Happy Father’s Day from Rave & Review
I was looking through some pictures today and I started to get teary thinking of how OLD my babies are getting. It seems impossible that I have a seven year…
Why you should take your kids to see Disney•Pixar’s Inside Out
Sometimes I forget how hard it is to be a kid. Navigating childhood is a mine field filled with mean kids, peer pressure, tough schoolwork, and embarrassing moments. And, all the while you are figuring out who you are and how you fit into your family, your school, your teams, and with your friends. Now that my kids are getting older, I find myself looking at them a lot and wondering what is going on inside their heads.
Is that a tired look, or is that sadness? Is that pure joy, or are they holding back for some reason? Are their friends including them or are they feeling left out? Try as I might to find out what’s going on, most of the time when I ask how things are going or about how they feel about specific people and situations I get the same response.
“Good,” they say. Good? What does “good” mean, anyway?
Great gifts for Dads and Grads from AT&T
When it comes to gifts for dad, you really can’t beat awesome tech accessories, and you can find all sorts of great tech gifts at AT&T. This June AT&T retail stores are offering a variety of gadgets under $100 that make great gift ideas for Father’s Day and Graduation that we adore, and I’m sure your dad or grad would as well.
One of our favorite items on the gift guide is the Braven BRV-1 speaker. We got one of these awesome Braven speakers from AT&T earlier this year and we absolutely adore it. It can go anywhere, do anything, and it sounds amazing. It’s rugged enough for camping and can even handle damp conditions. You can check out our full review here. 
Neposmart: the customizable and wireless camera system that grows with you
The sound of little feet running around the house can be quite comforting, but it’s pretty awful when those sounds are followed by a loud thump or crash. This is why as soon as our kids were mobile we started looking into cameras to use throughout the house to better keep an eye on the kids – day and night.
What started off as a baby monitor search has morphed into a search for a camera system that can be used well after the baby stage to keep our whole house secure. With break-ins becoming more and more commonplace, we wanted something that would allow us to watch our home, even when we were across the country.
Our search led us to the Neposmart IP camera system, which was the only system we found that had everything we were looking for and more. This is far more than just a wireless home security camera; the Neposmart is an intelligently designed system you can operate remotely via your smartphone to survey and interact with your home.
7 years ago I became a mom – happy birthday to my amazing little girl
7 years ago at this time I had no idea how much love, fear, joy, and elation I was about to experience in motherhood. It's been an amazing 7 years…
On saying goodbye
I don't know when it started, but at some point I began to hate change. Change used to be exciting and I would look forward to the next new chapter that was just waiting to be written. But, somewhere along the way I began to love the story I was creating and starting new began to look less and less appealing.
I guess that's what they mean by putting down roots. And, I loved the roots that I was putting down. 
But, you can't control what chapters others write, and lately we've been saying a lot of goodbyes. Goodbye to a beloved step-grandma, to teachers and schools, to neighbors we adored, to numerous classmates who aren't returning in the fall, to grandparents who moved further away, and, most recently – to family we saw many times a week and were a huge part of the roots we had put down. 
Iconic Ambi developmental toys for baby and beyond
Do you remember these toys from Ambi from when you were young? I’m betting you do, because every single person that has come over and seen my kids playing with the set of Ambi Toys has remarked about how they used to play with them when they were little. 
Notice how I said “my kids”? Not “the baby”, but “the kids”.
In fact, I had these toys all set aside waiting for when the baby was old enough to play with them, thinking that my older kids were well past the Ambi Toys stage. Then, one day when we had a house full of kids, the box got torn open and the toys were immediately pounced on – by all the kids, from age 3 months to 7 years. 
How could you possibly be mad when the toy thief is this adorable? You just can't.
Where we were: exploring Washington
Have you noticed it's been a bit quiet here recently? Want to know where we've been for the past few weeks? The answer is everywhere. 
After my sister announced she was moving across country last month, we embarked on a mission to see as many of our favorite Washington sights as we possibly could fit in. Knowing that we would all be adjusting to not living walking distance to each others homes and instead being two planes away was tough on everyone. But our mini road trips gave us lots of time to talk, to make plans for future visits, and to let our kids enjoy a condensed version of the summer we were hoping they would have. 
Mix and match fun with custom Modarri cars {& discount code}
We discovered Modarri cars last year, and we quickly became obsessed. Basically, they are everything my son loves.
Fixing things: check
Racing: check
Designing stuff: check
Things with wheels: check 
So, what are Modarri cars? They are build-it-yourself custom cars that you can mix and match and customize to your heart’s content.
Each car even comes complete with a special hex tool so you can break down each car into its multiple parts: a chassis, hood and windshield, seat pan, seat, fenders and frame, and wheels with front and rear suspension. And, each of those parts can be used with other Modarri car models so you can build and rebuild as often as you like to create whatever car strikes your fancy. 
Kid tough dress up gear from Aeromax {Junior Fire Fighter Suit review}
In our house, dress up day is any day that ends in a "y". We don’t merely have dress up time – pretty much all play time these days is done in costume. And, for us, dress up isn't limited to just inside play. My kids wear their costumes to stores, to parks, walking to and from school, and so much more.
This is just a small snapshot into the last year with my little man.
Obviously, we can't get by with cheapy costumes designed for one day use; we need Get Real Gear from Aeromax. My son has become so famous for his amazing Aeromax costumes that I swear I could sell their dress up clothes right out of my car and retire for life. 