moments.

 It eases eyebrow plucking: Tame your eyebrows and lube up the under-skin so you can pluck with ease.

  It’s your new exfoliating body wash: Mix with sea salt and come out of the shower feeling soft, and sexy.  Can be used to smooth and soothe skin after shaving just don't use too much or you'll be greasy.  Also use to soften dry and cracked elbows.

Makeup uses: Great eye makeup remover. Put a thin layer where you spray your perfume.  Scent of perfume will last longer.  Mix a touch with your favorite lipstick color and you have instant cream blush.  YES!  Been looking all over for cream blush and haven't found any.  Now I'll make my own.

Hair uses: Seals in split ends.  Just use a little, and not too often, or it will be hard to shampoo out.  But if you do need to get the grease out of your hair use Dawn.  My mother used to use it to make her hair shine by rubbing just a little in the palm of her hands, then ran her hands through her hair.  She claimed it made her hair softer as well, without being greasy.

For the Men:  Apply on battery terminals in your vehicle to prevent rust & corrosion.  My husband used to this but I think with all of our moves, he's kind of forgotten.  I think I'll go do this to our cars this weekend, especially since I just got my car battery replaced last week.

First Aid:  protects minor cuts and scrapes.  Helps with dry and cracked and bleeding skin in the winter time.

Random uses: Revives dried leather like a baseball glove. Put on your feet at night & cover with socks and wake up with soft feet...or like me I can't stand anything on my feet at night, but have to wear socks and shoes while at work, so I put the Vaseline on my feet then.  Removes makeup stains from clothes & lipstick stains from napkins.  To make your accessories look brand spankin’ new: New job interview? Scuff the crap-ol-la out of your patent leather heals thanks to pitcher night? Put a small dab on your shoes and shine away!

Outdoor uses: Prevent rust on outdoor tools and machinery.  This really works.  When our boys were Cub Scouts we had them do this for some sort of requirement.  Too bad they're all grown now.  Guess I better go do that. It also can lure trout by coating small pieces of sponge to simulate fish egg bait.

Household uses:  Repairs minor rings, stains and scratches in wood.  Just apply a liberal coat, let sit 24 hours, then wipe and polish.
Prevent shower curtains rings from sticking, apply thin layer to curtain rod.

Bonus - For Halloween  - Once you carve your Halloween pumpkin, rub Vaseline on the exposed edges. it keeps it from rotting or going dry.

Vaseline Cream: If you don't like the greasiness of regular Vaseline, try the creamy version.  Its not as greasy, rubs in faster and better, and is great for on the go moments when you need some Vaseline.

Misconception: It is a misconception that Vaseline clogs pores, so smear it all over your face, neck and arms for softer skin.

My Rating